Key rested in his lavish chair, the entire thing looked more like a throne though as Lock sat next to him, her arms wrapped around him as he tapped the arm of his chair, contemplating what to do next. With the good doctor dead, it meant things were getting dangerously close to their conclusion. It wouldn’t be long before everything they had set into motion would come together.

Lock looked up at him and ran a hand along his cheek. Key smiled gently at her and brushed his hand through her long black hair. She cooed delightedly and allowed herself to be caressed.

“I guess we were right, the kid killed the Doctor, not a bad show either…” Key stated.

Lock nuzzled against him. “Who cares? You said it yourself that you were pretty sure it would play out that way, right? We’re just here for when the end of it unfolds, that’s all. The strings of the world and all that, as you said?”

Key laughed and nodded. “True. It is the nature of my role after all.”

Lock stood up and stood directly in front of Key with her hands on her hips. He was instantly reminded of her pygmy height. She stood an unimpressive 5’ 1, and while he was only average height for a man, he was still able to dwarf her in height.

“You said we had to go down there, right?” She asked.

Nodding, Key yawned. “Yeah, there’s still a few more things we have to make sure go correctly. After all, that’s our job, right?”

“Then let’s get going, already!” Lock gestured.

He laughed and came to a stand with her. “Alright, we’ll go then. I was getting bored here anyway…”

“I keep telling you that you should get a Playstation or something here…” She rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, we really should…” Key responded.

She took his hand and giddily stood next to him, looking up at the man she was absolutely infatuated with. “So, can we stop and get food on the way there though? I’m starving!”

He laughed. “Nothing really changes with you, does it?”

She grinned. “Nope!”

Bolt had made a fairly hasty recovery after he and Cloud had it out with the Doctor. The two had met back up with the group the next day to discuss what to do going forward. Sunset found herself in attendance, though there were some objections due to the strained relationship between Horizon and her. Ultimately, everyone decided it was best to keep their most valuable asset in their fight against Serenade close by.

They had agreed to meet at Rainbow Dash’s home. Originally the plan was to meet at Applejack and Rarity’s place, but Sunset pointed out she wasn’t in the mood to get punched by Applejack again, who likely hadn’t gotten over the last encounter between the two. Jasper agreed, knowing his mother could hold a grudge for a considerable amount of time.

Fluttershy had gone out to get groceries, but Rainbow Dash was in attendance, listening in on their situation. Cloud had just finished explaining what happened with the Doctor.

“So anyway, yeah, he’s dead now…” Cloud finished up.

Sunset had been standing there, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Her body had been recovering from her time as a hostage with Yuna, and she had almost returned to her normal weight, as had Yuna shy of a few pounds.

The redhead opened her eyes gently before speaking. “So that makes two left…”

“Two?” Jasper chimed in.

Candy rolled her eyes as she explained on Sunset’s behalf. “Serenade’s minions remaining? She has Arax and Eight Ball left, keep up, bro.”

Sunset nodded in agreement. “Arax will be hard to kill… I don’t know much about his power, but I’d wager Serenade gave him the most if he is her right hand… Up to this point, we didn’t even really see much of his power in action back in Equestria either.”

“No one has observed him?” Horizon tilted her head in question.

Sunset shook her head. “Nah. Starlight was held captive by him for a few years, but strangely enough, he kept her quite well, lavish clothing, all that. She never saw him fight though shy of their initial encounter, and even that he kept his abilities contained. No one is really sure what he’s capable of, so we should definitely be very cautious about approaching him…”

“What about Eight Ball?” Bolt asked.

Sunset raised her hand to her chin as she thought it over. “Eight Ball is just as much of a mystery. He wasn’t on her original team, he must have been a new recruit from around the time when she came here… However, if he’s earned this much of her trust already, we should assume his power is extreme.”

“His power is extreme,” another voice called out to them.

Rainbow Dash came to a stand as an unfamiliar couple had shown up inside of her house. She prepared herself to draw her weapon if need be. The two standing before the group were faces none of them recognized. A medium height man with ash blond hair, and a short woman with long black locks and dark brown eyes stood before them. The woman was clinging to his side.

“Who the hell are you, and how did you get into my house?” Rainbow Dash asked, ready to draw the gun in her waistband.

The man shook his head as he stepped forward. “That’s not important.”

“Like hell, it isn’t!” Rainbow Dash drew her weapon, but the eyes of the woman at the man’s side quickly flashed white and her entire demeanor shifted.

Moving with incredible reflexes, the girl thrust forward and grabbed the gun from Rainbow Dash, pointing it to the ceiling as it went off. With another quick gesture to removed it from Rainbow’s hand and snapped it in half without even trying.

As she stood there, her dark eyes had the same white glow to them. Rainbow attempted to strike her with her fist, but the small woman caught it in her hand.

Sunset blinked as she felt the surge of power coming from this woman. “Rainbow, stop!”

Rainbow Dash relaxed and Lock released her hand. Her shining eyes returned to normal as she lowered her own guard.

“Who… Or rather… What are you?” Sunset asked.

Key smirked before answering. “What I am is far too difficult to explain, but what she is…” He looked over at the black-haired maiden before continuing. “Let’s just say she’s my protector.”

“She’s unreal…” Sunset commented.

“What do you mean?” Jasper asked, unsure of what was really going on.

Horizon spoke up to answer for her mother. “I assume you sensed it too, Sunset?”

“Sensed what?” Jasper questioned.

Sunset squinted as she observed Lock who wandered back to Key so casually, there wasn’t even an ounce of fear within her. It was clear she didn’t see a single one of them as a threat to herself, or maybe she just didn’t care.

“That girl… Her power, it’s unreal, maybe even stronger than Serenade…” Sunset pointed out.

