Tirek’s appearance had caused a lot of impression to those who knew about him.
“So that’s Tirek?” Star asked, who knew about him through the books he had read. “I always imagined him… bigger and more threatening.”
“He’s not still in his true form with full force” Hard Stone said. “Believe me when I said that he may be as dangerous as the General of Chaos or at least close enough. That monster is capable of absorb magic, the one inside any creature.”
“Can he really do that?” Strongpaw asked.
“Yes, and that’s why we need to stop him as fast as possible” Hard Stone said. “Good thing he doesn’t have his brother Scorpan at his side.”
“Wait, Scorpan is his brother?” Star asked.
“Yes, he was also a villain, but he got reformed and helped King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia defeat Tirek” Hard Stone answered. “Because of that, Tirek killed Scorpan.”
At the rock formation, Tirek noticed all the ones down there and said:
“I can’t believe that I’m seeing kingdoms that never get along under the same flag.”
“That’s why they’re called the Alliance” Grogar said. “You’ll see that it is composed by kingdoms from both the Enchanted Forest and the Pony World, including Equestria.”
“You don’t tell me…” Tirek said. “You mean I can get my revenge on those two pesky alicorns.”
“The ones who defeated you no longer rule Equestria” Grogar said. “That role belongs now to their daughters.”
“It doesn’t matter” Tirek said. “They’ll do nicely.”
“Well, if you say so…” Grogar said. “Just remember that you can’t fail. Gentle Light will be watching through Platinum and assist you in any way possible.”
It was then that Platinum’s consciousness was taken over by Gentle Light who told through him:
“It’s not a job that I’m willing to do, but I don’t have any other choice.”
“I’ll leave you then” Grogar said. “I already did what I had to do. I must wait for further orders.”
And, having said that, he disappeared.
“Grogar is gone” Strongpaw observed.
“Where did he go?” Star asked.
“I don’t know, but that’s not what I’m worried about” Hard Stone said.
“You know, I’m really curious about you, Tirek” Gentle Light said.
“What do you mean?” the centaur asked. “You’re a General of Order, you should know all about me.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I know about you through my siblings and Mirrored Library, but I simply have too much work, mainly thanks to you and your fellow villains, and I don’t know many things about your abilities” Gentle Light said. “Even though I wouldn’t want to motivate an enemy, I would like to see you in action.”
But before Tirek could reply, a great quantity of sand attacked them, what forced them to dodge as fast as they could.
“I guess we can’t take them that easily” Strongpaw said after that failed attack.
Tirek landed at the ground and said:
“Very well then.”
There was a huge silence, very uncomfortable to the Fourth Unit, as they didn’t know when the centaur would attack. He then started to advanced, until he started to run.
“Here he comes!” Star exclaimed.
“Whatever happens, don’t give him time to try to absorb your magic!” Hard Stone said.
And so all the guards of Fourth Unit also advanced, while making their cry of war. In a blink, Tirek knocked down a lot of guards. Her size and current physical strength were very superior to those of a pony and even a deer.
Gentle Light, using Platinum, who was using the gravity spell to fly, was forced to attack as well. Pointing to Hard Stone, she tried to use the particle nature. Hard Stone noticed that, but he knew that his father couldn’t use particle nature with his power divided in two. Like he had thought, the particle nature was undone, what forced Gentle Light to make Platinum invisible.
“Sensing warriors, make sure that you watch out for King Platinum!” Hard Stone commanded.
Strongpaw tried to use his sand, but the female griffon told him:
“Wait, Chief Strongpaw, you and King Hard Stone must recover first.”
She then turned to Star, who had summoned a clone, and asked:
“Prince Star Knight, can you use the mode you had before?”
“No, not right now” he replied. “I used it all in my earlier fight.”
Tirek continued to defeat warrior after warrior. It was then that a strong wind push him back. He looked and saw that it was the female griffon.
“Don’t think you will be able to defeat all of us” she said.
Tirek got up, looking at her for a moment and then, accessing to his magic, he started to feed on the magic of all the ones he had defeated. That caused their eyes lose their light and the ponies’ Cutie Marks to disappear. All that magic caused Tirek to grow even bigger, with his lower body becoming azureish black, his skin becoming moderate raspberry, his mane becoming light phthalo bluish gray and his horns getting even longer and becoming dark sapphire bluish gray.
“Wow, that’s unexpected…” Star said.
