The Witchblade EqG: The 13 Artifacts

Crystal Prep Academy was just as cheery as ever, the school’s newest power couple couldn’t care less about it. Sunset and Twilight walked down the halls, the students parting for them as they did. Twilight wasn’t used to this sort of treatment from the students, usually they went out of their way to bump into her and purposefully trip her up, now they did everything they could to avoid her. She knew that most of this treatment was due to Sunset’s threat and her display of power when Sunny Flare tried to break them apart. And of course, word had gotten around that Sunset had beaten up at least four of the five girls who “tried” to do something to Twilight.

“You okay, Sparky?” Sunset asked.

“Huh? Oh, yes, I am, it’s just…I haven’t exactly gotten used to all this attention, at least not in this fashion,” said Twilight.

Sunset draped her arms over Twilight’s shoulders and brought her close. “Hey, you never have to worry about all that bullshit ever again. Not so long as I’m around. And you know, there’s always the nuclear option if push comes to shove.”

Twilight frowned a little and lightly bopped her girlfriend on the head. “Bad Sunset, no committing arson!”

“Boo, you’re no fun.”

“Nice to see you’ve gotten closer since the last time I saw you two.”

Sunset and Twilight turned around and saw Sugarcoat walking towards them. Twilight smiled and broke away from Sunset, once she was close, Twilight did something that Sugarcoat didn’t expect, she hugged her. The action took the blunt girl by surprise as she stood there with her arms up, looking and feeling very awkward by this display of affection.

“Uh…o-okay…t-this is new,” said Sugarcoat. “You’re normally not one for physical contact, at least when it’s not from Sunset.”

Sunset walked up and stood a foot away as she crossed her arms and smiled. “Wow, Sweets, what did you do or say to get my girlfriend to hug you outright like that? Trying to make a move on her, are you?”

Sugarcoat blushed and shook her head rapidly. “What?! No, nononono! I am not and do not have any intention of pursuing a romantic relationship with Twilight!”

Twilight ceased her hug, her cheeks tinting pink. “S-Sorry, Sugarcoat, I made some new friends while on vacation and…well…I guess you could say that I picked up their habits. They’re quite into displays of affection, hugging, a lot of hugging.”

Sugarcoat straightened out her uniform, her deadpan expression changed as the corner of her mouth rose to a small smile. “It’s alright, it was unexpected, although not unpleasant. But next time, please inform me if you’re planning on hugging me. Also, ‘Sweets’?”

Sunset shrugged. “It’s your nickname. I like you, and Sparky does too. So, yeah.”

Sugarcoat’s smile remained, she had never been given a nickname before, at least one that wasn’t meanspirited or used to describe her more salacious activities with her fellow students. It just cemented the notion to Sugarcoat that she had two people she could really call her friends. The girls walked to their class together, Sunset and Twilight regaled Sugarcoat with some of their Spring Break exploits, the seemingly melancholic girl was surprised to hear that Sunset had a twin sister that went to CHS, and that the girls she hung out with on Spring Break were in fact friends of her twin.

“I’m surprised they would even associate with you,” said Sugarcoat.

“Why’s that?” Sunset asked.

“She doesn’t know?”

Twilight lightly facepalmed herself. “No, I guess I forgot to mention it. You see, CPA and CHS have a fierce rivalry between the schools. The Friendship Games are held every four years, and to date, Crystal Prep has won every single one of them.”

“And CHS has lost every single one,” added Sugarcoat.

“Yeesh. But naw, they didn’t hold that against us, they were actually pretty cool, but of course, they’re my big sis’ friends, so of course they are.” It was then that Sunset noticed something on Sugarcoat’s right wrist, a bracelet with a heart shaped gemstone. “Hey, Sweets, is that new?”

“Huh?”

“The bracelet, did you buy it during the Break?”

Sugarcoat looked down at her wrist, her smile faded a bit as a sigh left her lips. “Oh…yeah…it’s actually a family heirloom from my grandmother.” Sugarcoat stopped walking, prompting Twilight and Sunset to do the same. “She…uh…she died during vacation; this was her gift to me before she left us…” the pigtailed girl started to sniffle as memories of her deceased grandmother started to come up. “She was a really special person, she helped a lot of people, and had a lot of love to give.”

