The Witchblade EqG: The 13 Artifacts

As Adagio suspected, Crystal Prep was a school for rich kids, she could see it in the architecture, crystal pillars and fixtures that sparkled in the light of the sun, none of those halogen tube lighting, no, all LEDs. The lockers had a polished sheen to them, along with the floors, and not a speck of graffiti or litter to be found. When she did manage to sneak into a classroom, she noticed that each room had an LCD TV that was the length of a chalkboard, practically taking up the whole wall, touch screen at that. Then there were the labs, robotics, chemistry, general sciences, botany, and a litany of others Adagio couldn’t name.

When she passed by an occupied classroom, she noticed how the students were keenly focused on their work and the teachers. Even the ones that didn’t look like they were paying attention were fast to answer, including the jocks. Adagio slipped out of a classroom and headed into the girl’s restroom, and even in here it was also luxury. Air fresheners bathed the lavatory in a vanilla-lavender scent, the sinks had scanners that read when someone placed their hands under the faucet, along with automatic towel and soap dispensers. There was a dispenser for tampons, and not the cheap kind either, and a discreetly hidden a dispenser for condoms.

“Heh, do they expect them to be banging around school? Probably not, most likely liability and assurance that when they do the nasty, no one can say that they didn’t have any on them.”

Adagio took a moment to look herself over on the wall length mirror. The uniform had to be modified a bit, but thanks to Suri that was no problem. Suri had broken into her home and found that her room hadn’t been cleaned out, her parents still too sentimental to get rid of anything. Which worked out for them because it allowed Suri to grab one of her old uniforms. After some work on it and a fitting, Adagio was now adorned in the attire of Crystal Prep.

A burgundy blazer that she left unbuttoned, a blue shirt that she – purposefully – left at least two of the top buttons undone to allow some of her cleavage to be seen. She forewent the ascot Suri offered, but had the bow loosely tied and tucked under the collar of her shirt, just enough so that it covered a bit of the obvious display she had, but still left enough to make any boy – or girl – give a second glance. Further down she had on the violet plaid skirt, dark navy-blue socks, and complete with some loafers.

Adagio had her hair tied into a ponytail to complete her look, she struck a pose with her left hip out, left hand on said up, and her right hand placed on the back of her head. “Heh, wish I had this outfit when I was street walking. I could’ve charged triple for some ‘schoolgirl play’.”

Now wasn’t time to think about that, no, now was the time to gather info. She had been there three hours now, but the moment she entered the school, Adagio could already tell that while the outside was a sublime palace, the atmosphere inside was heavy and hostile. The students didn’t mingle as much in the halls, unlike CHS, the students here mainly whispered and gossiped about this or that before leaving for their next class. And everywhere she saw the students gave each other a look that one normally reserved for a rival.

While Adagio did manage to turn a few heads, she went mostly unnoticed. Which helped when she was tracking down Sunset Shimmer, she managed to pass herself off as a new girl, and already some of them were giving her advice about staying away from Sunset Shimmer. When she asked about Twilight Sparkle, there was trepidation, apparently Twilight was once the whipping girl for the entire school, but now, well, if you had a death wish you’d do best to stay away from her, otherwise you’d incur the wrath of Sunset Shimmer.

Adagio, after a bit of meandering about, managed to spot Sunset Shimmer. She pulled out her cellphone and pretended to text someone, all the while watching her. The resemblance was uncanny, even from this distance she could hear her voice, which was strikingly similar to the girl whom she loathed. Although there were settle differences between her and the pony version, for one thing, this version had half her hair tied with a spiked scrunchy, and…well…not that she was looking, but this Sunset wasn’t as “well endowed” as her pony counterpart. This Sunset Shimmer seemed to be talking to a girl with three pigtails, while Twilight Sparkle was standing a couple of feet away from her. There seemed to be some kind of tension between them, something that Adagio couldn’t quite put her finger on. After a couple of minutes chatting, Twilight and the other girl walked away, leaving the flaming redhead alone.

