Sunset awoke with a start, sitting up in the bed as she inhaled deeply and panted as if she had just run a marathon. It took a moment before the young rich girl came back to the moment and realized that she was in her home, in her bed. Her brow was wet, and her hair was a bit matted from sweating, her tank top and shorts clinging to her body. Sunset shook her head, she had a nightmare, but unfortunately, it was also a memory.

She threw the blankets off and swung her legs out over the edge of the bed. Sunset stood up and decided that she needed to clear her head, or rather, get it focused. She exited her room and made her way down the hall but stopped a moment to peer into her big sister’s room, she smiled in content knowing that at least one of them was having a good night’s sleep.

Sunset continued her walk, passing her upstairs laboratory and heading down the stairs. She turned to her right and kept walking until she stopped at the wall next to the stairs. Ever the cautious one, Sunset glanced about the area, when she was certain it was clear, she reached under the molding and found the spot she needed. Sunset pressed her two fingers against the molding, and as she did, two sections moved, pushing deeper until a light “click” sound went off. Part of the wall slid away seamlessly, revealing a passageway towards the basement level. Once Sunset got in, the door closed behind her and bathed her in darkness. Lights kicked on and illuminated a stairwell that led downwards.

Sunset walked the length of the stairs all the way until she reached her destination. What she hadn’t told her big sister, or Twilight, was that there was in fact another lab, the first lab. There was a basement that she showed everyone, where she stored the Prism and the Siphon, but that was for show. That same night, she went down to the vault and removed the two Artifacts, moving them to the subbasement. Above the doorway to the subbasement there was plaque that read “Laboratory I”.

When Sunset entered, the contrast between the one upstairs and the one down here was vastly different. While Lab II was set up for more scientific pursuits, Lab I was set up for more supernatural studies. There were computers that were lined up against one wall, one big desktop and several laptops that were running different programs at once, a table that had different books on ancient items, old grimoires and tomes on magic, all in an effort to decipher and learn the secrets of not just her own Artifact, but the others.

Further back in the lab, she had a circle of thirteen ballistic grade glass cases that stood at least four feet tall. In one of them was the Prism, in another was the Siphon, and a third housed a strange looking gold coin. Sunset sighed and moved back to where her research was. She took up a tablet and opened a program, mirroring it to a large monitor that took up a whole wall. On the screen it displayed multiple symbols, and each symbol had a name correlated to it.

“The Angelus, the Darkness, and the Witchblade, the so-called, ‘Trinity’ that make up the core.” Three symbols lit up at the center. “The Spear of Destiny, wielded by Fluttershy, aka the Magdalena.” Another symbol glowed. “My Ember Stone.” A fifth symbol glowed. “And…” Sunset glanced over her shoulder towards the gold coin. “The Coin of Solomon.”

Sunset placed her right hand on her hip and stared intensely at this image.

“I’m sorry Sparky, Sis, but I’m so close. After all this time, it’s about to happen. That bastard said it, ‘They will gather, they will awake’. Coming to Canterlot City proved to be the best gambit I’ve taken, because now there are six Artifacts in this one city, and many more will come…even now…”

Manehattan, it was a large city, but it paled in comparison to the older civilizations, that’s what Adagio Dazzle thought at least. It had been some months since she and her sisters suffered defeat at the hands of the Rainbooms, more specifically, at the hands of Sunset Shimmer. While she harbored anger towards those five human teeny boppers, and the alicorn princess, she harbored nothing but wrathful vengeance for Sunset. Had she not been there, had she not interfered, she and her sisters would be ruling this world and every pathetic human that dwelled in it. They should be adored, she should be adored by everyone, and loved.

Instead, she was loved and adored in another way, a way that she hated, loathed, but in contrast to the alternative…as degrading as it was…it was a necessary evil. Even now, she was in the middle of doing that necessary evil, or rather, it was doing her. Adagio was on her back, legs splayed wide as a man – she had forgotten his name and honestly didn’t care to remember – was rapidly thrusting into her womanhood over and over again.

She was in a seedy motel, as cliché as it was. The room was an ugly tan color, with brown carpeting, and a bed that was lumpy and was no doubt not cleaned properly, so she was more than sure that, in addition to her own secretions, she was lying in the leftovers of several other whores and johns that had used this room before. The man looked like he was in heaven right now, no doubt he was, after all, what man didn’t take pleasure in defiling an eighteen-year-old high school girl?

