The Witchblade EqG: The 13 Artifacts

It had been nearly six days since Adagio’s last job, she felt like crap for at least three of those days and on the fourth day the soreness had worn off enough to walk about the apartment. Aria and Sonata had brought her meals in bed, despite her outburst when she got home that night, her sisters were quick to forgive, even more so when Adagio did apologize to them. Either way, the money she got from her job would keep them afloat for at least a couple of months, not barring any unforeseen injuries or repairs to their domicile, although a quick “favor” to the Sup could be swapped in place of monetary compensation.

From time to time, Adagio would hold the music box in her hands, she couldn’t open the damn thing, but it was a nice trinket. One of the few things she liked about this world and its humans, was their creativity and ingenuity. For all the advances Equestria might’ve made in the magical arts, as far as technology was concerned, they might as well be in the stone age. These humans lacked magic, so they made tools in place of it, one could say science was a form of sorcery. But Adagio wasn’t about to give them that much praise.

They were still all disgusting creatures. Not that she had room to brag, but comparatively, Equestria – at least when they weren’t directly involved – had managed to come together as one race and because of that very little strife and wars were fought. But these humans seemed to revel in violence, when they weren’t fighting over land, they fought over money. When they weren’t battling over politics, they were fighting over religious beliefs. All of it leading through the several conflicts across the globe, many of which she and her sisters had the displeasure of witnessing up close and personal, and some might’ve been caused by them.

World War 2 was not our finest hour…Neither was the first one. Alexander was a fun one to be around, when he wasn’t on one of his homicidal, world conquering campaigns.

How Adagio longed to swim in the ocean again, it had been ages since all three of the Siren Sisters had been able to submerge themselves in water. They had gone to the local pool a couple of times, but it wasn’t the same thing, and unfortunately, it was hard to swim when you had almost every male in the facility eye humping you. No, what they really would’ve loved was to go to the ocean, to Florida or California, live somewhere secluded near the beach and just dive into it whenever they wanted.

Something else they were grateful for; another part of their Siren physiology did make it over to their human forms. Whenever they were in the water, they could swim as fast as any Olympic athlete, and their lung capacity was much greater than a normal human, allowing the trio to stay submerged for hours with one large breath. That trait, along with their voices, allowed them to get them out of a few scrapes here and there. However, none of those traits and abilities were going to change their current situation.

Adagio turned her attention away from the music box and towards the window, staring out and seeing the concrete jungle sprawling out before her. With a wistful sigh her expression saddened. At this rate…this is all we’ll end up as. Whores getting fucked for money in order to live in a world that’s not our own…We can’t work since we don’t even exist in this world, so what else are we supposed to do?!

Her grip on the music box tightened.

It is all my fault; I made the decision for us to push towards land and feed on the land dwellers. I made the choice to stir up trouble and got the attention of Star Swirl and his companions! And it was my decision to drain the magic from Canterlot High School and those girls…one fucking bad decision after another!

The image of Sunset Shimmer appeared in Adagio’s mind and her anger intensified. What she didn’t notice was that the crease along the box was glowing as wisps of red misty light entered into it.

That fucking pony slut! I swear to whatever deity that exists here; I’ll make her pay! I’ll make sure Sonata and Aria are set up nice and well before I take my revenge. Yes, that’ll work, get enough money for the two of them to live happily and then go and kill Sunset Shimmer, torture, rape, and kill the bitch as slowly as possible! Then I’ll just wait for the cops to arrive and they can do what they want with me. I’ll take the heat, it’ll be me and only me who suffers for my mistakes when that time comes, at least they’ll be spared…

The crease of the music box was slowly opening, ever so slightly as low whispers started to creep from it. Adagio’s right hand caressed the music box, and unconsciously began to pull up the lid. Before she could open it a quarter of the way, a knock came from her door and snapped her out of her malice filled trance. This action caused her right hand to move away from the box, making the lid snap shut, startling the elder Siren as she looked down at it with shock.

When the knocking continued Adagio turned her attention to the door and said, “Come in.”

The door opened and revealed Sonata, she was dressed in one of her cute pink aprons, with a stupidly happy grin on her face. “Hey, Dagi, you think you’re up for some of my tomato gazpacho? I found this really cool recipe and I wanted to know what you think! I-If you want to, I’ll totally eat it if you don’t want any!”

Adagio smiled and placed her music box on the nightstand. “That sounds wonderful, Sona.”

