//------------------------------//
// Shukaku, the Demon Tanuki 
// Story: Star Knight and the Nine-Tailed Fox 
// by Rakoon1 
//------------------------------//

	Things seemed to be going from bad to worse. Not only Oogie Boogie had managed to sneak into the Light Kingdom, but he had released sleep powder on Chief Strongpaw, who was about to fall asleep, which would allow One-Tail to control his body and get released.

Chief Strongpaw was struggling to not fall asleep and contain the Tailed Beast, but it was an excruciating task and was giving to the leader of the pony-panthers a lot of pain.

"I... have to... resist..." he said. "Resist..."

But then his voice became hoarse and his eyes were wide open.

"I have to kill…"

And then sand suddenly rose up and headed to Twilight, Blue, Golden, Spike and the pony-panthers. Fortunately, Golden Paladin was able to create a protective barrier that defended them from the sand.

"But what's going on?!" Spike asked. "Why is he attacking us?!"

"The seal is weakening and Shukaku, the One-tail, is trying to control him" one of the pony-panthers explained. "While Chief Strongpaw is fighting, he is acquiring slowly Shukaku’s attributes, one of which is the thirst for blood."

"So the One-Tail’s name is Shukaku" Twilight said.

"Twily, I think that is not important right now" Blue said.

"Yes, you're right" Twilight agreed, blushing slightly. "Golden Paladin, can you contain him like you did with Nine-Tails?"

"I can try" Golden Paladin said, trying to hold the sand that Chief Strongpaw was using to attack.

Struggling, Golden Paladin undid the barrier in order to spread the sand and then released his chains against Chief Strongpaw who began to be restricted by them. Seeing this, Chief Strongpaw's face twitched with rage and he shouted:

"NO!"

And the bag he had on his back turned into sand and then wrapped one of his forelegs, becoming a sort of paw with claws made of sand with dark blue marks. He then pointed that sanded paw against Golden Paladin and it left a stream of sand that hit the General of Peace and pinned him against a wall.

"Golden!" everypony exclaimed.

"I will not let you..." Chief Strongpaw said, gasping. "I'm not going to let you seal me as if I am a fox!"

And the sand that held Golden Paladin started wrapped him, like he was getting involved in a cocoon.

"No…" he said, realizing what was happening. "Don’t..."

"What's going on, Golden?" Twilight asked.

"I'm being sealed" Golden Paladin said, trying to resist.

But he wasn't being able to break free and so the sand began to cover him completely.

"No…" Golden Paladin said, while he was completely covered.

The blue marks went through the sand and, once involved, the chains just fell on the ground.

"No, Golden..." Twilight said.

"What happened?" Spike asked.

"He was sealed by Shukaku’s sealing spell" one of the pony-panthers answered.

"This is bad" the other pony-panther said. "This means that neither the General of Peace can help us now."

"Don't get discouraged" Blue said. "We can still do something."

"But what?" the pony-panthers asked.

"First, we have to get him out of the citadel" Blue said. "We have to fight against him without innocent ponies getting caught in the crossfire."

"You're right" Twilight said. "You and I can teleport him to the outside of the citadel."

"And when we do, I and the Light Guard can try to contain him, while you..." Blue said.

"While I try to release Golden so he can help fight Shukaku" Twilight completed.

"It seems you just read my mind" Blue said.

"And I'm going to help Blue" Spike said. "They may need the power of a strong dragon like me."

"All right, let's do this" Twilight said.

She and Blue advanced, preparing to perform a teleportation spell to Chief Strongpaw.

"You are my prey!" Chief Strongpaw exclaimed, while sand covered the other foreleg to create another sanded paw and half of his face was also covered, with the eye turning yellow with black sclera and pupils in the form of a four-pointed star.

And, using the sanded paws, he launched more sand. Twilight cast a magic beam, that crashed into the sand, making it bounce.

"Now!" Twilight exclaimed.

And she and Blue focused and, together, they prepared a teleportation spell they launched against Chief Strongpaw and so they made him disappear.

