When The Rainbooms, princesses, and Dazzlings arrived at their next destination, the next thing they noticed was that they were placed at the bottom of the ocean. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata watched as the others flailed and gasped for breath for a few seconds before they used their Lyrican powers to create oxygenated layers around them all to protect them from drowning; the exact same way they had done when they fought Cthulhu in the Divide.

"Okay..." Twilight looked around at the endless ocean around her. She felt the sand on the floor shifting as she brushed it, then knocked her knuckles against the rock to see if it was authentic. "I guess we're in the bottom of the ocean now..."

"But why the ocean?" Celestia tilted her head and raised a brow. "Doesn't it seem weird that Sour Sweet wants to drown us?"

"I wasn't drowning you all, per-se," Sour Sweet's voice returned, echoing on the water as schools of fishes swam past the group. "I would have given you all air either way."

"It's quite unusual for Malefics to show any kind of mercy..." Aria crossed her arms.

"Believe me, I'm anything but merciful now," Sour retorted. "In fact, given air or not, I would still have left you all to die at what awaits you at the bottom of the sea..."

"Oh! I get it now!" Sunset exclaimed as she raised her sword for combat. "Sour Sweet wants to pit us up against the monsters that reside in the ocean; she wants us to fight sharks, barracudas, whales, anything that could pose harm to us down here..."

"Well, five points for Sunbutt the Second," Sour Sweet smiled. "It's true. Anything can be a hunting ground; even the seafloor," she appeared through a sudden stream of uplifted bubbles. "You know, I took up the role of being a hunter due to my love of finding and killing stuff," she said, with the mask glowing as she did so. "Ever since my perfect archery record at CPA, I decided that it was time to move on from humanity and side with those who appreciate my talent for murder."

"What a load of bullsh—" Aria was cut of by Sour Sweet's hand.

"Save your rage, Aria Blaze," Adagio Dazzle calmed her sister down. "Proceed, Sour."

"When those three found me and the others at that park, they cozied up to us pretty easily," Sour Sweet continued with her story, "At first, we were all apprehensive, but eventually, we found that it was just better to be friends with them rather than to make enemies with them," she smiled as if it was a blessing that she had gone through. "They gave each of us these half-masks that gave us incredible motivation, made us look cooler, and even allowed us to use magical powers. After all, you Rainbooms have been using that magic for so long, that I think it's time you watched in horror as someone else took the reins for once."

"What you're doing will lead you on a path of self-destruction; for you and the rest of the Shadowbolts..." Adagio tried to break through to Sour Sweet before she left. "That mask is clearly corrupting you; clouding your vision and preventing you from seeing who the real monsters are..."

"It's exactly like the Alicorn Amulet back on Equestria," Twilight tried adding her words to Adagio's. "If you keep flaunting that power, you'll become completely evil; a brute who cares about nothing more than themselves..."

"Isn't that what everyone is these days?" Sour let out a slight chuckle. "But who am I to judge? After all, it's really Sugarcoat and her extremely sharp tongue that you've gotta watch out for in the future," she leaned in close to the whole group. "Word of warning if you survive this; beware the Malefic Truthsayer..." Then she finally vanished with her laughter rippling across the seas.

"Wait!" Twilight reached out to try and get Sour Sweet to stay, but she had already left them to the wrath of what awaited them in the water.

"Calm down, Twilight," Celestia quelled her almost immediately with her tone of voice. "We shall simply exercise caution for when we encounter these monsters, that's all."

"Uhh... girls?" Fluttershy raised her finger and got the attention of the whole group. "I don't think that that was here before..." she pointed towards a cliff that had sentences carved into it.

"Let's see what this says..." Adagio swam up and backwards so that she had enough peripheral vision to see the whole message without misreading it or thinking that some of it was cut off. "Here you lay at the briny deep, where creatures await to make you weep. Fight off the beasts and continue your attack; but be careful, and always watch your back..."

All of a sudden, Adagio was attacked from behind by a shark that had black spikes poking into it. The beast was in a fit of rage and was trying to crush the siren's legs with its teeth. It thrashed and shook violently as Adagio tried her best to avoid being eaten alive.

"Adagio!" the others cried out before being attacked by other sharks. They were all different breeds, but they were all ferociously trying to rip into the flesh of the group. The worst of all were the great white sharks; who were going for Twilight, Sunset, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence.

"It's a fish eat fish world out there, ladies," Sour Sweet's voice returned. "You either take, or you get taken!"

As Adagio Dazzle eventually drew her sword, the shark's teeth were diving down on her legs. With a rapid strike, she slashed the top teeth to pieces, giving her holes just small enough for her legs to slip through as the jaws eventually met each other. With another strike, she got rid of the other set of teeth and freed herself from the toothless predator. When she escaped the maw, she watched as the beast got electrocuted by green energy from the spikes before it flipped over dead.

"Girls!" Adagio swam over and freed Aria and Sonata first with a few quick sword slashes. She cut the sharks in half with vertical strikes and helped her sisters get their swords back before freeing their comrades.

