The Witchblade EqG: The 13 Artifacts

A couple of days had passed since the incident over the weekend, and CPA was still abuzz about it all. However, there was one thing that the students could see that was stranger. Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer weren’t as close to each other as they normally were, normally they’d be holding hands, or Sunset would have her arm wrapped around Twilight’s waist as they walked side by side. But now, there was a gap in between them, anyone with good sense could tell that something happened between them to shake up their relationship.

Lunch was particularly awkward, for Sugarcoat anyway. The moment she arrived she noticed that Twilight and Sunset were sitting at opposite ends of their table. This was tricky as Sugarcoat had never been in a situation when one friend was mad at the other, especially when said friends were in a romantic relationship and were clearly having a fight. From what she remembered from those teen movies and tv shows, picking a side could end badly for the person stuck in the middle.

However, Sugarcoat wanted to find out why this was happening, considering how happy the two of them were, she assumed they wouldn’t be capable of fighting, but then again, even the happiest of couples have an occasional spat once in a while, Sugarcoat assumed that this was what was happening and hoped she might be able to offer some perspective on the matter. She decided to sit near Twilight, for obvious reasons thanks to her Heart Stone.

“Hi, Sugarcoat,” Twilight greeted.

“I’m not one for beating around the bush, Twilight, so I’ll just be direct.”

Twilight chuckled a bit. “You always are.”

Sugarcoat smiled a little, and then asked, “What happened between you and Sunset?”

“……That obvious?”

The tri-tailed girl raised an eyebrow and gave Twilight a deadpan expression, more than her usual one. “It’s pretty obvious for anyone with eyes. You’re usually stuck to each like glue, but for the past two days you haven’t hugged each other, held hands, hell, you haven’t even kissed each other in public.”

Twilight blushed after Sugarcoat referenced their small intimate moments. “There’s a bit of an issue between us right now…”

“I can see that, but what is the issue?” Sugarcoat inquired.

“Sunset told me that, last week, she discovered that Indigo Zap has powers, too. And not just any kind of powers, ice powers, she’s using an Artifact that is the sibling of her Ember Stone, the Glacier Stone,” Twilight explained. “She also told me that last Wednesday she fought against her in the warehousing district, in a death match, if it wasn’t for Blood Sword interrupting the battle, she would’ve killed her. But that’s beside the point! Sunset knew for days that Indigo had powers, dangerous ones at that! And she kept me out of the loop! She lied to me!”

Sugarcoat gulped, yet another of her former acquaintances was armed with a dangerous power, and it had to be one that was mentally unstable as well…okay, second tier mentally unstable. “Well, that is unsettling.”

“I know! This whole time, Indigo could’ve frozen you or I alive and we would’ve never known how or who did it until it was too late! She could’ve come after my family, my big brother, Dean Cadence! She could still attack right now!” Twilight stated.

Sugarcoat briefly glanced towards the table that was normally reserved for her former clique. Indigo and Lemon Zest were sitting together at the table, Sunny Flare was there as well, but Sour Sweet was still at the hospital for observation for at least one more week. “She could’ve, but she hasn’t. Part of me wonders why when she’s shown less restraint when Sunset first arrived.”

Twilight poked her food as she contemplated the answer. “I think…I think she wants me to love her…I don’t know, I guess the actions that she’s taken when it comes to me have finally sunken in, although not in the way I would’ve hoped. Because now she says she wants to ‘protect me’, she wants to make up for not being there for me when I needed someone…” Twilight sighed in dismay. “Sugarcoat…tell me…am I a weak person?”

Sugarcoat’s mind and mouth were about to blurt out yet another brutal and blunt answer, but thankfully she managed to bite her tongue before that came out.

Twilight noticed the hesitance in Sugarcoat’s face and furrowed her brow. “Sugarcoat, you’ve never shied away from being bluntly honest with someone.”

“……Mostly because it’s something I can’t always control,” Sugarcoat admitted with some shame.

“I asked you because I know you’ll be honest with me, so say it. You’re very observant, so I’ll accept what you say.”

Sugarcoat really didn’t want to, not when she just gained a friend. This was the kind of thing that more or less isolated her, telling those closer to her what she really thought, whether they wanted to hear it or not. It’s mostly why she wore a deadpan expression, left emotion out of her voice whenever she could, made herself distant from others, because the moment she told others what she really thought about them, they’d leave her.

“I don’t want to lose you…” Sugarcoat admitted as she tensed up. “I lost a lot of potential friends…and now that I have two…the last thing I want is to lose either of you…”

Twilight had a sympathetic look on her face as she reached out and took Sugarcoat’s hand into her own. “I promise, I won’t abandon you. You’re my friend now, Sugarcoat…and sometimes, friends need to tell their friends what they need to hear, even if it hurts. So, go ahead.”

