After what Star said, Hepheus looked to Blue and then saw something that astonished him. Blue’s star seed started to regenerate and the light inside started to recover its intensity. That caused light to come out of the stone and then it turned back into flesh. The General of Chaos wondered how Star was able to do what only the Lord of Order could do.
It was then that Star advanced against Hepheus, who hasted to create his staff with the black matter. However, the General of Chaos was barely quick enough to defend himself and Star hit him against the trunk of the tree that started to crack. The two looked at each other, while Hepheus defended Star’s punch full of power with the staff. The dark alicorn couldn’t believe how Star was able to touch the black matter unharmed. He wondered if it was because he wasn’t healed yet.
The young prince opened his wings and rose the hoof with the white mark and told to Son Goku:
“Son, lend me some of your energy, please.”
“All right!” he replied.
And he started to create a Spiraling Star that, unlike the one he used with wind nature, had a center of lava nature that he then increased to a great size. Before that, Hepheus took flight to get away, but Star followed him.
“This is bad…” Hepheus said.
The General of Chaos then proceeded to execute the spell he used before. Star, that prepared to throw the Spiraling Star, sensed something coming to attack him and dodge, what surprised Hepheus. After that, Star turned to Hepheus and threw the Spiraling Star that hit the latter.
“Good…” Star said.
Beyond hitting Hepheus, the Spiraling Star started to cut the Divine Tree’s trunk, while the young colt defended from the power of his attack. The attack’s lava cut the tree, while Hepheus was thrown against the ground. He then noticed the tree starting to fall.
Shining noticed that and said:
“The tree had been cut down…”
While watching the tree falling down, he heard a voice coming from it telling:
“Take me within you.”
“Who’s that?” Hepheus asked.
“Take the Divine Tree… Ten-Tails… everything into you.” the voice said.
Strongpaw saw the tree falling and asked:
“Did Star… do that?”
Meanwhile, Star took his father, who was barely conscious now, and got away.
Hepheus stood up and took flight to grab the tree, starting to absorb it into him. It took a long time, but he eventually started to do it.
“The tree disappeared…” Strongpaw observed.
At that moment, Star landed with Blue and put him down.
“Star, are you okay?”
“Yes, I am” he replied. “And so is my father. I prevented his star seed from breaking.”
“But… how did you do that?” Strongpaw asked. “Only the Lord of Order can heal a star seed in the way your father’s was.”
“I feel like I can do all sorts of changes in the way I am now” Star said, looking to the mark on his hoof.
“That’s good…” Blue said, recovering already energy enough to get up.
“Dad, are you okay?” Star asked.
“All thanks to you, son” Blue replied.
The young colt smiled and then turned.
At the place where Ingrid was immobilized, she was approached by Celestia, who had been able to get free, who released her.
“Thank you, sister” Ingrid replied, while getting up.
“It looks like neither you were able to stop Hepheus” Celestia said.
“Yes, I just hope young Star is able to do it” Ingrid replied.
“He’s just like his mother: full of surprises” Celestia commented with a smile. “We can be sure he will defeat Hepheus… in a way or another.”
Star said to Strongpaw:
“Please, Chief Strongpaw, watch over my dad. He’s still not in full strength yet.”
“You can let it with me” Strongpaw said.
“Star, I don’t need a baby-sitter… but even so, I’ll let you get your way” Blue said. “Good luck, my son.”
“Thank you” Star thanked.
And he took off, with Shining noticing that. Seeing his nephew, Shining realized with a smile that his grandfather had made what he promised to do.
At the Nothingness Realm, Star Shield was tired from the procedure of transferring One-Tail, Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails’ energy to his great-grandson that the control he had over Petal Sprout was starting to mitigate.
“Although you were our enemy and helped the Lord of Chaos spreading his darkness, you’re still my grandfather” Twilight said. “And now you saved my son and that’s enough for me. For me, you’re now an ally. Thank you for everything.”
“I have one final favor to ask you” Star Shield told Twilight. “Not as an ally, but as an enemy…”
After absorbing the tree, Hepheus stood still and then said:
“I see… The Divine Tree itself…”
And he laughed and continued:
“The time has come for all to become one.”
Star landed at some distance from Hepheus who told him:
“You can’t take me down. Essentially, I’m immortal now, even more than a common General. I have obtained eternity!”
“That’s what we’re going to see” Star replied.
And he covered itself with Kurama’s next phase energy, while creating rods of black matter, with spheres appearing beside him.
