The Witchblade EqG: The 13 Artifacts

Sunset was pacing the room as she had various articles of clothing laid out on her bed, along with different lingerie. Today was her date with Pinkie Pie and Sunset wanted to dress accordingly, she hadn’t had that many dates in this world, Flash Sentry was the only person she had ever dated, and even then she was a mess when trying to figure out what to wear. In those cases, Sunset would just throw on some casual clothes and go like that. Although back then Sunset didn’t really care about such things, when it came to Flash she just used him for his popularity in order to elevate her own status.

However, that wasn’t the case here. She liked Flash, sure, he was a great guy. But Pinkie Pie was different, she lit up her world, she brought joy to it, she saved her from falling into the depths of depression and being crushed under her own guilt. Pinkie meant the world to her, and she wanted to show her that she did. I don’t want to be too casual, if I did that then she might think I’m not taking this date seriously…Then again I might make her feel self-conscious if I look too dressed up…dammit what am I gonna do?

Just then there was a rapping at her door, followed by said door opening as Sun peeked inside. “Knock, knock, Sis, what’s – whoa…” Sun looked about the room as she entered, seeing not only clothes but also various styles of underwear scattered on her big sister’s bed. “Sis, you alright?”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head nervously. “N-Not really…I don’t know what to wear! I mean,” Sunset held up a nice dress made by Rarity, “do I go with this? I mean it looks really nice, but I don’t want to make Pinkie feel as if she had to dress up too!”

“Uh–”

The former unicorn put the dress down and held up a pair of denim jean pants and a tank top. “Or do I just go casual and comfortable? But if I do that, she might get the wrong idea that I don’t really care!”

“I think–”

Sunset threw those clothes back onto the bed pile and pulled out a miniskirt and a tube top. “Maybe I should try a sexy look, right? Give her a little show? No, then she might think all I want to do with her is have sex! I don’t want her to think that I think of her as sex object!”

“Sis–!”

“And what about my underwear?!” Sunset frantically pulled out a pair of black lace panties and matching bra. “This one is nice and classy, but then this one.” And then she revealed a thong and a skimpy bra that hooked in the front. “Do I go with this? I mean it’s really skimpy, and I’m not entirely planning on sleeping with Pinkie, but if that happens, I want her to like what I have on underneath, you know?!”

“SIS!!!” Sun yelled.

Sunset froze in place from the loud exclamation from her little sister.

Once Sun was sure she had stopped her big sister from spiraling, she walked up to Sunset and placed both of her hands on Sunset’s shoulders. “Sis, I love you. But you really need to get out of your head.” Sun took the two sets of lingerie out of Sunset’s hands and put them back on the pile. “It doesn’t matter what you wear, Pinkie didn’t fall in love with you because of your fashion sense, she loves you, and you love her. Besides, Pinks doesn’t strike me as the kind of girl who frets over that kind of stuff.”

Sunset sighed heavily as she relaxed a bit. “Sorry…it’s just that this is the first real date I’ve had with Pinkie, and I want it to go well.”

“I know, but it’ll be alright.” Sun removed her hands and then hooked her right around Sunset’s neck. “And once Sparky and I have our first real date, then the four us can have a double date! So, get on that, girl!”

Sunset playfully pushed her little sister off. “Whatever.”

Sun smiled and then added, “Still sure you don’t want my Athena master card? No credit limit, and access to all my money~” Sun punctuated this by slipping the card out of her back pants pocket and dangling it in front of Sunset.

Sunset crossed her arms and shook her head. “No, I don’t want your uber rich people card.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Sun’s eyes drifted downwards towards the exposed cleavage of big sister’s shirt and then smirked. “Alright.” The rich girl swiftly planted the credit card right in her big sister’s cleavage, gave it a quick tap to push it down further, and then ran for the bedroom door.

Sunset’s face went red as she felt the cold piece of metal against her chest. She quickly tried to fish the credit card out of her shirt and after a few awkward seconds, managed to extract it. With a growl of annoyance, Sunset yelled out, “SUN, YOU ASS!!!”

“NO TAKE BACKS – BYE~”

Before Sunset could say anymore, Sun dashed away. The older Sunset rolled her eyes but smirked at the actions of her younger sister. She was just looking out for her, and honestly, it was nice to have that. “Guess she’s right, Pinkie didn’t exactly say yes to me because I was wearing fancy clothes. Still, I wanna look a little nice.”

