A battle plan was soon drawn up. The intent was to use the three that had been part of Grogar's scheme as (admittedly obvious) bait. They would draw Grogar out, and while he was distracted (for however brief that was) the stallions would try to sneak up and steal the bewitching bell somehow. The bell was the key to Grogar's power and if its effects could be reversed or countered, Grogar wouldn't stand a chance.
There were a few other elements to the plan as well, mainly for reinforcement. And so it was that the stallions parted ways with the princesses, Twilight and even Tempest. "I hope you know what you're doing for all our sakes." Princess Celestia cautioned as all watched the small group depart.
"This may not be the greatest plan ever, but it's the only one that stands a chance of working," Shining replied. "We've only got one shot at this. If this fails..." He ended in an ominous tone. "Well, we won't get another shot. There'll be no stopping Grogar."
Tirek only flashed a toothy grin. "And you really think the three of us can be trusted? Who's to say that we won't try to cut a deal with Grogar again?"
"Because Grogar isn't going to welcome you back," Shining protested with narrowed eyes. "You said it yourself, he no longer has a need for any of you. It's obvious that you three were meant to be disposable in his grand scheme. At least under this plan you could have a shot at amnesty, but don't get your hopes up."
The Storm King wasn't concerned. "Even if Mr. Hot Shot doesn't kill us all, we're probably not gonna be in fighting spirits anytime soon. I think we'd all want to beat each other when we're at our best."
Discord then pointed out. "Well, all that really matters is that you get me back my powers," And he added. "And if any of you try anything funny after that, well, it won't be Mr. Nice Draconequus."
Soarin just grit his teeth. "Enough talk! Are we gonna do this or are we just gonna sit around and discuss it all day?!"
The young prince nodded. "We're doing this! One way or another, the fate of Equestria will be determined by this battle. Let's just hope fortune smiles upon us." And with a flash of his horn, all were gone.
"He's in way over his head, I just know it," Twilight thought to herself as she watched the group depart. "I only hope the part of his plan related to my students works out. They may just be the key to all of this." And she prepared to head back to the School of Friendship to explain everything to Starlight, hoping her fellow unicorn could quickly make the necessary arrangements.
As for the rest, they could only wait in safety at the Crystal Empire for the time being and hope for the planned "reinforcements" to arrive.
Grogar, having long since gotten used to his draconequus form and the chaotic powers that came with it, was strolling through the streets of Canterlot. Any ponies that had yet to find shelter were left to his mercy. And no matter what they tried to do they couldn't escape him. "Let it be known that the reign of the royal sisters has come to an end!" He loudly declared. "Now there is only I, the mighty Emperor Grogar. You will submit, you have no choice."
Yet suddenly, out of the corner of one of his eyes Grogar spotted his former Legion of Doom approaching his location. He quickly teleported to their location with a snap of his fingers, towering over them with the greatest of ease. "What are you three rejects doing here? If you've come to beg for mercy there's really no need, I shan't be granting it to any of you or to anyone else."
Chrysalis defiantly roared at the draconequus! "We didn't come to beg for mercy, Grogar! You can't tell us what to do! We're done serving you and we're done fearing you!"
The Storm King chimed in. "Yeah, what old queenie said! You ain't the boss of us anymore!"
Grogar was surprised for but a second before he laughed. "Oh, this is rich. You three can't possibly be serious. You know you're no match for me. I have all of your magic, as well as some of that fool Discord's magic. And I don't intend to give any of it back."
Tirek only hissed in reply. "Perhaps we can't defeat you on our own. But we'd rather make our stand and die here, rather than live in a world where you can push us around!"
Grogar just rolled his eyes and yawned. "You three won't even be satisfying enough for amusement. I just know you're up to something."
"What? You think we're doing this because we're planning on reforming? Because if you are then you're the fool!" Chrysalis pointed out. "If we're opposing you it's simply because you're trying to lay claim to more just than Equestria! No one but me has the right to oppress my subjects!"
