The Witchblade EqG: The 13 Artifacts

There were things that went through my mind the night before…

Even more when dawn’s early light chased the shadows of night away…

What if I lost?

What if I won?

Did this have to end in either of us dying?

Of course, this all pertained on the notion that we managed to survive this confrontation…

However, one thing was for sure in my mind…

…I had to punish Sun for what she did…

Sunset stood upon the tallest skyscraper in the city, she was at the edge, donned in the Witchblade armor, watching as the sun rose over the horizon and bathed the land in its crimson glow. Despite the view, it wasn’t going to be a pleasant morning. In the distance, she saw something approach, the Witchblade bristled, telling her that Sun was coming. Her other self flew towards Sunset, hovering in the air, but she wasn’t alone. In tow, using her flames as containment constructs, were the ten assembled Artifacts. All of them were in a sphere of fire that followed her here.

“So, you brought them all?” Sunset asked.

“Figured it be better than letting them sit in my house, at least here I can keep an eye on them,” Sun explained. She made a gesture with her right hand and all ten spheres ascended higher into the sky. “They’re self-sustaining, so I don’t need to concentrate to keep them floating. They’ll stay up here until it’s over.”

Sunset scoffed. “You sure you don’t want to pop one out and use it?”

“Doubting my abilities already?” Sun asked.

“I figured it’ll even the playing field, merging your powers with the Angelus or the Darkness would give you a boost in power.”

“Tch,” Sun crossed her arms, “as if. You’ve managed to pull off some crazy ass abilities with that Witchblade, I’ll give you that. That doesn’t mean I’ve been going all out with my Artifact.”

The Witchblade created more armor plates, completely closing any gap to ensure maximum protection.

“Before we start, are your friends out of here? Is Pinkie gone?” Sun asked.

“Why, you want to kill another person I care about?!”

“Shut the hell up! Fluttershy…Fluttershy was different, okay! I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t take the damn Spear without her dying! That thing is connected to her! I don’t want to hurt the others, because they don’t have Artifacts, all of them are floating above us right now! So, can you put away the anger for ten seconds and tell me that they’ve evacuated?!”

Sunset’s glare was persistent, but nonetheless, she granted Sun’s request. “Yeah, everyone evacuated last night. I dropped Pinkie Pie off with her folks before I got here. The city is empty.”

“Good…at least that means neither of us has to hold back now.”

“Just to be sure, I have to die because my Witchblade won’t leave me otherwise?”

“That’s right.”

“We can’t just team up against Thirteen and take him down together?”

“Are you going to let me change reality when it’s over? Or better, are you going to do it if I give you the Ember Stone?”

Sunset went silent.

“That’s what I thought. I have to do this; I have to change the world!”

“AT WHAT COST?!” Sunset got into a crouching position as she called out to the past wielders of the Witchblade. Let’s go, FANG!!!

A golden-brown aura overtook Sunset’s body, becoming a little more muscular as the Witchblade armor shifted and transformed into that of the past wielder, Fang’s armor. Sunset jumped straight off the edge of the building, causing the roof beneath her to shatter from the sheer force of her leap. Sun saw his and quickly erected a flame barrier around herself, but that did little to soften the impact of Sunset’s empowered punch. The moment she made contact a sonic boom went off that echoed throughout the empty city and shattered several windows in the process. The fire sphere was sent flying straight through the air before Sun managed to stop it, however, Sunset’s increased speed in Fang’s armor allowed her to get overhead and come down with a powerful ax kick.

All Sun could do was take the blow as it threw her straight down, she bounced like a pinball from one building to the other. Sunset wasn’t about to give Sun any time to recover or counterattack as she pressed her advantage as hard as she could. MULAN!

The golden-brown armor shifted in a flash of orange light, now she was in Mulan’s Witchblade armor. The speed of this armor was even faster, allowing Sunset to keep up with the pinball fireball, as evidenced when Sunset appeared right over the sphere, surprising Sun. Sunset summoned the signature sword of this form and started stabbing at the sphere in a blur of movement before spinning around and stabbing it once more. The blade broke through the barrier and shattered it, now unprotected, Sun unleashed several fire vipers that tried to surround Sunset.

TOMOE!!!

A yellow light flashed, and Sunset’s armor changed into that of Tomoe Gozen. “Sun Goddess Style, Second Step: Bakuhatsu Suru Hi no Hikari (Bursting Fire Light)!”

Sunset’s body released hundreds of fireballs into the air before disappearing. The vipers looked around but were not able to find her. However, they didn’t have to look long as Sunset burst out from a fireball and swiped the air in a long arch with her katana, slicing several of the flaming serpents in one go. She disappeared again and repeated the process, destroying the vipers again and again before appearing before Sun. Sunset struck with a flying roundhouse that sent Sun skittering against the pavement as several left behind cars were tossed about and exploded.