}}} Personally speaking, you are attractive in whatever you wear, Sunset. {{{

Sunset raised an eyebrow at the Witchblade, and jokingly stated, “Ha, I knew you put me in that skimpy ass armor just to enjoy the view!”

}}} Merely stating a fact, I take pride in my Bearer’s attributes. {{{

“Thanks, partner.”

Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer wasn’t the only one having a wardrobe dilemma. Pinkie’s room was a scattered chaos of garments, skirts, pants, tank tops, shirts, blouses, socks, underwear, all of it littered the area that was her room, matching her frantic mind. Pinkie’s curly hair was a tangled mess of hairpins, rollers, and a few combs that were just left in there. Her left arm had a stocking that went up to her elbow on it, while somehow there was a glove stuck to her right foot. Pinkie had a mismatched pair of underwear on, her bra was white with pink polka dots, while her panties were yellow with blue horizontal stripes on it.

A knock came at the door and Limestone slowly opened the door. “Hey, Pinkie, are you ready yet? I’m ready to drive ya to – oh shit.” Limestone froze in the doorway when she saw the mess in her little sister’s room, and the state of dress said sister was in. “Uh…okay…wow…did you have an accidental discharge of one of your party cannons, again?”

It seemed that Pinkie either didn’t notice her big sister or didn’t care to answer as her attention seemed solely focused upon the scattered clothing. About that time two more Pie sisters, Maud and Marble, stopped next to Limestone and looked upon the chaos with the same reaction as Limestone. In Maud’s case it was more subdued.

“Wow, Pinkie, this is a mess,” said Maud in her usual deadpan tone.

“Mmm-hmm,” Marble agreed.

“Forget it, I think she’s checked out,” said Limestone as she crossed her arms.

Pinkie continued to zip around the room, taking one article of clothing and then another, trying to match it and figure out the appropriate attire for her date with Sunset. “Oh, this one is cute, but this one’s looks kind a sexy! Should I dress cute or sexy for Sunset?!” She threw the two articles down and then dashed across the room and took up a dress, another Rarity original. “Maybe I should go casual, I mean this is the first official date between Sunset and me!”

Limestone looked to Maud and asked, “Really, this is their first date?”

“From what Pinkie told me, they’ve all been busy with all the crazy stuff going on around the city and haven’t had time to properly date. Although…”

Limestone gave her sister a questioning look. “Although what?”

“Although they have managed to have sex, twice apparently,” said Maud in a nonchalant manner.

Limestone nearly yelled while Marble’s face went completely red. The oldest Pie sister shook her head and said, “Get the fuck out, Pinkie and Sunset banged already?! TWICE?! W-When did this happen?!”

Maud shrugged. “Sometime last week, before Spring Break. But they haven’t done anything else since. They probably would have but considering that they were all on vacation with their friends and had their school principals with them, they’re opportunities to screw were probably limited.”

Limestone looked back to her hyperactive sister, still shocked at this news. “Damn, how is it that I’m the oldest, and she’s gotten more action than I have?!”

“Actually, I’ve had more action than both of you.”

“WHAT?!” Limestone exclaimed. “Since when?!”

“Since I met Mud Briar,” Maud stated.

Limestone and Marble remembered when Maud introduced them all to the young man, he was a dull little stick in the mud. While it was hard to understand why in the ever loving hell Maud liked the man, there was no doubting that Maud was happier when she was with him, and they could see that happiness reflected in Mud Briar. So, reluctantly, all three sisters agreed to give him a chance, for Maud anyway. But to hear that the two of them have been having sex? Well, they are a couple, so it was expected, but Lime and Marble never saw them as the sexual type of people.

“Dare I ask how many times?”

“Hmm…over the course of our two-year relationship…” Maud paused for a moment to think. “I’d say we’ve done it over a hundred times, as a rough estimate.” A small smile formed on Maud’s lips. “He’s pretty wild in bed.”

“How the hell aren’t you pregnant yet?”

“Well condoms help, and I do let him use the backdoor–”

Limestone slapped her hands over her ears. “La-la-la-la-la – I don’t want to know that!”

