//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Making plans // Story: The final challenge // by Dianabel //------------------------------// Spike and Flurry appeared in the middle of a snowstorm. Spike couldn´t recognize the place they were in due to the endless snow around. Deep inside, he hoped they were not in a town, because if that was the case, many towns would have been already buried by the snow. He shivered from the cold while looking around. Flurry, on the other hoof, didn´t seem bothered by the cold. She stood flying on a spot, with a blank stare on the horizon. “Did you bring us to somewhere specific, Flurry?” Spike asked. “Or did we end up here by accident?” he said with a certain sarcasm in his voice. Flurry scowled at him. Spike raised his hands with an awkward smile in apology. She looked around in confusion and flew towards the north. Spike opened his wings. “Hey, wait!” he said as he tried to catch up with her. He struggled to fly due to the weight of the bell. The more she flew, the more desperate Flurry grew. She couldn´t see anything in the first place, and the fierce gusts of snow and wind didn´t make the job easier. If it hadn´t been for Spike, she would have been dragged to who knows where. “We´d better settle in somewhere else.” Spike told her. Fortunately, there was a cave near them. Spike smiled and flew towards the cave while holding Flurry and the bell with all his strength. Once they were inside the cave, he put Flurry in front of him and the bell aside and sat down. “We ended up here randomly, didn´t we?” Spike asked dryly. Flurry moaned while shaking her head in annoyance. “No? Do you know where we are?” Flurry darted her eyes from one side to the other. She shook her head one more. “Well, I hope it´s far away from Canterlot. Because Grogar is in there and I have his bell.” he said while pointing at the bell. He started thinking to himself, not noticing Flurry´s sadness. Only when she sniffed, Spike saw that his niece wasn´t feeling alright. “Hey, it´s alright.” he put his hand on her shoulder. “Maybe we didn´t end up in the safest place of all, but you protected us from an inevitable death by an evil overlord!” he caught the bell. “And you prevented Equestria´s doom, too.” The bell caught Flurry´s eye. She crawled towards it and rang it with her hoof. Spike quickly moved it away from Flurry. “Careful, Flurry! It´s not a toy. We don´t know what might happen if we use it the wrong way.” he said nervously. Flurry rolled her eyes. She pointed at the bell as she raised an eyebrow. “What do we do with it? That´s what I was asking myself before. The answer is that I have no idea. If we take it to Mount Everhoof, Grogar might look in there again. Hmm…. I think it must be a place that hasn´t been invaded, but that´s something impossible. Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy might have gone everywhere!” As Spike was trying to come up with a place to hide the bell, Flurry paid attention to the bell. She looked up to see her horn, which gave her an idea. The baby alicorn ignited her horn. The sound of her horn made Spike´s ears perk up, which caused him to be aware of what the baby alicorn was doing. “Flurry, no!” he tried to stop her. But it was too late. By the time he said that, Flurry had already blasted the bell. It elevated from Spike´s hands. Knowing what was going to happen, Spike took Flurry and hid behind a rock, away from the bell. After it launched a huge blast that destroyed another rock, Spike and Flurry got closer. “The bell cannot be destroyed, remember?” Spike scolded Flurry. The baby alicorn looked down in apology. But her feelings of shame disappeared when she got an idea. She gasped in inspiration and left out a small and mispronounced aha! “What?! What is it?!” Spike asked curiously. With her magic, Flurry took the bell. “DON´T! Don´t do that again…” Spike warned her. Flurry frowned and patted her chest. Spike sighed. “Ok, I´m going to trust you.” he said a bit nervously while sitting down. Flurry smiled with contentment. She pointed at the bell. “Ok, the bell.” Spike thought aloud, trying to decipher every movement Flurry did. She nodded and pointed at her horn. “Your… horn?” Flurry moved her head from side to side while biting her lip. “No wait! An unicorn! Or an alicorn, in your case.” Flurry smirked. Then, she flew in front of the bell putting her hooves next to her ears and growling. “That´s Tirek!” he tried to guess. Flurry shook her head. “No! Grogar! That´s Grogar!” Flurry nodded. She went back to behind the bell and inclined her head, mimicking an alicorn or an unicorn doing magic. Then, she returned to Grogar´s position and put her hoof on