Sugarcoat took a deep breath, steeling herself for the inevitable. “Okay. You’re a doormat, Twilight. I know part of that is the fault of what you’ve gone through at the hands of the students and Indigo, but you’ve shown you’ve had a strength inside you that you’re afraid of letting out, or don’t think you possess. So, you allow yourself to be trampled on, to be used and abused, to drown yourself in science because it has rules and structures, while life is chaotic and human emotions are so complex that it’s hard to even understand one person, much less an entire school. What’s worse, thanks to that advanced intellect of yours, people have already made presumptions of you, they believe that you look down on them because you’re smarter than most, so in their minds that gives them justification to haze you, but at the same time, it also gives you the excuse to not get close to anyone.”

“You’ve somehow believed yourself to be a weak, person, and the more you believe it yourself the more you will accept it as reality. Relying on others is not always a bad thing, but sometimes you have to stand up on your own and do what you can. You’ve proven you can do a lot, but your unwillingness to get close to anyone is what makes you a weak person.”

Twilight was right, this was going to hurt, and it did. Part of her wanted to cry and break down, but another part of her got a little angry. “How can you say that?! I’ve come so far with Sunset! We’re together, we’re girlfriends! We’ve kissed and–!”

“Have you gone on a date?” Sugarcoat interrupted.

“Well…”

“Have you had sex yet?”

“NO!” Twilight responded with a blush.

“And yet, now that you’ve found out about this, you’ve distanced yourself from her, instead of seeing it from her perspective. To be fair…” Sugarcoat looked at Sunset, who was sitting at the far end of the table. Her aura was a mixture of many colors and hues. The Ember Stone dragon aura was ever present, but now she could see past it and see the turmoil brewing around her. “…I think Sunset is dealing with a few things herself. She seems like the kind of girl who has done things on her own for so long she’s forgotten how to rely on others, same as yourself. However, she also has experienced loss, and I think she’s afraid of losing what she cares about, or in this case, who she cares about.”

Sugarcoat turned her attention back to Twilight. “You’re both fractured and have trust issues. That’s something that you both need to work on, but neither of you will be able to get past this if both of you continue as you have been……I’m sorry……but that’s what I’ve determined. Even still…I believe that you two can heal each other, if you let it happen, if you open up to the other. That last part was more my feelings on the matter, not my objective opinion I’ve stated earlier.”

Twilight was silent for a minute, there were some tears in her eyes, something that Sugarcoat was used to after blurting out her truth. But then Twilight sighed and took hold of Sugarcoat’s hand once again. “I was right…that was painful…but I’m glad you said all that. You’ve really given me a lot to think about, Sugarcoat.”

“I’m sorry,” said Sugarcoat with lament as her gaze fell.

“You’re still my friend.”

Sugarcoat snapped her head back up with a surprised look on her face. “W-What…?”

Twilight smiled at her. “I promised I would stay your friend. I won’t stop being your friend, we’ve just now started to become friends. I don’t want to lose that.”

Sugarcoat’s eyes began to water, if it wasn’t for the loads of judgmental teenagers in the lunchroom, she’d have bawled her eyes out. Instead, she allowed herself a quiet sob as she held Twilight’s hand tighter. “Thank you…Thank you, Twilight…”

“Tell Sweetie Belle, never cook again,” said Applejack.

Rarity sighed as she lightly patted her girlfriend’s back. “I warned you, Darling, even you couldn’t withstand that.”

Applejack still hadn’t fully recovered from eating Sweetie Belle’s cooking, but despite her warnings, she still ate it. To be fair, Applejack had handled it way better than past people who Sweetie dared to feed her creations to.

Sunset and Pinkie came walking around the corner and saw how out of it Applejack was.

“Hey, AJ, you alright?” Sunset asked.

“Did you eat a baked bad?” Pinkie asked.

Applejack, who was leaning against the wall, merely shook her head in the negative.

“Unfortunately, this came from my dear little sister making us breakfast in bed,” Rarity answered.

Sunset and Pinkie raised an eyebrow at that admission.

“Oh~ And, pray tell, why was Sweetie Belle bringing you both breakfast in bed,” asked Pinkie Pie with a knowing look on her face.

Rarity realized her slip of the tongue and quickly tried to think of a way to explain it. “Oh…well…you see, I had Applejack over for a little slumber party for the two of us, and we both passed out on my bed! My naïve little sister, bless her, thought the two of us were doing something elicit and therefore believed we were ‘together’, in that way.”

