Star Knight and the Nine-Tailed Fox

by Rakoon1

The Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki

At the battlefield, everyone was confused by Ten-Tails’ sudden disappearance.

“The Ten-Tails… disappeared…” Spike said.

“But how can that be?” Flambeau asked. “Do you know what happened, big brother?”

“No, but I intend to find out” he replied.

And, taking flight, he landed where Twilight was and asked:

“Twilight, do you know what happened? We can’t see anything.”

“It’s difficult to control a spell to enhance vision right now, but I can try” she replied.

“Of course you can” Spike said. “Don’t forget I saw you do many things no other unicorn ever did.”

“Spike is right, Twily” Blue replied. “You can do it.”

And so Twilight executed the spell to enhance vision and then saw what just happened, what left her astonished.

“What is it?” Blue asked to his wife.

She took some time but then replied:

“Ten-Tails was… absorbed by Grogar.”

“Don’t tell me…” Blue said.

After Grogar reappeared as jinchuriki, Tough Skin landed on one of the binds. The ones making the barrier couldn’t help but also notice that their problems had become worse with the revealing of the new jinchuriki.

“How could I miss that?” Star said. “I now can see it… All the other tailed beasts… Thanks to the energy they gave me, I can now notice their presence inside Grogar.”

“He must have done the same spell the Lord of Order did to create the first jinchuriki to Ten-Tails” Heartbeat said. “This is bad, really bad.”

Hawthorn, who also noticed Grogar, asked in his mind to Gyuki:

“Eight-Tails, is that his final form?”

“No, it’s not” he replied. “It’s difficult to explain, but that isn’t it. It seems Ten-Tails was used to create a jinchuriki before he could reach his final form.”

Grogar turned to Star and Heartbeat, but then light and dark binds wrapped around him and pulled him down. That was made by Celestia and Luna who acted immediately after noticing he had become a jinchuriki.

“Nice work!” Star exclaimed, with a smile.

But Heartbeat wasn’t that confident.

“Not quite” she said.

And, to everyone’s surprise, all those binds were destroyed and Grogar stood up, with flames at the tips of the protrusions on his back. It was then that the flames took the form of arms that extended and grabbed the barrier at five different locations and pulled it in until Celestia, Ingrid, Luna and the real Heartbeat lost control of it, what caused it to be undone. With that, Celestia and Ingrid both lost focus and all the clones they did disappeared, even the ones facing Hepheus.

“No way…” Blue said. “The barrier design by Mirror Coat and Golden Paladin…”

“Is it just me or he just become stronger than he was when gigantic?” Hawthorn asked to Gyuki.

“Before, he was just throwing his brute strength around” the tailed beast explained. “But now, he apparently learned to focus it.”

Under the red moon, Celestia said to all the members of the Alliance:

“Hold on, everyone! Keep your guard up. He has made Ten-Tails’ power his own. There is no telling what he might do. He broke the barrier.”

Grogar then gave a big jump and landed at the bind where Tough Skin was and then Heartbeat said:

“Please, Star Shield, you have to stop this now.”

Her words caused Grogar to said:

“Star… Shield…”

“He doesn’t look okay” Star said.

“His mind…” Heartbeat said. “He’s not completely in control.”

At that moment, clones of the three alicorn sisters landed before them.

“Now that Ten-Tails had found a jinchuriki, he has become stronger than us together” Celestia said.

“That indeed appears to be true” Luna agreed.

“Even with us reabsorbing our remaining clones, we’re no match” Ingrid said.

Grogar extended a hoof and then a black energy sphere appeared and a hole appeared on the hoof.

Hepheus, witnessing that, got up and said:

“It would be fun see the alicorn princess getting more than they can chew. But I simply cannot wait any longer. Right now, Grogar can control all the natures of magic. I can’t let him take the lead before using my trump car.”

And the sphere started to change form and pass through the hole, doing the same with the other hoof. That created a weapon similar to umbrella and, noticing the danger of that, Celestia and Ingrid created barriers, but, in a flash, the barrier was turned into nothing and even hit Ingrid who turned into ice in a matter of moments but that created ice was used to trap him, while Luna took flight.

“Heartbeat, get out of here!” Luna exclaimed.

She nodded and teleported herself, Star and Tough Skin away, while Luna and Ingrid got as high as ever, while Celestia approached him and hold him.

“You maybe a jinchuriki, but you’re still mortal” Celestia, while charging herself with energy.

And, at the same time, Luna casted her most powerful magical beams against Celestia, who got even more charged and then a great explosion happened.

Heartbeat, Star and Tough Skin reappeared near the explosion, feeling the ground shaking.