her chest while whimpering and closed her eyes with her tongue out. She waited for Spike´s response with a huge grin, hoping that he understood what she wanted to say. However, the dragon seemed confused. “Ok, I didn´t get that last part.” Flurry scrubbed her entire face with her hoof while sighing in frustration. Suddenly, they heard some hoofsteps. They saw two silhouettes getting closer to the cave. Since they couldn´t see who they were, they prepared to defend themselves. Spike closed his fists and put them in the front. Flurry ignited her horn. However, they sighed in relief when they saw Cadence entering. “Flurry! Spike! You´re ok!” she exclaimed happily after gasping. “Mama!” Flurry exclaimed happily while hugging her mom. Cadence laughed tenderly. Behind her, there approached a changeling. “Gah!” Spike exclaimed while jumping. “A corrupted changeling!” “Relax, it´s me, Thorax.” the changeling said. Spike smiled, however, he couldn´t be sure if the changeling was lying or not. “How do I know that it´s the real you and not an impostor?” he asked suspiciously. Thorax smiled sheepishly. “Sunshine, sunshine. Ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake.” he recited as he did the little dance Cadence taught him. Spike hugged Thorax´s neck. “I´m so glad you´re ok.” he looked at the two of them. “What brings you here?” “We´re going to the Crystal Empire.” Cadence responded. Spike gasped. “We´re near the Crystal Empire?” Cadence nodded. “So that´s where you wanted to take us, huh?” he asked Flurry tauntingly. “But your attempt fired, didn´t it?” Flurry frowned and avoided eye contact with Spike. Cadence laughed. Thorax looked behind Spike. He noticed the bell. “That´s the bell Chrysalis was carrying! How did you get it?” “Actually, that´s Grogar´s bell.” Spike corrected. Thorax gasped. “No way!” “I know, can you believe it? Anyway, we fought Chrysalis, but, surprise surprise! She wasn´t alone. She created an allyship with Tirek and Cozy. The princesses and the girls fought them, but Flurry and I created a plan to help them! We managed to take the bell away from them, but we fell in the throne´s room trap, so we had to get back there again. And when we were there, Grogar was attacking my friends! And he noticed that I had his bell. Luckily, Flurry made us disappear before he could kill us, and now we´re here lost in the snow and in the refuge of this cave! Sooo… Any questions?” Cadence and Thorax raised an eyebrow confused, since Spike let out lots of information. The looked at each other, wondering if the other understood what Spike said. “Well… In our case, we´ve come to the Crystal Empire to check on Shining Armor and our subjects.” Cadence explained. “We believe it´s surrounded by corrupted changelings. In other words, we´ve come to free them.” Thorax added. “You can come along if you want to.” “I´d love to, but what do I do with the bell?” Spike asked. “We can´t leave it unwatched.” Cadence and Thorax shared a glance. Cadence sighed. “I don´t think we have a choice…” Thorax said. “Ok, then.” Spike took the bell. “Let´s save the Crystal Empire!” After making sure, every creature were together, she ignited her horn and the group was in the cave nor more. Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow waited for Grogar in the throne room. They were still restrained to the wall. They witnessed the fight between him, the princesses and Discord. As expected, Grogar won the battle. He forced the guards to lock them in the dungeons. He accompanied them. Before doing so, he told the three villains that once he was finished, he would deal with them. Tirek had an emotionless face. He was very calm and relaxed opposed to his partners in crime. Chrysalis kept on firing at Grogar´s magical cuffs, while Cozy was muttering something to herself. All the noise exhausted Tirek, since it had been going on for some time. “Cut it out, will you?” he said to Chrysalis. “It´s pointless.” “I DON´T CARE!” she yelled. “I refuse to die this way! I´m not dying today. NOT TODAY!” Tirek rolled his eyes. He looked at Cozy and sighed. “Why are you talking to yourself?” “I´m not talking to myself!” replicated Cozy in annoyance. “I´m praying. Because we´re gonna diiiie!” she yelled as she sobbed. Tears streamed down Cozy´s face. “Instead of crying, you should keep on fighting.” Chrysalis replied bluntly. “Crying is for the weak.” “I am a child!” Cozy sobbed. “What do you expect me to do?!” “One keeps on fighting despite the adversities! And don´t throw the `I am a child´ excuse.” Chrysalis mimicked Cozy Glow disrespectfully. “You almost left Equestria without magic!” “But I´m still a child!” Cozy complained. “At least you´re