Sunset placed her hands on her hips and sported the same knowing look as Pinkie. “Uh-huh, but, uh, what exactly did she see to make her think that? I mean, we’ve had slumber parties before, and sometimes we’ve all ended up passed out in a pile. Sometimes on the bed, and sometimes on the floor. But nothing I’d consider risqué.”

“If you don’t count that one time when you woke up and found Rainbow Dash’s hands groping your ta-tas under your shirt, in her sleep,” Pinkie pointed out.

“I can’t even be mad at her because she doesn’t remember a damn thing…although part of me thinks she does remember something, and when that day comes…” Sunset had a devious smirk on her face. “That aside, how long are you two going to keep up this act of pretending to not be a couple?”

“D-Don’t know what yer talkin’ ‘bout, Sugar Cube,” said AJ.

Sunset sighed and placed her right hand against Applejack’s stomach. The ruby gemstone on the Witchblade glowed dimly and released its energy into Applejack’s body. In less than a few seconds, Applejack’s discomfort had evaporated, feeling like her healthy self again. “There, at least you won’t feel like crap. Just politely decline the offer of food from Sweetie the next time. Okay?”

Applejack sighed in relief after feeling the “poison” being purified from her body. “……Guess we ain’t as sly as we thought, huh?”

“Eh, I don’t think Rainbow’s figured it out yet, Fluttershy, most likely,” said Pinkie. “And then there’s the school itself.”

Rarity groaned. “Really, I thought we were more careful.”

“Why hide it? You guys are cute together,” said Sunset.

Applejack placed a comforting hand on Rarity’s right shoulder as she looked at her two friends. “We…We just wanted to feel this out before sayin’ anythin’. Didn’t want ta get yer hopes up, or ours, in case this didn’t pan out. Y’know?”

Pinkie Pie and Sunset glanced at each other, the former resting her head on Sunset’s left shoulder and giggling happily. “Yeah, we get it. But, still, it’s really great that you two are at least happy with each other!”

“Thank you, Sunset, Pinkie,” said Rarity as she discreetly took Applejack’s hand into her own.

“HEY GUYS!”

Pinkie, Sunset, Applejack, and Rarity turned their heads when they heard Rainbow Dash’s voice coming from around corner, which promptly made Applejack and Rarity release their hands. Rainbow rounded the corner and came whizzing up to them with the most excited look on her face.

“Whoa, Dash, what’s lit a fire under yer rear?” Applejack asked.

“I talked it over with my parents, and they said YES!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Slow down, Darling, what did they say yes to, exactly?”

“Oh, oh, did they finally talk them into getting you a superfast bike like Sunny’s?!” Pinkie guessed.

Rainbow deflated a bit. “Nah, that’s going to take some time. But it’s something even better! My Mom and Dad said yes to letting Lightning Dust live with us!”

“Lightning Dust?!”

“GAH!” Rainbow shouted in surprise.

“EEP!”

Rainbow Dash caught her breath and realized that the person who said that was Fluttershy, who had somehow got behind her without her noticing. “Jeez, Flutters, do we need to put a bell on your neck or something?! Or is that that church assassin training that lets you move around all quiet like?”

“S-Sorry, Rainbow, I just got here, and I overheard what you were saying. I didn’t want to interrupt, at least, I didn’t mean to until you said Lightning Dust was going to stay with you,” Fluttershy explained. “But that means she’s getting out, right?”

Rainbow shook her head happily. “Yeah, it’s weird, some FBI chick came and asked her some questions on Saturday, and then she did something – don’t know, don’t care – and now she’s getting out of the slammer! But they won’t release her unless they sign her into someone’s custody.”

“And since her father is a grade A asshole, you convinced your parents to take her in?” Sunset inquired.

“Yep! Wasn’t easy either…I had to promise them that Lightning would stay on the level, and that she wouldn’t ‘distract me’ from keeping up my grades since it’s my last year in high school,” said Rainbow, putting air quotes around the distraction part. “Of course, a little private celebration isn’t uncalled for.”

Fluttershy blushed upon recognizing what she meant by “private celebration”. Sunset lightly nudged Rainbow Dash with her elbow while giving her a knowing, pervy smile of approval.

“Not ta rain yer parade, but are ya sure she’s good to have around? Ah mean, after what her daddy done filled her head with…”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure. Wind Rider’s not getting out for anything, not after what me and Lightning told the cops, plus, the asshole confessed to as much. She’s not about that anymore, if you saw her, you’d see that, too. Oh, before I forget. There is something I wanted to ask you, Sunset.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s totally up to you, I’m not going to force you or anything. But…” Rainbow began rubbing the back of her neck out of nervousness. “…Lightning wants to see you.”