"It’s done!" Twilight said.

"I'll go to where we teleported him with the guards" Blue said. "I'm counting on you, Twily."

He gave her a brief kiss and then he headed out of the throne room, followed by Spike. Twilight turned to the pony-panthers and said to them:

"Take your friend to our infirmary. He can rest there. And don't worry, we will stop Shukaku and save your leader."

"Thank you, Your Highness" one of the pony-panthers replied, while they made a bow.

So they got their partner that had been controlled by Oogie Boogie and then left.

"Okay, now I only have to release Golden" Twilight said, turning to the sand cocoon where Golden Paladin was sealed. "But how am I going to do that."

"How will you do what?" a voice asked.

Twilight turned and saw Heartbeat who said, while she looked around:

"What happened here? By chance some desert splashed here?"

"Heartbeat!" Twilight exclaimed, pleased to see the General of Affection. "I'm glad you're here. Golden Paladin was sealed with sand."

"Well, what would you know?" Heartbeat asked. "The pony with the most powerful sealing magic was sealed. What ironic."

"Heartbeat…" Twilight said, in a disapproving way.

"I know, I know…" Heartbeat said. "I will help you to release him. Or rather, Mirror Coat will. Mirror Coat!"

And the General of Knowledge appeared from the closest mirror and said:

"You don't have to yell. I hear perfectly."

But then he noticed all the sand that was spread by the throne room.

"It seems that I am late for a party. What happened here?"

"I tell you later" Twilight said. "Now we need to let Golden Paladin out. Can you do it?"

Mirror Coat turned to the sand cocoon.

"The One-Tail’s sealing spell" Mirror Coat realized. "Don't worry, Princess, I can't undo this. But it will take some time."

"It's better to take your time" Twilight said. "We're in a very tight situation. I'm going to help Blue. He's going to need all the help he can get."

And, having said that, she came out of the throne room. Mirror Coat approached the sand cocoon and prepared to try to break the seal, asking to Heartbeat:

"You're not going to help?"

"Fight a tanuki made of sand is not my idea of fun" Heartbeat said. "I think I'm gonna stay here to see you free Goldy. It's not every day that we see him being sealed. Besides, it's just One-Tail."

"I think you're underestimating him, Heartbeat" Mirror Coat said. "After all, he is still a Tailed Beast. I see Nine-Tails had some influence on you."

But Heartbeat didn’t answer and Mirror Coat focused on breaking the seal that held Golden Paladin.

After organizing a group of guards, Blue began heading to where he Twilight sent Chief Strongpaw. While starting next to him, Spike said:

"I'm going to stop him from advancing to the citadel until you arrive."

"Thank you, Spike" Blue thanked. "But be careful. You saw what that thing did to Golden."

"Don't worry, I will" Spike said, taking off.

Heading where Blue and Twilight had sent Chief Strongpaw, Spike saw him heading to the citadel. Spike started coming down and exclaimed:

"Hey, ugly!"

Chief Strongpaw turned to him and Spike released a torrent of fire. He used one of his sanded paws defend himself, but it turned into glass and shattered, but he used the other to attack. Spike turned, pulling back.

"Of course, sand turns into glass when heated" he realized. "So..."

And Spike breathed deep and released a torrent of flames, creating a line of fire in front of Chief Strongpaw.

"You don’t pass from here" Spike said, full of confidence.

That's when Chief Strongpaw hit hard on the floor with his snaded paw and a great wave of huge rose up.

"What the..." Spike started, alarmed, rushing to rise above that wave of sand.

It reached the fire and put it out easily.

"Of course, sand can also put out the fire" Spike said. "But how did he do that."

Having noticed that he made contact with the ground before invoking that wave of sand, he realized. 

"I see, he must have used sand to cause soil erosion and thus create more sand" Spike said. "Damn it, I look like Twilight. Well, never mind, I just have to keep him busy until Blue and his guards arrive."

He went back to flying in Chief Strongpaw’s direction, but he attacked again with his sanded paw. Spike turned and placed himself at a safe distance and said:

"I'm going to try something different."