Sun managed to correct herself as she created a fire claw construct and raked the asphalt, slowing her down until she came to a halt. However, she wasn’t going to get the chance to figure out her next move before the ground beneath her began to glow. “What the hell?!”

“Sun Goddess Style, Sixth Step: Taiyō e no Inori (Prayers to the Sun)!”

The ring below her released a pillar of light straight into the sky, several small beams of light rose and pierced through Sun’s body before the circlet and pillar faded away. Sunset reappeared before Sun again, this time in Fang’s Witchblade armor, and delivered a haymaker punch that flattened Sun into the street and created a crater, several car alarms went off as the remaining vehicles within two blocks jumped two feet into the air before coming back down. Sunset wasn’t going to relent, she kept smashing her giant fists into Sun’s body again and again, causing a small earthquake with each successive impact.

Sun had had enough as her eyes glowed, her entire body released a powerful fiery explosion that sent Sunset flying backwards. A chain shot out from her body that stuck itself into the side of a building, allowing Sunset to snap herself out of the forward motion and land back on the ground, ready to go again. Sun emerged from the crater as flames lapped off her body, she wiped the corner of her mouth that had a bit of her lava-like blood.

“Damn, Sunset, a blitz attack, really? That’s a little harsh,” said Sun.

“Did you think I was going to take it easy on you just because of all that ‘sister’ crap?!” Sunset retorted.

Sun’s mouth turned into a small frown. “Guess not…But then again, I’d be pissed if you didn’t go all out on me! So, I guess I won’t hold back either!” Sun’s body erupted into flames. “You know, I’ve been holding back for a long bit, during that battle with Neighsay, I was wondering if I should use this little trump card of mine, but then you went and got that form, and I didn’t have to. But now, against this new power of yours, I don’t have a choice, I’ll face you at one-hundred percent!!!”

The flames around Sun started to take on the form of a dragon, but Sunset could feel that something was different, it was as if Sun was reaching deeper into the power of her Artifact. What the hell is she going to do?”

“Oh, Flame of Life, you who burn hotter and stronger than all, descend upon this land! Burn away the impure, incinerate the wicked, and give life to the worthy! You who rule over the Evening Star, and who commands the flames of the Sun itself, I invoke the name of the ancient dragon, the flames deep within…!” The fires receded back into Sun, and for a moment, everything got quiet as the Ember Stone shined like a star. “Quetzalcóatl!”

A blinding flash of heat and light ignited around Sun, forcing Sunset to avert her eyes for fear of being completely blinded. The heat was intense, making even the Witchblade armor burn. After a few seconds the light died down, but the heat hadn’t. When Sunset managed to look, she…she didn’t know what she was looking at.

Flaming feathered wings appeared on her back, and her eyes were pools of glowing yellow light. Her body was covered in shimmering scales that had a rainbow effect whenever the light caught them, making it hard to tell what their real color was. Sunset’s forearms were coated in solid flame construct dragon claws, while below the knees she had dragon talons. Flame constructs formed armor around her thighs, and created a codpiece around her waist and crotch, another patch of construct flames covered her chest, and just above Sun’s tailbone was an actual dragon tail that was about six feet in length, and two feet in width. Her construct wings, armor, and claws were made up of bright orange flames, some of those same orange flames were wisping from the corners of her eyes, while her hair was made of brilliant rainbow flames. Everything within a ten-meter radius of Sun was melted, leaving Sun hovering over a crater.

“This is the full power of the Ember Stone, Sunset. A power I tapped into years ago, I don’t use it because…” Sun motioned to the area around her. “The heat is so intense that I burn everything around me just bringing it out. I’m sure your Witchblade can withstand this heat, but for how long is a different story. Oh, and there’s one more power to this form…”

Sun disappeared, making Sunset go on guard. The intense heat disappeared, but it quickly came back, this time it surrounded her, stinging her skin to the point that she felt it was going to burn her on the spot. That’s when she realized it, Sunset turned around, but it was too late, Sun smashed her dragon fist into Sunset’s face. The metal sizzled as she was sent flying through a building, a path of destruction was cut as Sunset continued to blow through one wall after another, eventually bursting out the other side. Sun was already in the intercept path, once Sunset was close, she kicked Sunset straight up into the sky with a powerful “BOOM!” sound thundering all through the city.

Sunset felt that her back broke from that one kick, but it was quickly being healed. That’s when she saw Sun ready for her just above. Sunset switched forms, changing to Mulan’s Witchblade armor and readied herself to slay a dragon. However, the moment that Sunset got close with her sword, Sun disappeared, another moment later, Sun struck Sunset in the right side with her tail, cracking a few ribs and sending her flipping around in the air. Sun appeared alongside Sunset and attacked with rapid fire punches that appeared as blazing comets to anyone who was looking.