“But what’s going on?” Star asked, opening his wings to get some balance.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a combined explosive attack of light and darkness nature” Heartbeat said.

While the explosion happened, some members of the First Unit wanted to join the battle, but Arcing told them:

“Don’t be hasty! We need to…”

“Don’t approached that!” the real Celestia told, as she knew how a combined explosion using a light clone could be very destructive.

And the explosion stopped, making everyone look to see if it had worked. It was then that, in the middle of the air, Grogar appeared when the smoke cleared. The dark matter he had created was now surrounding part of his body, coming from the umbrella structure that he had created. Seeing how he had survived to that explosion, Arcing asked:

“What is he…?”

The dark matter retreated to the umbrella form it had before. Luna, who had landed after the explosion, couldn’t believe what just happened. Before that, Luna launched a magical shot that soon multiplied at its way.

With the other hoof, Grogar created another black sphere and altered the form of the umbrella-like structure, expanding hit and using it as a shield to defend itself from the magic shots, heading toward Luna. Seeing that, Luna concluded that it was like King Hard Stone’s particle nature, but with the ability to change form and be continuously maintained. It was when that the sphere, extending through Grogar’s hoof, turned into a lance that extended to Luna, hitting a foreleg and ripping it off. After that, Luna could see it was a kind of combination even superior to the triple nature.

The ram then recollected the dark matter at the umbrella-like structure to the shape of the sphere again and then he grabbed Luna’s face and the sphere went to the same thing again and almost of her body exploded into dust, while the rest dissipated in darkness.

“A good thing the alicorn sisters used clones” Star said. “Otherwise, they would be finished.”

“That is the job that a clone has: to help the original in things that he can’t do or is too dangerous” Heartbeat replied. “Now, we must analyze what we have to counterattack.”

Grogar then turned to them and Heartbeat said:

“I’ll go first.”

Celestia, knowing she herself had to intervene, started to head toward the battle:

“I have to do something…”

But then Hepheus landed before her and said:

“I can’t wait any longer, Celestia!”

Ingrid and Luna teleported nearby and the former said:

“Sister…”

“We’re here to help you deal with him” Luna added.

“No, you can stay nearby to hold my back” Celestia told them. “But I am the one that has to fight him. However, if Star and Heartbeat need your help, you have to go and help them.”

Although they didn’t want to, the two of them nodded to her.

“Just look at you three” Hepheus said. “Who would said that the three sisters would get along again.”

“The time I and my sisters were at backs against each other is over” Celestia said.

“It’s good to know that, but don’t think that will change the outcome of this war” Hepheus replied.

And the Grogar took flight to go against his adversaries. In the mid-flight, his body, however, started to physically be distorted, what caused him to fall on the ground.

“What the…” Star said, while he, Heartbeat and Tough Skin looked to Grogar’s inflated and distorted body.

Heartbeat, seeing that, realized that Ten-Tails hadn’t sync with his jinchuriki yet. That was their chance to defeat him. And she started to advance toward Grogar and, while that, the original Heartbeat joined the clone who told her:

“It was about time.”

“Hey, had to give the princess a shot” the original said. “Let’s go and take care of this.”

While he observed Heartbeat advancing, Star felt something and exclaimed:

“Tough Skin, below you!”

Acting immediately, Tough Skin took his katana and stabbed it below, but an explosion tossed the big toad against the ground, while Star was thrown out of his head, using his wings to land safely. The upper body of Grogar immerged with the shield made of one of the spheres. Noting that, one of the Heartbeats said:

“He passed underground.”

“But just his upper body” the other added.

And the Ten-Tails’ jinchuriki extended the other sphere into a lance again and tried to attack Star, but then a force field protected the latter, starting to undo the lance. That was created by Blue who put himself ahead of his son, while Grogar retreated the dark matter to the form of a sphere again.

“Dad, you…” Star started.

“Yes, I recovered my power” Blue replied. “But don’t get your guard down, son. I don’t think this will be enough to counter that.”

And, truth to the statement, Grogar extended his body and grabbed Star and Blue’s faces, like he did with Luna’s clone, and prepared to do the same he did at that time. Heartbeat tried to do something, but Grogar lower body was giving her and her clone a lot of work. But when he was about to do it, Star extended his energy arms to touch Blue and then Heartbeat and she took that moment to use the swift nature with the three of them, right at the moment Grogar expanded the black matter. They then reappeared at Tough Skin’s edge, who started to get up.

“I really thought we were done” Star replied.

“Yeah, I think that not even us would be left entire” Blue said.

“But that was a very quick thought, Star” Heartbeat replied.

Grogar unearthed the extension that connected him to his distorted body and Tough Skin commented:

“He looks like a snake.”

