Having defeated Nine-Tails and taking most of his energy, Star retunde to reality and opened his eyes, while showing a smile.
“Yes!” Star exclaimed, with Hawthorn replying with a smile.
“What happened?” Golden Paladin asked.
“Well, a little of this, a little of that” Star answered.
And so he bumped with Hawthorn who, getting to know what happened, he said:
“I can see that you two had a very intense fight that you were able to win. And it seems you had a little help that wasn’t mine”
“Let me guess, you got help from Heartbeat” Golden Paladin said to Star.
“How do you know?” Star asked.
“I could feel her presence inside you” Golden Paladin answered. “She’s really a box full of surprises, even for me.”
“So, she was really the General of Affection” Hawthorn said. “I knew there was something about that presence that helped you, young Star.”
“And now you were able to do what she wasn’t at the time when she was Nine-Tails’ jinchuriki” Golden Paladin said. “You have his energy, right?”
“Yes, and you don’t have to worry” Star said. “I stored the Nine-Tails’ energy in a different place than my own. That way, I’m not using it all the time.”
Inside Star, at the place where he had stored Nine-Tails’ energy, the huge amount of energy stored at the shape of a giant ball was chained by golden chains. Star, looking at it, accessed to his magic and a stream of energy came to him, starting to be absorbed by his horn.
Outside, Star took the same form he did when he absorbed Nine-Tails’ energy.
“This is how I look when I access to the Nine-Tails’ energy” Star said.
“I can sense a strong life energy coming from it” Golden Paladin said. “I can dare to say that is very likely that it can even affect my magic and the other Generals, and that’s just saying the least.”
At that moment, Star felt something dark at the same room as them. Noticing that, Golden asked:
“What is it?”
Star then said to the air:
“Do you really think you can hide from me now?”
“You’re sensing someone here?” Golden Paladin asked.
“If that’s true, then it is quite impressive as I’m not sensing anyone” Hawthorn said.
Inside Shark Skin, Kelp thought it was impossible that Star was able to sense him, as his aura was the same as the sword and anyone would be able to sense it.
“No, it’s not a physical presence” Star said. “I feel something, but it’s another thing, something sinister and it’s coming from that blade.”
He pointed to Shark Skin.
“The blade?” Golden Paladin asked.
And Shark Skin just moved out Hawthorn’s back, while its scales started to rip the bandages and the sword’s mouth opened, only for Kelp start to appear. The base of the sword landed at the floor and Kelp said to Star:
“It appears you can sense hate and other negative emotions. That ability is far more superior than any sensing ability. It is like Heartbeat’s, what makes sense. That must be a power belonging to the jinchuriki who mastered the power of Nine-Tails.”
“Kelp…” Golden Paladin said. “I knew the Lord of Chaos would ask for help to other villains. I just didn’t expect it would be you.”
“Wait, how can this be possible?” Hawthorn said. “I thought I and my brother chopped out your head out. How is it possible that you were able to dodge our team attack?”
“It was quite simple” Kelp replied “I merely switched places when we were fighting inside that bubble of water. You only cut out the head of my clone.”
“But a clone disappears when it is hit hard and there is no question that we buried a body” Hawthorn said. “And, it it was a changeling or another pretending to be you, Blackthorn would have been able to see it.”
“It was a very special kind of clone, one that cannot be perceive that easily” Kelp answered. “But let that be for now. I’m in a situation where I have to face two jinchuriki and the leader of the Generals. That’s tough, even for me. ”
Using some of the Shark Skin’s scales like insect legs, he pressed a hidden button that started to open the door of the chamber.
“No way, how was he able to figure out how to open the door.”
“Now that’s a silly question.” Kelp replied. “After all, I did come here to act as a spy.”
And after saying that, he started to used Shark Skin to walk around the walls, heading to the opened door. Decided to not let him escape, Star took flight, but the energy he now had gave him more speed than he expected and he was able to reach kelp and hit him with a single blow that was able to crack the wall, before Golden Paladin and Hawthorn’s surprise.
“Wow, he really moved so fast that seemed that he used a teleportation spell” Hawthorn commented.
Kelp couldn’t also believe in how fast Star reacted against him. The blow was also so strong that he spitted blood. In the end, Kelp managed to release himself from Star and get out. Before that, Star intended to follow him, but he noticed that one of his back hooves was stuck at the cracks of the wall.
“My leg!” he exclaimed. “I hit the wall too hard and now I’m stuck!”
“It looks like you don’t have the skills to control it yet” Golden Paladin said, turning then to Hawthorn. “Please, go after the spy, Lord Hawthorn. I’ll help Prince Star Knight.”
“Right!” Hawthorn replied, advancing to the exit, while Golden Paladin went to Star.
Meanwhile, Kelp continued to advance towards the waterfall, while Hawthorn chased after him.
Outside, Blackthorn approached the Waterfall of True, after reporting to his king, saying:
“I wonder how Prince Star Knight is doing with his training.”
When he was about to cross the lake around the waterfall, Kelp stepped out of it.