The entire room perked up at that statement. “What!?” They all collectively exclaimed shy of Horizon, who already knew.

“It was definitely up there… So what gives? What is she?” Sunset asked.

Key placed an arm around Lock and held her close to himself, gently petting her hair. “She’s special to me. As I said, she’s a protector. She will protect me at any cost, it’s unique and a core part of her design. Quite the incredible guardian, wouldn’t you say so?”

“Yeah… Clearly, you two have a very odd relationship…” Sunset scoffed.

“Your’s with Twilight not up to par? Then again, given its current state…” Key replied.

Sunset growled. “How do you know anything about my wife? Or me for that matter? Start explaining yourselves.”

Lock raised her hand and the entire room could see white fumes coming from her fingertips. “Threaten Key again, and see what happens…” She spoke, her voice harboring an accent that Sunset couldn’t quite pinpoint, but she surmised it was Asian in origin.

“Key?” Horizon asked.

Key nodded. “Yes, that is my name. And this is Lock, as I said, she is my protector. Her power is extraordinary as you’ve witnessed. She was made to protect me, so that I may carry out the purpose I was created for unhindered…”

“So you two aren’t demons?” Sunset guessed.

“Correct,” Lock answered for her apparent lover.

“If you’re not demons… Then who exactly created you? And why?” Sunset went on.

Key tilted his head, unsure of how to answer such a difficult question. “Who… That is difficult to say. We weren’t conjured from nothingness if that is what you are thinking. We were in your position once…”

“You mean you were normal people?” Bolt pointed out.

“From our perspective, you are all the abnormal ones…” Key stated.

Sunset uncrossed her arms. “So you were human then?”

“Correct.” Key nodded once more.

Something about his demeanor annoyed Sunset. He was far too direct, there was no tact in his words, but his feisty little guardian seemed to be the opposite, she was emotional and rash, capable of anything even.

“So what are you now?” Sunset questioned.

Key ran a hand along Lock’s cheek, which she leaned into affectionately. “I guess you could say I’m an observer. I have been watching you all for a very long time…”

“How long?” Horizon chimed in.

“It is not possible to say… My concept of time does not work the same as yours does… I was made first, and Lock was made later. However, concepts such as the length of time… They are foreign to me,” Key attempted to explain, though he surmised he was effectively saying nothing of consequence.

“I’m gathering that we aren’t going to get anywhere with this line of questioning… You’re talking in riddles… If you both are so strong, why aren’t you doing something about Serenade?” Sunset asked.

Key shook his head. “I told you, I am an observer. I do not have the power to do what you’re suggesting. My abilities are limited.”

“What about your partner there? From what I sensed she could destroy Serenade within a second…” Horizon pointed out.

Lock answered the question far more directly than Key seemed to be. “My powers don’t work like that. Key can not directly influence things, or make changes, he is not permitted to act, his power doesn’t let him do that… My power though allows me to act, but only under the right conditions. I can only use my powers to protect him, nothing else. When a situation has not arisen that would endanger him, my powers cease to exist. We are both very mechanical this way…”

The entire group appeared more confused than when the two arrived. Key decided to fill in the blanks. “In other words, we can’t directly change anything ourselves. It is not within our ability to do. If Lock were to try and fight Serenade, her powers wouldn’t work. They weren’t designed that way. It was to prevent us from making calls for all of you…”

“What the hell are you talking about!?” Bolt was getting annoyed.

“You probably have noticed it already, but a cataclysm is about to happen… The lot of you will be factors in it, but how it turns out… That is not up to me. I am only allowed to create possibilities, but I can not choose any of them for you, nor can I influence your choices…” Key stated plainly.

“Possibilities? Cataclysm? Start making sense…” Sunset rolled her eyes.

Key sighed.

“It’s not important for you to know all of it, but I am here to create a possibility for you…” Key said.

“And what is that?” Horizon asked.

“I will tell you where to find the one you call ‘Eight Ball’.”

“Huh? Why?” Jasper asked.

“As I said, only to create possibility. What you do with the information is up to you,” Key replied.

“I think I speak for everyone when I say we all have some serious questions about what’s going on here, and who you two are, but if you point us to Eight Ball, we can ask those questions later…” Sunset stepped forward.

Lock spoke on Key’s behalf. “He’s set up downtown, Eighth, and C on Course Street, old factory that they shut down years ago.”

Sunset closed her eyes and sighed. “I guess we’ll be paying him a visit then?”

Key nodded. “I surmised you’d do something like that…”

A young Serenade was walking with her elder sister, Adagio. The older woman smiled as she led the two of them toward the stage. “Come, this is biggest concert we ever have!” Adagio spoke.

Serenade chuckled and nodded as she followed her sister. “Alright, we are ahead of schedule anyway according to our manager. There’s no need to rush, sis!”

Adagio twirled around and petted her sister’s head, ruffling her blond hair. “Show is successful because everyone thinks you’re so cute. You know this, right?”

Blushing, Serenade dismissed her sister’s praises. “Oh stop, that’s not it.”

Adagio giggled and gestured for her to follow as she stepped through a door that would take the two to the stage. Serenade followed carefully, but when she opened the door, instead of a stage, she could see an infinite black void with Adagio standing in the middle facing away from her.

A cold sweat ran down Serenade’s neck as she gulped and hesitated. She took a moment but finally stepped through the door, blinking as she noticed the door vanished behind her. She glanced back at where the door was before looking back to Adagio with confusion.

“Sister?” Serenade called out, but Adagio didn’t turn around.

Clearing her throat, Serenade called again. “Adagio, what’s going on?”

There was no answer.

Serenade raced forward several steps and placed a hand upon her sister’s arm, and pulled to make the girl face her, but she gasped and stepped backward, causing herself to fall onto her rear. Looking up at Adagio, she could feel her heart race at what she was witnessing.

