After a painful few seconds, Sunset was able to recover from the…extraction. Thankfully, most of the nurses were attending to other patients and scrambling about to make sure that the hospital was running while the storm was going on. With Pinkie’s help, Sunset managed to get to the heliport roof access, afterwards, she kissed her girlfriend and hurriedly donned her armor.

She flew through the air, against the turbulent winds, and biting cold of the blizzard that was engulfing the city. Sunset knew which direction CHS was in and headed in that direction, she was sure that the epicenter of all this madness was there.

Were you ever going to tell me about her?

}}} I apologize, I assumed you’d want nothing to do with her when I discovered her presence, and your memories regarding her. {{{

Was it true what she said? The reason why I’ve been so mellow about killing these things, is because your allowing a bit of her personality to come out?

}}} Admittedly, when I fused with you, I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to take a life. But when I saw this dark side of you, I decided to bridge the gap and allow some of her essence to be imparted into you when you transform. However, she was not wrong about how much stronger you can be if the two of you become one. {{{

She’s everything that I never want to become again, she’s my past and I’m looking towards the future, trying to right my wrongs.

}}} She may be your darkness, but Sunset, no one can ever forget their past. It does not define you; your actions afterwards do. {{{

Sunset debated that, she didn’t know if she liked the idea of having Sunset Satan back, even now, she was feeling iffy about her transformation, knowing that even a little of her dark half was in her mind right now worried and irked her. However, that inner debate would have to wait as Sunset approached the epicenter of all chaos, a giant wall of tornadic snow and ice. Sunset could see it, with her magic and the Witchblade’s power, she could see the creatures that made up that vortex. Thousands upon thousands of Wendigos, ethereal in form, floated around the blizzard, giving it shape and form as their cries filled the air.

Something bad must’ve happened to cause this.

}}} With this much activity, the three are no doubt inside that vortex. {{{

No doubt. Sunset formed two swords, one an oversized claymore, and the second, a crescent scimitar. But we’re going in anyway.

}}} Obviously. {{{

No matter what happens, I’m honored that you chose me. Kinda lied to me, but I understand. I owe you my life, twice.

}}} Then do me a favor, don’t die until you’re old and decrepit. {{{

Sunset chuckled and charged straight for the swirling vortex. Several of the Wendigos began to howl, as if warning her to stay back. Sunset, however, didn’t heed them. She plowed straight into the wall of snow and ice, and began slashing the air. To some, it only looked as if she was hitting the air, but in reality, every swing of her sword was slicing through one spirit after the other. The Wendigos unlucky enough to be in her path cried out in pain as they were torn apart by her blades and sent to oblivion, never to return.

Sunset dismissed her large sword, to her right hand, she summoned her fire and shot a stream of mystic flames straight out in front of her. The flames were just as effective as her blades, burning the Wendigos to ashes as she made her way through the wall. Sunset dismissed her other sword and released flames from her left hand. She stopped momentarily and began to concentrate the flames, creating a sphere of burning fire around her body. The Wendigos tried to attack her, but each one that dared to touch the sphere was instantly incinerated.

“Burn to ashes!”

Sunset released the sphere, causing it to explode outwards, the explosion caught several more of the demonic spirits as it continued to expand. Five seconds later, Sunset released her attack and saw that she had managed to punch a hole through the wall of wind, and on the other side, she could see Canterlot High School. Sunset flew straight for the opening, soaring through it as the hole closed up. She hovered in midair, taking a moment to assess the situation. The cars were still in the parking lot, and there were mountains of snow blocking all the exits, which meant the students and faculty were most likely still trapped inside the school.

}}} I sense an intense malice coming from that building, something has them whipped into a frenzy. On that note, they’re here, above you. {{{

The bringer of Balance looked up and saw that all of the Big Three were there, floating in the skies above the school. Sunset flew higher until she was level with them, causing the three demons to turn and stare her down. “Miss me?”

“Guess you didn’t shoot her enough times to keep her down, she’s still kickin’, Nihil,” said Midas.

“For the best, that just means we can pay her back! We’ll start with her legs, and then, Midas, you can take off her arm. After that, well, we’ll get creative,” said Ishtar.

Sunset entered a fighting stance as she made both of her gauntlets produce three-foot-long blades.

Nihil smiled. “You might actually want to join us on this one, Sunset.”

“In your dreams.”

“Do you know why everything is like this? Do you know who was behind Anon-A-Miss?”

Sunset lowered her arms a bit. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“It has everything to do with it. Anon-A-Miss, I knew that the only way to get what we wanted, was to summon up enough hatred and malice in this school, the place where the magic that first freed us originated.”

Sunset grimaced, knowing that she had a big hand in bringing this calamity upon the city.

“In order to do that, I needed the help of three girls, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They already disliked you, jealous that you were stealing time away from their oh so precious sisters. It was Apple Bloom who began it, and Sweetie Belle assisted. I appeared not long after that and gave them more of a push, collecting information here and there, at least when it wasn’t freely given to us on the Anon-A-Miss page. Heh, heh, you humans are so predictable. One person hurts you, and you want to hurt them back, a vicious cycle that never stops, until everyone is consumed in their wrath!”

Sunset narrowed her gaze. “I get it now. You three are stronger because you feed off more than just mere hatred. Greed, Lust, and Wrath, sins of humanity.”

Ishtar placed her hands on her hips and smirked. “Looks like she finally gets it. Yes, that’s why we’re stronger than the others floating around, that’s why we are the Vanguard of the Wendigos.”

“It’s our job to get things rollin’, make the place ripe for our brethren here, and then bring on the storm,” said Midas.

Sunset dreaded her question, but she had to ask. “Nihil, you said you helped Sweetie, AB, and Scootaloo. Which of them did you possess?!”

