//------------------------------//
// The King of Mirages 
// Story: Star Knight and the Nine-Tailed Fox 
// by Rakoon1 
//------------------------------//

Soon after Strongpaw had sealed his father inside a sand statue of his mother, King Gusty Blizzard was about to be sealed as well.

“Excellent!” he exclaimed, seeing the sealing paper on the sand that was holding him. “This sealing spells will stop us. That was very nicely done, Chief Strongpaw!”

But then he noticed that the sand was starting to get wet.

“What’s this?” he asked.

King Alder, that was being also sealed, was involved by the same electric aura as his son’s and he was able to get rid of the sealing paper with his hoof pearcing through the sand.

“What’s going on?!” Gusty Blizzard exclaimed, while the sand around the paper got wet and then fell. “No! Somepony has to stop this! I want to be sealed away now!”

“It’s entirely out of control!” King Alder exclaimed, while he started to get out of the sand. “Our bodies have been programmed to automatically counter any of the enemy’s offensives!”

And the two kings were able to get out, starting to advance towards the unit that was advancing, starting to attack some of them with their powers. That made the unit to try to surround them.

Meanwhile, Hard Stone was fighting against his father.

“Atomic Dismantling Spell!” Hard Stone exclaimed, while creating a cone.

And he launched his attack. Platinum replied with the same spell, but using a cylinder. The shock of the two spells caused another explosion of light that completely destroyed everything that it touched. After it, Hard Stone was panting due to the energy that he used on those last attacks.

“You’ve got old, Hard Stone” his father said.

“Nonsense!” he replied, still panting.

It was then that Platinum turned invisible. Now that would be a problem.

“Without the help of the leader of the pony-panthers and sensory skills, you’ll surely die, my son” Platinum said.

The Fourth Unit had been able to surround Alder and Gusty Blizzard, but a few had fallen while doing that.

“Do not underestimate my magic” Gusty Blizzard warned. “You seriously need to stand back. For real.”

That caused a little fear on the nearby guards and then he continued:

“Now, listen my weaknesses. I use illusion spells, beyond that I can also summon a certain creature that live in the most remote zone of my kingdom.”

And, accessing to his magic, he summoned a giant clam, what caused the guards to retreat as fast as they could. Gusty Blizzard teleport to the top of the clam.

“And I’m a light nature user” Alder said. “Line up your earth nature users and use them as shields and attack with your wind nature users.”

“Thanks for your intel” a female griffon said. “There is anything else you want to tell us?”

“I’m not in control of my body!” Alder said. “There is no more time for talk. Come on!”

And, with a great jump, he started to move away. The griffon said to the unit:

“You heard him! Wind and earth natures users, follow me! Sealing unit, you too.”

Seeing King Alder getting away, Gusty Blizzard felt more relieved to know he would be fighting for himself, as, if they stacked together, the Alliance wouldn’t be able to seal them. He then turned to Chief Strongpaw and asked him:

“So, do you have a strategy, Chief Strongpaw?”

He looked at him for a few seconds and then he said to the rest of the unit:

“I’m leaving you in charge here.”

They all looked in shocked to him.

“Hey, hold on, what kind of tactic is that?!” Gusty Blizzard exclaimed to him. “Didn’t you hear me? I use illusion spells! This giant clam can cast powerful illusions that can cover a very wide area. Physical attacks won’t work. I’m talking about a mirage!”

“I can tell that you don’t have the desire to kill” Strongpaw said.

“No, of course not” Gusty Blizzard said. “Why would I? I can’t stand the idea of being manipulated by another. That’s why I want you to seal me as quick as possible!”

But Strongpaw simply started to move away, while saying to the others:

“Deal with him.”

“Hey, come back!” Gusty Blizzard exclaimed.

“You can count on us” a guard said.

“We’ll get that wispy whiskers” another said.

Listening that, Gusty Blizzard became insulted and said:

“Wispy whiskers… How dare you to call me that?! I don’t care about the Reincarnation Curse anymore! I’ll kill you…”

Noticing that, the guards positioned themselves ready to attack. When Gusty Blizzard’s rage calmed down, he sighed and said:

“How awkward…”

“Let’s get them, guys!” a guard exclaimed.

And they all acclaimed to that. Seeing their enthusiasm, the king smiled and then said:

“I’m counting on you. So show what you can do.”

And the giant clam opened its shell to let its siphons get out and, from them, it released a mist that quickly covered all the area. Everyone got ready with their blades and other weapons.

