Star Knight and the Nine-Tailed Fox

by Rakoon1


Rescuing the Leader of the Pony-Panthers

In a temple located in a jungle at the south of Equestria, Rothbart and Medusa appeared and headed to the entrance, with the former dragging an unconscious Strongpaw. They got in and advanced through the corridors until they reached a large chamber, where Chrysalis, Adagio, Oogie Boogie, Grogar and Ulysses were.

"You're late" Grogar said.

“The Jinchuriki proved more powerful than I expected” Rothbart.

And he released Strongpaw, putting him in the center of the chamber.

"Well, what do you know" Chrysalis said. "It looks like you really captured the first Jinchuriki, Rothbart."

"Yeah, unlike Adagio whose the only thing she did was to warn the enemy of our intentions" Ulysses said.

"If I were you, Ulysses, I wouldn't talk about what you don't know" Adagio replied. "Furthermore, our enemy knows what we want and that it was the time to get it."

"Enough of that" a voice said.

And the Lord of Chaos appeared, making the villains to bow before him.

"We have an important task to accomplish now" he continued, turning then to Rothbart. "Good job, Rothbart. I see the magic I gave you wasn't a waste. It's a shame you had to sacrifice one of your limbers."

"It was nothing, my lord" Rothbart said. "For you, I would sacrifice any limber. In addition, it was nothing I couldn't deal with."

"Yes, cutting off one of my creations" Medusa replied.

The Lord of Chaos then hit the ground with his spear and, from the ground, the top part of the statue of the body of Ten-Tails appeared.

"Put yourself in position at the Demonic Statue" the Lord of Chaos ordered.

And each of the villains positioned themselves on top of one of the fingers of the statue.

“All right, we shall begin” the Lord of Chaos said, disappearing and reappearing on a finger as well.

He made a gesture with the spear and the bit of the statue fell, releasing its mouth.

“It will now take three days and nights” the Lord of Chaos said. “You don’t have to worry about any surprise during the extraction. This temple is protected from any follower of the Order. For that reason, I want all of you focused on your task, is that clear?”

“Yes, master” they all said.

They all closed their eyes and concentrated. They were all enveloped by an aura with a malignant look and then, in the mouth of the statue, an intense energy appeared.

"Let the extraction begin!" the Lord of Chaos exclaimed.

And from this energy, nine tentacles with a dragon-like shape began to address towards Strongpaw. They shot him and then raised him, involving him in a sphere of energy linked to the inside of the statue. Strongpaw started moaning in pain and the red energy from his Tailed Beast began to bleed out through his mouth and eyes and then absorbed by the statue.

In the Light Kingdom, the morning began to break. In the room of the two leaders, the sunbeams started to get in through the window. Blue Sword woke up and then turned to his beloved wife, who was still sleeping with her head atop of his shoulder and hugging him. Blue Sword smiled, while he admired her beauty under the morning sun. It was then that she began to wake up.

"Hello there…" he said.

Twilight opened her eyes and, looking to Blue, smiled and replied:

"Hello..."

"Did you sleep well?" Blue asked.

"Of course" Twilight replied. "With you by my side, I always sleep well. You're up for a long time?"

"No, I woke up just before you" Blue said. "But even if he had been up for longer, I wouldn’t dare to get up. You know you look so beautiful when you wake up, my love?"

Twilight gave a small laugh and said:

"Do you always have to be so flattering in the morning?"

"You know me, I'm an early pony."

And the two started exchanging caresses of love. It was then that somepony started knocking on the door of their room, what caused the couple to interrupt their moment of love. Thwarted, Blue got up and went to the door, saying:

"Who dares to bother us in the morning?"

Blue arrived to the door and opened it, faced one of the guards of the Light Guard.

"I'm sorry to bother you and Princess Twilight, Prince Blue Sword, but this is an emergency" he said.

"What is it, soldier?" Blue, as Twilight approached.

"We received an urgent message from the pony-panthers" the guard said. "Apparently, Rothbart managed to invade their village and to capture Chief Strongpaw."

"What?!" Twilight and Blue asked, unable to believe.

In the temple, the Lord of Chaos and the villains continued with the extraction of One-Tail from Strongpaw. As the extraction progressed, the eyes of the statue began to open very slowly.

Back to the Light Castle, Twilight and Blue were walking thought the corridors with an hasty step with the guard who warned them following them.

"This is very bad" Blue said. "I never thought that they would be able to get in the oasis of pony-panthers and much less they would be able to capture Chief Strongpaw."