Sonata giggled with glee as she rushed back into the kitchen/living room to get things ready. Adagio got out of the bed and stopped when she reached the door, glancing over her right shoulder at the music box and wondering if she only imagined that sound. Deciding to push that aside for the time being, Adagio continued into the living room, the table was already set with bowls, forks, some breadsticks, and glasses of water. The inside was filled with a delightful aroma as Sonata went and put the final touches on her dish, Adagio sat down at the table and watched her youngest sister work her culinary magic.

Sonata, out of the three of us, I think you could make it here. You’d probably make the right human male very happy with your cooking skills. If she applied those skills more, she could…Adagio stopped that line of thinking.

It didn’t matter if Sonata was a master chef, there was no restaurant that would accept a girl with no information and no identity in any database in the world. Same went if she went to a culinary school, unless she actually found a master chef that was eccentric enough to take her on, her skills would only be good to her and whomever she decided to take on as a lover, if she ever found one or wanted one.

The blue Siren sprinkled some seasoning into the pot and stirred, she took a good whiff of the steam that wafted off her creation and hummed in content. She took a spoon and dipped it in, tasting her creation as she smacked her lips a couple of times. With a satisfied “Hmm-hmm” she carried the pot over to the table, placing it on a stand so that it wouldn’t burn the table. Sonata took each of their bowls and poured them full of her gazpacho. She placed the bowls before them and said in her enthusiastic tone, “Bon appetit!”

Adagio took a moment to enjoy the aroma of the dish, it smelled good. She dipped her spoon into it and placed it into her mouth, Adagio chewed on the vegetable bits and took a moment to savor the taste before swallowing it. “Sona, dear, it’s divine! You’re getting better!”

“Thanks! I hope Aria likes it,” said Sonata as she began to eat.

Adagio ate three more bites before she let what Sonata said sink in. She looked about the room and to the open bedroom door on the opposite side of the apartment. It had two bathrooms and two bedrooms, Sonata and Aria shared a bed while Adagio had her own, from her seating position, Adagio could see the doorway to their room, but she couldn’t see Aria. Actually, she hadn’t heard Aria for a while now.

“Sonata, where’s Aria?” Adagio asked.

Sonata stopped eating and gave a nervous chuckle as she said, “Oh, uh, Ari’s out getting some groceries.”

Adagio raised an eyebrow at the explanation. “Uh-huh…Sonata, don’t lie to me. You weren’t good at it a thousand years ago, and you’re still bad at it now. So, tell me where our sister is.”

Sonata placed her spoon in her bowl and pushed the dish away as she clasped her hands together. “Don’t be mad, Dagi, but Ari went out to…to…to make some more money.”

The yellow Siren’s left eye twitched. If it wasn’t for the fact that there was a hot pot full of gazpacho she’d have shot up and slammed her hands on the table. Barring that, she opted for yelling. “WHY THE FUCK IS SHE DOING THAT?! I MADE ENOUGH MONEY TO LAST US AT LEAST TWO MORE MONTHS!!”

Sonata shrunk at the harsh tone of her big sister, but she managed to find enough courage to look her in the eye and explain Aria’s reasoning. “Don’t be mad at her, Dagi! We know you made a lot of money, but Ari wanted to use this as a chance for us to get ahead! So…she’s been going – oops!” Sonata slapped her hands over her mouth, she wasn’t supposed to say that last part.

Adagio rose slowly from her seat and chuckled a little in disbelief. “So, you’re telling me, while I was recovering from getting railed by multiple men, Aria decided to take this opportunity to go out and street walk, because she knew I couldn’t stop her! And she’s been doing this all this week?!”

“O-Okay, yes, she has, but I wanted to too!” Sonata shot back.

Adagio shook her head as she began to pace the floor. “I don’t – I just – WHY?! I did all that so that you two wouldn’t have to! Once I recovered enough, I was going to back out myself!”

Sonata stood up and replied, “That’s why we wanted to! Aria talked me out of it because someone needed to stay behind and look after you! And since I know how to cook and all, I was the best choice. But we don’t like it that you’re the only one letting those guys do things to you to get us money! We’ve done this before, and yes, we messed up, but we can still make it together!”

Adagio was too angry and frustrated right now, she knew and could see why they did it, she understood they were doing this for her sake, but right now she wasn’t having it. “Does she have her burner on her?”

“Of course, you told us not to leave the apartment without them.”

“Then call her and tell her to finish whatever business she’s doing right now and to get her punk ass back here!” Adagio ordered.

“Y-You’re not going to call her?” Sonata asked as she went to grab her cellphone.

