The Witchblade EqG: The 13 Artifacts

A FEW MINUTES EARLIER…

Sonata had held out the cell phone away from her ear when Adagio went on her rant. Then came the brief smashing sound and the line went silent. The blue Siren sighed in dismay that her big sister was still gung-ho about exacting her revenge on Sunset Shimmer, sure she didn’t like Sunset and her friends either, but this was going too far, especially with Pandora’s Box.

“I take it that the call didn’t go so well?” Tempest asked from the booth.

“Gee, what do you think,” said Aria in a snide tone.

“So, to make sure we have this all clear. Your sister is planning to kidnap Twilight Sparkle and use her as leverage to get Sun’s magic necklace, and at the same time, use her as leverage against Sunset to try and get her to tell you how it is she came to this world. But the two others she’s teaming up with is the chick who’s wielding Blood Sword, and some teen from Crystal Prep, who has a magic ice necklace, who’s apparently a freakin’ stalker and wants to take Sparkle. Wow, and now you guys think this has gone too far?”

Aria rolled her eyes as she growled. “I don’t need someone like you trying to guilt trip us! We’re hundreds of years older than anyone in this whole stinkin’ world! We’ve seen and done things that you can’t even begin to think about, so don’t go treating us like we’re just some couple of punk kids!” Aria took a deep breath and calmed herself before she completely went off on Tempest. “Look…you can’t even imagine what we’ve lost, our home, our magic, our sense of worth, and our original bodies! Forced to live in a world that’s not your own, on the fringes, knowing that if you don’t feed off enough negative emotional energy you’ll die. We’ve survived this long together, with Adagio, we trust one another, we’re sisters. But sometimes we need to kick the other one in the ass to get them to see how fucked up something is.”

“This would be one of those times, we got caught up in all of this…but we knew that that Pandora’s Box thing was evil, even for us!” Sonata stated. “Dagi’s been pissed before, but now…I think she might actually hurt a whole lot of people to just get to Sunset Shimmer!”

Tempest clenched her fist, they needed to get to Equestria Land soon. Just then her cellphone went off, Tempest took it out and saw that it was Daring Do who was calling her. “Daring, what’s up? You find anything out on this ‘Pandora’s Box’ thing in your big ass library?”

{…It’s nothing good, in fact, it’s really bad. You must get Pandora’s Box away from this girl you talked about, as fast as possible!}

Tempest held the phone away from her head and looked at it with shock. “That bad…? Hold on, let me put you on speaker.” Tempest pressed the speaker button on her phone and said, “Okay, so why is it so dangerous, why the warning?”

{I’ve dug deep into the legends regarding Pandora’s Box, it’s not as rosy as the Greek mythos say. Not that it was to begin with. The truth of the matter is, Pandora was the protector of the box, she was hope. The box was crafted by the goddess of chaos, Eris, inside of it was concentrated mayhem and destruction, released whenever the owner of the box sings its Song of Destruction.}

Sonata and Aria’s eyes widened upon hearing this revelation.

{However, the Box’s power is tempered, it requires something called the “Keys”. On its own, the Box is powerful and deadly, but if the Keys are placed upon it, the Box will open completely, and unleash total chaos on the world, it will begin locally, but then spread outwards throughout the world, and eventually through the cosmos if it isn’t closed. The problem is, the Box has a kind of influence that reacts to negative emotions, the stronger these emotions are, the more the holder of the Box will want to open it and complete its opening.}

“Shit…So basically this thing can end the world,” Tempest summed up.

{I’m afraid so.}

“What about these ‘Keys’, are they on the Box or what?” Aria asked from the driver’s seat.

{Who’s that?}

“Don’t worry about it Daring, tell us, what kind of Keys are we looking for?” Tempest asked.

{It’s not very specific, it just says “the Fire of Life and Ice of Death will open the doors to Pandemonium”. Whatever these keys are, they’re something that represents fire and ice.}

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“Keys of fire and ice…Sun’s Ember Stone!” Tempest exclaimed.

“And that jock’s Glacier Stone!” Aria added.

“Oh no, we’ve been had! This whole time that Box’s been wanting us to come here, to get to the Keys! And we just put them all in the same place!” Sonata stated.

“Shit, shit! Daring, is there a way to stop the Box once it’s been opened?!”

{I really hope you’re joking about that, because there’s only been one time that ever happened. Pandora’s strong hope was eventually eroded by Eris’ trickery and influence, against the wishes of the gods, and she ended up locating the Keys and opening it. Chaos spread across the land, death and destruction raining down upon like a heavy rain. It spoke of a heroine that managed to put an end to it, one of Greek Mythology’s few female demigod heroes. She managed to stop the chaos, but at a price…}

Suddenly, Aria punched the accelerator and made the RV lurch forward, blowing through one stoplight after the other.

“Whoa, take it easy, we wanna get there in one piece!” Sonata yelped.

“One-piece ain’t gonna mean shit if the worst-case scenario happens!”

Sunset, Sun, I really hope you got some kind of plan or figured something out!

“It just didn’t make sense?! How did we keep missing every! Single! Shot!?!” Sunset griped as she and Twilight sat down at a table.

“I know…” Twilight agreed in dismay. “All my calculations, all of it, it meant nothing?! Is…Is this real life?!”

Both teenagers groaned heavily, but after a moment, they started laughing at how hard they tried to beat the simple game to no avail. When they were done, Twilight reached out with her right hand and took Sunset’s hand into her own. “Well, despite that, I’m having a really great time, Sunset.”

Sunset smiled back at her girlfriend and replied, “I’m happy you are. You deserve to have fun after everything you’ve been through, and what you’ve been through because of being near me.”

Twilight shrugged. “True, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love being around you, I love being with you, and this first date is turning out to be the best.”

The fiery haired teen chuckled. “So far, but the day’s still young. And tonight, we can see the night parade!”

“I can’t wait, in the meantime, is there another ride you want to go on?” Twilight asked.

“Well, if you’re feeling a little daring, then maybe we could hit up the Cloudsdale Rainbow Rail?”

Sunset pointed her finger in the direction of the largest rollercoaster in the park, Twilight followed that finger and gulped when she saw the monstrosity of loops, shoots, and dives. Faux clouds decorated steel rails that were colored like a rainbow, the rollercoaster cars were blue in color, with yellow lightning bolt decorations on the sides, and of course, along with all this, Twilight could hear the faint screams of the people who were riding it.

Even though she was feeling tense just looking at it, Twilight’s face became one of determination. “Okay, I’ll do it!”

“Again, Sparky, you don’t have to,” Sunset reassured.