And, wagging his tail, he shot some of the spikes that had the tip of the tail, where new ones grew again. These spikes were in Chief Strongpaw’s direction that simply defended himself with his paw which absorbed the shock of the spikes and swallow them, much to Spike’s dismay.

"Don't worry, I’ll return them" Chief Strongpaw said to him.

And then he shot the spikes back against Spike. Fortunately, his scaly body protected him.

"Boy, it looks like nothing works against him" the dragon said.

"Your disgusting reptile…” Chief Strongpaw said, before he started to feel terrible headaches who made him give moans of pain.

"This is not good" Spike said, realizing that Chief Strongpaw was starting to give in even more to the One-Tail’s control.

He then saw Blue approaching with his guards.

"Finally, reinforcements" Spike said, more relieved.

"Spike!" Twilight’s voice called.

"Twilight!" Spike replied, while Twilight flew towards him. "What about Golden Paladin?"

"Mirror Coat is trying to release him" she replied. "Now the most important thing is to contain One-Tail until he shows up to seal him again."

"I did the best I could, but it looks like it will be quite difficult" Spike said.

Getting close to Chief Strongpaw, Blue said to his guards:

"Prepare to attack!"

"Yes, Sir!" everypony answered at the same time.

"You weaklings..." Chief Strongpaw said, still trying to resist the pain he was feeling. "Do you think you can beat me!"

And he advanced towards the guards with a lot of speed and then shook his paw, being able to sweep some of them right to the ground, getting out of combat. Before that, Blue created a blade of light on his horn and advanced against Chief Strongpaw. With one swing, he hit him in the shoulder, throwing him against the ground. All were impressed with it, with the guards cheering.

"Wow!" Spike exclaimed, impressed. "Good hit, Blue!"

Twilight smiled before her husband’s doing, but then she noticed Chief Strongpaw. Despite having been greatly struck by Blue’s blow, he started laughing, which made everypony turn to him. The Jinchuriki stood up, saying:

"Looks like I finally found somepony worth to crush."

He stood up and said:

"Now I want more power!"

And so, much to the amazement of everypony, sand began to cover his tail, becoming longer and thicker that was very similar to a tanuki one.

"It's One-Tail’s tail!" Twilight exclaimed. "Blue, look out!"

And Chief Strongpaw advanced towards Blue with even greater speed than before. The General of Balance tried to respond, but Chief Strongpaw was faster and Blue couldn't dodge. But, to his relief, Twilight created a protective barrier that protected him from Chief Strongpaw’s attack, who was thrown back by the force of the barrier.

"Thank you, Twily!" Blue thanked.

Twilight just smiled.

Chief Strongpaw turned to her and said to her:

"You dare stop my attack?! You will regret it!"

And he gave a great leap, heading to Twilight to attack her.

"No, Twilight!" Blue exclaimed.

But Spike put himself in front of her and, with all his forces, he unleashed a torrent of intense flames against him. Surprisingly, he simply went through the flames. It seemed that it had acquired a greater resistance Spike’s fire. 

Twilight charged her horn and launched a strong magic beam that hit Chief Strongpaw heavily and pushed him against the ground, making him hit with a loud bang. 

When the dust settled down, they saw that Chief Strongpaw was still standing. However, the sand that covered his foreleg just fell to the ground, as had happened to the sand that Spike turned into glass. However, this time, the sand just covered it again.

Taking advantage of that moment, several guards began to attack him with magic beams. Chief Strongpaw, not liking that, shook its tail and swept more guards. Blue dodged from the tail, creating again his sword of light, trying to strike him, but Chief Strongpaw gave a great leap backward to dodge.

"You are giving a good fight, but I see you are nothing without each other" Chief Strongpaw noted.

"What do you mean?" Blue asked.

"What I mean is that to beat me you need of a whole army and still you can't subdue me" Chief Strongpaw replied. "You are weak! You are nothing compared to me!"