“Right now, if I talked to her, I’m going to tear her a new one, and I’d rather save that for when she gets back! Call her, now!”

Sonata gulped and prepared to dial Aria’s number but stopped when they heard knocking at the front door. “Guess Ari’s back…”

“Good,” Adagio growled as she crossed her arms. “Go on and let her in, I want her to see just how screwed she is when she sees me.”

Sonata sighed as she went to the front door, she undid the multiple deadbolts they had set up and slowly opened the door. The blue haired Siren peaked through the crack and said, “Ari, you should know that Dagi’s mad and–” Sonata didn’t get to finish her sentence as the door was pushed open, throwing the young Siren girl to the floor.

Adagio quickly uncrossed her arms and went on alert when she saw who was in the doorway. There were seven men, one of them was leading Aria by the head, having gotten a fistful of her hair as he walked in with her. The fuchsia colored Siren had multiple bruises, made all the more apparent by her skimpy outfit, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and her right eye was blackened.

“ARIA!” Adagio cried out.

“I…I’m sorry, Adagio…t-they made me…bring them…here…” Aria croaked.

The man holding Aria threw her forward, letting the second youngest Siren stumble forward before falling flat on her front. Sonata and Adagio quickly rushed to Aria’s side and held her close, Adagio cradled her little sister’s head in her arms, her heart breaking as she saw tears in the tough and tomboyish girl’s eyes.

“I’m sorry…I fucked up…I’m so sorry…” she cried weakly.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay,” Adagio cooed as she gently stroked Aria’s hair. The eldest Siren glared at the seven men, now inside their apartment, and having closed the door. “What the fuck do you want?!”

The lead man had a dark suit, with a purple hat, his skin was a deep green color and sported a bread that was a darker shade of green. He reached into his suit and pulled out a cigarette, after lighting the cancer stick, he took a puff and smiled down at the three girls. “Yeah, I’ve been lookin’ for you girls all over.”

“Why?!” Adagio demanded.

The man took a few steps forward and then squatted before the three sisters. “Ya see, you hoes have been messin’ with my business.”

“What are you talking about? We haven’t hurt anyone!” Sonata argued.

“Oh-ho-ho, darlin’, you have. All I hear about are these damn sexy teeny boppers with rockin’ bods and voices that can make yer pecker blow a load before you stick ‘em in.” The man took another puff and then continued. “Yer makin’ my other hoes look like shit, and that in turn makes me look like shit. And I’m not shit, right boys?”

The six men nodded their heads and agreed with their boss.

“Sorry, we didn’t know you owned the exclusive rights to every hooker in Manehattan,” Adagio sniped.

The pimp took another drag off his cigarette, and then swiftly slapped Adagio across the face, sending her to the floor. He then stood up and sighed, “Bitch, do not use sarcasm in front of me, it offends me. Understood?”

Adagio propped herself up on her elbows and said, “Fuck you!”

“Now to be fair, no, I do not own the ‘exclusive’ rights to every hoe in Manehattan. But the street corners that you and your companions here appear in from time to time are my exclusive, hard earned, hoein’ spots. And when you go and do your business there,” the pimp reached out and grabbed Sonata by her ponytail and yanked her up by it.

“OW! OW! Stop it!” Sonata pleaded.

“It messes with my business.” The pimp glared at Adagio, he had already singled her out as the leader of the three. “Ya been stealin’ my money, and that I cannot and will not abide by.”

Adagio watched as the pimp pulled harder on Sonata’s hair, practically holding her up by it. The yellow Siren gritted her teeth and said, “Okay, fine, we’re sorry! We honestly didn’t know, and we won’t go back there again! Just tell us where you don’t want us, and we’ll stay the fuck away from those spots! Hell, we’ll go to the other side of town if we have to!”

The pimp released Sonata, letting her fall unceremoniously to the floor as she reached back and clutched at her head, tears rolling down her face from the throbbing pain. “Now that would be very nice of you, but that’s not enough. I need you to pay me back all that lost revenue.”

Adagio managed to stand up, she quickly glanced about the apartment, looking or anything she could use as a weapon. However, she noticed that one of the pimp’s bodyguards had his hand behind his back, most likely readying to draw a weapon and shoot Adagio before she even got the chance to do anything.

“How much?” Adagio asked.

“Let’s see, y’all been workin’ my spots for the last five to seven months now, so…hmm…let’s make it a $150 Gs.”

Adagio’s eyes bulged from her skull, her jaw almost dropping to the floor. Sonata looked up at the pimp with the same expression, and Aria managed to do the same even in her current state.

