//------------------------------//
// Hawthorn and Blackthorn 
// Story: Star Knight and the Nine-Tailed Fox 
// by Rakoon1 
//------------------------------//

	After failing in defeating his own dark side, Star turned to Blackthorn and asked:

“So how am I supposed to beat that guy?”

“Well, that I don’t know, I’m afraid” Blackthorn replied.

Although that was an answer Star didn’t wanted to hear, he remembered something and then said:

“Wait, Lord Hawthorn trained here too, right? I can just go and ask him.”

But then Star remembered what happened before and said:

“No, he’s never going to tell me. Not with his attitude.”

“Perhaps” Blackthorn agreed.

Then Star started to think and then he asked himself if the Hawthorn had a dark side like he had. It was that thought that made him realize one thing he could do to see how to pass the waterfall challenge. He then said to Blackthorn, while getting up:

“Hey, Blackthorn, can you help me out? Can you tell me more about Lord Hawthorn, like how he grew up and how his personality is like? Maybe I can get a few hints from that and figure out the differences between us and why he can control his Tailed Beast.”

That caught Blackthorn by surprise, but he realized that Star must have listen what he said to him before when he came to ask for his help.

“To be honest, I normally don’t talk about that with others” Blackthorn said. “But, Prince Star Knight, you’re also a jinchuriki, just like Lord Hawthorn is, and control the Nine-Tails may lead us to peace. I’ll do it.”

“Great, thank you!” Star exclaimed.

“Now, like I told you earlier, as a fellow jinchuriki, you know how it is like to live with that burden” Blackthorn said, making a brief. “As you can well imagine, an incredible power brings dread and hard feelings. Lord Hawthorn was long feared and resented by the other deer, but he never got depressed or complained, not even once. He was always cheerful, continuously working with the others around him. He took the shamed of being a jinchuriki and turned it into positivity. It seemed to me that he decided to take pride of himself and even add it self-expression. And the main reason why he was able to take pride in being a jinchuriki was probably due to his older brother, King Aspen.”

“Well, that make sense” Golden Paladin said. “It is quite impressive how he was able to remain that positive, while the others only gave him looks of hate and fear.”

“There is a reason for it” Blackthorn continued. “For ages, in order to avoid betrayal, jinchuriki have almost always being selected from blood relations with the regents, like siblings or spouses. A jinchuriki is both a power to protect the kingdom and are also the symbol of the regent’s ultimate strength. I believe Lord Hawthorn strove diligently to become a worthy jinchuriki for King Aspen. It is said that he mastered the Waterfall of Truth challenge in no time at all. I have deep respect for the kind of deer Lord Hawthorn is. In my eyes, he is a true hero.”

“To be such beloved jinchuriki, Lord Hawthorn must be quite a great deer” Golden Paladin commented. “And you must be too.”

However, it seemed that Blackthorn was surprised for hearing Golden Paladin say something like that.

“Wait, that’s it” Star said. “You can go ask Lord Hawthorn to train me, Blackthorn. Would you please do that for me?”

“I’m sorry, your highness, I can’t” Blackthorn replied.

“Why not?”

“I’m not worthy of such errand” Blackthorn answered. “Because… I once tried to kill Lord Hawthorn.”

That affirmation really caught Golden Paladin and Star Knight by surprise.

“But you said that you respected him just now” Star said.

But Blackthorn remaid silent and Golden Paladin said:

“I’m sure there is an explanation.”

“So what was it?” Star asked. “Tell us.”

“It’s time for me to confess” Blackthorn said to Star. “Since you are a jinchuriki too, I think it’s okay to tell you about that incident. Everything happened twenty-five years ago. Back then, the jinchuriki that contained Eight-Tails wasn’t strong enough to completely control the Tailed Beast. The Eight-Tails went loose, rampage and destroy Thicket. Each time, the previous king, Alder, would stop the Eight-Tails with his elite forces.”

 Twenty-five years ago…

Eight-Tails was on a rampage at the lake, destroying everything in his path. Back then, he had his severed horn intact. Various deer appeared with everything they would need to subdue the beast in order to seal him.