Adagio decided to make her move, she needed to see if the Sunset Shimmer from Equestria had informed the doppelganger of her and her sisters. The lead Siren walked confidently towards the human Sunset Shimmer, tamping down any anger and fury she had for this girl, she didn’t need to act hostile towards her and give this version a reason to suspect her. When Adagio approached Sunset she said, “Hello there,” in a casual and slightly flirtatious way.

Sunset peeked her head from behind the locker door and greeted her, “Oh…uh, hi. Sorry, do I know you?”

“Nope, I just got here, I’ve heard a lot of stories about you and wanted to meet the legend in person,” Adagio lauded.

Sunset smirked as she continued to get what she needed from her locker. “Huh, that a fact? What exactly is so ‘legendary’ about me that you wanted to come and see me?” she asked with a sideways glance.

“Heh, heh, well, for instance, how you stood up to the popular kids of this school, professed your love for someone, and beat up the people who tried to hurt her. I always wanted to meet a valiant knight.”

Sunset closed her locker and leaned on it with one hand. “Listen, you’re hot, seriously, but I’m in a relationship. I’m sorry if you’re looking for something more, but I am spoken for. Although, a word of advice, from one new girl to another, be careful who you hook up with here, this place is a viper pit and won’t think twice about devouring you.”

Adagio crossed her arms and smirked back at Sunset. “You seem to be doing alright. And sorry if I come off as flirty, it’s just something that I can’t help at times. Which is why I thought, maybe we could–”

“Hey, Shimmer!”

Gone was Sunset’s friendly expression, now replaced by one of anger as she sighed heavily. “If I were you, I’d take a few steps back, just in case.”

Adagio raised an eyebrow as she peeked over Sunset’s shoulder, noticing a girl with navy blue spikey hair walking towards them, her own expression was fierce enough to match Sunset’s.

Sunset turned around and addressed the spikey haired girl. “What do you want, Indigo?”

The sporty looking girl, Indigo, stopped about two feet from Sunset’s position and glared at her. “What the hell did you do to Twilight?!”

“Oh bitch, you are the last person on this planet who has any business asking me that!” Sunset accused. “But I promise you, if I’ve done anything, it pales in comparison to what you’ve done to her!”

Adagio watched this standoff, and as she did, she noticed something strange. A blue glow emanated from behind Indigo’s shirt, just below her collar bone, Adagio also noticed that a dim orange glow appeared right around the same area on Sunset. Something felt strange about those glows, something that compelled her to have them, to know what they were. The lead Siren snapped herself out of the trance, shaking her head and backing up a few steps as she promised. She could see a crowd beginning to form, and right now wasn’t the best time to be caught in the middle of a fist fight with these two, Adagio didn’t need that kind of attention.

“Sunset, I think we should leave, you don’t want to get into a brawl here with this one,” said Adagio.

“Oh, it won’t be a brawl, a brawl infers that both sides are equal. This will be a beating!” Sunset corrected.

Indigo growled, “You wanna go now, Slutset Shimmer?!”

“Sure, you ready to die today?!”

Adagio released a frustrated “ugh” sound before putting her hand on Sunset’s shoulder and forcing the redhead to take a step back. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but you seem to have enough problems, and I don’t think you need to cause a scene right now!” she urged.

Sunset glanced to Adagio and the back to Indigo. The lead Siren could tell that Sunset really wanted to fight Indigo, but something in Adagio made her feel as if that would not be a good thing, for her or anyone right now. Reluctantly, Sunset released the tension in her body, turned around, and said, “I don’t need this grief right now. C’mon, let’s go.”

“Walking away like a bitch, huh, Shimmer?” Indigo goaded.

Sunset turned her head, and for the briefest of moments, Adagio saw something like fire burn in her eyes, and she swore she saw a flicker of embers coming from her hair, as if it had become actual fire for a moment. “You are aware how easily I can end you, right? It’s by my good grace and Twilight’s that I’ve allowed you to stay alive this long. Remember that Zap.”

Adagio witnessed something else strange, a moment where Indigo’s eyes flashed blue, and the air around them grew cold for a second or two. But after she said that Indigo went silent. When it seemed as if Indigo wasn’t going to press the issue any further, Sunset and Adagio walked away.