Twilight and Sunset felt a weight on their heart as they saw Sugarcoat’s eyes well up with tears. The young genius gently placed her left hand on Sugarcoat’s shoulder and asked, “Is it okay if I give you a hug?”

Sugarcoat only nodded.

Twilight wrapped her arms around Sugarcoat, offering some comfort to her friend. Sunset came around to the left side and hugged her as well, she knew well the pain of losing someone you loved, and how much having someone be there helps to lessen the pain.

“What’s all this? You guys just cement to being a threeway couple or something?” That raspy voice snapped all three of them out of the moment and made Twilight back away. Sunset narrowed her gaze as she spotted the star athlete of Crystal Prep, standing not but a couple of feet from them, arms crossed, with a smug yet conceded look on her face. “Not judging, but it’s probably not a good thing to be with a girl who’s been with more than half the students in this place.”

“Indigo, looks like your arm’s all healed up. You want me to break it again?” Sunset threatened as she took a step forward.

“Heh,” Indigo stepped forward as well, “you can try, but trust me, Sunbitch Shimmer, it ain’t going to end up like last time.”

Something was off and Sugarcoat could see it. The Heart Stone gave off a subtle glow as her eyes stripped away the physical world and made clear the metaphysical. Sunset and Indigo’s auras were…strange, they weren’t the type of auras that her grandmother, Candycoat, told her or warned her about. Sunset’s took the form of a fiery dragon, its large wings flaring out as it opened its great maw and bared its fangs. Indigo’s aura took the form of some kind of humanoid giant, it was blue, and she could feel an icy chill as opposed to the heat that came from Sunset’s aura. The two silhouettes stared each other down, it felt as if they were waiting for this moment for so long and now it had come to pass. A bitter rivalry that was long overdue, a score settling.

All of this was having a real effect on Sugarcoat, her body trembled as beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. It felt as if Sugarcoat was a little girl who had just stumbled upon a meeting of two behemoths about to duel to the death, the power that these auras radiated was overwhelming.

It was about this time that Twilight Sparkle took her eyes off her girlfriend and abuser and looked upon Sugarcoat, now taking notice of her new friend’s state. “Sugarcoat, what’s wrong? Hey,” Twilight placed her hand on Sugarcoat’s shoulder and felt the trembling immediately, “Sugarcoat, you’re shaking, what’s wrong?!”

“I…I don’t know what I’m looking at…” Sugarcoat wasn’t lying, she really didn’t know what she was seeing right now or how to describe it.

The two girls took a step forward again, now within a hair’s breadth away from each other and ready to engage the other. The students that were nearby had backed ways away from the two girls, everyone knew by now that Sunset Shimmer wasn’t someone to piss off, she had the strength to back up her words, and Indigo wasn’t a pushover either, a full blown fight between them was not going to end well. Not even the football jocks wanted to get in the middle of that catfight.

“What’s the matter, scared?” Indigo asked.

“Oh, I thought I’d give you the first strike. Then everything after is self-defense,” said Sunset.

“You sure about that? You really want everyone here to see how you heal yourself with fire?” Indigo smirked. “That’s fine, ‘cause I got somethin’ for that now!”

Sunset raised her eyebrow at that statement. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You’re about to find out!”

Indigo readied to deliver a punch but was stopped when both she and Sunset were pushed away to arm’s length by Sunny Flare. Her interference surprised the two, long enough that it managed to offset the intense atmosphere that was created by them.

“Okay, okay, let’s just tone it down, alright?” Sunny pleaded.

Indigo growled at her friend’s interference and asked, “What the hell are you doing, Sunny? Get the fuck out of my way, now!”

“You do realize that I have zero problems with going through you to get to her, right?” Sunset warned.

Sunny Flare knew that all too well, after what happened with Twilight, there was no way that Sunset wouldn’t literally punch through her to get to Indigo. However, what scared her just as much was her mother, Twilight was still in the crossfire, and any fight between these two would involve her in some way. Plus, her mother was counting on her to keep things calm between these two, either that or she would suffer punishment for her inactions.