"You're wrong" Twilight said approaching. "Maybe you're right when you say that individually we are weak, but, working together, we can be stronger. We can be strong to help you, Chief Strongpaw. Please, fight against Shukaku’s instinct. You're not like that, you are not a monster. You can do this, you just have to believe."

But once again, Chief Strongpaw’s head exploded in pain, when he tried to resist One-Tail.

"It's so hard..." he said.

"You can do it!" Twilight encouraged.

"I can't!" Chief Strongpaw exclaimed, while he felt more pain.

This time, his whole face was transformed, revealing a round tanuki face. And the sand began to cover his torso and the other foreleg again.

"You can't imagine how it is" Chief Strongpaw said. "You can't imagine what it's like to have this voice in your head telling us to do things we don't want to do."

And, with a shaking of arms, he fired sand shots to Blue and his guards.

"Watch out!" the General of Balance exclaimed to his guards.

In spite of everything they did to dodge in the best way they could, some were hit and were soon out of combat.

"Blue, we must attack all at once" Twilight said. "Concentrating our efforts in a single attack."

"Good idea, Twily" Blue said, turning then to the guards. "You heard what your princess said. Prepare yourselves."

"Yes, sir!" everypony exclaimed.

"It's useless!" Chief Strongpaw exclaimed.

And he breathed deep and then blew an intense gust of sand that began to misdirect everyone around. Before that, Twilight used his magic to create protective barriers around Blue and his guards.

"Now!" she exclaimed.

And everypony began to charge their horns with magic, while Spike was preparing to launch the maximum of flames he could.

"What?!" Chief Strongpaw asked, as everyone prepared to attack.

"NOW! " Twilight yelled.

And everyone fired at the same time. These attacks hit Chief Strongpaw with great impact, with the front attacks preparing the ground for the next ones. The Jinchuriki moaned when he was struck. In the end, he puffed, extremely tired.

"Did we do it?" Spike asked.

"I don't know, Spike” Twilight answered. "We have to wait and see."

Everypony observed if their simultaneous attack worked, alerted to any movement that Chief Strongpaw could do. The pony-panthers looked around and then said:

"I’m... so sorry. I think... I can't take it anymore."

And his eyes closed while he gave in to the sleep.

"What the..." Blue started.

"Don't tell me that..." Twilight said.

Suddenly, the sand covered Chief Strongpaw and it built up, built up and built up to have the normal size that a Tailed Beast would have and, from all that a sand, One-Tail appeared completely. He looked like a tanuki with the body made of sand with dark blue marks.

"I'M FINALLY FREE!" Shukaku yelled abruptly, while he let out a roar.

His appearance was not ignored by the light ponies, who were quite agitated at the sight of One-Tail. Star and his friends were at the gardens when they saw the Tailed Beast appearing.

"But what tha hay is that?" Jonagold asked.

"A monster made of sand?" Gunter asked.

Bramble, seeing Shukaku, recognized him immediately.

"Oh no…" he said.

"What is it, Bramble?" Star asked.

"Do ya know what is that thin’?" Jonagold asked.

"It is... the Sand Demon Tanuki" Bramble said. "The One-Tail."

"Are you saying that... is a Tailed Beast?" Star asked.

The young alicorn Prince was stunned, watching Shukaku. So that was one of the Tailed Beasts. In addition to Nine-tails, he never thought he would see another one. But then he remembered that all the Tailed Beasts had been sealed in Jinchuriki, therefore he concluded that the One-Tail’s should be around.

"Wait, can someone explain what's going on?" Jonagold asked.

"Yes, we are not getting anything" Gunter said. "After all, what is that thing?"

"One of the most dangerous creatures that exist in all Pony Reality" Bramble said. "It's one of the Tailed Beasts and believe me when I say that this means trouble for us."

Bramble was right. Despite having only one tail, that Tailed Beast could cause major damage to the Light Kingdom.

Star continued to look carefully to Shukaku and then managed to penetrate in his heart. It was dark, but the sand that covered the ground could sparkle. In the middle of all that, there was only one thing that drew his attention. It seemed like a cocoon made of sand, but it was not complete, as the victim who was caught in it still had the head and front hooves free. Star managed to recognize him. It was Chief Strongpaw in your pony form.