Tirek added. "And if anyone's going to be making that traitor of a brother of mine pay, it's going to be me and me alone!"
Storm King chimed in. "I very well can't let you spoil the fun I'm gonna have with Tempest. Besides, some of the lands you want to conquer were already conquered by me."
"Oh, very well," Grogar declared in a bored tone of voice. "Let's get this nonsense over with, shall we?" And soon, a cloud of dust on the outskirts of Canterlot signaled the start of yet another battle unfolding.
From a safe distance, Shining Armor and his friends (as well as Discord) watched the unfolding battle between two great forces of evil. So far the distraction was working.
"If we can get close enough, I'm confident I can knock that bell off and run off with it," Shining told his friends. "Then we'll hopefully be able to teleport to safety, and just before Grogar can catch us we'll have given Discord back his powers."
Thunderlane couldn't help but gulp. "This is really risky. And we don't have any of that backup you promised yet."
"We need to have faith that the others will come through on their end," The prince responded. "But all of that will be for nothing if we don't at least make an attempt here. This is it, all or nothing!"
A familiar, deep voice then called out. "I'm going to help too! I wanna do my part to help you guys protect Equestria." All turned to see Spike approaching, his fully grown wings flapping against his teenaged dragon body.
None were more surprised to see the dragon than Shining Armor, who let out a gasp! "Spike?! What are you doing out here?! Does Twilight know about this?!"
"She does, you have no idea how hard it was to convince her to let me be my own dragon and make my own decisions," Spike puffed out his chest. "I've always hated that there wasn't much I could do on your other adventures, always being sidelined in some way, shape or form. But this time's gonna be different!"
Shining looked at his nephew and sized him up, quickly warning him. "You do know what's at stake here, right? There's a chance we may not walk away from this. If you're determined to go into battle with us, you've got to be ready to accept whatever fate might await us."
The teenaged dragon nodded. "Twilight worried about that a lot. I know you can't guarantee victory, but that's never stopped you from doing these sort of things before," Then he clenched a claw. "Besides, Equestria's my home too and I wanna do my part to defend it."
Big Macintosh smiled. "Then I guess you're onboard with us, Spike. This'll be just like our not so secret guy's nights, except real."
The young alicorn then cleared his throat. "Focus, guys. If we don't move fast Grogar's sure to catch on." And so the six stallions and the dragon charged off towards the battle. Their goal was clear in their minds even though the outcome was far from certain. The best they could do now was hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Grogar, for his part, was too busy continuing to deal with the three villains he'd once united to pay attention to anything else for the time being. He was frustrated at how his chaos powers continued to fail him. He couldn't bring the three close to him, and they kept dodging his blasts.
"All that magic and you can't land a single blow," Tirek taunted. "Pathetic! At least when I absorbed magic, I was smart enough to know how to use it."
Chrysalis smirked with seeming triumph. "I daresay, Grogar. It seems you forgot just how sneaky and underhoofed we could be."
The Storm King chimed in with a jeer! "Yeah! You underestimated us, your 'highness'." The last part of the last line was dripping with noticeable malice and sarcasm.
The draconequus just stomped a foot down in furious protest as he clenched his lion paw and eagle paw. "The only thing I really underestimated was how much you three would continue to linger around. You're like a bad odor I can't rid of. That itch I simply cannot scratch," Then he declared. "But I'm done trying to be gentle. I'm done letting you buzz around me like common house flies. It's time you learned what happens when you mess with forces beyond your control!"
The three villains barely had time to evade an insanely powerful blast of chaos magic that turned the surrounding landscape into a wasteland of ash, soot and dust!
Against all of this, the six stallions and the dragon carefully approached the scuffle. They were sneaking up on Grogar from behind in quick but quiet fashion. Shining was almost in range. He could see the bewitching bell dangling. A well aimed and well aligned shot courtesy of the magic in his horn should do the trick.