“If I can handle you’re sports car, I think I can handle that,” Twilight countered. “I’ll just use the restroom first and we’ll head on that way. Don’t want that monster to cause any…unnecessary accidents.”

“Hmm, kinky,” Sunset commented.

Twilight’s face blushed as she furrowed her brow. “Oh, shut up you pervert!”

Sunset shrugged it off and chuckled as Twilight turned around and headed towards the restroom. The teenage genius did at least smile halfway towards the lavatory, yes, her girlfriend could be perverted and make salacious innuendos, but even so, she wouldn’t change a thing about her. Sunset could crack such jokes, but she knew where to draw the line and never did anything untoward Twilight.

Perhaps…Sugarcoat was right, I’ve become distrusting. Even when it comes to someone who’s done so much for me.

Twilight entered the restroom and headed into a stall. Unknown to her, someone else had followed her, going into a separate stall. After a minute, Twilight emerged from her stall and began washing her hands, she looked herself in the mirror and smiled as she thought fondly of Sunset. This really was the perfect thing to take her mind off everything, a first real date for her, and nothing could sour today. Twilight’s attention was divided when she saw one of the other stall doors begin to open, and when it did, she paused.

“Hey, Twilight.”

The teenage genius froze when she saw the image of Indigo Zap in the mirror. This couldn’t be real, it was just a hallucination, a trick of her paranoia. Twilight, against her better judgement, slowly turned around and realized that it wasn’t a trick of her mind, Indigo Zap was in fact standing there. The bespectacled teen gripped the sink as she backed up into it, gulping down hard as she tried to tamp down her fear.

“I-Indigo! W-What are you doing here?!” Twilight demanded. “Did…Did you follow us here?!”

Indigo rubbed the back of her head; she at least had the decency to look ashamed. “Look, Twilight, I didn’t mean to follow you in here, but it was the only place I knew I could get you alone.”

Twilight’s brow creased in indignation. “Are…Are you that desperate to violate me that you’ll stalk me all the way into an amusement park bathroom?! Is there nothing you won’t do to put your hands on me?!” The teen genius hugged herself as she bit at her lower lip. “Fine…just do whatever you want, but after this, please, just leave me alone!”

Indigo had a hurt look on her face, it seemed that her words cut deep, for whatever reason Twilight couldn’t fathom. “I…I deserve that…I’ve done a few things to you that…in hindsight…maybe you weren’t ready for. I was overzealous…it’s just…you’re just perfect, Twilight. You’re the best, and you don’t give yourself enough credit for it! Those assholes at the school…they’re just jealous of you! I know I’m one of them…I haven’t done all I could to protect you, to be the ideal girlfriend. But it’s not too late!” Indigo moved closer as she extended her hand towards Twilight. “I can be the girl you want me to be, protective, supportive, whatever you want! I’d do anything for you Twilight!”

“Then please leave me alone! If you really care about me, then you’ll respect me enough to do that for me! I’m happy with Sunset Shimmer, I trust her, I…I lov–!”

“DON’T!” Indigo interrupted as her face contorted into anger. “Just don’t say that! Don’t say you love her! I know you don’t! She’s dangerous, Twilight! Did you know that we fought each other a week ago and that she almost killed me?!”

Twilight didn’t seem fazed. “ I know because Sunset told me. Yes, she lied to me about that at first, but she apologized and told me the truth. And considering that you have the Glacier Stone, I’d say excessive force was warranted with your actions! Can you truly tell me that your intentions weren’t the same?!”

Indigo opened her mouth to rebut the argument, but stopped, realizing that Twilight had a point. Her intention was to kill Sunset Shimmer that night, so killing Indigo back was basically self-defense at that point. But Indigo couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to it than that. “Did she tell you that she was looking for my Glacier Stone?! Why would she be looking for it when she has own magical necklace?! ‘Cause the other reason she was going to kill me was to get the Glacier Stone!”

“I don’t know what her intentions are, but if it’s to keep it from falling into unstable hands, then fine!” Twilight stated.

“You gotta trust me, Twilight, somethin’ ain’t right with her!” Indigo insisted.

“I could say the same about you! But at least I know where I stand with Sunset! I’m done with this, if you’re going to rape me again, then get it over with! Otherwise, I’m leaving and I’m going back to my date!” Twilight began to walk towards the door, but before she could get too close to it, the entire entrance was covered in a wall of thick ice. “Indigo!”

“Twilight, this is for your own good. You don’t realize that now, but trust me, everything I’m doing, is to protect you from her! I can show you that I’m better than her! Then…Then you’ll love me, it’ll take time but I’m willing to put in the work!” Indigo raised her right hand towards Twilight, making the teen flinch. “Don’t worry, my ice won’t make you cold, but it will protect you. Trust me, there’s some things that are about to go down here in the park and I don’t want you hurt.”

Before Twilight could ask what Indigo meant, diamond hard ice surrounded her, placing her into a pod with small holes that allowed air to pass through. Twilight beat her fists against the ice, but only succeeded in making her hands sore.

“Indigo Zap, let me go!” Twilight demanded.

“Sorry, but like I said, this is for your own good. Now I just need to–”

A powerful explosion erupted from the entrance of the restrooms, causing Indigo to raise her right arm up to protect her eyes. A cloud of steam formed within the space, obscuring the entrance for a moment before the one responsible made themselves known.

“I swear to god, I thought you’d be smarter than this, Indigo.” From the steam cloud emerged Sunset Shimmer. Her eyes having changed color from turquoise to bright orange as flames flicked in the corners of her eyes, along with the embers dancing around her hands. “Any other time, I’d simply just kick your ass and leave you in pain on the floor. But you decided to come here, interrupt our date, and…” Sunset glanced over at the ice prison Twilight was in. “And you imprisoned my girlfriend! Oh, now I’m straight up going to kill you, no more ifs, ands, or buts! This ends today!”

Indigo narrowed her gaze as her Glacier Stone began to shine brighter. “You wanna go, fine, I’ve been itching to finally settle the score with you!”

Sunset smirked at her boasting. “Did you forget how I totally pwned you during our first fight? I think we established that I’ve got more experience than you when it comes to wielding magical power.”

“Maybe, but let’s just say I have an edge over you today.”

Sunset’s Ember Stone shined brighter in direct correlation to Indigo’s Glacier Stone, Twilight saw this from her ice prison, seeing the intensifying look of murder between them, along with the blue and orange auras coming off them respectively, Twilight knew that this wasn’t going to end well.