“A hundred and fifty-thousand dollars! Are you fucking high?!” Adagio asked incredulously.

“Not right now, bitch, not right now.”

“W-We don’t have that much money even if we gave you all we had!”

“Hmm, now that is a conundrum, ain’t it.” The pimp walked towards Adagio, the lead Siren tensed up when the man breached her personal space, running his gloved hand over her left cheek where he struck her, making Adagio wince with pain. “I guess we can make some sorta payment plan for you three.”

Adagio shut her eyes and gritted her teeth when the pimp’s hand slid down her face and rested atop her left bosom, kneading it like it was his personal plaything. “W-What kind of p-payment plan?”

“Simple, ya got two options.” The pimp raised left hand and held up his index finger. “One: you and your friends agree to service myself and my boys, exclusively. And that entails everythin’ down and dirty you can think of, no complainin’, no cryin’, all ya have to do is spread ‘em and take ‘em. If you do that for at least a month, without any problems, then all debts are forgiven.”

Adagio was practically chipping her teeth with how hard she was gritting, now feeling that pimp’s hand move from her breast and head straight down between her legs. “A-And the second option.”

“You three become part of my merchandise. I won’t lie, that would be the slower option. ‘Cause not countin’ my own cut of the profits after you’re done, would take you at least a year to make up the money. Personally speakin’, you’re better off with option one.”

Adagio released a gasp when felt the pimp squeeze her down there, her cheeks flushing red from the humiliation she was suffering. She looked to her two sisters, Aria, despite her current state, looked ready to kill the man molesting her big sister. Sonata was crying, but no less angered from witnessing what the pimp was doing to her. As it stood, if she didn’t comply with this disgusting human his men would surely kill them. It would be easy too, three unknown girls murdered in their apartment after getting viciously gangraped, it’d be like throwing a pebble in the ocean, not even noticeable.

“L-Look…instead of all three of us…just use me!” Adagio bartered. “I’m far better than they are in bed, yes, they have the looks and voice, but Aria’s a hot-tempered bitch and Sonata’s an airheaded idiot. I’ve raked in more money than the two of them combined, I promise you you’ll get your money’s worth out of me.”

The pimp looked between the girls on the floor and the one he was currently fondling. “Hmm, well, I do have experience in breakin’ a bitch in, so that might not be a problem.”

“B-But do you really want to waste all that time?” Adagio shoved her hatred, anger, and disgust as deep down as she could. Her expression shifted to a sultry one, with a half-lidded gaze and a coy smile. She raised her arms and rested them on the pimp’s shoulders, raising her left leg, Adagio gently wrapped it around his right leg. And for good measure, she slowly began grinding into the pimp’s hand. “You don’t need to worry about training me, I’m everything you’d want in a woman. Pussy like a velvet vice, my voice make’s love to your ears, and my mouth…” Adagio leaned in and gave a light lick to the man’s right cheek. “It’s like a second pussy to fuck. What do you say?”

The pimp’s men were getting turned on by her, she knew what they wanted, if she could make herself more appealing, a sexier alternative, then they’d leave Aria and Sonata alone.

The pimp thought about his options as she looked Adagio over. Her gray sweatshirt and matching pants, despite how baggy they were, she managed to make them look so damn hot. A devious smile formed on his face as a thought occurred to him. “Okay, maybe I’ll take ya up on that offer. But I think I need to sample the goods first.”

“Adagio!”

“Dagi!”

“Shut up, girls!” Adagio ordered. “The man has a right to sample his product, any good businessman would do it.”

Adagio slowly pulled away from the pimp, not surprisingly, he allowed her to. The yellow siren sashayed towards her room, stopping in the middle of the doorway as she lifted her sweatshirt and showed off her impressive mammaries to him. She turned around and slowly pulled down her pants, making sure they all got a good look at her ass and womanhood before she stepped out of her sweatpants and kicked them into her room. Adagio kept walking until she was at her bed, crawling on all fours, she stopped and wiggled her rear towards the pimp.

“Come and see what all the hype is about,” Adagio urged in a husky voice.

“Fuck me this bitch is hot!” the pimp exclaimed.

“Hell yeah, boss,” said one of the bodyguards.

The pimp undid his tie and began unbuttoning his blazer and shirt. “Boys,” the bodyguards stood at attention as he stood before the door to Adagio’s room. With a sly smile he said to them, “make yourselves comfortable, this could be awhile.” With that he shut the door. Leaving Aria and Sonata alone with his men and crying that their sister was about to be violated by that man.