"If they are able to seal One-Tail, they will be only a step closer from resurrect Ten-Tails... and a step closer from Star" Twilight said.

"I'm not going to let that happen, Twily" Blue said. "The extraction still takes time to be completed. We still have time to find and rescue Chief Strongpaw."

He turned to the guard and said to him:

"Send a message to the pony-panthers saying that we're sending help immediately. The meeting point can be on the border between the Golden Desert and the Grand Light Canyon."

"Yes, sir" the guard replied, going to fulfill the order Blue gave him.

"What are you thinking of doing, Blue?" Twilight asked him.

"Golden Paladin went to Thicket to resume Star’s training and Purple Smoke, our best tracker, is also there" he said. "Therefore, I will organize a group of our best guards and then we leave to the Golden Desert."

Twilight waved and then said:

"Heartbeat must return from her mission still this morning. When she comes back, I'll send her to tell Golden Paladin and Purple Smoke what’s going on."

Blue waved, also thinking that that was the best plan at that time.

At the Academy, Star and Bramble had just come out of their room to go to their first class when Golden Paladin appeared.

"Good morning, young prince" he greeted Star.

"Golden, it’s you" Star said.

"Good morning, General of Peace" Bramble greeted.

"Good morning, Prince Bramble" Golden Paladin greeted back. "Could you give me a moment with Prince Star Knight. I need to talk to him."

"Sure" Bramble replied, turning then to Star. "See you in class, Star."

And he walked away.

"Don't worry, young prince, this won't take long" Golden Paladin said. "I wouldn’t be able to deprive you from your first day of school."

"You come for the training?" Star asked.

"Yes, I'd like to restart it this afternoon after school, if you want" Golden Paladin said.

"Of course, I can't wait" Star replied.

"You seem pretty excited" Golden Paladin observed. "Did you forget what happened in the last traning?"

"Of course not" Star replied, recalling that horrible incident. "But that is why I have to learn to control this power as soon as possible."

"I see..." Golden Paladin said. "Well, then it's settled."

"Great!" Star said. "Now, I'm going to class. Goodbye, Golden."

And he moved away. Watching him going, Golden Paladin couldn't stop worrying with Star’s anxiety before the idea of being able to control Nine-Tails’ power.

After taking almost an hour to get his best guards, Blue Sword and the guards that he gathered headed towards the Grand Light Canyon, arriving at the border with the Golden Desert in the early afternoon. Waiting for them, was a pony-panther who said, when Blue and his guards arrived at his edge.

"It's a great honor, Prince Blue Sword" he said, making a brief bow. "I hope you can help us find our leader."

"That's why I'm here" Blue Sword said. "Rescuing your leader is also an interest to the Light Kingdom, not only because of our friendship, but also for the safety of the Pony World."

"Please, follow me, I’ll take you to a place where we found a clue that can help" the pony-panther said.

"Perfect, takes us there" Blue asked.

And so the pony-panther advanced to the desert with Blue and his guards following him.

Golden Paladin was in the place where Star’s training usually took place when the young alicorn prince was at the academy. He felt a presence he knew approaching and asked:

"What are you doing here, Heartbeat?"

And she showed up with her speed and said:

"I know you said to not come to the academy, but we have a situation."

"That kind of situation?" Golden Paladin asked.

"Apparently, Rothbart managed to capture Chief Strongpaw" Heartbeat said.

"What did you say?" Golden Paladin asked.

"What you just heard. He managed to get in the pony-panther village and defeated Chief Strongpaw. Apparently, he became quite proficient with his dark magic."

"So they didn't lose time long after Adagio’s attempt. The Lord of Chaos must want his plan starting as soon as possible."

"Blue is already heading to the Golden Desert" Heartbeat said. "Princess Twilight sent me to warn you and Purple Smoke. He's on his way to help Blue with his tracking abilities."

"So we have no time to lose" Golden Paladin said. "Even if we can't prevent the extraction, we can still save Strongpaw. I just gotta tell Prince Star Knight that unfortunately we can't have our training today and possibly in the next few days."

"Are you going to tell him about what's going on?" Heartbeat asked.

"Of course not" Golden Paladin replied. "If he knows what's happening, he most likely will want to get involved and we can't let that happen."

Having said that, Golden Paladin charged his horn with magic and freed a sphere of light that started hovering in the same spot.

"That must do it" the General of Peace, addressing then to Heartbeat. "Let’s go, Heartbeat."