Despite how much she hated this, Adagio wasn’t a slouch, she played her part will. She moaned loudly and sweetly, her velvety voice was like honey to him whenever she released a sexy gasp or moan of “ecstasy”. In truth, she found little pleasure in this, hell the only reason she was able to get wet at all was because she fantasized about what she was going to do to Sunset Shimmer when she got her alone. She was going to torture her, but not before she had her fun with the pony turned human’s body.

“Oh yes, sweetie, that’s it! Harder, do it harder!” Adagio moaned.

“Fuck yeah, yes!” he replied.

Adagio’s perky breasts jiggled with each thrust, sweat licked her body as her breaths came quicker. She could tell the man was close, and it was around this time she started to think harder about how she was going to torture Sunset, the words “hate fuck” wouldn’t do what she had in mind justice. The more she thought about it, the more she imagined seeing Sunset Shimmer’s face contorted in a confusing, chaotic mixture of pain and pleasure, the closer it brought her to her own climax. And thankfully it always worked, both her and her client had climaxed at the same time, Adagio filled the room with her beautiful singing voice while the man atop her filled her womb with his seed.

It had taken her and her sisters a lot of practice to get their voices back to their former glory, and thankfully luck was on their side. However, without their amulets, their voices had no power to sway people to do their bidding, all they did was sound beautiful. Her voice alone was what brought her the big money, not to say her hypnotizing hips, curvy figure, and perky B-cup breasts weren’t nothing to sneeze at either, but to hear her moans, it wasn’t just experienced physically but also auditorily.

When they were done, Adagio cleaned herself up, dabbing away the cum from her slit before she put on her clothes. A purple tube top, a purple leather jacket with gold spikes around the shoulders, a black mini-skirt, violet see-through panties, no bra, and purple, slip on boots with gold plates running along the sides. Adagio looked around on the floor until she spotted her gold studded hairband and slipped it back onto her head. Normally, most girls in her position would have their clients wear a condom, but Adagio and her sisters seemed to have been altered, or maybe it was something that was always with them.

It seemed their biology made it impossible for them to have children, to be honest, this wasn’t the first time that Adagio, or any of the Sirens, had had sex with humans. A thousand years of roaming this world, their urges did need to be satisfied, and it wasn’t like they could have sex with each other…………okay, so they did, but that was over three hundred years ago, and they hadn’t done it again. Except only when they were really low and needed comfort with each other, those were the only times it was allowed between them. Anyway, they took a risk to see if they could sire children here and potentially create a line for themselves, but it seemed that their Siren biology carried over to a degree, for no matter how many men they took to bed, none of them could get pregnant.

It was a little disappointing, but it also meant that they didn’t need to worry about having to carry a child when they didn’t want to. Of course, back then, there wasn’t any medicine for the various venereal diseases that ran rampant and untreated in ancient times, but it also seemed that their amulets were keeping them safe from getting sick, allowing them to survive many different diseases that had cut down so much of humanity’s population over the centuries. Now though, it seemed they still were immune to disease, whether this was due to their biology, or their biology being altered by the amulets, none of them knew, but they weren’t going to complain about it.

“That was great, you were definitely worth every penny,” said the man.

Adagio gave a lilting chuckle and said, “Thank you, I hope you become one of my regulars.”

“Ya know, we could keep it goin’, I got extra. How much for the whole night?”

When it came to her night job, Adagio had a few rules. One: always get paid upfront, two: don’t let the client dictate the spot where they conduct their “business”, and three: don’t ever stay with a client the whole night. For those clients who wanted her all night to themselves, Adagio had her ways of making them say no. “Hmm, I don’t think you could afford it, hun. For an all-nighter, it’s three times my rate.”

As expected, when Adagio told a client the price, they practically paled. And right now, the man was almost as white as a ghost.

“Tell you what, if you have enough, we go another round, or you can save up and we can have at it again next week? You can make this a treat for yourself, if you want?” Adagio suggested as she stroked the man’s hair and gave him a sexy half-lidded look.

The man nodded eagerly. “Y-Yeah, that actually sounds good to me. I guess it’s not special if I get it every day. Right?”

“That’s the ticket,” said Adagio as she gave the man a quick peck on the forehead. “Ta, ta, hun.”

