MLP FiM x Fairy Tail: Wizards in Equestria

by SonnL

Chapter 7 (1/2): Tales of the Past

It all started over 4000 years ago, in a magical land that existed before Equestria. It was known as Starquestria, a vast land divided into multiple nations, each with its own ruler. Inhabiting this land were star unicorns, an ancient race of unicorns with white horns that could shine like stars. The two alicorns, Aura Light and Scarlet Night, maintained the balance of light and dark.

At one time, there was peace between the nations, but that peace did not last. Driven by greed and ambition, the star unicorns waged wars against each other for territory, resources, and personal glory. Fierce fighting erupted throughout Starquestria and it became a land filled with strife.

One day, a village was destroyed in a raid by soldiers from another nation. In the village, there was a young colt, the one that would later become known as Dread Lord. His name was Pale Star, and he was the sole survivor. He lost his home and his parents. He had an older brother, but he was away travelling at the time.

In the ruins of his devastated village, the colt sat alone just waiting to die. That was until he was approached by a tall pony. It was an alicorn with a dark crimson coat, a horn that shines like a ruby, reddish violet eyes with black sclera, and a long flowing light red mane and tail (rippling, sparkling, and partially translucent). It was Scarlet Night herself.

“You poor thing.” The alicorn gently spoke to the colt with great sympathy. “One as young as you should not have to die here alone. Come with me.”

Scarlet Night then took Pale Star under her wing and brought him back to her domain. When Pale Star asked the alicorn how she found him, she explained that she had the ability to sense despair. In her castle, Pale Star met many other foals that she took under her care, including Sapphire Butterfly, Roaring Blaze, Blade Dancer, and Soni, all from different nations. Even during the time Pale Star first met Soni, the latter wore a mask. As he got acquainted with them, he heard their stories on how each of them met Scarlet Night.

Roaring Blaze

In the country he came from, he was trained and forced to fight in battles as a foal soldier. He had no idea who his parents were. He was in the military as far as he could remember.

He would never forget the first battle he fought in. Soldiers died left and right and many suffered gruesome injuries. Despite all the horrific things he saw at such a young age, he continued serving as an obedient soldier. He was taught that soldiers follow orders.

In his fourth battle, he was grievously wounded. The military that he fought for did not bother trying to help him. He was abandoned and left for dead.

In the aftermath of the battle, Roaring Blaze laid dying on the quiet battlefield. Just as he was about to give up on living, he was found by Scarlet Night, who rescued him and nursed him back to health.

Blade Dancer

Before Blade Dancer met Scarlet Night, she was a filly with no name. She was born in a city full of corruption. It was an environment where everypony could easily betray one another to the point that one could only trust oneself. She was abandoned by her mother, who only saw her as a burden. Whenever she thought of her mother, she remembered these three words her mother said to her: You are worthless.

Left to fend for herself, the filly learned how to survive all on her own. Back then, she was only able to conjure small knives, but they could still be useful if used the right way.

While living in a hive of scum and villainy, the filly lived with one rule: if she wanted something, she would have to take it herself even if she had to kill for it. All that mattered to her was not being the one who ends up dead. Each day, she lived with the fear that it could be her last.

Eventually, her luck went south when she made enemies out of the wrong ponies, and they began hunting her down. Knowing that she would be killed or worse if she stayed, the filly fled the city through the sewers and ventured into the wilderness.

However, she soon discovered that surviving in the wilderness was no simple task as there were wild beasts that would prey on her. While resting, she kept herself awake, fearing that she could be attacked in her sleep. It wasn’t long before she started suffering from sleep deprivation.

Sometime later, she was attacked by a pack of vicious wolves. The filly managed to kill three of them, but more came and she was succumbing to fatigue. As the wolves cornered her, she thought it was the end of her. She closed her eyes waiting for her death to come. But it did not happen. When she opened her eyes, she saw the wolves shaking with fear for a few minutes before fleeing. As she wondered what frightened the wolves, she looked around and came face-to-face with Scarlet Night.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” Scarlet Night gently spoke to the filly.

