//------------------------------// // Betrayal // Story: Sunset's Bizarre Adventure: Friendship is Unbreakable // by StardustSprinkle //------------------------------// This is going nowhere! Sunset thinks as she exchanges punch with Adagio. "Talking about being weak!" A predatory smile emerges on the siren's face: "You still have much to learn!" "Dazzlings," Sunset pants for air: "What do you really want?" "Oh, nothing," Adagio yawns: "Just you out of the picture." "Then take me," Sunset's stand dematerializes: "And let go of my friends." Seeing an opening, Adagio moves in for an attack. Luckily for Sunset, her experience dealing with dangerous creatures in Equestria kicks in: she doges the powerful by tilting her torso leftwards while summoning her stand to take advantage of the opening. Seeing a golden fist move in, Adagio smirks and slightly twists her hand. The attack, carrying enough force to knock anyone out cold, hits Adagio on the back of her head, and nothing happened. "Is that all you can do?" Adagio taunts. "I know your trick," Sunset stabilizes her breathing: "Invincible as long as you are in motion, what a convenient ability." "Oh, so you know," Adagio shrugs before moving in for another round of attack. This is going nowhere! Sunset's mind drifts off while trying to defend herself: I have to get somehow her to stop moving, but how? There must be something nearby! "Careful now!" With the playful voice of the dazzling, Sunset feels something impacting her cheek, sending her to stumble backward. "Pff!" Sunset spits out a tooth, regains her footing: "So there's no return, huh? You just have to do this?" "Oh, are you scared?" Adagio laughs: "You pony...I mean, humans are so puny! Always talking big, and look at where you are now!" "Well," Sunset's eyes dance around, looking for something to trap her opponent. "Don't even try it," Adagio groans: "Your trap won't work." "We'll see!" Sunset smirks, sprinting at full speed towards her enemy. "Gah, this again?" Adagio's stand grabs Sunset by the arm as they cross the path before throwing her towards the railing in the spectator area of the soccer field. "Keep it together!" Sunset murmurs through gritted teeth after crush-landing on the auditorium. Although protected by a stand while landing, the amount of force upon impact is significant enough to bend the metal cause terrible pain. As the siren charges in, Sunset readies her ability. "Ha!" Adagio launches another punch but stops the moment before her hand is in the range of where the metal bars once are as Sunset's ability activates: "That's your plan?" Instead of replying, Sunset gasps for air before her head drops down and her stand fading into thin air. "Hello?" Seeing her enemy trapping, body interlocked by metal bars, Adagio leans in, her ear next to Sunset's mouth as a final gesture of victory: "You awake." "AHHH!" Sunset scream on top of her lungs, stunning the unprepared dazzling. Adagio may be invincible while her in motion, but at this moment, she is stunned. With one swift punch on the forehead, Adagio was knocked out. "Days Gone By!" Sunset commands: "Removes the metal bars from me!" As her stand is put into work, Sunset closes her eyes just to take a quick break. "What do you want from Sunset?" Applejack holds her fists up as her stand is ready to attack. "Oh, why should I tell you?" The phantom voice of Aria chuckles: "No matter, I can tell you as a parting gift. You see, we need enough energy to get back to Equestria. And what's a better place to acquire from aside from a music festival? Sunset, she's...different, and we don't want her to get in the way." "You can't just drive everyone crazy!" Applejack argues. "Oh, yes I can," The voice echoes in Applejack's ear: "And you won't stop me!" "Wha..." Suddenly feeling like a hand grabbing her heart, Applejack tries to sense the inside of her body with the power of her stand. "Oh, so you can feel it," Aria sighs, noticing Applejack's mastery of electric and magnetic fields. "How?" Applejack asks in disbelief, now knowing for sure that Aria's hand is indeed wrapped around her heart. "Oh, you don't need to know," Aria whispers into AJ's ear, tightening her grips. Applejack drops down on her knees, struggles to come up with a plan. "Let go..." A voice echoes in Aria's head as Applejack's necklace, given to her by Luna, starts to shine. "Who is it?" Aria stops her 'attack,' trying to