How the hell is she this fast?! She wasn’t this fast before! Sunset thought as she tried to figure out Sun’s trick.

“This is a power that I get from the rays of the sun itself, this is Velocidad de la luz Solar (Speed of Sunlight). Every everywhere the sun’s rays touch is another place I can reach, I can literally be anywhere I want to be so long as the light of the sun can reach it, even if it’s a sliver, I can appear there. And with the intense heat of this form, I just instantly burn away anything that’s there when I appear! You’re fast, Sunset, but you’re not this fast!”

Sun grabbed Sunset’s shoulder and brought her in for a knee strike to the stomach, making Sunset cough up blood from the heavy impact. The solar warrior tossed Sun straight back for the city below, the wind whistled in her ears as she made her descent and impacted into a high-rise building. Sunset coughed as she got into a kneeling position.

This isn’t good, I’m taking way too much damage just being anywhere near her, and with that speed I won’t even get the chance to fight back. Atalanta, I need your help!

A green flash of light went off inside the building from where Sun could see. Sun opened her mouth, showing off her rows of sharp teeth as a sphere of condensed heat formed. In the next second, that sphere broke and fired a beam of pure heat and energy straight for the building. A flash of green shot out of the building just as the beam hit. The entire structure exploded, taking out all the adjacent buildings and even the ones across the street. Sun cut off the attack and watched as a green flash was zipping around the city at incredible speeds, suddenly, several streaks of green light sped right for her. The steaks of light managed to make it through her heat dome and almost hit her, but they fizzled into ash just before reaching her.

Huh, so you decided to go with long distance attacks rather than go at me hand-to-hand. Not bad, Sis…not bad!

Sun used her sunlight teleportation to catch up to Sunset, however, when she did, Sunset sped past her before she could attack. Sunset smirked when this happened because it confirmed her suspicion on what that power really was. It wasn’t exactly speed, it was teleportation, and she should know, she mastered the spell of teleportation when she was sixteen. The speed of the demigod Atalanta was working in her favor, even though Sun could appear next to her, so long as Sunset kept moving, Sun could not land any attacks. Although, there was one trade off that wasn’t going to cut it here.

Whenever Sunset loosed her arrows, the heat dome that was around Sun made her arrows lose power and burn away almost instantly.

“Heh, ya look like ya need a bit more fire power lassie.”

Okay, who’s this?

Before Sunset appeared the vision of an older woman, she was dressed like a pirate and had an “X” shaped scar on her chest. She seemed to wear it like a badge of honor as she kept her shirt open enough to show it off. She looked fierce, and wild, someone whose spirit could not and would not be tamed by anyone. Her hair was unkempt, and her eyes held a look of someone who took what she wanted and made no apologies for it.

“You can call Anne Bonny, notorious pirate captain, swashbuckler, treasure connoisseur, and right now, someone who wants to give ye a hand.”

You merged with a pirate? Seriously?

}}} I choose those who are worthy. {{{

“Aye, don’t judge a book by its cover, lassie.”

Sorry, sorry, okay, Anne, right? How can you help?

“Heh, I was actually one of the only wielders who could mold guns from the Witchblade. And trust me when I say, blowing a ship out of the water with one of those guns was the least it could do. However, I ain’t as fast as that flying serpent!”

So, I’ll be trading speed for power if I use you. You could pierce that dome and get a clean hit, but that’s if I get a chance to do it.

“We’ll have to make switching as seamless as possible to ensure you can maximize the ability of both our strengths,”said Atalanta.

Sounds good! And I think I have just the plan.

Sunset jumped high into the sky and fired an arrow at one of the buildings’ roofs below. The arrow struck and exploded, punching a hole that Sunset dashed straight for and entered. Sun chuckled at this action, thinking that Sunset was trying to avoid her by making it so that she couldn’t teleport next to her if she was in a place where the sunlight wouldn’t shine, but unfortunately, she left the hole open, and the moment she got in there most of the building would be burned away.

Sun did just that, she teleported through the stream of sunlight that poured through the hole. The moment she did, the entire top half of the building instantly burned away, leaving Sun floating in the air. She had a smug, sharp toothed grin as she prepared to attack, but then she was struck by two powerful beams of cerulean light that sent the solar warrior flying into the street before exploding. Sun pulled herself out of the crater but wasn’t given much time to think as two more beams fired in her direction, she quickly teleported away, but then another barrage of beams came at her, littering the area with pot shots that created craters upon impact. Sun watched as a green flash came towards her along with several arrows of green light. Sun swiped the arrows out of the air with little effort, but the green flash managed to get in close, but then it shifted to blue just as the beam hit her from the left which exploding right in her face.

The solar warrior bounced until she eventually hit a semitruck trailer filled with popcorn. The kernels inside exploded as several of them spilled out onto the street, Sun tore herself out of the trailer and finally caught a glimpse at what had hit her.

