The Order of Scarlet Night has suffered one major blow after another. The number of dark unicorns continues to dwindle as the forces of light were closing in on Scarlet Night. The lower ranks of the Red Moon Generals are gone and now, the upper ranks have lost one of its members, giving the forces of light more momentum in this battle.
Meanwhile, while safeguarding Shining Armor, Levy encountered four gorilla monsters.
“SOLID SCRIPT: STORM!” As the monsters charged towards her, Levy wrote the word “Storm” which created a strong gust of wind that pushed the monsters back.
“SOLID SCRIPT: SWORD!” Levy then wrote the word “Sword” in the air and hurled the word at the monsters, slicing them.
As she continued down the hall, a dark unicorn mare appeared in front of her and fired a dark magical beam at her. Levy quickly wrote the word “Guard” in the air, which created a barrier that blocked the beam.
“SOLID SCRIPT: BULLET!” Levy waved her arm and created the word "Bullet", which fired a series of energy pellets at the dark unicorn, who generated a barrier to block the attack.
“SOLID SCRIPT: DRILL!” Levy held out her hand and generated the word "Drill". The word started to spin towards the dark unicorn, emanating drill-like sounds as it broke through her barrier and struck her down.
After overcoming numerous obstacles while keeping Shining Armor safe, Levy eventually reached a door in her path. She entered another hallway but one with numerous doors. As she wondered where to go next, a door on the left side of the hall suddenly opened. Levy put up her guard, preparing for another enemy encounter. Fortunately, what came through the door were no enemies but Starlight and the Council of Friendship. Levy happily called out to them.
“Hey Levy!” Pinkie cheerfully greeted back.
“Finally, a Fairy Tail wizard.” Starlight sighed in relief.
The Mane 6 then noticed Shining Armor on Levy’s back.
“It’s Shining Armor! What happened to him?!” Rainbow said.
“The Upper 5 beat him up pretty bad, but Shining Armor is still breathing.” Levy replied. “Fluttershy, can you help him?”
“Of course.” Fluttershy spoke softly.
Levy laid Shining Armor gently on the floor, and Fluttershy enveloped him in her pink light, which fully healed him.
“W-wha... what happened?” Shining Armor groaned as he regained consciousness.
“You’re okay now, Shining Armor. The Upper 5 almost killed you. Fortunately, Gajeel, Panther Lily, and I arrived just in time to rescue you. While I was carrying you on my back, we got separated from my guildmates when Gajeel stayed to fight the dark unicorn and Panther Lily was fighting some kind of shadow snake. I was searching for help when we ran into the Council of Friendship. Fluttershy just used her power to heal you.” Levy explained.
“Wait...! The Upper 5! Where is he?!” Shining Armor demanded.
“He has been defeated. You don’t have to worry about him anymore.” Levy answered.
“H-he... he’s gone?” The unicorn sounded surprised.
“Yeah! Isn’t that great!?” Pinkie said chipperly.
“No... no, no, no, no!” Shining Armor did not sound pleased, much to the confusion of the others. “Shadow Mayhem was supposed to be mine! I wanted to look at him in the eye and make him pay with my own hooves! But now that’s been taken from me, how am I supposed to get proper justice for Flurry Heart?!”
Shining Armor expressed frustration that not only he did not kill Shadow Mayhem himself, he wasn’t present during the general’s demise.
“Shining Armor... the upper general was too powerful. If my guildmates and I had not been there, you would have been killed.” Levy spoke gently.
“You don’t understand!” Shining Armor snapped while showing tears of anguish. “When Flurry Heart’s torture was shown all over Equestria, I could only watch... helplessly! That tore me up inside! She was suffering, and I couldn’t do anything for her! With my chance to make him face judgement for his crime gone, I feel so useless!”
Applejack then walked up to Shining Armor and looked him in the eye.
“Listen here, you are not the only one hurting and upset about Flurry Heart.” Applejack said sternly. “To be completely honest with you, words can’t describe the pain I felt when Granny Smith died. After her funeral, I felt like breaking apart many times. What kept me going was having friends and family to fight for and my drive to not let the dark unicorns win. Even though I’m able to come to terms with Granny Smith’s death, it still haunts me to this day. If you had died, Flurry Heart would go through the pain of losing her father. Take comfort in the fact that Shadow Mayhem wasn’t given that satisfaction. What’s important is that you’re alive and can still reunite with your daughter.”