doing something. Unlike others.” she looked at Tirek. Tirek sighed. “Why do you care about what I am doing? I´m letting you do your own thing, so leave me alone!” “How can you be so calm when you´re about to die?!” Cozy asked desperate. “Because I´ve accepted it. Grogar can shoot me, I´m already dead!” “So much for the bodybuilder…” Chrysalis muttered. “Yeah, but unlike you two, I´m going to die with dignity.” he said with a smirk. Chrysalis clenched her teeth and threw a ray at Tirek. Tirek returned the attack, and so began a fight between the two. “Take back what you said!” Chrysalis demanded Tirek. “No! Because what I´m saying is true!” he replied back. Cozy sighed in frustration. “Even in their last moments, they can´t be in peace with each other…” she mumbled. However, the bickering between the two ended thanks to a black and yellow blast that almost hit them. The three widened their eyes when they saw an angry and panting Grogar. “Why is it…” he took a breath. “Whenever I leave, YOU´RE MAKING NOISE OR DESTROYING EACH OTHER!” he yelled frustrated. Chrysalis´and Tirek´s foreheads started to sweat. They stayed silent. “Because of their pride and stubbornness.” Cozy said, hoping that if she agreed with him, maybe he could spear her life. Tirek and Chrysalis glared at her. “It was a rhetoric question, you idiot.” Grogar replied bluntly. Cozy gulped. Grogar walked to the throne, somewhat limping. He had lots of bruises and scars all around his body. He seemed very tired. As he walked, he put the three villains in front of the stairs to the throne. He jumped the trap and sat down on Celestia´s throne while sighing. “You have committed the crime of treason. When I ruled Equestria, that was punishable by death. And I´m still keeping that law!” The three gulped. “So, I sentence you to death.” Tirek closed his eyes. Chrysalis looked down. Cozy gasped and threw the floor while crying. “Please, almighty Grogar, have mercy! Pleaaaase!” Grogar rolled his eyes and sat Cozy down with his magic. “But it is not too late.” The three of them widened their eyes. Cozy scoffed. “Really?” she asked in a mixture of surprise and excitement. Then, she sighed in relief and smiled. “Oh thank you so-” Cozy couldn´t finish her sentence. Grogar muzzled her with his magic. “I´m not finished!” he exclaimed. “Your sentence is still there, but if you perform the task I´m about to command efficiently, you´ll be rewarded.” “With what?” Chrysalis asked in a challenging tone. “Firstly, your lives. I´ll also grant you lands.” The three villains gasped. “Still, you will be under my rule.” The villains frowned, but they were still interested in the idea. “So, what is that task?” Tirek asked. “I want those six ponies! And bring me back my bell. I also want the family of the Crystal Empire and Spike. They could be the perfect bait for Twilight Sparkle.” he smirked. Chrysalis laughed. “No problem. With the help of my army, I will-” “Your army is mine to subdue, Chrysalis.” Chrysalis widened her eyes. “WHAT?!” “Do you really think that after betraying me I was going to make it that easy for you? I´m not doing this out of mercy, you know?” Grogar growled while struggling to get up from the throne. “I´m doing this so I can get some darn peace and quiet to recover from my wounds and get enough energy to confront Twilight and her friends!” Cozy hugged Tirek, and Chrysalis covered the filly with her forelegs. Once they weren´t scared, they realized their positions and separated from each other. Meanwhile, Grogar breathed deeply and sat down. “Besides, this is an ultimate test for you. I´m testing your loyalty in difficult circumstances. If everything goes as I ordered, which I´m pretty sure it won´t, you may have your army. But, for now, you must bring your army here, to Canterlot.” Chrysalis twitched her eye. “But they can only obey to me!” “Not from now on.” “No, no, literally, they can´t listen to you.” Cozy explained. “Chrysalis brainwashed them to only obey her.” “Besides, the kingdoms around Equestia are under control thanks to her changelings.” added Tirek. Grogar sighed. “Very well. The army is under your control. However, once we´re done. I want a part of your army. Otherwise, you´ll be sentenced to death for treason.” “I´d rather di-” “Yes, my emperor. She agrees to the conditions.” Cozy said with a smile while covering Chrysalis´ mouth. “We´ll go straight away to find them.” Tirek said as he put Chrysalis in a magical bubble. Chrysalis protested but no voice came from her mouth. That was when she realized that Tirek put a silencing spell inside the bubble. She started hitting the bubble while ordering Tirek to get her out. The villains were about to