Sunset’s armor had once again undergone a change. Both her arms were coated in jagged armor, creating shoulder pauldrons that had a half-moon curve to them. The armor around her chest had a rib-like design to it, hugging her body from the sides, while keeping some of her skin on display, ending in the typical metal bikini bottoms. The rib design followed down her thighs and ended around her knees which was covered in metallic boots. Around her waist was a metal combat skirt that flowed in the gusting wind of the battle. Upon Sunset’s head was a helmet, with the top shaped like that of a pirate captain’s hat. In both of Sunset’s hands were pair of metallic blunderbuss pistols, on either side of the weapons was a red gemstone that glowed as they gathered power. The entire armor was colored blue, the same color as Sunset’s eyes, and the blue glowing “X” shaped scar on her chest, indicating that she had merged with the spirit of Anne Bonney.

“Ye weren’t expecting that, were ya, Sun?” Sunset mocked.

“What the ever-loving fuck?! Where did that shit come from?! You had four armor changes you told me about!”

“Yeah, but remember I also told you that I got these changes by merging with the spirits of past wielders. I never said that there were only four, only that I USED four different armors of four different wielders,” Sunset corrected.

Sun rolled her eyes. “That damn Witchblade’s like a living cheat code, or a fucking online modder!”

“You gonna rage quit?”

“Tch, hardly, it’ll just make it that much more humiliating for you. To have all those different powers and yet still lose to me,” said Sun.

Sunset glared at Sun and fired off several more shots in Sun’s direction. The solar warrior dodged them as she teleported next to Sunset. But Sunset swiftly shifted to Atalanta’s armor and dashed away before Sun could attack. Sun teleported and appeared in front of Sunset, but when she did, it was right in front of her gun muzzle. The solar warrior arched backwards just as the beam of light shot out from the barrel of the blunderbuss. But despite dodging that shot, the second weapon was already aimed, point blank, at Sun’s midsection. Too late to notice, Sunset fired again, sending Sun flying.

Sun growled in frustration and halted herself from going any further with a flap of her wings. “Okay, creative, but I can be creative too, Sunset!”

The air around Sun became distorted, and when it did, Sunset found herself staring at multiple Sun’s. “Oh fuck me sideways…” Sunset hurriedly shifted to Atalanta’s armor and started sniping at the copies, it didn’t exactly help that they were flying around and making it difficult to determine which one was the real one, but each one she shot at had the arrows passing through them. Again, and again Sunset’s attacks were made in vain as the real Sun wasn’t among them. Sun was in fact behind her.

Sunset yelled in pain as she felt an intense heat slice through her left arm. The former unicorn watched as her arm fell, but thankfully, part of the Witchblade’s armor was attached to it. The bit of armor formed metal strands that shot back towards Sunset’s armor, and quickly reattached her severed arm. Sunset landed on the ground and saw that Sun had created a huge fire sword. Sun drew back on that sword, and in less than a couple of seconds, the blade of the sword grew until it was ten miles long. With an effortless swing, Sun cleaved the top of several buildings at once, causing a cascade of debris to fall around her.

The Keeper of the Balance dashed as fast she could as the severed building tops came crashing down onto the streets below, sending a giant dust cloud into the air that obscured everything around her. Sun took the energy of that construct sword and formed it into a sphere the size of a cannon ball. The solar warrior threw the ball into the distance, landing ahead of where Sunset was going, the sphere exploded and created a blast dome about five miles wide, forcing Sunset to stop in her tracks and go another way, but soon another fell from the sky and struck that direction, and then another, and another, until all four directions were cut off to her.

Sun raised her right hand and snapped her claws, in an instant, the four spheres of burning mass pooled their flames together into the center and formed a huge pillar of flames that roared into the sky. Sunset screamed as the intense flames burned at her body, although the Witchblade had some mastery of the flame, it wasn’t to the same level as the Ember Stone, which also translated to its resistance, while able to protect Sunset from a large portion of the damage she would’ve sustained, it still caused her significant damage to be caught in them. Sun wasn’t done yet, she swiped her left index claw across the sky, and right after a series of explosions went off that shook the very air all around Canterlot City.

Sunset was thrown into the suburbs, crashing, ironically, through the roof of Canterlot High School. Her body was burned badly, her skin and armor sizzling loudly in the halls. Thankfully, the Witchblade was already healing the damage, but it was quickly becoming apparent that Sun was a living nuclear reactor, she had become power itself and there was little to no way for her to counter that much power.

“I can’t give up now…I won’t! Dammit this hurts…” Sunset got to her hands and knees and coughed before getting to one knee. “Shit…that worked for a little bit, but if she keeps that up…”

“I guess it’s time that I lent you my power, young wielder.”