Nihil shook her head. “Neither, I don’t need a host. Wrath and Hatred go hand-in-hand, guess you can say, it doubles my power, and makes me able to manifest without the need to take over a body. It made it easier to manipulate those girls so long as they thought I was someone who hated you like they did. It was their hatred of you that fed me, their wanting to visit vengeance upon you that gave me power. And now, all of that hatred and resentment that was heaped on you,” Nihil pointed down at the school, “will now be heaped upon them.”

“What did you do?!”

“It’s like a fox hunt down there, and them three little vixens are probably runnin’ for their lives,” said Midas.

“Every student in that school is looking for them, looking to make them pay for all the shit those three put them through, and for what Nihil did to you,” said Ishtar.

Sunset gritted her teeth as she reentered her stance. “The shooting was the catalyst, you shot me to fuel their hatred!”

Nihil took a bow. “The cherry on top on this powder keg, or should I say, cherry bomb. Even if they don’t wind up killing them, their hate has already called up the magic of this place, and it’s fueling this storm. This city will end up a frozen wasteland, the first on a long list of conquests to come. We’ll spread through the world, and soon every human will either be dead, or our playthings. You’ve lost, Sunset Shimmer.”

“I’m still alive, so no I haven’t!”

Sunset flew right at them, Ishtar and Midas broke and flew to intercept Sunset. Midas thrust out his open palm like a sumo wrestler, his topaz jewel glowing as it readied to turn Sunset into gold. But Sunset backed away from the attack, shooting upwards as she summoned her flames and fired them straight down. Midas hurriedly moved out of the way as the mystic flames flew past him.

Ishtar came in, having shifted into her beastly form, and swiped at Sunset with her claws. Sunset flapped her wings and dodged, she then sped forward and punched Ishtar in her armored head, causing the beast to fly away for a few seconds. Midas stealthily got behind Sunset, and wrapped his musclebound arms around her. He held her tight against his chest, using his strength and metal body to crush her as she grunted in pain.

“Gonna squeeze you good until you pop!”

“T-To quote Rainbow Dash…that’s what she said!”

At that moment, Sunset’s armor produced dozens of bladed spikes that shot out in all directions. Midas screamed in pain as his body was pierced by several blades at once. Sunset let the blades retract, allowing Midas to let go of her, she turned around and produced a spike and chain and shoved the spike right into Midas’ left shoulder. Sunset flew up with the chain still attached and began dragging him around, her flight took her towards Ishtar, upon which she stopped in midair and pulled on the chain.

Midas found himself getting tugged towards Ishtar, like a golden wrecking ball. Ishtar was still in a daze, but regained just enough of her senses to see Midas hurtling towards her. The makeshift morning star was smashed onto Ishtar, Sunset dismissed the chain and spike and let both demons plummet straight down.

With those two gone, Sunset focused on the most dangerous of the three. She had already seen what Nihil’s mist could do, and if she wasn’t careful, she’d be erased too. Nihil’s mist wrapped around her arms as she looked down at Sunset, ready to fight as she gave the heroine a cocky smirk. Sunset summoned her giant cleaver of a sword and flew for Nihil, swinging her mighty blade as she released a battle cry.

Nihil didn’t move as the blade struck her, but to Sunset’s shock, it passed through her, as if she had just slashed the air. Sunset quickly recovered and slashed at Nihil again, but the result was the same, with each swing of her sword, the blade only passed through Nihil, never connecting.

“What kind of cheap shit is that?!”

“It’s just my power. My turn now!”

Nihil sped towards Sunset and kicked her in the face, the blow was so strong it created a shockwave that rang through the sky. Sunset was sent flying in the opposite direction, but managed to flare her wings to stop her momentum, however, the moment she did, she found herself staring into the murder happy face of Nihil. The demoness created a ball of black and white energy, Sunset managed to look down just in time as Nihil pressed that ball against her chest, letting it explode.

Sunset hissed in pain and then gasped as she saw most of her skin and ribs were gone. Sunset started to panic, but the damage was quickly mended as the Witchblade’s healing factor set in. Sensing the danger, the Witchblade brought on the full armor, making sure Sunset was covered for this battle. Nihil came in again and fired off another monochromatic explosion blast. The blast impacted against the armor which, thankfully, managed to stay in one piece, but there was some damage. Parts of the armor were taken away, small pieces, but they were already regenerating.

“I’m impressed, not much in this plain of existence can withstand my Eraser Bombs. That armor is something else,” said Nihil, “it even reacted to protect you. I figured it was alive.”

“I’ll admit you’re strong, but I’ll still win!”

“Ya sure about that kitten?”

Sunset’s eyes widened, glancing over her shoulder, she watched as Midas had his open palm towards her. A flash of yellow light went off, and in an instant, Sunset was turned to gold. She began falling out of the sky like a lead weight, but cracks started to form. Blades sprouted out of the gold mold, along with flames that grew in intensity. Right before Sunset could hit the ground, she burst free of her golden prison and flew up to give Midas some payback.

That plan was rendered moot when Sunset spotted a pink light shine. Thinking quickly, Sunset formed a shield as a beam struck against her large broad shield. Pink crystals began to form with each passing second that the beam hit her shield, it was eventually getting heavy, and soon Sunset would find herself being forced back to the ground. Sunset willed the shield to extend out, and when it was far enough, she released it from the main armor and flew up above the attack.

How did they recover so quickly?!

“The power in the air fuels us Sunset. You can harm us as many times as you want, we won’t die that easily. Before, you stood a chance, but here, at the center, at the apex of our power, you stand no chance against us!”

“Yeah, I was in a similar situation not too long ago, and that ended with me and my friends winning!”

“That’s not happening today, Sunset,” said Nihil.

Nihil zoomed in Sunset’s direction, the bringer of Balance summoned two chakrams and threw them at Nihil. The two weapons buzzed in the air like a couple of saw blades, closing in on their target. But once again, Nihil’s ability kicked in, making the blades pass through her body and leaving her unscathed. The weapons returned to Sunset as she gave an audible groan.

