//------------------------------// // Twilight's Determination // Story: Star Knight and the Nine-Tailed Fox // by Rakoon1 //------------------------------// And, having said that, Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated, while accessing to her magic. She was then surrounded by magic that raised her from the floor and thin strands of magic, invisible to the naked eye, came out of her horn and spread throughout the citadel. She had just used a combination of healing spell with the telepathy spell Mirror Coat taught her. With this, she managed to reach the minds of all those who were still in the citadel. “Shining, can you hear me?” she asked to her brother. “Twily?” he said, while fighting some dark ponies. “How... ” “I'm using Mirror Coat’s telepathy spell to communicate with you, while using the healing spell to heal those who have not been rescued and taken to the Diamond Domain” she replied. “But that will exhaust most of your energy” he replied. “It doesn’t matter” she said. “It's my duty as princess.” “I'm glad to hear that, princess, because I'm dealing with a situation here.” Shadow Claw said, while battling Dark Night. “What is it, Shadow Claw?” she asked. “This dark pony has a strange magic that can absorb magic” he replied. “He managed to absorb the magic that I use in my transformation.” “That is rather peculiar” Twilight commented. “It’s not only that” Shadow Claw said. “His eyes look different. They have a undulant pattern that I've never seen before.” Upon hearing that, Twilight remembered something she had read in an old book of dark magic in the Mirrored Library. “Describe this pony immediately and I want all the others to look for more ponies with the same kind of eyes” Twilight said. “This kind of dark magic is very serious and we must stop them.” “I and Soarin found one, Twilight” Rainbow Dash said, while flying over the citadel with Soarin, seeing the Unicorn who was casting powerful dark magical beams. “Looks like he throws dark magic beams capable of causing much more destruction than any other attack” Soarin noted. “But we will attack to learn more” Rainbow Dash said. “Be careful, Rainbow " Twilight advised. “Act with caution. We don't know yet the full capacity of our enemy.” “Just tell me one moment when I didn’t act with caution.” Rainbow Dash said and, after realizing the nature of her question, added. “You know what, never mind.” Rainbow Dash and Soarin flew down in order to bring the dark pony down, but then he just swerved, despite both being attacking by the blind spot. "What?" the two asked. They then noticed the dark pony who had summoned the gytrash. "Now there are two of them?" Rainbow Dash asked. "And it appears that is the one who summoned those spectral dogs" Soarin said. "How about a double attack?" she asked. "For me, that sounds great" he replied. And the two took flight, fighting against both dark ponies. Then, when both tried to hit them through their blind spots, the dark ponies simply dodged. "How is it possible?" Soarin asked. "They couldn't have dodged all our moves. Even the most well-trained pony couldn’t avoid what they can't see." And then Rainbow Dash noticed something in their eyes and then she realized that each time they tried to hit one of the dark ponies through the blind spot, the other could see it perfectly. "I wonder if...” Rainbow Dash started, contacting Twilight then. “Twilight, I think I can update your info about these guys with crazy eyes. It seems that their eyes are linked between each other somehow, allowing them to share the same field of vision.” “How do you know that?” Twilight asked. “Because I and Soarin we're fighting that dark pony we talked about and also the one that apparently summoned those strange dogs” Rainbow Dash replied. “We attacked them both through their blind spot and they dodged all the attacks and in each time the other could see the attack.” “I see...” she said. “I'll tell the others.” The pony who had summoned the gytrash gestured and two of the spectral dogs appeared, ready to attack Rainbow and Soarin. It was then that Moonlight appeared, landing, and let out a supersonic scream that reached the gytrash, making them squeak and then run away. Watching that, the two dark ponies eventually withdraw. "You arrived just at the right time, girl" Rainbow Dash said. "I have to admit that I'm surprised to see Fluttershy’s daughter causing pain to animals." "Well, to be fair, I’m also my father’s daughter and I was never a big fan of gytrash and, to tell the truth, they are not critters of the forest" Moonlight replied. "We better keep up" Soarin said. "There are too many enemies and we cannot let them hurt somepony else." Twilight continued to use all of her effort into maintaining the telepathic connection between everypony while trying to heal the wounded who had been rescued, but that was rather complicated. The devastation was immense and the misery that she was feeling was overwhelming. The princess of the Light Kingdom couldn't believe what was happening to her precious kingdom, a kingdom that had already suffered enough after spending centuries imprisoned in stone. She just hoped that they