Her elder sister’s eyes were missing, black holes existed where they should be, with red blood dripping from the holes. Serenade panted heavily as she tried to crawl away from the eyeless girl.

Her mouth hung open as Adagio began to speak in an almost robotic voice that seemed alien to her own. “Nothing will last, Serenade…”

Serenade didn’t answer, she instead moved a few more inches back. She stared at the figure before her for a solid eight seconds before it spoke again.

“Everything will collapse soon… You can only resist for so long, Serenade. Eventually, you will become what you’re destined to become… Resistance is pointless…” Adagio spoke.

Serenade shook her head. “What… What are you talking about?”

From behind Adagio, another Serenade stepped out, this one the same that came from Equestria, an eyepatch covering one of her eyes as she carefully swayed her hips while walking into sight. Her expensive Lolita dress moved majestically as she moved. Pointing a finger at the young teen on the ground, she began to speak.

“You resist me, but you and I both know how this will end, you will eventually submit to me… You will become subservient to me…” The Equestrian Serenade spoke.

The teenager shook her head. “No… I won’t ever become you… Horizon and her friends… They’ll stop you…”

The siren tilted her head as a smirk came to her face. “How can you be so sure? You don’t even know those kids.”

She had a point. Serenade couldn’t deny what her evil counterpart was suggesting. Still, she had a good feeling about Horizon and her friends. They had teamed up to help her once already. Shaking her head, she gave a serious expression to the siren. “I believe in them… You won’t win, I know it…”

The evil Serenade stepped forward and leaned down, her face only inches from the teen as the smirk on her face grew into a devious grin. “Only fools resist their fate, you know? You’re as good as mine, why not accept it now?”

Serenade closed her eyes, and when she opened them she was asleep in her own bed. She sat up and felt her head, there was sweat all over her face. Pulling her blanket off of herself, she looked down and saw her entire bed had been soaked in sweat. She got up and wandered over to the bathroom. Looking at herself in the mirror, she panted a few times.

The teen turned on the water in front of her and splashed some on her face. Sighing, she shook her head. “I’ll never become her… No matter what…” She spoke to herself. All she knew now was that Horizon and her friends had better hurry.

Eight Ball had just gotten off the phone with his master. Serenade was expecting him to eliminate a few of Sunset’s little entourage now that the Doctor was dead. With the death of the Doctor, it left only Arax and himself to do Serenade’s bidding. While Arax was always Serenade’s most trusted agent, Eight had hoped to knock him down from his position of favoritism.

Now that he was tasked with eliminating Sunset and her friends, he could see the opportunity to gain a higher standing with Serenade within his grasp. All he had to do now was kill a few of them, and he’d be at the top, however, he knew that Serenade would prefer he made it more interesting for her, and that was why he had much planned.

Eight had spent the better part of the last eight days preparing the arena for Horizon and her friends, but he never anticipated that they would arrive without his explicit invitation.

Checking the security cameras he had installed, he noted a set of cars pull up, and from the driver’s seat of one of them, Horizon Shimmer stepped out. He grinned, unsure of how they found him, but uncaring, as it saved him a great deal of time. His mind was on the game at hand, after all.

The trickster nodded happily before closing the old laptop that had the camera feeds on it. He grinned as he raced down the stairwell to the office that he had taken refuge in, and headed toward the entrance, not wanting to keep his guests waiting.

After a bit of running, he made it to the entrance and pressed a button on a remote in his pocket.

The large door to the facility opened slowly, letting the sunlight into the dark place, which was only illuminated with lights so old, that only half of them worked.

Standing at the entrance was Horizon Shimmer, her mother, and her group of friends. Eight clapped as the group stepped inside, all of them pausing as they stood before him.

“So, you’re Eight Ball then?” Sunset asked.

“Looks pretty unimposing…” Candy commented.

“Don’t be fooled.” Another voice called out.

The entire group turned around and there before them at the entrance stood a tall woman they all recognized. Eclipse’s eyes widened as soon as he recognized her. “Master, what are you doing here?”

Cinder grinned as she stepped inside. “I’ve been keeping an eye on this idiot. Don’t be fooled by his appearance, he’s one of Serenade’s deadliest agents, that much I am certain of.”

“This guy?” Bolt pointed at the man standing across from them, trying to figure out how such a pathetic-looking bespectacled man could possibly be such a serious threat. He reminded Bolt of kids he used to pick on in math class.

Cinder crossed her arms. “The moment we walked in this building, we all started playing by his rules… Isn’t that right, Eight?”

Eight Ball grinned and nodded. “Correct. I’ve already prepared for your arrival, though I don’t know how you found this place, it doesn’t matter…”

Before any of them had a chance to respond, Eight focused his energy and formed a black translucent string within his hand. It floated above his palm briefly before he whipped his hand in Horizon’s direction. The teen had no time to react as one end of the black string went into her, the other end still in Eight’s hand.

The group all took a battle stance, ready to fight, but Eight shook his head. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you… These tethers have unique abilities. You wouldn’t want to do anything to put her life in danger, would you?”

Jasper spoke up. “What are you up to, Eight?”

The man adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. “So… For what I have planned, I’m going to need a volunteer to play with her. You see, I designed a series of games, but they require two players.”

“Why would we play along with you?” Candy questioned.

Cinder shook her head and placed a hand on Candy’s shoulder. “That tether of his… It has deadly powers… He’s already got Horizon hooked, we don’t have a choice, someone is going to have to play his game.”

“How do you know?” Jasper chimed in.

Focusing on Eight, Cinder spoke. “I watched from afar, his tethers link back to him, and give him the opportunity to siphon power… Someone is going to have to join Horizon and play his little game…”

Sunset stepped forward before anyone else could volunteer. The woman placed a hand on her chest as she spoke. “I’ll do it. Give the other end to me.”