Maud shrugged. “Your loss.”

“Ugh! Anyway, what are going to do about her?!” Limestone pointed a hand towards their still panicking sister. “She’s going to be late to her first date if she keeps this up.”

Marble cleared her throat and gained the attention of her two big sisters and softly spoke, “Um… Pie Sister Intervention?”

Lime and Maud glanced at each other and nodded in unison as they said, “Pie Sister Intervention.”

Lime and Maud marched towards Pinkie, they each grabbed an arm and began dragging the pink party planner towards her bed. Marble shut the door behind them and followed them towards the bed. Maud and Limestone cleared some space on the bed and sat Pinkie Pie down, the two older Pie sisters keeping a good grip on Pinkie despite her efforts to try and break free.

“Let me go you guys! I need to figure out the perfect outfit for my date! I don’t have time!” Pinkie protested.

“Tough shit, we’re making time,” said Lime.

“You need to calm down, Pinkie,” said Maud.

“I am calm! Can’t you see how calm I am?!”

Limestone deadpanned. “Pinkie, you’re in your underwear – mismatched by the way – wearing a sock on your left hand, a glove on your right foot, and you have combs and shit stuck in your hair. You’re even trying to get away from us.”

“That’s – Ugh! – because I’m – Darn it! – trying to get ready for my date!”

Marble Pie walked up to her big sister and gently placed both her hands on both sides of Pinkie’s face, forcing the teen to look directly at the shyest member of their family. “Big sister, please calm down.”

It took but a moment for the pink teen to finally stop her fidgeting and squirming. Hearing her little sister’s voice managed to pierce through the anxiety and bring her back into the moment. Each of her sisters had their own way of calming the other down. For Limestone, Maud would usually be the one to exhaust her until Lime gave in, for Marble, Pinkie would usually be the one to help the shy girl by sitting next to her and wrapping her in a gentle hug. For Maud, it helped whenever you brought up geology topics. However, when it came to Pinkie, whenever she got in such a manic state, it usually required an intervention, a Pie Sister Intervention. Now these usually switched, sometimes it was called for Lime, other times for Marble, and a few times for Maud.

“Thank you, girls…sorry for getting all whacky on you,” said Pinkie.

Maud and Lime released Pinkie, with the former carefully picking out the curlers, bobby pins, and combs that were stuck in Pinkie’s thick locks. “Why are you so worried, Pinkie?”

“Because, I have a date with Sunset!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Yeah, we know, I’m driving you to meet her, what’s the big deal? You’ve spent time with her before, hell, you’ve hung out with her at her place a few times,” Lime pointed out.

“That was different!” Pinkie countered. “This will be our first, real, official date! And I don’t know what to wear to it! If I dress up too much, and she doesn’t, I might make Sunset think that she’s not taking our relationship seriously, or that I’m taking it too seriously! But then if I dress too casually and she doesn’t, that can send the opposite message! Then as I was thinking about that, I started to wonder if Sunset wanted to…y-you know…do it with me, later…so I was trying to figure out what kind of underwear to put on because if we have sexy times I wanted to have something nice on underneath! I mean it’s not going to stay on me long, but still!”

Limestone groaned morosely, “I so need to get laid.” The eldest Pie sister sighed and patted her sister’s left shoulder. “Pinkie, tell me, has Sunset ever said that she cares what you wear?”

“Well…no.”

“Has she ever told you that she wants you to wear skimpy underwear or expects you to put out for her?”

Pinkie blushed, but still answered, “N-No, she hasn’t. We just let it happen when we feel it’s right.”

“As it should be,” Maud commented.

“So, what makes you believe she’ll think differently of you for dressing like you want to?” Limestone asked. “I may not have known Sunset as long as you have, but in the time I have spent with her I know two things. One: she doesn’t give a shit what you wear, hell, you could go around buck naked for all she cared.”

Pinkie Pie giggled at the thought. “She might like that, actually.”

“And two: she loves you, Pinkie. Has she ever done or said anything that made ya think otherwise?”

Pinkie Pie took a moment to think, remembering all their conversations, their hugs, their kisses, the times they hung out before they became a couple, the two moments they made love to each other. All of it made the pink party girl’s heart swell with affection for her girlfriend and made her smile broaden and calmed her nerves completely. “No, she hasn’t, I know Sunset loves me for me, and I feel the same way for her.”