Inside the room, the pimp was slowly undressing himself, enjoying the view of Adagio’s naked body. Adagio was mentally preparing herself for what was about to happen, she had to treat this as if he was just another client, although this client wasn’t going to be as gentle-ish as the other clients. Sure, had she had rough sex before? Yes, if her client wanted to, but even then they didn’t take it too far, because to them she was like a diamond amongst the muck, they didn’t want to damage her or risk scaring her away to never be seen again. However, that wouldn’t be the case with this pimp, he’d manhandle her, choke her, inflict pain on her, whatever he wanted.

Adagio chuckled sardonically inside at this whole situation. Yet again…another one of my stupid decisions has gotten us into trouble…Her eyes started to glaze over the desperation of their whole situation began to sink in. Maybe they’d be better off if I was gone…? Maybe that would be best…I’ll give him the best performance I can and then I’ll work for this man…I’ll keep working and working…until I die…So long as Sonata and Aria can live…I don’t give a shit what happens to me anymore…

Adagio tensed when she felt the bed begin to shake, she could sense the pimp getting closer to her. The pimp mounted her, pressing his body onto her back as he positioned his head just behind her right ear, taking a moment to enjoy the natural aroma she gave off.

“There’s somethin’ you should know,” said the pimp.

“Yes?”

“I don’t like to leave my boys high and dry, sooooo…”

“GET THE FUCK OFF HER!”

Adagio snapped out of her depressed state and to attention. “W-What’s going on?!”

“Wanna see?” the pimp asked.

He got off her and opened the door, Adagio turned around gasped in horror. Three of the bodyguards were already ripping off what little clothes Aria had on, while another three were doing the same to Sonata. Adagio glared daggers at the pimp as she growled, “THIS ISN’T WHAT WE AGREED ON! Me, just me! Not THEM!”

The pimp scratched his beard and said, “I don’t remember makin’ that agreement. I agreed to sample the merchandise. You never said anythin’ against my boys sampling them, as a good businessman, I have to get an unbiased opinion, and my boys are very good at tellin’ me what they think so I’ll trust them if they say they’re no good.”

“YOU SON OF BITCH!” Adagio shouted as she bolted from the bed.

However, years of experience made the pimp ready for surprise outbursts like this. He swiftly slapped Adagio across the face, sending her bouncing off the foot of the bed and to the floor. The strike dazed her, allowing the pimp to march over to Adagio and wrap his hands around her throat. Adagio’s eyes bulged as he squeezed on her trachea hard, despite his lean form, he was shockingly strong, strong enough to lift her up off her feet. The pimp threw Adagio to the bed, letting her bounce a couple of times before rushing towards her. Adagio took one of the pillows and tried to use it as a distraction, to try and grab something harder to hit him with, but the pimp swatted it away and managed to wrap his hands around her throat again.

The pimp squeezed with greater force, cutting off Adagio's air supply, and making the Siren squirm and flail about in a desperate panic to get herself free. “There ain’t other options here, bitch, but just the one. I’m gonna break all three of you and make bank with grade A sluts like you!”

Adagio tried to scratch at the man’s face, but it seemed he wasn’t arrogant enough to lean in enough for her to do so. If anything, her attempts just made him squeeze even harder, shortening her already limited time of consciousness.

“When ya wake up, all three of ya will be back at my little training house and then the real fun will start!”

Adagio was starting to see spots as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Strained choking sounds were uttered from her open mouth as her movements were lessening with each passing second. In her mind, what little consciousness she had left was spent hating. CURSE THIS WORLD, THIS WEAK BODY, THESE FILTHY HUMANS, AND CURSE THIS WRETCHED FATE! I HATE IT…I HATE IT ALL…FUCK THIS…I’LL KILL YOU…I’LL KILL YOU…I’LL…KILL…YOU…

Just then, the jewelry box began to shake, making the pimp ease up on his choking. A red mist swiftly flowed out of Adagio and into the box, making the crease glow a deep crimson color. The jewelry box slowly, and eerily, opened, all the while playing a haunting, beautiful, yet creepy song. It was clear now that it wasn’t a jewelry box, but a music box. However, it didn’t sound like a normal music box, it sounded as if a small orchestra was trapped inside and playing a full song.

“W-What the fuck is that?!” the pimp exclaimed as she released Adagio out of pure fear upon seeing the box.