At that moment, the right side of Grogar started to get distorted as well, expanding.

“What is that?” Star asked.

“We have to take him down while he’s unable to use his body well” Heartbeat said.

Grogar extended his distorted to use, in an attempt to use it, creating a big hole and showing the black sphere. He prepared to used it, but something made him fire slightly wrong, what caused it to go at some distance. It then expanded as created an explosion and, when it ended, the sphere decreased in size.

“Was he after your clone, Heartbeat?” Star asked.

“No, I don’t think he was after it” she replied.

When the sphere returned, they noticed that the part of his body that fired it had disappeared.

“What happened?” Star asked.

“He hit himself with his own attack” Blue said.

“His attack missed its target” Heartbeat said. “I think Grogar’s consciousness is merely cleaning on with Ten-Tails’ great power. He barely has any control of it.”

“Well, I’m glad he missed us, otherwise, we would be dead” Tough Skin commented. “We can’t kill him without approach him.”

“Now it’s time to serve of my swift nature” Heartbeat said, advancing. “I’ll create an opening and you two immediately hit him with your most powerful attacks.”

“Starlight…” he said.

That was then his body detorted even more.

Listening that, Heartbeat felt the old Star Shield for a moment again, with Grogar screaming due to what was happening to his body.

It was then that Grogar started to remember his time with Starlight and when he had his two sons, the happiest moments of his light before being corrupted. All his body was practically distorted, except for an eye, where a tear started to come out. In his mind, the faces of the ones he loved in his old life started to be teared apart one by one, while Ten-Tails broke his mind, until the only face that left was Starlight’s. She was the only sparkle of light, the one thing that prevented him from entering the oblivion.

When that only face started to disappear and Grogar was at the limit of losing himself, a sudden willpower invaded him and, piece by piece, all of his being started to be restored. With that, his body changed and returned to normal, with it changing again slightly, with ten dark sphere floating behind him and Grogar holding a staff of the same material.

Heartbeat lend a quick attack that Grogar blocked easily.

“Looks like you arrived too late… General” Grogar replied.

He prepared the same blow he did with Blue and Star, but Heartbeat was quick to retreat, but not with a large piece of his tail to be taken. After arriving to Blue and Star’s edge, she said:

“Damn, he almost caught me. I can’t believe he just cut my tail! Now I have to wait for it to grow back and I love having my tail long.”

“I think you have to thank that he didn’t cut anything else” Blue replied.

“Are you sure of that?” Grogar asked, pointing.

It was then that they all noticed that Grogar made Heartbeat retreat with one of his spheres. And it started to glow, preparing to explode. Heartbeat prepared to take that sphere away, while Blue created a barrier for him and Star, however her respond would be slower after her latest retreat. At that moment, Ingrid appeared and teleported away with the sphere. She then reappeared beside Grogar and told him:

“Here, you can have this back.”

And, having said that, she teleported away, taking Grogar and the sphere with her. A few moments later, an explosion happened a few distance away. A few moments later, Ingrid reappeared again and said:

“Don’t worry, I only teleported a clone.”

“Thanks, Queen Ingrid” Blue replied. “But where is Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.”

“Celestia was intercepted by Hepheus” Ingrid replied. “I and Luna wanted to help her, but she wanted us to help you first if you needed. I noticed you could use some help, so I came.”

Where Celestia was facing Hepheus, with Luna nearby, the two former lovers looked at each other for some time without saying anything. But then he was then surrounded by darkness, while she was surrounded by light, taking both flight and starting to shock against each other. Celestia was able to subdue him for a moment and exclaimed:

“Out of my way, Hepheus!”

“I don’t have much time” Hepheus said. “But is something I have to do now.”

And the darkness around him to the form of a alicorn and Celestia did the same with the light. They crushed after that, but, after some exchange of blows, Hepheus was able to threw Celestia against the ground. He approached her and prepared an attack with a dark blade that Celestia stopped with the hooves of the light figure.

All the ones that were witnessing that couldn’t believe the level Celestia and Hepheus were. Twilight, noticing how the others were starting to get unmotivated with all that fight, called:

“Silverweed, please.”

“Got it” he said, approaching.

After placing his hoof on her forehead, Twilight was connected to everyone in the battlefield and told them:

“Even a small power can be helpful depending on how it is used. We may not be able to help in the fight now, but it may come a time where we’ll be needed. So don’t take your eyes of the battlefield in case that time arrives. Our power can change the course of this war. We cannot afford to relax and let our guard down, even for a second.”

Those words from Twilight really get everyone’s moral up, with them now more confident. Applejack and Rainbow Dash smiled, as they knew Twilight would be the one to recover everyone’s courage, like she ever did in the past countless of times.

