Author's Note

Shout out to AstralFlare42, for his contribution of Astral, Aurora and Shade. Thank you, AstralFlare42, for your help in writing this.

Episode 81: Battle for the Bell

Thankfully, Swift wasn’t nearly as out of it as the others assumed.

As Grogar freight-trained towards the Bell, several yaks tried to stand in his way, only to be tossed aside like rag dolls.

But as Grogar’s magical aura reached out to snag the last remnant of his beloved, Swift shot straight by him, snatching the Bell and carrying it away from his clutches.

“Swift? Hey!” Spike yelled, as Twilight tried to take off after him. “Where are you going?”

“I’m getting this thing as far away from him as possible,” Swift declared, as the allied and enemy forces once again clashed, Grogar’s forces trying to aid him while Celestia’s forces alternated between caring for Celestia and keeping the enemy at bay.

Grogar, however, only had eyes on his Bell, storming after Swift, Twilight and Spike like some kind of homing magic missile.

“That’s gonna be more difficult than you think,” Spike said.

“No kidding,” a new voice said, before Swift’s mother Sunny touched down before them. “Don’t even try, kid,” Sunny warned. “You couldn’t beat me the first time, you won’t beat me now.”

Swift gripped the Bell tightly. “Yeah… not without help.”

As he spoke, Hawke shot by him, alongside Gallus, and the two griffons dove right for Sunny’s eyes. As they sent her reeling, Swift rang the Bell, and a burst of it’s magic struck Sunny dead center, draining her down into a hatchling.

Swift took a brief moment to glare at his beaten mother, before a voice cried out. “Behind you!”

The trio spun as Grogar rushed them. Gabby dove into his path, knocking Spike, Twilight and Swift aside, but also sending the Bell bouncing away.

Kira and the Storm King lunged to snatch it up, only for Jackknife and Sapphire to leap from the debris and catch the Storm King with a double punch.

As the Storm King was sent flying away with a roar of outrage, Kira snatched up the Bell. Sapphire dove to stop her, only for Kira to crack her across the head with the Bell, taking her power and leaving the Sea Serpent Queen as a helpless shrimp.

Jackknife hissed and lunged at his rival, but Kira caught him with blood-bending, cackling gleefully as she moved to hit him with the Bell as well.

Spike goaded Twilight forward, but both of them knew they’d never make it in time.

Luckily, Novo appeared, and ran Kira through from behind with a spear.

Kira hissed and whirled on Novo, but in her moment of distraction, Jackknife snatched the Bell and brought it down on Kira’s head. In seconds, Kira was reduced to a small shrimp. One that Novo nearly stepped on in contempt, before the roaring of Grogar sounded behind them.

Jackknife whirled on him with a hiss of defiance, only for Twilight, Spike and Swift to grab him and pull him along.

“No, dude, don’t!” Spike protested. “DB and I already tried that; he’s protected himself against the Bell. Using it won’t work on him!”

“But what about the magic within,” Jackknife asked. “He can’t have protected himself from every kind of magic out there, could he?”

Swift paused, exchanging a curious look with Twilight, but in their moment of hesitation, another enemy lunged for them.

Shade flew in, tail-whipping Twilight to the side. Spike was barely able to hang on as she spun out towards the ground. As they re-oriented, Shade sliced Swift’s arm - the one that held the bell - nearly carving it off. As Swift stumbled, Jack and Aurora converged on him, while Astral ran after Shade, who carried the Bell towards Grogar.

“It seems the Power of Friendship isn’t restricted to just you, Princess,” Grogar mocked, turning to Shade. “The Bell, Lord Shade. Now.”

“Of course, my master,” Shade said, head bowing. “Just give me the opportunity for revenge on those who took Thorn from me.”

However, as Shade held the Bell out to the Father of Monsters… a bright red sword plunged right through his back and out his chest.

Shade coughed up blood as he shakily looked down at his chest. The Bell fell from his hand.

“NO!” Grogar roared, rushing at them, only for Jackknife and Novo to hold him back with magic streams of water. They were joined by Trixie, Starlight and Discord, who all created multiple streams of magic to hold back the Father of Monsters.

But one of them was missing.

“Thorax?” Spike looked around. “Where’s Thorax?”

No one could answer him.

Behind Shade, Phoenix sneered over his shoulder, glaring at the Bell.