Ishtar came in from the left, barreling into Sunset. The former unicorn tried punched at Ishtar’s face again, but the beast came back and swiped its claws against her armor, creating scratches in it. Ishtar did this again and again, each time getting a bit closer to Sunset’s flesh. As the two of them continued to plummet downwards, Ishtar decided to use the school to her advantage. She produced several crystal tentacles that wrapped around Sunset’s armor covered body, and turned her around to face the oncoming school.

Sunset had to think quickly, she was coming up on the school. That’s when she had it, Sunset willed her metallic hair to stand up, Ishtar watched as the ends of Sunset’s hair turned into arrowhead blades that gleamed in the reflected light of the snow. Each of those ends shot out towards Ishtar’s head, using it as a pin cushion until two of them found their home in Ishtar’s eyes. The demon wailed as black blood poured from her eyes like tears. Ishtar’s grip loosened, allowing Sunset to break free. Sunset retracted her blade hair and got onto Ishtar’s back, shooting a chain out, she wrapped it around Ishtar’s neck and rode the beast down.

The two of them smashed through the library’s skylight, their weight and drop speed carrying them further downward, until they both ended up in the basement of the school. Sunset jumped off of Ishtar and stood across from her, the helmet falling to allow her to better see her opponent. Ishtar’s eyes regenerated, and now she snarled with venomous hate for Sunset. The beast of lust whipped her tail in Sunset’s direction, the armored heroine planted her feet and made claws appear. Sunset grunted as she took the impact of the tail whip, digging her claws into Ishtar’s crystal tail as her heels firmly planted themselves against the attack.

The quick movement of Ishtar’s attack managed to clear away the dust cloud, allowing Sunset to see what was around her. She briefly glanced over her shoulder, only to see some people she wasn’t expecting. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom and Applejack, Sweetie Belle and Rarity, Bulk Biceps, Derpy Hooves, Flash Sentry, and…and…was that Fluttershy dressed in black and holding a spear?

Sunset and Fluttershy stood there, they’re eyes meeting as if they were trying to telepathically communicate to each other. An understanding seemed to pass through them as Sunset turned her attention back to Ishtar, this time keeping her prey steady. Fluttershy twirled her spear around and dashed towards the beast of lust.

Ishtar had her attention on Sunset, and failed to notice Fluttershy until she was running up her tail. “Who are–?!”

Fluttershy cried out as she thrust forward with her spear, piercing Ishtar in the neck with her spear. Ishtar’s eyes bulged with searing pain, the spear was not an ordinary weapon, it burned, painfully so, severely. Black blood sprayed from the wound as Fluttershy pulled back on the weapon, dropping down to the ground, she crouched low, and then jumped up until she was level with Ishtar’s torso. Fluttershy swiped several times with her spear, carving into Ishtar’s flesh and causing more blood to spray forth from her wounds.

Ishtar tried to get away, but Sunset was not letting go of her tail, in fact, she had created metal chains with spikes that pierced the floor to anchor her. This pain, it’s pure agony!!! C-Could this be some kind of holy weapon??!!! Ishtar couldn’t take it anymore, she made one of her bone claws from her back strike at the base of her tail, breaking it off in one go. Now free, Ishtar moved out of range of Fluttershy’s spear and jumped up through the hole in the ceiling, trying to flee from her opponent.

“You’re not getting away that easily…!” Fluttershy vowed. With great agility and strength, Fluttershy jumped straight up through the hole. Wind rushed past her ears as she flipped her spear around, and took aim. The spear began to glow gold as Fluttershy narrowed her gaze as she cried out, “This is for what you did to Rainbow Dash! Percutiamque omne malum!!”

Fluttershy launched the spear towards Ishtar, the gold glowing spear flew like a shooting star right for the beast of lust, and it seemed that she didn’t realize this as Ishtar just continued to fly towards her allies.

“I DON’T KNOW HOW OR WHY, BUT SOMEONE HAS A HOLY WEAPON AND–!!!”

“ISHTAR MOVE YER ASS!!!”

Before Ishtar could fully heed his warning, the enchanted spear pierced through Ishtar’s chest. The moment it did, Ishtar was filled with a powerful golden light, her open mouth and eyes had this light pouring from them as she thrashed about, burning from the inside out. Midas and Nihil both backed away and winced from the brilliance of this light, and in the next moment, Ishtar’s body exploded, leaving only pink, sparkling dust in the wake of the explosion. The remaining two Vanguards finally laid eyes on the spear that killed their comrade, the spear just hung in the air, suspended as if time had frozen.

Fluttershy managed to get onto the roof, once she saw the explosion. She held up her hand and said, “Ad me!” From up in the air, the bronze spear pointed itself in the opposite direction and spun its way down. The weapon continued to descend until it found its home in Fluttershy’s grip, upon which she twirled the spear around and struck the butt of the spear against the roof. Afterwards, she noticed that Sunset was on the roof with her, looking at her friend with a gaping mouth. Fluttershy blushed and fidgeted. “S-Sunset, I’m so happy your alive! And…I’m sorry you had to see me like this…”

“Are you kidding me?……” Sunset walked up to Fluttershy and placed her hands on Fluttershy’s shoulders. “That was the most badass thing I’ve ever seen you do!!! H-How did you do that?! What’s with the spear?!”

Fluttershy sighed and smiled, she was happy that Sunset wasn’t freaked out by her fighting abilities, or her weapon. “It’s called the Spear of Destiny, it’s a powerful Artifact that has been in the Vatican’s possession for centuries. It’s a weapon that has the power to slay any kind of magical or malevolent entity, including Wendigos.”

Sunset didn’t know how or why, but Fluttershy was somehow a demon slayer, and now the odds were in their favor.

}}} Spear of Destiny…I know that name, but where – Sunset, they’re coming! {{{

Sunset stepped back and got on guard, at the same time, Fluttershy stood next to Sunset, getting into attack position. Midas and Nihil floated down until they were on the roof as well, Midas glared at Fluttershy, seeing that she was the one who wielded the spear, and was the one who killed Ishtar.