“Both of you stop! We’re in an amusement park! There are families here, children! If you fight here, you might end up killing innocent people!” Twilight pleaded.

“Sorry, Twilight, but sometimes you can’t always pick where you’ll fight,” said Indigo.

“Unfortunately, I agree with her. But I promise, Sparky, I’ll keep the casualties as close to zero as I can,” Sunset replied.

Before another word could be uttered, fire and ice exploded inside the restroom. A giant wall of ice rose into air at the same time as flames blasted against it. The restroom building was destroyed as debris went flying in several directions, all while the unsuspecting park patrons screamed and ran in a panic, scattering in any direction they could to avoid the destruction that took place. From the ruins of the building, two figures jumped out of it, one was Sunset Shimmer, now transformed into her fire state, and the other was Indigo, having entered her ice form. Indigo had Twilight’s ice prison in tow, having it hover a few feet away from her as it followed her.

Sunset willed dozens of fireballs to form around her, and with a wave of her hand, she launched them. The fireballs all locked onto Indigo, not a one deviating from its course, Indigo created a blizzard barrier around herself, just as the fireballs made contact. Multiple explosions took place in the sky one after the other, creating a cloud of smoke that hid the icemancer from view. Sunset used her power to create flame jets at the soles of her feet, allowing her to hover in the air as she waited to see what had become of her target.

As if to answer the question, ice spears came blasting out of the smoke in rapid fire succession. Sunset created fire a barrier to block them, the intense heat managed to make the ice spears explode on impact without ever even penetrating the barrier. The steam cloud that it generated managed to create another cloud that obscured her vision, but Sunset remained alert. However, at the last second, Sunset was barreled into, sending her plummeting to the ground. Sunset landed hard against the ground with a powerful crashing sound that fractured the concrete and stone pathway, when she managed to get her bearings, Sunset noticed that it was Indigo who had body slammed her.

The ice wielder created spiked ice gauntlets and began wailing on Sunset, striking her in the face many times as she gave a loud battle cry. With each successive hit, glowing orange ichor was spilled onto the ground, the hissing sound that it made on contact gave the impression that it was as if her blood had become molten lava. Indigo raised her fists up into the air, put them together, and formed an ice hammer to bring down on Sunset’s head. However, before that could happen, Sunset’s hands caught on fire, and from them sprang two fire tendrils that slithered forth and pierced the jock in the chest and stomach.

Indigo spat up blue blood, which when it made contact with the ground, turned into a patch of ice. The hissing sound of Indigo’s ice body being penetrated by Sunset’s fire tendrils echoed harshly in the air as the icemancer grunted in pain from having been impaled. The tendrils shot forth and forced Indigo off Sunset, sending the jock careening into a game stall. Sunset sat up, the damage to her face already healed as she shot a fierce glare in Indigo’s direction. Before she could do any more with the tendrils, Indigo created an ice ax that she used to cut the tendrils off her. Now released from the impalement, the tendrils fizzled out, leaving two gaping holes in her body. The ice that formed her body quickly grew to close the wounds before they could pose a problem.

“Heh, I’ll admit, you’ve gotten a little better,” said Sunset.

“Did you think I was just sitting on my ass this whole time?!” Indigo questioned.

“No, which is good, it won’t be nearly as much fun if I just end up beating you without a small challenge. Plus, it’ll be that much more satisfying when you realize that no matter what you do, this’ll end the same way. With you dead!”

“FUCK YOU!!! I’M NOT HOLDING BACK ANYTHING! EITHER YOU DIE OR I DIE HERE TODAY!”

A blast of icy energy raged from Indigo, the ground beneath her began to turn to pure ice as Indigo gathered more and more power to her. A blizzard whirlwind was kicked up around the area, freezing over multiple stalls and some of the nearby rides. Sunset created a fire barrier to protect herself against the buffeting force of whatever it was that Indigo was attempting to do. Sunset watched as Indigo’s body expanded, growing bigger and bigger as the snowstorm she generated grew in direct correlation to this event.

Heh, so it looks like Indigo discovered how to tap into the primal form of the Glacier Stone. If nothing else, this will be fun, Sunset thought.

Indigo’s body was covered in bright blue light, but once she had reached her full thirty-meter height the blue light shattered into particles that revealed Indigo’s Glacier Stone primal form. Her body had white diamond hard ice armor that covered certain parts of her body, her forearms were completely coated in ice, with the digits sharpened to claws, while three rows of spikes covered the top part of her forearms. The ice armor around her shoulders was jagged and sharp, the tips of the jagged edges seemed to glow with the same bright blue energy that was released before. More ice armor coated her legs, covering up to her knees, with the feet forming five-digit talons that dug into the ice it created.

The ice armor formed around her waist, and on the back of it formed a segmented tail that had sharp spines, with the end of the tail forming a spiked mace. Indigo’s chest was coated in the diamond ice, with the Glacier Stone right at the center and glowing bright. Indigo’s hair had grown out, now it was shoulder length and glowed with the same bright blue energy. Her face seemed to have changed to, as if she had aged a bit to give herself a more mature look, and her eyes were now pools of bright blue light that pulsated with the same as the Glacier Stone. The exposed parts of her skin were navy blue and sparkled in the sunlight like freshly driven snow.

“You ready to die?!” Indigo announced.

Sunset merely smirked as her own body was engulfed in flames. The flames grew bigger, melting away the ice that had formed and created a huge wave of water, but not long after that the water evaporated into steam. With the flames died down, Sunset had become Dragon Shimmer, her draconic form matching the height and size of her counterpart, now stared her down. Dragon Shimmer unleashed a ferocious roar that shook the area, at the same time, Titan Zap unleashed her own battle roar, a primal roar that sounded like a human from ancient times before speech and civilized communication was adopted.

Without any more words spoken, the two behemoths charged for each other. They crashed mightily into one another, creating a powerful shockwave that flattened many stalls and shook the foundations of the nearby rides. What happened next was a battle of titanic beings, smashing, clawing, biting, everything was lost in a blur of primal fury as their respective Artifacts glowed brighter, urging them to fight on, for they were each other’s sworn enemy and eternal rival.

A COUPLE OF MINUTES EARLIER…

Rarity had told Applejack that she’d be alright alone with Vignette, but…she was starting to feel less confident about that as time went on. She threw herself into the work, giving orders and directing others as she needed. The entire crew was at her beck and call as Rarity got everything together and was becoming increasingly satisfied with the work that was getting done. Vignette was adding in her suggestions and opinions on Rarity’s work, all of which she took to heart, making modifications where she could. Despite Rarity being brought in to assist with the project it was still, overall, Vignette’s project.