Yet another past wielder appeared before Sunset, she appeared as a violet-colored phantom. She was cloaked, was carrying a spear, and had looked a little older than Sunset, but her eyes told a different story. This person’s eyes looked like those who had lived for a long while and seen many battles. “What’s your name?”

“I am Scáthach the trainer of heroes, and legendary warrior of the Emerald Isles. This girl has power and speed, something I possess in spades. And seeing as she has gathered the powers of a divine flame, it seems only right that I snuff it out,” said Scáthach in her Irish accent.

“Strong as you are Scáthach, I believe Mademoiselle Sunset can make use of both of our powers as she did with Mademoiselles Atalanta and Anne.”

Another spirit appeared before Sunset, this time appearing in pure white. What features she was able to make out was that this woman had short cut hair, wore medieval armor, and in her right hand she held a spear with a flag tied around it. She looked young as well, about a year older than her, and her accent was French.

“What do you suggest?” Sunset asked.

Sun was panting, this form was powerful, but it put a strain on her body. I can’t maintain this form for much longer…I need to end this. Fuck, Sunset, I was hoping to use this against Thirteen…doesn’t matter, one way or the other, I’ll do it again and burn myself out when I face him if that’s what it takes! Now…where did you go.

The answer was given to her in the form of a violet-colored stream of light suddenly extending to an absurd length as it headed right for her. Sun hurriedly dodged the attack, but when she did, the heat dome around her was visibly cut, almost as if it were dispelling her power. The beam of light immediately disappeared and that is when she saw Sunset’s new armor.

A cloak had formed around Sunset’s neck, along with a headband that wrapped around her forehead. The armor was smooth in texture, it covered her forearms and hands, leaving her biceps exposed except for a strip of armor that ran up the sides of her arms and continued upward to form modestly sized pauldrons with runic markings etched into them. The armor around Sunset’s chest resembled a one-piece bikini, leaving enough open in the front to show off her cleavage. The leg armor ran up to her thighs, leaving her hips exposed save for a strip of armor that connected to the sides of her body. The cloak itself was made of a thin layer of metal but was no less strong enough to protect against a fierce attack. In Sunset’s right hand was an ornate spear, the tip was shaped in an elongated arrowhead, but along its sides were several incredibly sharp barbs, the same barbs that ran along both flat sides of the spear. Sunset’s eyes were colored violet, showing that she had merged with the spirt of Scáthach.

“Oh, what fresh hell is this?” Sun asked rhetorically.

“I’d suggest not getting hit by this, if you don’t want to lose a limb!” Sunset twirled the spear around and got into position. A gemstone at the base of the spear began to glow as it drew more and more power. Sunset tightened the muscles in her right arm and gripped the spear hard as the street beneath her cracked. “Strike them down…GAE BOLG!”

Sunset thrust the spear forward, instantly the metal weapon took on a light form as it zoomed straight for Sun. The solar warrior hurriedly erected a burning shield sphere, confident that the solid plasma of her sphere would protect her from–

Gae Bolg, to Sun’s shock, pierced the shield as if it wasn’t even there. Sun quickly teleported away from the attack, however, the spear bent at an angle and zigzagged as it chased after Sun. She reappeared a few yards away, but the spear was not giving up, Sun once again teleported, this time she internalized the heat dome to hide her presence, but that didn’t work either. There was a crashing sound coming from behind her, and no sooner did she turn her head did she see the spear piercing through the building. Sun’s eyes widened, how was this spear able to do this?

“Gae Bolg, the legendary cursed spear! Once the wielder has locked onto a target, the spear will not rest until it pierces the heart of that target! As a bonus, any wound inflicted by Gae Bolg cannot be healed! That includes anything that is cut or pierced by it!” Sunset explained.

Sun flew into the air, trying to avoid it, she turned around and quickly fired off multiple fire blasts at the spear, but nothing deterred it. The solar warrior inhaled and roared. A sphere of condensed heat and plasma formed before her mouth, and just like before, she unleashed a beam of plasma energy that struck against the spear’s tip. However, the energy was being split down the middle as the spear just kept going. Sun could do nothing as the Gae Bolg pierced directly into her heart. A gasp escaped her mouth, but it didn’t end there. All the barbs on the spear extended, piercing through her body from the inside out. Sun coughed up liquid light blood as she felt great pain throughout her chest.

Sunset retracted the spear, the barbs reducing in size as the spear pulled itself out of her and returned to Sunset in its physical form. Sun began falling out of the sky, the flames of her Ember Stone’s healing power were igniting around the wounds, but it looked as if the power of Gae Bolg’s ancient curse was trying to fight against it. Sunset used this time to bound quickly to where Sun was falling, and right about the time she got there, something happened.