figure the source of the voice. With just a split second, Applejack magnates to summon only the hand of her stand within her chest cavity, grabbing Aria's thumb before crushing the bones. "AH!" Aria cries out in pain, her hand quickly dematerializes. Applejack stands up while gasping for air. "Show yourself..." The voice continues. "Get out of my head!" Aria screams; her body manifests as her mind is slowly being eaten away by the voice of Luna. Seeing Aria in distress, Applejack moves in and knocks her out cold. "So, are we going to fight or play guess who?" Rainbow asks impatiently as Sonata gathers more air in her chest. "Oh, yeah," Sonata whispers after releasing a powerful wave of sound against Rainbow Dash. "Oh, cr..." Without enough time to react, Rainbow unleashed a horizontal wave of gravity, countering the sounds waves in time while creating a burst of energy, shattering Rainbow's eardrums. "Oh my," Sonata giggles as blood drips down from Rainbow's chain: "You messed up!" "Ha?" Not able to hear anything, Rainbow must rely on her eyes. "Oh, you can't hear me!" Sonata says as the air starts to concentrate in her chest again. "Gah!" Fortunately, Rainbow managed to pull herself away as rocks behind her shattered. "Ah! Where are you?" Not knowing exactly where RD is, Sonata decides to ready another attack while approaching the direction where Rainbow pulled herself away. Not being able to hear, Rainbow is a sitting duck: The moment she sees Sonata could already be too late. She needs a plan. A plan? A plan! One that is crazy enough that it just might work! Rainbow Dash stands up, locking eyes with Sonata. Before the siren unleashing her attack, Rainbow pulls Sonata in as she stands is ready to strike. What is she doing? Sonata thinks as she flies towards Rainbow: Is she trying to punch me? That is a poor plan. Sonata can land a direct hit on Rainbow before she's in the range of Rainbow's stand. With such a direct hit, Rainbow will be reduced to nothing but ash. Just as Sonata is ready to execute her strike as the distance between them closing in, a moon-shaped necklace on Rainbow's neck shines. "Cease attack..." A voice invades Sonata's mind. What? Shocked, Sonata failed to strike first and was knocked out. "Ok, I won," Rainbow collapse on the ground, unable to hear her own voice while suffering from a severe headache: "I won...I won..." "Sunset, Sunset!" "Ha?" Sunset struggles to open her eyes: "AJ?" "Sunset!" "Applejack!" Now fully awake, Sunset sits up, surrounded by shreds of metal: "How long have I been out?" "Awhile, sugar cube, awhile," Applejack lets a sigh of relief: "I'm glad you are ok, sugar cube." "Sorry to drag you into all of these," Sunset dusts herself off: "Where's Rainbow." "She's alright," Applejack lied, knowing that Sunset will be overtaken by guilt had she learned of Rainbow's injury. "Excuse me," A hand gently pushes AJ away: "Are you in pain now?" "Nurse Redheart?" Sunset sighs: "I'm fine, thank you." "Well, we will have to made you didn't obtain any internal injuries," Nurse Redheart sighs. "No, no, I'm fine!" Sunset coughs. "Look, sugar cube, it has been a long day," Applejack adds, looking at the retaining sun: "Just do this for us, ok?" "What do you mean by us?" "Us, sugar cube," Applejack smiles: "Your friends! We want to make sure that you are alright!" "But...what about the siren?" "One got away," Applejack explains: "Two of them went insane for some reason and are now in straitjackets." "This is..." "Don't worry about them; they are in good hands now," Nurse Redheart says, helping Sunset get on a stretcher: "You just relax and get better." "That was cold," A woman says to Twilight: "Their ability could have been useful." "But we don't want them to reveal our plan," Twilight threw her hoodie onto her bed: "I saw their defeat with my own eyes, and I know they would double-cross me at some point." "So you destroyed the book?" The woman sighs: "That's not like you." "No, it's not," Twilight argues back: "I felt horrible about it, but there's no other way. Destroying the book will return the ability to their owner, but with a catch: their stand will go berserk, and the stand user will risk insanity." "Again, that was cold," The woman insists. "I have a plan," Twilight says: "But I need your help." "I will help," The woman lied, only to gain Twilight's trust. "Thank you," Twilight acts alone: "You are a good friend."