And then he charged his magic and casted a blast that soon turned into a firestorm. The water nature users were quick to cast a water barrier. The two spells hit each other and, although the water was able to weak the fire a bit, the latter was still very intense. And then a great stream covered all the area.
Although that took the sense of sight to everyone, it didn’t take long for Tirek to attack again with fire attacks. But when he went to the physical attacks, he noticed that when he tried to attack, the guards were protected by sand. When the sand tried to attack him, he realized it was Strongpaw, who recovered thanks to a healing spell from a unicorn.
“You won’t go any further!” he exclaimed.
And started to use repeated sand attacks on Tirek, who, although of great size, was able to dodge the attacks. At one point, he turned and saw Star Knight with his clone creating a massive Spiraling Sphere. Hard Stone used his earth nature to elevate Tirek and Star hit him. That created a great shockwave.
However, Star noticed something that left him astonished. Ribs made of vivid vermilion had blocked his attack and then a hoof punched him hard, throwing him back. And so a Warrior of Dark Light appeared with musculature and skin. Star and his clone were caught by sand hands.
“That’s the Warrior of Dark Light!” Hard Stone exclaimed. “So he also has the blacklight nature.”
And the Warrior of Dark Light summoned two energy blades.
“Prince Star Knight, how much longer?” Strongpaw asked, while putting down the clones.
The original clone was close by, gathering natural energy.
“Just hold on a second” he replied. “I’m almost done.”
The orange pigmentation started to appear around his eyes.
All the warriors started to attack Tirek, but the centaur just attacked them with the blades. Chief Strongpaw’s sand started to embrace the Warrior of Dark Light. But Tirek didn’t seem to be bothered by that. In fact, he made the Warrior of Dark Light raise its arms, breaking free from it, to cast a great shockwave that took down a lot of warriors. Strongpaw couldn’t believe that not even his sand couldn’t stop him. But then he heard Star saying:
“Sorry about that.”
Star, now in Sage Mode, and the other two clones had created a Spiraling Star.
“Now, I’m ready!” he exclaimed. “I’ll need everyone to get back now!”
Hard Stone put himself beside Strongpaw and, putting his hoof on the latter’s bag, he said:
“Go, Chief Strongpaw!”
And he executed his gravity spell and then said:
“I made all the sand here lighter.”
And his affirmation was confirmed when the sand simply get out of the bag.
“With sand this light, there is no limit for what I can do” Strongpaw noticed.
The warriors started to get away from Tirek like it was told to them and then Chief Strongpaw exclaimed, while his sand got out of his bad:
“Prince Star Knight!”
“Yes, here I go!” Star Knight replied, advancing with the Spiraling Star.
Strongpaw’s sand attacked the Warrior of Dark Light, involving him. If it was like Rothbart’s Warrior of Dark Light, then he knew that external attacks were ineffective. Then he needed to use the sand under Tirek’s hooves. And, with a gesture, he made the sand under Tirek start to involve him, taking him then out of the Warrior of Dark Light.
“Go!” Strongpaw exclaimed. “Star Knight!”
And Star appeared above Tirek and threw the Spiraling Star.
At HQ, a lot of signs were coming from the great bubble.
“I can’t believe that Grogar brought that monster to here!” Ingrid exclaimed, directing her words to Celestia. “After everything our parents did to defeat Tirek…”
“The Lord of Chaos wants to win this war at any cost” Celestia said. “It’s no surprise he would want any villain to help him, mainly someone as brutal as Tirek.”
At the battlefield, Tirek was able to absorb the magic in the sand and the Spiraling Star, what caused him to grow even bigger, getting mane on his head.
“So much energy…” he said, with sand on his hand. “You didn’t have to give me such a feast.”
All the ones who saw that couldn’t believe what Tirek just did.
“Impossible…” Star said. “How did he…”
The Warrior of Dark Light left behind decayed until it disappeared. Tirek then gave a big jump to land beside Platinum that was on a rock formation.
“It would appear my guess” Gentle Light commented. “You are very powerful.”
“Tell me on thing, General of Death” Tirek said. “That colt over there… He’s an alicorn. Who is he?”
“Prince Star Knight?” Gentle Light asked. “He’s Princess Twilight’s son. She’s also na alicorn and is the ruler of the Light Kingdom and the current holder of the original light of the Pony Reality.”
“You don’t say…” Tirek said. “Well, I can’t let somepony like that around here.”