Sunset blinked in surprise. “Me? Why me?”

“She wants to apologize to you for…you know, what happened that day…” Rainbow raised her hands quickly and hurriedly said, “Look, I know you’re still probably a little sore about what she and Gilda did, but–!”

“Sure, that’s cool.”

“Wait, really?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset smiled and said, “I’m not going to hold what her father put into her head – and a horde of demonic spirits – against her. She was swept up into the whole Anon-A-Miss shit like everyone else, but if she wants to, I’ll meet up with her when she’s out and ready to talk.”

Rainbow Dash sighed in relief as she placed a hand on the redhead’s shoulder. “Holy shit, I’m so happy you said that! I was afraid you were still pissed.”

“If I was, would I still be hanging out with any of you?”

Applejack shrugged. “Fair point.”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed.

Fluttershy hugged her best friend since childhood from behind and smiled. “I’m so happy for you, Dashie.”

Pinkie Pie joined in on the hug. “Meet too, I’m super-duper happy!”

“Aw, what the hell!” Sunset exclaimed as she globed onto Rainbow as well.

“Shucks, why not.”

“I suppose I should join in as well.”

Before Rainbow realized it, she was in the middle of a group hug, and she couldn’t be happier.

Guess I need to thank Agent Tempest for that the next time I see her.

The journey was long, but finally, they had arrived. Canterlot City, the place of the Sirens’ most humiliating defeat, although, the city had seen better days. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were marveling at the amount of reconstruction that was going on, they had seen on the news and internet videos scenes of the battle that went on here. But that didn’t compare to seeing it for themselves, potholes from explosions, chunks taken out of the buildings, and of course a whole lot of police presence than there used to be.

Aria pulled the RV into a supermarket parking lot, allowing the three sisters time to talk about what their first move should be. “Okay, so, what’s our first move?”

Adagio, who was sitting in the passenger seat, stroked the top of Pandora’s Box as she thought on it. “I think we should do some surveillance of Shimmer and her friends. It’s been a few months since we were last here, some things have obviously changed, and I’d like to know how much. For one thing, are Shimmer and her friends still all grouped together, or have they splintered off and left her alone? If that has happened, it’ll be easier to strike against her without wondering if her friends will come to her rescue.”

“We can only hope, I’d rather not use that damn box if we can help it,” said Aria.

“So, hypothetical question, what happens if we manage to make her tell us how she got here from Equestria, what do we do to her then?” Sonata asked.

Adagio glanced at her youngest sister through slit eyes. “There are many possibilities, Sona dear. One of them involves killing the bitch in as slow, and as painful a way as possible, or making her suffer in equally painful and humiliating ways. Perhaps we’ll tie her up, strip her of all her clothing, and call up some men from the seedier part of this city and have them gangbang her while we’re back in the oceans of Equestria. A poetic way of getting revenge on her since we’ve spent the last few months whoring ourselves!”

The lead Siren hummed as she thought more on what to do. “Or we could do the deed ourselves, while we may not have the proper ‘equipment’, we can’t still enjoy ourselves. I’ve mentally cataloged a number of things I’d like to stuff into that pony bitch’s twat! Then there’s electrocution, but that’s more foreplay. As far as actually killing her. Like I said, it should be slow and painful, like the years we’ve spent here. Perhaps the Box can invoke something much more fitting than I could imagine. My only regret is that she has but one life for me to end.”

Sonata scooted a little further away from her big sister, even without her gemstone, the blue Siren could feel the hate and rage Adagio had for Sunset Shimmer. It was almost suffocating, to the point that it worried Sonata. When she glanced to Aria, she could tell that it bothered her, too.

Aria was almost always angry, aggressive would be a better word, but she had mellowed out in the last few months, even with the way their lives were here, she didn’t harbor as much resentment towards Sunset Shimmer. Granted they both did, but what Adagio felt was beyond mere hatred, especially when she talked about what she wanted to do to the pony turned human. There was a joyful, murderous glint in her eye every time she talked about it. But hearing it out loud was always disturbing to them. However, it seemed like she had gotten deeper into that mindset.

“Okay, before you cream your pants, we should check out CHS or some shit, their Seniors now, so they should still be there,” said Aria.

“That is a good idea, but the students will remember us, we’ll have to keep to the shadows as much as possible. For now, let us find out where she lives, once we have that we’ll track her movements.”

“Well…we can’t follow her in the RV, I mean, it’d be pretty hard not to notice an RV following you around,” Sonata commented.

Aria got up and went to the back to change her clothes. “I’ll go and jack a bike and follow her like that.”

“Take the burner and call us when you figure out where she’s living. Also, get rid of the pigtails, if anyone sees you it might throw them off since no one’s seen you with your hair down,” Adagio suggested.