Shining Armor lowered his head in understanding before turning to Levy. “Just answer this one question. Did Gajeel at least make him suffer?” He asked, hoping for some consolation.
“I don’t know all the details. You would have to ask Gajeel later.” Levy answered.
Shining Armor then noticed that Twilight wasn’t present. “Wait a minute. Where’s Twilight?”
“Yeah, wasn’t she with you?” Levy also wondered.
“She was with us.” Rarity answered. “But she has been transported to another place in the fortress. We believe the Upper 2 took her.”
“Twily is with the Upper 2?!” Shining Armor was shocked.
“We were searching for her when we ran into you and Levy.” Rarity continued. “Our Aura bracelets are pointing us to her location, but it won’t be easy getting to her since we don’t know the quickest route to her.”
“Oh no! We have to find Twily!” Shining Armor was panicking before he took deep breaths. “Hold on, what about Flurry Heart?”
“Lucy and Wendy are searching for your daughter now. Wendy can trace Flurry Heart’s scent.” Levy informed.
“We can leave finding Flurry Heart to those two. I speak for all of us when I say that we’re really worried about Twilight.” Starlight said.
Deciding to place his faith in Lucy and Wendy to find his daughter, Shining Armor joined the Mane 6 in their search for Twilight. Levy also decided to accompany them as well.
At a training hall, the Upper 4 challenged Erza to another duel. However, the fight was put on pause when the general (in her Blade Valkyrie form) sensed Shadow Mayhem’s death.
“Shadow Mayhem, how could you leave us like this!? Damn that wretched earth pony mare! The reason her village was never attacked was because of Shadow Mayhem’s affection for her, and now because of her, he’s gone! I promise, I’ll raze her village to the ground and I’ll make her watch as I brutally kill her parents in front of her!” Blade Dancer angrily declared.
Erza (in her Clear Heart Clothing) lunged her sword at her opponent, but the latter dodged the attack by hovering to the side.
“I already told you. You won’t claim any more lives! Because I’m going to end you right here, right now!” Erza bellowed.
“Hmph! See if you can defeat me!” The Upper 4 replied in an arrogant tone.
Their heated battle resumed as Erza fiercely clashed swords against the general’s bladed claws. Sparks were created from the impact of the blades.
After parrying a claw slash, Erza kicked the Upper 4 back. As Erza charged towards her to continue the attack, Blade Dancer emitted bright light from her claws in an attempt to blind her enemy. Having already expected this, Erza immediately close her eyes and quickly switched the sword in her right hand to the Wind God Sword. She then swiftly launched a forward horizontal cyclone blast that sent the general flying into a wall. The Upper 4 quickly recovered and she began cackling with delight.
“Fun...! This is so much fun! I haven’t been this excited in ages! I definitely want your head!” Blade Dancer was ecstatic. “I just wish that the many I slaughtered were as entertaining as you.”
Erza then showed a menacing glare. “Just hearing you talk about killing so callously is making me sick to my stomach.”
“Jeez, are you still hung up about all those worthless lives?” The Upper 4 deadpanned.
“Inflicting pain on others without a second thought and moving on without any regrets! You couldn’t be any more outrageous! I swear, I won’t allow such evil to persist!” Erza shouted out furiously.
“In war, it’s natural for deaths to occur.” Blade Dancer replied casually. “Besides, there’s no reason to let the weak live. They’re better off dead. You should feel honored that I complimented you. After all, you’re the first adversary who is facing my Blade Valkyrie form a second time.”
Erza released an intense aura of anger, which actually caught the Upper 4 by surprise.
“Such disregard for life, what’s so amusing about this?! Tell me then, what is the weight of a life to you?!” Erza asked.
Blade Dancer was briefly shaken by the wizard’s aura of anger, but she quickly regained her composure and scoffed at Erza’s questions. “The lives of insects don’t matter to me in the slightest. I don’t care who I kill as long Master gives me praise for it.”
