The Witchblade EqG: Mystery Murder Files

A lot happened in the last thirty minutes, the ambulance arrived and whisked Rainbow Dash away to the hospital, Fluttershy – with permission from Principal Celestia – went with the paramedics so that Rainbow wouldn’t be alone should she wake up. Sunset had gotten a spare shirt from Rarity and informed both her, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack about what really happened in the nurse’s office. Naturally this shocked all three girls, Pinkie Pie looked a little irritated that Rainbow tried to sexually assault her girlfriend.

Of course, this also fueled the rumor mill about what really happened in the nurse’s office, and much to Sunset’s dismay, there were some students who had recorded the fight. From when Sunset and Rainbow burst through the door, and to Sunset’s impressive fighting skills before tossing Rainbow back into the office and knocking her out with a punch. All while her bare chest was visible for all to see.

“Faust…why does this shit keep happening to me?” Sunset lamented.

“It’ll be alright, Sunset…I’m sure it won’t be long before something else occurs and makes this a distant memory,” said Rarity, attempting to console Sunset.

Sunset raised a frustrated eyebrow. “Oh, yeah? I don’t think anyone’s going to be forgetting ‘Kung-Fu Cat Fight Topless’! Look, it’s already effing trending!”

Rarity glanced to Applejack, her eyes silently asking her for help to console Sunset, but Applejack shrugged, she really had nothing for something like this. I mean, it was going to be hard to live something like this down, the internet is not a forgiving creature. Pinkie tried her best to cheer Sunset up, but even she couldn’t see a way around this, that video was going to be floating around for a good long while.

“You know, the sucky part about this, is that everyone else got to see your tiddies before I did,” said Pinkie.

“Pinkie Pie!” Rarity exclaimed as she blushed.

Applejack tipped her hat and muttered, “Seriously, Pinkie?”

Sunset managed a chuckle as she looked to her girlfriend. “Yeah…sorry. But, hey, I’ll make sure you’re the first to see something better than my tits.”

“You’d better, but, you know, you could always show me them anyway,” said Pinkie with a smile.

Rarity rolled their eyes and muttered something along the lines of, “They’re made for each other.”

Applejack could see what Pinkie was doing, and it made her smile too. Just then, Applejack’s phone vibrated, she took it out and saw that Fluttershy texted her. “Girls, Shy just texted me!”

The other huddled around Applejack and her phone as they read the text.

[The doctors just finished running some tests on Rainbow, as far as they can tell, she’s not infected with anything, and they didn’t find any suspicious substances in her blood work either. She still has a high-grade fever, but it wasn’t like it was earlier, for now their giving her plenty of fluids and monitoring her. Rainbow’s parents are here, but they don’t know what could’ve gotten her like this, they did mention to me that she was out playing basketball with Cloud Kicker on Saturday. I know I’m asking a lot, but could you please go and talk with Cloud Kicker and see if Rainbow was acting strange at all?]

Sunset’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, her gut told her that that was a cover story, something definitely happened last Saturday that made Rainbow do what she did. She must’ve encountered the Wendigo then…but…if that’s the case…

}}} This Cloud Kicker might be the one behind it. {{{

It’s a theory, best to check it out. “AJ, reply to Fluttershy and tell her we’ll talk to Cloud Kicker.”

Applejack looked over her shoulder and asked, “Now when you say ‘we’, you mean you, right?”

“Wait, maybe we should all go or…maybe call the police just in case?” Pinkie suggested.

Sunset shook her head. “No on the cops, and no on the we part. I’m going to question Cloud Kicker, alone. On the off chance that she is what I think she is, it’ll be easier to fend her off if I’m by myself.” That and I haven’t told Pinkie Pie about you yet.

Pinkie Pie didn’t like that idea, if Cloud Kicker was possessed by a Wendigo, then that meant that Sunset might get killed like before. The curly haired teen still didn’t know how Sunset survived getting impaled through the gut, anyone else would be dead, but somehow Sunset survived, honestly that’s all that mattered to her, but Pinkie didn’t want to bank on another miracle happening. She also knew that Sunset was stubborn as all hell and that once Sunset set her mind on something, not many could deter her from her goal, despite the danger.

“Okay…just promise us that you’ll text us to let us know you’re alright,” said Pinkie.

Sunset smiled and kissed Pinkie on the forehead. “I promise.”

“Aww, you two are just too precious!” Rarity gushed.

Their free period ended and Sunset was now on the hunt for Cloud Kicker. It was days like this that she wished she had her network of information that allowed her to keep tabs on the students of CHS, Snips and Snails were part of that system, but eighty percent of it was Sunset’s own leg work. Problem was, with the whole school seeing her as an enemy, it was going to be hard to get information from anybody.