Due to paranoia, she thought of Scarlet Night as another enemy and even attempted to kill her. The alicorn easily stopped her attacks and casted a sleep spell on her.

When she later woke up, she found herself lying on a comfortable bed in a nice room. Soon after she regained consciousness, Scarlet Night entered the room with a tray carrying a bowl of warm soup and a loaf of bread.

“I see you’re awake.” Scarlet Night said.

“W-where am I?” The filly asked nervously.

“You’re in my kingdom. Many refer to it as the Land of Darkness.” Scarlet Night informed as she placed the tray on the table next to the bed. “You must be hungry. You were completely exhausted when I found you. Please eat and regain your strength.”

The filly was taken aback after hearing that she was brought into another country and she was skeptical of Scarlet Night’s generosity. She was also surprised that the alicorn wasn’t showing any hostility towards her after she tried to attack her. She was hesitant to eat the food that Scarlet Night brought, but she heard her stomach growling. She reluctantly took a spoonful of the soup and after confirming that it wasn’t poisonous, she finished the rest of it and ate the loaf of bread.

“What is your name, young filly?” Scarlet Night asked.

“I… I don’t know.” The filly answered.

“You don’t know?” Scarlet Night raised an eyebrow. “Then how about I give you a name? How about… Blade Dancer?”

Even after Scarlet Night gave her food and shelter, Blade Dancer was still not trusting of her. She attempted to run away from the alicorn’s castle numerous times. Each time she would get lost and each time Scarlet Night would take her back safely without punishing her. Blade Dancer thought that the alicorn would give up on her sooner or later, but she never did.

After two months, she finally warmed up to Scarlet Night. Not only was the alicorn the first ever to show her kindness, she was like the mother she always wanted.

Soni

While listening to Soni’s story, Pale Star learned that the reason he wore a mask was to hide a terrible scar on his face.

Soni was born in a poor village. His parents were farmers and they struggled to make ends meet. Though they lived in poverty, Soni and his parents were still happy, and his mother was expecting another foal.

Unfortunately, the life he had with his parents came to a tragic end when Premium Shine, a young alicorn-born princess (which was extremely rare even in Starquestria), decided to purge her kingdom of all those she considered to be filth. In Starquestria, it was not uncommon for royals and nobles to oppress those of the lower social class and Premium Shine was one of the worst.

Premium Shine’s soldiers razed Soni’s village to the ground and massacred the villagers. The princess was also there to personally oversee the purge. While Soni helplessly watched the destruction of his village and the death of his family, he also noticed Premium Shine expressing delight at the carnage with a cruel smile. At that moment, rage towards the princess welled up inside of him.

The princess was born with wealth and power. She got to live in a life of luxury with full meals, fancy clothes, and a nice bed. She never even had to do anything to earn alicorn status. It was just given to her at the time of her birth. And in an instant, the princess who was born with everything took away his happiness like it was nothing, just because she felt entitled to do so.

Right after his parents and unborn sibling were slaughtered, the princess herself sadistically wounded his face and flung him into a running river. He was washed up somewhere far away. As he crawled on the ground with his face covered in blood, he struggled to stay alive.

“I can’t die… not yet… I have to kill her for what she did… I have to kill that princess.” Soni uttered as he vowed to exact vengeance on Premium Shine.

Luckily for him, he was found by Scarlet Night just as he was about to succumb to exhaustion. The alicorn took him back to her kingdom and treated his injuries. She offered to magically remove his scar, but Soni decided to keep it, wanting it as a reminder of his new life’s goal.

Because of his tragic loss, Soni developed an intense hatred for those who are born special.

Sapphire Butterfly

Long ago, she once lived in a humble village with her sister, who was one year younger than her. They lost their parents due to a plague, so the two fillies had been living on their own. Her sister, Little Cerulean, was frail, so Sapphire Butterfly had to take care of her.

Little Cerulean apologized many times for being weak, but Sapphire Butterfly never once saw her as a burden. Rather, she was her reason to live. One fond memory she had with Little Cerulean was watching the fireflies together with her under the moonlight. During that time, Sapphire promised to always protect her sister.