Aria sighed in annoyance, she didn’t like the word “pigtails” she liked to call them “twin-tails”, and Adagio knew it. “Fine.”

Sunset was in her study hall period in the commons area, while Twilight was in chemistry class. She hated knowing that Twilight was mad at her, she couldn’t even be mad at her because most of this was her fault. She was half telling the truth about why she didn’t tell Twilight about Indigo’s Artifact, she didn’t want to worry Twilight, but also what she didn’t mention was that she was after that Artifact.

The only way she was going to get it from Indigo was to kill her, sure, there was the option that Indigo could give it up in exchange for her life, but Sunset would be lying if she said she didn’t want to. Her blood still broiled when she remembered all that Indigo had done to Twilight. However, there was a bigger secret that she was holding back, something that she couldn’t tell her, or anyone for that matter.

“Looks like you’re deep in thought,” said a familiar voice.

Sunset turned to her right and saw Sugarcoat walking towards her, books in hand. “Heh, hey Sweets, what’s up?”

“That’s my question to you.” Sugarcoat sat down in the empty chair next to Sunset. “If you’re up for talking?”

“I’m pretty sure you got the lo down from Sparky.”

“I got her side of the story, but it’s only one side. I want to hear yours,” Sugarcoat explained.

Sunset shrugged and looked down at her cellphone. “What’s there to tell, I screwed up…I’m surprised you’re still talking to me. Considering what happened to Sour Sweet, I’d figured you’d be pissed at me for keeping that info on Indigo a secret.”

Sugarcoat pushed her glasses up by the bridge as she answered, “I’m mildly displeased, but I can understand your logic behind not telling Twilight or me. That being said, why didn’t you?”

“I thought you said you knew?”

“Because I want to hear it from you.”

Sunset sighed in agitation. “What’s there to tell? I screwed up. I should’ve told her that Indigo had an Artifact like mine, but I didn’t want to freak her out. I mean, how would you react if your abuser suddenly gained supernatural powers and could come at you at any time with them, and nothing short of a nuke could stop them?”

“If we’re talking about your average person, it could psychologically break them, become paranoid to the point that they make themselves physically ill, or commit suicide.” Sugarcoat noticed the fear color tinge Sunset’s aura the moment she said that. “However, Twilight’s smarter than that, and stronger than we both give her credit for. Consider the fact that she’s suffered nearly four years of abuse at the hands of almost every single student in this school, with no one to help her, on top of what Indigo has put her through, any normal person would’ve suffered a mental breakdown and committed suicide, or…you know…take out her anger on everyone here. And I dread to wonder what Twilight can think of, as smart as she is.”

Sunset took a moment to contemplate what Twilight could do if she saw fit to take revenge on the students and faculty of CPA. As brilliant as Twilight is, she could concoct chemicals and poisons that could kill everyone in the school without leaving a trace, hack into the school’s computer systems and screw around with the students’ grades, or their social media accounts.

“Not going to lie, it’s kinda pathetic.”

Sunset’s eyebrow rose a bit and she glanced sideways at her friend. “I’m sorry, what’s pathetic?”

“You. The fact that Sunset Shimmer, the girl who strode into CPA, threw the entire high school social hierarchy into disarray, and proclaimed that you were Twilight’s girlfriend. The girl who saved Twilight and kicked the asses of four of the five girls who made up the most influential of the cliques here in the school, is pouting around because she had a fight with her girlfriend. Yeah, real tough girl.”

Sunset shot up from her chair, making it scoot back from the speed of which she did it. The flame haired girl glared down at her friend and said, “What the hell do you know?!” The bad girl of CPA grabbed ahold of Sugarcoat by the collar of her shirt and brought the bespectacled girl up to meet her gaze. “Just what in the hell do you know about me to call me pathetic! You don’t know what I’ve been through!”

“I know that you’re afraid of losing Twilight, that whatever you experienced in your life is making you act the way you are,” said Sugarcoat.

Sunset scoffed. “Is that a fact?! Is that what your little Heart Stone is showing you?!”

Now it was Sugarcoat’s turn to scoff. “Please, I didn’t need to use my magic gemstone to figure that out. You’re afraid of losing Twilight because you lost someone close to you, but it’s also because of that loss that you’re afraid of getting too close to her. You’re afraid that she might not like the person you are underneath.”

Sunset flinched, her grip loosening as the impact of Sugarcoat’s words hit her. She was right, Sunset was afraid, afraid of losing someone else she loved. She already had a hard decision to make when all the Artifacts were finally gathered together, and her decision would wound her deeply, but if all went as planned, when it was said and done, everything would be okay. Still, that did not make what she had to do down the line any easier, even now Sunset had second thoughts about going through with her plan.