Sunset decided to head for the obvious place, the gym, her next class was P. E., she had never really paid much attention to who was in the class with her, other than Rainbow and Applejack when their class schedules aligned, but now, she hoped that Cloud Kicker was among them. Sunset walked to her locker and pulled out her gym clothes, heading towards the locker rooms, she saw that many of the girls were already inside and getting ready.

As she walked inside, Sunset could feel their eyes on her. The video had pretty much made its way on the social media circuit, so it was a fair bet to say that the entire school had seen her in her topless state. Nevertheless, Sunset walked with her head held high and commanding strides as she made her way to an empty locker.

“Wow, Shimmer, you are not having a good day, are you?”

Sunset groaned, she recognized that voice, she turned around and spotted none other than Trixie Lulamoon. “Trixie…so not in the mood right now.”

“Oh, don’t go acting all tough,” Trixie opened her locker and began removing her clothes. “Everybody in school’s already seen them by now, pretty sure most of the boys are jacking off to it.”

There was some snickering coming from the other girls, Sunset gritted her teeth, Trixie could be a real bitch most of the time, and contrarily, she could also be a nice person when she wanted to be. Right now, the bitchy part was more prominent. Sunset shook her head and began to change as well.

“If you’re going to go that far, then get your facts straight. Rainbow had a really bad fever; it made her delusional and she attacked me because of it. I tried to get her to stop, but she just kept coming at me and saying weird crap. I didn’t want to hurt her, but if I didn’t, she could’ve hurt someone in her fever dream state.”

“So, you’re saying Rainbow’s the one that ripped off your shirt?”

“Yes.”

“Eh, likely story, or it could be you and Rainbow Dash were having some sort of under-the-table affair and got a little too rough with each other,” Trixie suggested.

A locker door slammed, gaining the attention of the girls in the room. The girl who did it was blonde with her hair done up in a ponytail. “Cap’s got a lot on her mind; I know for a fact that’s not what’s happening. If she’s sick she’s sick, they took her out in an ambulance for Christ’s sake!”

“Okay, okay, don’t bite Trixie’s head off, Cloud,” said Trixie as she raised her hands in a placating manner.

“Cloud?” Sunset looked at the girl who spoke up. “Are you Cloud Kicker?”

Cloud nodded her head wearily. “I am…why?”

Sunset closed her locker and walked over to the girl, she grabbed her wrist and said, “We need to talk.”

“Let go of me, I don’t have anything to say to you!” Cloud Kicker stated.

“You do when it involves one of my friends, and,” Sunset leaned in close and whispered into her ear, “when it involves something related to Wendigos!”

Cloud Kicker’s eyes went wide, her body tensed up, but she showed no signs of resisting Sunset’s hold. “O-Okay, let’s talk.”

Sunset guided the girl to the far side of the locker room, once they were alone, Sunset sat Cloud Kicker down on the bench and leaned up against the locker as she looked down on Cloud Kicker. “Start talking, what happened last Saturday?”

“Look, Shimmer, that’s not…that’s not something that’s easy to talk about…”

“My friend’s in the hospital with some unknown affliction and tried to rape me due to whatever is wrong with her. Honestly, I could give two shits if it’s easy or hard, you’re going to tell me what you two did that day, or so help me I’m going to beat it out of you!” Sunset threatened.

Cloud Kicked stood up and glared at Sunset. “‘Friend’?! Since when are you two friends?! Last I checked, you burned that bridge, Anon-A-Miss!”

*SLAM!*

Cloud Kicker nearly fell on her rear when she jumped back and almost hit the bench. Sunset had struck the locker behind her with her right fist, causing the door to bend inward and crunch at the point of impact.

“Anon-A-Miss took my friends away, despite everything that’s happened, I still care about them, even Rainbow! Don’t you dare question how much I value them; I would die for them!” Sunset stated with full conviction.

Cloud Kicker was taken aback at how fiercely Sunset said those words, she didn’t understand, why would someone who was Anon-A-Miss act like this? Was she acting? Was this a trick to use on them later? Her questions ceased when she saw a tear fall from Sunset’s left eye.

“Okay…I’ll tell you.” Cloud Kicker sat back down on the bench and sighed heavily. “You think whatever you want about me, but don’t think badly about Cap.”

“Just tell me.”

“Last Saturday, we went somewhere…we went to a club.”

Sunset crossed her arms in front of her chest and asked, “Was it some kind of dance club, a rave, or something else?”

“Something else…” Cloud fidgeted where she sat. “It’s a…a sex club, we…we went there to have sex with each other…and other people.”

Sunset’s face lit up from hearing that, she knew Rainbow had a bit of a perverted side like herself, but she never thought she’d go that far. “Uh…wow…o-o-okay, so you two… had sex there. Were there drugs or anything? Spiked drinks?”