Adagio waved a goodbye as she left the room, the moment she did she spat onto the asphalt and concrete. She hated acting like that for a human, but right now, neither she nor her sisters could afford to be picky about what or who they did to get money.

Upon their defeat at the Battle of the Bands, the Sirens could no longer remain in Canterlot City, not when their amulets were gone. They felt weaker now, their amulets didn’t just give them vitality and longevity, it also strengthened them. Albeit, ever since this new century and finding their way to Canterlot City, their power was drastically reduced, so they weren’t able to show off their more impressive feats of strength. It hardly mattered now, they were as weak as any human now, Aria was probably the only exception, she liked keeping her body in shape and was a natural fighter.

They again took to roaming around, trying to find ways to earn money, since they couldn’t control people anymore, no one would give them what they wanted. They managed to get as far from Canterlot as they could, Manehattan, a place where anyone can make a fresh start, and where people didn’t ask too many questions about where you lived or what you did so long as you paid the rent. Unfortunately, none of them really developed skills that could be used for monetary value, considering that they were trying to find ways to get back home or control these hairless apes.

Sonata took up cooking as a hobby and was pretty good, but she never devoted enough time or studied with the masters to become a master chef. Aria just liked to get rough, she found fighting was a good way to get out her frustrations, she became an excellent street fighter and could take on any man who tried to start something. However, her skills weren’t refined enough, had she taken the time to learn from the different martial arts masters and styles that had developed over the last thousand years, Aria could be a world renowned MMA fighter, a champion. Adagio, well, she learned about technology, as much as she could and as much as she wanted to. In retrospect, as the leader and eldest of the Siren sisters, she had a duty to learn more and push her sisters to do the same so that they had skills to fall back on should they ever need them. But they only learned enough just to get by, they relied heavily on their voices and magic. Something else that she hated Sunset Shimmer for, that pony was a unicorn and lost her magic, so she honed her mind and body instead, and did more for herself than either of them did in a thousand years.

So, with little else to work with, they used the only thing that they had at their disposal, their bodies. Out of the three of them, Adagio worked longer hours and more nights than her sisters did, a personal choice. For one thing, Aria was often too aggressive with her clients, some guys like that and wanted her, but not every client liked paying for a girl who looked like she could snap their neck and leave them to die. Sonata, bless her, still managed to maintain her innocence to a degree, that combined with her airheadedness, brought in a number of different clients who wanted to sleep with her. But those qualities that made her popular, also made her a liability. There were times when she was scammed into sleeping with clients and not getting paid at all.

So, more often than not, Adagio was forced to do more than her fair share to keep them afloat.

Adagio made the long walk back to their hovel of an apartment, passing by several shops along her way. It was degrading on all levels, they were once proud and powerful creatures, they were feared, they were adored, but now they were reduced to common street whores. Adagio growled and kicked a mailbox with all the strength she had, she hated this, she hated everything that was done to them, part of her wanted to just break down and bawl like a foal who wanted to go back home, and deep down that’s what they really wanted, they wanted to go back home.

Adagio sighed as she stopped before one of the thrift shops windows. She didn’t know why, but something compelled her to always come by this one rundown shop and just look at an item that was displayed there. It was a small box, just big enough to store a lot of trinkets or jewelry. It appeared to be wooden, what type she didn’t know, with gold plates forming ornate shapes. For some reason, looking at this box filled her with a sense of calm, like it was promising her that everything would be alright. From what she could see, the box’s top had an infinity styled loop, with two empty spots in the gaps of the symbol. Adagio often wondered what was once there, in a way, it reminded her of herself. Beautiful and yet incomplete.

The former Siren decided that it was time to stop looking at it, she could afford to splurge on a little something. Adagio entered the thrift shop, she grabbed the jewelry box and brought it up to the cashier and said, “Excuse me, I’d like to buy this.”

Indigo Zap was not happy, her parents had decided to take her to the Alps for Spring Break, when it was usually tradition for teens to head to the beach and party like it was their last day on Earth. But, after all the supernatural weirdness that had happened over the last few days, Indigo’s parents had decided that they needed to spend some time away from Canterlot for a little bit, and just be a family. Her arm had healed up, mostly, she had the cast taken off but was told by the doctor to only do light work with it for at least another week to make sure everything healed up.