And he used his magic again. It appeared to haven’t happened nothing, but then a great shadow appeared over all the unit. They looked up and the shock and fear covered them all.
“No, it can’t be…” Star said.
“What is this…?” the griffon said.
“How can he…?” Strongpaw started.
And over them, a great meteorite started to get down. Seeing the air of despair in everyone’s look, Strongpaw exclaimed:
“It’s still too soon to be considering giving up! Never give up until even trying everything, no matter how small and ineffective they are!”
And, taking flight with his gravity spell, he started to head toward the meteorite. After that, Strongpaw exclaimed:
“Everyone, gets as far away from here as you can!”
And they all started to do that, even Star.
“You’re taking us too?” Gentle Light observed, seeing that the meteorite would hit them as well.
“Yes, of course I am” Tirek replied. “After, I have the magic to survive my own attacks and that body that you’re using is a reincarnated being will restore soon after. That is the point of the Reincarnation Curse, isn’t it?”
He then noticed Hard Stone going to the meteorite.
“A unicorn that can fly?” he asked. “He’s that really Platinum’s little brat?”
Star, noticing Hard Stone going to the meteorite, asked:
“What will King Hard Stone do up there?”
“He’s going to make that meteorite lighter and stop it” a Stonult warrior that was running away beside him answered.
Arriving to the meteorite, Hard Stone placed his hooves over it and started to apply his gravity spell while pushing it up with all the strength he had. After a few moments, the velocity of the meteorite slowed down, but he kept falling down.
To help him, Strongpaw used all the sand he could to help Hard Stone push up the meteorite. But even with all that, the meteorite was still falling.
“Just a litte… more…” Hard Stone said. “Come on…!”
It was then that they were able to stop it.
“Who would have guessed that little brat had become such great warrior” Tirek said.
Everyone had stopped, seeing how Hard Stone and Strongpaw had stopped the meteorite and started to acclaim them. A smile of relief appeared on everyone. And then Tirek asked:
“But now, what are you going to do with the second one, Hard Stone?”
And the second meteorite became apparent to everyone and hit the first one, starting to break it while passing through it and pushing it down. The tremor was such that was sensed everywhere else, including at the limits of Thicket where the HQ was.
“What happened out there?!” White Light exclaimed.
“From what I can tell, a giant boulder, big enough to block out the sky was dropped at the Fourth Unit’s battlefield” Diamond Glow replied. “It’s the source of this tremor.”
“Do we have any further report from the Fourth Unit after the attack?” King Aspen asked, worried.
Boreal Blizzard, who was able to feel what happened there, said:
“What’s going on? So many casualties… in just on sweep!”
“There’s no mistake…” White Light said. “It’s Tirek’s doing. It’s the only explanation. Princess Celestia, at this rate…”
“That’s it” she said with a determined look. “I’ll go.”
At the desert, the sand was filled with bodies, either from the ones who were directly killed by the meteorite or the ones who tried to defend themselves, ending up getting without energy that caused their death. Even the ones who barely survived seemed to much shocked to be able to react.
Strongpaw was able to defend himself and the female griffon with his sand, even though that let him exhausted. Star, on the other side, got out of a rubber ball, ending up on the ground. He got up and then asked:
“Why did you bothered to save a clone like me?”
He was talking to Oak that was also to defend himself with the rubber ball that he also used to protect Star.
“I feel bad about the others, but, even if you’re a clone or not, you’re still very needed here… in order for us to win” he replied.
Although that was the most logical decision, Star couldn’t stop trembling with all the pain of being spared while the others were killed. It was then that he remembered one think:
“What about King Hard Stone?!”
The king was with a warrior of his kingdom that was lucky to survive with relatively less damages than the others. The king, on the other side, had scratches all over his body. What left of his mane, normally well arranged, was now loose and disheveled.
“King Hard Stone!” Star exclaimed, while approaching.
“It’s okay, Prince Star Knight” the guard said. “He is still alive. However, he’s seriously injured.”
Tirek had been able to protect himself with the ribs of the Warrior of Dark Light, while Platinum’s reincarnated body was regenerated beside him.
“So this is the maximum level of the power that both you and Scorpan’s share” Gentle Light said, when Platinum was ready to talk.