“Hey Thorn?” she growled. “You still in that Bell somewhere?” She stabbed Shade from behind again. “Normally, I’d do this to you, but your master will do in a pinch.”

Shade looked back at Phoenix as steam hissed from his body, the blade cauterizing as it cut.

Phoenix then booted Shade off and towards Astral, where Astral made one final swipe that snapped his rival’s neck. He lowered his head, and tears fell from his eyes. “I’m sorry, old friend.”

As Shade and Astral’s rivalry came to an end, Jackknife, Novo, Starlight, Trixie and Discord were flung across the battlefield by another blast of magic from Grogar.

“Time we got moving!” Swift warned.

Before the others could nod, Grogar let loose with another burst of magic.

Spike was flung from Twilight’s back, as the heroes were sent hurtling in every direction.

Hitting the ground with a dull THUD, Spike yelped as he felt his ribs bust under his scales. Rolling to his side, Spike glimpsed the Bell through blurred vision.

Grogar striding triumphantly towards it.

Spike reached out, even though he knew it was hopeless…

Until a familiar flash of black and white shot by him and slammed into Grogar.

Star Wing unfurled before him, eyes pure white and both dark and light magic swirling around her.

Grogar, however, laughed at her display. “You barely beat me before, Star Wing,” he noted. “What makes you think you’ll have any more luck now?”

Star grinned. “I’ve learned to stop hiding from what I’m really capable of.” With a mixture of light and dark magic, she actually caused Grogar to take several steps back.

As she fought against the Father of Monsters, Spike crawled his way towards the Bell. All around him, his friends were either fighting for their lives or lay unconscious (hopefully) in the rubble.

He spotted Smolder and Garble fighting side by side against Garble’s old lackeys.

He saw Silver Stream and Sky Star trying to drag Novo away from the Storm Guards, Storming Seas valiantly trying to protect them.

He saw Ocellus and Pharynx encircled by enemy changelings, Thorax still nowhere to be found.

He saw the Pillars of Harmony guarding Luna as she tended to a beaten Celestia.

He saw Shining Armor still protecting Cadence, who had also been downed.

And he saw the Mane Six, alongside Yona, Sandbar, Gallus, Gabby and Gilda all beaten, lying in the dirt.

Spike wanted to help them. He wanted to save them. But he knew he could only do that by getting to the Bell.

Plus, Aurora was already trying to help them, protected by Astral.

So, he forced himself to look past all of them and stay focused only on the Bell, which lay on its side, still pulsating with light, like a beacon, yet ignored in all the chaos around them.

Until Spike got mere feet away, at which point a shadowy figure loomed up over the Bell.

Spike tried to increase his crawling. He looked around for Twilight. But when he saw her - unconscious in the wreckage - his brief worry about whether to go for the Bell or her was disrupted, as the figure seized the Bell and lifted it, the Bell’s light illuminating the features of…

“Pyrite?” Spike asked. “Or… Diamondback?”

The helmeted dragoness didn’t respond, merely gazing at the light dancing across the Bell’s surface.

“You can end this,” Chrysalis’ voice declared, limping up from the rubble, and sending Spike’s heart into his throat. “Whoever you are, dragon of diamonds… give it to Grogar. End this.”

“Why?” the dragoness asked. “The Bell is mine now.” She stared, hypnotized, into the metal surface. “All that power…”

“You saw what it did to your counterpart,” Spike insisted. “You know you can’t handle that much power.”

“That’s right,” Chrysalis agreed. “Only Grogar is capable of it. Give it to him, and he will reward you beyond measure.”

She tried to step closer, but the dragoness lifted the Bell in warning, quickly causing Chrysalis to back off.

“There’s no reward he can give that’ll be good enough,” Diamondback (or Pyrite?) muttered.

“And there’s no punishment you can imagine that he won’t inflict on you,” Thorax’s voice declared.

“Thorax!” Spike whispered in hope, as Thorax strode up behind Chrysalis.

“You?!” Chrysalis hissed. “How?! I…”

“Showed me just what you are,” Thorax growled back. “You can claim to be the Mother of the Hive, but when we disobey you… you see us as threats.” He looked back towards his changelings, who were struggling against their counterparts.

“I warned you,” Chrysalis snapped. “I told you I would not be merciful if you went against me again.”