Which wouldn’t be a bad thing, but Vignette’s constant…flirting, didn’t help matters. Rarity had always been told she could be a real tease most of the time, by both sexes, but it wasn’t like she was doing it on purpose, not all the time, it was just how she was. However, when it came to Vignette, it was wholly intentional. She would bat her eyes, place a hand over hers, letting it linger for longer than what was appropriate, and then there was the occasional ogling of her rear and assists. Normally Rarity didn’t mind it when she was the center of attention, but being in a relationship, and with a girl as caring and sweet as Applejack, it just made Rarity feel…dirty.

In order to get some more work done, she headed into one of the offices to quickly sketch out an idea to bring to the rest of the design team, they only had a few hours to get everything right and Rarity was determined to make her contribution to this project, Vignette’s unwanted advances or not. Rarity took out her cellphone for a moment, she scrolled through a few selfies she took of her and her paramour. One of which was a bit risqué.

It featured Applejack and herself on their first night together. Rarity was holding the camera in her outstretched arm, Rarity’s hair was a bit frazzled, but even so she still looked, in her words, “fabulous”, Applejack was lying next to her, the farmgirl’s freckled face was red with embarrassment as Rarity snuggled up next to her. Both had the blanket covering their upper halves, leaving their heads and shoulders exposed, some of the blanket had fallen away from Rarity and gave a little show of her bosom, while Applejack tried to keep one hand clutching at the blanket from having the same happen to her.

For such a rough and tomboyish girl, she could be quite bashful and self-conscious when in such a situation. Not that Applejack had anything not to be proud of, she had taken her friends’ measurements before, but now, within the context of being a couple, she was able to better appreciate Applejack’s figure. Her wide hips – “childbearing hips” if she remembered the term correctly – the ample, rugged muscle that had formed due to years of hard work on her family’s farm, the delicate curve of her breasts that were spackled with her adorable freckles, her deep emerald eyes, and luscious golden locks, she was true beauty.

Rarity chuckled when she remembered a tale her amore told her, about running away to Manehattan to live with their relatives, the Oranges. They were high society people, much like the kind of people that Rarity wanted to associate with, and at one point, Applejack wanted to be just like that, believing that farm life was not for her and that her time was better spent learning how to be fanciful, and dedicated to higher learning. However, while Applejack took to the teachings and society like a fish to water, it didn’t make her happy, mostly because she didn’t like how – in her words – fake she was around other people. Having to pretend to like someone or something, deceiving or placating another, it just wasn’t her, not for an honest girl like Applejack. And after about half a year, Applejack realized that her true home, where she was really happy, was on the farm back in Canterlot City.

It was nice to know that, if she ever needed to, Applejack could fit the role of a high society girl. According to the cowgirl, despite not wanting to go back to that kind of lifestyle, she admitted that the lessons never really left her, she was a diligent learner after all. Of course, Rarity would never subject her girlfriend to that if she could help it but depending upon the circles that Rarity was surely to join in the future, it helped to know that her girlfriend would be able to “turn on the fancy” and meld into the crowd like she could.

Rarity blushed as she just realized she thought about herself and Applejack’s futures together. In all honesty, she wanted to continue this relationship for as long as possible, finding that she was enjoying Applejack’s company a lot more than she herself understood at first. Perhaps she had always fancied Applejack, perhaps her friend’s confession of closet incest with her older brother was just the catalyst that she needed to take that first step into a relationship that both didn’t know they needed. Whatever the case was, Rarity was happy.

Just then, a knock came at the office door. Rarity quickly put the phone down and went back to her sketch as she said, “Come in.”

When the door opened, her mood dipped slightly when she saw Vignette Valencia enter the office space. “Rarity, so this is where you scurried off to.”

“Sorry, Vignette, but I needed a quiet place to sketch out my idea before I brought it to the rest of the team. I didn’t mean to just leave you like that,” said Rarity.

“It’s quite alright, Rarity, we creative types do need to retreat to a quiet place once in a while in order for our more creative sides to come out.” Vignette walked around the desk that Rarity was sitting at and looked over Rarity’s shoulder at the work she was doing. “Very nice, Rarity. I knew I made the right choice bringing you onto our crew.”

“Thank you, Vignette, I can’t tell you how happy I am to be on this design team,” said Rarity.

Vignette leaned forward a bit and placed her right hand on Rarity’s left shoulder, gently squeezing and rubbing it. “Perhaps, when this is over, I can show you how appreciative I am.”

Rarity decided enough was enough, she needed to – politely – put her foot down. “Vignette, I take it that you fancy me quite a bit.”

“Guess I haven’t been that subtle, have I?” Vignette admitted.

“No, no you haven’t.”

“Sorry, it’s just been so hard to find a girl – anyone really – who has the same kind of creative flare as I do, and one that can additionally catch my eye,” Vignette explained.

Rarity reached over with her right hand and gently pried Vignette’s off her shoulder. “I appreciate that you think so highly of me, Vignette, and I can’t thank you enough for bringing me onto your design team. However, I must respectively ask that you discontinue your actions thus far, please.” The young fashionista looked up at Vignette. “As I’ve stated before, I am in a relationship with my girlfriend. A very happy relationship, and I’d rather not ruin it.”

Vignette smirked as she walked from behind the desk and sat at the edge in front of it. “You mean that country girl, right? I understand that girls like her are nice and all, I’ve had a few private encounters with some before. Good for a nice romp, but ultimately, that’s about all they’re good for.”

“Pardon me, what are you insinuating?”

“That girl, Apple-whatever, she gets the job done in bed, but not much else. Rarity, girls like her hardly amount to much else other than toiling in the fields and getting dirty for a low amount of pay and hardly any gratitude,” said Vignette. “What you see is what you get, she won’t go any further than what she is now. For people like us, she’s a weight, a hinderance some would say. Sure, they can lure you into the whole simple lifestyle, and it looks nice at first, but in the end, you will crave the better, you’ll want more than a little dirt farm can offer. And it’ll tear you apart. She can’t adapt and change like we can, shift on the spot when the latest social media craze hits the net, or when the next trends in the fashion world come up. She will just remain the same.”

Rarity looked down at her sketch as she listened to Vignette’s words. There was a bit of truth in those words, as much as she didn’t want to admit it. It was true, one day, Rarity would go away to the best fashion design schools in France, learning at the feet of the masters and honing her skills against other would-be contenders in the fashion world. However, what would Applejack be doing? What were her goals in life? Surely running her family’s farm wasn’t all she wanted in her life. Big Macintosh was able-bodied enough, and surely had enough business sense that he could run the farm on his own. It shouldn’t take all three of the siblings to run the farm, as much pride as they had in it, there was still much more Applejack could do, much more that Apple Bloom could do as well.