A large deer that was close to Aspen in appearance but with darker colors and with the same golden rings at the base of his horns and a lightning bolt-shaped scar that ran across the right side of his chest. That was King Alder, Aspen and Hawthorn’s father. He was carrying a large plugged orange urn. He landed in a stone plataform where a younger Aspen, who should be in his late teens, was.

“Listen, I need all of you to hold on the Eight-Tails and, while you’re doing that, I’ll seal him in the sealing urn.”

“Understood, father” Aspen said.

“Okay, get to it!” Alder exclaimed.

And the deer launched chains over the Tailed Beast in order to hold him, what was a very hard task due to Eight-Tails’ strength. Eventually, most of the deer that were restraining him were thrown away. 

Most of the deer were very afraid of that beast, but one deer, that looked very much alike Blackthorn, told to his comrades to not give up. He then threw his chain that caught one of Eight-Tails’ horns. After holding the chain tightly, he used a light-based spell to generate electricity that went through the chain to Eight-Tails, giving him a great shock.

“Now, act now!” Alder said to his deer. “Restrain him!”

And the deer obeyed to their king, taking advantage of Eight-Tails’ vulnerable state to restrain him with the chains. But then a boost of rage in Eight-Tails made him exclaim:

“Don’t take me as granted, your cursed deers!”

And, with a sudden head move, he stabbed the deer that had shocked him with the horn that was chained. Seeing that, Aspen acted quickly and, involved in his light aura, he jumped high and, with a blow, severed the tip of the horn, what really caused a lot of pain to the Eight-Tails. Alder took advantage of that moment to seal the Tailed Beast inside the urn and Eight-Tails was sucked to its inside, with the deer king plugging it immediately after.

The present…

“Every time they somehow managed to subdue the Eight-Tails and shove him back into the sealing urn, there were always casualties. However, despite the risk, it was crucial to possess the Eight-Tails to preserve the balance of power between the kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest. So the jinchuriki experiments continued.”

Blackthorn sat down and then continued:

“And among the countless casualties… was my father.”

That information really surprised Golden Paladin and Star and the General said:

“You lost your father to Lord Hawthorn. That’s why…”

“That’s not it” Blackthorn replied. “Lord Hawthorn and I were close friends back there. We were both only five years old when my father fell in combat. The jinchuriki responsible for my father’s death died when the Eight-Tails was extracted. That was the previous jinchuriki, the one to hold Eight-Tails before Lord Hawthorn. It was after that tragedy that he was chosen to be the Eight-Tails’ jinchuriki.”

“Why then try to kill Lord Hawthorn?” Golden Paladin asked. “If he wasn’t responsible for your father’s death, then why try to kill him?

Blackthorn took a few moments before answering:

“I assumed that it wasn’t possible to control the Eight-Tails. I believed that would always continue to exist more and more victims while trying to contain him. The death of my father was like a hard stroke to my family. My mother fell into a deep depression and I felt impotent to help her. My hatred towards the Eight-Tails continued to grow. I was only a child, but all I could think about was getting revenge. But Lord Hawthorn was always laughing and I started to hate him more and more, because it seemed like he didn’t care at all about what the thing inside him had caused. My hatred towards the Eight-Tails was instinctively directed to Lord Hawthorn, his jinchuriki. I thought that, if I killed Lord Hawthorn, the Eight-Tails would also die… It was foolish of me to think something like that. But I was a child… I was naïve… So I… I attacked Lord Hawthorn from behind, but, when I failed, I became terrified and ran away. I had masked my face, but it was possible that Lord Hawthorn recognized me. As a result, I just stopped talking to him, at least as a friend I once was to him.”

“But after all that, how did you come to respect Lord Hawthorn then?” Golden Paladin asked.

“My hatred didn’t disappear overnight” Blackthorn replied. “For a long time, I continue to follow Lord Hawthorn, keep an eye on him. In a way, I think was trying to get the courage to try again to kill him. But, I wasn’t the only one to watch him. Lord Hawthorn was shunned and despised by the other deer all the time. Even though he was forced to become a jinchuriki because of politics and existed to protect the kingdom, he continued to be ostracized by the others. Almost anyone else would have gone insane with all that and so I realized that Lord Hawthorn’s suffering was even greater than mine. It was that resolution of mine that drove me to respect him.”

After finishing telling his story, Golden Paladin asked:

“Why tell us this?” 