“Y-Yes, I know that Sunset, you’ve made it very clear,” said Sunny in a chipper tone. “B-But it’s the first day back from Spring Break, why don’t we at least just keep things semi-cordial for the day?” It was here that she leaned in close to Sunset and added, “I know you don’t want anything to happen to Twilight, especially if you two start duking it out here. She might get caught up in the fight, you know how Indigo is with her!”

That seemed to snap Sunset out of her bloodlust as she threw a gaze back at her girlfriend and Sugarcoat, who she just realized was looking not too good. “Hey, Sweets, what’s wrong?”

As Sunset broke off to go back to the two girls, Sunny Flare leaned in close to Indigo Zap and said, “You promised my Mom that you wouldn’t instigate anything, and that you’d leave Sparkle alone! You know what she’ll do to you if you disobey her! Plus, you and I both know that Shimmer has some kind of freaky power, there’s no way you can beat her!”

“Some things have changed, Sunny, trust me. I can beat this bitch now,” said Indigo.

“I know you survived getting lost in a snowy wasteland, but that doesn’t mean you’re suddenly able to beat someone who can fucking make fire appear from her hands!”

“Can we please get to class; I’m starting to get annoyed by all this.”

Indigo and Sunny Flare turned their gaze to the one who said that, so did Twilight, Sugarcoat, and Sunset, finding out that it was Sour Sweet. She didn’t look all that well, she had bags under her eyes and looked really tired for some reason. Next to her was Lemon Zest, who was a little worried for her friend for saying that in such a tense situation.

“Keep your panties on Sour, this won’t take long!” Indigo stated.

It was around this time that Sugarcoat’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks. She saw something worse or as bad as the two strange auras, there was a large black aura coming off of Sour Sweet, but within that black aura she could see a scarlet aura, a kind of malice that was unnatural even for a normal person, it took the form of a demonic face, and looked upon everyone indiscriminately, as if it was ready to kill all of them on a mere whim. That’s when the demonic face paused and looked directly at her, it was aware, this demonic face was aware that she could see it.

“Hey, Sweets, seriously, what’s wrong?! You’re turning pale!” Sunset asked with worry.

“I…I don’t feel…BLAGH!” Sugarcoat dropped to her knees and vomited onto the floor, making the crowd give a collective “eww” from the sight of it.

Twilight hurriedly went down on her knees as she held Sugarcoat’s hair up and rubbed her back carefully. Sunset went down on one knee and gently grabbed a hold of her friend, even more worried now.

“Okay, that’s it, we’re going to the nurse!” Sunset stated.

“I…I’m fin – BLAGH!” Sugarcoat vomited again. This demonic aura and death aura, it was making her physically ill. “I just…I…”

“Sugarcoat, we’re going to the nurse, come on,” said Twilight as she tried to help Sugarcoat to her feet.

Indigo growled in indignation and annoyance at this development. “What the hell, seriously?! She probably choked down too much jizz and shemen this morning and it’s not agreeing with her, that’s what happens when you blow half the guys and eat out the girls. Now get the slut a paper towel and let’s go, Shimmer!”

Sunset’s eyes flashed orange for a moment as she turned to face Indigo Zap. “I fucking swear to god, Zap, I’m gonna–!”

“SUNSET!” Twilight shouted in a stern voice, bringing her girlfriend’s attention back to the immediate problem. “I need your help to get her up and to the nurse, please!”

Sunset took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly. Once she quelled the raging fire of anger inside of her, Sunset hooked Sugarcoat’s left arm over her neck while Twilight did the same with Sugarcoat’s right arm. Together, the two girls managed to lift the blueish gray girl up to her feet as they began heading back the other way towards the nurse’s office, thankfully the crowd parted for them and made their exit all the swifter.

When they left, the crowd dispersed, leaving Sunny, Indigo, Sour, and Lemon as the remainders.

“Goddammit,” Indigo huffed, she then grabbed Sunny by the collar of her shirt and glared at her as she said, “Don’t ever get between us again!”