could hold on the enemy and keep them from finding out where Star was. In Animarium, Star and Tough Skin were ready to try the plan for the toad to gather natural energy to the prince. “Okay, let’s try this” Star said. “Basically, you’re going to just sit on my shoulder and attach yourself to me, right?” “Correct” Tough Skin replied, jumping then to Star’s shoulder. “While you’re in motion, I’ll stay still and I’ll draw natural energy for you. So let’s give it a try.” Star beckoned with his head and the two started to concentrate. They started by synchronizing their breathing and then tried to do the same with their own energies. It was then that, all of the sudden, Tough Skin was thrown from Star’s shoulder to the ground. “Tough, are you okay?” Star asked. “Yeah, I’m fine” he said, while getting up. “But that was very strange. Let’s try it one more time.” He jumped again to Star’s shoulder and the two tried to do the same thing again. After a few moments, Tough Skin was able to get a glimpse of Star’s inner self and the bloodlust eyes of the Nine-Tailed Fox laid on him and he roared at him, what made Tough being thrown from Star’s shoulder again. “Tough, what happened?” Star asked. “Well, you see…” Tough Skin said, while getting up and turning to Star. “It seems it’s impossible.” “What do you mean?” Star asked. “I suspect the Nine-Tails inside of you is rejecting me and casting me out” Tough Skin said. “What?!” he asked. “It can’t be! Now what I’m going to do?” It took a few minutes, but then he decided. “Well, I can only do one thing.” And he started to run, with Tough Skin following him, jumping. “I have to gather natural energy while I’m moving.” “I and Leaf Mane already told you that is impossible” Tough Skin said. “I never imagined that this would happen after we had come too close.” Star stopped and said: “Well, it’s not that I will give up. There is no other choise, so I’ll find a way to make it work.” “But there is no other way” Tough Skin said, returning then to his normal size. But Star ignored him and started running again, with Tough Skin following him. The young prince started to gather natural energy, but while he was able to draw it, he couldn’t control it properly and it didn’t last for him to start to transform. Fortunately, Tough Skin appeared and hit him with the same staff Leaf Mane used, making him fall to the ground. This happened a few more times until… “One more time” Star said to Tough Skin. “We gonna keep trying.” Tough Skin, who was gasping for all the effort he had done to keep Star from turning into a toad, replied: “You really are such a stubborn colt, you now? Let’s take a little break, Star.” “No, we can’t stop!” Star exclaimed. “I just worked as harder as all the training that I had just to get to this point.” “Just listen, Star” Tough Skin said. “This sort of training as never being tried, not by me or any other being who studied how to control natural magic. Only Leaf Mane have such control over natural energy to gather it while moving. Trying to get natural energy, whose main principal is stillness, while you’re running is like making yourself look to the left, when you’re already looking to the right.” When he heard Tough Skin saying that, Star remembered immediately he said the same thing while trying to create the Spiraling Star Spell and remembered that there was a solution to that. “Of course!” he exclaimed. “How could I be so stupid?!” Watching them from afar was Leaf Mane. She was glad that Prince Star had finally discovered all the secrets about controlling the natural energy. “I can see that little colt had made so progress” a voice said. And a great toad appeared besides the plant where Leaf Mane was. He was almost as a Tailed Beast and had rusty red skin with brighter red markings on the lips and chest. Over his left eye he had a scar and his tong had stud-like piercings. He was wearing a blue vest with a sheath where there was a blade and he had a pipe in his mouth. That was Red Skin, Tough Skin’s father. "I guess you could say that" Leaf Mane replied. "You must be very proud of your son, Red Skin. After all, thanks to him, Prince Star Knight learned the bases of Frog Kata and now he found out how to use the natural energy during combat." "To tell you the truth, I never thought Tough Skin were the type to teaching, but you're right. I'm proud of him and I hope he stays that way." At that time, Leaf Mane felt the same pain that other Generals had before being banned, but in a lighter way, enough to not expel her. "What's going on, Leaf Mane?" Red Skin asked. "Something is not right" she said. "I just felt the aftereffects of a dark spell used to expel Generals. Fortunately in Animarium dark spells don't have the same strength than when they are released." "But what does that mean?" Red Skin asked. "It means the Light Kingdom is in great danger" she replied. In the Light Kingdom, Twilight was still trying to save her subjects as many she could. It was then that one of the guards said: "Princess…" She turned and then faced the General of Chaos, who had entered the room. "You are the General of Chaos" she said. "It's good to know that the General of Peace made a good description of me" the General of Chaos said. "Tell me, Princess, he was very hurt after our meeting? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter right now. After all, we have something to discuss." "I don't have anything discuss with a follower of Lord of Chaos" Twilight replied. "You shouldn't talk about my master that way in front of me" the General of Chaos warned. "After all, what are you compared to a god like him?" "He may be larger and more powerful than I, but one thing's for sure" Twilight said. "No matter what he does, no matter the minions he has, the Order will always prevail." "That's what we're going to see" the General of Chaos replied. "Where's Star Knight?" "No one knows" Twilight firmly replied. "And even if some of us knew, do you really think they would say anything? Do you think I'd tell you where my son is if I knew?" "We have almost all the Jinchuriki" the General of Chaos declared. "So I think it's pretty clear who has the advantage in the balance of power. It makes no sense to continue to protect the Nine-Tails." "Even if the Lord of Chaos defeated the Lord of Order, I would never give Star to you" Twilight replied. "It does not matter if any trace of light leave this world. Neither you, nor any other villain or your master will get close to my son." "Maybe you don't understand the situation, dear princess" the General of Chaos. "Look carefully to your precious kingdom. By the state in which it is, you may have noticed the power we possess." "Don't underestimate the power of the followers of the Order!" Twilight exclaimed. "You and others like you are nothing more than simple terrorists undermining the perfect job of the Lord of Order, fallen in the illusion that you will find happiness by working for the Lord of Chaos. We shall never surrender to you." "Such arrogance!" the General of Chaos exclaimed. And he freed his repulsive power that made all the windows of the room to break. The guards were shocked with the size of the power of the General of Chaos, while they struggled to hold on. "You say that my master keeps me and the other villains in an illusion of happiness" the General of Chaos said. "But doesn’t the Lord of Order do the same with you? He gave you life and lets you shine with your star seeds. For what? For then fading and be erased from existence?" "I can't say that everything that exists in the Order is perfect" Twilight said. "Nothing's perfect. But it is certainly preferable to walk in the light, than wandering in the darkness, lost, without a destination..." "Be careful with the words you use" the General of Chaos warned her. "This is the final warning of the messenger of the most powerful being in all creation. Where is Star Knight? Speak." "We will use all the power we have to defeat you" Twilight replied. "That's all I have to tell you. Except that you're not getting what you want." "If you think you can protect him..." the General of Chaos started. "No" Twilight interrupted, smiling. “Star Knight is stronger than you think.” Meanwhile, the dark pony capable of forcing others to tell the truth, pinned two other guards against the wall, asking then: “Is Star Knight in this kingdom or not?” he asked. “Tell me now.” “You want Prince Star Knight?” one of the guards asked. “No way!” the other guard replied. “Prince Star Knight is our beloved Princess Twilight’s son and he is also part of this kingdom. We would never sell out any of our citizens.” “As you wish” he said. “Then, I just have to make you tell me the truth.” But before he could do anything, the second-in-command came and tackled the dar pony, making him drop the two guards. "Get out of here, I got him" the second-in-command said. "You need to help protect the kingdom." "Yes, sir" the two guards replied, coming out of there quickly. "It looks like it's just you and me now" the guard said to the dark pony. "I wouldn't be so sure" he replied. And, suddenly, the second-in-command was held against the ground by the dark mare who was also participating in the search for Star Knight. "Let's see what you have to offer us" she said, extending her hull. She touched the back of the second-in-command’s head and then he laid still, stop trying to break free. The mare was reading her mind and then found the information she wanted, information that the second-in-command had obtained on the balcony of the castle: Star Knight’s location. "Animarium..." she said. Due to the connection between the dark ponies and the General of Chaos, the latter was able to receive that information instantly. “Well, it would appear Star Knight is not here” he said. “Animarium…” “What?” Twilight asked, without believing what she heard him saying. And, with that information, the dark ponies began to withdraw from the Light Kingdom, with the gytrash simply disappearing. All those who were fighting were perplexed by it. "Animarium..." the General of Chaos said. “The realm completely dominated by nature, one of the few places in all Pony Reality where the darkness of the Lord of Chaos has not yet reached. So it seems that my presence here is no longer needed." "How do you know that?" Twilight asked, still shocked. The