A magical aura enveloped Blade Dancer as she swung her right sword leg at very high speed, sending out a sharp compressed blade of wind towards Erza, who used her swords to dissipate the incoming wind blade. However, in less than a second later, the Upper 4 zipped towards Erza and swung her right claws in a horizontal motion with blinding speed.
Erza’s left arm received some serious cuts. The reason her arm wasn’t severed was because she leapt back fast enough.
“That was close! If I had reacted any slower, she could have sliced my arm off!” Erza thought as she quickly bandaged her bleeding arm.
“How do you like that? My magic power may not be as great as the three generals ranked above me, but I do pride myself on my swift and lightning-fast strikes!” The Upper 4 bragged.
“I have to admit. Her speed is nothing to scoff at. She is certainly a deadly opponent for the unprepared.”
Blade Dancer materialized a multitude of floating blades out of thin air and launched them as projectiles toward Erza, but the wizard deflected them. The general followed up by conjuring red-glowing blades and hurled them at the areas around Erza.
As the wizard was keeping her distance from the explosions, Blade Dancer suddenly appeared behind her and attempted to decapitate her with her left sword leg. Erza ducked, dodging the fatal strike, and managed to counter by slashing the general’s torso. The Upper 4 quickly moved away as Erza performed a follow-up slash.
“I must say, your reflexes are worthy of recognition.” Blade Dancer commended.
The general then flailed her claws repeatedly in a rapid motion, launching spinning crescent-shaped air blades at Erza. The wizard canceled out the Upper 4’s attacks by using her Wind God Sword to create turbulent winds that dispersed the incoming air blades.
Blade Dancer appeared in front of Erza and swung both claws downward diagonally with great force, unleashing powerful slashes in a cross pattern. When blocking the attack, Erza’s swords shattered in the process. The Upper 4 swung her right sword leg in a clockwise sweeping motion in an attempt to slice off Erza’s legs. The wizard dodged by doing a backflip as she requipped new swords into her hands.
With both of her claws, Blade Dancer made multiple curved slashes layered over one another, creating a rising vortex of slashes and spinning crescent air blades. Erza quickly requipped her Heaven’s Wheel Armor and evaded the vortex by flying away.
“HEAVEN’S WHEEL: PENTAGRAM SWORD!” Erza rushed back towards Blade Dancer and attacked with five quick slashes in the pattern of a pentagram.
The Upper 4 blocked the slashes with her claws and forced Erza back with a flashing flurry of slashes from her left sword leg, each creating waves of wind blades. The general quickly followed up by releasing a wild barrage of claw slashes that sent out numerous chaotic cutting waves several meters in front of her. Erza wasn’t able to stop or dodge all the waves, so some of them damaged her armor and wounded her.
Continuing with her onslaught, Blade Dancer unleashed a rain of red blades onto Erza, engulfing her in fiery explosions. Fortunately for the wizard, she had requipped her Flame Empress Armor, which greatly lessened the damage.
Striking back, Erza used her Flame Sword to send out flaming slashing waves toward her enemy. The Upper 4 performed several slashes with her sword legs to defend herself from incoming attacks.
Erza then switched her armor to Morning Star Armor.
“MORNING STAR: PHOTON SLICER!” With her sabers, Erza fired a powerful energy blast.
The general dodged the blast by zipping to the side. While swinging her claws, she created powerful multi-directional long-ranged cutting waves. As Erza evaded these waves, Blade Dancer swung her claws rapidly, spreading out a storm of crescent air blades. Erza was being pushed back as she was defending herself from her opponent’s relentless attacks.
Blade Dancer continuously attacked with increased speed, sending out one barrage of cutting waves and crescent air blades after another, forcing Erza to go on the defensive and not giving her a chance to unleash another energy blast.
“I can’t let her keep pushing me back like this! I have to defeat her or I’ll never reach Scarlet Night!” Needing to gain the upper hand, Erza requipped one of her most powerful armors, the Armadura Fairy.
Blade Dancer created a stream of long-ranged vertical and horizontal cutting waves along with numerous crescent air blades. Using swords imbued with magical energies resembling green lightning, Erza gained her momentum as she sliced through the waves and air blades while charging towards the Upper 4.