A few days later, Sapphire Butterfly went to the mountains to pick up berries. On the way back to her home, she saw smoke coming from her village and she felt a sense of dread running through her. She quickly returned to the village and was met with a horrific site. The village was attacked while she was away. Houses were left in ruins and corpses lied on the ground. She had no idea if it was bandits or soldiers from another country, but the first thing that came to her mind was finding her sister.

She rushed back to her house and found Little Cerulean lying in a pool of blood. Her heart sank upon seeing her little sister dead. In the end, Sapphire’s promise to protect her was nothing but words. Filled with grief over the fact that she wasn’t there for Little Cerulean when she needed her, Sapphire held her in her hooves and wailed for hours. She realized that even she had something more precious to her than her own life, others can easily trample over it. All Sapphire wanted was for both her and her sister to live their lives to the fullest together. Seeing Little Cerulean grow up happy would have been enough for her. But that would never come true, because they lived in a cruel and unfair world.

Sapphire spent days absentmindedly embracing her deceased sister until Scarlet Night came and told her that Little Cerulean should receive a proper burial to respect her soul. Sapphire buried her sister like the alicorn suggested, but she had lost her will to live. Scarlet Night convinced her to continue living and took Sapphire with her back to the Land of Darkness.

---

Over the years, Scarlet Night raised and educated the orphans. They studied and trained in the magical arts. From time to time, they were visited by Scarlet Night’s younger twin sister, Aura Light, an alicorn with a light yellow coat, a horn that could shine like the sun, eyes that were as blue as the clear sky, and a long white flowing mane and tail with some radiance to them. Occasionally, Scarlet Night took the orphans on field trips to Aura’s kingdom, commonly known as the Land of Light. Whenever the sisters visited each other, they would have tea together and Aura assisted in the orphans’ education. The two sometimes spar to keep each other’s battle skills sharp.

After many years, the orphans grew into adults. Some of them forged their own paths and had gone separate ways while the rest chose to remain with Scarlet Night as her acolytes.

Sometime after reaching adulthood, Pale Star had a chance reunion with his older brother, Pale Spark, in the Land of Darkness. Pale Spark was horrified when he returned to their home village to find it destroyed. He held on to the hope that Pale Star was still alive and searched for him for years. During their reunion, the two brothers spoke with each other for hours before Pale Spark went on another adventure, happy to know that his younger brother was alive and well.

During one visit to the Land of Light, Pale Star met his special somepony, a star unicorn mare named Pearl Glow. They married and had a son together.

---

The wars in Starquestria continued to escalate though none of the warring kingdoms dared to launch a full-scale invasion on the Land of Light and the Land of Darkness.

Taking a step towards creating a peaceful Starquestria, Aura Light invited the leaders of the other nations into her kingdom for a peace conference in the hopes that she could convince them to cease all hostilities.

Royals from the other countries and their escorts gathered at Aura’s castle. Scarlet Night and her acolytes were also there as guests. Soni saw Premium Shine, who came to the Land of Light with her son, a young star unicorn colt. Though Soni had the urge to attack the princess right there, he refrained from doing so because he knew better than to cause a scene.

During the welcome party where the guests can talk, eat, or drink, an assassin posing as a servant served wine spiked with poison to Aura Light and Scarlet Night. Aura drank her cup first and she was soon coughing out blood violently before collapsing on the floor, much to Scarlet Night’s horror.

Masked assassins wearing different uniforms then attacked the castle, and the guests fled. Soni let Premium Shine go because Scarlet Night’s safety was his bigger priority. Scarlet Night fought off the assassins while protecting her sister. She also noticed that the attackers were only targeting both her and Aura, completely ignoring the other royals. As her acolytes and Aura’s guards battled the assailants, the dark alicorn used a mind probing spell on an assassin she subdued and learned that some of the guests had conspired to kill both her and her sister so they could invade their kingdoms. All the assassins were eventually defeated and the ones that were not killed used poison to commit suicide. By the time the chaos in Aura’s castle had ended, the guests had returned to their countries. The Land of Light was put under lockdown after this incident.