Tirek smiled and he said:
“My brother was never a match to me when it comes to this. Only the ones with the true desire to cause destruction would be able to cause something like this. Ah, how this landscape gives me so many memories…”
“But it’s a shame that there are some survivors down there” Gentle Light said. “That really ruins your perfect landscape.”
She was looking to the six that had escape completely: Star Knight, Oak, Strongpaw, the female griffon and the Stonult guard who were all around Hard Stone.
“King Hard Stone and Chief Strongpaw are specially persistent” Gentle Light continued. “What will you do?”
“I want to check something first” Tirek replied.
And he executed a summoning spell. But when he barely ended, a pain affected Star until the inside of his mind, where he kneeled before Nine-Tails’ cage.
“My stomach…” the alicorn colt said. “It feels… hot…”
The nine-tailed fox was able to recognize that.
“This spell that summons me…” he said, with rage and hate filling every word. “Is Tirek who is trying to summoning me?!”
After seeing that nothing happened, Tirek said:
“It would appear that Nine-Tails is out of my grasp.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot that you and Nine-Tails have history” Gentle Light commented. “I heard that you managed to put him under your control and, after doing that, you used him against my brothers and sisters of the Light Kingdom. Golden Paladin and Leaf Mane managed to release him from you before sealing him inside Heartbeat. You know that fox doesn’t like very much, right?”
And that caused Tirek to make a cold look to her.
“I know, I’ll stop now” Gentle Light said. “Oh, and you should know that’s the entire propose of this war. The Nine-Tails remains sealed inside a jinchuriki, one that is not my sister. Just look, he’s right over there.”
And Tirek observed Star, who was still feeling the pain that his summoning spell caused.
“So that alicorn brat is Nine-Tails’ current jinchuriki…” Tirek said. “Interesting…”
“You shouldn’t underestimate him” Gentle Light advised. “He is very talented and smart. He already masters magic that most pony, including the alicorn sisters, don’t. He was even able to defeat the General of Chaos once. In order for your master’s plan to work, you need to capture him, but this is only a clone. Will you after the real one?”
“Not yet, there’s something that I want to try” Tirek said. “With all that wild energy that I got from Grogar, I want to test it out.”
And he channeled his magic, what was sensed by the Stonult guard who said:
“It’s them! At four o’clock!”
They all looked and saw Tirek and Platinum. It was then that big plants started to emerge and he exclaimed:
“Deep Forest Emergence!”
And the big plants grown started to advance toward them.
“He’s using wood nature, even more one of Leaf Mane’s spell!” Star exclaimed.
“I can feel wild energy coming from here” Strongpaw said. “That’s maybe the reason why he can use wood nature.”
“I guess this is it then…” the Stonult guard said.
But Star couldn’t accept that… No, he couldn’t let Tirek win this way! The rage he had was the same that Nine-Tails was feeling at that moment, a rage and hate for the same being… However, he didn’t have much energy to combat something like one of the greatest spells of the General of Nature.
He then went to Nine-Tails’ cage, as the fox directed to him:
“This time, I’ll lend you my power, Star Knight.”
“And I guess you’re gonna tell me to lend my body over to you again” Star answered in an aggressive way with no patient for the tailed beast.
“No, I’ll just give you my energy” Nine-Tails replied. “We share a common enemy in Tirek. He manipulated me like a puppet and was the reason why I was sealed inside Heartbeat. Believe me when I tell that I would tear him apart if I was not inside you and still serving the Lord of Chaos. I rather stick with you than be captured by any side that includes him.”
That declaration really surprised Star.
At the real world, Star looked to the chaotic amount of plants that were approaching and started to advance to them.
“Prince Star Knight, wait!” Strongpaw exclaimed.
And then he created an enormous amount of clones and they all made a giant Spiraling Sphere. King Hard Stone woke up and looked to Star Knight advancing.
“Go for it, Star Knight!” Nine-Tails exclaimed.
And all the clones started to use the Spiraling Spheres on the advancing plants. That tore them apart until there was no danger to the ones that were ahead.
“Like you said, he is really very talented” Tirek observed with a smile.
“I told you” Gentle Light said.
And the clones Star created disappeared, while he kneeled panting. He had used all the energy Nine-Tails gave him in one shot. He was at his limit and, as clone, he would disappear at any minute.
“Prince Star Knight, that’s enough” Hard Stone said. “I’ll take over this battle from here on.”
“Your Highness, you’re too injured!” the griffon exclaimed. “You’re in no condition.”