"You're done here, Dazzlings," Sour Sweet smiled as The Dazzlings glowed black and disappeared right before they could even touch the sharks attacking the Rainbooms and princesses. "You've got a date with another predator that you just can't be late for..."

"Dazzlings!" Sunset exclaimed as she tried to open the jaws of her shark and escape being eaten.

"Forget it, Sunset!" Twilight said, using her sword to poke the shark in the eye to give herself time to escape. She watched as the shark vanished after she had escaped, then tried to help Sunset out of her predicament. "We've just gotta work toge—" then, she vanished in a black flash as well.

"You're not getting any help from your friends this time, girls!" Sour Sweet said as Rainbow Dash and Applejack disappeared after they killed their opponents too. "You either kill these monsters or you die! Simple as that, really..."

The princesses were the next to free themselves and vanish, closely followed by Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Finally, the sharks were about to eat Fluttershy, but she used her Stare – which had been amplified by the Lyrican energy she possessed – to break through to the predator and stop if from attacking; she still warped away from the beast afterwards

"So you live," Sour Sweet said as Fluttershy reappeared with the others in a darker area of the ocean. "But you should know that much like the world above, the seas can be dark and cruel as well..." she smirked as a network of lights all turned on to illuminate the area ahead. "Use the lights to proceed, but beware of what awaits you in this dark and cruel place..."

"Fluttershy, do you know what's waiting for us down here?" Sunset turned towards the butter yellow girl.

"Well, the seas are home to a lot of mean creatures aside from the peaceful and loving fish and dolphins," Fluttershy explained, "This dark area is known as an abyss, and can be home to beasts like anglerfish and jellyfish."

"So, we just follow this path and get to Sour Sweet. Simple..." Rainbow Dash was already approaching one of the lights and raised her hand to try and touch it. "You know, why is it that she would leave these lights anyway? It's kind of odd for a villain to just give you the path to free—" the second she approached it, a pair of jaws with elongated teeth lashed out at her, causing her to jerk back as the light twitched "—dom..."

"It's not the darkness that you should be fearing, ladies," Sour Sweet's voice returned once again. "It's what's inside it that you should be afraid of..." she chuckled.

"We've got no time for this!" Adagio swam through the trail of lights as quickly as she could. "If we dawdle around here, those fiends are just going to launch another attack without us knowing. And by the time we do know, the Malefics will have already laid waste to it!"

Everyone else tried their best to keep up with Adagio, but the many encounters with the anglerfish caused them to slow down and cause the golden-haired girl to eventually double back and help them through it.

"It's funny really," Sour said, "Such a simple thing as a fish can be made into a lethal killer when the time calls for it," she watched as Rainbow Dash ran into another anglerfish and narrowly avoiding its bite. "Why, even the plantlife, animals, and other organic beings of the three worlds can also be turned on you in a snap..."

"We're almost there..." Adagio saw the trail of lights end with a brighter part of the ocean ahead. "Three. Two. One. We're through!" she perfectly timed the group leaving the maze.

"Good work, girls. Very nicely done..." Sour Sweet clapped slowly, feigning interest and praise. Then, a ring of giant teeth emerged from the ground, and a massive beast poked its head out of the sand with another set of teeth ready to swallow the group whole. "But you're only out of the frying pan and into the fire!"

"Get out of there!" Twilight shouted as she quickly evaded the snapping jaws of the colossal predator. Her friends followed closely behind her, with The Dazzlings and the princesses being the last to escape.

"And what good is a hunt without a little variety?" Sour Sweet said as a long slender barracuda fish lunged at the girls from the darkness. "Just get through this, and I promise that there'll only be one more environment to fight..."

The barracuda bit at Adagio's right arm, causing her to cry in agony as she tried her best to rip it off of her and throw it away. She eventually slapped the fish repeatedly until she drove her sword into its' mouth, then threw it at the massive fish with the large teeth, watching as it was swallowed whole.

"Is that seriously it?" Rainbow Dash asked before they were suddenly engulfed in light again and returned to the crossroads. "Oh. I guess it was..."

"I'll let you off of the hook for now, Rainbooms and Dazzlings," Sour Sweet spoke yet again as the other road collapsed, leaving a single path to tread down. "But don't expect me to hold back during our little skirmish..."

As everyone took their first steps towards the final road, the landmass behind them all began to crumble at the seems.

"Everyone? Can you use your wings now?" Adagio asked rapidly as the destruction neared them all.

Rainbow Dash winced as she tried to use her wings and felt the pain once more. "Nope. Guess we're still grounded for now..."

"Fine. Let's just keep moving then!" Aria charged towards the final portal.

"Fluttershy, come on!" Applejack held the butter yellow girl's hand as she frantically looked at the portal, and the collapsing area behind her. "It's either this way, or that way!"

Fluttershy panicked, but ran towards the portal screaming at the top of her lungs. After she vanished through it, the rest of the group followed suit.

