Back in Equestria, the group of creatures that were battling kept fighting hard, with the yaks shaking the ground to keep the soldiers down while the dragons and Kirins - now turned into Niriks - burned their flanks and caused some comedic results in the process. Meanwhile, the Changelings caused confusion among the soldiers and distracted them long enough for the unicorns to blast them into the Earth Pony's kicks while the Pegasi, griffins, and hippogriffs bucked and clawed away at the soldiers.
JJ was slashing down some soldiers with Sunset, Princess Twilight, and Sci-Twi providing shields and extra blasts where they were needed.
Sci-Twi grunted as she slid back from a powerful shot and shook her head before looking at JJ and shouting over the clashes, "I don't think this is doing anything!"
"Just hang on, Sci-Twi!" Sunset blasted another soldier out of the way. "Hopefully the others will be back soon!" She grunted as a soldier jumped on her to try and subdue her before she reared back, knocking him off.
Meanwhile, Starlight had grabbed an old item from her village, the Staff of Equality, and brought it with her as she and the boys went full tilt gallop to the Everfree Forest.
"Good thing I sent a message to Spike on the way here!" Starlight panted slightly as she ran, seeing Zecora's hut in the distance. "Yes!" She sprinted the last few hoofbeats with her companions.
Equestrian Spike was waiting for the group as he ushered them inside quickly and closed the door behind them, putting a claw to his lips as he listened outside.
Drakkon's soldiers could be heard galloping past the hut as if they didn't notice it, disappearing into the woods shortly thereafter.
Spike sighed in relief and slumped against the wall as he told them, "They're gone."
Starlight, Sunburst, and Starswirl all breathed a shared relieved sigh as well, looking at each other worriedly.
Starswirl looked over as he heard a pair of hoofsteps walk over and he went to them with a smile as he asked, "I presume you're Miss Zecora?"
The zebra in question smiled as she came into the light and responded in a rhyme, as was her way; "Indeed, Starswirl, it is I. I must say, you're a sight for sore eyes."
Starswirl chuckled lightly and told her, "Times change a lot over a thousand years."
Starlight stepped forward quickly, "Zecora, did you get our message?"
Zecora nodded, "The situation you face is dire, I understand. But never fret, for I shall give a helping hoof and hand." She walked around to her herbs and grabbed some down, looking to Spike next, "Young drake, can you reach the topmost shelf? There's a few herbs up there I cannot get myself."
"You got it," Spike flew up to the high shelf and picked up the herbs in question, flying down to Zecora and sprinkling a bit of each plant into her cauldron as she added the rest in, giving him the opportunity then to get down and blow some of his fire under the pot to let it heat up.
Zecora nodded to him as she stirred the potion, making sure the color was what she wanted before she looked to the unicorns. "Now attend thee, my fellow quadrupeds. We must make sure this potion is magically fed."
Starlight nodded and walked over, getting into position before she and Starswirl charged their horns up.
"Okay, this is gonna take a good amount of precision and timing. One wrong mistake and we risk losing it all for nothing." Sunburst timed the swirl to the exact moment it stopped before he looked at them. "Go!"
The magically experienced unicorns fired equal amounts of mana into the potion, keeping their power surging for as long as it needed.
Sunburst watched the color change once again before he looked at the two unicorns. "Okay!"
The Stars stopped their horns and panted slightly, Starlight blowing some trailing smoke off the tip of her horn proudly.
Sunburst peeked in and saw the potion turn a bright blue, just what they needed. "Alright! That's the right amount of magic!"
Spike peeked out the window and saw the soldiers coming back around. "Uh-oh." He looked at the others and reported, "We got company! About a dozen soldiers, give or take!"
Starlight looked at Spike and wondered, "How good is your fire since reaching puberty?"
Spike thought it over. "Practically been keeping up on my practice everyday. Why?" he asked with a knowing smirk.
Starlight smiled as well; this idea could work to ensure they could get back to the others.
A green fire erupted in front of the soldiers as they quickly stopped and tried to find a way around it, only to be caught by walls of fire at every turn.
Spike smirked as he flew back to the four, "Success! With a few broken trees in their way, they'd have to get sheer dumb luck to escape where my fire sends them!"
Starlight nodded. "Good job, Spike! Now let's get back to Twilight and the others!" She lead the four out of the hut and through the forest, teleporting them away once they were within sight of Ponyville.
Back at the battle, the Equestrian Forces were holding the army back as long as possible, Sunset and JJ standing back to back as they looked at a group surrounding them.
Suddenly, several blasts of teal magic hit the soldiers and knocked them aside as Starlight ran over and took her position by her friends. "Got the potion ready and the Staff has been fully charged!"
Sunset nodded and accepted the items in her own cyan aura, shrinking the staff before she put it in her bag and looking at JJ, "We're gonna need a portal back to Canterlot High, and we can't use the mirror portal right now!"
"Gotcha covered!" He threw up a dimensional connector and caught it with his wing, shooting by Sci-Twi and making a portal.
Sci-Twi looked over in time and saw the portal before she nodded to the others. "Let's go!" She jumped through first, followed by JJ.
Sunset looked at Starlight, "You wanna help, you're more than welcome to!"
Starlight smirked, "Let's get moving! We got a bunch of dimensions to save!" She ran through the portal, followed by Sunset.