But he rejected her words and said:
“I have a chance to reclaim myself. I still have enough energy to do that, you can believe that. I’ll fight him.”
“But that’s crazy!” the griffon exclaimed. “You’re already falling apart!”
It was then that Tirek and Platinum approached and the formed said:
“That’s too bad, I wanted to try more of my magic. I still hadn’t the time to warm up. But I don’t think you can’t dance anymore, Hard Stone.”
That caused him to look with rage to him.
“What’s that look for?” Tirek asked. “Don’t tell me you’re still upset with our former meeting.”
“Wait, you already knew him?” the griffon asked.
After a pause of a few seconds, Hard Stone told:
“It was a long time ago… I was a just little older than Prince Star Knight. Stonult was passing a bad time during our war with Evermist. We were in need of allies, so I and my father approached Tirek in hopes he could help us… We were desperate… We didn’t care how much evil he was as long he helped us win the war. But when he sent a team of soldiers to escort him…”
“He absorbed their magic and killed them all” Strongpaw concluded.
“That caused me and my father to go to him, to have an explanation” Hard Stone continued. “He just berated us for believing that he would actually help us. For generations, we from the Enchanted Forest had come to fight for the sake of our respective kingdoms, not caring for all the others. We took from and they took back from us. And this happened again and again in an endless cycle. All that hate made was to make us go to war. Without even noticing, we reduced ourselves to the same level as villains like him.”
“But that’s simply the way life is” Tirek replied. “I can’t believe that you lived as long as this and yet you didn’t learn a single thing of the past. You may have come from the light, but your path only gets darker and darker.”
“You may have lived more than me, but you spent most of that time crawling in the darkest parts of the Enchanted Forest that I ended up learning more than you have” Hard Stone replied, while Strongpaw went to help Star get up. “It's because that I experienced so much pain in the past that I can even consider what’s best for the future. This war may have caused even more pain, but this time is all different. This time we’re fighting together, fighting to achieve more than focusing in all those pesky differences we had before. By watching youngsters like Prince Star Knight, I learned that time doesn’t simply just pass by. Though slow in pace, the world is accruing its past experiences and advances steadily towards peace.”
There was pause and then Tirek said:
“That’s where you are wrong. The world doesn’t need to grow any further. It’s time for it to slumber in peace under the Lord of Chaos’ domain.”
“Tirek, long ago, you forced me to forsake myself” Hard Stone told, while getting up. “However, I shall now win against you here. I will reclaim myself and you shall be the one to slumber.”
But when he tried to stand, he started to fall. But then sand got around him and held him still.
“Come with me and I will help you reclaim yourself” Strongpaw replied.
Hard Stone smiled and replied:
“Only if you are able to keep up with me.”
“I can see that you’re still capable of dancing” Tirek said.
“For my soul’s sake and for the future, I shall take you down here and now!” Hard Stone vowed.
At HQ, Celestia decision to join the battle, although sudden, didn’t surprise anyone. In fact, it lead Ingrid to get up and said:
“I’m with you, sister. We can’t let that monster ruin all the work our parents’ work in pushing Tirek away.”
“Are you sure of that?” White Light asked.
“Tirek is a big threat, as much as the General of Chaos” the Celestia said.
“Strongpaw and mainly Hard Stone won’t be able to stand him by themselves” Ingrid continued. “It’s imperative we join them.”
“I agree” Aspen said, standing up. “I shall join you in battle.”
“Celestia, should we call Luna as well?” Ingrid asked. “We may need all the power we can to face Tirek.”
Celestia thought for a moment and then she replied:
“No, we need Luna at the main forces. As well as Twilight.”
“Princess Celestia is right” Aspen agreed. “We can’t forget there are other battles as important as this one.”
“But we’ll need help to fight Tirek’s fire power and we’ll need more than just your ice nature, Ingrid” Celestia said.
At the shore, Princess Luna was overseeing everything to make sure there wasn’t any enemies there when a light unicorn approached her and told her:
“Princess Luna, we have news from your sister Princess Celestia.”
“What is it?” Luna asked.
“She and the other regents will fight Lord Tirek” the guard informed.
“What?!” she exclaimed. “Tirek is here?! Then I must join my sisters and the others.”
“Please, princess, your sister said for you to stay” the guard said.
“And why would she say something like that?” Luna asked.
“Because we need all the help we need” the guard replied.