“No! And just to be clear, I convinced her to come to that place! She was hesitating the whole way, and nervous as well, I pushed her into going!” Cloud stated, feeling the guilt build up inside. “I…I took her there, but no one’s ever gotten sick there, no one’s ever gotten hurt!”

“Okay, did she…did she sleep with anyone else besides you at that place? Was she out of your sight at all?” Sunset asked.

Cloud Kicker shook her head. “No, she wasn’t, we did have sex with two other girls who joined us, but she never left my sight until…” Cloud Kicker stopped as if coming to a realization. “It couldn’t have been…?”

Sunset noticed this change and pressed on it, “Been what? What is it?”

“There…There was a point where she was out of my sight, but I was still in the room! The Vessel of the Goddess.”

Sunset blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”

“It’s what we call her, she’s this really hot girl, about our age, she’s like the queen in that place, watching over us. If she takes an interest in you, she’ll come down from her throne and pleasure you, and if you’re really lucky, the goddess herself will appear,” Cloud Kicker explained.

“And what’s the name of this goddess?”

“Ishtar.”

Sunset froze, Ishtar was the name of one of the Original Three, the name of a Wendigo possessed human who brainwashed people into killing others. Was…Was that what was happening to Rainbow Dash? Was she trying to bed Sunset just to kill her soon after?

Cloud Kicker looked up at Sunset and noticed that she had gone pale as if she had spoken the name of something evil. “Hey, Sunset, you alright – HEY!”

Sunset grabbed Cloud Kicker by the shirt and hoisted her up, the action was done so quickly that Cloud Kicker wasn’t able to get her footing. “Tell me where Ishtar is! She’s dangerous, a killer!”

“Ishtar wouldn’t do anything like that! She wants to grant us pleasure,” said Cloud Kicker.

Sunset whirled Cloud around, slamming her into the lockers. “Listen to me, very carefully. This thing, it only wants one thing, and that’s to kill as many people as it can. The people in this club of yours, she’s using some of them to kill other people! Now I don’t know if she’s just body hopping, or if she’s controlling them, but whatever the case, she needs to be stopped now!”

“H-How?” Cloud Kicker asked.

“By killing her, that’s how!” Sunset stated as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. “You’re going to take me to this place, and then I’m going to end her myself!”

Cloud Kicker shook her head. “Please, Sunset, don’t do this! She’s not a bad person, or thing, or whatever she is! I’ve been visited by her, and I’m perfectly alright! I haven’t had a fever or anything! I’ll take you, but let’s just talk to her first, we don’t need to go that far, maybe she can even heal Cap!”

Sunset didn’t want to take that chance, but perhaps she could be reasoned with.

}}} You don’t really believe that, do you? {{{

Not a chance in hell, but if it gets me closer to Ishtar, then I’ll play along, I might even be able to get some answers out of her.

Sunset released Cloud Kicker and calmed down. “Alright, we’ll talk. Where is she?”

Cloud Kicker sighed in relief. “The Club is open all day and night today. We could head there right after school is over.”

“Great.”

Rainbow Dash felt like she was in a haze, her mind was clouded and it made it hard to think. She remembered going to school, and the moment she stepped foot into the building, something happened to her. Her body began to heat up, her pulse quickened, and even more strange, she was getting aroused. All around her, she could see the faint outlines of an…aura?…around different students. It was pink colored, for some it was faint, and others, it was glowing. It wasn’t until she met up with Fluttershy that the strange feelings she had gotten stronger. The pink aura around Fluttershy was shimmering so brilliantly, and for whatever reason, it only further aroused Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow didn’t know why she was feeling that way, she was attracted to Fluttershy back in middle school, she even made a move on her once, but Fluttershy declined, saying that she didn’t feel that way towards girls. Rainbow respected that and made sure to never get handsy with her, so why did she feel such an urge to rip off Fluttershy’s clothes and take her in the middle of the hallway?

She vaguely remembered when Pinkie Pie and…Sunset arrived. It was humiliating, of all the people to get help from at that moment, it had to be Sunset Shimmer. Rainbow was still confused on how to feel about her, she didn’t want to get burned again, not after trusting the former queen bee and bully of CHS, but at the same time, she wanted to. After that, things got hazier, the heat was building in her body, becoming almost unbearable, she needed to have someone, anyone. Then she saw her, she saw Sunset, her aura shined even brighter than Fluttershy’s, she was beautiful, and Rainbow wanted her.

Then things went black, they were still black. Rainbow slowly opened her eyes and realized that she wasn’t in the nurse’s office, her eyes scanned the new room she was in and saw that there was an I. V. line leading straight to her left hand, with a heartbeat monitor next to her bed showing that it was going at a steady pace.

“Rainbow?”

The girl in question blinked and saw that Fluttershy was on her right, a look of worry on her face. “Shy…?”

“Oh, thank goodness, you’re finally awake! I need to go and get the doctor!” Fluttershy stated as she readied to rush out.