All three sister’s smiled and nodded at Pinkie.

“Good, now put something on or you’ll be late,” said Limestone.

“If I might make a suggestion,” Maud got off the bed and reached into one pile of clothing, she then pulled out a lace, see-through bra and panty set. “Even if you don’t plan on getting that far with Sunset, you can at least feel sexy for her underneath.”

Marble blushed and turned away from the salacious looking underwear, while Limestone just gasped.

“W-W-What the hell – when did you get shit like that?!” Limestone asked.

Pinkie Pie scratched at the back of her head and nervously said, “IIIIIII might’ve asked Rarity to make me some…ahem…special underwear for when Sunset and I do it again…in all the craziness that’s been going on, I never actually got to wear them.”

Maud looked at the underwear again and hummed, impressed by Pinkie’s friend’s craftmanship. “I usually don’t wear anything underneath when I date Mud Briar, but I might ask your friend to make me something if she can do stuff like this.”

“Oh c’mon!”

“Wow!”

“Eeep!”

Fluttershy had been having a bit of a difficult time since the War of the Trinity. Her parents knew about the whole Vatican thing, seeing as how they would take her to the secret society that was responsible for training and arming her as the Magdalena. However, when they found out about what Neighsay did to her, well, as meek as they were, they certainly weren’t meek when they called up the Order and gave them a few choice words. Thankfully, Sister Meadowbrook was able to get those grievances up the chain to the Pope himself.

This led to them getting a call from the Pope a couple of days ago, with his holiness expressing his deep regrets for what had happened. Meadowbrook had advocated on behalf of Fluttershy that she’d be free to choose her own path, whether or not that involved her performing any more Magdalena assignments, or Fluttershy pursuing her own interests. While this did rub a few in the Order the wrong way, they reluctantly complied, even more so when the Pope decreed it so.

However, Fluttershy did explain that if there was a great danger that would befall the world like that of Neighsay or the Darkness, she would take up the mantle again and wield the Spear of Destiny to strike down evil in the name of God. Her words seemed to placate the Order, her mother and father believed she said those words only to keep them from trying to do something shady to force her to fight, but in reality, Fluttershy meant every word. Fluttershy knew that she couldn’t just keep her head buried in the sand whenever great evil reared its ugly head, not when she had the skill and power to stop it.

Although that did leave the shy teen wondering what she should really be doing with her life? As with most of life’s dilemmas, Fluttershy sought solace and guidance in church, sitting in the pews while she took in the serenity of the church. She brought down the built-in cushion and got on her knees as she began praying.

Oh God, I know what I want to do. I want to care for your creatures, every animal that can’t help itself, is sick or injured, I want to heal and make them better. Those little animals who bring joy to others, I want to make sure that they can for as long as they are able…but…I also know that you might have a greater plan for me. I was born with the blood of your only begotten Son, I am honored to be of His and Your bloodline, but I must ask…what is it that you would have me do, oh Lord?

I was trained to strike against evil and those who would dishonor or comment atrocities in Your name. If that is to be my destiny, then I won’t go against it. In all honesty, part of me feels…good…when I don the cloak and wield the Spear. I don’t take pleasure in ending someone’s life, but I take pleasure in knowing that I can save lives. Both are noble pursuits, but I don’t know how I can do both or if I should do both? Please, God, may I ask for a sign?

Despite being the many times great granddaughter of the Son of God, not always did she get answered straight away. It was right around then that she looked up and saw someone walking in, she looked middle eastern, with a white leather coat and black leotard. The first thing that Fluttershy noticed about her was the necklace that hung around her neck, a crucifix with two horizontal bars. The more she looked at this woman, the more something started to click in her mind.

“Wait…I…I know you,” said Fluttershy in a whispered tone.

The middle eastern woman stood at the end of the pew and smiled down at Fluttershy. “I would hope so, my child. I was once asked to train you back when you were but ten years old.”

Fluttershy shot up from her kneeling position and gasped as she spoke the woman’s name, “Ms. Somnambula!”

“Yes, my Altalmidh (pupil/student), it is I,” said Somnambula as she opened her arms. Fluttershy quickly hugged the older woman. “It is good to see you again.”