No one objected, and like that, Eight threw the other end in Sunset’s direction. The moment it touched her body, the tether connected the two through a translucent string between the two, coming out of their stomach. It appeared ethereal and didn’t seem to be affected by physical touch.

“Mother and daughter… How special, I’ll have the joy of killing you both… Now that you’re both tethered, I suppose I should explain the rules…” Eight smirked.

“Get on with it,” Sunset commanded.

Eight nodded before wandering off to the side, pointing to a ladder. “The first of your games will be down there.” He then gestured to the other side of the room where another ladder was. “The other one of you will go that way. While you are down there, be warned, that your abilities will only work for one of you. You can pass your powers back and forth via the tether, but only one of you can use them at a time.”

“What!?” Jasper blinked. “You can do that?”

Eight grinned. “Impressed? Well, my powers allow me to do more than that, but what’s the fun in spoiling the surprise? If the two of you pass this first challenge, maybe you’ll live long enough to see what else I can do… Oh and if any of you interfere, it’s considered breaking the rules, and I can cut the tether right away…” He paused before his grin transformed into a devious smile. “Killing them both.”

Cinder sighed. “It’s as I observed before, once the rules are established, you have to follow them. It looks like we don’t have much of a choice.”

Eight gestured toward the door behind him. “The lot of you can wait in the next room. If your friends survive, they’ll eventually meet you in there for their final test.”

Bolt growled in annoyance but realized there was little the group could do, given the circumstances. “This really fucking bites…”

Jasper nodded but calmed his rival down. “I agree, but we have to play along… I’m sure Horizon and Sunset can handle this, right, you two?”

Horizon nodded. “Of course.”

Sunset gave a thumbs up. “We can do anything together, I’m sure of it.”

The entire group shy of Sunset and Horizon followed Eight’s instructions and began to make their way to the room ahead. Cinder quickly turned back as she came close to the door to call out to Sunset. “Sunset… We’ll see you up ahead.”

Sunset smiled and nodded to the woman. “Give us about eight minutes.”

Cinder gave a thumbs up back to her, and before they knew it, the entire group had exited to the next room. Eight gestured to the ladders on either side of the room. Sunset gestured with her head that she’d take the one on the right. Horizon nodded in agreement as she made her way to the leftmost ladder.

When the two women placed their feet onto the ladders, they both glanced back at the other one. Horizon nodded once more, and they both began their descent.

Entering the back room, the entire group found their brows raised when they witnessed what was before them. In the large empty room, right at the center were two glass boxes only about two feet apart from each other. On the two sides facing each other, was a a hole large enough to fit maybe a small watermelon through.

Jasper approached the boxes and noted they had doors on them. He tried to open one but found it was stuck shut. With the use of his power, he was sure he might be able to open it but thought better of it. If what Cinder said was true, trying to force it open might violate the rules of Eight’s game, and thus could put Horizon and Sunset in danger.

He noted the floor under the two boxes looked different from the rest of the floor around them, they had some kind of metal plates under them. Cinder wandered over to his side and examined the boxes herself.

The group was silent until Bolt spoke up. “What the hell are these things?”

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling someone is supposed to stand inside of these…” Jasper answered.

Cinder squinted as she looked them up and down. Not sure what their purpose was, she crossed her arms and shook her head. “Whatever their purpose is… I have a feeling they will play a crucial role in Eight’s game.”

“Probably a safe guess…” Eclipse who had been quiet for most of their trip there spoke up.

Candy standing next to him, examined the effeminate man. “So, Eclipse… What is your take on those two characters earlier?”

Eclipse raised a brow. “Who? Key and Lock?”

She nodded.

Cinder blinked. “Who?”

Eclipse looked over at his mentor with a concerned expression. “Two strange characters that came by earlier and told us how to get here… Real weirdos for sure…”

Cinder placed a finger on her chin. “Is one about average height? Ash blond hair? Grey eyes? The other really short, long black hair?”

Eclipse’s eyes widened. “You met them?”

Lowering her hand, Cinder nodded. “Yeah, they told me how to get here… I was hoping you would know more about them…”

Eclipse shook his head. “Sorry, master. They didn’t say much, something about being observers… I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of them though…”

Cinder looked back at the two glass boxes in the room. She studied them up and down before answering. “Whatever the case… We have to take care of Eight first…”

Making it to the bottom of the ladder, Sunset glanced around the room she was in, it was dark and the floor felt partially flooded. There was water up to her knees, which slowed down her movement. The woman raised her hand and illuminated the area with some light magic in the palm of her hand. Looking around, she could see a chainlink fence dividing the long narrow pathway into two sides.

On the other side of the chainlink, she could see Horizon step off of her own ladder and into the water. Horizon glanced around to take in her surroundings, but quickly met eyes with Sunset.

“You okay?” Sunset asked.

Horizon nodded. “Yes.”

The two looked up at a speaker that crackled to life, with Eight’s voice coming out of it. “Welcome to the testing area. I’m so glad the two of you could make it. Let me quickly go over the rules of the next area for you…”

“Fucking douchebag…” Sunset uttered under her breath as she crossed her arms while listening.

“In this area, you both will be separated by the steel fencing between you. It’s reinforced, so trying to cut it would be pointless, but also a violation of the rules. Part of the fun way my power works is I can terminate a game at any time if people break the rules. Trying to break through the fence will be seen as a violation of the rules…” Eight established right away.

Horizon adjusted her mask. At this point, her group had just grown used to wearing their outfits when they weren’t in school.

“In this place, you’ll face many challenges, however… The tether will only allow one of you to use magic or your powers at a time. You can transfer your abilities back and forth through the tether, but only one at a time. Your goal is to make it to the end of this area with both of you still intact. If either of you dies, the game ends and the other dies too…” Eight explained.