At the fight between the two alicorns become even more intense, with Celestia giving a powerful blow that forced Hepheus to retreat.

“I cannot believe that we’re fighting against each other” Celestia said. “After Day Glow, I never thought I would love another stallion. After you saved me and everyone, risking everything to recover the fire, you were captured by the Lord of Chaos and I thought I would never see you again. My heart was broken again and I lost hope to love again. I got to meet with Day Glow again, and now you. But this meeting is more painful, because of your darkened heart.”

“Very sweet words, Celestia, but you can’t convince me with them” Hepheus said. “Since the beginning, I was a villain and I will always be.”

“You’re wrong” Celestia replied. “You were a hero once. I can’t just believe that pony never existed, because he did.”

“That may be true, but the Lord of Chaos will never let that happen again” Hepeus said. “He has complete control over me.”

“He already had once and you fought back” Celestia said. “Don’t tell me he has your heart.”

“No, he just broke my will to fight back at him” Hepheus said. “So, if you want to stop me, you had to do like you did with any other villain.”

And they continued to look at each other.

Spike approached Twilight and asked:

“So, what should we do first?”

“First, we need to figure out the circumstances of their battle” Twilight said. “Also…”

But she didn’t finished, as her thought went to the battle with Grogar, wondering what was going on there.

Looking to the place where the explosion happened, Tough Skin asked:

“Well, did we get him?”

After a moment, a big sphere get out of the smoke and started to unveil, showing Grogar completely untouched. He landed and then the dark matter took the form of the ten black spheres.

“He blocked it” Ingrid said. “He’s fast. We can’t hit him with no ordinary spells.”

Grogar looked at them.

“I’ll have to use my swift nature on a better way” Heartbeat said. “In order to escape those spheres, we’ll have to be quick. With that, I can create an opening with that.”

“No, I can do it” Star said, charging his horn.

And he launched his blaze nature, but Grogar defended it with the staff. Star started to advanced.

“That boy…” Heartbeat said. “He may seem as level-headed as Princess Twilight, but he can resist being rushed into things, just like you, Blue.”

“What can I say?” he replied. “He is my son.”

As Star was advancing toward Grogar, the latter told the former:

“I saw you concentrating that combined nature on your horn. It was hardly a surprise attack.”

“I can help you with your swift nature, Heartbeat” Ingrid said, turning then to Blue. “Can you use your power as General?”

“I only recovered all my magic a few moments ago, so I’m still adapting” Blue answered. “But I can use it.”

“Good, then let’s go” Ingrid said.

As he advanced, Star to create his Blazing Hurricane. At that moment, Ingrid appeared behind Grogar, touching him with a hoof, while Blue appeared in front of Star with the help of Heartbeat’s speed, being safe from the attack thanks to his ability as General of Balance.

“Dad…” Star said.

“No, Star, you must be the main act” Blue said.

“Now, Queen Ingrid!” Heartbeat exclaimed.

And Ingrid used a spell to allow her and Grogar change places with Blue and Heartbeat and Grogar was hit, having no way to dodge. Star’s attack then pushed Grogar and Ingrid, with the later then teleporting.

Hitting the ground after that, the black flames were visible at distance and Twilight, seeing that, used the enhance vision to watch how her son and husband were. To her relief, they were both okay.

“All right!” Star exclaimed, seeing the black flames.

“So, did you guys get him?” Tough Skin asked.

It was then that the ten spheres advanced to where Grogar was, while Ingrid teleported to Blue and Heartbeat’s side.

“We made a direct hit before those black things could protect him” Ingrid said. “I’m pretty sure he felt that one.”

They all watch, waiting to confirm that they got Grogar. But then, to everyone’s astonishment, the black spheres made the black flames disappear and Grogar appeared, rising up and taking flight.

“It didn’t affected him at all” Ingrid observed.

“We had to avoid those transforming black spheres and yet our attacks had no effect on him” Blue said. “It’s offensive and defensive are so fast.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he seems to be even as fast as me, or more” Heartbeat commented.

“He seems to be just perfect” Star said, while landing at the others’ side.

“You’re right, it is like he got dream-like power” Blue said.

“I know possess the power of Nature itself” Grogar said. “A power far superior over Leaf Mane’s. Don’t even compare me to the standers you’re used to.”

Heartbeat thought for a bit and then said:

“Don’t tell me that your magic…”

“What did he meant by that?” Ingrid asked. “A power of Nature that even surpass Leaf Mane’s, the General of Nature?”

“He meant that he now possess the supreme nature” Heartbeat answered.