leave the throne room, but Grogar raised his hoof and interrupted them. “One more thing. I want them alive. You hear me? ALIVE. I´ll deal with them.” “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” Cozy replied while getting out of the throne room. Grogar threw a death glare at Cozy, making her regret her poor choice of words. “I mean..” she cleared her throat. “Yes, my emperor.” Finally, they left the room.Once they made sure they were alone and far enough for Grogar not to hear them, Tirek released Chrysalis. “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! Don´t you know he wants my army?!” “You were going to say that you´d rather die. He would have gladly fired at you at that moment! And we need you alive.” Cozy pressed her hoof against Chrysalis´ chest. “And, there´s still a chance to overthrow him.” Tirek added. He grinned evily. “If we use his own bell against him.” Cozy and Chrysalis smirked. “Oh ho ho!” Cozy laughed. “We´ll use the same strategy as before.” Chrysalis said. “But this time, once we have the bell, we get rid of that goat!” Cozy and Tirek nodded. Chrysalis laughed and hugged Cozy and Tirek. “This is gonna be fun!” Tirek and Cozy looked astonished at Chrysalis. The changeling was so excited that she let her own emotions blind her judgement. Once she realized what she had done, she quickly undid the hug and cleared her throat. “Let´s just pretend this never happened, ok?” “Agreed.” Tirek looked aside and scratched his arm. “That was so sweet of you Chrissy!” Chrysalis glared at her. Cozy smiled sheepishly. “Buuut… Also a little creepy… I prefer the angry and normal you.” “Good. Ok, so this is how we´re going to do it.” There were corrupted changelings around the School of Friendship. Starlight, Sunburst and Trixie were cocooned at the main hall. The students were locked at their rooms and bound by changeling substance. Inside of one of those rooms, there were the Young Six and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. All of them were bound to the ground, with exception of Sweetie Belle and Smolder, who were cocooned. In fact, every unicorn student was cocooned so they couldn´t destroy the substance. As for Smolder, she was cocooned so she couldn´t burn it. Surprisingly, the only one who was making an effort to escape was Gallus. He batted his wings with all his strength, but he was still stuck. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow confused. “Of all of your friends, you are the last creature I expected to keep on trying to escape.” she told him. “Why wouldn´t I?!” Gallus asked in a mixture of annoyance and panic. “This stuff is gross!” “Yona tried smash it. It didn´t work!” Yona exclaimed angrily. “That´s because you can´t smash it, Yona.” Sandbar said grumpily. “Are you ok, Sandbar?” Silverstream asked with a sweet concern. “No, Silverstream. I´m frustrated!” Sandbar yelled at her. Silverstream looked down, a bit hurt by Sandbar´s yell. “I´m sorry. I didn´t mean to upset you.” her eyes filled with sadness. Apple Bloom, who was looking at the window, got tired of the negative attitude in the room. She growled and exploded. “STOP!” Her yell silenced every creature. “Just stop. I´m trying to focus.” “On what?” Scootaloo asked. “On finding a way to escape!” “Haven´t you realized already? It´s impossible.” Sandbar replicated. “Seriously? You´re giving up? Of all ponies?” Sandbar gave a sad glance to Apple Bloom. He sighed to the ground. “I´m sorry, everypony.” he apologized. “It´s just. I feel hopeless because the tree cannot help us.” “But Twilight and the girls defeated Sombra without the help of the tree.” Scootaloo pointed out. “Yes, but that also means we can´t help! We defeated Cozy Glow with the help of the tree! Twilight and her friends won´t be enough to defeat Cozy and Chrysalis. Not in these conditions. Don´t you see? We can´t do anything.” he left out a tear. “We´re powerless.” Every creature felt sad for him. Apple Bloom breathed in and out. “Look. I understand that you feel this way. But I´m not sitting here while there are psychopaths trying to hurt my sister!” “I kinda agree.” Silverstream said. “Besides, I want to check on the tree. Something must have happened to it if it didn´t warn us.” “Yona wants to check tree too.” the yak said sadly. Sandbar cleared his tears. Then, he shook his head. “You´re right. I must be out of my mind. We need to escape.” Gallus looked a bit skeptical at Apple Bloom. “You think there´s a chance to escape?” he asked while raising an eyebrow. “There´s always a chance. As long as one can think.” Apple Bloom replied while glancing around the room, looking for something that could help them free their friends from