Adagio could hear the music, it permeated her body and soul, it carried a familiar power that resonated with her. Her magenta colored eyes changed to glowing crimson as she slowly stood atop the bed, towering over the man. All she could feel was hatred, hatred towards this man before her, and hatred towards the men in the other room. Adagio began to sing the lyrics to the haunting song, they came so easily to her, as if she had known the words her whole life, this was the song of destruction, a Song of Death.

The man began to panic, fear gripping his heart as he backed up quickly, stumbling and falling off the bed and rolling to the door. When he reached it, the pimp hurriedly opened the door and rushed into the living room. His bodyguards were shocked, to say the least, to see their boss stark naked and scrambling out the bedroom, but then they saw the reason why. Adagio slowly walked out of the bedroom, holding the music box in her hands, she stopped in the middle of the living room, noticing that Aria and Sonata hadn’t been harmed in that way yet, but still, that did nothing to quell the hate.

Aria and Sonata were on the floor, the bodyguards having ignored them as they slowly drew their weapons. They were half naked now; their eyes just as wide and full of shock as the thugs in the room. However, when Adagio released a long note, it resonated with them. It called forth their own hate and anger, feeling similar to the power they once had long ago. Adagio sang again, but this time, Aria and Sonata joined in, making the bodyguards look between them in confusion. The two sisters’ eye color changed to crimson as well, matching their big sister as they slowly rose to their feet. The men pointed their guns at them, but they didn’t even acknowledge them. They walked towards Adagio until they were standing side-by-side, the trio, the Siren Sisters.

The song intensified as the mini orchestra music that poured out from the music box’s red light grew louder. Matching their voices together, they sang in harmony, feeling power in their music for the first time since their defeat at the Battle of the Bands. Aria and Sonata started to slowly dance to the music as they sang with Adagio, somehow it amplified the power of the song and it wasn’t long before the song’s effects began to take effect.

“W-What are you waitin’ for!? Kill these witch bitches!” the pimp ordered.

The men aimed their guns at the Sirens, but fear gripped them hard, their hands were shaking violently, unable to aim their weapons properly or even pull the trigger. One of the bodyguards began to foam at the mouth as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, he discarded his gun and pulled out a large knife. With that knife, he gave a savage cry and charged for the pimp, in a shocking display of brutality, the bodyguard stabbed his boss right through his stomach.

The pimp could only look on in horror as his brain tried to register why his loyal bodyguard just stabbed him. It didn’t end there as the deranged guard pulled out the knife and began repeatedly stabbing the pimp in the stomach again and again with ever increasing speed, the pimp coughed up blood as he began to cry from the pain, the blood loss making him too weak to fight back. The guard pulled out the knife again, but this time he stabbed one side of the pimp’s stomach and pulled it across his abdomen. The action created a large gash, of which the guard used as he threw away his knife and thrust his hand into the wound, making his boss release an unholy scream of agony. The guard continued to wail in madness as he pulled out his boss’ entrails, spilling them onto the floor.

The other bodyguards had already pissed themselves upon witnessing this display of pure slaughter. However, the song was not done. The second guard’s body started to heat up, he began removing his clothes in a desperate attempt to get cool, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that it wasn’t helping. His skin started to form blisters all over, turning a harsh red color, all culminating until he burst into flames right on the spot. The man screamed in pain as he ran around flailing like a mad man as the fire burned him from the inside out.

The third began to cough up blood as his internal organs were slowly shredded from the inside. The fourth suddenly felt all the bones in his body turn into glass, taking one step forward shattered all the bones in his left leg, and the moment he fell, all of them broke. The fifth was bombarded with horrifying images, one after the other in an endless stream of humanity’s worst moments, but what was worse was that he felt it, he felt all the pain the people in those images felt, he suffered every human atrocity in the span of a few short seconds. The last guard vomited up a black ooze, that same ooze poured from his different orifices and slowly melted him.

The deranged guard stopped his vile work and stood over the disemboweled body of his boss, still in his mad state, he looked towards the window. Letting out another mad cry, he ran at full speed towards the window and threw himself out of it headfirst, still crying out in a deranged state until he hit the pavement three stories below.

When their assailants were all dead, the source of their hatred gone, the music box began to wind down, the lid slowly closing as the music faded until there was silence. The Sirens stopped singing, shaking their heads as if they had been in a trance, and it seemed as if they were, for the moment they laid eyes upon their good work, Sonata vomited. Aria nearly heaved as well but managed to keep it down, but that didn’t erase the horror stricken look on her face. Adagio was, to say the least, in shock. Her mouth trembled in disbelief at what just occurred, even as her eyes drifted down towards the music box, of which she was still holding.