Rainbow caught her friend by the wrist and asked, “Wait, Shy, what happened? Am I in the hospital?”

Fluttershy stopped, she knew she needed to go and get the doctor, but she could also see the confusion in Rainbow’s eyes, and the last thing Rainbow needed was to panic. Fluttershy sat back down and said, “Yes, you are.”

“How…why?”

“Rainbow, you ran a really high fever, high enough that Nurse Redheart, Pinkie, and me, ran to the cafeteria to get as much ice as we could to try and bring it down. We left Sunset to watch over you while we did so,” Fluttershy explained.

“Sunset…she was alone with me? She watched over me?” Rainbow whispered, as if the idea of Sunset keeping an eye on her sickly state was strange.

Fluttershy grasped Rainbow’s right hand and gave it a light squeeze as she asked, “Rainbow, I don’t know how much you remember, but…Sunset said you attacked her.”

Rainbow snapped her eyes wide open and nearly bolted upright. “I what?!”

“She said you were in the middle of some fever dream, and attacked her out of nowhere. She tried to calm you down, but she said you were too delirious to listen to her. Your fight spilled out into the hallway and…a lot of the other kids saw you two fighting…it wasn’t pretty.”

Rainbow shook her head. “How ‘not pretty’ could it have been?”

“You, um, you ripped Sunset’s shirt off and exposed her.”

Rainbow’s face went flush. “Oh shit…seriously?!”

Fluttershy nodded.

Rainbow took her right hand back and dragged it over her face. “And I’m guessing everyone saw her tits and shit, right?”

Again, Fluttershy nodded.

“What about me?” Rainbow asked.

“Your shirt was off, but you had your sports bra on. If anything, Sunset looked like she got it worse than you did,” said Fluttershy.

Rainbow face palmed herself. “How did she stop me?”

“She, uh, punched you and knocked you out, you were kind of relentless, from what I heard. There’s also a video of the fight too…”

“Of – fucking – course there’s video of it! Shit…” Rainbow wanted to just bury herself right now, no matter how much she was pissed off at Sunset, she’d never go so far as to humiliate her like that.

Fluttershy leaned forward and asked, “Rainbow, I need you to try and remember what happened. I don’t want to think badly of Sunset, but I don’t think she was telling us the whole truth, or at least she didn’t tell me. What do you remember happening, did you do or say anything to her? Or did she do or say anything to you?”

Rainbow wracked her brain trying to remember that moment before she blacked out, then it finally clicked in her mind, the pieces of memory falling into place as she started to feel sick. “I attacked her…I…I…”

“Rainbow, just tell me. You can trust me, I won’t tell anyone,” said Fluttershy.

“You don’t understand…I tried to have sex with her! Fuck that, I tried to rape her!” Rainbow confessed.

Fluttershy felt like the world went still, eyes widening as her hands clasped together over her mouth. Rainbow was a bit of a pervert, brash, crude, a tomboy, but also loyal, trustworthy, and never hurt anyone unless they hurt her friends or threatened her directly. So, to hear that Rainbow tried to do something as bad as rape, was something that Fluttershy was having a hard time grasping.

“M-Maybe it was the fever? The kind of fever you had could have had an effect on your brain’s ability to think clearly,” said Fluttershy in an effort to rationalize what Rainbow attempted.

“I don’t know why, but I did try! I ripped off her shirt and everything! I don’t understand…! I just felt so hot, it was like I was so laser focused on getting with her that I was like ‘Damn everything!’ The worst part is…I still feel like that! I feel like I want to jump you right now!”

Fluttershy flinched, but she didn’t move from her spot.

Rainbow looked to her best friend and started to cry. “What’s wrong with me, Shy…?”

Fluttershy grasped Rainbow’s hand firmly again. “What happened, something must’ve happened to you to make you this way! Please tell me everything that you did between today and yesterday!”

Rainbow hesitated.

“Rainbow, the doctors and your parents are going to ask you the same thing, especially the doctors because they want to cure you! This is not the time to lie to me!” Fluttershy insisted.

Rainbow looked away from her best friend and said, “I…I think I know what might’ve done this to me…”

“What?”

“I…I went somewhere with Cloud Kicker last Saturday…” Rainbow had a look of shame on her face as she continued. “She took me to some…some sex club.”

Fluttershy’s face went red. “A…s-sex club?”

Rainbow only nodded.

“Rainbow…I…I know you can be a bit, um, horny, but you shouldn’t just go to some place like that! Did…Did they give you any drugs or alcohol?” Fluttershy asked with dread.

“No…but, there’s something else.”