“You’re the one who killed Ishtar,” said Midas with malice in his voice.

“And if I am?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nihil, you can have the kitten. I want this wench.”

Sunset got close to Fluttershy and whispered, “Do not let him touch you no matter what, he’ll turn you into gold if you do!”

Fluttershy nodded and said, “Thanks for the tip, Sunset.”

Midas charged forward as he began to punch at Fluttershy, the holy warrior back flipped away from him with each punch he threw, despite his size, Midas was fast, but Fluttershy was fast too, and more agile than the rotund demon. While this was going on, Sunset and Nihil squared off, both circling as they waited for an opening to take advantage of.

“Having Fluttershy won’t change anything, even if she survives her fight with Midas, I’ll still kill her in the end,” said Nihil.

“You’ve lost your numbers advantage, it’s only a matter of time before I figure out how to land a good blow on you, and that’s all I’ll need to end you and this whole nightmare!”Sunset proclaimed.

Nihil stopped. “Hmm, I wonder, if you two are up here, who’s protecting the three troublemakers?”

Sunset paused, she was right, Fluttershy was up on the roof with her, she was protecting the group until she came in. Nihil took advantage of Sunset’s distracted state and closed the gap between them with a flying kick to her head, Sunset dug her heels into the roof as she skidded from the blow, her head ringing a bit. She recovered and threw a right punch at Nihil, which of course passed through her, Sunset wasn’t deterred as she used that momentum to spin around and throw a spinning heel kick. Again, the attack didn’t hit.

“UGH! C’mon!”

Nihil summoned two of her Eraser Bombs into her hands, she then kicked Sunset in the stomach and fired one of the bombs at her chest. The ball of energy exploded against Sunset’s chest, once again damaging the Witchblade armor, Nihil charged in again, throwing a knee strike to the same spot she hit, and followed up with her second Eraser Bomb, detonating it in the same area again. The armor was gone, now exposing Sunset’s stomach, Nihil morphed her mist, making it wrap around her arm as she turned it into a drill. The monochrome demon thrust her right arm forward, the drill spun around as it pierced through Sunset’s flesh and came out the other side.

Sunset screamed in pain as she felt her insides getting erased by the mist, all while Nihil chuckled with glee at her pain. Nihil spotted a flash of gold light from her right, when she saw it, the Spear of Destiny came flying towards her head, at that moment, the spear passed through Nihil, but at the same time, Sunset was able to get free. She rolled onto the roof, coughing up blood as she held the spot where Nihil had pierced her. The Witchblade quickly repaired the damage to Sunset’s internal organs, once that was done, the armor mended itself, becoming whole once again. Sunset wiped the blood from her mouth and took in a deep breath as she stood back up.

“Now I get it. You have to become solid in order to hit me, or at least one part of you has to be solid for you to attack. You can’t stay intangible while you’re attacking, otherwise I’d still be in that situation,” said Sunset.

Nihil brushed off the knowledge. “Doesn’t matter if you know, if you still can’t hit me, and so long as you don’t have a way to counter my attacks, you’re still going to die here.”

Just then, the spear flew back, passing through Nihil and returning to Fluttershy’s hand. Midas had been trying to turn Fluttershy into gold since the battle started, but Fluttershy wasn’t making it easy on him, his body was riddled with cuts from Fluttershy’s Spear of Destiny. Each time Midas reached out and failed to land a blow, Fluttershy would punish him with a swipe of her blade. Fluttershy was aware of the fact that the others were defenseless, but at the same time, she knew that defeating these three would mean that the nightmare would end. She wasn’t helpless and defenseless anymore, she had the skill, strength, and the power go head to head with these monsters. No longer was she going to be a burden to her friends in times of danger, no, now she was able to stand on the frontlines and attack evil head on.

Fluttershy leaped into the air as Midas brought his large palm down on the roof, she spun around in the air before landing behind him, without wasting a moment, Fluttershy stabbed the oversized demon in the back. The golden demon cried out in pain from the holy weapon piercing its skin, but Midas didn’t falter as he whipped his body around, yanking the spear out of Fluttershy’s hands and leaving the holy weapon lodged inside his body.

“GGRRRRR! That burns like a motherfucker, but if it means ya can’t use it, I’ll take it the pain!” Midas stated.

Fluttershy dashed towards him, jumping into the air and kicking him in the side of his head. While Midas did flinch from the blow, the damage wasn’t completely there. Fluttershy was warned about this, so long as the Spear of Destiny was in her hands, her abilities would be magnified, but without it, she’d lose the power boost. Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry about being away from it for too long. Fluttershy held out her right hand and said, “Ad me!”

Midas gritted his teeth as the pain increased, the Spear of Destiny had a gold outline around it, and upon hearing Fluttershy’s command, shot forward, piercing through Midas’ back and side of his stomach as it flew towards Flutershy’s hand. The warrior maiden took hold of her spear once again, and got into a ready position to finish the fight. Midas went down on one knee, his left hand was pressed against the open, bleeding wound of his stomach. The golden demon’s left hand shined over the spot where he was injured, and immediately afterwards, gold had formed over the wound like a patch.

“It’s over, you can’t defend against the Spear, stay still and I promise I’ll make it quick,” said Fluttershy.

Midas coughed up a little of his black blood and grinned at Fluttershy. “Little one…ya done gone and goofed.”

“What?”

Just then a roar caught Fluttershy’s attention, she looked over her shoulder to see a crystal tail slam into her left side, sending her flying across the roof and slamming against the raised edge. Sunset stopped and looked on in horror, somehow, Ishtar was alive.

“That’s not possible, Fluttershy blew you up!”

Ishtar, in her beastly form, walked over to the girl and stamped on her body. Fluttershy spat up blood from the impact, but she managed to stay conscious. “Yeah, remember when you threw me and Midas to the ground? I decided to create a crystal clone of myself, glad I did too, that little toothpick could’ve done me in. Nice acting, Midas.”