Sun’s flames burned brighter as they fought against the curse, eventually, the curse of Gae Bolg lost as the flames of the Ember Stone as the vestiges were burned away, healing Sun’s injuries. Sun gasped for breath as she stopped herself from falling. She panted, clutching her heart as she glared down at her twin. “Not bad…you are serious…Good, if you weren’t I’d feel bad.” Sun flew high into the sky, aiming herself right over the city. “SUNSET, I DON’T HAVE TIME TO SCREW AROUND ANYMORE! I HAVE A KILLER TO KILL, SO I’LL END THIS NOW!!!” Sun placed herself right where the sun itself was shining and prepared for her final attack.

Her flaming feathered wings changed shape, becoming a giant halo. A thin screen of light formed at the center, and to it particles of light were being gathered. At the center of Sun’s chest, the Ember Stone started glow brighter and brighter, slowly it started to become a shining star in the middle of the day. “THIS NEXT ATTACK WILL VAPORIZE ALL OF CANTERLOT CITY, AND EVERYTHING FOR A TWENTY MILE RADIUS! I WAS SAVING IT FOR HIM, BUT WHAT CAN I SAY, YOU JUST MAKE ME WANT TO GO ALL OUT!!!”

More and more power was gathered, but Sunset did not do anything. She merely stood there, right beneath where Sun was getting ready to fire. This honestly worried Sun, she wasn’t bluffing, this next attack would seriously vaporize Sunset and everything else caught in the blast. This attack was equivalent to a nuclear bomb going off. How did she know? Well, there was an incident not so long ago where a meteor came close to hitting Earth, but a mysterious beam of light shot out from the stratosphere suddenly intercepted said meteor and annihilated it. The scientists who studied the event stated that if such a beam weapon existed, it could level Manehattan five times over. And that meteor was a planet killer, so, she knew.

Sun crossed her arms over her chest as she readied to fire. Sis…I’m sorry…I’ll make it quick! “¡FLASH DE CALOR (Heat Flash)!!!!” Sun uncrossed her arms and released an enormous, but brilliant beam of light and fire straight down towards Sunset.

The beam roared through the sky, melting everything that came near it, and yet, Sunset didn’t run. The beam struck the ground below, and just as Sun said, it resulted in a huge explosion, a roaring dome of fire and destruction expanded and engulfed everything in its path, expanding like a fusion reaction as it seemed to keep going, using the surroundings as fuel to keep its bellowing hellfire going. The explosion kept going, and going, and going, and…still going.

“Oh shit…Oh shit, no, stop! STOP!!!” Sun shouted at the attack.

It appeared there was an aspect to her ultimate attack that she didn’t know about it. The resulting explosion was like a fusion reaction, it converted all the matter that was in its way as fuel to keep burning and growing. Sun was starting to worry. At the rate the fiery dome was going, it wouldn’t just stop at Canterlot City, it would continue to grow. She misnamed the attack and misinterpreted what it could do. Out in space, the attack had nothing else to feed it once the meteor was gone, but here, on Earth, it just kept growing. This was the ultimate power of the Ember Stone, of the Quetzalcóatl form, the power to create a living, breathing sun from the matter around it.

Sun thrust her right hand forward and willed the flames to cease, but no matter how hard she tried, the explosion just kept going, consuming in an endless cycle. “STOP, STOP, GODDAMIT PLEASE STOP!!! I PROMISED HER NO ONE ELSE WOULD DIE!!! I’M NOT GOING TO KILL ANYMORE OF HER FRIENDS!!! PLEASE! JUST! STOP!!!!!”

“Je dis cette prière, afin que tous soient sauvés (I say this prayer, so that all may be saved).”

A voice echoed amidst the roaring flames, it was smooth and gentle, and was speaking in French?

“Moi qui ai été brûlé au bûcher, je ne serai pas blessé par les flammes de la haine. (I who was burned at the pyre, shall not be harmed by the flames of hatred).”

The flames started to swirl, drawing in towards the center.

“Je prie pour la fin de la guerre, et pour le début de la liberté (I pray for the end of war, and to the beginning of freedom)!”

The roaring flames continued to die down until they were gathered and formed themselves into the shape of a rose. Below that rose was Sunset, holding up her sword towards the sky with her right hand, and holding a pole with a flag that had the ancient symbol of the Witchblade upon it. Sunset’s armor was pure white, and compared to the past versions, this was a bit more conservative. Her head was covered in a helmet, the sides of which were feathered. Her forearms were clad in gauntlets and her feet were encased in boots. The armor created a skirt around her, which was accentuated by the bodice-like armor on her chest. The sword had three crosses formed on the flat of the sword, and at the pommel was a sculpted blooming rose. The armor had an angelic look to it, which contrasted to the harsher, almost demonic-like look of the previous forms. Sunset’s eye color had changed to white, showing that she was joined with the holy Saint Joan of Arc, a woman chosen by God and led an army to countless victories.