Sunset tapped on the armrest of Cloud Kicker’s car, anxious to arrive at their destination. Just as she promised, Cloud Kicker drove Sunset to the meeting place of this Ishtar Club, the whole way, Sunset hadn’t said a word to Cloud Kicker. Cloud figured that Sunset blamed her for taking Rainbow Dash to that place, and in all honesty, Cloud Kicker felt guilty. Something was wrong with Rainbow Dash, and it all started after she had visited the Club. Cloud didn’t want to believe that Ishtar could’ve had a hand in doing that to Rainbow, after all, she was visited by Ishtar once before and nothing like this happened.

However, that didn’t mean everyone had a good reaction to Ishtar giving her essence to another. Perhaps it was some kind of drug-like substance? Either way, Cloud Kicker wanted answers too, Rainbow was her friend, and now her friend was in the hospital, if there was something that could shed some light on what happened to Rainbow, then Cloud Kicker was going to find it with Sunset.

One thirty-minute drive later and both girls found themselves at the abandoned warehouse. Cloud Kicker led the way inside, down the three flights of stairs, and right past the creepy looking guard. Sunset looked around the room, feeling a bit uneasy about the setup.

“We need to take off our clothes here before entering the Sanctum. I know you may not be comfortable with doing that after what happened today but–?”

“Fine by me.”

Sunset walked to one of the cubby holes and began taking off her clothes, Cloud Kicker was a bit surprised to see that Sunset so easily accepted getting nude right away.

“Wow…I…I thought you’d have some reservations about this,” Cloud commented.

“I’m originally from a dimension where clothes were optional and mainly used to make a statement. About 99.9% of the population didn’t wear clothes, so this doesn’t bother me.”

Plus, it’s going to make it a whole lot easier to transform, for once I don’t have to worry about you tearing up my clothes!

}}} Still hung up on that are you? {{{

You’re lucky I have Rarity now, or we’d have to have a serious conversation about it.

Cloud Kicker quickly disrobed as well, once they were done, both girls stood at the entrance to the Inner Sanctum. Cloud looked down and noticed that Sunset still had on her bracelet. “Um, sorry, but you need to put that in the cubby as well. No jewelry of any kind is allowed in there.”

“The bracelet stays.”

“But–”

Sunset stepped closer and stared seriously into Cloud’s eyes. “The bracelet stays. Understand?”

Cloud Kicker smiled nervously and nodded. “I do! And, uh, your chest is kind touching mine.” Sunset looked down and pulled away, blushing a little. “You know, you are hot as hell, maybe we could…?”

“Finish that sentence and I swear to Faust almighty; I’m going to throw you through this door!” Sunset warned.

“Right then, in we go! …Just be warned, you’re going to be seeing some…things.”

Sunset watched as Cloud Kicker opened the door, and Sunset was immediately hit with the scent of sex and the humid heat of it all. The moment they stepped inside, she could feel something was off, there was a strange energy permeating the entire room, as if something was enforcing its will upon everything inside.

Dammit…I’m feeling really aroused right now…what’s going on?

}}} This strange energy is the reason behind it. Try to focus on why we are here, I will be here to keep you on that task. {{{

Sunset’s inner pervert was practically doing backflips right now, all around her, she was treated to scenes of graphic sexual happenings, guys with girls, girls with girls, and guys with guys. Everywhere she looked all she could see was people having sex with each other, moans of pleasure, and of course the distinguishable sounds of orgasm throughout the room. One, of many, things that Sunset noticed was that none of the males in attendance were wearing condoms at all, and nearly all of the occupants were doing it raw.

“So, is no one concerned about getting pregnant here?” Sunset asked.

“The light of Ishtar keeps that from happening, no diseases and no pregnancy can occur in this place, so we can all just enjoy having sex without any consequences,” Cloud Kicker explained.

That explains this slightly oppressive feeling, this pink light is actually connected to that Wendigo, thought Sunset.

Sunset and Cloud Kicker walked further into the room and eventually found the one they were looking for.

“That her?” Sunset asked.

“Yes, The Vessel of the Goddess, she’s not Ishtar herself, but someone that Ishtar can appear through,” Cloud Kicker explained.

Sunset readied to storm the throne atop the stairs when Cloud Kicker grabbed her by the wrist.

“Wait! You can’t just go up there and get in her face!”

“Rainbow’s messed up because of something she did, and I want answers,” said Sunset.

“Trust me when I say that no one here is going to let you hurt her. I’m not even sure I want you to hurt her, but I do want answers. I was blessed by her presence, so she’ll let me approach her, just stay behind me and we’ll do this properly.”

Sunset didn’t want to wait, the Wendigo responsible for hurting her friend was sitting right above her, all she needed to do was cut her down and everything would be fine. Although, with so many people around, there was a chance that Ishtar could start killing everyone here, or use them as hostages. None of them knew what she was, to them, she was an actual goddess instead of a murder happy monster.

“Okay, we’ll do this your way, for now,” Sunset relented.