“I can see that you also got the supreme nature…” Hepheus noticed. “But I already possess that power. This is the final battle: me against you. Let’s settle who is superior, once and for all!”
He then casted dark lightning, but Star threw one rod that was put to spin and reflect the lightning. And then, with a great speed, Star approached him and prepared to hit Hepheus with a rod. The dark alicorn, in response, used the same power he used before. Star sensed it again and then his attack was blocked by an invisible force. Taking advantage of that, Hepheus casted a laser that cut through the rod and forced Star to dodge.
Star could sense the same thing that blocked his attack to prepare to hit him. Directing an attack to it, he realized that he couldn’t hit him and ended up being attack and thrown against the ground, where he was able to stand on his hooves. Channeling his magic with the new power he had, Star was able to get a glimpse of a second Hepheus in a plane different to them. It only took a few seconds, but that allowed Star to get to know what he was facing. So that’s how he was able to subdue the tailed beasts so easily.
The General of Chaos couldn’t believe that Star was able to sense his other self. While conjuring his rod, he wondered how he could sense it. Meanwhile, Star wondered how he would be able to attack the other Hepheus when his physical attack didn’t work. It was then that he remembered to see some burning marks caused by his black rod. He then sensed the two Hepheus becoming one again.
“It seems your shadow returns to your body after a certain amount of time” Star observed. “Not that I care about that. I just have to use my black rods to contain you.”
“Then you should use my energy to build your sealing magic” Shukaku said to Star.
“Thanks, hein… what’s your name again?” Star asked.
“It’s Shukaku!” the One-Tail replied.
While looking to Star, attentive to any movement, Hepheus noticed that he should be estimating the time he had his shadow active and finding a way to contain it. That colt was really sharp in mind and intuition.
It was then that Star created a Spiraling Star whose center had Shukaku’s marking with magnet nature. And, with a teleportation spell, he appeared beside Hepheus and hit him with the attack, causing the General of Chaos to get immobilized. When Star was getting ready to use an attack, Hepheus was able to move enough to take flight.
“What?” the young colt asked. “How did he…?”
He then felt the shadow on his place. Hepheus should had substituted himself with it. After locating Hepheus, Star created a clone and told him:
“Go after him, I deal with this one.”
The clone nodded and took flight to follow Hepheus, but then the General of Chaos was quick to cast an attack that caused the clone to disappear and then he said:
“It’s time to go deal with some business, now that you’re occupied with that shadow.”
And he started to cast a spell.
At the Nothingness Realm, Twilight was charging her horn and Star Shield told her:
“Hurry, destroy my eyes. Without them, I can no longer use the power of the Nothingness Realm… as well the Lord of Chaos. I can’t hold off Petal Sprout any longer.”
Twilight was trembling, as she didn’t want to hurt her grandfather, although she knew it was for the greater good.
“Now, Twilight…” Star Shield said.
“I know” she said.
But when she was about to do it, Hepheus appeared on the Nothingness Realm, having used the disappearance spell. Seeing him, Star Shield became horrified.
“I won’t let you!” Hepheus exclaimed, while throwing a black rod against Twilight.
At that moment Star Shield reacted in order to protect his granddaughter.
Shining was still catching his breath, when Blue, having recovered his energy approached.
“Shining!” he called.
The white unicorn turned and got openmouthed seeing Blue.
“Blue?” he said. “But I thought…”
“Star saved me” Blue replied. “He healed my star seed. I stayed with Strongpaw until I recovered enough energy to come. So, do you know what happened? The last thing I saw was Star going to face Hepheus.”
“Yes, I saw that” Shining told. “But I don’t know much.”
At that moment, Twilight reappeared from the Nothingness Realm at some distance, falling on the ground.
“Twilight!” Shining and Blue called, approaching her.
“Shining…” she said. “Blue…”
“You came back” Blue said.
“But what’s going on at the Nothingness Realm?” Shining asked. “What happened to grandpa?”
“I don’t know…” Twilight said. “Hepheus just appeared there, but, in a flash, I returned here. Grandpa asked me to destroy his eyes in order to destroy the power over the Nothingness Realm. He couldn’t move to do it himself, because he was already using all he got to prevent Petal Sprout from controlling him.”
At the Nothingness Realm, the black rod Hepheus had thrown had hit a plataform. But after Star Shield teleported Twilight to safety, Hepheus pierced his body with the hoof to raise him and told him:
“You really thought you could do all this without paying for all your sins against the Lord of Chaos?”