“So, why should Grogar be any different?” Spike noted to the diamond dragoness. “You spied on him; you’re not fully with him, now or then.”

The diamond dragoness considered Spike, her claws still caressing the Bell. Spike felt fear that it was Pyrite he was talking to, and that a speech of friendship would fall on deaf ears.

“The power can be nice,” Spike said. “But it won’t keep you alive.”

The dragoness hummed. “And Friendship will?”

Spike wanted to say yes. But what if this was Pyrite… would that be enough for her?

Spike was spared from having to answer when Star Wing suddenly flew over their heads with a scream, hitting the ground with enough force to be left embedded in the dirt.

Everyone spun as Grogar marched towards them, eyes red with malice and horns alight with gold and black magic.

Before his eyes could lock on them, however, the diamond dragoness let out a small “meep” of terror and tossed the Bell into the air.

Spike lunged forward and just barely managed to catch the Bell.

“I’ve have enough of this,” Grogar snarled. “GIVE ME MY BELL!”

Chrysalis lunged at Spike with a hiss, but Thorax tackled his mother, both changelings rolling away.

Spike was left alone and powerless as Grogar bore down on him.

Or… almost powerless. Spike looked down at the Bell again.

“What about the magic within,” Jackknife’s question echoed in Spike’s mind. “He can’t have protected himself from every kind of magic out there, could he?”

Yet, at the same time, Spike’s own words came back to him: “You saw what it did to your counterpart. You know you can’t handle that much power.”

But with Grogar feet away from him, Spike didn’t see many other options. He held his breath, brought the bell down…

Just as Grogar hit him.

Spike was sent careening across the battlefield, vanishing under debris. At the same time, Grogar picked up the bell.

“At last,” Grogar chuckled darkly. “The power of every species in Equestria. And it’s… all… mine?”

Grogar’s grin faded. The Bell wasn’t glowing with color anymore. He checked the inside, but it was now a simple dull iron sheen.

That’s when everyone became aware of a rumbling in the earth. Spike rose back up, but he was far from a simple baby dragon.

The power of every species pulsed through his veins, giving him scales, feathers and fur alike. Horns from every species that had them grew across his brow, and his several different wings - that of pegasi, griffons, dragons, and many others - unfurled across his back.

Grogar could only gaze at the being the mixture of magic had created. “Incredible…” he whispered.

That was when Spike breathed in, and blasted Grogar full force with the magic of every species in Equestria.

Grogar was sent careening across the battlefield, carving a deep trench into the earth. Leaping into the air, Spike shot at the downed ram, and smashed him even deeper into the ground.

Grogar wheezed as the air was crushed out of his lungs, and reached for the Bell. “Echidna…” he groaned.

Spike seized his horns, and tore them off with a growl. Grogar bellowed in agony as his nearly lifted the Beast Spike had become off him.

But Spike used the momentum to his advantage, briefly jumping off before dropping back down, crushing Grogar further into the earth.

Spike began ruthlessly beating the Father of Monsters further, creating a massive pit that began to send them down into Tartarus, and even further down than that.

As Spike buried the Father of Monsters, his army fell back, horrified that their patron was being so thoroughly beaten. With the armies of evil falling back, the Pillars were free to race to the edge of the pit.

“Quickly,” Starswirl declared. “We must seal this pit within, so that Grogar may never rise again.”

“Wait,” Luna stammered, as the others regained consciousness. “But what about Spike?”

“We all saw what became of his companion when the power of every species was imbued within her,” Starswirl said forlornly. “We must assume that his mind is similarly lost.”

“No!” Starlight growled, pulling herself from the rubble to limp her way over. “Not everyone who becomes a villain stays one.

“She’s right,” Twilight insisted, pulling herself up as well. “Spike can still be reached. I’m sure of it.”

And before the others could stop her, Twilight spread her wings and dove down into the pit.

“Spike!” Twilight called.

Spike paused in his beating of Grogar to regard her, his eyes no longer their usual green, but swirling with the colors of the rainbow.

“Spike, I know you’re in there,” Twilight said. “We went through this before, remember? You fell to the Greed, but you came back then. I know you can come back now.”

“SPIKE!” several voices cried out from above. Looking up, Spike saw his friends gathering.

“We’re still here, buddy,” Jackknife said. “You know we’d never leave you hanging. Don’t leave us hanging now!”