“I see…” Luna said. “I believe she’s right. Beyond that, she and the other regents may be able to handle that demon.”
At Neighagra Falls, Star was preparing to use the Spiraling Star, but Featherwing caused a strong wind that cause Star to miss the aim slightly and, when he threw, he missed.
“Damn!” he exclaimed.
But, fortunately, Bronze Dagger, using the Twinsword, concentrated the energy in it to create and energy hammer that he used to hit the harpie hardly.
“You won’t escape that easily” he said.
Mystic Heart was happy to see that Bronze Dagger has gained more confidence.
“That was impressive…” Star said. “So that’s one of the swords of the Swordsponies of the Mist. The only I have seen so far was Shark Skin.”
“Queen Mystic Heart, this is Captain White Light” he said, linking himself to her with Diamond Glow’s help. “I have something important to tell you. It’s an emergency situation.”
After being notified of what is happening, Mystic Heart gathered a trio of unicorns so they all could use a teleportation spell strong enough to take them to the place where Tirek was.
“Are you sure you can handle things around here?” the queen asked to Bronze Dagger and Star.
“Of course” Star replied.
“Your Highness, don’t worry” Bronze Dagger said, beside Featherwing to prevent her from doing anything. “I’ll defend this place with my life as one of the Seven Swordsponies of the Mist.”
That caused Mystic Heart to smile at him and told him:
“Thank you very much, Bronze Dagger.”
And so she and the others prepared to teleport.
When Tirek and Platinum prepared to advance to fight them, a light appeared, bringing with it Celestia, Aspen and Ingrid.
“You’re here!” Star exclaimed.
“We couldn’t stand still knowing you would be fighting that monster” Celestia said.
“No longer no see” Tirek said, looking to Celestia and Ingrid. “You have really grown up.”
It didn’t take long for Mystic Heart to appear as well with the other unicorn.
“Well, I can see we made it in time” she said.
“And it was about time to join the battle as well” Aspen said.
“I can say the same” Ingrid told.
Strongpaw didn’t say anything, but he felt the same as them.
“Well, it really pays off to live a long live to be able to witness the day that regents from both the Pony World and the Enchanted Forest stand unit and fight side by side” Hard Stone said.
Noticing they were serious about that, Tirek said:
“This is perfect! Now I will be able to get even stronger when I get your magic after defeating you.”
Celestia advanced to cast a healing spell on both Strongpaw and Hard Stone.
“Thank you for this, princess” the latter said.
“I’ll heal the two of you” Celestia said. “Ingrid, King Aspen, Queen Mystic Heart, you buy me some time, while I finish this.”
And so Aspen was surrounded by his electric aura, while Ingrid and Mystic Heart charged their horns. And then Mystic Heard launched lava against Tirek who started to dodge, while walking through the plants he had summoned. It was then that Aspen appeared and hit him with his horn, throwing him against the lava, while Ingrid launched an ice natured spell, what caused it to hard and become rock.
It was then that the centaur released himself with the ribcage of the Warrior of Dark Light. Before that, Aspen charged his horn with light nature and executed a blow with it on the ribcage, while Mystic Heart and Ingrid combined their lava and ice nature again.
“I feel useless watching them” a guard said.
“Yeah, I don’t know what to do” another said.
“Why don’t you all follow me and go deal with the other one” Oak said, turning to Platinum. “Let’s go!”
And he, the Stonult guard and the guards that came with Mystic Heart advanced toward Platinum who then moved away.
“How much longer, Princess Celestia?” Aspen asked, while he, Ingrid and Mystic Heart watched out for Tirek.
“Just a bit” she replied.
“Princess Celestia, can you heal me too, Princess Celestia?” Star asked. “I may be a clone, but I can’t afford to disappear yet. I can join you.”
“That’s not necessary” she replied.
“Why not?!”
There was a pause and then Hard Stone said:
“Star Knight, you must understand that this war is no longer fought to only protect you.”
And after a small explosion, Tirek irrupted from it, with the Warrior of Dark Light getting form.
“Speed enhance by light nature, ice nature and lava nature…” he said, with a smile. “Most impressive attacks…”
“You still didn’t see nothing” Ingrid said. “I still have a lot of spells in store to use against you.”
“You know, I normally prefer stallions that are hard to melt, but, in your case, I think I’ll have to pass” Mystic Hard said.
“And you couldn’t keep up with me even at full speed” Aspen replied.