"It can't be..." Star said.

"What is it, Star?" Gunter asked.

Jonagold knew what was going on.

"Ya saw his heart, didn't ya?" he asked.

"What do you mean, Jona?" asked Gunter.

"It is Star’s talent” Jonagold explained. "He can see the others’ heart. That's how he was able to defeat Pandora. Star, say, what do you see?"

But Star did not reply, only saying:

"I have to go there."

"What?!" they friends asked.

"Star, you can't" Bramble said. "You know what a Tailed..."

"I can feel the Jinchuriki" Star said. "He needs help. After all, I'm just like him. I can't ignore that."

And, having said that, he took flight.

"But what was he talking about?" Gunter asked.

"Ah don't know" Jonagold replied.

Bramble was seeing Star getting away, amazed by how he was not afraid of facing a Tailed Beast to help somepony who needed his help.

In the throne room, Mirror Coat continued trying to release Golden Paladin.

"I'm almost there" Mirror Coat said, with his horn full with magic.

"Then you'd better hurry" Heartbeat suggested. "I can feel Chief Strongpaw finally gave in and One-Tail is in control."

And the cocoon that held Golden Paladin shone with Mirror Coat’s aura who said:

"Got it!"

The sand gradually turned into glass and shattered, releasing Golden Paladin, who breathed deeply.

"Good..." he said, panting. "I'm free."

"I never thought you’d put your guard down enough to be sealed" Mirror Coat said. "You're lucky that I know how to break One-Tail’s sealing magic."

"How are things?" Golden Paladin asked.

"Heartbeat just said One-Tail managed to get control over his Jinchuriki" Mirror Coat said.

"Damn it..." Golden Paladin said. "We have to stop him. I have to try to seal him again."

"I don't think that will be necessary" Heartbeat said.

"What do you mean?" Golden Paladin asked.
"I feel Star heading to where One-Tail is to stop him" Heartbeat said.

"What?!" Mirror Coat asked. "We have to stop him. If something happened to him…"

But Golden Paladin remained with his calm air and said:

"Calm down, Mirror Coat. I don't think we have anything to worry about."

"What do you mean?" Mirror Coat asked. "Prince Star Knight still not even started training to control Nine-Tails’s power. He doesn't stand a chance against One-Tail."

"But you're forgetting something" Golden Paladin said.

"The seal of the pony-panthers is still active" Heartbeat said. "If Chief Strongpaw awakes and regains control, then One-Tail will be sealed inside him again. And don't forget what is Star Knight’s talent."

"All that may be true" Mirror Coat said. "But the prince has not demonstrated that power since he prevented Pandora from using the power of her box."

"He's a Jinchuriki, just like Chief Strongpaw is and I once was" Heartbeat said. "Only a Jinchuriki understands another Jinchuriki and just a Jinchuriki will be able to reach Chief Strongpaw at the moment."

"But this is totally illogical" Mirror Coat said. "We can't trust in something as trivial as that."

"We trusted in other situations" Golden Paladin said. "Why not do it now?"

In the battle against Shukaku, things seemed to be going pretty bad, as the Tailed Beast was now controlling his Jinchuriki.

"If you're ready to die, let's do this!" Shukaku exclaimed.

And he inspired deeply and launched a wind that threw all those who were on the ground through the air. Twilight used her magic to catch everypony, allowing some to use the levitation spell to land on the ground, including Blue. Shukaku released more shots, but Twilight used his magic to block them all.

"You ponies and your magic!" Shukaku exclaimed. "It takes all the fun!"

Twilight realized that their situation would only get more complicated. It seemed that Shukaku was becoming increasingly angry and that was bad. But what they could do to stop him?

"Mom!" Star’s voice called.

That made Twilight turn and she saw Star flying in their direction.

"Star?" she asked. "What are you doing here?! Go back to the castle!"