“I don’t care about what happens to me…” Shining replied. “As long you don’t win…”
“A thought that won’t come to existence” Hepheus declared. “Now, it’s time for you to go to sleep…”
Outside, Star, with the help of a clone, immobilized Hepheus’ shadow with black rods.
“This should do it” the clone said.
“Yes, he won’t be able to move with Shukaku’s sealing marks and the black rods” the original said. “I’m leaving him to you.”
“You can count on me” the clone replied.
And the original Star took off with his black spheres following him.
After Twilight told what happened at the Nothingness Realm, Shining said:
“So that’s what happened.”
“We don’t know when Hepheus might emerge, so we must stay alert” Blue said.
Star then returned and, seeing Blue, said:
“Dad, I thought you were with Strongpaw, resting.”
“How could I do it knowing what’s happening?” Blue asked. “Don’t worry, I already recovered a good part of my energy. I can fight again. What were you doing?”
“Dealing with Hepheus’ shadow, a thing he used to attack without anypony noticing” Star replied. “The shadow is now trapped with a clone and the supreme nature. But Hepheus escaped and I don’t know to where.”
“He went to the Nothingness Realm” Twilight told. “The next time he appears, he might have grandpa Star Shield under Petal Sprout’s control. We have to be alert.”
It was then that something was coming from the Nothingness Realm and everyone got prepared. First, it was Hepheus who appeared, followed then by Star Shield who was now unconscious and with Petal Sprout taking control over his body.
“It looks like dying together will be something you’ll do as a family” Hepheus commented with a smile.
“Great-grandpa…” Star called.
“Unfortunately, Star Shield is gone” Petal Sprout said. “I’ve taken over his body now. It looks light he was hoping to right his wrongs. He was praying like a foal deep inside so that he could leave the future to you all. How convenient that would have been for him, right? Just like a spoiled brat.”
Then Twilight, although a little intimidated by Hepheus couldn’t let him hurt her son like he already did. So, preparing her magic, she started to flight towards the General of Chaos.
“I’ll be the distraction!” she said. “Follow me!”
“Mom, no!” Star exclaimed. “Dad!”
“Okay!” he replied.
When she was close, Hepheus stabbed her with a rod, but even so she continued to prepare to attack. He also could feel healing magic passing through her body and healing any damage he was causing. Hepheus noticed how she resembled Celestia. But when she went to attack, she hit something invisible, much to her shock. At that moment, while Star hit the shadow protecting Hepheus, Blue retrieved Twilight and the two retreated. Blue took off the rod and asked:
“Twilight, are you okay?”
“Don’t worry about me” Twilight replied. “I used my healing magic on myself…”
“So, there are more of them” Star commented, sensing the presence of more shadows and noticing they were four and where surrounding Hepheus.
“Enough of this sideshow” the General of Chaos replied.
And he took flight, raising then a hoof and starting to create a mass of dark energy.
“What is that…?” Shining asked.
“That looks like… pulse nature” Twilight said.
“But it’s not the magic that Star took from him at the time of invasion to the Light Kingdom?” Blue asked. “How can he still have it?”
“Pulse nature, like all combined natures, are inborn to those who have it” Twilight replied. “Even when taken, the ones who have can regain it by other methods. I guess the transformation in jinchuriki reawake that ability of his.”
Then parts of that spread and then he exclaimed:
“Catastrophic Planetary Devastation Spell!”
And when the spell was activated, the ground cracked and pieces of it started to rise up. Strongpaw, who was in midair on his sand, just hoped the others were okay. All the pieces started to converge on all the spheres of dark energy created by Hepheus and, when they were done, there was a set of big boulders hoovering.
“We have to do something about that” Blue said, trying to channeling his nullifying power.
At that moment, Star felt one of the shadows advancing to stop Blue and he exclaimed:
“Dad, watch out!”
And he blocked the shadow with a black rod and forced it to retreat.
“You have to be careful” Star warned. “All of you. Hepheus has this kind of shadows that are in a different plane. They can see us and attack us, but we can’t. Well, that’s not entirely true, because I can sense them and they are affected by supreme nature, but I guess you get it.”
“That’s why he blocked my attack” Twilight realized.
“Yes and right now there four of them at ground with us” Star said. “So we need to find a way to stop that without having them interfering.”
Turning to the ones below, Hepheus said:
“They’re a bit more solid and larger than raindrops, but…”
And they started to fall.
“Here they come!” Star exclaimed. “And the shadows as well!”
The young prince created four clones and said:
“Leave the shadows with me.”
And the clones advanced to face the shadows, starting to fight. Meanwhile, Petal Sprout laughed and said:
“I guess I’ll keep watching and recording this.”