Adagio managed to snap out of her shock, she needed to, there was no way what happened in their apartment didn’t wake up the whole building, and no doubt the police were on their way, either that or they were already here and making their way up the stairs.

“W-We…We need to go! We need to go, NOW!” Adagio ordered as she rushed back to her bedroom.

That seemed to snap Sonata and Aria out of their shock as they too rushed to Adagio’s room. Without missing a beat, Adagio quickly changed into some mismatched clothes and began throwing what she needed into the suitcase she had thrown onto the bed.

“Adagio, what the hell are you doing?!” Aria asked.

“We need to get the hell out of here! Do you want to be here when the police come and explain to them why seven men are dead?!”

“B-But they were bad guys, it was self-defense!” Sonata stated.

Adagio stopped for a moment and turned to face her sisters. “Be that as it may, how are we going to explain this?! ‘Oh officer, these seven men came to hurt us because we were prostituting on their turf! So, we used a strange music box to make all kinds of horrifying things happen to them in order to kill them!’ Yes, I imagine that’ll go over really well! They’ll arrest us for whoring, if they don’t arrest us for murdering those men, and for being three teenage girls with no social information in any database in any country! Do you understand?!”

Sonata nodded.

“GOOD! Aria, help her get her stuff, gods know how long before the cops arrive, if they’re not already marching up the stairs as we speak!”

Aria understood and ushered Sonata to their room to pack.

Adagio opened the secret compartment she had carved out in her closet to hide the extra money they made from their nightly activities. She had set aside what extra money they managed to obtain in a kind of “bugout” bag just in case something happened. Although she never imagined their bugout situation was going to be something like this. Once she had the money, she threw it into the suitcase and was prepared to close it, that is until Adagio spied the music box. She didn’t know what that item was, whatever it was, it was supernatural, some kind of magical item of this world, there was no way it was Equestrian, there was no creature in their world that was so filled with madness as to create something like it. Adagio knew that the smart thing to do was to leave it here, let the police deal with it.

And yet…

Adagio picked up the music box and threw into the suitcase. She went to the nightstand to grab the shards of her broken amulet, but when she did, she was aghast to see that it was gone. “H-How?! I never take it out!” That was when the box glowed again. The box had been resting right atop where the shards would be. “Did…Did the box absorb them? Is…Is that why it felt so familiar?”

That was a question for another day, Adagio closed the suitcase and hurried back into the living room, she paused when she saw the men in their various states of death. Aria and Sonata were still getting some things together, much to her growing nervousness and aggravation. The lead Siren went to one of the corpses that wasn’t as damaged as the others, she found that corpse’s gun and took it, along with an extra clip from its pocket. She placed the gun into the waistband of her pants and threw on a jacket to hide it. Thankfully, she finished this just as Aria and Sonata entered the room, they sidestepped the corpses with revulsion and joined their big sister.

“I don’t like this, Adagio, I know the cops are slow, but there’s no way they aren’t here already! Why haven’t they busted down the door?! The neighbors definitely heard everything that happened and probably called them minutes ago,” said Aria.

Adagio agreed with the middle child of their family. Why hadn’t the police bashed down their door? Surely, they weren’t waiting for them to come out on their own, right? Not after all the screaming and yelling. Then again, some people around Manehattan didn’t like to meddle in other people’s business for fear of getting involved in whatever trouble they were in. It was both a blessing and curse, while it allowed them to do what they wanted, and no one batted an eye, it also meant that there was almost no chance of them calling the police for help.

“D-Dagi, I-I’m scared…” Sonata squeaked.

Adagio gulped. “Me too, Sona.”

The lead Siren slowly made her way to the front door, she debated whether or not to pull out the gun, if there were cops and she was armed, they’d most likely shoot first and ask questions later. No matter which way you sliced it, they were going to jail tonight. Taking a deep breath, Adagio opened the door, very slowly, waiting for those dreaded words to be yelled at them. But there was nothing, only silence.

Sonata gasped and pointed towards the open door as she said, “D-Dagi, look!”

Adagio did look and her mouth hung open. On the ground were at least five dead police officers, each of them dead in different ways much like the men in their apartment. One had smashed his head through the drywall and just hung there limply. Another looked as if he had shot himself in the head, while another one had shoved his nightstick down his throat and willingly choked on it. When the Sirens entered the hallway, they found out why the floor was so silent, everyone was dead.