Then it happened. Maybe it was because the wind shifted ever so slightly. Maybe it was because some grass was damper than expected. Or maybe it was just a cough that couldn't be contained any longer and had to be let out. Whatever it was, Grogar suddenly became aware of what was behind him and thus he swung around quite suddenly! "What's this?! A trick?!" Now it was all starting to make sense to him.
Shining gulped as he retreated back to his friends just as they saw the three villains make a run for it. "Sorry guys, you're on your own now!" The Storm King called! "It's everycreature for themselves!"
Soarin quickly and nervously looked across to his friend. "Uh, Plan B?"
The response was a simple. "Run!" And everyone scattered in different directions as fast as they could!
Grogar wasn't phased even the slightest. He cackled with fiendish and sadistic glee! "Oh, how lovely! Trying desperately to avoid the inevitable. I do so enjoy when the enemy practically hoofs me victory," And he quickly signaled out the one he needed to capture to make the others stop, bringing said creature to him with a snap of his fingers. "Enough, all of you!" He roared as he brandished his captive! "Stand down right now, or the dragon's wings get clipped! I mean it!"
"SPIKE!" The six stallions all screamed in horror!
Spike could only flail helplessly about in Grogar's grasp. "Don't listen to him, guys! Whatever he does to me I'll find a way to live!" Yet he then felt his wings be pulled on, as if Grogar was trying to yank them right off his spine! It caused him to wince and scream in pain.
That was enough to make the stallions realize the jig was up. Their plan had failed. And Shining spoke for them all as he reluctantly declared. "That's enough, Grogar! Let Spike go!"
"Do you surrender?!" The draconequus demanded of his opponents.
Reluctantly forcing back a gulp, Shining swallowed hard as he simply replied. "Yes."
Delighted with the answer, Grogar released Spike and tossed him to the stallions as they all huddled together. "Okay, time's up. I hope you've all thoroughly enjoyed your existence, because it's about to end!" He began to gather up massive amounts of energy. "If you see that good for nothing King Sombra in the afterlife, give him my regards!" Once he gathered enough, the draconequus tossed it down towards the group.
Everyone shut their eyes and waited for the end to come.
Suddenly, however, something most unexpected drew the attention of the small group. It was possible to hear Grogar express in anguish! "What is the meaning of this?!" And suddenly, it was as if they'd been whisked far away from the battlefield.
"C-can I open my eyes now?" Braeburn reluctantly asked even though he continued to keep his eyes shut.
Spike was the first to take the risk. And what he saw was enough to raise his spirits as he eagerly called out to his friends! "You sure can! It looks like we got our second wind just in time!"
One by one each stallion opened his eyes, and found themselves surrounded in a protective bubble atop a hill that was being conjured up by several powerful unicorns. This didn't just include Twilight, Starlight and Tempest though. Even the princesses and a familiar lanky stallion with a dark red robe were all contributing, as were Night Light and Twilight Velvet and all of Twilight and Shining's old Canterlot friends.
Countless pegasi from the Wonderbolts, the royal guard and all trots of life were also in the group. And so were a number of earth ponies.
And it wasn't just ponies who were in the bubble. Changelings, hippogriffs, yaks, griffons, dragons and even some kirin and a two legged cat creature were there too. And that didn't include those that were out on the battlefield, distracting Grogar.
Twilight smiled. "Gotta hoof it to you, B.B.B.F.F. You were able to come up with one heck of a plan. I wasn't sure it would actually work. But it seems it did."
A familiar, snarky voice called out. "Hey, we did most of the heavy lifting, Headmare Twilight," And soon Gallus and his friends appeared before the stallions. "Each of us got to go out and basically convince our leaders to join the fight. It's the first time Grandpa Gruff's ever said yes to anything I've wanted."
Yona added. "Ponies tough! Yaks even tougher! So yaks and ponies join together to become toughest of all! Prince Rutherford agree!"