Aura Light managed to survive the attempt on her life, but she fell into a coma. The poison that put her in a coma had no color, no taste, and no odor. It also wasn’t magical, which was why neither Aura nor Scarlet Night sensed it.

This incident would serve as the turning point in Scarlet Night’s life. For years, she felt the negativity caused by the wars occurring in Starquestria because of warmongering star unicorns. It was having an adverse effect on her psyche, but the assassination attempt on her and her sister finally drove Scarlet Night over the edge.

---

On the day after Aura Light fell into a coma, Scarlet Night spoke to her five best acolytes in the throne room of her castle concerning an important matter.

“I’ve come to a decision. For too long, these nations have been engaging in petty and pointless conflicts. I am going to put an end to all the fighting by conquering Starquestria. But I do not wish to do it alone. Will you five become my generals?”

The five unicorns bowed to her in response.

“It will be our honor, Scarlet Night.” Pale Star replied.

“We will do anything you command us to do.” Sapphire Butterfly said.

“Yes, I will follow you forever.” Blade Dancer declared.

“You can count on me to serve you to the best of my abilities.” Roaring Blaze joined in.

“Until I get my revenge, I’ll gladly fight for you.” Soni stated.

Scarlet Night imbued the five star unicorns with dark magical energies, turning their horns red and changing the sclera of their eyes from white to various shades of color. The five were the first to become dark unicorns. The dark alicorn also granted each of them a portion of her magical power, and that was how the Red Moon Generals were first formed. Pale Star became Dread Lord, and Soni became Shadow Mayhem. Afterwards, Scarlet Night proceeded to convert every combatant in her kingdom into dark unicorns. To reinforce her forces, she used some forbidden magic to create an army of monsters.

Showing no restraint, Scarlet Night and her five generals began the bloodiest conflict in Starquestria’s history. Scarlet Night donned red battle armor as she went to war.

Within a month, thousands had fallen to the dark alicorn and the Red Moon Generals, and hundreds of star unicorns from other countries were turned into dark unicorns after submitting to Scarlet Night.

As the great war went on, Roaring Blaze sought the thrill of battle, Blade Dancer developed a disturbing habit of collecting heads of noteworthy foes as trophies to signify her accomplishments, and Shadow Mayhem became infamous for torturing and crippling his enemies.

Six weeks after starting her conquest, Scarlet Night added five more dark unicorns to the ranks of the Red Moon Generals, those being Thunder Blast, War Spirit, Red Rage, Cloth Demoness, and Darkspark.

---

Three months after the great war began, the Order of Scarlet Night invaded Premium Shine’s kingdom. As the dark unicorns and their monster army raided the royal castle, Shadow Mayhem infiltrated the castle and his target was in the throne room.

“Your majesty, you must evacuate.” A royal guard urged the princess.

“But what about my son!?” Premium Shine showed concern for her child.

“You won’t have to worry about him anymore.” Shadow Mayhem appeared in the throne room with the colt in tow.

The Upper 5 had already killed the prince by breaking his neck.

“What have you done to my son?!” Premium Shine shrieked.

After dropping the colt’s lifeless body on the floor, Shadow Mayhem then lowered his mask, allowing the princess to see his scarred face.

“You took everything from me.” Shadow Mayhem spoke with unbridled fury.

“I don’t even know you!” The princess barked back.

“Of course you would forget those you deemed as trash, but I swear on this scar that this face will be the last thing you’ll ever see!” The general declared with murder in his eyes.

“KILL HIM!!!!” Premium Shine ordered her guards, but all of them were effortlessly killed by the dark unicorn.

All alone, the princess lashed out at Shadow Mayhem for murdering her son. With rage as his driving force, the general overpowered her.

For hours, Shadow Mayhem tortured and mutilated the princess. Dread Lord arrived at the throne room right after Premium Shine met a gruesome end.