Some of the doors were open with corpses lying in their doorways, others were still closed but it didn’t take a genius to realize that they had suffered the same fate. Their stomachs were doing somersaults, they had seen plenty of death and destruction over their millennia of life on this planet, at least two incidents were by accident, but this…this was just wrong, and they were the ones who did it. The trio slowly made their way down the hall, the doors that were open treated them to their own personal horror show.

“Just keep your eyes straight ahead, don’t look inside,” Adagio ordered.

They passed by one open door, and Sonata dared to look inside. While the building and its people weren’t always nice, to anyone, the kids were friendly most of the time. Sonata had become popular with the littler kids, sometimes playing with them and making them a snack, so when she looked into this one apartment and saw that not even the children were spared, she cried, hard.

Aria came up behind her, holding her up while ushering her forward. “Adagio told you not to look inside.”

“The kids…the kids are dead, too! Why?! They weren’t bad! W-Why are they dead!” Sonata cried.

Adagio wished she knew, while she hated humanity, she couldn’t hold hatred towards children, they were innocent and ignorant of the crimes of their elders, so while she didn’t always tolerate them, quite frankly she found them annoying, she didn’t hate them either. For a moment she thought the music box’s power only killed those who were a threat to them, maybe even those with hatred or some sort of malice in their hearts, but it seemed its power was indiscriminate. Young or old, good, or bad, it seemed no one was safe from its terrifying power.

As they descended the stairs, they realized that the whole building was silent, not just their floor. Which meant that everyone was quite possibly dead because there was no way nobody would hear all that death and not have dozens of cops swarming the place. The Siren Sisters quickened their pace and eventually made it down the lobby, of which they found more cop corpses. Adagio decided to leave out the back, they didn’t want to get pegged as the only survivors of what was no doubt going to be a major news story before the night was over.

After checking if the coast was clear, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, disappeared into the night, it would be many blocks before the Sirens found refuge in a motel. Exhaustion finally took hold of them, and all three fell asleep on the bed together, tightly hugging each other with tear streaked faces, all while Adagio’s suitcase immitted an eerie red glow from within.

It was a miracle, at least that’s what some were calling it. Indigo Zap had been found after almost six straight days in the cold wilds, everyone in the search party was amazed to see that she wasn’t frostbitten or starving after so many days. Now the young woman was settling in at the lodge, wrapped in blankets – all of which were making her sweat when combined with the fireplace she was setting next to – and sipping on some hot coco. Indigo Zap’s mother and father had ended their talk with the search and rescue team, thanking them for their efforts.

On a level, she felt bad for wasting their time, they were searching almost night and day, spending long hours in the cold and with little sleep, all in search of her. But on the other hand, she managed to learn more about her powers and now she was confident enough in her mastery of them to take on Sunset the next time she saw her.

Oh man, that pyro bitch is going to learn a whole new meaning to the words “cold shoulder”, Indigo thought.

Indigo’s mother rushed over towards her and enveloped her daughter in a fierce hug. “Oh honey, I’m so glad you’re alive and alright!”

“Sorry, Mom, I messed up and took a route I wasn’t supposed to…” Indigo half apologized. She was sorry for worrying them, but she was also not sorry. It wasn’t like she could just ask her parents to let her go out and train in the art of cryomancy.

“It’s fine, sweetie,” said her father. “Accidents happen, the important thing is you’re alright.”

“Sorry for ruining the vacay, you guys spent the whole time worrying and looking for me, and I spent it in the woods surviving.”

Indigo’s father walked towards his daughter, stroked her hair, and then planted a kiss on her forehead. “Nonsense, I knew you’d make it, you’re a Zap, and you’re the toughest girl I know, aside from your mother of course.”

Indigo’s mother chuckled and so did Indigo, today was the last day of Spring Break, normally any teen would be dreading heading back to go back to another round of school, but right now, Indigo couldn’t be more excited.

“Hey, is it okay if we head back home now? I’m kinda over this place,” said Indigo.

“Of course, we’ll get the first flight out,” her mother said.

“Is that such a good idea? I mean, perhaps you should rest a bit more before we try flying,” her father suggested.

“The doc said I was fine, and I’m feeling great guys. Seriously, I just want to be back home.”

Her mother and father looked at each other and nodded, they could understand that their daughter didn’t want to spend any more time in the place where she had such a traumatic experience. With that agreed upon, the Zaps packed up and readied to leave. Indigo finished up her packing and took one last look out of the window of her room, she saw her reflection and focused on the magical necklace, she held the gemstone between her thumb and forefinger, smiling as her eyes shifted to blue for a moment before returning to their normal color.

“I’m coming for you, Sunset Shimmer, and I’ll save Twilight from you.”