Smolder waved a claw. "You know Ember, any excuse to kick some butts is good enough for her."
Silverstream declared with a fiery look in her eyes. "I never would've imagined there could be a bigger stupid jerkface than the Storm King, but I guess I was wrong! Oh well, he'll get what's coming to him! My Aunt Novo will make sure of that!"
Ocellus only commented. "After everything you guys did for the changelings, it only seemed natural to return the favor," Yet she then added. "They should buy you some time. Not much, but some."
Fancy Pants couldn't help but smile. "You may be kids, but you've definitely stepped up big time in the new roles you were asked to take on. Never would've imagined your first test would come so quickly."
Meanwhile, Big Macintosh questioned. "But where did all these ponies come from? And what about the kirin? We don't really have any kirin students last I checked."
At that, Sandbar trotted forward. "You're right, we didn't. But fortunately I know someponies who knew ponies who did," And he motioned with a hoof. "This is your big moment too, you guys. Without your help most of this wouldn't be possible."
Five familiar fillies soon appeared, as did a familiar pegasus colt. It was the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and two of their "honorary members" in Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon! "Each of us got to split off and do different tasks," Apple Bloom explained. "I worked on the earth ponies, Scootaloo and Rumble tended to the pegasi and Sweetie Belle handled the unicorns."
"While we were doing that, Sandbar realized two part time professors at the school once visited the kirin lands," Sweetie Belle explained. "So he had them recruit the kirin."
Scootaloo grinned. "And Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon got to persuade those uppercrusts in Canterlot to help out too."
Diamond Tiara proudly replied. "Mother's constant pressures about making the right connections were good for something, much as I hate to admit it."
Silver Spoon playfully ribbed. "Well, you had a little help, Di. Still, it does feel good to be the big heroes for once. And to think we used to just be school bullies."
Rumble just smiled. "It's just like I told you guys all those months ago, grown-ups don't always have all the answers."
But there was still one detail that left the stallions (and Spike) puzzled. How had all of this come to pass so quickly?
Fortunately for all there soon came an explanation as the lanky stallion with a robe (who was familiar to most all) cleared his throat. "All of this had to be done very quickly. Fortunately, Twilight Sparkle and the new headmare of her school reached out to me. With their help it was possible to quickly produce duplicates of the amulet I use in my line of work," He tapped a hoof to his amulet to demonstrate as a portal opened behind him. He closed it a second later. "Considering these duplicates were made under time constraints though, they had a very limited lifespan. Even I, Chancellor Neighsay, am not a miracle worker."
Starlight Glimmer just smiled and stretched her body. "Not bad for an acting headmare. It was really the least I could do."
Discord, however, spoke up. "This is all fine and dandy. But it doesn't change the fact that Grogar's still out there and still has that bell with all my chaos magic sitting there, unused. What exactly are we gonna do now, guys?"
Chancellor Neighsay smiled. "The same thing you do every time in these situations, save the world!"
"Neighsay's right!" Shining Armor declared with firm determination. "And our plan's still the same. We need to wrestle that bell away from Grogar. It won't be easy, but with all the backup we have now it should be possible."
Soarin grinned and nodded. "Yeah! Grogar's gonna be up against an army the likes of which he's never seen before!"
Princess Celestia, however, cautioned the stallions. "Be very careful. The rest of us will do our best to support you, but even though Grogar isn't completely invincible he's gonna be hard to take down. He's sure to be guarding that bell of his fiercely, and we don't know how exactly it works."
"I'm sure we'll figure it out," Shining replied. "If not, we'll find a way to trick Grogar into revealing the secret," And then he turned to his friends. "You all ready for one more battle, guys?"
Big Macintosh answered for all of them. "Eeyup. We've still got a lot left in the tank!"
The prince eagerly declared. "Then let's get out there and give it all we've got! It's time for old Grogar to finally get what he deserves!" And he led his friends on a charge out of the protective bubble, ready to engage Grogar once again.