Cloud sighed happily, she then led Sunset up the stairs until the two of them now stood before The Vessel of the Goddess. “Greetings Vessel, I’m–”

“Cloud Kicker,” said The Vessel in a posh accent. “I remember you, have you come to ask for a private session?”

Cloud blushed. “I would love that, but…unfortunately, my coming to you isn’t for that. Do you remember Rainbow Dash?”

The Vessel nodded. “Indeed, I do, and I must say, she was the best fuck I’ve had in quite a bit. Not that I’m diminishing our time together, mind you.”

Sunset tightened her fist, the knowledge that this thing violated her friend was making her burn with anger. “Well, something happened to her, she attacked me today and tried to rape me in the process. Now she’s in the hospital because she has some kind of strange fever. She’s not that kind of person, and she didn’t act like that until she came to this place.”

The Vessel put on an apologetic face. “I’m sorry to hear that, truly, I had hoped to see her again today. But you must understand, diseases are not able to survive in this place, it’s probably the most sterile environment you’ll find outside of a medical facility. No viruses or harmful bacteria can exist in this space so long as the goddess deems it so.”

Sunset pushed past Cloud Kicker and got right in the Vessel’s face, making her two attendants gasp at her brashness.

“Hmmm, I like your forwardness~” The Vessel let her hand hover over Sunset’s arm. “And who might you be? Perhaps we could–?”

The name’s Sunset Shimmer, and I know what you are, Wendigo!”

The Vessel paused.

“I know that this girl you’re in is just your host, whether you’re willingly or unwillingly doing all this is another matter. Right now, I want answers to what you did to my friend, or should I spill your little secret to everyone here? I wonder how they’d react knowing that their ‘goddess’ is just a demonic monster getting their rocks off to killing people?” Sunset threatened.

The Vessel put on a neutral expression and said, “Very well, then let us talk privately, all three of us.”

Sunset backed away and let The Vessel stand up. The host of Ishtar then walked behind her throne and led Sunset and Cloud Kicker through a door that opened up into a large room. When the door closed, The Vessel walked over to her bed and sat on the edge. “So, what is your first question.”

“What’s your real name, none of this ‘Vessel’ crap,” Sunset demanded.

“My name is Fleur de Lis, I’m a student of Crystal Prep Academy,” she answered.

Cloud Kicker’s jaw dropped. “Wait, you’re from CPA?!”

“Indeed, and you two are from CHS, I take it?” Fleur asked.

Sunset looked between the two women and asked, “Am I missing something?”

“CPA and CHS have had a rivalry going for years! They always beat us during the Friendship Games!” Cloud Kicker huffed.

“Honestly, it’s kind of hard to keep calling them the ‘Friendship Games’ when CPA has no intention of becoming ‘friends’ with CHS. But then again, that doesn’t matter here, we leave all that at the door,” said Fleur.

Sunset crossed her arms and continued her interrogation. “Okay, so, did you let the Wendigo possess you? Or is it forcing you to do what it wants?”

Fleur chuckled a little, it sounded hollow. “Honestly, there wasn’t much inside for her to take over.” Fleur moved her right hand and placed it over her chest. “I’ve been groomed sense birth to be the best, I was to pursue a modeling career, and while I enjoyed it, over time, I saw just how cut throat it really was, and what it takes sometimes to get what you want.”

Fleur looked to both girls and asked, “Have you ever known what it’s like to feel like you have no say in your life? To let every one of your choices be made for you?”

Sunset and Cloud Kicker shook their heads.

“No, I suppose not. Wealth and power are what my family values, if it doesn’t bring money or power, then it’s a worthless pursuit. They enrolled me in CPA to better help my academic career, as well as show to others that I received the best of the best in education. But that place wasn’t just a place of learning, it was a regular viper pit.”

“Yeesh, I hear rumors that CPA, despite all its best stuff, the students there were pushed, and that there’s a lot of hazing done by students to other students,” said Cloud Kicker.

Fleur nodded. “The rumors are true. I’ve had my hand in a fair number of them, especially to this one girl with glasses, quite the genius. I don’t rightly enjoy it, but you can’t show weakness. Even my romance is predetermined, I’m to marry a man called Fancypants. He’s in his early twenties, and heir to his family’s fortune.”

Sunset cringed upon hearing that, it sounded a lot like the Equestrian nobility back in her home. She remembered how some of the nobles, while cursing the fact that a commoner like Sunset was Celestia’s personal protégé, they also weren’t stupid. They saw an opportunity to gain favor with the Princess in Sunset, and so some of them had their children write letters to her, professing their deep feelings of love and adoration for her, mares and stallions alike. Then again, Sunset wasn’t stupid either, she could see through their plans, and she wasn’t going to be used as some kind of tool to manipulate the one pony who gave a damn about her. Some of them even tried to petition her mother and father to try and get her to accept their courtships. That ended poorly as well, Sunset’s destiny – she believed at the time – was to rule Equestria alongside her beloved mentor and mother figure, and if she chose to have a lover, it would be one that she deemed worthy.