“Good… Now you looked like you mean business” Gusty Blizzard said. “Listen up! I’ll tell you one more time! Attacking the me before you is completely pointless…”

At another point of the desert, Hard Stone was stopped in the hair, while trying to figure out where is father was. Platinum then said:

“Your sensing skills are useless against me.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate me, father” he replied.

And then he casted a multiplication spell that caused him to make stone get out of his mouth and created six clones that positioned themselves around the original.

“So you’ll overwhelm me with numbers” Platinum said. “That might work.”

Strongpaw was crossing the desert above his sand.

At the place where the rest of the unit was facing the former king of Evermist, they have thrown their attacks, the weapons getting stuck at the stones or at the sand. Gusty Blizzard was pinned at a stone with blades crossing his body. For a moment, they thought they have gotten him, but then Gusty Blizzard opened his eyes and simply passed through the blades.

“Do you even know how to listen?” he asked to the guards. “I told you that attacking this me is pointless. This me is only a mirage.”

“So, what do we do then?” a guard asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Gusty Blizzard asked, not wanting to believe how ignorant those guards were. “First you need to defeat my giant clam. It is the one that is creating the mirage all along. It’s shell is hard, so use large-scale weapons or magic blasts.”

“Yes, but…” another guard said.

“But what?” Gusty Blizzard asked.

“We used our weapons at the last attack” the guard replied.

Noticing the weapons, Gusty Blizzard rolled his eyes and then said:

“Come, on. Just hurry on and retrieve all your weapons.”

And they all went to retrieve the weapons. That situation left Gusty Blizzard exasperated. When they all got the weapons, they then attack the giant clam with them and magic blast, in unicorns’ case. An explosion happened due to the magical attacks and the guards questioned if they did it. But then the clam appeared at some distance of the explosion.

“Damn it!” Gusty Blizzard’s voiced exclaimed. “I can’t stand it anymore!”

They all turned and saw with confused looks the reincarnated king at the other side.

“Listen to me, I keep telling you the same thing” he said. “That clam there is also a mirage, your idiots. You have to go after the real one.”

“But where is the real one?!” a guard asked.

All that was starting to give a headache to Gusty Blizzard who said, while pointing to the void:

“Just like I said, it is hiding somewhere behind me, using a mirage as a cover.”

A guard threw a blade that passed through the king and when hit the rock formation behind.

“How many times do I have to say it?!” Gusty Blizzard exclaimed, starting to get really upset. “Attacking this me is useless!”

“Well, actually I was pointing to the giant clam behind you” the guard replied.

“I told you that this it’s just a mirage, your idiot!” Gusty Blizzard exclaimed.

But that only filled the guards with confusion and one of them even called the reincarnated king “wispy whiskers”, what ignited his anger again. That caused the guards to retreat again, fearing that Gusty Blizzard attacked them. He sighed after calming down and then said:

“How awkward…”

The guards went to retrieve their weapons again.

Hard Stone and his clones were quiet trying to perceive were his father. It was then that an Atomic Dismantling Spell was casted and disintegrated one of the clones. Because of that, Hard Stone started to look around and asked:

“Where did that come from?”

He moved around the air, trying to know where his father was. A few grains of sand hit something behind him and then Strongpaw’s voice exclaimed:

“Behind you, King Strongpaw!”

That made Hard Stone to make a sudden move to dodge, but that only made him do a wrick on his back, what cause him to start to descend, while Strongpaw arrived on his sand and Platinum appeared, flying like his son and preparing to use another particle nature spell.

“Atomic Dismantling Spell!” he exclaimed, making a cylinder and preparing to cast it.

It was then that Strongpaw’s attention went above Platinum, where one of Star Knight’s clone was preparing a Spiraling Sphere with multiple spheres over his hoof. He went to hit Platinum, but he was able to dodge.

“Damn it…” Star said.

“King Platinum has sensory skills!” Hard Stone exclaimed.

“Chief Strongpaw, sand!” Star asked.

With a wave of hoof, the leader of the pony-panther made a platform of sand like the one where he was and, using an energy arm, Star was able to impulse him up with the help of his wings. Platinum became very impressed with that improvised move and then exclaimed to the young prince:

“Try to dodge this! My spell is faster than yours!”

But that was true, as Star created an energy arm that approached the spheres at him faster. And he hit him, throwing him them with such a strength that Platinum went against the ground, passing through rock formations and then hitting the sand and then being thrown through it, stopping only when Hard Stone, having moving to there, stopped him with one hoof and then applied at him the gravity spell that he used to fly, but instead making him heavy, something that made the sand under him to sag a little.

“Thanks to that, you’re so heavy that you won’t be able to move or charging your horn” Hard Stone said to his father.