Once they were far enough away Sunset sighed in lament. “I’m sorry you were almost caught up in my shit with Indigo.”

Adagio waved it off with a carefree shake of the hand. “No worries. But if you don’t mind me asking, what’s got her so pissed off at you?”

“……Remember when I told you to be careful? The girl she was talking about, Twilight, she’s my girlfriend. And that bitch is under some delusion that she belongs to her. She’s abused her, and not too long ago I gave her an epic ass kicking, but, unfortunately, she still hasn’t taken the hint.” Sunset grossed with annoyance and agitation.

“I see…” Adagio mused as she glanced over her shoulder at the retreating image of Indigo Zap.

“Again!”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

Fluttershy was known to be certain things, kindhearted, demure, shy – obviously – and sometimes a bit of a scaredy cat. But a martial artist was not one of them. Fluttershy had called Somnambula to request a training session at her place. Somnambula agreed and Fluttershy had arrived in a tank top and sweatpants, fully prepared to train with her teacher, and eager as well. For the past two hours they had been stretching, do yoga, meditating, and then for the second hour, they began sparring. Somnambula, similarly dressed like her student, had an interesting way of fighting that often baffled her opponents and even past students.

Whenever she went into battle, Somnambula would always wrap a special blindfold around her eyes. It was a white linen cloth with a gold decoration, Fluttershy was even allowed to hold it once to see if it was see-through or not, turns out it wasn’t. When Fluttershy put it on, she couldn’t see a thing, which often begged the question of how her teacher was able to do what she was doing right now?

Fluttershy back flipped away from a sweeping kick from her teacher, somersaulting once in midair before landing with the grace of a falling feather. Once she was sure of her footing, Fluttershy took off towards Somnambula, striking out with a punch. The blindfolded holy warrior jumped back to avoid the blow, but Fluttershy didn’t stop, she went into a series of combos, throwing punches and kicks wherever she presumed she saw an opening, but every possible opening was just a trap into another attack. Fluttershy threw another punch, but Somnambula ducked the blow and delivered a palm heel strike to Fluttershy’s stomach. The shy girl coughed in pain from the hit, but still kept on going. She swept the area in front of her with her right leg, hoping to trip up Somnambula, but that was wasted effort as Somnambula flipped over Fluttershy and landed right behind her.

With little effort on Somnambula’s side, she got Fluttershy into a submission hold, locking her arms up so that Fluttershy was reduced to flailing about like a child who was throwing a temper tantrum. With practiced ease, Somnambula tripped up Fluttershy, forcing them to hit the ground as she interlaced her legs with her student’s, effectively neutralizing her with the threat of breakage if she struggled too hard.

“Do you yield?” Somnambula asked through a grunt.

“N-Not yet!” Fluttershy responded.

The pink haired assassin (former) untangled her legs and twisted her body to the right, causing both of them to roll around on the matted floor until Somnambula hit a spot on the floor that made her loosen her grip. With that inch given, Fluttershy cocked back her right arm and delivered an elbow strike to Somnambula’s midsection, forcing the older woman to release Fluttershy. The two warrior women separated and hurried back to their feet. Somnambula took her fighting stance while Fluttershy did hers, both women studying each other for a moment.

“You have gotten better,” Somnambula commented.

“Thank you, Teacher,” Fluttershy replied.

Just then, Somnambula dashed towards one end of the mats where a couple of wooden swords lay, Fluttershy saw this and immediately ran to where a wooden staff laid on the ground, ready for use. Once both were armed, they returned to the center and went at it again. Fluttershy twirled the staff around, striking with wide sweeping attacks, spinning the staff around, and then leading into swift thrusts. Somnambula weaved and bobbed every sweep and used her wooden swords to counter each thrust attack. The sound of wood striking against wood rang in the room, along with the slamming of bare feet against mats and grunts of effort.

Somnambula sped forward and readied to deliver a double-bladed blow, but Fluttershy jumped straight up to avoid the attack. While in midair, she twirled the staff around and brought it down in an overhead strike. Somnambula raised her swords up and formed an “X” pattern, catching Fluttershy’s attack in the crook of the “X”. The impact rang loudly throughout the room and vibrated through both women’s arms to the point of stinging, yet still they held on firmly to their weapons. The middle eastern woman pushed the weapon aside with the left sword and, while Fluttershy was still overhead, struck her with the right sword right in her stomach.