Damn I was so conceited back then, Sunset thought. Glad I have Pinkie now.

“That’s…That’s just fucked up! Arranged marriages?! What is this? Medieval times or some shit?” Cloud Kicker asked in indignation.

Fleur actually smiled a little, hearing someone feeling anger on her behalf was welcoming. “When you have so many choices taken away from you, it leaves you hollow inside. I spent a night with Fancypants, and it ended up with us in bed. I had hoped that there was love, but there wasn’t, I was just his trophy-wife-to-be. Someone he could brag to the socialites to, and bed when he felt like it. It was after such a night that I was visited by her.”

Sunset narrowed her gaze.

“She told me what she was, what she could do, and what she needed from me. But for the first time in my life, I was given a choice. She said I could decline or accept her offer, and that if I accepted, I could be freer than I ever was in my current situation.”

Sunset shook her head. “And you accepted.”

“Yes, but it was my choice, my first real choice. And I have no regrets,” said Fleur.

“That Wendigo doesn’t care about you, Fleur! It’s using your body to commit murder and all kinds of other things! You can’t trust it!” Sunset argued.

“I never said I did. Sunset, I’m hollow inside, I have been for a long time. Until I let Ishtar enter my body, that’s how I felt. Sure, the killings are appalling, but everything in-between that is fun,” said Fleur with a smile

Sunset rushed towards Fleur, grabbing her by the right shoulder and cocking back her right fist. “What you did to my friend, you call that fun?!”

Fleur showed no signs of fear. “I don’t see why not? I made Rainbow Dash feel pleasure, the likes of which she has never felt before and shared my essence with her. I created a place where people can forget their troubles and just delve into the pleasures of the flesh, a few deaths here and there to satiate Ishtar seems like fair payment to me.”

“To what end?!”

“Well, for one thing, those whom I’ve shared Ishtar’s essence with act as her eyes and ears. And Rainbow Dash has shown me a few girls in your school that are positively radiant with magical energy, and so are you,” said Fleur.

“That’s it!” Sunset was about to deck Fleur, but a hand swiftly shot out and grabbed Sunset by the wrist, stopping her from doing so. When she looked to see who it was, she was shocked to see that it was Cloud Kicker. “What are you doing?!”

“I…I don’t know! My body’s moving on its own,” said Cloud Kicker in a panic.

Wait, multiple killings happening at almost the same time, with the same M. O. in different locations! That’s how she does it! “They’re not possessed, you’ve just taken control of them!”

Fleur nodded. “You’re very smart and perceptive, Sunset Shimmer, and quite beautiful and powerful, too.”

Suddenly, pink crystals began to form over Cloud’s right hand, encasing it in a clawed crystal gauntlet. More crystal began to form, covering her forearms, lower legs, chest, and crotch. Cloud’s eyes changed as well, the color in her irises was now pink, but sparkled as if they too were made of crystals.

Cloud Kicker pulled back and tore Sunset off of Fleur, putting her into an arm lock while wrapping her other arm around her neck, putting her into a choke hold.

“Cloud, snap out of it!”

Cloud didn’t respond, her face was plastered with a seductive smile, and a half-lidded gaze.

“You see, Ishtar gains more power from those she mates with. Draining their sexual energy, or lust, to make herself stronger. But some people have just a bit of magic in them, and that makes her even stronger. Like when I slept with Cloud Kicker, I could sense she was touched by magic, it lingered on her, but it wasn’t her own. But, when she brought Rainbow Dash, I could see it, she could see it. And when I was with her, I could feel it, she radiated magic.”

Fleur snapped her fingers. Cloud Kicker threw Sunset against the large bed and made her land on her back, she then jumped up and landed on top of it. With inhuman speed, Cloud closed the distance and grabbed ahold of Sunset’s arms, pinning her to the bed and letting her lower half dangle off the edge. Fleur made her way towards Sunset, running her hand from the center of her chest down towards her pelvis.

“And you, Sunset, radiate a very strong magic. Don’t resist, I promise you’ll only know pleasure,” said Fleur.

“Yeah, thanks, but no thanks!”

Sunset snapped her head upwards and nailed Cloud Kicker in the face with a head-butt, she then jerked her legs and hips upwards, catching Cloud Kicker off guard as Sunset flung herself over Cloud’s head and landed against the headboard. Sunset winced when she landed, her arms bleeding from the sharp crystal claws that cut into her from her escape. Sunset stood up on the bed and raised her right arm up, showing off her bracelet.

“You know, I do have to thank you for one thing,” said Sunset.

“And that is?” Fleur asked.