While Strongpaw descended his sand and Hard Stone massaged his back, Platinum told to the later:

“You used to hate the other kingdoms, even those who didn’t belong to the Enchanted Forest, but now you work so well with them, son.”

Hard Stone smiled and then replied:

“Well, father, I learned it’s worth to live a long life. You get to enjoy change.”

With a move, Strongpaw made the sand to cover Platinum’s body.

“Don’t let your guard down yet” Platinum said to Hard Stone. “I’m still…”

But he didn’t finish, as he was completely covered by the sand and sealed. After that, Star Knight landed.

“Nicely done!” he said. “You were good there, Chief Strongpaw. You too, King Hard Stone. It’s an honor to finally meet you.”

“You know who I am, boy?” Hard Stone asked, surprised.

“But of course” he said. “I learned everything I could from my History class at the academy.”

“What are you doing on the battlefield, Prince Star Knight?!” Strongpaw asked. “Why are you here?!”

“Well… it’s a long story” Star replied.

“You better have an explanation to convince me” Strongpaw said.

It was then that White Light came into contact with them with the help of Diamond Glow.

“That’s not possible” he said. “So I’ll do the talking. I’m Captain White Light from HQ. King Hard Stone, Chief Strongpaw, you were in the middle of battling, so I thought in letting the complicated talk for later.”

“Alright, we’re all ears” Hard Stone said, taking flight. “But the fight is not over. We must head out soon. You can tell us on the way.”

And they all took flight, advancing toward the other battles.

Back to where the unit was fighting Gusty Blizzard, all of them were lying on the ground.

“You know, I’m really trying to win against you” the king said.

“You’re just too strong for us” a guard said.

“Still, you must seal me” Gusty Blizzard said. “Otherwise, I’ll remain a puppet controlled by the enemy. And I loath to stay like this, believe me. Okay, everypony, get up.”

And they started to get up, although reluctantly.

On their way to the other battles, Hard Stone and Strongpaw had been told what was happening with the other units and the reason why Star was at the battlefield.

“So that’s it” Hard Stone said. “I can’t believe that even King Aspen relented. Very well, I understand.”

“I’ll cease transmitting now” White Light said, with the telepathic spell ceasing.

“Prince Star Knight, it’s good that you’ll go to each battlefield to identify transformed enemies” Strongpaw said. “But as a former jinchuriki, I know. The Nine-Tails’ energy you have… Are you sure it’s safe to use it so heavily?”

There was a pause and then he replied:

“You know what? I don’t plan to die at this war. Just because of my age, it doesn’t mean you can treat me like a foal.”

That made Hard Stone with a curious look to Star. He had the same look as his parents, what made him conclude he share the same determination as them.

“I’ll take care of the right battlefront” Star said then. “You guys go to the left.”

When he was about to move away, Strongpaw told him:

“Prince Star Knight, King Alder is at that battlefield.”

“Got it” he replied.

After he was away, Hard Stone told to Strongpaw:

“And our opponent will be King Gusty Blizzard, Queen Mystic Heart’s grandfather.”

“Yes, the user of illusion spells” the pony-panther said. 

“Well, ordinary combat methods won’t work against him” Hard Stone said.

At the battlefield of Gusty Blizzard, the guards had attack again, but they hit, again, another illusion of the clam that disappeared.

“Why do I bother to tell you that is a mirage?” Gusty Blizzard at the other side with the clam. “Go pick them up.”

The guards went to pick their weapons, but then Gusty Blizzard noticed a guard from Evermist and called him:

“Hey, you there.”

The guard looked at him and asked:

“Are you talking to me?”

“Yes, you. You’re from Evermist, aren’t you? Aren’t you familiar with my magic?”

“Sorry, I only know a little about you, Your Highness” the guard replied. “I only know about your granddaughter, Queen Mystic Heart.”

That made Gusty Blizzard take a hoof to his face and say:

“Evermist’s obsession with secrecy is to blame for this. If I knew things would be like this, I would have let behind a more memorable legacy. Well, at least I get to know I have a granddaughter.”

It was then that he saw the sand around him become wet with a mixture of water and oil. That could only mean one thing.

“Hey, all of you!” he exclaimed to the guards that turned to him. “Playtime is over. You have to take me seriously right now.”

“But we have been serious this all-time” a guard replied.

“I don’t have control over my body” Gusty Blizzard said, while bubbles started to come out the wet sand. “It’s casting spells on its own. Damn it, I can’t stand being used like this. It’s my Water Balloon Spell. Defend yourselves!”