Even on the plane ride over, there was one thing that continued to plague Indigo’s mind, Twilight Sparkle. She knew what she saw that day, she saw Sunset Shimmer using some kind of freaky fire power, her hair was on fire, hell, her whole body was on fire for a few seconds. Lemon Zest had confirmed that much about what happened after she was knocked out, and the rest of the girls confirmed that Sunset did indeed have hair that was on fire, and somehow found them when even Indigo and Lemon didn’t know where they were holding Twilight.

Sunset was dangerous, she had fire powers, maybe that was why Twilight was sticking by her? Sunset must’ve threatened Twilight into being her “girlfriend” or else she’d burn her alive. It made sense, why else would Twilight not want to be with Indigo? Okay, she did come on strong, and yes, maybe she did take things a bit too far. But she just really loved Twilight, she wanted to be with her, to love her, to see only her.

But now that was impossible, Sunset had the power to keep Twilight all to herself and kill anyone who tried to get too close to her.

“Indy, sweetie, don’t look so discontented, we’re on vacation,” said her mother.

“Yeah, I know, sorry. I just got a lot on my mind Mom,” said Indigo.

“Honey,” her father spoke, “I know things are bad back at home, but they’ll get better.”

The three of them were in a mountainside resort, sitting in front of the large fireplace and enjoying the warmth of the cozy setup. Indigo’s father walked towards the chair that Indigo was sitting in, he had his hands behind his back and smiled a little as he got closer.

“What’s with that look, Daddy?” Indigo as in suspicion.

“Okay, I know you’re not a big fan of jewels, kiddo, but…” Indigo’s father brought his hands out from behind his back and showed off a necklace. “Ta-da!”

It was simple, but ornate. There was a sapphire stone encased in silver with bands around it, all hanging off a silver chain to match. Indigo paused when she looked at the pendant attached to it, in a way, it looked similar to Sunset Shimmer’s necklace, but the metal bands holding the sapphire in place looked more rigid as opposed to the more loose flowing ones that Sunset had.

“Where did you get this, Dad?” Indigo asked.

“Funny story, I actually found it on this one business trip I took to Norhay last winter while we were hiking near some mountains. It was just buried there in the ice.”

Indigo raised a curious eyebrow. “Wait, it was in the ice, not on it like someone dropped it?”

“That’s right, it’s probably some jewelry from way back in ancient Viking times,” her father suspected. “Okay, so I didn’t have it carbon dated or anything, but it was just stuck in the ice! I had to use a shovel and icepick to get it out.”

Indigo had to admit, that was interesting, and she really wasn’t the type to wear fancy jewelry like her mom, despite the older woman’s best efforts. But this time, she was going to make an exception, mostly because it felt right to have a necklace that contrasted Sunset’s, and also because her father went through that much work to get it for her.

“Alright, Dad, I’ll wear it,” said Indigo as she took it from her father. She put the necklace over her head and let it rest on her chest. “Huh, that’s weird.”

“What is it, Indy?” her mother asked.

“Don’t know what it is but having this on just feels right. Is that weird?” Indigo asked.

Indigo’s mother squealed happily as she rushed over and gave her daughter a hug. “No, no, my little Indy~ As I’ve said before, there’s a perfect accessory for every girl! And it looks like fate has brought you together with yours! I’d never thought I’d see the day when you’d wear a piece of jewelry!”

“Okay, Mom, stop getting all overexcited, jeez!” Indigo chuckled.

While all this merriment was going on, neither one of the Zap Family members noticed the faint, blue ethereal glow coming from the stone, nor the subtle two degree drop in room temperature.

“Shut up! Shut up!”

You should’ve cut that little nerd bitch’s cunt while you had the chance! Instead, you let yourself get put down by another nerd who fucks half the school!

“Goddammit do you ever shut up!”

Sour Sweet was not having a good night, she had taken her medication as her parents, and doctor strongly urged. And by “strongly urged” she meant that they watched her like a hawk and checked her mouth to make sure she wasn’t tucking the pills into her cheek, even stayed with her for an hour to make sure that she didn’t go to the bathroom and vomit them up. While they did help in keeping the voice at bay, it wasn’t always effective, the voice was strong and for some reason, Sour believed it was getting louder and stronger.

“I didn’t want to hurt Sparkle like that! I was just threatening her! I wasn’t ever going to do that to her!” Sour argued as she sat awake in her bed.

Oh please, we both know deep down you wanted to cut her up, to violate her with those scissors and watch the crimson flow down her like a heavy period!