The air briefly escaped Fluttershy’s lungs as pain erupted in her midsection, the stunned holy assassin landed back on the ground with a thump, but when she did, Somnambula spun on her heel and struck the timid girl with a roundhouse kick that sent her rolling to the left, her staff having been released from her grasp when she was hit. Fluttershy eventually stopped rolling around and ended up on her back, that was when Somnambula appeared over her, thrusting both wooden swords down over Fluttershy’s neck in an “X” pattern, the two blunt ends hovering just mere inches from her trachea.

“Do you yield?” she asked.

Fluttershy sighed as she said, “I yield, Teacher.”

Somnambula raised her swords up and placed them to the side, afterwards she removed her blindfold and offered her hand to Fluttershy. The pink haired girl grasped her teacher’s hand, allowing Somnambula to help her precious student to her feet. “You’ve been requesting these sparring matches a lot more since my return, what troubles you, my Altalmidh?”

“I’m sorry, I just…” Fluttershy began playing with a strand of her hair, nervously. “I just can’t shake this foreboding feeling for some reason. It’s as if there’s something creeping closer to this city and my friends, but I can’t figure out what it is…I know I can be a worrier, I can fret over the smallest things, but this…I just can’t stop thinking that something bad will happen soon.”

Somnambula couldn’t fault her student for feeling this way, after all, it was this “something” that drew her to this city as well. Whatever forces were swirling about this metropolis, it was nothing good. Like a monster hiding in the shadows, toying with its victim, and waiting for the best moment to reveal itself so that it could instill that last ounce of fear before it made the killing move. Somnambula originally came here to see what this mysterious force could be, figuring it would reveal itself soon. However, it was merely her intuition and sight that brought her this decision, if her young student was feeling the same thing, as the Magdalena, then her suspicions were correct.

“Fluttershy, do you remember what I told you the first time you saw me don this blindfold?” Somnambula asked.

Fluttershy nodded and answered, “You said, ‘I do not need my eyes to see, God guides my blades to their target, and my faith lets me see all’.”

The older woman smiled as she looked at the cloth, she then lowered herself until she sat on the mat and patted the space next to her, signaling for Fluttershy to sit down as well. “When I was young girl in Egypt, I was to be wedded to a boy. Now, while that may sound unfortunate, it was actually quite fortuitus, for the boy whom I was to be married to, was not only a friend of mine but someone who I have had a crush on for quite a while.”

Fluttershy smiled, this was the first time her teacher had opened up to her about her past. “Was he nice?”

“He was kind, considerate, despite our culture, he never belittled me, and sought my opinion in many aspects.” Somnambula reached for the Rapture and let it rest in the palm of her hand. “He gave me this as a wedding gift, wrapping it in this simple cloth. I’m more than certain that neither her nor his family had any idea as to what the Rapture was. To him, he saw it as a simple gift to give to someone he loved. Then…a week after that…we were kidnapped.”

“Oh my…”

Somnambula clenched her fist around the piece of cloth in her opposite hand as the memories of her past came back to her. “We were held due to our families influence and wealth, they believed they could gain power by taking us hostage. My fiancé, the brave boy that he was, managed to cut our bonds and free us. We fled, but we did not know where we were, we realized too late that they had brought us somewhere far from our homes. When they found us, they shot at us, and he took a bullet that was meant for me…the kidnappers laughed at him, calling him a stupid child to be protecting me, and to gain nothing from it other than extending my suffering for a few more days.”

“I lost myself in that moment, and without realizing it, activated the power of the Rapture. I was transported straight to Hell and escaped my captors…but that was only the beginning.”

~*~*~*~

A young Somnambula was whisked away in the moment before her re-capture, having shut her eyes at the last moment to stave off the horror inducing end that she knew she’d no doubt suffer. However, what she saw when she opened her eyes was far, far worse. Her family was a religious bunch, although Somnambula did believe in God, she didn’t necessarily subscribe to her family’s way of viewing Him. That being said, it didn’t take her long to understand where she was. She knew for a fact she was no longer in the mortal world, because when she looked up, she could see a sky, and some clouds, but it was a dark red, and further up she could see a hole, and through that hole was another, and then another.