But if Vignette was right, then Applejack would always remain the way she was. That’s when she smiled. “I don’t see a problem with her not being able to change.”

Vignette turned her head and raised an eyebrow. “How do you figure?”

“It’s as you said, Vignette, in our profession, we have to adapt and change, see into the future, practically become oracles to see how the future portends to our industry. Changing and adapting constantly can become quite taxing on one’s body and soul, but if you have an anchor, someplace, or rather someone who can keep you steady and remind you of where you once were to see the right path forward, then that weight doesn’t become a burden, it becomes a lifeline,” Rarity explained.

Vignette sighed in annoyance at Rarity’s insistence on sticking with the farm girl. “Look, it’s nice and all to remain loyal, but you’re still in high school, I remember a lot of my own gal pals who were in relationships similar to yours and then broke them off right after graduation. You’re allowed to experiment and see what you do and don’t like, but once you get to where I am, you have to think more about your career.”

“I’m not too worried about that, my work speaks for itself.”

“Does it now?” Vignette took out her cellphone and brought up Rarity’s Pegastagram page. “I have over a million followers, some who are very popular influencers who run in a lot of circles, and each of them has thousands of followers, what do you think would happen if someone as popular as me starts to, oh I don’t know, start ragging on your designs? I may not make clothes, but my opinion and eye for fashion is what can make or break any up and comer like yourself.”

Rarity slammed her hands on the desk as she stood up from her chair. “You wouldn’t!”

“I would, this is the world you want to enter, Hun. I can see that same tenacity in you as well, but you’re just too…restrained. Vignette put her phone away and turned around to face Rarity. “C’mon, Rarity, BYBB.”

“‘Be yourself, but better’, the motto in which you live your life by. In all honesty I did find it somewhat contradictive, if I’m already being myself, then I am all the better for it, and my true self is generous and true to my friends, and girlfriend. I once made a mistake of not sticking by one of my friends and it almost cost her life, I won’t be making that mistake again, especially when it comes to my girlfriend.” Rarity sat back down and resumed her sketching. “I’ll continue to work with you, Vignette Valencia, I will also remain cordial and keep up the friendly air we have outside. You may fire me if you want to, you can even trash me online, but all things eventually come about, and my work will speak for itself. “

Then the fashionista looked back up at Vignette with a cocky smirk. “And besides, Darling, I’d hate to be you on the day that my work does get recognized by someone higher up the popularity totem pole than yourself and ends up making you look completely inept. A popular influencer and social media star like yourself overlooking and berating a talented fashion designer who is recognized by those higher up the food chain than yourself, it’s a very quick way to lose followers.”

Despite the threat, Vignette’s expression did not change. “See, that’s the kind of thing I like. That’s the vicious side that needs to come out more.”

“Please continue to berate my paramour and you will see just how vicious I really am,” Rarity warned.

Vignette walked back around to where Rarity was sitting, she then pulled the chair out and turned it around to have Rarity face her. Without warning, Vignette straddled, Rarity, planting her rear on the teen’s lap and placing her hands on Rarity’s shoulders. “I kinda want to, c’mon!”

Rarity opened her mouth to give protest, that was her first mistake. Vignette took the initiative and planted her lips on Rarity’s, forcing her tongue into the alabaster teen’s open mouth. Rarity’s eyes flew open as panic and anger set in, she tried to free herself, but Vignette’s straddling in the chair made every attempt awkward. Satisfied moans came from Vignette as she continued to probe Rarity’s mouth, at the same time, she lowered left hand and brought it rest atop Rarity’s left breast. She gave a harsh squeeze which elicited a squeak of pain from the fashionista. Vignette’s other hand traveled lower, pushing the skirt of Rarity’s dress up enough that her black lace panties were showing.

Realizing what was about to happen, Rarity thrashed about in the chair, making the rolling seat rock back and forth until it tipped over enough that both came crashing down onto the floor. Vignette was thrown off, landing against the wall, while Rarity was also thrown against the opposite wall, but upside down. She groaned in pain from the sudden movement and hard landing, but it seemed Vignette was semi-unconscious. Rarity had heard a rather hard “thunk” sound, and now after seeing Vignette’s position, she believed that the social media star had hit her head upon impact. There was a slight urgency to call for help, but after what Vignette tried to do, she could wait a moment while Rarity called in help for herself.

Rarity picked herself up from the floor, unfortunately it was the side nearest the desk, and she ended up hitting it, adding to the slight aches and pains that were already making themselves known. She quickly took out her cellphone and called Applejack, she needed her girlfriend, after being sexually assaulted, she needed her comforting strength.

{Hey, Rarity, what’s goin’ on?}

“A-Applejack, I need you to come back as soon as you can…preferably right this second! Vignette…Vignette just tried to sexually assault me, and I think she’s knocked out!”

{Wait…She’s what?! Fucking dammit all! Ah knew that bitch was no good!}

“I’m sorry, Love, I should’ve listened to you…” Rarity lamented.

Rarity heard someone say something to Applejack on the other end, to which her girlfriend eloquently replied, { Pardon my French, but it’s an emergency, so kindly mind yer own damn business! Ah’m on my way, Sug!}

“Thank you…I’m going to see about getting her some help before you arrive, the last thing I need is for her to say that you assaulted her. I’ll see you soon…and…Applejack…I love you,” said Rarity as she ended her call.

Rarity got up from the floor and slowly made her way to the office door, limping most of the way. The warehouse they were using had a lot of unused office space, given that it was the grand opening, there were still positions that needed filling and so many of the offices that were set up weren’t locked, some were furnished, others were empty, but the main problem here was that in order to get to anyone, Rarity would have to limp her way through the long corridor to the main warehousing door to get anyone to help her.

The fashionista tried to increase her speed but found that impossible. Pain erupted from her left ankle, a possible sprain at best, she wasn’t unfamiliar with the pain, she had sustained such an injury many a time in her younger years as she learned to walk in high heels. With that fact established, Rarity knew that she wasn’t going to get far if she kept on the high heels. With great reluctance, Rarity took off her shoes and placed them at the side of a wall near a power outlet before proceeding further down the hall. Rarity felt like this was taking forever, but she needed to go and do this, Vignette may’ve tried to molest her, but the last thing she needed was for someone to accuse her of not rendering aid. She wasn’t strong enough to drag Vignette’s body down the hall, and she really didn’t want to see if she was awake, less she resumed her assault, so that left her the only option of limping to find help.