“Me too, Teacher, me too!” Fluttershy stated happily.

Somnambula was one of the instructors of the Order, although she was more like a shadow member of the Order that trained Fluttershy to become the Magdalena. Unlike the other instructors, Somnambula was patient with her, she was caring, and made her see ways of fighting that she never thought about. But more than that, she was a spiritual teacher. She helped Fluttershy come to grips with her powers and who she was as the Magdalena, and it seemed that God had answered her prayer. Both women sat in the pew, with the teen leaning against the older woman like a child with her mother, which Somnambula was like a second mother to her, while Meadowbrook was the big sister Fluttershy never had.

“It seems your home has been abuzz with strange activity as of late, no?”

Fluttershy sighed. “Yes, it has been…but I don’t want to bore you with the details.”

Somnambula raised her apprentice’s chin and smiled down at her. “My Altalmidh, you are never a bore to me. Please, tell me of you worries, of your strife.”

Fluttershy smiled back and spoke openly about what had occurred recently, the events at her high school, and of course the War of the Trinity that came about with the betrayal of Neighsay. Somnambula’s brow noticeably creased at the mention of his scheming and from what he did to Fluttershy. “I had hoped that man’s ambitions would’ve been curtailed with time, but it seems I should’ve stepped in a lot sooner. For that, I am sorry.”

The cream-colored teen shook her head. “No, Teacher, you shouldn’t be! You’re a shadow member of the Order, if you had said something, they probably wouldn’t have believed you.”

Somnambula nodded, her status as a shadow member of the Order was just a fancy way of saying she was mercenary as far as they were concerned, and she liked it that way. She didn’t agree with a lot of the Order’s edicts or their draconian methods and teachings, so it suited her fine that she wasn’t under their yoke and could come and go as she pleased. Her method of defeating evil and saving sinners didn’t mesh well with the Order’s views, especially since she was able to traverse Hell and free damned souls by giving them hope through the power of the Rapture. The Order believed that if you were sent to Hell then it was deemed so due to your sins or by God’s will.

But Somnambula didn’t see it as black and white, she saw gray. She knew that not always were people given the chance to make the right choice, that the burdens of life, no matter how strong the spirit, could make even a kind and caring person break under the pressure, even if their faith was strong. When hope is lost, people do things that they would never normally do, and to Somnambula, that was the greatest injustice in the world. So, to have the power of the Rapture, to bring hope to the hopeless, was the greatest gift she could’ve received.

However, Somnambula wondered if that was the right choice, to be a wanderer and spread hope, and not be by Fluttershy’s side to protect her. “Still, that didn’t mean I could’ve kept in touch.”

“Um, Teacher, I’m happy you’re here, but why are you here?” Fluttershy asked.

“Hmm, I’ve been getting a strange feeling lately. The events that have taken place in your city have me concerned, and I feel as if something about to descend here, something that is calling to my Artifact,” said Somnambula as she brought up the Rapture.

“I remember you telling me that your Rapture is similar to my Spear, that they both possess great power,” said Fluttershy.

“And the moment I came to this city, I’ve felt the presence of several other powerful items.”

“You think this is leading to something, Teacher?”

Somnambula wasn’t sure really, she didn’t have any concrete proof, so she didn’t want to alarm Fluttershy. But neither could she deny this feeling of impending dread, and Somnambula felt that it was connected to her item and Fluttershy’s, and possibly others. “I don’t think so, Altalmidh, it’s just a feeling I have. Do not worry, I am certain that we can prevent whatever it is, from what you’ve told me, we have some strong allies on the side of good.”

Fluttershy nodded happily. “Yes, my friends are strong. I don’t doubt we can get through whatever might happen together.”

Somnambula nodded as well, but inside she was still worried. I pray you are right, my Altalmidh.

Sunset was at the mall, she knew it was cliché, but it was the best she could think of for their first date. Well, that, and it was the normal-est thing she could think of. In the end, after all that stressing, Sunset decided to go casual, but still nice. She wore a faded blue tank top with her sun cutie mark printed on the front, pre-ripped denim pants, and a belt with metal studs on it. On her feet were black leather boots, with three-inch heels, she did her hair up a little, putting it into a ponytail with a black hairband that had golden spikes around it. She felt comfortable, and she looked nice, so she hoped she made the right choice.

