Shining Armor and his group galloped through a long corridor until they reached a hall with walls decorated with gemstones. Unbeknownst to his comrades, Shining Armor was not only searching for his daughter but also a certain enemy. A dark unicorn soon emerged out of the shadows, and that dark unicorn was the one who abducted and tortured Flurry Heart.
“Shining Armor, I’ve been eager to meet you.” Shadow Mayhem spoke.
Shining Armor and his soldiers felt a shivering chill upon meeting the Upper 5. However, Shining Armor’s feeling of dread was overshadowed by his rage towards the dark unicorn. Seeing his daughter’s torturer in the flesh was making his blood boil.
“You monster! Tell me! Where is Flurry Heart!?” Shining Armor demanded.
“She’s somewhere in this fortress, but you’re not going to see her again, at least not in the realm of the living.” The Upper 5 coldly replied.
“When I saw you torture my daughter, I promised that I’ll kill you in the most painful way possible. I thought of all the things I’m going to do once I get my hooves on you!” Shining Armor grit his teeth as he could hardly contain his anger.
“I have no apologies to give! I despise that thing with every fiber of my being!” Shadow Mayhem snarled back.
“Wait your highness! I don’t think it’s a good idea to fight him!” One of Shining Armor’s comrades told him.
“Quiet! I won’t be satisfied until I repay him a hundred…no… a thousand fold for all the pain Flurry Heart felt!” Shining Armor bellowed.
“With all due respect, that dark unicorn is a Red Moon General! And he’s more powerful than the one that attacked the Crystal Empire months ago! He is far out of our league! You should let one of the Fairy Tail’s elite handle-“
The soldier’s words were cut off when he was shot in the head by a dark green magic bolt fired by Shadow Mayhem. Before the others were given a chance to react, the general shot magic bolts at the other five soldiers in Shining Armor’s group with great speed and precision, felling them instantly. Shining Armor was horrified to see his soldiers killed in a blink of an eye.
“You should have known this already. When you face a Red Moon General, especially an upper rank like me, you better be prepared to meet death. However, I won’t kill you quickly. You’re one of the two ponies responsible for bringing that wretched thing into this world, so I’m going to take my time making you suffer.” Shadow Mayhem spoke with eyes that can invoke fear in anyone.
The dreadful aura that the Upper 5 was emanating was even diminishing Shining Armor’s desire to kill him.
“By the way, your daughter’s cries of agony were music to my ears.” The general continued with a taunt.
With renewed rage, Shining Armor fired a magic beam at the dark unicorn, but the Upper 5 easily blocked it with a shadowy barrier. Undeterred, Shining Armor fired a more powerful beam. This time, the general dodged it.
While enveloped in a shadowy shroud, Shadow Mayhem moved around like a black blur. Shining Armor fired a barrage of beams, trying in vain to get a hit on him. The general then appeared beside Shining Armor and kicked him in the side.
After he was knocked down, Shining Armor quickly used telekinesis to grab his sword and swung it at Shadow Mayhem. The sword was caught by a shadow vine, and the Upper 5 obliterated it with a magic blast. Shining Armor then tried using his fallen soldiers’ spears, but another shadow vine landed a hard blow on his horn, causing him to stagger. The shadow vine then wrapped around Shining Armor’s right hind leg and bent it until its bones cracked, causing the unicorn to scream.
“I’ll kill you! I swear I’m going to kill you!” Shining Armor cried out as he tried to fight the pain.
Shadow Mayhem responded by whipping Shining Armor’s body with spiky shadow tendrils, leaving agonizing gashes.
“No, you won’t. You’re the one who’s going to die. Next will be your wife, and I will show both of your corpses to your daughter. Then, I will erase all traces of the Crystal Empire, permanently.” Shadow Mayhem expressed how unhinged he is.
The general then removed his mask, allowing Shining Armor to see his grotesque face.
“I’ll make certain that Flurry Heart never returns to the life where everypony adores and pampers her. Your hate for me is nothing compared to the rage I’ve lived with for years! Do you have any idea what’s it like to have everything taken from you by somepony who had it all from the moment they’re born?! Do you have any idea what’s it like to go through your entire childhood with vengeance as your sole reason to live?!”
“Why…” Shining Armor began whimpering. “Why did Flurry Heart have to suffer? Just because she was born an alicorn? She had nothing to do with the death of your family!”
Shadow Mayhem gripped Shining Armor tightly with his shadow vines and slammed him harder against a wall.
“Let me make myself perfectly clear. Your daughter’s crime was being born with absolutely everything and reminding me of the princess who destroyed my life and took my face! I’ll be damned if Flurry Heart gets to live her whole life happily without knowing what true pain is, especially after she denied me my chance to live a calm and quiet life! Now, the only way I can placate this burning flame inside of me is to take everything from her!”
Somewhere else, Gajeel, Levy, and Panther Lily were battling several crab monsters.