"No, mom, I can help!" Star said, arriving at the edge of Twilight. "You know I can!"

"But, Star, you're..." Twilight started.

"I'm not just a kid" Star said. "I'm the Jinchuriki of the Nine-tails and also prince of the Light Kingdom. I have the right to protect my kingdom."

"Star, that's not what I'm talking about" Twilight said. "You are my son and I can't let you put your life at risk."

Star was going to say something, but he was interrupted when Golden’s voice echoed in his head saying:

"Please, Your Highness, trust in your son."

Those words had been said to Twilight, who also could hear the General of Peace’s voice.

"Golden?" she said. "Are you free?"

"Yes, Mirror Coat freed me from the sealing spell and now he's using his magic to allow me to communicate with you telepathically" Golden Paladin said, who was kneeling in front of Mirror Coat that had a hoof on his forehead with his horn surrounded by his aura. "Now, the most important thing is to concentrate on defeating One-Tail and Prince Star Knight can do that."

"How so?" Twilight asked.

"Remember what your son’s power, princess" Golden Paladin recalled. "With that, we can get in One-Tail’s subconscious and allow Chief Strongpaw to take over again."

"But..." Twilight started.

"Golden Paladin is right, Twily" Blue’s mental voice said, who had joined in thanks to Mirror Coat.

"Blue…" Twilight said.

"We are in a very complicated situation" Blue said. "Star may be our only chance to stop this Tailed Beast before he causes innocent victims."

"Father..." Star said, happy to know that his father supported him.

Twilight turned to Star who told her:

"Mother, please, I can do it. Trust me."

Despite her maternal instincts were trying to stop her to allow it, she trusted Star and wanted his son to know that. She smiled and said:

"Very well, Star, you're good to go."

"Thank you, mom!" he exclaimed, hugging Twilight.

"Do whatever you want" Twilight said. "But promise me you won't hurt yourself."

"Don't worry" Star said, finishing his hug. 

He then turned to Shukaku and, naturally, he managed to gain access to his power. When he found himself, he was again at One-Tail’s subconscious, being before Chief Strongpaw. Star approached him and called:

"Chief Strongpaw| Please, you've got to wake up!"

He then opened his eyes and asked weakly:

"Who is calling me?"

"It's me" Star said. "You probably don't know who I am, but..."

"You..." Chief Strongpaw said, seeing Star. "You are Princess Twilight and Prince Blue Sword’s son.”

"You know who I am?" Star asked.

"Yes, I know" Chief Strongpaw replied. "I've heard so much about you, especially about the plan that the Lord of Order has for you."

"You're talking about..." Star started, realizing Chief Strongpaw was talking about Nine-Tails.

"What are you doing here?" the leader of the pony-panthers asked. "How did you get in?"

"Through my gift" Star said. "I came to help you to control One-Tail."

That made Chief Strongpaw give a laugh and then say:

"You know, it's funny taking account my current situation. After all, I spent decades without sleep just to keep the seal that held Shukaku inside me. As long as I can remember, I'm his Jinchuriki and I tolerated his mocking and threats. And now, look at me, I'm his prisoner and all because of that bogeypony."

"You can't give up" Star said. "You can still get around the situation. The only thing you have to do is wake up."

"I envy your optimism, little prince" Chief Strongpaw said. "By the time I start to sleep and Shukaku controls me completely, just an external force can wake me up. But with me inside of him…"

"I understand" Star said. "I already met my Tailed Beast and also experienced the feeling that is having them influencing us, but we, Jinchuriki, also have the control. We can resist them, we just have to want to."

Chief Strongpaw heard Star’s words which were spoken with a determination that really impressed him. That colt had the qualities that his parents had. After hearing what he said, the leader of the pony-panthers felt that maybe he could do what he was asking.

All of a sudden, the ground started shaking.

"Oh no…" Chief Strongpaw said.

"What's the matter?" Star asked.

"You've got to get out of here, my boy!" Chief Strongpaw exclaimed.