Sunny shot her own glare at Indigo and gripped Indigo’s wrist with her left hand. “Dammit, Indigo, what the hell is wrong with you! Are you that obsessed with Sparkle?! I know you said why you want her, but c’mon on! There are plenty of other girls in this fucking school! And I’m sure you won’t have any shortage of horny ones when you get to college!”

“It ain’t about that! I like Twilight! I love her! That witch just got her all wrapped around her finger too tight to see that she’s being manipulated!” Indigo shot back.

Sunny Flare genuinely laughed when she heard that, finding it real funny that Indigo of all people was talking about manipulation. “Oh, yeah, like the way you corner her in different parts of the school and force yourself on her? Or how you forced her to do things to you? You’re no more a saint than anyone here! That’s worse than manipulation, that’s literally controlling her!”

Indigo was starting to get angrier, to the point that the necklace under her shirt was starting to glow in response to her emotions. However, Lemon Zest managed to get between them and diffuse the situation.

“Hey, c’mon Zap, let’s cool down for a sec, ‘kay? Sunny’s not the person you wanna wail on! Just save it for the next time you see Shimmer,” Lemon suggested.

Out of the four girls that Indigo hung out with, she liked Lemon the most, mostly for her laidback attitude and her willingness to go along with her actions. So, when she said what she said, Indigo knew she was right, there was no point in wasting all this energy on Sunny Flare. Sunny had her own reasons why she was doing all this, it sucked to have a bitch like Cinch as her mother, so in that regard Indigo gave her some leeway. With that settled, Indigo released Sunny Flare and let Lemon Zest lead her away.

Sunny Flare leaned up against some lockers and sighed heavily, relieved that Indigo didn’t smash her face in. Sour Sweet stood next to her and asked, “You alright?”

“Fuck me, no! I felt like five years were just shaved off my life from all that!” Sunny dragged her right hand down her face and groaned. “I honestly don’t know how I’m going to keep this up until graduation. Those two were tense before, but now, it feels like it was just dialed up to eleven!”

Sour looked down the hallway where Sunset went and the one where Indigo retreated to. “I get what you mean…but I’ll help however I can.”

Sunny Flare smiled and patted her friend on the shoulder. “Thanks, I need at least one person on my side throughout all this.”

The two girls began their walk to their classes, as they did, Sour kept at least one step behind Sunny Flare, allowing her a few glances down at her friend’s shapely rear. “That pigtailed girl…I don’t like her.”

What’s to like, she’s defected to the loser side. Whatever.

“Not that, it’s more than that…I think…I think she saw me.”

That made Sour’s heart skip a beat in fear. Y-You can’t be serious!

“It’s just a hunch, don’t go pissing yourself. I got the inclination that she was looking right at me. She might have latent sensing abilities that she doesn’t know about.”

Is that bad?

“For now, no. But if it turns out that she does, then she can see through you and see me. And that would be bad for everyone, you know. Especially that cute piece of ass you’re staring at right now.”

Sour was starting to get worried, if Sugarcoat could see the Blood Sword’s demon presence within her, and if that information somehow made its way through the grapevine and to Witchblade, then it wouldn’t be long before the hero of Canterlot came crashing through her window and cut her down.

Should we…kill her?

“Heh, heh, I like your thinking. But let’s wait, I’d rather confirm first before we rush in and spill her blood. Especially after a reaction like that, she might be on alert.”

Sour sighed heavily, as if there wasn’t anymore to worry about, now she had to figure out if Sugarcoat getting sick like she did was just because she was sick or if it was because of Blood Sword. And it was only the first day back too.

“You want us for what?” Sunset asked.

Sunset was currently in Principal Celestia’s office, her newly adopted mother had just gotten through telling her of her picks for the Friendship Games next month. The teams were mostly made of twelve members, with some additional three as backups just in case life happened. The first six on the list were Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, and Sunset.

“As part of the rules, the principal of CHS can pick the first six members of the team, while the last six are chosen by tryouts. Those will start next week to give the students time to prepare, although I’m sure most of them were preparing on some level. I haven’t submitted this list yet because I wanted to see what you thought.”