Once Erza finally closed the distance between her and Blade Dancer, Erza’s swords collided with the Upper 4’s claws, resulting in a huge explosion. The general’s claws shattered as she was launched back by the explosion. She slid back until she came to a screeching halt. Erza rushed towards her to press on the attack, but Blade Dancer stopped her by materializing a humongous wall of red blades in her path. The wizard jumped back just before the blades exploded.
“Well done. You’re the second foe after Aura Light who managed to break these claws. However...” The general then magically regenerated her claws. “As long I can use magic, I can repair them good as new.”
Blade Dancer was then engulfed in an aura with a dark green hue. “Prepare yourself. Now, I’m using my full power.”
With her new claws, Blade Dancer created a gigantic cutting wave. When clashing against it, Erza was pushed back by the sheer force of the wave, until she charged her swords with more magic power and dissipated the wave.
The general then created a chaotic vortex of powerful extremely long-ranged multi-directional cutting waves. Instead of going on the defensive again, Erza powered through her enemy’s attack while charging one of her swords with a large quantity of magic power, preparing to unleash a powerful piercing attack against the Upper 4, even if it means sustaining more wounds in the process.
Blade Dancer channeled her magic power into her claws as she prepared to take Erza head-on. The wizard collided with the general once again, creating another gigantic explosion. Both were blown back, but Blade Dancer’s claws remained intact. The two combatants began panting, showing signs of exhaustion.
“You know, you deserve a pat on the back. Not anyone can make me exert myself to this extent.” Blade Dancer gave her praise.
“Thanks for the praise, but I can’t stay here for too long. We still have Scarlet Night to deal with, and I can’t afford to waste any more time.” Not wanting the battle to drag out any longer, Erza requipped another one of her strongest armors, the Nakagami Armor.
“Just how many armors do you have?” Blade Dancer asked.
“This will be the last one I’ll use for this duel, because I’m ending this fight right now.” Erza answered.
“A big claim, Erza. Let’s see if you can back it up!” The Upper 4 created another chaotic vortex of powerful long-ranged multi-directional cutting waves, but with more ferocity. She also launched a storm of red blades for good measure.
Erza swung her halberd and neutralized all incoming attacks.
“What?! She cut through all my attacks just like that?!”
“Blade Dancer, your powers were incredible! But it’s time to finish this!” Erza hollered as she thrusted herself towards Blade Dancer.
Blade Dancer, in turn, charged towards Erza while spinning like a tornado with her claws spread out.
“NAKAGAMI STARLIGHT!” Erza swung her halberd with great strength, cutting the space before her and delivering a devastating blow to the Upper 4.
Blade Dancer reverted to her original pony form as she was sent spiraling in the air and crashing hard onto the floor. The general could no longer move after Erza’s attack. Thus, this fight has been decided. Blade Dancer has lost. The Upper 4’s body started to disintegrate, and Erza switched her armor back to Clear Heart Clothing.
Seeing that she was fading away, Blade Dancer decided to ask Erza one question during her last moments.
“Erza… answer me. Did you really mean it when you said… that my powers... were incredible?” The Upper 4 said weakly.
Erza was silent for a few seconds before answering. “I truly did. However… I can never forgive you for killing.”
“I see…” The general uttered in response.
Erza then walked away, leaving the fallen Red Moon General alone.
As her body was slowly disintegrating, Blade Dancer began reminiscing about her past, starting with the time her mother abandoned her.
“You are worthless.” Her mother said cruelly before leaving her.
“I... I wasn’t worthless. At the very least, Scarlet Night never thought so.” Blade Dancer then reminisced of her time with Scarlet Night after the alicorn took her in. She fondly remembered Scarlet Night giving her a name and the times she praised her whenever she made progress in her studies. She also remembered the joy she felt when Scarlet Night made her a Red Moon General and congratulated her after every successful mission.
“My magic... my talents... were all recognized...” Content with knowing that she was acknowledged even by an enemy, Blade Dancer accepted her fate as she crumbled away completely.
Erza soon exited the training hall, which has suffered extensive damage. Despite the wounds she received from the recent fight, she remained determined to see the battle in the fortress through to the end.
“Sky Beak, I’ll tell your family that I have avenged you… once this is all over.” Erza promised to herself as she continued forward.