“I just…I just can’t lose her…I don’t want to be like Indigo. If she doesn’t want to be with me that’s her choice…but…”

Sugarcoat placed her right hand over the one holding her shirt. “She’s afraid of losing you, too. You’re both pushing each other away because of a lie, she’s afraid of trusting because she’s been burned so many times, and you’re afraid of losing her. It’s something that you both need to talk about or you’ll both end up in a place neither of you want to be in.”

Sunset released Sugarcoat and sat back down in her chair. “I’m sorry, Sweets…I didn’t mean to act out like that…”

Sugarcoat returned to her seat and brought it closer to Sunset. “You’re not the first person to go off on me because I spoke my unfiltered mind. But you are the first to actually say you’re sorry.”

The redhead smiled and patted her friend on the shoulder. “Not everyone can handle the truth, but…you have given me some things to think about.”

“Glad I can help, if only a little,” said Sugarcoat.

For a brief moment, Sunset eyed the Heart Stone that hung on Sugarcoat’s wrist. I just hope that you’re willing to give that to me when the time comes, Sweets. I really do.

{So, you did manage to get a bike? Did they see you?}

“No, Adagio. Dumbass was drunk and he left the keys there. I just hopped on when he went inside and left. I went and switched the license plates with another bike at another bar. Not like this is my first time, Sis,” said Aria snidely.

{Excuse me for being overly cautious! We’re planning revenge and I’m not taking any chances!}

“Tch, where was this level of prep during the first two plans…” Aria whispered.

{What was that?}

“Oh, Sunset’s on the move! Gotta go!”

Aria ended the call on her burner phone and put into her pocket. She was parked across the street, keeping the front of Canterlot High School within view. The second eldest Siren remembered when they first scoped out the place, it took a few days to figure out where the rainbow light erupted from, and a little over a week to get some clothes together and do surveillance on the school itself before entering. Luckily it seemed not much had changed since they were last there, so now it just came down to following Sunset. There was no way she could go inside and just mill around like she belonged there, Aria had no doubt the students remembered her and her sisters, if not them, then Sunset and her friends definitely would.

The irate Siren watched as the students came pouring out of the building, and Aria’s eyes immediately locked onto Sunset Shimmer. She was flanked by her friends, happily chatting about something annoying, probably about friendship and rainbows. Ugh. That’s when she saw the flaming redhead briefly French kiss the pink party girl.

Huh, so Shimmer and that pink party girl are a thing now?……Eh, I’d tap that, too, Aria thought.

She continued watching as Sunset separated from the group and began walking to the student parking lot. From her spot she was able to see Sunset’s bike, which, Aria had to admit, was actually pretty nice. She wasn’t an expert when it came to bikes, but she knew enough to tell which is a good speed bike and which one is all muscle. And Aria could tell that Sunset’s was all speed.

Damn, when did she get wheels like that?! Aria looked down at her stolen bike. Hope this thing can keep up.

Aria put on her helmet and started the bike up, the moment she saw Sunset pull out of the parking lot she revved the engine and took off after her. She kept behind her, not too close, but not too far as to lose sight of her target. As she continued to drive along, Aria began to notice a change in the surroundings, the neighborhood was looking a lot nicer, like rich people nice. The houses were also starting to look more like compounds than anything else…The hell, is Shimmer rich or something?!

The second youngest Siren continued to follow Sunset Shimmer until she stopped at the front of a fancy gate. Aria stopped a good distance away, making sure that the former unicorn didn’t notice her and whipped out the burner phone to take pictures. Then Aria saw something that she never thought she’d see. A rich, sports car pulled up from the opposite side of the road and stopped at the gate as well, Sunset greeted the driver, when Aria zoomed in on the driver’s side, Aria did a double take. Sitting right there was…Sunset Shimmer.

What the fuck?! There’s two of them?! And is that the pony princess nerd?!

Aria was all kinds of confused, apparently there were two Sunsets, and they were rich. The punk rock Siren continued her surveillance as the gates opened and both the car and bike drove through. Aria hurriedly pulled up just as the gate closed and began taking video of the two vehicles heading up the driveway and enter the garage, from her angle, Aria was able to see the mansion in all its splendor, big, bright, and ornate, just like an uber rich person’s palace should be, and somehow Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle were living in it, too.

“Fuck me, Adagio is going to lose her shit when she sees this…!”

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!”