"Ok, I'll take you to the Golden Desert" Heartbeat said.

"No, I've got a better idea" Golden Paladin said. "Let’s start looking in the most likely places. May be we can find any clues. The much ground we cover the better."

"You're the boss" Heartbeat said. "Say where you want to go and I’ll take you."

The pony-panther led Blue and his guards to a location that was being watched by a couple of other pony-panthers. Once they got there, Blue saw the pony-panther Medusa captured and petrified.

"We found him when we were conducting our own searches through the desert" the pony-Panther who had escorted Blue and his guards said. "It's one of our companions."

"He probably was petrified by Medusa" Blue concluded. "And, according to the information we have, she is Rothbart’s partner."

"This explains how Rothbart managed to get in our village" the pony-panther said. "We have a very strong connection with our home, something that manifests in our body. Our enemy must have used his blood."

"What do we do now, Your Highness?" one of the guards asked.

"I don't know" Blue said. "There is no doubt that they were here, probably even after they captured Chief Strongpaw, but we can't be sure which way they went, since the tracks are quickly erased in the desert by sand and wind. Fortunately, I'm counting on the capabilities of the best tracker that exist... and he's already here."

Blue turned and others followed his example. They could see purple smoke appearing and then, when it arrived, adopting the form of Purple Smoke.

"I'm so glad you're here, Purple Smoke" Blue said. "We need your help."

"When Heartbeat told me my tracking capabilities were needed, I couldn't waste any time" Purple Smoke replied. "After all, we are in a race against time. They must have started with the process of extraction by now."

"This appears to be the place where Rothbart was after capturing Chief Strongpaw" Blue said. "This petrified pony-panther leaves no doubt Medusa was here and, since she is Rothbart’s partner..."

"Yes, I understand, that means we have to look for clues that might lead us to their whereabouts" Purple Smoke said.

The General of Talent began to examine the area with the utmost care. After a few minutes, Purple Smoke found something and said, while he took it:

"This looks interesting."

"What did you find?" Blue asked.

"This" Purple Smoke said, showing to Blue what seemed to be just...

"Sand?" asked Blue. "That's not interesting. We're in a desert of sand."

"This sand is different" Purple Smoke replied. "Is not like the regular sand. It seems it is radiating Tailed Beast energy.

"Of course!" the pony-panther exclaimed. "This must be the sand from Chief Strongpaw’s Armor of Sand!"

"Armor of Sand?" Blue repeated.

"It's an additional defense in case the Shield of Sand fails" the pony-panther explained. "It only serves to soften the impact of blows and breaks easily. After the fight against Rothbart, the Armor of Sand was immensely cracked and falling apart."

"I see" Blue said. "So this confirms that they were here after the battle."

"And it also means we're one step closer to find them" said Purple Smoke. "The energy of a Tailed Beast resounds when close to its source. Using this, we can find the place where they are. "

"But there are a lot of places where they may be, Purple Smoke" Blue said. “They can even be in Discordia.”

“No, that cannot be” Purple Smoke said. “Any kind of extraction spell to take Tailed Beast energy must be done in a place full of natural energy. Discordia doesn’t have that. Now, in order to find them, we need to think like our enemy. To ensure they are not interrupted while performing the extraction, they must have assembled their hideout in an inhospitable and isolated place. The most likely and which are relatively close are the Dense Forest and the Forbidden Jungle."

"What are we waiting for?" Blue asked. "Let’s go."

"We would like to go with you, but we have to stay at the oasis" the pony-panther said. "Many may take advantage of the absence of Chief Strongpaw to try to get in."

"Don't worry, we will save your leader" Blue said. "You can be sure of that."

And so, he, his guards and Purple Smoke began to return to the Light Kingdom to go to the Dense Forest, the forest that separated the Light Kingdom and Equestria.

Meanwhile, Golden Paladin and Heartbeat went to the place that was the first thought where should start looking: the Changelings’ nest. However, when they got there and entered, they realized that something wrong was happening. The nest was completely empty. The holes full of green goo where the Changeling larvae should stay until their total development were empty and the chambers where they kept their prisoners contained only pony corpses in advanced state of decomposition.

"That smell!" Heartbeat exclaimed, twisting her nose. "Don’t Changelings have never heard the word hygiene?"

"This is not right" Golden Paladin said. "This place is empty."

"Speak for yourself” Heartbeat said. “With those in the chambers, I wouldn’t classify this as empty. Now what, Goldy?"