Tirek made a blow to attack them, but he only hit the plants beneath, as the three of them retreated.
“I have to get faster and get the power crush his defenses” Aspen said.
“You should be more concerned about your defenses” Tirek replied.
And the Warrior of Dark Light threw blasts of fire, but they didn’t get to them, as a stone golem and a sand shield with the shape of Sand Jewel protect them all.
“Impressive…” Star said, as he turned to Strongpaw and Hard Stone after they had erected their defenses.
“Do you understand now?” the latter asked to him. “This war has become a battle to protect each other.”
“I want to fight with Tirek too!” Star exclaim. “I want to help you!”
“A defensive wall of sand and stone?” Tirek observed. “Also quite impressive…”
And the Warrior of Dark Light started to advance.
“Now, it’s time to go to the offensive” Hard Stone said. “Now, Queen Mystic Heart, King Aspen, listen to me well.”
And the warrior made of blacklight nature started to get pass through the defenses.
Meanwhile, Platinum continued to run away from Oak and the guards.
“Oh annoying” Gentle Light said. “Now I have to endure these ones.”
When the Warrior of Dark Light was able to pass through the defenses, Strongpaw attacked with his sand directly to Tirek, although the he wasn’t directly hit. The pony-panther then took flight with some sand and then used the sand he used on his attack to involve Tirek and the Warrior of Dark Light completely. While Strongpaw was holding him still, Ingrid appeared beside him and used her ice nature to create a thick layer over the sand. But Tirek was able to blow up with that.
After he did that, Hard Stone had finished telling his plan.
“Right, I understand” King Aspen said.
“Queen Mystic Heart!” Hard Stone exclaimed.
And she casted a Mist Conjuration Spell what caused a mist to appear. That mist even caught Platinum who was still running.
“This spell…” Gentle Light said. “It must have been casted by Mystic Heart.”
And then Platinum appeared before the regents. Hard Stone was over Aspen’s back and then told him:
“Let’s do it, King Aspen.”
“Right.”
And Aspen disappear in the blink.
“I see…” Gentle Light realized. “Hard Stone made Aspen lighter, what increased his speed. Probably, it will be as last time with Pandora and Rothbart…”
But before she could finish, Hard Stone and Aspen appeared and the latter hit Platinum with his horn, throwing him up. Aspen advanced and, thanks to Hard Stone’s gravity spell to give him more weight, he was able to hit with a lot of strength on the Warrior of Dark Light and break it, throwing it and Tirek back.
“Come one, I can help you guys too” Star Knight said.
“Just calm yourself and listen to me, Star Knight” Hard Stone said, approaching flying with Aspen behind. “You see this war we’re fighting? In the beginning, I just agreed to join the Alliance in order to get rid of the villains of the Lord of Chaos. But, as I fought beside all of you, I started to feel quite differently than I have in the past. Now, I want to be here as one of the regents of the Alliance. In the exact same manner, kingdoms that were once at odds are now changing. They are becoming one. So now, the era we were living, where every kingdom was divided from each other, can now change as well. Star Knight, please, let us deal with Tirek. I swear we’ll finish him off. It will be the first step to destroy the hate that has been haunting both the Pony World and the Enchanted Forest. As we are the descendants of the ones who perpetuated this, it’s our responsibility to end it. Rest assure and leave this to us.”
He proceeded to put a hoof over Star’s shoulder and continued:
“So, it’s up to you to stop the General of Chaos, my boy. That will become the first step in promoting hope for the future.”
“Even if it is Tirek or the General of Chaos, it doesn’t really matter” Celestia said. “Only by defeating both of them we can bring this war to an end. We’ll all defend you by staying here on this battlefield. So protect us by fighting on the other battlefield.”
There was a paused, where Star ended up understanding their words.
“Now, clone Star Knight, I’ll trust you with this message from all the regents here present.”
And the six of them exclaimed:
“We’ll win!”
Star nodded and then he disappeared, transmitting all his experiences and the message to the real one who was traveling with Hawthorn.
“Yeah…” he said. “We’ll win for sure!”
Hawthorn wondered what happened for Star say something like that, but that didn’t matter at that moment, as something was approaching.
It was the General of Chaos along with the jinchuriki, with Gigi, Echo Wing and Bubble Sweet flying behind him and the others running. When they met, Star advanced and hit with his forehead against the General’s…