the cocoons. “You don´t have any ideas, do you?” Scootaloo asked. “Nope.” Yona growled. “Yona and friends stuck here forever!” Yona complained. Yona smacked the floor with her hind legs. The whole room shook, some dust fell from the ceiling, and both coccons detached slightly. Everypony looked at astonishment. “Did you just see that?” Gallus asked. Apple Bloom gasped. “That´s it!” she exclaimed in realization. “Yona, do that again!” Yona raised an eyebrow confused. “Yona do what?” “Smash the floor!” Silverstream exclaimed. “With your hind legs!” “Like you just did, Yona.” Sandbar mimicked Yona´s moves. “Imagine that there are some perfect smashing logs that are waiting to be smashed behind you. What would you do?” he asked with a smirk. “SMASH THEM!” the yak yelled excitedly. Yona smacked the floor a few more times until the cocoons fell to the floor. They broke, releasing Sweetie Belle and Smolder. A huge grin drew in the friend´s faces. But they didn´t last. A changeling knocked at the door. “WHAT´S GOING ON THERE?” it said. Every creature´s eyes widened. Yona looked at them worried. Gallus frowned and told the yak to do something by moving his wing. Suddenly, Sandbar came up with an idea. “Yona! You´re going to make the lamps fall!” Yona looked confused at Sandbar. He winked at her. Yona understood that he was acting. “But Yona bored!” “Well, I am bored too but I´m not making any noise!” Silverstream played along. “And I´m really noisy when I´m bored!” The changeling got tired of their yells. He knocked the door violently. “SILENCE! Remember that you´re hostages. If you do something, you´ll pay the consequences.” They expired in relief when the changeling´s hoofsteps faded. Meanwhile, Smolder and Sweetie Belle were recovering conscience. “Ugh…” Smolder massaged her head. “What happened?” Sweetie Belle while opening her eyes. “You´re ok!” Silverstream exclaimed in joy while opening her wings. “If I wasn´t stuck in this thing, I would go and hug you right now!” “You two were inside cocoons.” Apple Bloom explained. Sweetie Belle and Smolder shared a glance. When they saw that there was substance in their bodies, they quickly jumped from the cocoons and tried to get it away. “YUCK!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed with her tongue out. “So gross…” Smolder mumbled. “I know, right? I´m glad that I´m not the only creature in this room who reacted normally to that!” Gallus said sarcastically. “Now that you´re free, will you please release us as well?” Sandbar asked kindly. “Yeah, sure.” Smolder answered calmly. Sweetie Belle nodded with her head. “I´m not so sure if my magic will be that strong, but I´ll try anyway.” she said with a smile. Smolder flew towards her friends. “Ok, when I tell you, you lift your upper legs, ok?” she explained to them. “On the contrary, you might get burnt.” “You don´t have to tell that to me.” Gallus replicated. “I´ll get my claws off as soon as that thing disappears.” Silverstream and Yona held their laughter. Smolder and Sandbar smiled and rolled their eyes while looking at each other. Smolder knelt in front of Gallus. She blew a tiny flame of fire that melted the substance quickly. When his claws were free, he opened his wings and started flying. “Ah! Finally!” he exclaimed in relief. “Are there any tissues here?” he flew around the room. Sandbar laughed. “It´s not necessary. That thing doesn´t stay in your claws.” “In any case, Sweetie Belle and I are the ones who need a tissue.” Smolder said as she approached Sandbar. Gallus shrugged. “Just in case.” Smolder freed Sandbar. Then, she freed Yona, who gave her a huge hug afterwards. Silverstream was the last to be freed by Smolder. The hippogriff was so fascinated by how the fire melted the substance that she forgot to do what Smolder told her, so she burnt her finger. “Ouch!” She put her finger in her mouth. Smolder frowned. “Did you even listen to me?” she asked sarcastically. “Sorry, it´s just I love seeing you breathing fire. Sometimes, I´d love to be a dragon just to do that!” Smolder expired smoke from her nose while smiling in pride. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle struggled to create a blast. Each time she ignited her horn, the magic quickly faded. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at her anxiously. “Come on, Sweetie. You can do this” Apple Bloom mutured to herself. “Are you sure you don´t want to leave this to Smolder?” Scootaloo asked. She and Apple Bloom were a bit skeptical that her friend was the one who would free her. “Just one more minute…” Sweetie Belle begged as she groaned. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shared sarcastic glances. Suddenly, Sweetie Belle was able to create a small blast. Scootaloo smiled at her friend. Then, Sweetie Belle released Apple Bloom. “Is every creature free?” Apple Bloom asked. Gallus looked around. “I think so.” “What do we do now?” Sweetie Belle asked. “We need to check on the tree and free the school.” Sandbar said. “I agree, but first we need to leave the room.” Smolder added. Scootaloo looked on the window. She saw many changelings outside. One of them almost saw her but Scootaloo quickly hid behind the curtain before it could. “Ok. Escaping through the window is not a good idea.” she stated. “So how do we do it? The door´s locked.” Gallus said. “Hmm… Maybe one of us could escape in front of the changelings and hand themselves to them so the rest can escape?” Silverstream suggested. “I´ll gladly do it.” Sandbar clicked his tongue. “I´m not very comfortable with the idea…” “Yona don´t like it.” the yak said while shaking her head. “Well, I´m pretty sure none of us do. But I don´t have other ideas.” Gallus said. “In that case, let it be us.” Apple Bloom joined in the conversation. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo followed behind her. “You´re the ones who have a special connection with magic, just like our sisters.” “Are you sure about that? They are capable of doing anything to a filly.” Sandbar replicated. “We are the cutie mark crusaders. We´re not afraid of anything.” Scootaloo replied with her hoof on her chest. “If it helps Equestria, we´re willing to do it.” Sweetie Belle added. The three fillies held their hooves. Sandbar sighed. “Ok…” “Be very careful…” Silverstream told them. Meanwhile, Smolder looked through the window. She noticed a familiar blue shape between some bushes. She smirked. “I don´t think it will be necessary.” she told the CMC. Ocellus leant her head a little to examine the environment. There were changelings everywhere outside, which would make the task of getting into the school without being observed more difficult. Ocellus sat down and bit her lip. “Is it that bad?” Punja asked. Ocellus nodded while gulping. “There are only corrupted changelings.” “That´s not good…” Zecora caressed her chin in thought. “Hmm… I think that the only way would be to drive them away.” “You mean a distraction?” Ocellus asked. Zecora nodded. “Oh, I can do that! I can transform into a pony to get them away for some time!” “Actually, I was thinking that you could transform into a corrupted changeling.” Zecora said. Ocellus widened her eyes. “That´s a good option as well. But… It´s a bit more personal… It brings me back bad memories.” “But it´s less risky for your safety. There are more chances that you´ll get caught in your way than in my way. Your friends need you, Ocellus. To them you´re something precious.” Zecora held Ocellus´ cheeks. “And you and your friends are one of the keys to save Equestria.” Ocellus smiled sadly. “Ok. I´ll do it for my friends.” “That´s a good plan, but I must point some things out, if I can.” Punja interfered. “Go on.” Zecora implored. “First things first. If we do what you say, Ocellus be the only one to make its way. But what about us? If we go out there alone with all our guts, we´ll get trapped! We could get killed, in fact.” “You could be my prisoners!” Ocellus suggested. “And how will they fall for that without any weapon?” Ocellus opened her mouth to reply, but couldn´t find a good argument. “Oh…” “Besides, wouldn´t it be easier to achieve our goal if only one of us is your prisoner? I think that would make the job of liberating the students faster.” “You´ve got a point.” she gasped. “I got it! One of you will hand themselves to the changelings” “What?” the zebras asked in unison. “Think about it! You try to get in, get captured, and then I appear behind. Then, we´ll get inside.” “That´s a marvellous idea.” Punja agreed. “But to free the school, we need to organize for when we are inside, otherwise we´ll look like fools.” Zecora pointed out. “Any ideas?” Punja laughed mischievously. “Quite many…” The Mane 6 appeared in a dark place. Until Twilight and Rarity ignited their horns, they didn´t know what was around. They were in a strange place full of crystals around them. “Where are we?” Rarity asked. “The caves beneath Canterlot.” Twilight explained. “Remember Cadence´s wedding?” Her friends nodded. “Well, this is where Chrysalis sent Cadence and me. She told me that most ponies have forgotten about these caves. Maybe Grogar doesn´t know about this place, so with some hope, we´re safe here for now.” “Yeah… About that guy…” Rainbow Dash scratched his back. “HOW IS HE SO POWERFUL?!” Pinkie asked yelling. “Or better question, HOW IN EQUESTRIA ARE WE GOING TO