"Heartbeat, I want you to bring Mirror Coat here immediately" Golden Paladin said. "He must be able to get some information from here."

"Ookie-dookie" Heartbeat answered, moving away in her extreme speed, while Golden Paladin examined the place.

Their presence, however, has not gone unnoticed by Chrysalis, who still had a connection with that hive, although she and her Changelings didn’t live there anymore.

"It looks like my old hive has a visitor" she said, while focusing on extraction. "The General of Peace is there right now."

"I see" the Lord of Chaos said. "They have already started searching for the Jinchuriki."

"Maybe you'd better deal with them, before they can get here" Ulysses said. "I can volunteer myself for this task, if you want, master."

"Don't be an idiot" Adagio said to him. "Have you forgotten what master said about this place being protected?"

"Besides, your absence would only delay the extraction process" Grogar continued.

"They're right, Ulysses" the Lord of Chaos said, looking at the statue and seeing the eyes beginning to open, revealing they have no irises. "Don't worry about our enemy and concentrate on your current task."

"Yes, my lord" he replied.

As Golden Paladin had ordered, Heartbeat brought Mirror Coat to the Changelings' nest. When they arrived, he was also quite intrigued.

"It is strange that they have abandoned their hive" he said, as he looked around. "Maybe they have decided to move out, since this place is known by us."

"I agree" Golden Paladin said. "With the Lord of Chaos’ power starting to increase because of his plan to resurrect Ten-Tails, they must have earned enough courage to create a new hive somewhere else. However, I need you to try to collect as much information as possible about what happened here in recent times. No, I think you should go further. Focus on significant events."

"It may take some time" Mirror Coat said.

"Don't worry about it" Golden Paladin said. "Take your time. Now, I need to join the search for the leader of the pony-panthers. Prince Blue Sword and Purple Smoke are following their own clues and I and Heartbeat will cover as much ground as possible. They must be somewhere in the Pony World, as the Enchanted Forest is in a constant vigilance. I'm counting on you, Mirror Coat."

And he and Heartbeat moved away.

Star was finally free from classes that day and he headed out to the training area with Timber at his side.

"I'm finally going to restart the training” Star said. "I can't wait. Just wait, Timber, this time I'm not going to let that stinking fox get over me."

They arrived, but they were not being able to find Golden Paladin.

"He's not here yet?" Star asked. "That’s weird. He is typically the first to arrive."

Timber barked and motioned to Star and he then saw what he meant. The sphere of light Golden Paladin invoked had caught Star’s attention and he said:

"It's a message from him."

He approached and touched the sphere of light that assumed immediately the form of Golden Paladin who said:

"Prince Star Knight, unfortunately won't be able to train you today and at least in the next few days. An urgent matter that I couldn't ignore emerged unexpectedly. While I’m out, I suggest that, for today, you train your Spiraling Sphere and your technique with your clones."

After the message, the image disappeared.

"I can't believe it!" Star exclaimed. "After having me hoping for this traning, he cancels everything."

Star left himself to lie down on the ground and look up to the sky, wondering what could have been so urgent for Golden Paladin didn't even warn him personally.

During the rest of that day and the next one, they all try to find the villains’ hiding place, but that was an arduous task. On the third day, Blue, his guards and Purple Smoke had already searched in the Dense Forest, but without result, and then they headed to the Forbidden Jungle.

"We seem to be going the right way" Purple Smoke said, watching Strongpaw’s sand while running. "The energy present in the sand is beginning to resonate. They must be in the Forbidden Jungle."

"I just hope we can get there in time" Blue said.

In the temple, the extraction process was reaching the end, with the statue's eyes almost completely opened.

"It looks like they're getting closer" the Lord of Chaos said. "Yes, I can feel it. I can see that we have Generals trying to locate us. I can see the light of the General of Talent and the General of Balance, not to mention the General of Peace and the General of Affection searching around the Pony World for us."

"Four Generals at once?" Chrysalis asked.

"No wonder" Grogar said. "After all, we are talking about the first Jinchuriki who is the leader of loyal followers of the Lord of Order. The Light Kingdom and the pony-panthers have a both strong alliance and friendship."

"Should we let them get so much close?" Oogie Boogie asked. "After all, we can't underestimate."

"Don't worry, my dear villains" the Lord of Chaos said. "We are about to finish. Most likely they didn't even manage to get here in time."

Blue Sword and the others managed to reach the Forbidden Jungle during the dead of night.

"This place is creepy, even more than the Dense Forest" Blue commented, looking around.