“Wait, what?” Blackthorn asked, seeing Kelp. “But you are…”
“Get out of my way, deer!” Kelp exclaimed.
“No way, kelpie!” Blackthorn replied.
And, with a tackle, Blackthorn threw Kelp with force against one of the walls of the waterfall. Soon after that, Hawthorn immerged from the waterfall.
“Hawthorn…” Blackthorn said.
“It’s a good thing you caught him” Hawthorn said, putting himself besides his friend. “He is a spy for the Lord of Chaos.”
“But I thought you and King Aspen had dealt with him” Blackthorn replied. “How can he be still alive?”
“Well, that is not certain yet, but we have major problems to think about” Hawthorn replied. “We cannot let him escape, or else the enemy will have intel about us.”
The rest of the bandages were undone and Shark Skin defused from Kelp and headed to Hawthorn.
“Damn you, Shark Skin” Kelp said to the sword.
Arriving to Hawhtorn, Shark Skin started to give some kind of hug to Hawthorn and he said to it:
“Oh, I see, he forced you. That must have been really ruff to you, hein?”
Without being noticed, Kelp drove into the water and swim until he reached the sword’s handle and started to absorbed energy. Feeling that, Shark Skin started to act strange and bite Hawthorn while continuing to give him his strong “hug”.
“Don’t you think you’re exaggerating a little bit, my dear?” Hawthorn asked to Shark Skin.
And then Blackthorn, who had been distracted by Hawthorn and Shark Skin weird interaction, noticed Kelp’s absence.
“Oh no, he escape through the water” Blackthorn said. “Hawthorn, watch out!”
Kelp started to recover his energy by absorbing Hawthorn’s through Shark Skin. After finishing, Kelp dropped the sword and Hawthorn started to get weak by the sudden loss of energy. Kelp came to the surface and Blackthorn tried to stopped him, but, all of the sudden, Kelp was surrounded by water and rose into the air and started to move away.
“He’s getting away!” Blackthorn exclaimed. “We have to stop him. If he gets out of the island, it’s over.”
“Don’t worry, I will…” Hathorn started to say.
But then he could feel his body weakening and he when to the platform where he laid down.
“Are you okay, Hawthorn?” Blackthorn asked, while Shark Skin positioned itself besides its owner.
“Yeah, I’m okay” Hawthorn replied.
Back to the chamber at the temple, Golden was able to get Star out of the crack and then started to heal him.
“I can’t believe I just twisted my hoof” Star said.
“You have to be careful about keeping your power under control” Golden Paladin said to him, after finishing. “Alright let’s go then.”
Star nodded with the head.
Kelp arrived to the edge of the island and then he used his magic to create a scroll with all the information about the enemy to give to the General of Chaos. Then he created a great and strong bubble where he put the scroll the inside. When he was about to send the bubble, he heard a voice saying:
“You know, and I was thinking this island couldn’t get any interesting.”
Kelp turned around and saw Discord, who was floating in the air while holding a tanning mirror.
“Can you imagine that the only thing I find interesting is the beach and it’s only because it’s spiked?” Discord asked. “I mean, how many beaches that you know that have spikes just like that without having been come from my own hand?”
“Discord…” Kelp said. “I must say that I’m surprised to see you. What a pleasure.”
“Unfortunately, I cannot say the feeling is mutual, Kelp” Discord replied, throwing the mirror away. “After all, your look only makes me feel sick.”
“Even though, I can’t resist but respect you” Kelp said. “After all, it’s not any villain that is capable of getting free from the prison created by those Elements of Harmony.”
Discord, who got bored from Kelp’s words, was sitting in a floating chair, while reading a magazine with a hairdryer drying the hair with hair rollers he had created. When he noticed he had finished talking, he said:
“Oh you stopped talking, good.”
And, with a flash, he appeared normal and then said:
“Sorry to disappoint you, but the feeling is not mutual.”
And he snapped his fingers and then Kelp found himself imprisoned in stocks.
“I can’t believe you’re actually helping the foolish follower’s of the Lord of Order” Kelp said. “You, a creature of chaos.”
“Yes, but I made a great friend and I wouldn’t hate that she found out that I let a villain escape without doing nothing to stop him” Discord said.
“Well, if that’s so, then it seems you failed” Kelp said to him.
And, with a move from one of his hind hooves, he made a shock wave that hit the bubble and threw it away fast.
“Now the bubble will reach it’s destination and there is nothing you can do to stop it” Kelp said.
“Your jerk!” Discord exclaimed. “And I was thinking in showing this act to everypony and rub it in their faces. Except for Fluttershy, of course. She’s the one that truly believed in me. But I guess that I can live with half of the fame.”
Star and Golden Paladin got out of the waterfall and, seeing Hawthorn getting up after recovering from the energy loss, the General of Peace asked:
“Where’s Kelp?”
“He got away” Blackthorn said. “We must find him right away, before it is too late.”
“But it is already too late” Discord voice said.
And he appeared.
“Discord…” Golden Paladin said. “What do you mean by that?”
“What I mean is that intel is all long gone” Discord said. “But, I got you a present as compensation for what you just lost.”