The two women were silent.

“Enjoy the fun, I’ll be watching…” Eight spoke before turning off the speaker.

Sunset looked over at her daughter. “I think I get it…”

“Get what?” Horizon responded, confused.

“He can create these games and the rules, but it sounds like the games have to be winnable. If his power allowed him to kill us outright, he would. The games he puts us in have to be possible to win…” Sunset concluded.

Horizon nodded. “Sounds feasible. With this fencing between us, we should be able to see each other to know when one of us needs assistance.”

Sunset grinned. “We move together then.”

The two agreed and began treading through the water. Horizon noted that the color of the water they stood in appeared off, but she could only just barely see it from the light created by Sunset’s hand. Thinking quickly, she illuminated the phone on her wrist and took a closer look.

Horizon was certain that the color was from rust and other metals that had gotten into the water over the years. The basement they stood in appeared as though it had been flooded for some time. The two women continued trudging ahead, taking careful steps.

Sunset blinked when she was sure she saw something in the water. Not wanting to waste her magic, she followed Horizon’s lead and switched the light from her own phone on as well. Sunset shined it ahead and tried to get a glimpse of what was ahead of them.

“Did you see that?” Sunset asked.

Horizon shook her head. “What did you see?”

Sunset readied herself. “Something I’m sure we’re not going to like…”

Carefully inching forward, Sunset shined her light, trying to find what had been lurking in the water. She peered around the bend coming up but saw nothing. “That’s weird…” She thought out loud.

Right behind her though, Horizon could see what she was referring to, it looked like some kind of giant bug, and it was covered in a black leathery carapace that dripped with black sludge from it. It opened its maw and saliva dripped from his many sharp teeth. She called out to her mother. “Sunset, behind you!”

Sunset turned around quickly and caught one of its legs that attempted to pierce her. She swatted the creature backward with a punch and took a step back. The monster dived under the water and made its way toward her quickly. The woman conjured up a blade of light and waited for it to come up for its attack. She slashed one of its legs off and pierced its chest with the sword.

The monster made a screech that hurt both of the women’s ears before it fell back into the water convulsing. After about eight seconds, it ceased moving. Sunset released a breath she didn’t even know she was holding in. “I hate bugs…” She said.

“Looks like Eight Ball unleashed his pets down here…” Horizon added.

Sunset nodded. “I’d say that’s accurate…”

Horizon gestured forward. “We have to keep moving.”

The two began making their way around the bend, unsure of how long this passage would go on for. Sunset spoke to her daughter with her eyes kept on where they were going. “Horizon…”

“Hm?” Horizon didn’t even glance in her direction, her mind focused on looking ahead.

“I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for all these years… I wanted to protect you and your mother but… I should have been there. I know nothing I say can make up for it, but I’m going to start protecting you from a much closer distance from now on…” Sunset smiled.

“I don’t really need protection.” Horizon shrugged.

Though Sunset expected an answer like that, it somehow still disappointed her. It was the truth though, Horizon had grown up quite capable without her. The fact was that Sunset’s family didn’t need her anymore. She had a hard time accepting that, but she knew that was reality. Horizon had grown into a strong person, all on her own.

Sunset wanted to say something else, but decided it was best to leave the sore subject alone. Instead, she gestured for the two of them to keep moving. It would only be a short distance ahead when Horizon spotted something moving in the water ahead of her.

She gestured to Sunset quietly and pointed to the water. Nodding, Sunset focused and transferred her magic over to Horizon.

Instantly, Horizon felt a large rush of power. She blinked as she could feel her right arm pulsing with demonic energy. Eight never mentioned that her demonic abilities would be affected by the tether too, but it was evident that they were now. Feeling the rush of power, Horizon quickly unleashed a blast of magic energy, a mixture of dark and light from her palm, decimating the bugs as she did. Another one tried to come out behind her, but Horizon quickly charged up the claws on her costume and slashed its stomach open.

Sunset didn’t get a chance to check up on her daughter though, as more bugs began to pour out of holes in the walls on both sides. Horizon glanced over her shoulder and could see Sunset preparing to face a good eight of them. She was about to focus on transferring the power back to her mother, but Sunset called out to her. “Don’t! You need it right now!” Sunset shined her light over to Horizon’s side, and sure enough, more bugs were coming out of the walls.

Horizon readied herself and conjured up a magic light spear that she wielded. “Will you be alright?” Horizon asked her mother.

Smirking, Sunset reached into her waistband and retrieved her 1911. “I think I’ll manage. You focus on yourself, I have taken down my fair share of monsters…”

“Fair enough.” Horizon nodded.

Right away, Sunset took aim and began unloading bullets onto her foes. She emptied a clip and quickly retrieved another. Horizon began cutting through her own swarm, noting that Sunset had holstered her firearm, and instead opted for a knife she had been keeping inside of her boot.

The two women slaughtered bugs until there wasn’t a single one left on Horizon’s side, but the teen could see Sunset was dealing with far more than she was on her end. More bugs kept coming out of the walls for Sunset.

“Sunset, let me lend you our powers!” Horizon called out.

Jabbing her knife into one of the creatures, Sunset shook her head. “You go on ahead, Horizon. I’ll meet you up there in just a bit. I’ve got these under control!”

Horizon hesitated for a moment but remembered that up to this point, Sunset had taken on far greater challenges than a few oversized bugs. If she said she’d be okay, there was little room for doubt. Nodding, the teen left Sunset behind to scout up ahead. The path went on for a considerable length until Horizon could see a ladder ahead of her.