It was then that Somnambula realized what she was looking at, they were levels. The level she landed on had gold strewn around it, as far as the eye could see, along with precious gemstones, fine silks, and exotic weapons of all kinds. But that wasn’t the only things she saw, she also watched as multiple men and women, adorned in rags, were fighting with each other, screaming profanities as they hefted large, boulder-like weights around and used them as weapons against each other. They fought over the vast treasures, bludgeoning each other with little regard for life, only the desire to take what was around them. Their bodies were broken and splintered from the use of the boulder weights, but just as soon as they were “killed” they rose back up and did it all over again in an endless cycle.

Meanwhile, there were demons that walked about, not bothering to interfere in the fighting, merely standing by and watching it all play out before them. She couldn’t see their faces due to their skull masks, but she could tell that they were enjoying the spectacle. Somnambula had hidden behind a mound of gold, pressing her back to it as she sunk down, her heart pounding in her chest as she realized that she had somehow entered Hell itself, that was the only explanation for what she was seeing, there was no place on Earth that was near this horrifying.

Use the cloth, my child…

“W-What…?”

Your young eyes aren’t meant to see such sights, cover them.

“B-But if I do that – the demons – I won’t be able to see them! I won’t know where I’m going!” the young girl argued.

Trust in me, my child, I will guide you.

Somnambula wasn’t sure if she could trust this voice, she was in Hell after all. But there was something about the voice that made her feel calm, perhaps this was His voice. With little options available, Somnambula took the cloth that her betrothed had wrapped the Rapture in and tied it around her eyes. For a minute, all she could see was black nothingness. Then something happened, within her closed eyes, she could see. Light took the place of physical objects, allowing her to see vast golden light that made up the mounds and land. The sky was a dark red, and when she peeked over the mounds, she could see a purple outlining of the demons and a gray outline for the human souls.

You can escape, but your first entry was by accident. You must flee to a transitionary space where the line between Heaven, Earth, and Hell are weak. Follow the thread of light, and you will get there.

Before Somnambula could ask, she saw a silver thread of light shoot out of the Rapture and snake its way across the landscape to a spot a few yards away. Somnambula quickly ran, following the thread towards the spot where the voice said she would be able to leave, however, when she got halfway, she stopped. The Rapture glowed dimly, she looked to her left and saw a man all by himself amongst the riches. He seemed to be trying to get to where the fighting was happening, but he looked emaciated, his arms too weak to push his weight no matter how much he tried.

With her new vision, Somnambula was able to see a blue glow within the gray soul. It drew her to him, and, carefully, she spoke to the man, “What happened to you?”

The soul glared down at her, prepared to attack her for trying to take what was his. But something clicked in the soul’s greed idled mind, seeing a frightened young girl in Hell was so out of place that it snapped him to his senses. “What are you doing here? Even you’re too young to have garnered enough sin to wind up here.”

“I’m just trying to get back home…why do you look so sad?” she asked.

The soul scoffed. “Sad? Why would I be sad when I’m surrounded by vast amounts of gold! No, if anything, I’m angry at these cretins for trying to take it from me! Once I get this thing over, I’ll kill them all and take what’s mine!”

“No, you are sad…I…I can feel it. You weren’t all bad, were you?”

The soul didn’t know why he felt compelled to speak to this girl, but, for some reason, he felt that he must. “Not everyone is born bad, girl. Sometimes we just make bad choices or are given no choices other than bad ones, and we take the lesser of the evils. But even then, the lesser evils pile up after a while. I wanted to make money, because I was tired of living in squalor, of seeing my family have to live in such conditions. So, I rose up, took what I needed, backstabbing, wheeling and dealing, and made so much money that I barely knew what to do with it. Along the way though…I lost sight of why I did it in the first place.”

Somnambula felt sorry for the man, his intentions started out good, but he got swallowed up by the greed. “You must’ve done something worthwhile with all that money? Something that even you can be proud of?”