In mid battle, Gajeel was distracted by something. A crab monster charged at him, but Panther Lily cut it down.
“Gajeel! This is not the time to be spacing out!” Panther Lily berated.
“It’s Shining Armor!” Gajeel replied. “He’s close, but he’s in danger!”
Speaking of Shining Armor, Shadow Mayhem has beaten him to within an inch of his life. His horn is cracked, his face is covered in blood, and he’s barely conscious.
“Time to say farewell, Shining Armor.” The Upper 5 said spitefully as he prepared to skewer him with his shadow tendrils.
In the nick of time, Panther Lily flew in and slashed the shadow tendrils with his sword, saving Shining Armor from certain death. Shadow Mayhem was taken aback by this interruption.
“IRON DRAGON ROAR!” Gajeel released a tornado of iron from his mouth and blew the Upper 5 back.
“Levy, Panther Lily, take Shining Armor to safety!” Gajeel told his guildmates.
Levy quickly picked up the wounded stallion and carried him away.
“Good luck, Gajeel.” Panther Lily said as he followed after Levy.
Gajeel then narrowed his eyes at the dark unicorn. “I wanted another shot at the Upper 3, but I guess I’ll have to fight this one.”
Shadow Mayhem recovered from Gajeel’s attack and he wasn’t about to let Shining Armor leave with his life. A shadowy serpent jumped out of the Upper 5’s mane.
“Kill Shining Armor and the two with him.” Shadow Mayhem ordered his familiar.
The serpent wasted no time slithering into the shadows in pursuit of the targets.
“Levy! Panther Lily! Shadow Mayhem sent a shadow snake after you! Watch out!” Gajeel shouted out to them.
Shadow Mayhem quickly fired a magic bolt at Gajeel, but the wizard transformed his arm into an iron club and blocked the bolt.
“You stopped my attack. Impressive. And I struck with the intent to kill too.” Shadow Mayhem complimented.
“Don’t worry Shining Armor. I’ll get this guy for you.” Gajeel uttered as he prepared to fight the Upper 5.
After cutting down a large number of monsters and dark unicorns, Erza arrived at what appears to be a training hall. She proceeded with caution, expecting more foes to emerge out of the blue.
Suddenly, a door appeared on the ceiling and as it opened, a plethora of blades rained down on Erza, who quickly jumped back to avoid the blades. She immediately knew who was responsible as she looked up at the door on the ceiling. Soon enough, a dark unicorn jumped through the door and landed in front of her, and the dark unicorn in question is none other than Erza’s sworn enemy.
“Hello Erza, we meet again.” Blade Dancer greeted with a smile. “Glad to see you made it here in one piece.”
“Blade Dancer! You’re going to answer for all the lives you took at Mount Aris!” Erza charged and took a swing at the Upper 4, but the latter dodged by leaping back a great distance.
“Just so you know, Mount Aris isn’t the only place I attacked in the current era. After our previous encounter, I’ve kept myself busy by massacring creatures in a very distant land. It’s a shame that none of them came close to your level.” Blade Dancer said casually.
Erza was aghast to hear what she did. “Tell me something. Even after slaughtering thousands, do you not feel anything?”
“Oh I do feel something, a sense of accomplishment.” Blade Dancer answered with pride.
This answer made Erza completely furious.
“Everything I did was for Scarlet Night.” Blade Dancer continued. “My birth mother saw me as nothing more than a burden and left me alone in a world where I can only depend on myself. But Scarlet Night went out of her way to rescue me and gave me a home. And even though I acted ungrateful to her at first, she never abandoned me and continued caring for me as if I were her own. I love Scarlet Night and so I have no regrets killing for her.”
Erza thought back to the night before the battle at Mount Aris. She remembered how happy Sky Beak was while having dinner with his wife and children, but because of Blade Dancer, Sky Beak will never experience another joyful moment with his family again, and his family will have to live with the tragedy of his death for the rest of their lives. The fact that the dark unicorns have no problem trampling on innocent lives like they were nothing filled Erza with rage.
“Mark my words. When we’re done here, you and your fellow dark unicorns will not be causing any more grief and sorrow! YOU WON’T CLAIM ANY MORE VICTIMS!!!” Erza gripped her swords tightly with her eyes showing a fierce look.
Upper 4 then transformed into her Blade Valkyrie form. “It’s time we finish our dance!”
Laxus continued making his way through the fortress in a casual manner. Any dark unicorn and monster that stood in his path were easily dealt with.
After slaying a troll, he entered a large open area that features many oversized trees made out of crystal. He soon discovered several dark wyverns perched on the branches of the crystal trees. The moment the wyverns saw Laxus, they dived down towards him while breathing out dark flames. Laxus dodged the flames and while enveloped in a lightning aura, he flew towards the wyverns and felled them with his fists.
Right after landing back down on the floor, Laxus noticed a dark unicorn standing nearby and saw the golden number 3 on the left eye.
“That’s the upper general that fought Natsu and Gajeel before.” Laxus thought.