And as predicted, Adagio did in fact lose her shit. Aria had stayed out until midnight watching the Shimmer Manor, and when it wasn’t apparent that either of the Sunsets or Twilight Sparkle was coming out, Aria confirmed that they were all living in there and decided to head back to the RV. Upon arrival, she was greeted to the smell of Sonata’s cooking and an impatient Adagio rapping her fingers on the table. When she sat down and showed her the photos and video, well, she was less than pleased.

“That fucking bitch…she’s been living in the lap of luxury all this time…while we’ve been living in squalor! Whoring ourselves day after day, getting violated by random strangers almost every night, all to just make ends meet, and devoid of all magical power! And all this time, she’s been kicking back in her big fucking mansion, eating caviar, drinking champagne, and doing gods know what else with all that money! Fucking little pony slut!” Adagio raged as she got out of the booth and started kicking and stomping up and down the RV.

Sonata slid next to Aria and made the comment, “Dagi’s really mad.”

“I’m pissed, too! The bitch’s been living in a goddamn mansion while we’ve been living in a rundown apartment complex, and street walking for the last few months. So, yeah, pissed!”

After Adagio was finished fuming, she sat back down in the booth and let out a frustrated growl. “So, we’re sure that they live here?”

“Looks like it, I was there ‘til midnight and no one came back out. Probably better that I scope out the place one more time to make sure, but I doubt they’re just squatting there,” said Aria.

Adagio put the phone back down, allowing Sonata to see the pictures. “I don’t get it, how come there are two of them?” the youngest Siren asked.

“Most likely, the one in the car is the Sunset Shimmer that’s originally from this world. From what we’ve gathered, there are some places that this world parallels from Equestria, while there are some things that are unique to it alone” Adagio explained.

Aria crossed her arms and huffed. “In any case, we’ll have to be careful. We’re only after the Sunset that goes to CHS, and her friends. We don’t need to mess with the other one.”

Adagio snapped her head in Aria’s direction, looking at her as if she had just grown a second head. “I’m sorry, and who decided that?”

“What are you talking about?” Aria asked. “We came here to get revenge on Sunset Shimmer and her groupies, the pony one, not the human one!”

“What’s the difference?!” Adagio slammed her hand on the table and made Sonata jump. “This is a great opportunity, and I’m not passing it up!”

Both Siren sisters were now confused.

Adagio stood up, and as she did, a maniacal grin split her face. “Not only can I make Sunset Shimmer suffer, but now I can make two of them suffer at the same time! I was worried that I might go overboard when we got to Sunset, but now I can interrogate one, and use the other for some fun!”

Aria stood up from the booth, making Sonata back away. “Seriously, Adagio?! Let’s not go overboard here! We need to focus on just what we came here for!”

The lead Siren placed her hands on her hips and glared at the middle Siren sister. “Excuse me, but I thought you were the one who wanted me to make sure that there are no loose ends, nothing that could mess us up?! We don’t know how close this other Sunset is to the one we know, and we don’t know to what extent this other Twilight Sparkle is involved with both of them!”

“Hmm, they could all be girlfriends. I kinda thought the pony princess and Sunset were cute together,” Sonata commented.

“Keep your shipper shit out of this, please,” said Aria. “Anyway…you’re half right about the other Sunset and Twilight. We don’t know how close they are, or whether or not they’ll help the pony Sunset out when she’s in trouble.”

Sonata looked at the picture and noticed something about the twins of Twilight and Sunset. “They look like they’re both wearing some kind of schoolgirl uniform.”

“Probably from some private school around here, problem is, which one?”

Adagio grabbed her burner from her pocket, typed in a few words in the internet search engine, and after a couple of seconds she found what she was looking for. “Apparently it belongs to a Crystal Prep Academy, a school located a little further into the city.”

Aria and Sonata blinked.

“How the hell did you find that out so fast?”

“I just put in a search for private schools for wealthy kids in Canterlot. One of them popped to the top of the search, and the image search on the school shows some of the students in uniform. So, the other Sunset and Twilight go to a rich school,” Adagio commented.

“Hmm…CHS probably won’t be that hard to get inside, but those kind of fancy schools don’t play around. How are we going to get in and check them out?” Sonata asked.

Adagio clicked her tongue in frustration, Sonata was right, getting inside wasn’t going to be easy. If they had a uniform she could probably pass as one of the students, and Aria could easily infiltrate CHS since it was just a public school.

Suddenly, Pandora’s Box began to open its lid slightly, releasing its eerie glow. Aria, Sonata, and Adagio quickly jumped back a bit in shock at the unprovoked action of the destructive Artifact.

“Sis, what the fuck is it doing?! We aren’t in trouble,” said Aria.

“I didn’t do anything it’s just…just…” Adagio trailed off as her eyes suddenly glowed, not the normal red color that usually accompanied the use of Pandora’s Box, but a purple glow.