Midas got back up, his wounds were barely healing, even with the power he was absorbing from the magic and hate. “Could’ve stepped in a lot sooner, that damn spear hurts like the devil!”

Nihil appeared before Sunset, but then turned to mist and reappeared behind her. The monochrome demon used her mist and slammed it against Sunset’s back, the strength and power of this mist forced Sunset onto the roof, pressing her and crushing her from behind.

“You see, Sunset, you never stood a chance. None of you did.” Nihil snapped her fingers, and immediately, the wind died down. The howling winds stopped and the snow was suspended in the air as if time had been frozen. “And to top it all off, you failed to protect those girls.”

“NO!!!”

From the hole in the roof, six Wendigo spirits made manifest jumped out of the hole and onto the roof. Three of them and the middle school trio, and another three had Sunset and Fluttershy’s friends. “Flash, Derpy, Bulk, what did you do to them?!”

“Don’t worry, they’re alive. I didn’t see the need to waste time with them.” Nihil walked over to the girls known as the CMC and chuckled darkly. “You should know something you three, if it wasn’t for you, we probably wouldn’t be in this situation. It would’ve taken years before we finally got strong enough to make all this happen. But thanks to you three we managed to achieve this in less than three months time!”

Nihil walked over to Apple Bloom and grabbed her by the face.

“Thank you very much for your help. Oh my, where are my manners?!” Nihil stepped away and looked back at Sunset. “Sunset, since these three little bitches put you through hell, I’m willing to postpone your death so that you can see them get their punishment. So tell me, how do you want them to be punished? I can slowly erase them, starting with their skin from their feet up, and then their muscles, and if they survive that, their bones. Or, I could have Ishtar violate them to death. Or I could have the students rounded up and have these three thrown to them so you can watch them get torn to pieces. What do you say?”

“Sunset…?” Apple Bloom muttered as she looked to whom Nihil was addressing. “T-That’s Sunset?”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes grew bigger. “Witchblade is…is Sunset, t-the one who saved Rarity?!”

“She saved Rainbow…She’s been fighting these things this whole time,” said Scootaloo in disbelief.

Sunset struggled against the mist, but was too strong, not only that, but she could feel it eating away at her armor the longer it remained. “Leave them alone! You got what you wanted, just spare them!”

“I honestly don’t understand how you can say that, they put you through hell for months, and all you ask me to do is ‘spare them’? Or is it that you want to kill them yourself? Now that I can understand.”

Sweetie, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom felt even more dread fill their hearts. Honestly it wasn’t as if they could blame Sunset, if there was anyone here who had the right to hurt them, to kill them for what they had done, it was Sunset Shimmer. Part of them even accepted that fate.

“I don’t want to hurt them! I just want it all to end! Anon-A-Miss, all the hate, I just want it to fucking stop! I won’t beget more hate, you who gain power from wrath, from vengeance!”Sunset declared.

Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash watched all this and felt immense pride for their friend. Nihil only scoffed at this act of heroism. “Suit yourself, you can die without knowing that pleasure.” Nihil thrust her open hand towards Sunset, and immediately, the mist became more aggressive, tearing at her armor and trying to get at the host beneath.

The Witchblade was prioritizing armor regeneration, trying to reform the armor as quickly as it was being destroyed. Fluttershy was incapacitated, her friends and their sisters were captured, all three of the Wendigo Vanguard were here, and in just a few seconds, she would be destroyed.

}}} S-Sunset…! There is still a way…! {{{

I…I know…let me talk to her.

~*~*~*~

Sunset found herself in the same dreamscape as before, but this time she was in her human form, the Witchblade gauntlet hovered off to the side as if waiting. Up ahead, Sunset Satan sat at that same sleazy strip bar, only there were no girls dancing, a cheap TV was setup on her table, showing her the current events that were going on outside, and no doubt she saw everything leading up to that.

“Hi…”

“I have to say, I was not a fan of Pinkie Pie pulling that catheter out.”

“Oh…you felt that too?”

Sunset Satan glanced over her shoulder. “We share the same body, of course I did! Hurt like a bitch too, and of course you had to do it while I had Princess Twilight getting spit roasted by AJ and RD up there on stage!”

Sunset Shimmer blushed as the image popped into her mind, which was even more vivid since Sunset Satan and Sunset Shimmer shared the same mind so…yeah. “Look, I’m here because–”

“I know why you’re here. You want me to help you to gain that power, but what we used before won’t be enough, not with what’s going on.” Sunset Satan turned off the TV, stood up, and then faced Sunset Shimmer. “If we’re going to kill those things, save our friends, and end all of this, you’ll have to accept me into you.”

Sunset Shimmer flinched at the idea, bringing her arms up to hug herself. “I don’t…I don’t know if I can…I’m afraid.”

Sunset Satan sighed. “I get it, okay, I do. You’re afraid of returning to that stuck up, alpha, tyrant bitch like before. But honestly, I’m afraid too!”

Sunset Shimmer looked at her dark half with confusion. “Wait, why are you afraid?”

Sunset Satan rubbed the back of her head as if embarrassed to answer. “I’m afraid of disappearing…we’re the same person, but I don’t know how much of me will survive our union. You are the dominant part of the soul, so…it just might be that you’ll swallow me up and that’s it for me.”

Sunset Shimmer pulled up a chair next to her darkness and sat down. She reached with her left hand towards Sunset Satan’s bare knee, her hand hesitated for a moment, afraid of touching her, but then she pushed past it and placed it comfortingly on Sunset Satan. An action that even surprised the demonic looking girl.

“I didn’t know you were afraid of that happening,” said Sunset Shimmer.

“Not like I was airing my concerns or anything…you should know, I’m not the best at letting others see me as vulnerable…”

“That why you act like a pervert?”