“BRÛLEZ UN CHEMIN VERS LA VICTOIRE ! FLAMMES DE LA RÉVOLUTION (Burn a path to victory! Revolution Flames)!”

Sun watched the rose break apart as the center exploded with a huge pillar of white flames that roared upwards towards Sun. She thought about dodging, but the downside to using her attack was how much power it drained from her, coupled with the strain of maintaining her powered form this long, it just wasn’t going to happen. “Heh…nice move…Sis.”

The pillar of white flames hit Sun, creating a magnificent explosion of sparkling alabaster flames that lit up the sky. Sparkling embers cascaded down from the sky, giving Sunset a saintly appearance as she kept her gaze fixed on the explosion. A minute after the attack hit, Sun fell from the sky and hit the ground with a powerful crash. Sunset calmly walked to the crater that she had created, and saw Sun lying on her back. Sun’s transformation had ended, most of her clothes were burned away, leaving her bare and defeated upon the ruined landscape that was once Canterlot City.

Sun, who had her eyes closed, slowly opened them and looked up to see Sunset standing over her. “You told me that the Witchblade let you channel the other past wielders…who is this?”

“Joan of Arc,” said Sunset.

“Ah…the Saint that was called a witch by the very people that she wanted to save…” Sun sighed. “Guess there’s a reason why the Witchblade is the Keeper of the Balance…it has to be powerful to keep both light and darkness in check…”

Sunset knelt on the ground and dismissed her sword and pole. “It’s over Sun, you can’t win.”

“You wanna know a secret…?” Sun asked. “I knew that going into this fight.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Wait, you knew I would win?”

“I knew the possibility was high…The Witchblade was part of the Trinity, the first three Artifacts, and it’s the son of Angelus and the Darkness, of course it’s powerful. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to give it everything I had…and everything I had almost killed everyone on the planet…”

Sunset sighed as well and opted to sit down. “Why’s that a problem? If you had won, the world would’ve been erased, and so would everyone else.”

“……Because I promised you that no one else you loved would die.”

Sunset and Sun’s eyes began water, tears flowed down their faces as Sun began to sniffle.

“I’ve done so many things to get to this point…I’ve bribed people, killed others…I killed Indigo Zap…I killed Fluttershy…Tempest…I even killed the person I love the most…and I even tried to kill someone I cared for as a big sister…! And in the end, it was all for nothing! I wasn’t strong enough! I’m still that fucking weak little girl from all those years ago!”

“I can see the differences between us, my years of growing up in Equestria, and then the years I spent here, helped me grow into the person I am right now,” said Sunset.

“Hindsight’s twenty-twenty and all that shit, right?”

“Right. I’ve done several things both in Equestria and here that I’m not proud of, things that I wish I could take back, but I knew that I couldn’t. I had to live with what I did and live with the knowledge that I hurt those people, and that I had to make sure that I never hurt anyone like that again. I understand that you wanted your parents back, that you wanted to kill the person responsible, but can you tell me that there wasn’t anything in this world that you didn’t want to keep?”

Sun knew the answer well, it was Twilight and Sunset, Sugarcoat, Sunset’s friends, Ms. Celestia and Ms. Luna, Mr. Night Light and Mrs. Velvet, Shining Armor and Dean Cadence, they were all precious to her. They were family, in her heart, she knew that the void that was left behind by the death of her parents was being filled with new love and new family, but the selfish part of her, the little girl who was angry and wanted revenge would not let it go, would not let the chance of bringing them back slip away. Rather than live with what she did to get the Artifacts and change reality, Sun knew she should’ve focused on the love and family she had now.

“You, Twilight, everyone we knew…they were worth keeping this world the way it is…and yet, I still couldn’t see past my selfish ambitions, I’m sorry, Sis…!”

Sunset scooted closer and brought Sun into a hug, a hug that the younger twin returned fiercely. “I missed hearing you call me that.”

“Awwww, that’s nice.”

Sun’s eyes widened as fear gripped her heart.

“That’s really cute, you know. We should wrap this up, I don’t want to have to stay another minute in this wretched world.”

Sun tore herself away from Sunset and stood on wobbly legs, above them floated Thirteen, and in his gloved right hand was the Thirteenth Artifact. Sun tried to ignite her flames again, but she was too exhausted to call on her Ember Stone’s flames.

“Aww, no more gas in the tank? Good, then this’ll be easy.”

Thirteen’s Artifact glowed, and Sun was suddenly hoisted into the air as a ring of violet light wrapped itself around her neck and began choking her. The ring brought Sun floating before Thirteen, where he reached out and placed his hand on the Ember Stone. The Artifact retaliated against this action as it released a burst of flames right into Thirteen, however, the Thirteenth Artifact created a barrier that protected him against the flames. Two more rings appeared around Sunset’s wrists that kept her hands at her side, once this was done, Thirteen readied to take the Artifact.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!!!” Sunset roared as she dashed straight for Thirteen, sword in hand.