“You did it. You finally got your revenge.” Dread Lord congratulated his fellow upper general. However, he noticed that there was no satisfaction on Shadow Mayhem’s face. Instead, his face showed an expression of confusion. “What’s the matter? Aren’t you happy?”

“S-something’s wrong… T-this burning anger inside of me… isn’t fading away.” Shadow Mayhem stammered. “But why? I killed her with my own hooves. I made her suffer. So why this rage still remains?! Haven’t I done enough?!”

Taking Premium Shine’s life and avenging his family did not bring him the peace he sought. Scarlet Night soon came to the throne room to praise him.

“Be proud of what you accomplished today. Embrace your anger. Let it be the source of your strength.” The dark alicorn told him.

Despite Scarlet Night’s words of encouragement, his rage became unbearable for him. He went on to massacre all of Premium Shine’s relatives and her royal guards and the families of those guards as well. Even foals were not spared from his wrath. But no matter how much blood he spilled, the rage never went away.

---

Sometime after Premium Shine’s kingdom was completely conquered, Dread Lord visited his wife and child in the Land of Light.

However, Pearl Glow was completely distraught over all the devastation that her husband had a hoof in.

“Pale Star, you understand what you and your comrades have been doing, don’t you? Not everypony you killed were soldiers. Many of them were innocent civilians, foals even. There’s… no taking this back.” Pearl Glow spoke with tears in her eyes.

“This war isn’t over yet. There’s still more work to do.” Dread Lord said in response.

“How long?! How long does all this death and destruction have to go on?! I… I can’t take this!!!” Pearl Glow began weeping while Dread Lord watched in silence.

After shedding tears for a few minutes, she continued by saying, “I… I’m taking our son somewhere far away, away from Starquestria. I don’t want him to grow up in a land that only knows war.”

Dread Lord continued being silent as he contemplated on his wife’s decision.

“Pale Star, please come with me. Help me raise our child. Let’s leave everything else behind while we still can!” Pearl Glow pleaded.

“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave without me.” Dread Lord responded.

Pearl Glow was shocked by his answer.

“I will never abandon my master and I’m going to see this war through to the end. I’ve made my decision when I became a Red Moon General.”

And just like that, Pearl Glow left with their foal, and he never saw them again. Dread Lord made no attempt to stop her as he respected her decision. He also thought that it would indeed be best for their child to grow up somewhere away from the war.

Two days later, Dread Lord received some terrible news. His wife and child were murdered by enemies who had a grudge against him. For the first time since becoming a dark unicorn, he was filled with regret. As he grieved, he wondered if Pearl Glow and his son would still be alive if he had gone with them or convinced Pearl Glow to stay. After taking some time to mourn, he cast his regrets aside. It was already too late to do anything for his family and he swore to himself that he would keep fighting for Scarlet Night.

After devastating the royal capital of a kingdom one week later, Dread Lord was confronted by his brother.

“Pale Star! What you’re doing is wrong!” Pale Spark said.

“My master’s will is absolute. Whatever she wishes shall be done.” Dread Lord replied.

“Following orders without question is just making you a pawn! What would mother and father think if they see you now!?”

“Mother and father are dead, all because of wars stemming from greed and arrogance. Scarlet Night was the one who saved me while I was in the depths of despair, so I owe my life to her. We’re going to dismantle the current Starquestria and create a new nation.”

“And you’re going to murder all those who disagree with your master in the process?! How many ponies, husbands, wives, and foals will you kill for this new nation?!”

“Nothing you say will make me waver. I did not become a Red Moon General with weak resolve. I’m going to see the war through to the end and that’s final. You should just leave Starquestria and go back to traveling.”

“No! I refuse to let you continue on this path! If you’re not going to leave Scarlet Night, then you’ll have to kill me too!”

“Think about what you’re saying! I have no desire to fight you, but I’ll never betray Scarlet Night! Don’t make me choose between you and the one I’m indebted to!”

During that one time, Dread Lord actually felt conflicted. It wouldn’t be a problem if it was anypony else, but he was facing the only remaining blood relative he had. Since Pale Spark refused to budge, Dread Lord reluctantly fought and killed him.