Sunset didn’t know what to think, she had heard of the intense rivalry between Crystal Prep and Canterlot High, and to be honest she was hoping to spend that time with her little sister and Twilight when they arrived, but then again, giving them a show wouldn’t be that bad. And she was sure that they would enjoy having their school get its ass kicked by her and her friends, there was no love lost there.

“I mean, I don’t mind joining the team, and if you need me to convince the girls I can try,” said Sunset.

“I doubt that they’ll need much convincing, I plan to talk with them throughout the week anyway. But until I do,” Celestia put her index finger to her lips, “keep it under wraps for now.”

“Heh, got it, Mom,” said Sunset as she picked up her backpack. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

Celestia nodded, both were happy now that they’ve officially become a family, well they were technically still unofficial as Celestia still needed to submit the paperwork to officially adopt Sunset. She hoped the process would go smoothly now that Maria was gone, she was the only person who knew that Sunset had no information and forged it for her, but only time would tell and Celestia didn’t want to dwell on it, and neither did Sunset.

Sunset began walking down the halls of her school, the faces of her fellow students were cheerful, and just as cheerful towards her. It was hard to believe that not too long ago she dreaded walking these halls and found nothing but scowls and looks of scorn on everyone’s face, it was a breath of fresh air to have things be semi-normal again. But the universe, god, the gods, or whatever divine force was out there saw fit throw a monkey wrench into that.

Pinkie came bounding around the corner and stopped just in front of her girlfriend. “Sunny! First,” Pinkie gave Sunset a quick kiss on the lips and said, “morning!”

Sunset chuckled and replied, “Morning, Pinks.”

“Second: there’s someone impersonating Witchblade!”

“WHAT?!” Sunset exclaimed.

Just then, someone else rounded the corner, Rainbow Dash, and she had the same expression as Pinkie did. “Pinkie did you tell her?!”

“Yeah, about the imposter!”

“Okay, hold on, what imposter?!”

Pinkie opened her phone and showed Sunset a news article about people getting sliced and diced in the city all last week while they were gone.

“People are saying Witchblade’s out for blood, since there are no more demons or whatever for her to fight, she’s out to kill whatever she can,” said Rainbow Dash.

“That’s…That’s…” Sunset didn’t know what to say right now.

Pinkie Pie could see her girlfriend’s distress and placed a comforting hand on her arm. “Don’t worry, a lot of people are already saying that it’s not true! The police are backing Witchblade and so are a lot of people, it’s just a small group who never really liked Witchblade to begin with.”

“Still, this isn’t good. Someone’s out there killing people the same way I – er – she fights, and people are blaming her for it,” said Sunset.

“You don’t…” Rainbow shuddered. “You don’t think it’s a Wendigo, right? You destroyed all of them, and the Darkness is sealed away, so it can’t be a Servant.”

Sunset tried to think hard about what it could be, but this world has shown her that there was more to it than she first realized. She thought magic didn’t exist here, but as it turns out, it did, and there were artifacts with powers that were beyond her comprehension, as well as entities that were more powerful than her goddess of a princess.

“And then there’s also…this,” said Rainbow Dash as she pulled out her phone and showed another news article.

Sunset read the article and her mouth slowly fell open as she did, an entire apartment complex, all five stories of it, every single person inside had died in a horrific and quite frankly supernatural way, all of this taking place in Manehattan. Sunset facepalmed herself and said, “Did the world just decide to go to hell while we were on vacation?!”

“Looks like it did, this getting messed up now.”

“Well, there’s nothing you could’ve done for Manehattan, even if we weren’t on vacation,” said Pinkie. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. Okay?”

The flame haired teen nodded her head, Pinkie was right, even if they were all still in the city, there was no way that Sunset would’ve been able to stop what happened all the way in Manehattan. Still, this raised a lot of concern on her part, why was all this happening now? First the Angelus and the Darkness show up, and now mass murders are happening all over again? The Wendigos surely couldn’t be behind this, she sent them all to Oblivion, there was no coming back from that.