“Oh no, that’s all us…but…that might be part of it. I just kinda wanted to enjoy some stuff in here with you, because I knew it was a risk and I knew you would – scratch that – are going to need the Witchblade’s full power. Figured if I could get you to like me a little, you wouldn’t be so averse to becoming one being.”

Sunset Shimmer looked up into the vastness of the dreamscape and said, “Embrace your darkness to bring forth the light.”

“That sounds like something out of a superhero show.”

“It is, but right now I think it applies to our situation.” Sunset Shimmer turned to fully face her dark half. “I’ve been running from the past, afraid that I’ll become who I once was. Throughout this whole Anon-A-Miss stuff, I knew a part me, another part, guessing you, wanted to just say ‘Fuck it all, if they want me to be the monster they remember, then I’ll give it to them!’”

Sunset Satan chuckled. “Yeah, that was me. But at the same time…I knew that wouldn’t make things better. It was the loneliness I hated the most…we hated the most. The isolation, all of it feeling like it was a great weight that couldn’t shake off.”

“I wanted to leave this world and never come back.”

“But you didn’t, you stuck with it and hoped that things would get better.”

“I almost gave up on ever getting my friends back.”

“And in the end, you managed to reunite with them.”

“I thought the sins of my past, of the Fall Formal, and ushering the Wendigos into this world was my punishment for being such a horrible person.”

“That was just an excuse, yes, I did it, I ushered them in. But I’m not one to not clean up my own messes! I saved Pinkie, AJ, Rainbow, Rarity, and Shy, and now I’m dating Pinkie!”

“God, I hope I don’t fuck that up. It would be my first genuine relationship in like…ever!”

“I’m not that afraid, Pinkie’s someone we can always be happy around, I smile a whole lot more.”

Sunset Shimmer and Sunset Satan stood up and began their walk towards the Witchblade. As they walked, Sunset Satan shrank in size until she was the same height as Sunset Shimmer. Her eyes and skin were the same as her demonic form, but her expression was less sinister. Both halves of light and dark stood before the gauntlet, the Sunsets glanced towards each other, a look of determination burning fiercely in their eyes.

“Let’s do it,” they said together.

The two Sunsets reached out with their hands towards the Witchblade, the moment they did, the armor changed colors to full red, and the ruby jewel changed into bright violet amethyst.

~*~*~*~

Crimson fire erupted around Sunset’s body, causing the monochrome mist to turn to ashes. Nihil took a step back as she got on the defensive. Ishtar and Midas saw this and remembered their fights, the red flames, they signified something bad was going to happen, for them at least.

The crimson flames shot into the air, causing the Wendigo spirits who had yet to manifest to tremble in fear, the flames carried magic and power unlike anything that they had ever felt before.

Within the flames, a new transformation was taking place. Sunset’s hair had changed to a bright, gleaming silver, the armor was no longer obsidian black, but was now crimson. The armor around her chest had changed, it resembled something close to a high-cut teddie. The armor formed a “V” over her torso, leaving a good amount of her cleavage and breasts exposed, stopping just short of her navel. The armor covered her womanhood and continued around back to partially cover her rear, going up further and stopping about halfway up her back before two strands like straps continued further up and connected with a choker around her neck. The armor around her breasts became thinner as it went further up, diverging into two strands that resembled straps and connected with the same choker.

Her hips were left exposed, but the armor traveled along it and wrapped around her legs, starting from about halfway up her thigh and continuing downwards until boots formed, a silver blade stuck out the back of the two-inch heel, and another at the tip of her boot. Both of her arms were covered in full armor, but unlike her other form, the tops of both her hands bore a single gemstone, but instead of ruby, this was violet like an amethyst. The sharpened claws around her finger tips were silver in color, razor sharp blades were connected from the tip of each finger and ran along the hand until they stopped at the base of the gemstone. The choker around Sunset’s neck had armor that ran up her head, some of it formed along her jawline and over her chin, while two strands formed across her cheeks as if to mimic scars. The rest went further up and wrapped around her forehead, and from it, the armor created a single unicorn blade horn. The armor also created purple armor plates, using them to weave intricate patterns into the crimson armor, giving a more ornate look to it.

When the flames died down, everyone beheld the newest and most powerful version of the Witchblade, and if the girls weren’t mistaken, it seemed as if Sunset’s bust, hips, and height increased a little at the same time. Sunset had her eyes closed this whole time, but when she opened them, they were no longer turquoise, they were a shimmering gold, and from the corners of her eyes were wisps of golden light.

Sunset took a moment to look over her new form and body, she felt even stronger than before, her blood was on fire, like an inferno was burning inside her, she felt the power grow more and more, it was intoxicating, exhilarating, it was pure ecstasy. Sunset ran her hands over her body, noting the generous increase to her bust, her rear, hips, and height, and smiled delightfully.

“Oh, fuck yes! This is power, and I love it!” Sunset declared in a sultry voice. Her eyes roamed around the battlefield, taking in the positions of each of her enemies. She then crouched low, spreading her legs as she got into a stance that was akin to a predator preparing to attack. “C’mon, let’s go! I’ll show you a dance, a dance of blood and blades!”

Nihil got on guard, but in the blink of an eye, Sunset had vanished. “What the–?!”

The sound of three bodies dropping caught Nihil’s attention, she quickly turned around and saw that the three manifested Wendigos had their heads cut clean off, their bodies lying on the ground as blood pooled around their bodies. A similar sound occurred off to her left, and Nihil readied to attack, but once again, she was too late as yet another three of her brethren were cut down with so little as a sound being made upon their execution. The other thing she noticed was their hostages were gone. Nihil frantically searched the roof and finally spotted all six of the hostages at the far end of the roof, but there was no sign of Sunset.

“Where did she go?! W-Where did that bitch go?!” Ishtar demanded.

“You s-should be more worried about yourself!” Fluttershy stated.