As he gazed at his fallen brother, tears flowed down his face. That was the only time Dread Lord felt any remorse after taking a life. He gave Pale Spark a burial as a last sign of respect for him. With his wife, son, and brother gone, the only family he had left was Scarlet Night and the unicorns he grew up with.

---

As the Order of Scarlet Night became an increasing threat, the leaders of the nations that had not been fully conquered yet decided to put aside their differences and joined forces to fight the dark alicorn and her forces. Despite their combined efforts, it wasn’t enough. Scarlet Night and the Red Moon Generals remained undefeated.

Six months after the start of the great war, Aura Light finally awakened from her coma.

“She’s awake!” The head maid of Aura’s castle shouted excitedly before giving an order to the other servants. “Hurry! Inform the entire kingdom! And… send a letter to Scarlet Night.”

As Aura got off her bed, she still felt a bit unsteady.

“Take it easy your majesty.” The head maid urged. “You have been in a coma for six months.”

Aura was then informed about what happened during the peace conference. The servants also gave her a full meal to help with her recovery. She soon regained her strength, but she started to wonder why her sister had not arrived to see her yet. One of her servants had sent a letter to Scarlet Night, so Aura was expecting her to come rushing into her room and give her a tight hug.

“How’s my sister? Has she been well?” Aura asked.

The servants were hesitant to answer and after some silence, one of them explained all that transpired while Aura was in a coma. By the time Aura had awakened, Scarlet Night had essentially conquered Starquestria and only left the Land of Light untouched. Many who defied the dark alicorn were disposed of, and small pockets of resistance remained. What’s more was that she did not stop with just conquering Starquestria, she extended her campaign of conquest beyond Starquestria’s borders and had begun warring with other pony tribes and other creatures in foreign lands.

The alicorn of light was aghast to hear what Scarlet Night had done. She went around Starquestria to see the truth herself before arriving at the Land of Darkness. Aura was allowed into Scarlet Night’s castle, and she went to see Scarlet Night in the throne room.

“Hello Aura. It’s been a while.” Scarlet Night did not sound happy while greeting her sister. “I suppose you came here because you have heard about what I have been doing lately, have you?”

When Aura saw the look in Scarlet Night’s eyes, they were filled with cold anger.

“Sister, what happened to you?” Aura spoke with great unease.

“I’m done holding back. You’re attempt at a peaceful resolution had failed and I took matters into my own hooves. I’ll create a new world and I’m going to achieve that goal no matter what it takes even if blood has to be spilled.”

“How can you speak of taking lives so easily? Do you remember what mother taught us when we were fillies? Every life is sacred.”

“If everypony believed that, then there wouldn’t be any wars!” Scarlet Night snapped back.

“You think the solution to suffering is more suffering?”

“The solution is absolute dominance!”

“And how many lives are you willing to take for that? Have you forgotten what father told us after we became alicorns 800 years ago? Those with power have the responsibility to wield it with wisdom.”

“Tch. You’re wasting your time if you’re hoping to dissuade me. I’ve come too far to stop now. There will be no negotiations. If you want to stop me, you’ll have to destroy me.”

“Please don’t do this. You know I can’t fight you.” Aura continued trying to reason with her sister.

Having heard enough of Aura’s pleas, Scarlet Night shot a dark magic beam at her. Completely stunned by Scarlet Night’s descend into madness, Aura Light did not block the beam. After she was knocked down to the floor, Aura tearfully gazed up at her sister, who maintained a cold expression. Getting hit by the dark alicorn’s beam was painful, but what hurt Aura even more was her sister’s willingness to harm her with any hesitation.

“Do nothing or fight me. Those are your two options.” Scarlet Night said harshly.

The alicorn of light was shaken by how much her sister had changed. Scarlet Night was so unhinged to the point that words would not reach her. Distraught, Aura teleported back to her castle in the Land of Light. As she sat alone in her room, Aura broke down and sobbed for hours. Waking up to see that her sister had become a malevolent being with a hunger for destruction was heartbreaking for her.