And the bubbles were launched with a lot of speed and force. The guards prepared for the impact, but then sand rose up and protected them from the bubbles.

“What…” Gusty Blizzard asked.

The wet sand got down and Strongpaw made his presence be noticed, much to the guards’ happiness.

“Hey, what took you so long?” Gusty Blizzard asked. “Now, I hope this time you’ll be able to seal me.”

“Yes, that’s what I came to do” Strongpaw replied.

“I’m looking forward for it” Gusty Blizzard replied.

And he launched more bubbles against the leader of the pony-panthers. Using the sand under him as a shield, Strongpaw landed on the ground. Gusty Blizzard used his bubbles again against the unit, but Strongpaw used sand to protect them, but not even that was able to block all the bubbles, whose blunt force cause an explosion under them. More bubbles were cast against more members of the unit.

“Look around and pay attention” Gusty Blizzard said to Strongpaw.

A lot of bubbles were thrown against Strongpaw, whose shield protected him. The guards of the unit where lying on the ground, trembling, with only a few barely standing. Gusty Blizzard turned to Strongpaw and asked:

“Is that all you got?”

Strongpaw had to admit that defending all those attacks was grueling.

“I’ve been telling you my weaknesses” Gusty Blizzard said. “You guys are useless.”

While seeing his wet sand falling, Strongpaw realized it was more oil than water. Even if used sand to defend, it would just sip in and collapse.

“You tried to stop Platinum first, didn’t you?” Gusty Blizzard said. “You always have to stop the strongest opponent first! That’s what winning a battle is all about!”

“We did” Strongpaw replied.

That answer really upset Strongpaw who said:

“Oh, please, it’s obvious that I’m the stronger one. Don’t you think I’m right?”

“Maybe…” Strongpaw replied. “However appearances can be deceiving. You are strong.”

That cause the former king to smile and then said:

“So finally you understand… Wait, what do you mean that appearances can be deceiving? I already told you. I’m not even here. You’re seen an illusion casted by my giant clam. It’s a mirage. Physical attacks are useless. You must find the giant clam quickly and crush it or this will never land.”

It was then that Gusty Blizzard said:

“Ah, that’s right. You use sand.”

“I simply prefer to let my actions do the talking for me” Strongpaw replied.

His Third Eye was above observing the battle and then, after detecting the clam, the sand involved around it, signaling its presence. Hard Stone was at the top of one of sand platforms created by Strongpaw and saw that.

“It’s over there” Hard Stone said, while preparing to use his particle nature.

“I see…” Gusty Blizzard said to Strongpaw. “You’re already searching for it with your sand. That’s why you were just focused on the defense. Well, finally! At last I have an worthy foe. Now, hurry up and seal me already!”

But when Hard Stone had already the object, it just disappeared. He couldn’t believe it… He had used to much energy on his battle against his father. At that moment, he couldn’t use particle nature. Then, he hadn’t no other choice. He jumped out of the sand and, focusing his earth nature, he covered his hoof with stone, preparing then to smash the clam.

“Just one problem” Gusty Blizzard said.

Strongpaw hit the clam, making the real Gusty Blizzard and clam appear on it.

“A weak punch like that it’s not going to be enough, little Hard Stone” Gusty Blizzard said to him. “Put some power into it. You’re not using particle nature. You must be out of juice.”

Hard Stone turned to him and said:

“You’re forgetting that I’m no longer that little Hard Stone you knew and made fun of. Gravity Spell!”

And using the increased of weight on his punch, the clam’s shell started to crack.

“Not bad, Hard Stone!” Gusty Blizzard exclaimed, impressed. “Not bad at all!”

And the clam’s shell was crushed, but, at that moment, he got back pain again. The illusionary Gusty Blizzard disappeared. Strongpaw could see that the illusion spell was gone. Through the Third Eye, he could see that Hard Stone was in trouble. He was kneeling at the sand after making the clam disappear, suffering from his back.

“My back…” he said.

Gusty Blizzard approached him, coming from the dust that was around, and said:

“In my heart, I always knew you’d become a wonderful king. But just look at you now, you’re nothing more than a stubborn old fool with badback. I’ll admit that punch had some power, but you overdid it and put yourself out of commission.”

It was then that he pointed his horn to him, starting to charge his horn. Seeing that, Gusty Blizzard realized what he was about to do and said:

“Oh no, hurry up and escape! This is my Water Gun Spell! Go on, I can’t stop myself!”

But Hard Stone’s back were causing him too much pain for him to escape. And Gusty Blizzard fired a drop of water with a tremendous force and speed that pierced the king of Stonult’s body, who fell on the ground…