However, she didn’t get as far as she wanted. Rarity felt a painful yank of her hair, pulling her backwards into the waiting arms of Vignette Valencia. “Now that really hurt, Rarity!” Vignette pushed open an office door and threw Rarity in by her hair, letting the alabaster teen fall unceremoniously to the carpeted floor. “You should’ve told me you were into the rough stuff; I could’ve prepared, but now that I know, I can play with you better!”

Rarity quickly took inventory of the room; it didn’t bode well. No windows, no furniture, just electrical outlets with exposed wiring, and only one way out, which apparently had its own locking mechanism as she watched Vignette turn the latch of the deadbolt lock on the door. She had left her purse in the office, her cellphone was the only object she had left to defend herself with, but if she lost that then she’d have no lifeline to anyone who could help her.

“Vignette, please, whatever you’re thinking about doing, don’t! I’ve already called for help, there’s still time for us to come up with a story that’ll keep both our names intact!” Rarity bargained.

“Oh my, did you forget who I am?”

Vignette walked forward for a few steps before sprinting forward, drawing back her right foot and then kicking Rarity hard between her legs. The fashionista wailed in pain as she curled into a ball and cupped her womanhood.

“I’m Vignette – fucking – Valencia. In the court of social media, the first one to say their right is the one who wins. I can paint a story online, and all those little idiots who hang on my every word will take it as holy writ. Innocence is a matter of perspective; do you know how many haters try and take me down every day and fail? You’ll just be another hater trying to slander my name, and in the end, the only thing that’ll happen – to me anyway – is nothing. While you get ragged on everyday online and in public from total strangers from every angle, being called a liar.”

Vignette walked around to Rarity’s left and delivered another harsh kick to her stomach, making her roll on the floor. Rarity coughed violently as she wheezed, trying to catch her breath as pain surged from her midsection, combining with the pain that was still radiating from her crotch.

“Vignette…p-please…stop…!” Rarity pleaded.

“You really shouldn’t have come back here alone.” Vignette squatted next to Rarity as she looked down at her. “Now I have to find one of the male crewmembers and set him up for all of this. Believe me, I have a few in mind, there are at least two or three out there with a criminal record, so it won’t be that hard for me to convince them to come back here for some ‘fun’ and discover an unconscious high school girl.”

“Y-You…wouldn’t…!”

“We just gotta set the stage a bit. Let’s see…I could strangle you until you pass out, but I’ve seen enough cop shows to know that that’ll leave a bruise and they can tell if it’s a guy’s hands or a girl.” Vignette tapped her chin as she gave this some thought. “Oh, I know.”

Vignette forced Rarity onto her back, she grabbed the collar of Rarity’s dress and violently tore it apart, revealing Rarity’s matching black brassier. She set her sights on Rarity’s skirt, finding the right seam before tearing into it, allowing Rarity’s black leggings and panties to be on full display, only a bit of the dress was covering Rarity’s midsection and arms now, but otherwise she was completely exposed. Vignette stood up and made a square with her index fingers and thumbs, like a film director trying to envision the perfect scene.

“Good, good, nice set up, looking very sexy, Rarity. Now we just need a little more pizazz, something a little more over-the-top…” Vignette thought again, and an idea popped into her head. She reached into her skirt pocket and found what she was looking for. A black instrument with four metal pegs at its top, measuring about half a foot in length.

Rarity managed to look up to see what it was that Vignette had gotten, she didn’t recognize it upon first glance, but then Vignette pressed on a red button on the device’s side. That’s when she realized what it was, watching as arcs of blue electricity danced between the metal pegs. “Is…Is t-that a taser?!”

“I did an unboxing video a while back, women’s personal safety products and all that, and as a result, I got to keep this nifty little bugger for myself. Guaranteed to jack up your assailant or your money back, and trust me, there was no false advertisement regarding this.”

Vignette walked over to Rarity and stood over her, she slowly came down and seated herself on the fashion diva’s still aching stomach. She waved the device in the air above Rarity, allowing the purple haired designer to get a whiff of the ionized ozone that was created from the electrical discharge. Vignette reached into her other pocket and took out her cellphone, grimacing a little when she noticed the cracked screen. She then scrolled through some files and turned it around to show off to Rarity.

Rarity’s eyes widened further; it was a picture of a girl in a not too dissimilar state of dress as she was. Only this one’s eyes were rolled into the back of her head, her tongue lolling out of her mouth, and her…nether regions were soaked. “What…What did you do to her?!”

Vignette pressed the button on the taser a few times as if answering her question. “You ever wonder what these things can do when you put them right between your legs? I did, and I tried it on her, and the strained cries she made each time I did it were so erotic that I made a bit of a mess of myself. And do you know what she said when she came to? The crazy nympho asked me to do it again! This was blackmail, I’ve gotten all I wanted out of her, so I let her off the hook. But I promised her if she ever tried to accuse me of anything that I’d post this pic to every site I could.

And I’ll do the same to you, Rarity Belle, unless you do as I say. Unlike her, I think you can go farther, and with me, even higher. But I don’t think it needs to come to that, so I’ll give you one last chance. Dump the hick, and join the winning team, or…you can end up like her. You’re choice.”

Rarity looked at the photo again, she felt sick just looking at it, and even sicker knowing that the one responsible for committing that act was now sitting on her and threatening to do the same. “Do what you must, I won’t betray the girl I love! Nor will I allow you to rule my career! Get on with it!”

Vignette sighed as she flipped her phone around and pressed record. “You know, Rarity, I do really admire your faithfulness, and your tenacity. But I wish you were smarter.” The social media star pressed the button on the taser and slowly moved her right hand behind her, drawing closer to Rarity’s nether region. “This is going to be great; you’ll be the first I use the video record function on my phone for something like this. I want to savor everything.”

Applejack…please…someone…stop this, Rarity pleaded in her mind.

At that moment, the door burst open, right off its hinges. The loud sound drew both Rarity and Vignette’s attention as they looked to see who had done it, and much to Rarity’s elation, it was the very person she had prayed for. Applejack stood in the doorway, her leg was slightly extended, showing that she had kicked the door in. Her body had thin orange light outlining her body, and surprisingly, her hair had turned into a braided ponytail, and her human ears had transformed into pony ears.

Applejack’s eyes widened when she looked upon the scene before her. The girl she was in love with was on the floor, dress torn, and mascara running down her face from tears shed. Vignette sitting on top of Rarity’s stomach, and a taser precariously hovering close to Rarity’s crotch. The apple farmer’s vision tinged red as she rushed towards Vignette and Rarity.