"The Forbidden Jungle is inhabited by dangerous beasts, hence the name" Purple Smoke said. "Between the normal ponies, only fools would dare to get in here. It is the perfect place for a hideout."

They walked for a little longer and then Purple Smoke said:

"Apparently, there is a temple in the jungle and I think that's where they are hiding, judging the way Chief Strongpaw’s sand is reacting."

It was then they met with Golden Paladin and Heartbeat who were stopped.

"I see that you also arrived here" Golden Paladin said.

"We could have been here sooner, but we had difficulty in navigating through the Dense Forest" Blue said.

"If that is so, then I think your tendency to find obstacles is quite large" Golden Paladin said. "Look."

He extended the hoof for the way forward and then an electric current emerged suddenly, forcing Golden Paladin to back off the hoof.

"What was that?" one of the guards asked.

"A barrier" Golden Paladin said. "Heartbeat found out that it encircles an area of approximately two miles."

"So we have to get through it" Blue said.

"I'm afraid that's not possible" Golden Paladin said.

"Why not?" Blue asked.

"By the power of this barrier, it is likely that it was created by the Lord of Chaos himself" Heartbeat said. "And as his power surpasses ours tremendously, it's obvious that we won't be able to destroy it or pass through it easily."

"So, this means..." Purple Smoke said.

"Yes, they have won this battle" Golden Paladin concluded. "The One-Tail is theirs."

"So, all this was in vain?" a second guard asked.

"Not necessarily" Blue said. "We can still save Strongpaw. It is likely that he survives the extraction. As soon as the barrier disappears, we move forward and try to rescue him."

"It's a little remote probability, but a valid one" Golden Paladin said.

"In addition to that, it is our only chance" Heartbeat said.

In the temple, the eyes of the statue were reaching maximum opening.

“Now, we’re entering the final state” the Lord of Chaos declared to his villains.

“What will we do about the others?” Ulysses asked. “If they are very close…”

“The barrier I created will prevent them from getting any close until the end of the extration” the Lord of Chaos said. “But, for the eventuality of they passed the barrier, I have a back-up plan, thanks to Chrysalis.”

“I put some of my drones guarding the vicinity of the temple” Chrysalis said. “They must take us some time.”

“Now that your insecurities are now explained, Ulysses, I want you to focus” the Lord of Chaos said. “There cannot be any mistakes from this point on. The last part is the most important one, as we are about to extract the Tailed Beast completly."

When the day was about to break, it seemed that the extraction was ending. The eyes of the statue were completely open and it was then that an iris began to appear in one of the eyes.

“It’s almost finished” the Lord of Chaos said.

It was then that the blue energy surrounding Strongpaw dissipated, while a bluish iris was formed entirely in the eye.

“It is completed” the Lord of Chaos declared.

Strongpaw’s unconscious body fell to the ground.

“Finally” Medusa said.

“It appears that in the end it did last three full days and nights” Ulysses said.

“It was exhausting” Adagio said. “I just hope it doesn’t get more in the future extractions.”

“Well done” the Lord of Chaos congratulated his villains. “Good work, everyone.”

They jumped down, while the eyes of the statue began to close again. Once that happened, the Lord of Chaos made the Ten-Tails’ body to disappear.

"Okay, I'm going" he said. "I have more important things to do. Chrysalis, I'm counting on you to bring me the next Jinchuriki."

"I'll not disappoint you, my lord" she replied, making a bow to the Lord of Chaos.

"We shall see" he said. "By the way, to all of you, take care of this nuisance."

He pointed his spear to Strongpaw.

"The fact that we have extracted One-Tail from him did not ensure his death" the Lord of Chaos said. "Make sure he doesn't get out of here alive."

And, having said that, he disappeared in a wave of darkness.

"And I’m out to" Rothbart said, starting to head to the exit.

"Wait, didn’t you hear what the Lord of Chaos just said?" Adagio asked.

"I assume that you can kill a pony who can barely move without a problem" Rothbart said. "Like the Lord of Chaos, I have more important things to do, how to improve my ultimate spell."

Medusa, turning to the other, shrugged and then followed Rothbart.

"What did he mean by that?" Oogie Boogie asked.

"I assume he's trying to create a new way to use his powers" Grogar said. "I don't blame him. Things will only get harder from now on."

After the departure of the Lord of Chaos, the barrier disappeared and Blue and others took advantage of this to advance towards the temple. However, Changelings appeared to try to stop them and they had to face them first.