A ghost of a smile appeared upon the soul’s lips. “I left my money to my Momma and my sisters…don’t know if they took it or not, probably didn’t want to associate with me anymore. But I don’t care, if it means they get to live better than what we used to, then whatever.”

Somnambula was moved by the man’s story, and believed it wasn’t fair. Did he do some bad things, yes, but it didn’t start as something bad. He genuinely cared about his family, and even in the end he made sure to take care of them. The Rapture began to glow with a blue light, that same blue light traveled towards her right hand and formed a sphere of ethereal blue light. Somnambula looked at the orb and then at the one in the center of his chest, she then pushed that orb into his chest and the man took a deep breath, as if being allowed to breathe for the first time.

A portal of heavenly light appeared above him, shattering his shackles and breaking the boulder, symbolizing his release from the hellscape. He began to rise higher and higher towards the light, his shock and amazement evident on his face. Somnambula followed his ascension and smiled, she could see the light, feel its warmth and comfort, and knew that this was the light of Heaven.

“Thank you…” he spoke before his body completely disappeared into the light.

Somnambula, her side work done, ran the path the thread showed her. She reached a spot that was free of the gold, it looked like a tunnel that led further down into the depths. The thread went to a point on the side of the tunnel, and once she reached that point, the Rapture glowed and transformed her body into mist that evaporated and left Hell altogether.

~*~*~*~

“I reappeared back in my home before I realized it. I told my parents where my beloved was, and thankfully, the authorities were able to capture the kidnappers, but he was long dead. It was then I realized that some souls, while they have earned their spots in Hell, not all were deserving. Some were just never given the chance or started out good and made bad choices along the way. Those who are truly repentant, those who still hope for a better life, the Rapture shows them to me. Not only that, but it guides me in my actions.”

“So that’s how you’re able to fight blindfolded,” said Fluttershy.

Somnambula nodded. “The physical world gets in the way of the spiritual, in that sense, all distractions are swept away, and the truth is revealed. That’s how I can see your actions coming, but I believe you can do this too.”

Fluttershy shook her head in disbelief. “Me?! H-How?! I don’t possess the Rapture.”

“True, but I think it has less to do with our Artifacts, and more to do with our senses and faith. You who are most closely related to God, might be able to do this as well, to see the spiritual and let it guide you. Would you like to try?” Somnambula asked as she held out the cloth blindfold.

“I would, but that belongs to you, to someone you cared about,” said Fluttershy.

“And I care about you too, you are like the child I never had, and if something happened, I would like you to have it, along with the Rapture.” Somnambula touched the double barred cross on her chest. “In your hands, I believe it will be a powerful ally.”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy took the cloth and tied it around her eyes. “R-Ready when you are, Teacher.”

“So, what did you find out, Adagio?” Aria, Sonata, Adagio, and Suri, were sitting the RV in a different part of town. “Is this other Sunset a threat?”

Adagio went into detail about the goings on at Crystal Prep, Suri chimed in here and there to add context since she was a student there and was able to confirm a lot of things that Adagio gathered. Even the bits about Twilight Sparkle, Suri was surprised that this Sunset Shimmer managed to usurp the social order in the school and for some reason was dating that nerd. Admittedly, Sunset Shimmer was hot, so she assumed this other one was too, so it baffled her that such a person would date a whimpering, four-eyed, doormat like Twilight.

“Jeez, I’d take suffering in CHS over that place any day,” Aria commented.

“Speaking of what did you find out while you were there?” Adagio asked.

“Forutnately, keeping my hood up managed to keep me from being spotted. Had some close calls, but overall, I managed to get some info.”

Aria told them about the “Anon-A-Miss” incident and how the school was practically bullying Sunset for revenge. Something that Aria noticed got a small smile at out of Adagio and Suri. They were surprised to hear that she had been shot but survived, somehow. And apparently, she was dating the hyperactive one of their group, Pinkie Pie.

“Huh, really would’ve thought she would be jumping the princess pony?” Sonata thought out loud.

“Technically speaking, she is if you count the human version,” Aria pointed out.