Ishtar looked down and readied to bite Fluttershy in half, but that’s what she wanted. When Ishtar turned towards Fluttershy, the warrior maiden raised her left hand and concentrated, she muttered a short prayer, and immediately after, her bright, divine light shined in Ishtar’s face. The beast of lust released unholy screeching sounds as she backed away from Fluttershy, the light was somehow more intense and more painful than it was the last time she used it. Fluttershy recalled her spear to her right hand, and upon contact, the Spear of Destiny’s power flowed into Fluttershy, healing the wounds she had suffered due to Ishtar’s previous attack, allowing her to stand back up.

Now with the spear in hand, the light that Fluttershy produced was even more powerful. The light burned deeper than just the surface, it burned at the very soul of the Wendigo. “You’ve inhabited that body long enough, be purified by the this holy, and be no more!”

Fluttershy struck the butt of her spear against the ground, the holy light from her palms didn’t just shine, it transformed into a beam of pure white radiance that bathed over Ishtar. The demon’s body began to crack like fragile glass, each fissure creating more and more until the beast’s entire body shattered into pieces, once and for all, Ishtar was gone. But in doing so, it left behind its host, Fleur de Lis, who fell to the ground unconscious. Fluttershy walked over to her, removed her cloak, and draped it over the teenage girl.

Midas didn’t know what to do, Ishtar was gone now, that wasn’t a clone, he knew it wasn’t, that was the real her and now she was gone. His back stiffened up as he felt someone press against him.

Sunset was leaning against Midas’ back, her smile hadn’t left as she looked up, trying to match her gaze with Midas’. “Hey big boy, don’t worry, you’ll see her soon. Wait, sorry, I forgot, for you guys, it’s total oblivion when you die. Never mind.”

Midas roared in anger as her swung his left arm to try and strike Sunset. But he missed, Sunset jumped into the air, flipped once, twice, three times before coming down with a forearm blade. When Sunset landed, she backed away and gave a quick lick of her blade as she stared him down. Midas raised his right arm, preparing to use his power, but as he did, that arm fell off. The golden demon looked to where his arm once was, he didn’t even feel the initial cut, but it happened, his arm was cut off. Midas wailed in pain from the loss of his arm, and while he was, Sunset dashed for him again, a silver streak was all that could be seen as Sunset appeared behind him.

While Midas was crying in pain from his right arm getting cut off, his left arm followed suit falling upon the ground to meet its sibling. Black blood sprayed from the wounds as the demon could only stand there, stunned that he had lost two limbs in the blink of an eye. Sunset took advantage of this, with the same incredible speed, she closed the distance and swept her leg, she used the blades on her heel to slice at the rotund demon’s Achilles tendons in one swipe. The attack succeeded as Midas fell to his knees and struggled to keep himself from falling on his face. Sunset reappeared in front of him, her somewhat sadistic smile still going strong.

“You…You’re a fuckin’ monster!” Midas accused.

Sunset laughed at such an accusation, her eyes actually watering. “Oh man, that’s…that’s pretty good. Being called a monster, from a demon, that’s really funny! I’ll need to tell Pinkie this, could be a good joke if we tweak it a bit.” Sunset stopped her laugher and then stepped back. “Last time I made the mistake of not going for your head. This time…there won’t be anything left.”

Sunset raised her right hand, crimson flames ignited in her palm, and in the next second, a jet of crimson fire bellowed towards Midas. The demon barely had time to scream as his entire body, arms included, were burned to ashes, the ashes where then burned in the flames until there was nothing left but a scorch mark. “And then there was one.”

Two Eraser Bombs were thrown towards Sunset, but before they could hit, Sunset disappeared. She zoomed across the roof and appeared before Nihil. The demon went intangible just as Sunset swiped at her with a forearm blade. Nihil was about to go tangible, but then Sunset disappeared yet again, the monochrome demoness stopped and waited, she remained in that state, not sure where Sunset was. She had a vague idea, Sunset was moving faster than even her demonic eyes could see, that much was evidenced by how the snow was kicked up and displaced from her rapid movements. Nihil began to go tangible for a few seconds to fire another Eraser bomb, but at that moment, Sunset made a beeline for her. The monochrome demoness returned to her previous state, but not before Sunset managed to cut her once.

Nihil yelped in pain, and Sunset stopped long enough to smirk at the lead Wendigo. “Finally hit you. Wasn’t the decisive blow I promised, but it's a step in the right direction.” Sunset placed her hands on her hips and smirked at the demoness. “What’s wrong? Are you afraid to become solid? I would be, considering that you’re the only Wendigo standing.”

“I think you forgot.” Nihil shot into the air and raised her arms, the storm kicked up once again, but this time, flashes of silver light erupted all over the sky. “I’m not only the Wendigo!” Each flash of light ushered in a newly manifested Wendigo spirit, filling the sky with multiple demonic monsters. “Let’s see you stand against an army!!!”

Sunset didn’t even bat an eye. Her back produced two new wings, the top edge of the wings were colored crimson, instead of bat wings, these were feathered wings, with the metallic feathers being silver colored. Sunset jumped straight into the air with a strong flap of her wings, she ascended higher and higher until she was in the sky with the many demons that filled it. Sunset formed a katana in her left hand, and broadsword in her right, without a word spoken, she flew straight into the horde.

Her aerial speed was just as impressive as it was on land, she moved so fast that the Wendigos couldn’t keep up, the only thing that they could do was watch as their brethren were sliced up in midair, one after the other, dropping like flies. Nihil didn’t care anymore, she needed Sunset dead, she needed that infernal weapon gone. She commanded the spirits to manifest, but even when they did, they were just as quickly dispatched by Sunset’s blades.

Sunset decided that it was time to end this nightmare for good. With a burst of speed, Sunset flew into the wall of wind, but this time flew in the opposite direction of the vortex. Her whole body ignited with crimson flames as she increased her speed and continued flying in the opposite direction. Faster and faster Sunset flew so fast that she appeared like a red glowing blur within the wall. With each pass, the vortex began to slow down, and the snow and ice were quickly being replaced with another elemental force, fire.