Placing a hand upon the first bar, she blinked and looked back to see if Sunset had caught up. There was nothing on the other side of the fence. Shrugging, Horizon began her ascent, knowing that Sunset would follow, she knew her mother was far too tough to go down that easily.

Hands ran through Serenade’s long majestic hair, hands she had come to recognize over the last few years, hands that had somehow begun to bring her comfort. Arax sat behind the siren, running his fingers through her long locks as the girl before him purred gently in pleasure.

As his hands came to her face, he touched her cheek, his finger barely hitting the eyepatch on her face, causing Serenade to reach for his hand, and place her own on top of it. Her good eye opened and stared him down, but her expression was more of a vulnerable one.

“That Sunset Shimmer… She ruined my face…” Serenade nearly whispered.

Arax shook his head. “No, you look as you always have.”

Serenade smiled at him and gently stroked the back of his hand. “You are strange for a bug, you know that?”

“How so?” Arax asked.

“Don’t lie to me… You don’t fear death, I can see it on your face. You could have betrayed me a long time ago… You have hated my guts for a long time, and if you don’t fear death… You could have ended this charade a long time ago…” Serenade explained.

Arax was actually curious as to when she would see through his facade. He shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I agreed to our arrangement because I used to fear death…” Arax said.

“And what do you fear now?” Serenade asked.

“Nothing, I guess…” He replied.

“Nothing to fear, and nothing to lose…” Serenade grinned. “The perfect subordinate…”

“That’s all I’ll ever be to you, isn’t it?” Arax questioned.

She sighed but reached up and touched his face. Her gentle hands ran across his cheek, touching his lip. “Keep pleasing me the way you do, and I’ll keep you around for many lifetimes to come… I have given your life purpose, you live to serve the new queen. I promise you this, Arax… I will rule Equestria and this world. I won’t stop until everyone submits to my power.”

“There could be many worlds beyond just this one, you know?” Arax pointed out.

Serenade smirked again. “Then I’ll never stop. I can live forever for a reason because I can fight until the end of time.”

“What happens when you run out of things to fight?” Arax chuckled.

Serenade shook her head. “If there really are an infinite amount of worlds out there… Then I’ll never run out. I can do this forever. I’ll start with that Sunset Shimmer, once she is dead, I’ll obliterate the creatures of this world.”

“What if we stopped at this world and Equestria?” Arax asked.

Serenade blinked in confusion. “What’re you saying?”

“What if we focused on other things? When there are no more threats, maybe we could…” He didn’t know how to finish his sentence.

Serenade had a feeling she knew where he was going, so rolled over so that she was facing him. Carefully she placed her finger on his lips and hushed him. “Let’s not talk about that. That’s a subject for another day.”

Arax just nodded.

Opening a hatch, Horizon found light coming from above her as she climbed up the ladder. Making it to the top, the girl poked her head through the hatch to see all of her friends were standing around in the room. Jasper took notice of her first. “Hey guys, Horizon is back!”

They all quickly crowded around, Eclipse pushed through the crowd to see his niece. “Horizon, where is Sunset?”

The sound of a second hatch on the other side of the room opening caused him to flinch. He turned his head and sure enough, Sunset climbed out of the hatch. She wiped some black sludge from her sleeve and shook her head. “Did you miss me, Eclipse?” She smirked.

Eclipse rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Took you long enough. We’ve been waiting up here forever. What happened down there?”

Sunset shook her head as she closed the hatch and came to a proper stand. “Trust me, you don’t want to know…”

“Are you injured?” Horizon asked as she approached her mother.

Sunset shook her head once more and placed a hand on her daughter’s cheek. “Nah, takes more than a few bugs to hurt me, Eight is going to have to try harder than that.”

“And I intend to…” Eight’s voice echoed through the room.

The entire group turned to his direction as he stood next to the two glass boxes clapping his hands. “An excellent display, you two, I saw the whole thing from the cameras. However, I do believe it’s time for your final test.”

Sunset clenched her fist and held it up. “Bring it on, I can’t wait to finish it so we can beat the shit out of you after…”

He laughed. “Amusing, however before we conduct the game… There is one small matter of wager that we must discuss…”

“Wager?” Horizon tilted her head.

Eight nodded. “Correct. See, what is the fun in a game without a prize? What we’re going to do is wager a bit of our energy. If you win, you get some of my power, and if I win, I get some of yours…”

The two were quiet as Eight continued. “So… How much do you wager?”

Sunset answered for both of them. “Everything. I wager all of my power.”

Eight blinked. “So bold…”

Sunset grinned. “I believe that means you have to wager all of yours too, doesn’t it? My power greatly exceeds yours, I can feel it… So if I win… I get even your life force, right?”

Eight flinched but nodded begrudgingly. “That is how it works… However, I wouldn’t get so hopeful, if I were you… Are you certain you want to make that wager? There’s no changing it once the deal is struck.”

“Positive.” Sunset nodded.

Eight chuckled and tapped the sides of both boxes, causing the doors to open. “Then step into the boxes for your final test.”

Sunset and Horizon glanced at each other, but they both stepped into one of the boxes, the door closing behind them. Sunset glanced over at her daughter and noted the hole that would allow them to reach for each other, wondering its purpose, but she assumed she would know soon enough.

Eight took a few steps back and explained the game to everyone in the room. “Oh, I do think I’ve outdone myself this time, I really do… This next game is one that’s truly exciting…”

“Just get on with it…” Eclipse grunted.

Eight rolled his eyes before fixing his glasses. “Some people lack patience… Anyway… The tether between the two of you can do more than share your powers and abilities, it can also share your pain…”

Sunset felt her hand flinch at those words. “What’re you talking about?” She asked.

Eight laughed. “The plates on the floor are going to conduct magic energy through your bodies…” He pointed down.

The two girls noted they were standing on metal plates, each looked like it was built with wires running to it that went into the floor.