“I know what you’re feeling right now,” Phoenix said. “That much power… the ability to do whatever you want? It’s so tempting to go all out with it. But I know you’re better than that. You don’t need that power for everything.”

“I know how awful it is to feel weak and useless,” Swift said. “But you’ve never been weak. You gave me a chance to discover more about myself than I ever realized. I may have left for the Dragon Lands to find my mother… but you were the real family I made along the way.”

“You’ve done so much good, Spike,” Star Wing insisted. “Don’t ruin it now by giving into bad thoughts. Dark magic is just a tool; it’s the person behind it that can use it for good or ill.”

Spike gazed at all of them. He could feel Thorn’s magic swirling around with the rest. However, Grogar groaned, and then growled.

“Such sentiment won’t save you…” he vowed, his magic charging up around his eyes.

Spike glared down at Grogar briefly, though in Grogar’s place, he saw Thorn.

“You were wrong about me, Thorn,” Spike thought defiantly. “You may have been stronger physically, but I have you matched in loyalty to my friends and family.”

Acting fast, Spike grabbed Twilight in one claw, and unleashed another beam of pure energy into Grogar. The energy was so powerful, it lifted Spike clean out of the hole, while leaving Grogar still stuck at the bottom.

“E-Elements…” Spike got out.

“Huh?” Twilight asked.

“Elements…” Spike insisted, tapping his chest. “On… me…”

“But…” Twilight was cut off as Spike’s eyes flashed green, and he smiled at her.

“Trust…” He said. “Trust… brother…”

Her eyes widening, Twilight nodded, and when Spike released her, she flew back down to the others.

“Use the Elements on Spike,” she commanded.

“I thought you just said he could come back,” Starswirl said.

“He can,” Twilight said. “He’s got a plan. And I trust him.” She looked up at Spike. “I trust my brother.”

Spike grinned at her, before offering his hand.

Taking a breath, Twilight fired a white beam of energy to him. At the same time, Jackknife, Swift, Phoenix and the Pillars all fired their own beams.

Grogar was already struggling back up, but Spike saw him coming, and blasted him back down.

As Grogar fought, the other Elements came over: The Young Six and Mane Six reformed, dragging each other over to add their energy. Star Wing managed to limp her way over to her friends. Cadence, supported by Shining Armor. Thorax, standing victoriously over a beaten Chrysalis.

Briefly, Novo hesitated. “I… but I lost my power,” she noted. “How…”

Spike merely flicked his finger, and a beam of light went to Novo and Sapphire, restoring their power while also still empowering him with their essence. A similar beam went to Celestia, similarly restoring her.

Yet, even with the leaders and several Element Bearers lending their strength… Grogar continued to claw his way out.

“I-It’s not working!” Rainbow Dash stammered. “Why isn’t it working?”

Star and Jackknife glanced at each other. “I think it’s because we don’t have everyone here.”

“Diamondback!” Swift said. “Where’s Diamondback?”

“For that matter, where’s Pyrite?” Phoenix pointed out.

The helmeted dragoness answered by stepping up next to them, holding a tiny white dragon hatchling.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wait… what?”

Ripping off her helmet, Pyrite held the de-powered Diamondback up like some kind of lion king. Seeing what she was doing, Spike added a beam of essence to the white dragonesses.

The beam focused on Grogar strengthened. And though he still pounded and roared against the beam, he was unable to penetrate it, as the beam formed into a barrier, shoving Grogar back down into the earth, before making the ground rumble and shake.

The ground began to fall out, caving in and burying the beam under a ton of rock and stone. Though despite the rumbling and cracking, the edges did not falter, and no one was dropped.

In seconds, Grogar lay buried underneath a smooth patch of solid, slightly glowing stone, emblazoned with runes similar to the ones that had once held him.

With Grogar buried, Spike let the beam travel back up to himself, and flared his wings. A shockwave of light exploded out from him, as the rubble from the battle was cleared, and the injuries on the wounded were healed.

Spike lowered to the ground, his powers restored and his muscular form back. He smiled at the others, as the Pillars and Leaders cautiously checked the ground.

“Did it work?” Thorax asked.

Starswirl tapped the runes. “It appears so,” he said, looking up with a smile. “Grogar has been beaten.”

Astral’s eyes fell on Shade. “There’s still work to be done.”

Aurora nodded. “Yes. But let’s all contribute. Together.”