Sunset continued this until the vortex spun in the opposite direction and turned to fire. The flames rose higher and higher, changing it into a fire tornado, Nihil remained intangible as her fellow Wendigos were sucked into the flames, the girls hunkered down as they tried to not get taken by the warm winds of the fire tornado.

At the top of the tornado, Sunset concentrated, she could sense the disruption in the magic, and it needed to be stopped. Sunset raised her right hand, the amethyst gemstone began to shine with violet light, and from the flames, from the burning essence of the Wendigos, Sunset began to extract the magic that they had taken in. The magic continued to build more and more around her right hand, condensing with each passing second.

“What are you doing?!” Nihil demanded.

“Purifying what you tainted, and putting it back.”

Once all the magic was absorbed, Sunset dropped it. It looked like a single drop of water was allowed to fall off a faucet, when the drop finally made contact with the ground, a bright rainbow light washed over everything. The flames of Sunset’s tornado fizzled out, the snow and ice melted, and even the dark storm clouds were banished from the skies, allowing the bright sun to shine down upon Canterlot once more. Sunset breathed in the warm air, for the first time in a long while, the air didn’t feel stifling anymore. Nihil looked around, she could no longer hear the howls of fellow Wendigos, she couldn’t feel their presence anymore.

“THEY’RE GONE…THEY’RE ALL GONE!!!” Nihil shouted in anger.

Sunset said nothing.

Nihil’s eyes shined with malice as she expanded her body, growing bigger and bigger until the sky was once again blacked out. At the center of the sky, an Eraser Bomb was being formed, one roughly the size of the city itself. “I’LL ERASE YOU ALL, I’LL REDUCE THIS ENTIRE AREA INTO NOTHING, NOT A TRACE WILL BE LIFT!!!”

Sunset flew for the mist, for the ball of destructive power. The mist produced tentacles that lashed out at her, trying to swat Sunset away, but each time they got close, Sunset merely cut them and moved on. She knew that this was her chance to end it all, Nihil had to be tangible for this attack to go through, so it was now or never. The mist continued to assault Sunset, like a cornered animal, it lashed out with everything it had, but her body was empowered, the damage she was taking was far less than it was when she wasn’t in this state.

Sunset stopped in front of the giant orb, looking for any trace of Nihil. “Can you sense her?!”

}}} At the center, she’s inside her own attack! {{{

“Crafty bitch, this is the home stretch, let’s finish this!”

Sunset wrapped herself in the crimson flames and flew straight for Nihil’s attack. The flames attacked as a shield as she pierced inside the ball of destruction, Sunset grunted in pain as she felt the energy trying to erase her, but she wasn’t about to quit now. She flew faster and faster, looking straight ahead as she reached the center. Soon, Nihil came into view. The monochrome demoness saw Sunset coming and raised her hands, preparing to launch the attack.

“ERASE IT ALL!!!!!!!”

“ERASE THIS!!!!!!”

Sunset released a powerful battle cry as she released her flames, drew back her right hand, and struck Nihil through the chest with a spear-hand thrust. Sunset removed her arm from as the demoness coughed up blood, but then Nihil smiled.

“Fell for it.” The mist began to wrap around the Eraser Bomb, coiling around it as if to trap it. “I knew you’d do anything you could to save everyone, and now, I’ll erase you! I’ll get my revenge for my brethren! Thousands of years being trapped, it’s our turn to rise and take this world!!!”

“You sound just like me…how I used to be.” Sunset’s eyes shined with power. “And that’s why you won’t win! You only fight for vengeance, for death and destruction! I fight for those I love, for this world that I now call my home! And anyone, or anything, that threatens it, will answer to me and this WITCHBLADE!”

Sunset’s entire forearm shined with crimson light, in less than a second, the monochrome world inside the Eraser Bomb was pierced by crimson energy as Sunset unleashed all her power in a beam that erupted from the chest of Nihil and out her back. Sunset cried out once again as she raised her arm and began slicing the Eraser Bomb with a red energy blade, and Nihil along with it. Nihil stared at Sunset, and then chuckled in defeat…

Outside the sphere, a giant explosion went off in the skies above Canterlot City, every citizen for miles could see and hear it, some wondered in fear if this was their end, while others who knew prayed that their friend was safe. Back at Canterlot High seven girls stared up at the now clear sky, the explosion faded away and now they awaited the return of their friend, hopefully.

A couple of minutes passed and still there was no sign of her. They began to fear the worst, had Sunset sacrificed herself to save everyone?

*CRASH*

The seven girls all turned around as they saw something hit the roof. They rushed towards it and were relieved to see Sunset Shimmer, her armor had returned to its previous state, but then decided to revert back to its bracelet form right after. The older sisters covered their younger sisters’ eyes, and Scootaloo was fighting Rainbow Dash’s hand to sneak a peek.

Fluttershy knelt next to her friend and asked, “Sunset, are you…alright?”

Sunset groaned loudly for all to hear. “I ache all over…and I’m naked on the roof of our school…so, yes, I’m juuuuuuussst fine,” she deadpanned.

Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy chuckled, even the CMC did as well.

“Provided that the school has calmed down some, I’ll head downstairs and fetch you some clothes,” said Rarity.

“Thanks…although, if you can bring me a blanket, that’ll be fine too, I kinda snuck out of the hospital and I’m pretty sure they’re wondering where I’m at. Oh, yeah, before I forget.” Sunset tapped the ruby of the bracelet, and from it her cellphone came out and fell on the ground. “Could someone text Pinkie Pie for me, I seriously ache all over and I don’t want to move much.”

“Keep yer eyes closed now, ya hear.”

“Yes, Sis,” said Apple Bloom.

Applejack picked up Sunset’s cellphone and asked, “Anythin’ in particular ya wanna tell her?”

Sunset thought for a moment and then smiled, “Say, ‘I kept my promise, Babe, see you in a few minutes.’”

Author's Note

Case Closed