“Well, truth be told, I rather wanted Lord Hawthorn to hear this, but the reason why I am telling this to Star is because he is a fellow jinchuriki. And yes, I am well aware that I have to tell Lord Hawthorn the truth someday or this wouldn’t be a true confession.”

When he heard Blackthorn saying those words, Star was able to sense his true self right behind him and hear him saying in a mocking way:

“How conveniente for him.”

Having enough of his true self mocking Blackthorn that way, Star took flight and started heading to the forest while Golden Paladin asked:

“Prince Star Knight, where are you going?”

“I just want to be alone for a while” he replied, while moving away.

Star went to the spikes that covered the edge of the island and sit on one of them, starting to stare the great lake while submerging in his own thoughts. He remembered how the other inhabitants of the Light Kingdom were always looking at him like he was something that didn’t deserved to be at their presence. They used to avoid him and give him cold looks with the only thing that stopped them from doing anything being the fact that he was the son of their beloved princess. 

Then, he remembered how he had conquered their respect when he saved the Light Kingdom. Everything had started when he stopped Shukaku, the One-Tail, from destroying the Light Kingdom, but it was really when he defeated the General of Chaos that they all started to admire him completely. In a way, that was very close to what happened to Chief Strongpaw. He started to be somepony to be avoided by the other pony-panther, but when he conquered their respect, he was able to became their chief. Just like Hawthorn, they fought to be respected by their peers and they succeeded in doing so. 

But even so, Star was already happy because he had what he really wanted before becoming the hero of his kingdom: the love of his beloved ones, like his parents, his sisters, the rest of his family, his friends and even his pet timberwolf.

However, what the other Star told him kept being repeated in his mind. After meeting him, Star realized that, deep inside of his heart, that what the other Star said was true, that he hadn’t gain everyone’s trust back home in the Light Kingdom.

At the other side of the island, at the coast, Golden Paladin and Blackthorn were looking for Star.

“But where did Prince Star Knight go?” Golden Paladin asked.

“Don’t worry, this is a secret location” Blackthorn said, while a tentacle appeared behind him secretly. “The enemy couldn’t simply.”

But then that tentacle grabbed him, what caused Blackthorn to let out a scream that was heard by Star.

“That sounded just like Blackthorn” he said.

The giant squid had appeared and taken Blackthorn, starting to squeeze him. Arriving there, Star said, while dodging the tentacles:

“Oh no, it’s that squid again.”

Star approached Golden Paladin and asked:

“What happened, Golden?”

“We went looking for you when that squid appeared from nowhere and attacked us” Golden Paladin said. “We have to hurry if we want to save Blackthorn.”

“You can count on me, Golden” Star Knight said.

“That’s what I wanted to hear, young prince” Golden Paladin.

And so the General of Peace summoned some of his steel chains that he used to grab the squid and prevent it from doing. After that, Star created a clone to do the Spiraling Sphere and, while doing that, he said to Blackthorn:

“Hang on, Blackthorn, we’re coming to get you.”

But before he could finish, Hawthorn’s voice said:

“It seems that you never learn, your stupid squid.”

And, from the water, Hawthorn, in his Eight-Tails form, emerged and said:

“How many times do I have to tell you to not grab anyone?”

And so he punched the squid hard again a few times, making it drop Hawthorn who was able to land on one of the spikes. After being beaten by Hawthorn, the squid returned to underwater.

“Nice one, Lord Hawthorn!” Star exclaimed, hoof bumping his clone before it disappear.

They all went to see how Blackthorn was, with Hawthorn returning to his deer form. Looking to Hawthorn, Blackthorn said:

“Hawthorn, why did you saved me? You knew, didn’t you? You knew all along… that I tried… to kill you. And yet you…”

“You know, I don’t remember of that happening” Hawthorn replied for Blackthorn’s surprise. “All that I do remember is you and me spending time and training hard together. We made mistakes, but that only caused us to go into laugh. Those times is what make us best friends and nothing more.”

And he extended his hoof towards Blackthorn. Moving by his words and seeing him extending his hoof to him, tears started to appear on Blackthorn’s eyes and so, extending his hoof as well, he hoof bumped Hawthorn, showing the true nature of their friendship, a moment that made Star smile and then remember on all of his friends back in the academy.