“Tell me something, Suri,” Adagio looked to her left where Suri was leaning against a cupboard. “This Indigo Zap, is it true she has a thing for Twilight?”

Suri scoffed. “Like you wouldn’t believe, m’kay? Despite what everyone else in the school, me included, has done to her, Indigo’s gone waaaaaay further. She’d corner the girl in a classroom and diddle her until either she got off or she made Sparkle spasm. I actually walked in on one of her sessions with Sparkle in the locker room, everyone was gone, but I forgot my cellphone in my locker. I managed to get it, but on my way out I was treated to a little show in the showers.”

Aria’s eyebrow twitched. “Fucking hell, the bitch is rapist?! Jeez…”

Suri shrugged it off. “Whatever, it’s probably more action than that little nerd will ever get in her life.”

“Besides, Aria, when I get my hands on Shimmer, it’s not as if we won’t be lumped in that category by the time we’re done with her,” Adagio added with a sinister grin. “Getting to Twilight Sparkle may be a good way of getting at this human Sunset Shimmer. Do you think this Indigo Zap would be willing to partner with us?”

Suri hummed in thought. “She might, if I know that twisted bitch, she probably sees Sunset as an enemy that needs to be gotten rid of.”

Adagio chuckled as she said, “Believe me, she does, if you saw the look of death that was in her eyes, it could’ve killed thousands.”

“Then I’d say our chances are good.”

“Wait, I thought it was just going to be us! Isn’t it dangerous to bring in someone else? Especially someone who doesn’t know about magic and stuff?” Sonata questioned.

Adagio, who had Pandora’s Box in her lap, ran her hand over the two empty spaces on the lid. “Call me crazy, but I think she has something we need to pull off our revenge, and I definitely believe that this other Crystal Prep Sunset will be the same way. Although she may be more reluctant.”

Aria scoffed at this idea, but it was better than just rushing in. “Alright, but we still don’t know anything about this Witchblade or Ember. All we know is what the samurai chick here told us, but we don’t know the most important thing, their identities!”

Adagio growled, that was one variant she couldn’t account for. The heroes could come in and stop them at any point and they would not show mercy to them, if what Suri told them about their fighting style was any indication. They do not mess around; they will kill us if they believe us to be a major threat to this city. And considering what this little thing can do, we’d definitely be on their radar. Then there’s the possibility that they know that Pandora’s Box is coming or is out there, our first use of this wasn’t exactly subtle…

“For now, let us concentrate on getting this Indigo Zap onto our side. I’ll confront her myself tomorrow and see what deal I can strike with her.”

Sun laid in her bed, staring up at her ceiling as she tried to figure out how best to apologize to Twilight for keeping Indigo’s powers a secret. Sugarcoat was right, she was hiding a lot from her girlfriend, but she was so close to her goal that she couldn’t allow anything to stop her. But lately, Sun was starting to have doubts about her plans. Was it really worth it in the end? She had a fantastically cute and nerdy girlfriend, a big sister who was herself from a parallel world, the love and approval of said girlfriend’s parents and that of her big sister’s guardian. Friends, although they were her sister’s friends, they were still just as willing to call her their friend.

So why was it so important to do all of this? To keep the secret? To keep going; was it really so bad to just keep what she had and be grateful?

No…they have to pay, plus, I can make things better.

“Knock, knock.” Sun turned her head to the left and saw Sunset in the doorway. “What’s up, little Sis, still in hot water with Twilight?”

Sun sighed and stared back up at the ceiling. “Yeah…kinda.”

Sunset walked over and sat on the edge. “Anything I can do to help?”

Sun briefly glanced at her big sister for a moment, a voice in the back of her head urged her to spill her guts to her, to tell Sunset everything that was going on. But that voice was quickly quashed. “Not really…this is something I need to deal with between Sparky and me. It’s my mess and I’ll clean it up.”

Sunset ruffled her little sister’s hair playfully. “You don’t need to do everything on your own, you got me and the girls.”

“Heh…you know, Sweets said the same thing to me. That I like to do things alone,” said Sunset remorsefully.