“The supreme nature?” Star asked. “Is there really something called like that?”

“It doesn’t have a name of its own, because is something that can’t be explained” Heartbeat explained. “We, Generals, are just an extension of the Lord of Order’s power. We don’t have the full powers that our attributes really have, because that could corrupt our minds. You know how Perfect Scale let himself be controlled by his power, so you can imagine how we would be if we had full power over them. I can barely control mine. What Grogar is using is nothing more than the combination of all six basic natures of elemental manipulation. With that, he can absorb practically any elemental magic.”

“Then we must change our strategy” Ingrid said.

“How about physical attacks?” Blue asked.

“Let’s try it” Heartbeat said.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to take the lead” Star said, focusing more magic. “I’ll get to the next level of my Nine-Tails Mode and go deeper to the Tailed Beast state.”

But when he started to do that, the Nine-Tails’ energy that was surrounding him disappeared.

“What the…” the young colt said.

“Looks like you’re out of juice, Star” Heartbeat commented.

At their plane, Star asked Kurama:

“Kurama, come on, lend me more of your energy!”

“Just hold off on Nine-Tails state” he replied, while gathering energy.

“But that’s not something we can beat without it” Star replied.

“Don’t forget you still need me to do the blaze nature and I had to support you during those two last attacks” Kurama reminded him. “So, if you want to get in a perfect tailed beast state, fight on normal mode for now.”

Star sighed, having no other option but to do what Kurama told him. At that moment, Tough Skin expanded his cheeks and then shot a viscous blanket of water. Grogar changed the shape of the staff into a barrier in order to stop the attack.

“What was that, Tough Skin?” Star asked. “If you want to make a move, then do a diversion or…”

After spitting the water that stayed in his mouth, Tough Skin replied:

“Sorry, Star, but we’re reaching the time limit for the summoning. I just wanted to repay that guy with a departing gift.”

That made Star to smile and then he said:

“Thanks for the effort anyway, Tough Skin. Now, go rest up, okay?”

“Sorry about this” he said.

And he disappeared in a curtain of smoke.

Star then turned to Grogar and noticed something that let him intrigued. Although that black matter could neutralize any elemental magic, the water that Tough Skin used didn’t disappeared. He thought for a moment how could that be, but then got it. Heartbeat also noticed that and wondered if that was what she was thinking. She looked to Star and realized that he also noticed that. Knowing what he had to do, she decided to buy him some time.

“Grogar, why are you doing this?” she asked. “I can still sense the old you. You still have some light inside, then why are you causing all this? Why are you fighting your own family.”

“You want to know why?” Grogar asked. “Well, I don’t need a sermon from the most childish of the Generals who only does what she wants. It’s good to see that my descendants are good warriors of the light. But that just made it easier to want to exterminate that light.”

Heartbeat took a moment to think about that answer. She now understood that Grogar’s determination to follow the Lord of Chaos, regarding the fact he still had a part of his old self, was linked to the fact of not wanting his own descendants to do the same mistake as he did.

“I see that you are the only one that can understand what I feel” Grogar replied. “Different from the other Generals, you have the power over the both sides of the coin. But it doesn’t matter if you understand me or not. At this moment, a General is a pathetic existence compared to what I am now.”

And the water that was on the black matter fell off completely and he made it take the form of spheres on both hooves, preparing to make an attack with them.

It was then that Star made a Spiraling Sphere and then said:

“You don’t have the right to make fun of the Generals when you couldn’t even remain loyal to who you are. Don’t forget that my father is one.”

“Star…” Blue started. “What are you…”

And Star teleported to over Grogar and hit him with the Spiraling Sphere.

“And now I’ll put you down!”

When the attack made contact, it started to take effect on Grogar.

“That worked!” Blue exclaimed, as he couldn’t believe it. “I don’t get it.”

“So it is as I thought” Heartbeat said.

“What, Heartbeat?” Ingrid asked.

“Most magic doesn’t work, but it seems magic empowered by natural energy does” she replied.

That made Blue and Ingrid look and then noticed that Star was in sage mode.

“Tough Skin used natural energy and his attack was nullified or erased” Heartbeat said.

The attack cause Grogar to hit hard the ground, while making a big shockwave.

Seeing what just happened, Twilight couldn’t contain herself of joy and pride, seeing his son finally laying a blow on Grogar.

After that shockwave, Heartbeat smiled, glad to see how Star has evolved this far.

“Looks like he grew up to be a great warrior” a voice said, inside Heartbeat. “Don’t you agree, Heartbeat?”

In her mind, a shadow looking like Kurama appeared behind her and told:

“It’s no wonder that he managed to sweet talk my other half.”