Sunset heard her phone go off, she fished it out of her pocket and saw that it was Sun video calling her. “Oh, this can’t be good.” Sunset looked around and saw an empty classroom and waved to her friends to come with her. Once inside, Sunset answered the call and saw not only her twin but Twilight as well. “Hey, what’s going on?”

{I’m assuming you’ve seen the news already. These BS stories about Witchblade going rogue.}

“Oooh yeah, I have.”

“Hey, Sun! Hi, Sci-Twi!” Pinkie greeted.

Twilight giggled and replied, {Hi, Pinkie, Rainbow!} Her expression then turned serious. {I’ve already looked into it on my end, from what the net is saying, all the victims were killed with a large, bladed weapon consistent with a sword. Of course, the only one who matches that M. O. is…well…you. But since we were all far, far away from the city during that time, we must assume someone’s out there taking advantage of your absence and going on a killing spree.}

“That’s bogus, they’re so scared of Sunset that they need to wait until she leaves town to start hurting people, instead of straight up challenging her?! That’s weak!” Rainbow stated in indignation.

{I second that. Sis, what do you say we do a little patrolling tonight?}

“We don’t have much of a choice, we can’t let this psycho keep killing people,” said Sunset, her brow furrowing as another thought crossed her mind. “Why the hell didn’t your brother call us?! We could’ve stopped all this!”

{I called Shining when I found out and asked him the same question. He said, ‘If there’s anyone who deserves a vacation, it’s you guys. After everything all of you have been through, a few days off from supernatural shenanigans and murders is not uncalled for.’ His exact words.}

The girls smiled and so did Sunset, she couldn’t really blame the guy for not calling him after hearing that. And he did have a point, a few days relaxing was great. “Okay, I won’t chew him out. But I’m still going to throw some shade his way the next time I see him, just as a little punishment. And, yeah, we’ll go out tonight, can’t let this person keep thinking they’re free to hurt whoever they want. Witchblade’s back in town and she’s pissed!”

“Damn right!” Rainbow agreed as she patted Rainbow on the shoulder.

“Woo! Go get ‘em Sunset! You too, Sun!” Pinkie cheered.

Twilight turned to Sun, {You better be careful.} She then turned to Sunset and said, {You too, Sunset. Okay?}

“We will,} they answered in unison.

The video call ended, leaving the three of them alone. “Guess we’ll tell Fluttershy, Rarity, and AJ at lunch. We need to get a handle on this before it spirals into something worse, which, knowing my luck, it’s going to.”

Pinkie hugged her girlfriend tight and smiled broadly as she said, “Maybe, but I have a feeling it’ll turn out alright for us! The good guys always win in the end, right?!”

“Heh, yeah.”

It had been two days since the incident at the apartment complex, the news was all over the incident, calling it the most bizarre and worst mass killing in Manehattan’s history. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata sat on the bed that next morning as they watched the news showing swarms of police and ambulances, all of them carrying body after body on gurneys and by hand, one after the other. Some were big and others were small. It was the small ones that made Sonata cry, knowing that they were responsible for the killing of all those children.

What the news also focused on was the ways that the people died, all of them were varied and bizarre. The sisters didn’t need to know the details, they knew exactly what kind of condition they might’ve been in, considering what they saw in their own apartment and what they saw as they exited the complex.

Now, Aria was pacing the room as she awaited Adagio’s return. Sonata was sitting on the bed, her eyes constantly darting back to Adagio’s suitcase. The older Siren had informed them that she brought the music box with her, there was a heated argument about why she would bring such a thing with them after what it did, but there was no debating it as far as Adagio was concerned.

The door jiggled and alerted the two Sirens, their tension released when they saw Adagio return with some fast-food for their dinner. After dispensing their meal, Adagio sat down on a chair next to the wall and began to munch on her burger, they didn’t have much of an appetite after everything that happened, but it came back with a vengeance. Aria sat down on the bed and stared down her big sister, which only made Adagio groan in annoyance.

“For the last time, no,” said Adagio.

“Please, just get rid of that thing! It’s dangerous!” Aria pleaded.