General of Chaos turned his back, preparing to leave, and then said: "Just one more thing. The magic that is flowing in your hooves is to counter my attraction and repulsion spells? I really shouldn't have left Golden Paladin have discovered one of my secrets. However, everything is meaningless in the face of an overwhelming power. Your Lord of Order proved that since the beginning of time when he created something that he thought the Lord of Chaos could not destroy and yet you continue to think you are the greatest force of all Creation. By walking under the light for too long, you ended up blind by it. If you creates too much, you’ll end up with nothing to create in the end. Chaos is what allows your Order to have sense." “Quick babbling such nonsense” Twilight said. “In a war, both sides receives damages” the General of Chaos continued. “You already caused too much damage to my lord and now it’s time for yours to get the same amount of damage, as he likes balance so much.” “Your master is the one who caused more damages to us!” Twilight exclaimed. “He spread fear and destruction everywhere. Stop trying to find excuses to justify your wicked crimes!” That made the General of Chaos to look to Twilight in a way that let Twilight slightly scared. “How absurd…” he said. “Why don’t you feel the same pain you caused to the Lord of Chaos? Only then, you’ll understand what I’m saying.” And he took off, leaving the room with great speed. "No, come back!" Twilight exclaimed, while she saw him ascending to the sky. She didn't know why, but the princess of the Light Kingdom could feel that General was still planning to do something else. In Animarium, Star and Tough Skin trained the Frog Kata, when Red Skin appeared with Leaf Mane on top of his head. "Stop training, Tough Skin!" he ordered. Tough Skin and Star landed and the former asked: "What's up, dad?" "I'm afraid something dark will or is already happening" he replied. Leaf Mane landed and said to Star Knight: "I have a terrible feeling, Prince Star Knight. It tells me to get back to the Light Kingdom as soon as possible." "What are you saying?" Star asked. "You mean the villains of the Lord of Chaos…" "I don't know" Leaf Mane replied. "But we must prepare ourselves for any eventuality. Red Skin already arranged two of the strongest toad warriors of Animarium. We have no time to lose. You also have to prepare yourself." Star nodded his head, hoping that nothing serious was happening in his kingdom. In the Light Kingdom, the General of Chaos continued to ascend, while the last of the dark ponies left the citadel. Twilight continued to watch him ascending to the sky. She did not believe that any villain would simply withdraw when they were practically winning the battle against the most coveted kingdom of all Pony Reality. “He’s planning to do something” she said. “I just know it.” “But what, my princess?” one of the guards asked. “That I don’t know, but it will be something big” she replied. “I must apply my defensive spell on all the ones who are still in the citadel. But I can’t just stand here and wait for something to happen.” And, having said this, she took flight. "Princess!" one of the guards called. Some of them, using their magic to levitate, tried to follow Twilight. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Twilight exclaimed to the General of Chaos. “I will never forget the pain my lord suffered” he said. “And for that… you must feel his pain!” And then a blinding light came out of General of Chaos which involved the whole citadel of the Light Kingdom and all who were there. As an explosion happened there, the whole citadel was swept by an immense force that began ravaging everything that was in its way, leaving nothing but a crater full of rubble. The only part that remained standing was the Light Castle, in conjunction with the ground that sustained it, that was intact due to the magic contained in its structure. All those who were still in the citadel had miraculously survived. Twilight’s magic aura that was involving them being protected them from most of the damages, but that aura just disappeared. Moonlight, starting to rise up, coughing due to dust that was still in the air, and, when she lifted her head and her eyes looked at all the destruction, she couldn't believe it. It was like she was in a nightmare. "Moonlight..." Gleaming Shield said, also a little shaken. Seeing Gleaming, Moonlight advanced to her and the two hugged each other, while the half-pegasus, half-thetral broke into tears. Gleaming caressed her mane, trying to calm her down. But she could not censure her. She had never seen such destruction, not even when she witnessed her cousin losing control of Nine-Tails. It was in a moment like that she wished that Star was there. Then there was a green light coming from a part of the Light Kingdom that drew the attention of two fillies, as well as the General chaos. From light came up Red Skin, along with two other great toads, one with a staff and a shield on his back and another with two swords on his back. Over Red Skin’s head was Tough Skin and over his head were Leaf Mane and Star, with the latter on his sage mode.