Before the falling the meteors, Star said:
“Kurama!”
“Yes!” he replied.
And a black sphere went over Star’s hoof. While that, Blue focused his magic, knowing he didn’t have to fear the shadows, and casted a nullifying beam to a meteor, while Star threw a Spiraling Sphere combined with a Tailed Beast Bomb to another. Those two were destroyed, with the falling pieces creating a great shockwave. Blue continued to cast nullifying spells to undo the pulse nature that made those things, but they were too many.
While they were distracted with all that, Hepheus, hovering above all that, looked to the red full moon. Using his magic, he broke the protrusion covering his forehead. It was time to finally enact the Lord of Chaos’ plan. And a third eye opened on his forehead, with it being like Ten-Tails’. It was then that the moon reflected that eye.
“Shine upon the world… Eternal Nightmare Curse!” Hepheus exclaimed.
The Alliance continued to battle the mysterious clone and his statue. Hard Stone was getting tired quickly and that caught the clone’s attention that prepared to attack him. Seeing that, the old king prepared a particle nature, but he was so tired that he couldn’t just do it.
“I used to much energy and now I can’t use my particle nature spells” he said.
The statue continued to attack, what forced Hard Stone to dodge, but others weren’t as quick as him.
It was then that the statue stopped and then got steady with the ground shaking and causing the statue to fall, with the clone landing over it.
“What is this?” Hard Stone asked.
“It’s finally started…” the clone said. “I’m done with this. Then we don’t need this insides anymore either.”
The ground started to shake again and Aspen asked:
“What’s all this shaking?”
“My king, look at four o’clock!” a deer exclaimed.
He did so and then saw the meteorites conjured by Hepheus.
“They are so many…” Aspen commented.
“Prepare for the impact!” Arcing Thunder exclaimed.
Everyone did that, with the bigger dragons shielding others with their wings and body.
“What’s happening over there?” Rainbow Dash asked. “That’s not normal.”
“Ah don’t know, but it’s surely somethin’ bad” Applejack replied.
Shadow Claw sensed something wrong and then he looked at the sky.
“What the…” he said.
“What’s wrong, Shadow Claw?” Spike asked.
“Guys, you better look at the moon…” he replied.
They did so and everyone became openmouthed.
“This can’t be…” Luna said.
At the front battle, Star created multiple Spiraling Stars merged with Tailed Beast Bombs and said to the others:
“I’ll pulverize all the meteorites with these, so don’t worry. But you better get close to me and stay still.”
They nodded and then Star threw them all. He hit them all, but then he sensed something wrong was coming.
“Dad, I need your help” Star told. “I want you to combine your nullifying magic with my darkness nature, quick.”
Although he didn’t know what his son had in mind, he agreed with a nod and, while they did that, they created a dome around them four made with Blue’s magic and coated by Star’s darkness nature.
“Now, become one!” Hepheus exclaimed.
And the moon released a very strong light that turned night into day. Everyone that were looking at the moon stood still, with empty expressions and their eyes with a undulated pattern, including the alicorn sisters. Hawthorn, who had been saved thanks to the tentacle Gyuki left out at the time of his extraction to Demonic Statue, had got out and caught under the curse. Even the ones under the Alliance’s protection, like the elite, had been caught. In reality every on both on the Pony World and the Enchanted Forest were caught under the curse, even the animals.
While looking to everyone under the influence of the curse, Hepheus said:
“This light can penetrate and see through even shadows. No one can hide from it. And now…”
And he casted a wood nature spell similar to the Deep Forest Emergence. And plants immerged from the ground, making what appeared to be bandages to get from them and starting to wrap all the ones under the curse, putting them in what appeared to be cocoons.
“What’s happening out there?” Twilight said.
“The curse… has been activated” Star replied.
“What?!” Shining asked. “We have to do something.”
“Not now” Star said. “At this moment, we can’t get out because the curse is on effect. Without this dome that I and dad created, we’d be bound up in this illusion as well. Also his shadows are outside. Because of that, we need to wait.”
Outside, Petal Sprout noticed the dome and said:
“The light can’t penetrate Star Knight’s darkness nature? Oh I see… the General of Balance’s power… That’s quite clever…”
The clone that had used the statue started to release the one he was controlling and then Discord immerged. He then wake up and asked, while looking around:
“But… where am I?” he asked.
It was then that he also got caught under the curse and he started to be wrapped by the plants. With everyone now under his mercy, Hepheus said with a smile:
“Let the world of dreams now begin!”