“That thing saved us, if it hadn’t activated, we’d have been put to work as sex slaves for those gangsters until we died! Would you have rather that happen?!”

Aria clenched her fist, she knew Adagio was right, that thing did save them from a life of getting used and abused for the remainder of their lives, however short their lives would’ve been in that situation. “I still don’t get it, what the hell is that thing?”

“It’s evil,” Sonata spoke. “It’s pure evil! It killed all those kids!”

“FYI, Sona, we aren’t exactly the good guys,” Aria pointed out. “But, yeah, even so, that thing’s a whole ‘nother level of evil. But what I still don’t get is, why the hell did it resonate with us? It felt like I was calling on my magic from when our amulets were still intact, why was that?”

Adagio looked at her suitcase, she had been forming a theory since that day. “I think I know why. You know I kept the shards of my amulet in my nightstand, right?” The girls nodded a “yes”. “When I went to get it out when we were leaving, I saw that the shards were gone. I think the music box absorbed the pieces of my amulet, and that’s why it resonated with the three of us. Why were they able to sing that song that caused all of that…”

Sonata could see it, after the Battle of the Bands only Adagio managed to pick up the pieces of her amulet. And while the energy she felt through her was nostalgic and empowering, the outcome of the use of that power ended up killing more than just those who were out to do them harm. “What do we do now?”

“We can’t go back there, that’s for damn sure. We could set up shop in another part of town, there’s no shortage of spots for us to be hookers…” Aria took a bite of her burger, chewed it, and then swallowed it. “But after what happened, who’s to say that we don’t end up in the same situation…fuck, it’s all my fault!”

Adagio couldn’t blame Aria, if it wasn’t that night it would be another night. Whether it was herself or Sonata, those gangsters would’ve come for them and they would’ve ended up in an even worse situation than they already were. “It’s not your fault, Aria. They would’ve come for us one way or another, if not you, then me when I go out. They were watching us, so don’t worry about it. If anyone’s at fault, it’s me for not noticing that we were being watched.”

But that was the question, what now? If they went back to street walking the same scenario might happen again, but in all honesty, she didn’t want to go back to that. Adagio didn’t want to continue bending over or lying on her back as these humans had their way with her, or her sisters, for money. They had no way back, no way to live, and…no, they did have something, something powerful. Dangerous though it was…

“No,” said Aria.

“What?” Adagio asked.

Aria stood up and pointed towards her big sister and said, “I know that look, that’s your scheming look! You’re planning something aren’t you, and it involves that damned music box?! I thought we just established that that thing is dangerous!”

Adagio nodded. “It is, but what if we managed to control it? It’s similar to my amulet, and it responded to my emotions. With that being the case, it’s possible for us to focus its power and have it attack who we want it to, instead of hurting everyone.”

“That thing’s power is different from our magic, what if we can’t control it?” Sonata asked.

“We just need to use it somewhere where people won’t miss those we kill.”

“Such as?” Aria asked.

“There are plenty of evil people in this city, why not just use it on them. We find them, and then we experiment with it.” Adagio got up and placed her hand on Aria’s shoulder. “We get the chance to learn more about the box’s power.” She then walked over to Sonata and gently stroked her hair. “And no innocent children will be harmed.”

“Promise?” Sonata asked.

Adagio hugged her youngest sister, and Sonata hugged her back. “I promise.” Adagio meant what she said, but there was another part of her that was fueling her reason to learn more about the power of the music box. If we can manage to control this magical box, then Sunset Shimmer and her little friends won’t be able to stand against me. We’ll get our revenge, and we’ll take that city as our own personal kingdom! It’ll be ironic, the place where it all went wrong, will be the place where it all goes right.

Aria could sense that Adagio had ulterior motives for wanting to master the music box’s magic. But considering the alternatives, they really didn’t have much to work with. As Adagio pointed out to them time and again, they didn’t exist in this world, not in any database in any part of the world, they couldn’t work normal jobs, what other choice did they have? Mastering the music box might be their only chance to get something out of this world.

Still, I’m going to keep a close eye on you, Sis. Somethin’ ain’t right about that damn music box, and I don’t like it.