“Metal actually makes a great conductor for magic, so it will amplify the effects…” He explained. “I’ve tailored this magic so that it won’t burn your bodies or rip you apart, instead, it’ll just cause tremendous pain, enough to kill you if you’re not careful, but you won’t die quickly, that’s for sure…”

“Pain magic…” Sunset crossed her arms. She had heard of it before being used in old torture methods, such things had been outlawed in Equestria for centuries, and most of the methods to create pain magic were kept under wraps to prevent its return.

Eight grinned. “I may have glimpsed at a few scrolls in the royal archives. Enough pain magic will still kill you, but it won’t break down your body, so you will feel every last second of it…”

Eclipse growled. “You’re a fucking monster, you know that!? Those spells were outlawed for a reason! Only a fucking barbarian would use them!”

Eight looked over at Eclipse and wagged his finger. “Don’t forget who is in control here. Don’t worry though… I’m going to give you all a chance to beat me. If Sunset and her daughter here should fail, I will allow two more of you to take her place. You may each challenge me until there are none of you left…”

Cinder chimed in with her thoughts. “He knew Sunset would volunteer first… Her power is far greater than any of ours… With her gone our best shot would be Eclipse and I… From there he would just eliminate us all…”

Eclipse shook his head. “As much as I don’t want to admit it, I’m no substitute for Sunset in this situation. Even with my abilities, I don’t hold a candle to her… If she fails this test, we are already beaten. Eight will just kill us all one by one, since we have to play by his rules…”

Eight nodded. “My powers create order. Rules are necessary for games to be entertaining after all.”

“Killing people isn’t a game, Eight. Your time with Serenade has twisted your mind as badly as her own. There’s still a chance to stop this, you can join us and we can give your life more purpose…” Cinder attempted to reason with him.

Eight rolled his eyes. “Spare me the lecture…”

Sunset cut Cinder off before she tried to speak again. “Cinder, I appreciate your efforts, but save them. I can sense it in him… This man… He was twisted long before Serenade found him. Reasoning and remorse won’t work on him. He is heartless to his core, killing for him is merely something he always wanted to do, but never had the ability… Serenade merely gave it to him…”

Eight grinned and placed a hand upon the glass box that Sunset stood in. “We understand each other so well, Sunset… It’s a shame you have to die now… I would love the ability to play with you some more…”

“My only regret is you’re going to die so unceremoniously, and I don’t get to strangle you…” Sunset replied.

He laughed and nodded as he took a step back. He cleared his throat and clasped his hands together. “I suppose we’ve stood around for too long, haven’t we? We should start the show, right?”

There were no objections.

Eight nodded approvingly before continuing to explain. “In the next few moments, pain magic will be sent through your bodies. That glass is bulletproof, but if you should try to leave the boxes, or anyone interferes, that will be considered a violation of the rules, and the penalty as you already know… Is death.”

“And with Sunset’s power, he’ll be too strong for us to do anything about…” Cinder reminded.

Eight nodded. “Now, if one of you dies, the game is over, and you both lose. However, this next part is my favorite… Since you can share the pain, you can push all of it onto one of you at a time. That means one of you will feel the pain for both of you… And it’s so fitting that we have mother and daughter… I can think of no better show, can any of you?”

“You’re sick…” Bolt spat.

Sunset’s eyes widened as she realized what was going to happen. She looked over at Horizon who seemed to wear her usual neutral expression.

“Since I am so generous, I will allow you to choose who goes first. The hole in the boxes serves a purpose… If at any time you wish to trade who feels pain, reach through the hole and the other can take your hand and trade. You’ll notice the distance between the boxes makes it impossible to trade without both of you making an attempt…” Eight pointed out.

Sunset looked to the hole and sure enough, he was right. Even at full length, her arm could not reach Horizon unless Horizon was reaching for her back.

“The game will start the moment you pick who goes first. Simply grab each other’s hand and think about who you want to go first, and that person will start… You must survive eight minutes to win the game.” Eight clapped his hands.

Sunset turned to her daughter with a serious expression. “Horizon, please listen to me… My body is far stronger than yours. I can handle more than you, so let me go first.”

“Are you sure?” Horizon tilted her head. “You’ve been through a lot in the past few weeks, after all.”

Sunset nodded. “I can still take more abuse than you. I’ve trained my body more, so I should be the one to go first, please…”

Reaching her hand through the box, Sunset offered it to Horizon. The teen looked down at her mother’s hand but nodded as she accepted the offer. Horizon reached through the hole and took her mother’s hand, granting her wish. She felt a gentle tingling sensation in her arm for a brief second but then felt nothing. Horizon noted that her sense of touch was completely gone.

Sunset grinned and gave a thumbs-up as she retracted her hand. Sunset took a deep breath, preparing herself, but she would start to feel the pain before she even exhaled. Every single nerve in her body was screaming at her, she fell to the floor instantly, clawing at the glass in agony as she screamed in pain. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, it was the worst pain imaginable.

“FUCCCCK!” Sunset screeched as she scratched at the glass, her body demanding she make it stop. It had only been eight seconds, and it felt like hours already.

Eight just laughed as he watched his prey struggle. “What’s wrong, Sunset? Too much for you?”

“FUCK YOU!” Sunset hissed between yelps of pain.

The pain was only getting worse, her body could not adjust to it, it was far greater than she anticipated, this feeling, this was what those who were mistreated in ancient times had to endure, this level of brutality, it was unreal, it was unthinkable. Sunset’s vision became blurry as she screamed, trying to force herself up, but to no avail.

Forty-five seconds managed to pass, and Sunset’s eyes were leaking tears, she couldn’t stop screeching, and she couldn’t think straight.