It didn’t take long before Sunset spotted Limestone’s car, she gulped and tried to look as confident as she could. When the passenger door opened, Sunset stared wide eyed at her girlfriend. Pinkie was wearing a tank top as well, it had purple stripes along with mulberry colored stripes. Atop that was a shirt that only came up to below her bust, a hole was cut around the sleeves, exposing Pinkie’s arms and shoulders a little, below she was wearing jean shorts, and a pair of pink sneakers. Her curly hair was straightened, just enough to give it a smooth look without losing the volume.

Pinkie Pie bid her sister goodbye and walked the rest of the way to Sunset. The party girl also found her girlfriend’s outfit attractive if her blush was any evidence. When they stood before each other, they were silent, they took awkward glances at each other, getting an eyeful of what the other was wearing. The pink teen decided to break the silence and said, “Y-You look really good, Sunset.”

Sunset blushed and replied, “You do too, Pinkie. Really.”

“Thanks……Is it just me or does this feel just a bit awkward?”

“Just a bit, yeah.”

Pinkie Pie took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. She then took a step forward, draped her arms around Sunset’s shoulders, and then pressed her lips against the former unicorn’s. Sunset was caught off guard by the action, but that quickly changed as she wrapped her arms around Pinkie’s waist and deepened their kiss. They kept that up for a minute, not even paying any mind that there were some people staring at them. The two girls broke their kiss, the awkwardness disappearing soon after that.

“That was nice, Pinkie,” said Sunset.

“I was hoping it would be, guess this date’s off to a good start!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Sunset chuckled and released Pinkie, the two proceeded to hold hands and entered together. The two girls walked about the mall, they had come through here multiple times before as a group, but this was the first time they had done so by themselves, and as a couple. Sunset and Pinkie headed to the food court and got a little something to eat since it was lunch time, they decided to hit up a Japanese style restaurant, the waitresses all had on cute blue kimonos, Sunset ordered a plate of yakitori tsukune, while Pinkie ordered some katsu kare. When they finished their order, Pinkie couldn’t help but tease her girlfriend.

“You know, you’d look really cute in one of those kimonos~”

“Heh, heh, you think so?” Sunset asked honestly.

“Seriously!”

“Well, maybe we should do some role play sometime,” said Sunset with a sultry voice.

Pinkie Pie blushed and smiled at the idea.

“Hey, I found something that you might like.” Sunset fished out her cellphone and took out a pair of headphones, she plugged them in and put one in her right ear and handed the other to Pinkie. “Take a listen.”

Pinkie took the offered bud and placed it in her ear, Sunset went to her music app and turned on the song. Almost immediately Pinkie’s face lit up with excitement upon hearing the music playing and said, “PostCrush! This is PostCrush!”

“Yep, Supernova Zap and Kiwi Lollipop, otherwise known as–!”

“Su-Z and K-Lo!” Pinkie finished. “This is a new song, are…are they back together?!”

“Yeah!” Sunset practically squealed. “I just found out that they’re going to be performing at the Star Swirl Music Festival this summer for a reunion concert! I was thinking we could go together, or with the girls, make a trip of it.”

“That would be totally-super-terrifically amazing!”

Sunset and Pinkie shared a love for the girl band group PostCrush, a pop music duo that had quickly claimed the top of the music charts and became famous almost overnight. They were also famous as one of the few openly gay couple musicians, of course that also attributed to the breakup of the band, there were some personal problems between them which ended up with Su-Z and K-Lo disbanding. However, from what Sunset found out, the two girls had made amends and were back together, both as a couple and as a band, launching with a new album and next with a reunion concert.

“That sounds great! You, me, the girls, your sister, and Twilight, we can all go! And maybe we’ll get to meet them!” Pinkie exclaimed giddily.

The couple listened to half of the PostCrush album before their food arrived and then listened to the rest of it while they ate, during the more love oriented songs, Sunset and Pinkie would glance at each other lovingly and bring their hands together. After their meal they headed to the movie theater to watch a newly released film, an attempted reboot of the popular Japanese import superhero series called “Peacekeeper Sentai: Chōwager” dubbed in the west as “Power Rangers Peacekeepers”.