“W-W-Wait, Applejack, let me explain–!”

The cowgirl didn’t bother to listen as she grabbed Vignette by her poncho and tossed her like a ragdoll across the room, sending the social media star crashing against the drywall and creating a body sized hole where she was stuck in. The impact caused severe pain to course through Vignette, but the shock associated with it made it hard for any noise to come from her mouth as she released a silent scream of pain.

Applejack rushed to her lover’s side and knelt beside her as she carefully brought her up. “Rarity are ya alright?! Please tell me Ah wasn’t too late?!”

Rarity smiled broadly, but that still didn’t stop the tears from flowing as she buried her face in Applejack’s chest and released heavy sobs that she was holding back during the ordeal. Applejack wrapped her strong arms around Rarity, keeping her close and safe. “Ah’m here, Rares, Ah’m here.” The sound of Vignette coming loose from the wall caught Applejack’s attention, the older girl weakly got onto her hands and knees as she coughed, trying to catch her breath. “Rares, wait a moment.”

Applejack gently pried herself from her girlfriend’s grip and began walking over to Vignette, her eyes narrowed as the magical aura that surrounded her glowed brighter. “You goddamn psycho bitch! How dare you lay a hand on her!”

“W-Wait, A-Applejack…t-this is just a misunderstanding…let me explain…!” Vignette pleaded.

The cowgirl reached down and grabbed Vignette by the collar of her blouse and hoisted her up like she weighed next to nothing. With her free right hand, Applejack slapped the older girl across the face. When she did, the power and strength behind the blow was so strong that it knocked out a few of Vignette’s teeth, sending them clacking against the opposite wall before falling soundlessly against the carpeted floor. Vignette could taste blood in her mouth, along with the missing gaps where her teeth were.

Vignette watched helplessly as Applejack reached out and grabbed her left forearm and stretched it out as far as it would go. Applejack squeezed down on that same arm, tighter and tighter, all the while Vignette was grunting in pain as she felt the vice grip of Applejack apply more and more pressure. It was as if her arm was being crushed by a fully loaded eighteen-wheeler. Applejack tightened her grip all at once and caused an audible snap to echo in the room. Pain surged through Vignette’s arm as she felt the bones in that arm snap like dead twigs, and the social media star screamed in pain.

“How’d that feel?! ‘Cause Ah ain’t done with ya yet!” Applejack began to pull at Vignette’s arm, causing more screams of pain to come from the assailant of her girlfriend. “Ah’m gonna rip off your damn arms next, lets see ya take selfies and whatever pointless bullshit ya do on yer phone after this!”

Vignette could feel her bone pop out of its socket, along with her muscles tearing with each passing second. She didn’t believe it until just now, but somehow this country hick farmer had some stupidly superhuman strength, and at this rate she was really going to tear her whole arm off. “I’M SORRY – DEAR GOD – I’M SORRY, PLEASE STOP!!! IT HURTS, I’M BEGGING YOU, DON’T RIP OFF MY ARM!!!”

“Beggin’ me now?! Was she beggin’ ya to stop, too?!” Applejack growled.

Rarity, after snapping out of her daze of the whole situation, got up to her feet and rushed over to Applejack, placing her hands on her lover’s right arm that was currently pulling at Vignette’s. She then looked into her lover’s eyes and said, “That’s enough, Applejack.”

“Not yet it ain’t!” the cowgirl protested.

“She’s not worth it, my love! Don’t let her turn you into something you’re not!”

“And what’s that?!”

“A monster!”

A thin aura of purple light outlined Rarity’s body, her long hair transformed into a ponytail and her ears changed into pony ears. “I don’t want you living with the guilt of what you’re about to do. Yes, she hurt me, threatened me, but if you let your anger get the better of you, she’ll win, and I’ll lose someone I deeply love. Right now, it is self-defense, but if you keep going, you’ll become a murderer. So, please, Jackie, just let her go.”

Applejack was surprised to see Rarity had ponyed up like herself, but even more surprised by the mercy she was willing to show a lowlife like Vignette. She looked back at the girl who had harmed her lover, back to Rarity, and then to Vignette. Her mind and heart warring with each other as the temptation of retribution was tantalizing the apple farmer. Then again, the last thing she wanted to be seen as was a murderer, even though the woman in her grasp deserved what was coming to her.

The farmer released Vignette, letting her drop onto the floor. “Ah ain’t a killer, and ain’t about to dirty my hands with yer blood. Y’all aren’t worth that much grief.” Applejack placed her arm over Rarity’s shoulders and hugged her close. “C’mon, let’s go and get ya cleaned up and head on home.”

“Can we go to your home, my love? I’d…I’d feel a lot better if we did,” Rarity asked.

“Sure, Sug, whatever ya want.”

As they began to walk away, Applejack suddenly seized up as her body fell forward, dragging Rarity along with her. Both girls fell onto the floor in a heap, with Applejack feeling paralyzed. Rarity managed to turn her head enough to see that Vignette Valencia had managed to get back to her feet, the taser sparking in her hand, indicating that she had caused Applejack to collapse.

“Stupid, country hick bitch…should’ve made sure I couldn’t use the taser, joke’s on you!” Vignette mocked; her missing teeth made her speech sound slightly slurred.

“Vignette, wait–!”

The social media star dropped down and jabbed the taser against Rarity’s exposed thigh, causing the fashionista to seize up as well, basically paralyzing the both.

“Two for the price of one, fuck it if my arm hurts like a bitch, I’m going to enjoy every moment of this!”

“OH, HELL NO!”

A new voice garnered all three girls’ attention, Vignette was the first to look at the doorway, spotting a girl in a red outfit, her eyes narrowed and glaring at her in particular. Rarity felt a pit form in her stomach, for she recognized that voice, but knew that it couldn’t be who she thought it was. With what little muscle control she could muster, Rarity turned her head in the direction of the door and gasped when she noticed that it was who she thought, Suri Polomare.

B-B-B-BUT SHE’S DEAD! SUNSET KILLED HER WHEN SHE WAS POSSESSED! Rarity screamed in her head.

“Hey, did you do this?!” Suri asked.

“What?” Vignette responded.

“Did you mess up Rarity or not, a simple yes or no will suffice, m’kay?”

“And what if I did?” Vignette pointed her taser at the intruder. “Are you here to help them?”