As much as it pained her to fight Scarlet Night, Aura knew what needed to be done since she was the only one powerful enough to oppose her. Many lives had been lost and many more will die if she chose to do nothing. Aura Light donned golden battle armor and rose up against the Order of Scarlet Night.

One by one, Aura defeated and captured the lower members of the Red Moon Generals. She planned to put them on trial for their war crimes along with the upper members and Scarlet Night after stopping the war.

---

One month after awakening from her coma, Aura Light and her army launched an attack on the Land of Darkness.

At the top of the Mountain of Darkness, Scarlet Night was preparing to use a forbidden spell that would unleash worldwide cataclysm. It was an extremely complex spell even for Scarlet Night so it would need hours to prepare.

When Aura arrived at the mountain, the five upper generals intercepted her.

“It’s a shame that you five chose to support Scarlet Night’s insanity.” Aura said with pity towards the upper generals.

“We are her loyal and devoted servants, so of course we will fight for her sake.” Sapphire Butterfly responded.

“Each of us owes an immeasurable debt to her.” Blade Dancer added.

“Pale Star, you had a wife and a child. How can you live with this madness?” Aura asked Dread Lord.

“They’re gone and nothing is going to change that. But I’m not going to let that weaken my determination.” Dread Lord answered.

“I see. So that’s how it’s going to be then.” Aura spoke regretfully.

The five upper generals then fought Aura Light. The battle lasted for an hour and the alicorn of light soundly defeated them. Even though they all attacked her together, none of them were able to inflict a single injury on her. After all, her power was on par with Scarlet Night.

Dread Lord was rendered unconscious, but he managed to wake up a short time later. He groaned in pain as his body was covered in wounds. He looked around and saw his four fellow upper generals, all lying on the ground grievously wounded and completely unconscious.

“Roaring Blaze… Sapphire Butterfly… Shadow Mayhem… Blade Dancer… anypony?” Dread Lord called out to his comrades, but none of them responded. He did not have enough strength for a healing spell so he could not help any of them.

As he struggled to get back on his hooves, he could hear explosions and thunderous noises coming from the top of the mountain.

“Master…”

Dread Lord limped towards the top of the mountain and saw Scarlet Night engaging in a ferocious battle with Aura Light as both alicorns soared into the sky. The alicorn of light had interrupted the dark alicorn before the latter could complete her spell.

The battle between the two alicorns was a sight to see. Every time their magic collided, the air trembled. Even from a distance, Dread Lord could feel the wind pressure. As the battle raged on, Dread Lord shook with awe from watching Aura and Scarlet Night displaying their full power.

Eventually, Aura managed to land a mighty strike on the dark alicorn and sent her plummeting to the ground. Scarlet Night was also stunned by Aura’s attack, so the alicorn of light had the opportunity to finish off the alicorn of darkness right there. But instead of dealing the finishing blow, Aura made another attempt to plead with her sister.

“Sister, please. We shouldn’t be fighting like this. And there has been enough violence and bloodshed. I beseech you. Let’s put a stop to this war.”

The dark alicorn did not say anything in response and only glared at Aura with venomous eyes.

Dread Lord decided to act quickly since he was going to succumb to his wounds soon. Having experienced the regret of not protecting his wife and child and killing his brother, Dread Lord chose to use his last moments to help his master one final time, even if only a little.

The Upper 1 fired a magic bolt at Aura, but the latter sensed the attack and generated a shield around herself to block it. Scarlet Night, having recovered her strength, unleashed a powerful magic blast. Aura did not take any damage due to her shield being still active, but she was launched far away.

Dread Lord then collapsed, having used up all his remaining strength. Scarlet Night stood back up on her hooves and looked at him with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

“You fought valiantly on my behalf. I shall never forget your loyalty.” Scarlet Night told Dread Lord with an expression of appreciation.

The dark alicorn then casted a spell with several dark magic circles appearing over her, and that was the last thing Dread Lord saw before he blacked out.