Aria and Sonata could only stand and watch as their sister began to vocalize, singing aloud, but for what reason? Just then they heard a noise coming from outside, the two young Siren sisters rushed to the front door and were stunned when they saw someone standing a few feet away from their RV. What stunned them about this person was that they were female, and that said female was wearing red samurai armor. She had a thin purple aura that outlined her form, and for some reason it looked as if she was struggling against this aura.

“Who the fuck are you?” Aria asked.

“That would be my question! Why the hell am I here?!” she demanded.

“We don’t know! We swear!” Sonata stated.

The female warrior growled as she gripped the katana strapped to her waist and drew the sword, making it glow bright red.

“Holy shit, that thing’s real?!” Aria swore as she put herself between the demon samurai and Sonata.

“Yeah, and I’m going to gut you both!” The female samurai made to attack them, but the purple aura intensified, locking her body in place. Along with the aura, the voice of Adagio grew louder. When the samurai heard the voice, she stopped struggling and looked around. “Wait a minute, that voice…I…I’ve heard it before!”

Footsteps could be heard coming from inside the RV. Sonata and Aria parted to the sides as they watched Adagio walk out of the RV, Pandora’s Box in hand, and stand before the female samurai. Once she was outside, she finished singing as the box shut itself. Adagio shook her head and looked between her sisters and asked, “What…What happened?”

“Looks like the Box summoned someone,” said Aria.

Adagio looked forward and saw the samurai. “Who are you?”

The female samurai lowered her sword, but did not sheath it as she answered, “Suri Polomare, and you’re the one who saved me from Hell.”

“You did what, Dagi?!” Sonata asked in shock.

“You’re voice, it’s the same one I heard down there. The same one that dragged me back here. Your song raised me back. So, I have you to thank for that,” said Suri.

Adagio wracked her brain to try and figure out how or what she did to cause something like that to happen. Then it struck her, when she was out in the field that one time, when she saw the robed figure. Adagio fell into a trance and sang a different song than she had before. Now the lyrics made sense, for some reason, Pandora’s Box allowed her to resurrect the soul of some girl from Hell itself. But why?

“I suppose you do, honestly, I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing when I did.”

Suri sheathed her sword. “Eh, doesn’t matter, accident or not, I’m glad I’m out of that literal hell hole. That being said, I like to repay my debits, I don’t like owing anyone, m’kay.”

Aria crossed her arms and eyed Suri. “Oh, and what can you do?”

Suri smiled. “I can kill someone for you. Or a lot of someones.”

Adagio looked down at the Box and realized now that it was trying to help her get her revenge. It summoned this girl from Hell to help her in her endeavor of vengeance against Sunset and her friends, Suri could be the trump card they need when and if Witchblade appeared. “Actually, yes, there is something you can help me with. I’m looking to get revenge on a certain someone, and I’m worried my actions might garner the attention of a certain hero here in the city.”

“Witchblade and Ember.”

Adagio nodded.

“Huh, so you want protection for when the deed is done? Not for nothing, but it might be better if I do it then. I’ll just cut them up and slip away, although I can understand the need to do the deed with your own bare hands. So, who’s the unlucky bastard who’s going to die?” Suri asked.

“Sunset Shimmer,” Sonata answered.

Silence reigned for a couple of minutes, but then Suri’s brow furrowed, and her eyes squinted into dangerous slits. “Sunset Shimmer, huh? You want revenge on Sunset Shimmer? Small world, I do too, and one of her friends. Tell me, this isn’t some ‘make her life miserable’ kind of revenge, is it?”

Adagio’s expression matched that of Suri’s as she explained, “Far from it, I want to make her suffer, and after I get all the information I want out of her, I want to take my time and make her experience the pain we’ve felt over the last few months, all the way up until the moment she begs me for death!”

Suri Polomare smiled wickedly. “What was your name?”

“Adagio Dazzle, and these are my sisters. Sonata Dusk,” Adagio pointed to her right, then she pointed to her left. “and Aria Blaze.”

“Adagio,” Suri walked forward and reached out with her right hand. “It seems fate has brought us together. I want to make that cunt suffer; I think we can both get what we want.”

The leader of the Siren group smiled back at Suri and extended her right hand and shook Suri’s. “I’m starting to think you’re right.”

Aria and Sonata did not like where this was probably going to go, it felt like less of a mission to get payback and go home, and more like a pure vendetta. Unbeknownst to them all, Pandora’s Box’s two empty slots on the top of the lid glowed an eerie blue and orange light. The Artifact wanted something, something that was meant to fit in those two spots, and it could feel those two missing pieces were very close.