Horizon could see her mother had had enough, she reached through the hole and offered her hand to the redhead, calling out to her. “Sunset, tag me in.”

Sunset didn’t respond, she just kept screaming in agony, her entire nervous system was demanding she make it stop, screaming that she tag Horizon in.

“Sunset!” Horizon called out once more.

Sunset reached through the hole and swatted Horizon’s hand away. “No! I can take more!” Sunset hissed.

Horizon glanced at the timer on the wall that had started to count down, they were approaching the two-minute mark now, only six more to go. She looked back at Sunset and could see the pain was getting worse. Sunset scraped at the glass so hard that her fingernails had begun to bleed. She was grinding her teeth, trying to contain her cries.

Eclipse’s eyes widened as he attempted to understand what was going on. “What the hell is she doing!?”

Cinder crossed her arms and watched, having a pretty good idea of what was going on, but she wasn’t 100% certain just yet.

As the clock hit the third minute, Horizon offered her hand once more. “Sunset, I can take over.”

Sunset didn’t reach for Horizon’s hand, instead, she screeched as loudly as she could and banged her forehead against the glass. A small trickle of blood ran down her face.

“Sunset! Stop being stubborn! Tag Horizon in!” Eclipse commanded from the sidelines.

“No! I won’t do it!” Sunset howled.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?” Eclipse responded.

Horizon tried to reach closer to Sunset, but to her shock, Sunset reached through and swatted Horizon’s hand away. “NO! I CAN TAKE IT!” Sunset demanded.

“What the fuck is she doing…?” Eclipse asked again.

Cinder had figured it out. “I get it now…”

“Mind filling us in?” Bolt asked on everyone’s behalf.

“Sunset doesn’t want Horizon to endure any of it… She intends to go through the entire thing herself… I think that was her plan all along…” Cinder explained.

“What!? That’s crazy! Why would she do that?” Eclipse blinked.

Cinder pointed to Horizon. “Sunset couldn’t bear to see her daughter go through that. She’s willing to take everything if it means that Horizon won’t suffer… That is the burden of being a parent, I suppose…”

“She’ll kill herself if she does that!” Eclipse protested.

Cinder shook her head. “She will push herself to her very limit for Horizon. If it means keeping her daughter safe… Sunset will gladly die.”

Horizon continued to try and reach for her mother, offering her salvation from the pain, but to no avail. Sunset continued to ignore Horizon’s offer and opted instead to keep suffering. She screamed in pain and could see the clock reach the six-minute mark.

Jasper spoke up. “She’s going to die if she keeps this up… It’s killing her…”

Horizon spoke to her mother. “Sunset, I can handle the last bit, you are going to die if you keep pushing yourself like this…”

Sunset pounded the glass repeatedly as she screamed. She looked at the clock seeing it just get to the last ninety seconds. “JUST A LITTLE MORE!” Sunset exclaimed.

Hearing those words, Eight Ball felt a cold sweat run down his neck. The man turned around to see the clock, and sure enough, Sunset spoke the truth. They had just passed the seventh minute, only a few seconds remained.

“NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” Eight shook his head as his eyes locked on the clock counting down.

Eight… Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three… Two…

Sunset’s eyes opened widely as she saw the last-second drop to zero. “GAME OVER!” She hissed.

“NO!” Eight gripped his head, but it was too late.

The moment the clock ran out, he could feel all of her energy leave his body. It flooded into Sunset just as the pain magic ceased. Both doors to the boxes opened and Eight’s body turned into dust within a split second. All of his power had been absorbed by Sunset.

The redhead fell backward out of the box the moment the door opened. Horizon and everyone else rushed to her side to make sure she was still breathing.

She was alive, but Horizon watched as her exposed upper arm began to turn black. The demonic energy that had covered most of her forearm was now spreading, it was just touching her shoulder now after absorbing Eight’s energy. She panted before opening her eyes. She grinned and gave a very weak thumbs up.

“Heh… Told you I could take him…” She joked.

“That was insanely stupid, you know that?” Eclipse crossed his arms.

“I have to agree with Eclipse, but hopefully Serenade knows you’re a force to be reckoned with now.” Cinder smiled at her friend.

Sunset was about to nod, but she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Quickly she gripped it and groaned. Eclipse removed her detached sleeve and observed the state of her arm. The demonic energy was almost overflowing.

“Shit… It’s spread a lot…” Eclipse explained.

Sunset locked eyes with Eclipse. “How long do you think I have left?”

Eclipse bit his lip, not wanting to answer.

“Eclipse. You’re my brother, and I asked you a question…” Sunset repeated herself.

Eclipse closed his eyes and focused his energy, feeling the demonic energy within Sunset. When he opened his eyes he sighed. “Not long…”

“Not long as in…?” Sunset questioned.

“Maybe a week… Maybe a few days… You’ll definitely be completely turned by the end of the week, dead only shortly after… I’m sorry…” Eclipse frowned.

Sunset smirked. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you sad to be rid of me…”

“This is really going to happen then? Sunset is going to die…?” Cloud who had been silent the entire time asked.

Sunset nodded. “Afraid so…” The woman sat up and grinned at the group. “It’s too bad, I wanted to get to know you all better, but I guess we can still make the most of the little time I have left, right?”

“We should get going… We don’t have a lot of time to work with, and there’s still one more of Serenade’s subordinates to deal with…” Eclipse reminded.

“Work, work, work… That’s all I ever do.” Sunset rolled her eyes.

Hey everyone!

This is the first of the last 3 chapters (followed by an epilogue)!

The next one will come sometime between now and Dec. 23rd. As I said before, the final chapter will release on Dec. 24th, and the Epilogue on Dec. 25th, and that will OFFICIALLY end the story.

The epilogue and final chapter are already written, so they should just be able to go up without any issues. Thank you so much for making it this far!