And a torrent of sand rose up and attacked Star, securing him. The young prince tried to free himself, but the sand was heavy. And from the sand that covered the floor, a bunch of sand appeared and one of Shukako’s eyes appeared in it.

"But what do we have here?" he asked. "A little insect dared to get inside of me?"

"Release him, Shukaku!" Chief Strongpaw exclaimed.

"I see you still have the strength to give orders, Strongpaw" Shukako said. "But I don't have to obey. At least, not now."

He then observed Star and then said:

"This aura of yours... It’s Nine-Tails’. Don't tell me you're his Jinchuriki."

"So what if I am?" Star asked gruffly.

"Don't you dare to talk to me like that!" Shukaku exclaimed. "I'm already done with your dear fox friend’s arrogance, I will not allow you belittle me, too."

"He's not my friend" Star replied.

"I don't care" Shukaku said. "You are his Jinchuriki. So I will have the pleasure to destroy you and humiliate that stinky fox. He always thought he was better than me just because he has nine tails. I'm going to prove him otherwise."

Chief Strongpaw couldn't let Shukaku do what he wanted. Star Knight was right, he had to take control. He started trying to get out of the cocoon that arrested him. Realizing this, Shukaku turned to him and said:

"Stronpaw, why don't you quit?" Shukaku asked. "You know very well that you're not going to beat me."

"That's what you think!" Strongpaw exclaimed, giving everything he had.

And it was then that he began to step out of the cocoon that held him.

"What?!" Shukaku asked, without wanting to believe. "Impossible!"

"I'm not going to let you to take your way" Chief Strongpaw said, continuing to step out of the cocoon. "All my life, I had to take your taunting and threats. I'm not going to give up now."

Star smiled, seeing that Chief Strongpaw had decided to react. He then managed to free himself from the sand cocoon and, as soon as he did that, he took his pony-panther form.

"Now, I will get out of here, you disgusting tanuki!" Chief Strongpaw exclaimed.

And he advanced against the mound of sand and, using his strength, began to destroy it. After doing so, the sand that held Star released him.

"Great!" Star acclaimed. "You did it, Chief Strongpaw."

"All because of you, Prince Star Knight" Chief Strongpaw said. "Now, I think I can give you a hoof to wake me up."

"How?" Star asked.

After hearing Chief Strongpaw’s plan, Star disabled his power and returned to himself.

"I know how to fight One-Tail" Star said.

"How?" Twilight asked.

"I'm going to have a little help from Chief Strongpaw" Star replied. "However, I'm going to have to get close. Mom, will you and uncle Spike give me back?"

"Wait, you want to get near of that thing?" Spike asked.

"Don't worry, we're on it" Twilight said, decided to trust in his son.

Spike rolled his eyes, realizing he would have no choice but to proceed with Star’s plan.

"Yes, I think so" he replied. "Just say when to move."

Star observed Shukaku carefully, looking for any sign of Chief Strongpaw. Then, at the top of the Tailed Beast’s head appeared the front half of Chief Strongpaw’s sleeping body.

"Oh no!" Shukaku exclaimed, realizing what was happening.

"Now!" Star said.

And, having said this, he started flying quickly in the direction of Shukaku. Seeing him heading toward him, Shukaku realized his intention and exclaimed:

"I'm not letting you do it!"

Opening his mouth, he fired several sand shots. Seeing that, Star worried if he could go through all that, but his mother managed to use his magic to block them all, while Spike was using his fire. Protected from Shukaku’s shooting, Star took advantage of this to get closer. 

Seeing him getting dangerously close, Shukaku raised one of his arms to try to hit on Star, but, suddenly, Blue teleported into the air at the height of his shoulder and, using his sword of light, he pierced the Tailed Beast’s arm that fell to the ground, becoming then regular sand.

Star continued to fly, addressing to Chief Strongpaw’s sleeping body, remembering what he told him to do.

Moments before ...

"I'm going to use my strength and my will to make body appear on Shukaku’s" Chief Strongpaw said. "All you have to do is wake me up. No matter how you do it, you can use the force, but do it."

The present...