Sour shuddered as she hugged herself. “That’s fucking sick!”

Please, you’re thinking it, I am you, after all.

“No, you’re not! You’re just some fucked up part of my brain! I won’t listen to you again; I won’t let you hurt anyone!”

Sour sat up in her bed and gazed straight ahead towards the far wall of her room, and on that wall was an impressive collection of swords. What some didn’t know was that Sour Sweet had a passion for sword collecting, it wasn’t due to watching anime or movies or whatever, she just liked collecting them. There was something elegantly savage about the sword, it symbolized so much, the dawning of a new age of warfare, a time of honor and valor, when people didn’t just shoot each other from a distance, but got right up in their faces and fought head on. She also liked the duality of the sword, a symbol that invoked the images of justice, peace, and heroism, but it was also a weapon of cruelty, death, and oppression.

In a way, the sword was like a physical manifestation of her current disorder. Good-ish one moment and bad the next, sometimes she wished she was like one of the single edged blades of her collection, like the katana. An elegant weapon, crafted by smiths who didn’t see their forging of a sword as just a weapon, but a work of art, even if that art was killing people.

Sour could feel the voice roll its eyes at her. Oh, come off it, we both know who you’re really afraid of me hurting. You just don’t want to admit that you’re fucking gay for Sunny Flare. And I already promised I wouldn’t hurt her, so long as you let me out once and awhile.

“My little ‘mood swings’ aren’t enough for you!” Sour scowled.

“Nope.”

The voice, that time it didn’t sound like it was coming from inside her head, it sounded like it was coming from inside her room. Sour blinked for a moment and gasped, she watched a double of herself materialized right by one of her swords, ironically, a katana. She was dressed similarly to Sour, a magenta bath robe, and her hair flowing down. Although the double had one notable difference, its eyes were blood red.

“I want real freedom, I want carnage. I want to taste blood again, to feel bones splinter, muscle and sinew tear, and to hear the howls and throes of my victims fall before me!”

The copy ran its hand over the sword sheath, it was black as night, with a single tear drop on both sides of the sheath that was red, and the bottom of the sheath was coated in red as well, but with a wavy ripple effect, as if the drop was actually a drop of blood. The hilt of the katana was golden colored, the guard was square shaped, and the hilt was wrapped in a durable black cloth that, despite its age, looked absolutely brand new.

“Just give me a taste Sour, just a little?” the copy asked.

“Fuck you, no! I’m not a murderer!”

“Ugh, you can just kill a damn dog, cat, any animal! I just want to kill something! And I know you like that rush, the rush of holding the life of someone else in your hands! You can’t tell me you didn’t like it when you had Sparkle like that?!”

Sour began to rock back and forth as she hugged her legs to her chest, her eyes wide and moving erratically as she muttered. “I’m not a killer, I’m not a killer, I’m not a killer, I’m not a killer–!”

“Boo.”

“AAH!”

Sour jumped back, and when she did, the copy pounced, pinning Sour to the bed as it smiled wickedly down at her. “I’m waking up more now, Sour. Whether you like it or not, you won’t be able to deny me, and on the day that I do wake up, you’ll have a choice to make.” The copy leaned her head down and hovered next to her left ear. “Will the first person to fall be someone you love, or a complete stranger? This is the one thing I guarantee you have control over, so you had better make the decision before that day comes…”

With that warning given, the copy evaporated, leaving Sour alone, she could even feel it in her head, the bad part of her went to sleep, or rather, went dormant for now.

Sour Sweet curled up into a ball and cried softly as to not wake up her parents. She knew what the copy said was true, as much as she didn’t want to admit it. One day soon, she would no longer be able to keep her cruelty at bay, and it would come exploding out and hurt someone she did care about. It was like a pressure valve, the longer she waited to relieve it, the closer her bad side came to exploding out of her. That is…unless she relieved that pressure…but…how…?

Sunset placed the tablet back on the table and slammed the table with her fist. “It won’t be long, all of the Artifacts will converge here in one way or another, including yours! On that day, I’ll make you pay for what you did, and right the wrongs you committed against me!”

Sunset breathed out heavily as she glanced upwards, looking past the layers of concrete, steel, and drywall to the bedroom of one of two people she had come to cherish.

“Sis, when it starts, you’ll probably hate me. But I promise you, when it's over, we’ll be a family again, probably better than what we are now, I’ll make sure of it…”