Another barrier formed, this time around both Thirteen and Sun. The sword bounced off the barrier, but Sunset wasn’t going to stop. She shifted to Scáthach’s armor and quickly attacked with Gae Bolg, but to her great shock, the cursed spear couldn’t pierce the shield.

“I still can’t get over the fact that there are two of you. Why is that I wonder?” Thirteen shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.” The Thirteenth Artifact glowed and imposed its power upon the Ember Stone, making it cease its flame attack and allowing Thirteen to remove the necklace from Sun. Just then, ten orbs of violet light descended from the sky, and in each one was contained an Artifact. “And then there was one.”

“Fucking…Bastard…! You killed my parents…!”

“Yes, I did, and you were of great help in gathering the Artifacts for me. Granted it took some prodding on my part, but eventually it all came together. So, thank you.”

The ring of light around Sun’s neck suddenly flashed. Sun went still, and then her body fell to the ground, while her head remained suspended in midair. Thirteen released his hold and let the head flop onto the ground next to the body. Sunset’s eyes went wide as tears streamed, she looked up at Thirteen and gritted her teeth.

“I’ll kill you…I’ll kill you…I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!” Sunset’s spear shined bright, causing Thirteen to take notice. “GAE BOLG!!!!”

Sunset thrust the spear forward, the beam struck against the shield, but like last time it didn’t go through. But she wasn’t about to give up. Sunset channeled all the power she had and forced the spear forward. Cracks started to form in the barrier that even gave Thirteen pause. The spear pierced the shield and made it shatter, unfortunately, it made Gae Bolg shatter as well. Sunset took this opportunity and shifted to Fang’s armor. Using her primal rage as fuel, she began striking at Thirteen with savage fury, pummeling her enemy relentlessly and causing thundering shockwaves to echo in every direction. Sunset cocked back her right fist, ignited the back of the gauntlet, and punched forward.

The empowered strike sent Thirteen flying forward, but Sunset changed to Atalanta, and chased after him. She reappeared behind him, on an intercept course, shifting to Anne Bonney’s armor. Wielding her two blunderbuss’ she pulled the triggers and fired two beams of cerulean light as she yelled with all her might. The beams doubled in size and enveloped Thirteen, continuing onward and into the sky before fizzling out. Sunset reverted to her original form, panting from the effort and anger that still seethed inside her.

“I have to admit that actually hurt, you’re different from the other Witchblade wielders I’ve fought before.”

Sunset paused, Thirteen’s voice changed, it sounded like a girl’s voice. Now that she took a moment to look, she saw that Thirteen’s robes had been mostly burned away, revealing the true form of the Thirteenth Artifact’s wielder. She had curly arctic blue hair and light-pink colored skin, and she wore a uniform that looked exactly like a Crystal Prep uniform When the girl turned around, Sunset saw that she had freckles, and amaranth-colored eyes.

“Who…Who are you?!” Sunset demanded.

“Not that it’ll matter to you, since, you know, you’ll be gone when I’m done. But given how interesting this version turned out, I’ll tell you.” The, admittedly, cute teenage girl, smiled at Sunset and said, “My name is Cozy Glow, and I’m the one who wielded Witchblade before you.”

}}} LIES! I would never choose her! {{{

“Oh, it’s no lie, Witchblade, once upon a time, you and I were partners. Before I traded up that is,” said Cozy.

Sunset did a double take when she realized that Cozy just heard the Witchblade speak. “How the – You can hear him?!”

Cozy held up the Thirteenth Artifact. “The Thirteenth has all sorts of different powers, one of which allows me to her the sapient entities within the Artifacts that house one, like Angelus, the Darkness, Blood Sword, Pandora’s Box, Ember and Glacier, and of course, you Witchblade.”

“If you are a wielder, then why would you do all this?! What do you gain from changing the world?!”

“I only ask for one thing, a world that isn’t a complete piece of shit,” Cozy stated. “I’ve done this four times now, and each time when I think the world will be different, something crappy happens again! Which makes me find them again, and remake it all over again! Seriously, it’s so fucking annoying, but it has its perks. Going on the occasional killing spree helps me let off some steam.”

“I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about?! What do you mean, shitty world and that you’ve done this four times?!”

Cozy tapped her chin with her left hand and then shrugged. “Eh, I’ve got some time, and I like you. I guess it couldn’t hurt to tell someone my little origin story, I’ve lived too long without someone to vent to. Listen up, Sunset Shimmer, because this world was created by me, and the past three before it. But in the first world, I wasn’t like this, I was a just an ordinary girl, until one day, I got the Witchblade.”