“Dammit!” Suri fumed as she kicked the doorframe. “I wanted her to be fresh and untouched when I started killing her, I wanted to see the first reaction of pain when I begin to peel her skin off like a banana! But you just ruined it all! Now she’s messed up and in pain already, and I can’t savor those first moments! I mean, I could wait for her to heal up before I have a go at her, but when am I ever going to get an opportunity like this?!”

Vignette was getting confused, it seemed like this girl hated Rarity and wanted to do more than even Vignette had planned. Despite what she was going to do, murder wasn’t on the list, mutilation was definitely not in her realm of thinking either. However, this girl was straight up psychotic. “Maybe we could make a deal, seems you have a tiff with Rarity here, as do I, so why don’t you take her girlfriend?”

Suri looked at Vignette as if she had just grown a second head. “Are you kidding me right now?” The resurrected fashionista of Crystal Prep raised her left hand. A cut formed on the palm of Suri’s hand and from it streamed blood that took on the form of a sword hilt. Suri gripped the hilt and pulled, allowing her blood to form the entirety of the Blood Sword. She gripped the sword’s sheath in her left hand and pushed the on the guard to free the sword a bit. “I came for her, I’ve been in literal Hell, the actual realm of Hell! I could think of nothing else but this moment, and I’ll be damned if you’re going to rob me of it!”

“W-Wait!”

A red blur moved across the room, and in an instant, Vignette’s right arm went flying off and slammed against the adjacent wall. Blood splattering against it, along with a stream of it coming from the severed end on Vignette. The older girl didn’t realize what happened until she looked at the spot where her arm once was, and when she did, Vignette screamed in both pain and horror.

“YOU CUT OFF MY ARM! YOU CUT OFF MY ARM!” Vignette wailed.

“You took part of my fun.” Suri brought the blade to the palm of her left hand and drew it across, making a gash. “Your death will be painful, so make sure to make it good for me.”

Before Vignette could give protest, Suri’s left hand clamped itself around Vignette’s mouth. The social media star’s eyes widened with fear as she felt something stream down her throat, it had a coppery taste to it, it was blood, Suri’s blood was flowing down her throat. Her body started to spasm, Vignette felt as if something was working its way through her body, through her veins. Then something sharp started to cut her from the inside out, she continued to yell as the stabbing pain continued to spread throughout her body, going up all the way to her head and eyes.

Suri smirked as her eyes shined red, and upon doing so, tiny blades made of blood ruptured through her skin, every vein in Vignette’s body exploded with tiny crimson blades as they ripped her apart from the inside out, dozens came out of her eyes, head, and even more came out of the bloody severed part where her arm once was. Vignette went still and silent, Suri removed her hand as the blood she poured into Vignette retracted out of her mouth and back into the wound. The crimson blades shrunk in response to the removal of Suri’s tainted demonic blood, and now all the new cuts began to bleed even more as Vignette’s body hit the floor, with a pool of crimson ichor forming around her.

“Well, that was fun, to a degree. A nice warm up before I get to you Rar–” Suri turned around and found that both Rarity and the cowgirl were gone. “What the fuck?! They’re gone! Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“I was having fun, same as you. Sorry about that.”

“Ugh, they can’t have gotten far, they were tased.” Suri sighed as she calmed herself. “But that’s okay, a chase makes it all the sweeter.”

“Goddammit, Adagio, what the hell did you do?!” Sunset demanded.

The lead Siren merely smirked. “I’ll give you a hint about one of them, her name is Suri Polomare, and she really hates you and Rarity.”

Sunset’s eyes widened with shock upon hearing that name. “You’re lying, she’s dead! She was killed months ago!”

“Heh, this little Box gave me the power to bring her back. How I did so I don’t know, but it happened, and she is here. And she’s found a powerful weapon to help her in her quest for revenge, same as me. And you’re here without your little gaggle of friends, even if you called them, I doubt they’d make it here in time to shoot any rainbow lasers,” Adagio mocked.

There’s no way…she has to be bluffing! I…I killed Suri, she’s dead! How can she be brought back?!

}}} Resurrection is not unusual, but in this case, it is quite the unsettling turn of events. Unfortunately, I don’t believe she is lying. Aside from her, I’m sensing two other sources of deep malice radiating out in the distance. Both of which is are hatred aimed towards you, but the second also holds hatred for another. {{{

Suri hates me and Rarity for winning the competition…if she found out that Rarity’s here…!

“You don’t have many options, Sunset Shimmer. Either you give up and do as I say, or the deaths of hundreds and your little doppelganger will be on your head. What’s it going to be?” Adagio asked.

Sunset glanced about, most of the people had left the area, having ran as far as they could from the commotion going on. Knowing this, Sunset’s bracelet glowed, and in an instant, the metal expanded and shredded through her clothes, donning her in the armor of Witchblade. “If I had it my way, Adagio, I’d cut your arms off, or better, I’d cut your tongue out along with you jaw so you can’t sing! But I have someone else to save right now, my little sister can take care of herself, but Suri is my priority. And once I’m done with her, I’m coming back for you! So, think about what your next course of action is going to be, because your life depends on it!”

Metallic bat wings flared from Sunset’s back as she rapidly ascended into the air and took off in the direction of most concern to her. Meanwhile, Adagio just stood there, eyes wide as the identity of Witchblade had been revealed to her.

“Sunset Shimmer is Witchblade?! She’s become that much more powerful since the Battle of the Bands?!” Adagio exclaimed. Panic began to set in as she now understood how much harder, if nigh impossible, it would be to defeat Sunset Shimmer and make her do anything. “How…How can I defeat her…? As powerful as the Box is, she’s slain demonic spirits, and defeated a man who had taken on the powers of light and darkness itself! How?!”

Pandora’s Box glowed and Adagio suddenly heard whispers around her ears, as if telling her what she needed to do.

[

Get the stones…

The stones are the Keys…

Fire and ice to release…

Unlock the Box…

The Box is power…

Nothing can withstand it…

Open the Box…

Sing the Song…

Bring forth chaos…

Adagio was snapped out of the trance she was in when she heard two primal roars echo into the air, shaking the entirety of the park, followed by raging flames spewing into the air along with a blizzard. It was then that Adagio understood what the Box wanted, the Sunset Shimmer twin and Indigo Zap, their Ember and Glacier Stones, they were needed, they were the keys to opening Pandora’s Box to its fullest, the key to unleashing its full power.

“If I do that, then not even Sunset and her Witchblade can stand against me! Not even an army of alicorns! Yes, that’s the way!” Adagio broke into a sprint, running as fast as she could towards the battle going on between the ice and fire wielders. “I will get what’s mine! I will never be powerless and helpless ever again!”