"How much longer must this go on, Dazzlings?!" Celestia asked as they all hurtled through the black corridor for the fourth time.

"This was the last portal, and the crossroads have just about had it," Adagio explained. "The next time we return to that realm, we'll most likely end up at Sour Sweet's domain; where she'll most likely be hungry for a fight to break in her new Malefic powers..."

"I just hope you're right..." Sunset said as they all approached the purple exit to the vortex once again.

When everyone landed in the fourth and final environment, their eyes were subject to a viciously heavy sandstorm. The intense weather made it impossible to check out any land around them, but they were standing on unstable sand that was constantly shifting. Because of this, everyone had trouble standing on two feet, and occasionally fell into the sand face-first before pulling themselves out again.

The Dazzlings sang their chorus, lighting up their wings. From there, visors were projected out of thin air that suddenly attached themselves to the faces of the entire group. This new protective eyewear allowed the group to see clearly, as if the sandstorm had been replaced by a simple sunny day.

"A sandstorm? Cheeky..." Adagio smirked as she brushed some of the sand off of her mouth and helped the others stand up on the shifting sands. "For being a human possessed by Malefics, you're quite the tactician, aren't you, Sour Sweet?"

"Well, thank you..." Sour responded, "But the best is yet to come, Adagio. I do hope you've prepared yourself..."

"Well, considering we killed the Six Euphorian Deities, and The Blasters who had become the ultimate harbinger of death and destruction with their godlike powers, I'm sure that whatever you throw at us will be easy pickings..." Sonata casually twirled her swords.

There was a brief silence from everyone after that.

"My, my. You and Sugarcoat would have shared a lot in common if we weren't on opposing sides..." Sour Sweet spoke to Sonata. "I almost feel sorry for what's about to attack you," she vanished. "Almost..."

All of a sudden, the sand beneath the group suddenly sank rapidly, sweeping them all off of their feet once again. A giant plume of sand erupted from the middle, and a massive scorpion with black skin, seething red eyes, and more of the spikes from earlier piercing its body. It tested both of the pincers, and stung the ground with its long, curled stinger a few times before letting out a screech and readying itself for battle.

Malefic Animal
STING

The Sting watched as the girls just struggled to stay up above the rushing sands, then readied the stinger on its back for a long-distance attack.

Adagio eventually rode the sands like a slide, drew her blades alongside Aria and Sonata, and prepared to face off against the giant scorpion. As she tried to slide closer, she narrowly avoided the massive pointy stinger a couple of times before being knocked back by a well-timed claw swipe. She grunted as she was shot back up, then simply sighed and slid towards the beast once again.

"A scorpion..." Sunset watched in awe as Adagio eventually made it back to the monster and leapt up onto one of the claws. "Sour's really not holding anything back now..."

"Well, stop admiring it and start fighting it!" Rainbow Dash eventually got the idea to slide along the sands as well. "We've gotta defeat Sour Sweet before she and the Malefics wreak even more havoc!"

As Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were about to get attacked by the stinger once more, Celestia recovered from the sands and fired a bolt of gold energy at the stinger to knock it back. This in turn, caused The Dazzlings to focus their efforts on the massive appendage first. They carefully got their balance on the rigid beast's back, made it over to the stinger, took a deep breath and held their swords in their samurai poses.

"Your Highnesses, Rainbooms, give us some cover while we take out the stinger!" Aria ordered as they charged up more energy.

The scorpion opened its mouth wide and fired blasts of black energy at the group who were still in the sands. When they missed, it drove both of the claws into the ground, then made them resurface right next to the team from Equestria and attack ferociously. The claws lunged, pinched, and knocked the group around easily. It was about to raise the stinger for an attack when it felt a massive surge of pain from the base of its tail.

The Dazzlings had struck. They cut the tail off with a single slash and watched as it spewed out blood and caused the creature to stumble backwards. They then leapt off of it and landed back into the whirlpool of sands.

"We're running out of time, girls!" Twilight called out as she got slapped away by the claws once more. "This thing needs to die now!"

"You're right..." Adagio, Aria, and Sonata slid down to the beast once more, then impaled both of the eyes at once before kicking themselves off and away from the beast and preparing for another attack. "Manareliz Grinfroi!"

The red streams that emanated from The Dazzlings eventually combined into a massive dog-like beast with a pendulum axe and red jewelery draped around the collar around its neck. The dog howled before it swung the axe over its head, brought it down onto the tough carapace of the scorpion, then repeated the process until the shell eventually broke into pieces. The next strike impaled the scorpion and pulled it out of the sands, causing the whirlpool and sandstorm to die down instantly.

As the beast was pulled into the air, The Dazzlings flew up and slashed the unshelled beast some more times until it eventually collapsed into sixty four different pieces before it all splattered around the sands below and vanished into thin air.

The dog-warrior vanished, The Dazzlings landed, and without a second, the entire group was teleported back to Sour Sweet's realm. As they accepted the way back, they knew that they were going to have a long fight on their hands.