And, with a finger snap, he made Kelp appear and then said:
“Consider this a gift.”
“You captured him?” Golden Paladin said. “Well, I have to say that is impressive.”
“Ah, I feel insulted!” Discord exclaimed. “As if someone like me would lose to a disgusting kelpie. You could at least show some gratitude.”
Golden laughed and then said:
“Yeah, you’re right” Golden Paladin said. “Despite everything, you did a good job, Discord.”
“Finaly some recognition from a General” Discord said. “And it was from none other than Golden Paladin. It is a good thing I recorded this.”
And he made appear a recorder where he recorded Golden Paladin saying what he just said and then the spirit of chaos played it over and over again.
“Oh, I can’t wait to use this to create a remix” Discord said, turning then to the ponies and deer. “Well, dear friends, it is time for me, the great Discord to leave you. Have a nice day.”
And he disappear.
“Well, it is time to put a kelpie in the book” Golden Paladin said, summoning the cell blaster with a life cell and the prison-book.
“No, you cannot put me in those tiny little cells without any water” Kelp said.
“Don’t worry, my cells are designed to accommodate their respective prisoners in their basic needs” Golden Paladin said. “You’re going to be fine.”
And, without saying anything else, the General of Peace put Kelp inside the life cell and then inside the prison-book, from where he would end up in Tartarus.
“And it’s another villain to Tartarus” Golden Paladin said. “I just hope we can recover the ones who escape.”
Shark Skin, laying on the ground made a few sounds and Hawthorn approached it and said, while petting it:
“It seems this little one really liked him. Just look how sad it is.”
“Even so, now we have a problem” Star said. “Now the enemy will have the intel about us.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, young prince” Golden Paladin said. “What is done is done. What we most do now is to act immediately and informs the others.”
After saying that, Golden Paladin created a ball of light with all the information about what happened and directed it to Twilight. After that, he approached Blackthorn and said to him in a way that Star didn’t listen:
“We must assume the enemy knows our location” Golden Paladin said. “I think it is for the best if we moved Prince Star Knight and Lord Hawthorn to a new place.”
“I see, but you don’t have to worry about that” Blackthorn said. “There is a reason why this island was chosen to hold the two jinchuriki.”
After he told Golden the reason, the General said:
“I see, that’s ingenious” Golden Paladin said. “An actual island that is capable of sinking and unsinking itself, while having its inside completely dry thanks to a protection spell.”
“It is a mechanical defense that we, deer, created along with the griffons of Aeropolis in order to protect the Tailed Beast Temple” Blackthorn explained. “But, even with that, moving the island, will be a challenge to do it without getting Prince Star Knight knowing what we are doing.”
“Well, leave it to me” Golden Paladin replied. “I know how to deal with him.”
At the villains’ hideout at Arimaspi’s territory, the General of Chaos had summoned the villains. There, were Chrysalis, Adagio, Grogar, Ulysses, the Trix and Featherwing. There was also a mirror enchanted by the General so the Dragon King could participate in the meeting from where he was.
“So, why did you call us?” Icy asked. “Will you finally let us do something for a change?”
“I really hope so” Stormy said. “I’m so impatient to finally blow up something.”
“It is better that you don’t let us in the dark about what we’ll do now… General” Darcy said.
“I can’t believe we have to hear those newbies complaining like that” Adagio said, with only Ulysses listening to her. “It is not like they worked for years and sealed seven Tailed Beasts so our master’s plan could be realized.”
“For once, I agree with you, Adagio” Ulysses said.
“You have to learn to have patience” Grogar said to the witches. “That was what allowed our plan to get this far.”
He then turned to the General and asked him:
“So, what will be our next move?”
“I just received Kelp’s intel of the enemy” the General said, showing the scroll. “In it, I was able to know where the Nine-Tails is. It is in an island in Thicket.”
“Oh, I see…” Chrysalis said. “It seems we are back on track on our mission to get the remaining Tailed Beasts.”
“You’re right, Chrysalis” the General said. “It is time for that. And I have the best one for the job.”
“Well, finally I will be able to cause some chaos” Stormy said.
“I’m sorry, but a job like this will require speed and stealth” Featherwing said. “And the fact that we are talking about an island, it makes more sense that I am the most reasonable choise.”
“Aren’t you forgetting about me, feather brain?” the Dragon King said. “I can summon an army of dragons to deal with Nine-Tails.”
“Wow, it’s just like watching wolves fighting for a single bone” Chrysalis commented to Grogar.
“They have been confined to a cell for years” he replied her. “You cannot blame them for wanting some action.”
“Actually, I have another pony in mind” the General said. “But don’t worry, your time will come. After all, the war is close to its start. Now, let me introduce you to our new partner.”
And there was a pale yellow light and, from it, appeared a unicorn mare with a light brilliant gold coat with a scythe and three star seeds as Cutie Mark, a brilliant and moderate orange mane and light gold eyes. She had a very serene look, although it was possible to see some indifference as well.
“Dear fellow villains, allow me to introduce you our newest partner” the General of Chaos said. “Gentle Light, the General of Death…”