DEFEAT HIM?!” “We have no idea.” Applejack shook her head. “But one thing´s clear, we have to have to keep the bell away from him.” “Applejack´s right.” Twilight agreed. “He mustn’t have his bell, that´s a basic condition.” “We should look for support.” Fluttershy added. “Something tells me that we´ll not be enough to defeat Grogar.” “Tell us who, then.” Rainbow replicated. “The pillars are injured, the princesses and Discord are captured, every kingdom around Equestria has been attacked!” “What about the Young Six? Maybe they´re still out there. They saved Equestria from Cozy Glow, after all. I´m sure they´ll come in help.” “With the tree´s help! And from what Grogar told us, it´s not in good conditions.” “Oh, I forgot about it.” Rarity said anxiously. “Do you think he destroyed it like King Sombra did?” she asked Twilight. The princess sighed. “I don´t know… But I´m sure we can defeat Grogar without the help of the tree. Our friendship is still strong. And that´s enough to find a way.” “You know? Now that I think about it, there are some creatures we also need to talk about.” Applejack said. “Who?” Rainbow Dash asked. “The villain trio.” The mane 6 sighed in frustration. “That´s another thing…” Rarity muttered. “But they were against Grogar too.” Fluttershy pointed out. “Maybe they could join us?” Fluttershy asked. The rest widened their eye “Are you crazy?!” Rainbow asked annoyed. “That´s not happening. Not on my watch!” Applejack smacked a hoof on the ground. “You do realize they´re impossible to redeem, right darling?” Rarity told her. Fluttershy sighed. “I´m not talking about redeeming.” she clarified. “Do you really think that I would let Tirek in my circle of friends after what he did to Discord? Or Chrysalis, who harmed Twilight´s family twice? And don´t let me get started with Cozy Glow. Besides, I think they made it pretty clear that they´re not interested in redemption. But, we have an enemy in common. And that enemy is Grogar. We could do an allyship with them.” “And how are we going to do that exactly, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked while raising her eyebrow. “I don´t know. But we did it with Tirek before, didn´t we?” “Look, Fluttershy, your idea sounds good, but it´s impossible to carry out.” Applejack said to her. “They´re more than reluctant to cooperate with Equestria. I don´t think we have enough time to convince to fight with us, either.” “So, do we deal with Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy first?” Rarity asked. “I don´t see any other option.” Twilight stated. “I don´t know why but I bet all my cupcakes that they´re after Spike.” said Pinkie before taking a mouthful of a cupcake. “Ugh, don´t remind me of that…” Twilight massaged her temple. “I don´t want to imagine what could happen to him.” “He must hide the bell somewhere. Like Gusty did.” Rarity said. “And where? Grogar will order to look for it everywhere.” Rainbow pointed out. “All we can do is keep it away from him. The best thing we can do is to tell Spike to fly all around Equestria to win us time.” “And make him risk his life? I´m not putting him in danger.” Twilight refused. “What if we use the bell against Grogar?” Pinkie Pie suggested. Everypony shared a glance. “Actually, that´s not a bad idea.” Rainbow admitted. “I wonder if Gusty did that when she got Grogar´s bell.” Applejack asked Twilight. “The books don´t specify it.” Twilight replied. “But maybe she did. It could work again.” “Oh, but it´s too risky.” Fluttershy said. “There´s still a chance that we could take it from the villains if they get it from us, but if Grogar gets it? That´s game over. Are you sure you want to do that?” “Is there a better option?” Rainbow asked Fluttershy. “There´s always another option!” Pinkie Pie contradicted. “The possibilities in our universe are endless!” she raised her forelegs to the sky. Rainbow frowned. “What I meant is that if she had a better option.” she told her. “I know it sounds very crazy, Fluttershy, but it´s the fastest and most efficient way to defeat that monster! Think about Discord. Your poor friend is suffering because of him! Do you want him to suffer for much longer?” Rarity said. “Of course not!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “Then, there´s no discussion. Let´s do it!” Rarity exclaimed confidently. “But before we do that, we need to know where Spike is.” Applejack stated. “Twilight knows it!” Pinkie exclaimed. Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I do?” “Two members of your family are missing. I´m sure you have a family sense that tells you where they are. Kind of like my Pinkie Sense!” Twilight thought to herself. “Hmm… I think I have an idea…”