That was the moment. Star was going to use everything he had to awake Chief Strongpaw. Giving a final sprint with his wings, the young prince arrived to Chief Strongpaw’s body and lift the hoof, gave him a strong punch.

"I've got it!" he exclaimed.

With that punch, Chief Strongpaw's eyes opened, which meant that he had awaken and, with this, he regained control over Shukaku. Feeling himself being dominated by the will of his Jinchuriki, Shukaku exclaimed:

"Wait! I barely got here!"

And his eyes lost their glow, meaning that he had been completely dominated. Star pulled away, while Chief Strongpaw was surrounded by sand, starting to absorb it into himself. It didn’t long until he gets back to normal size, with his bag appearing, formed by some of the sand that was used to create Shukaku’s body. Twilight, Star and Spike landed and the first approached Chief Strongpaw, while Blue and their guards gathered around.

"Are you okay, Chief Strongpaw?" Twilight asked.

A little out of breath, he said:

"I apologize for all the work that I gave you, Princess Twilight."

"It's okay, it's not your fault" she replied. "Fortunately, everything was solved."

"Yes, and thanks to him" Strongpaw Chief said, looking for Star. "You have here a great son."

"Yes" Twilight said, looking to Star with a smile. "I know."

Star returned the smile to his mother and then, when he found himself, he was being acclaimed by the guards. Blue, placing himself next to Twilight, watched his son be hailed with a smile. 

When the other light ponies got to know what happened, they also began cheering Star. For the first time, Star wasn't feeling rejected by his own people, but respected, something he had always wanted.

Later, when the sun was setting, Chief Strongpaw and his pony-panthers were ready to return to the Golden Desert. At the foyer of the castle, they were saying goodbye to Twilight and Blue.

"I am so sorry for the inconvenience I caused, Your Highnesses" Chief Strongpaw said, while he and his comrades bowed.

"Nonsense, Chief Strongpaw" Twilight said. "What happened was not your fault."

"If there's anyone to blame, so it’s the Lord of Chaos and Oogie Boogie" Blue said. "After all, they planned this whole thing."

"Besides, I think, in the end, things got a lot better" Twilight said.

"I see..." Chief Strongpaw said, remembering the light ponies’ reaction of ponies light in knowing that Star Knight saved them. “It seems that the young Prince is finally getting the recognition he deserves."

There was a pause and then Chief Strongpaw continued:

"I'm glad that some good has emerged in the middle of all that. But now it's time to get back to our oasis. However, we're sure that our friendship is stronger than before."

"Thank you, Strongpaw" Twilight thanked, while she and Blue bowed their heads respectfully.

And Chief Strongpaw and his companions, after making a bow to the rulers of the Light Kingdom, headed to the exit of the castle.

In the Star's bedroom, he told Jonagold and Gunter the truth about being a Jinchuriki.

"So does that means you have a monster inside of you?" Gunter asked.

"And it was yer folks who put him there?" Jonagold asked.

"It was the Lord of Order that ordered that" Star Knight said. "When I got to know that, I was pretty upset with my parents, but Heartbeat helped me to realize that they had no other chance and that they loved me so much."

"I see..." Jonagold said, turning then to Bramble. "And you knew about this?"

"Just by chance" he said. "The inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest know about the Tailed Beasts and, after the attack of the chimera, I managed to realize that Star was a Jinchuriki. But I didn't say anything because I know what the Jinchuriki suffer because they have monsters inside of them."

"That's why tha light pony..." Jonagold realized. " They are idiots. How can they think you can be a danger?"

"Well, Heartbeat was the Nine-Tails’ Jinchuriki once and she is not any longer because she couldn't contain him" Star said. "I think they always feared that the same could happen to me. But I won't let that happen. Golden Paladin is helping me to control the Nine-Tails’ power and I'm going to get it."

"That's the spirit, Star" Gunter said. "And we will be here for you."

"Yes, we're yer friends" Jonagold said.

"Friends to the end" Bramble added.

That made Star smile and say:

"Thanks, guys... for everything."