“You saved me some money in new clothes!”

At that moment, the bracelet came alive and began wrapping Sunset in the supernatural armor of the Witchblade. When it was over, Sunset assumed a fighting stance as her turquoise eyes shined in the dim lighting of the room.

}}} I would like to point out, my deployment was far quicker than normal. {{{

Yeah, I’m not going to walk around naked just to make it easier for you. Not that I wouldn’t mind, but we’re not in Equestria.

}}} Just making an observation. {{{

As soon as Fleur saw this transformation, the demon inside reacted. Fleur’s body was enveloped in a silver aura, and not a second later, she was transformed into the Wendigo known as Ishtar.

“There you are,” said Sunset.

“So, you’re Witchblade, you’ve become a real thorn in our sides,” said Ishtar.

“Well, that’s kinda my thing, that and slaying demons, I’ve gotten really good at that.”

Sunset sprang into action, dashing straight for Ishtar. However, Cloud Kicker tackled her at the last second, sending the both of them flying towards the opposite wall. Sunset growled in anger, but knew that Cloud Kicker wasn’t doing this of her own volition.

“Cloud Kicker, wake up! Try and fight it!”

Cloud Kicker gave no response, other than cocking back her right fist to smash it into Sunset’s face. Sunset ducked just in time for Cloud’s fist to strike the wall, she then drove her knee into the girl’s chest, the crystal armor cracked from the impact, the blow also sending the girl skidding across the room and into the bowl indention in the floor.

Sunset summoned her blades and readied to attack Ishtar, but the monster held up her index finger and wagged it. “Now, now, Sunset, I don’t think you want to continue this brawl, do you?”

“If it means my friend is free of you, then yeah, I do!” Sunset dashed towards Ishtar; her forearm blades ready to cut the seductress of a monster.

“Mmm-hmm, and what about the people outside this room?”

Sunset stopped, her blades resting just mere inches from Ishtar’s neck. “You bitch…!”

“Out of the dozens of people in that room, there are about thirty-four of them in there that are my servants. That’s including dear Cloud Kicker over there. Perhaps you should go and look outside and tell me if you think killing me with worth all their lives?”

Sunset bolted for the door, smashing it down and reentering the Sanctum. Inside she could see the thirty-four people, the chosen few of Ishtar, blocking the entrance to the Sanctum, the only way in or out. All of them, male and female alike, were clad in the same crystal armor, all ready to kill at the command of their master. Some already had hostages at the ready, having transformed during their activities, some of those victims found themselves in a very compromising position.

The bringer of Balance gritted her sharp teeth as turned around and glared at Ishtar.

“You could go down there and kill them all, I’m certain with your speed and strength you could easily do it. But then, you’d be killing thirty-four innocent people, who have no idea what they’re doing. Can you live with that, Sunset? Killing me, a monster, is one thing, but can you live with yourself knowing that you spelt the blood of the innocent? Some of them have families, brothers and sisters, children, parents who care about them. Are you willing to kill them all just take me down?”

Sunset growled fiercely as she looked back and forth between the hostages, the crystal guards, and Ishtar. If she acted quickly enough, she might be able to kill Ishtar before the crystalized people killed anyone. That was a big gamble, and then there was Cloud Kicker, it was clear that Ishtar was going to use her like a shield. Sunset released the tension in her fists and made the blades disappear.

“What do you want?”

“Hmmm, let me think?” Ishtar walked up to Sunset, her body towering over her as she leaned down and lifted Sunset’s chin with a claw tipped finger. “I could have you get down on all fours and let me take you right here in front of everyone.”

Sunset felt a twinge of fear.

“But that’d be too easy. I want a buffet, not just a meal. So, you will gather the others who possess magic like you, and bring them here,” said Ishtar.

“NO! T-Take me! Do whatever you want to me, but not them!” Sunset pleaded.

“I think you’re misunderstanding me, Sunset.” Ishtar snapped her fingers.

Sunset heard a scream and quickly turned around, she spotted one of the crystal slaves grab a woman, the slave’s right arm gauntlet transformed into a crystal blade and aimed it directly for the woman’s stomach.

“This isn’t a negotiation; this is a demand. You are going to bring the rest of the girls who possess strong magic to me, and you will prostrate yourselves before me while I ravage your bodies and take in all the power you possess! With that, I’ll be able to bring forth the rest of my kind. But don’t worry, I’ll save you for last, Sunset, because I want you to watch as each of your dear friends faces twist with pleasure, while the others curse your name for betraying them.”

Ishtar walked around until she was standing in front of Sunset.

“You have four hours to bring them here, for every minute that you go over that limit, I will kill one person until they are all dead or until you arrive.”

Sunset shook with rage, she wanted to kill this demon so bad right now, but she knew that there was no way around this.

“Tick-tock, Sunset, better get moving.”