“Well, she’s right, ‘cause I was like that. Didn’t think I needed anyone at all, I believed that if I didn’t earn it on my own, it was worthless. But then I got a rainbow laser shoved up my ass and some friends, and that changed a lot of things. But I don’t recommend going that route.”

Sun chuckled as she turned to the side to face Sunset. “Oh, I don’t know, you look like you loved it. Y’know, getting up the ass and all.”

Sunset shoved Sun onto her back, “Fuck you, you little pervert!” she exclaimed in mock anger.

“Pot meet kettle.”

Sunset shrugged. “Touché.” The Equestrian got up and began walking to the door. “Still, I’ve been through a lot, you can always come to me if you need to talk. I mean, I am your big sister after all.”

Sunset nodded with a smile. “Yeah, thank you. If I bomb with my idea, I’ll come to you.”

Sunset gave her little sister a thumbs up and exited the room. Along the way, Sunset thought to stop at Twilight’s room and have a talk with her, but she knew she needed to let them fix whatever was wrong in their relationship. Feeling nostalgic, Sunset went back to her room and took out the journal she used to communicate with Princess Twilight. She cracked open the book and turned to a blank page, took a pen, and began writing.

Dear Princess Twilight,

How are things over there? It’s been a while since I last wrote you, and I’m sorry about that. Things have been kinda hectic around her lately.

Anyway, write me back when you get the chance.

Almost as soon as Sunset finished jotting down her message, she got a reply.

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

It’s great to hear from you! Things have been busy on my end too; I don’t even know where to begin. But, anyway, what’s been going on in your part of the universe?

Well, I have gotten closer to my counterpart here, to the point that we pretty much adopted each other as the other’s sister, I’m the big sister by the way.

Aww, that’s great! Being a sibling is a wonderful thing, I love my big brother, and I’m sure your counterpart feels the same way.

Yeah, we’ve gotten along really well in these past month and weeks. I didn’t realize how much I missed having a family, but now that I have Sun (that’s what I call her to differentiate us) and Principal Celestia, Luna, Pinkie, my friends, I kinda feel scared…

Why’s that?

Because now I feel as if I have more to lose…and there are times when I wonder if I’m strong enough to face whatever threat looms on the horizon? Will I be able to keep those I love safe from whatever comes at us?

……I know exactly how you feel. Despite all the adventures my friends and I have been on, I still constantly worry if this will be the last one. If whatever plan I put together will keep us safe. And that was before I became an alicorn, now as a Princess, I have to make decisions that not only affect my friends, but also many other ponies. But don’t worry, just like me, you can make some things just work out.

So long as we have our friends, right?

Now you’re catching on.

Sunset chuckled, but then a thought came to mind.

Hey, I had a hypothetical question to ask.

Oooh, hypotheticals are always fun. What’s your question?

Say you and I were marefriends, and I did or said something that made you not talk to me for a few days. Is there anything you could think of that would patch things up?

For a couple of minutes there was no response, Sunset wondered if Princess Twilight had to use the little filly’s room.

Twilight, you there?

S-Sorry, sorry! I just got a little flustered by the question.

Heh, heh, thinking dirty thoughts, Twi?

NO!

Hey, no judgment. And I wouldn’t exactly be opposed to bringing you in, even Pinkie’s been teasing that she might be into including you.

Sunset, you…ugh…do you get some kind of sick pleasure out of teasing me?!

Oh, absolutely I do.

Wow, not even hiding it…………Well, assuming that whatever happened that caused us to fight wasn’t something like sexual harassment–

Sunset chuckled.

–then I guess it would take me time to process it. But as far how to make up for it…I’m not sure. From what you’ve told me has happened to my human counterpart, I can’t imagine what I myself would do in that situation. That kind of thing didn’t happen to me in Celestia’s School. But if it’s you, I know whatever we said or did wouldn’t be enough to make me hate you, mad maybe, but not hate. I can’t really hold a grudge, but I can only say that about myself as I am. Circumstances can change a pony.

That’s the truth. Thanks anyway, Twi.

No problem, what are friends for?

On that note, any chance you wanna hop on over? I don’t think it’ll take much convincing to get Pinkie onboard.

Sunset, has anypony ever told you you’re a pervert?

Almost everyone. Yes.