“Truthfully, I want to fight the fire wizard again, but Dread Lord insisted that I fight someone else.” The Upper 3 pouted. “Oh, where are my manners. I should introduce myself since we’ve never met before. I am Roaring Blaze, the Upper 3 of the Red Moon Generals.”
“I honestly don’t care what your rank is.” Laxus replied in a disrespectful tone. “All I need to know is that I have to take you down.”
Roaring Blaze then transformed into his dragon form.
“Prepare to feel the burn!” The Upper 3 roared as his mouth was releasing steam.
Laxus’ face began showing a hardened expression as lightning emanated out of him.
After she was separated from her friends, Twilight ended up in an arena with many huge stone cubes floating in the air.
“Oh no. Where are my friends?” A feeling of fear took hold as Twilight realized she was all alone.
As she looked around, the alicorn spotted a magic bubble floating close to the ceiling. Lying inside the bubble is her niece, Flurry Heart. She is completely unconscious and in terrible shape. Her body is covered in bruises and small cuts, and her horn and wings are broken. It pained Twilight greatly to see her in such a state.
“Flurry Heart…?” Twilight called out to her.
“She’s alive, in case you’re wondering.” The voice of a certain mare is heard.
Standing on one of the floating cubes is Sapphire Butterfly. She summoned her butterfly wings and descended to the floor.
“Hello Princess Twilight, I’ve been waiting for this moment.” Sapphire said.
A chill ran through Twilight’s spine as she came face-to-face with the Upper 2. The alicorn was so nervous that she couldn’t utter a single word.
“Nervous? Well, too bad I won’t allow you to leave without first defeating me. Besides, I have two guests that you need to see.”
Two more magic bubbles appeared right next to the one Flurry Heart is in. Inside these bubbles are none other than Twilight’s parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light. The unicorn couple are both in bad shape like their granddaughter, but they are still conscious. The moment they saw Twilight, they began crying, screaming, and flailing their hooves. However, Twilight could not hear their voices.
“The magic bubbles block out any sounds coming from them, but they can still hear us.” Sapphire Butterfly explained.
Twilight was utterly shocked to see her parents. “Mom… Dad… What have you done to them?!”
“Long story short, I captured and tortured them.” Sapphire answered.
At that moment, burning anger was welling up inside Twilight. First, her niece and now, her parents. The alicorn felt like she wanted to scream in anguish.
“I’m sure you already figured out what you need to do to free your niece and parents. You have my word that I won’t harm Flurry Heart, but your parents on the other hoof…”
The magic bubbles containing Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle gave them an electric shock, causing them to cry in agony, much to Twilight’s horror.
“If you don’t want them to die, then this shouldn’t be complicating. Fight me like you never have fought before. Your parents’ lives depend on it.”
Twilight had a strong urge to lash out, but she quickly reminded herself of the foe she’s facing.
“The Upper 2. Can I do it? Without my friends or Fairy Tail… Defeating the Lower 5 was a challenge even with my friends. Can I take on the second highest upper rank alone? No… It’s not a matter of if I can do it! I HAVE to do it!” Twilight put her fears aside and lit up her horn while showing a look of determination.
“I can see you’re motivated. Good. Now give it your best shot.” Sapphire Butterfly spread her wings out as she prepared for battle.
Meanwhile, in a room somewhere else in the fortress, four dark unicorns were watching the confrontation between Twilight and Sapphire Butterfly, which was being displayed on a crystal screen. The four were… invested in this fight.
“500 Bits on Sapphire Butterfly!”
“1000 on Sapphire!”
“One Bit on Princess Twilight!”
“That’s a waste of a coin!”
All four dark unicorns began laughing hysterically.
After rampaging for what felt like forever, Natsu ran up an incredibly long stairway until he reached a hall with stone pillars.
“Grrr. Where is Roaring Blaze? If I had his scent, I could have found him already.” Natsu grumbled.
As he wandered through the hall, he noticed a single dark unicorn approaching him. It is the Red Moon General with the golden number 1 on his left eye.
“Dread Lord…” Natsu growled as he narrowed his eyes at the dark unicorn.
The Upper 1 changed to his human form as he stood in front of Natsu.
“Your name, what is it?” Dread Lord asked. “I like to know who I’m fighting against.”
“It’s Natsu Dragneel!” The wizard answered promptly.
“Natsu Dragneel… I can sense a battle spirit that has been set ablaze.” The general commented.
“I was looking forward to fighting Roaring Blaze again to avenge Garble. However, since you’re the leader of the Red Moon Generals, this is just as perfect. Beating you will be a huge leap in ending this war. After all, I also made a promise to Gildarts.”
“If you’re so eager to fight me, then let us do battle!” An aura of darkness erupted around Dread Lord.
“I’m all fired up!” Natsu became engulfed in an aura of flames.
As both combatants stared each other down, Dread Lord’s dark aura and Natsu’s fiery aura grew in intensity.