"It looks like they're facing my drones" Chrysalis said. "They should not take too long to get here."

"It is better to deal with him before that happens" Grogar said, turning to Strongpaw.

"I'll do it" Ulysses said, raising one of his talons and charging it with electricity. "I've not killed anyone in a while."

"You know, you really are a dumb brute" Adagio said.

Ulysses ignored that and moved in direction of Strongpaw. When he was close enough, he raised his electrified talon and prepared to kill him. It was at that moment that Strongpaw woke up and, with excellent reflexes, he used his hind legs to make a trip to Ulysses who fell to the ground. After that, he got up and stepped back as hard as he could, as his body was damaged by his fight with Rothbart and the extraction.

"Well, well, looks like he's not so affected as we thought" Chrysalis said.

"The pony-panthers have a really amazing resiliency" Grogar commented.

"Hey, Grogar, it's better not stay so enthusiastic about it" Ulysses said, rising.

Strongpaw couldn't believe his bad luck. He was facing five of the most dangerous villains who were free and he was in no condition to fight. How would he escape that?

"I think you got it, didn't you?" Grogar told Strongpaw. "You're not going to get by us alone."

"So we're going to balance things out" Blue’s voice said.

The villains turned around and found Blue, Golden Paladin, Heartbeat, Purple Smoke and the guards at the entrance.

"Going through those Changelings was a piece of cake" Heartbeat said with a smile. "It was so much fun watching them get full of burns when they tried to attack me."

"Perfect" Ulysses said, making electricity pass through his body. "I can finally have a real fight."

"No" Grogar said. "We're not going to fight them."

"What?" Ulysses asked, turning to Grogar. "Why?"

"They are in clear numerical advantage, in addition to that, we have four Generals of Order against us" Grogar answered. "Furthermore, our main job here is done. Kill the pony-panther was just a way to ruin the mission of our enemy and, at the same time, hit them."

Ulysses didn't like to run, but he also didn't like to go against Grogar, knowing that he was stronger than him.

"Oogie Boogie, it’s up to you" Grogar said.

"Of course" he said. "The Dream World is always the best solution when you want to escape."

And, having said that, the villains shone with a dark aura and disappeared.

"They’re gone" one of the guards said.

"But at least we were able to save Strongpaw" Golden Paladin said.

Blue and Purple Smoke approached Strongpaw to help him standing.

"You guys showed up on time" he said.

"Well, I guess we're actually a little late" Purple Smoke replied. "If we had arrived on time, you'd still have One-Tail in you."

Strongpaw giggled and said:

"In a way, that's a relief. Now I can sleep properly, something I don’t do since the day I was born."

"Then let's get you home" Blue said.

Twilight was sitting on her throne, looking quite worried. Blue had gone for days to rescue Strongpaw and had not yet sent news. The concern was making her quite impatient.

The doors of the throne room opened and a guard entered, approaching.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, princess, but I have some news about Prince Blue Sword and the rescue mission of Chief Strongpaw" the guard said, kneeling.

"And what are they?" Twilight asked.

"Apparently, they were able to save Chief Strongpaw and they are all well and safe" the guard said.

"Thank the Lord of Order" Twilight said, sighing in relief.

"However, it seems that One-Tail was extracted from him" the guard said.

"I see…" Twilight said. "That is really not good. But we have to be happy because we managed to save Chief Strongpaw. This is the most important thing."

After having taken Strongpaw back to his village, Purple Smoke returned to the academy, while Blue, Heartbeat and the guards returned to the Light Kingdom. Golden Paladin, in his turned, headed to the Mirrored Library, where Mirror Coat was trying to decode all the information he collected in the Changelings’ nest.

"I see you managed to collect all the information" Golden Paladin noted, while Mirror Coat used his magic in a mirror to decode all the information.

"Gather information is one thing, process it is another" Mirror Coat answered. "Given that I have also my usual duties as General of Knowledge, this might take a while."

"And like I said before, we have time" Golden Paladin said.

"Let me ask you something, Golden Paladin" Mirror Coat said. "Does the princess knows about this?"

Golden Paladin didn't answer that question.

"I'll take your silence as a yes" Mirror Coat said.

"You know very well that we had to rescue Chief Strongpaw before it was too late" Golden Paladin said. "Besides, it's not worth bothering the princess with this for now, because we may not find anything useful."

"As you wish..." Mirror Coat said.

"Let me know as soon as you're done" Golden Paladin said.

And, having said this, Golden Paladin headed to the exit.