After about two hours the movie let out, while the original would always be the original, it was overall a good movie. Sunset decided to take a stroll around the mall, they stopped by a churro stand and bought a few for themselves.

“Hey, Sunset, what’s that black credit card you’ve been using this whole time? I’ve never seen you use it before,” said Pinkie.

“Oh…yeah…well, it’s Sun’s card. She kinda forced it on me, literally, she put between my boobs and ran off before I could give it back,” Sunset recalled in an annoyed tone.

Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. “Sun really put it there?! That’s funny, and generous of her.”

“Yeah, she is, I’ve never really had a sibling, but ever since we met, I’ve felt really close to Sun. It’s great having a sister,” said Sunset with a smile.

Pinkie Pie separated from Sunset and began walking backwards in front of Sunset as she happily said, “I know, right, having sisters is amazing! It can get a bit frustrating sometimes, but in the end, you still love each other, and they’ll love you! It’s how families work and – OMPH!”

Suddenly, Pinkie ran back first into one guy. This ended up with Pinkie inadvertently throwing her churros into the air and having them spill all over the guy and his five buddies, getting cinnamon sugar all over them. Sunset quickly caught Pinkie before she could face plant and held her close.

“Pinkie, you alright?!” Sunset asked.

“Y-Yeah, I am.” Pinkie Pie turned her head around and said, “I’m so sorry, are you alright?”

The man in question turned around and looked at Pinkie with an annoyed glare. “Watch where you’re going ya bimbo! Ya got this shit all over us!”

“Hey, it was an accident, we’re sorry,” said Sunset a glare.

“Tch, and how are ya going to make this up?”

“Excuse me?”

The man walked up and looked down at Sunset. “What? You don’t just make a mess like this and expect to not pay us back.”

Sunset rolled her eyes at the attempt at extortion. “Fine, how much money? How much will it take to make this all better?” Sunset really didn’t want to have to resort to paying off this jerk and his friends, but she wanted to have a date with Pinkie and the faster she could get this over with, the sooner she could get back to it. She hated having to use her sister’s money to make that happen, but she hoped Sun would understand.

The man looked Sunset up and down, and then Pinkie. A lecherous smile appeared on his face as he put his hands in his pockets. “Well, maybe I could forgive you two, on the condition that you hang out with us. I mean, it’s the least you can do.”

Sunset raised her hand in a stopping motion and said, “Yeah, I’m going to have to stop you right there buddy. You’re barking up the wrong tree, see, this is my girlfriend, as in the girl I’m going out with, so whatever pervy ideas you’re thinking about, that’s all they’re going to be, thoughts, and nothing else. I’m happy to pay whatever you want, but there’s no way that’s happening.”

The man furrowed his brow and quickly grabbed Sunset by her arm. “Tough shit, I don’t care about money. Just come with us, or…” The man raised the front of his shirt just enough for Sunset to get a peek at what was there. The flame haired girl immediately tensed up when she saw what he revealed, a pistol, snuggly holstered in the waistband of the man’s pants. “In case you’re wondering, my guys are packin’ too. So, why make this hard? Just hang out with us, I promise you won’t regret it.”

Sunset tried to think quickly, this guy and his five buddies had weapons, Pinkie Pie was in the line of fire, figuratively and literally, and they were in the middle of a crowded mall. Chances were he just showed it as a threat and wasn’t intending on using it, but then again, she couldn’t take that chance. Partner, what do you sense?

}}} He has malicious intent, I do not doubt he would use his weapon, even here. {{{

If it was just herself, Sunset was sure she could beat them all, but with Pinkie here, she didn’t want to risk the chance that one of them would draw their gun and shoot her.

“What’s your choice?”

“Sunset…” Pinkie worriedly called out.

“I–”

Just then, someone punched the man in the face and sent him straight to the floor. The crowd parted, forming a wide circle upon seeing the attack. Sunset blinked and looked to her left and saw a woman, still in her attack stance, she had a dark orchid skin tone, eyes of icy opal, a scar over her right eye, and her hair was shaved save for a mohawk. She wore a black leather jacket, black leather pants, and a turquoise shirt.

The mysterious woman relaxed her stance a little, looked at Sunset, and asked, “You okay, kid?”

“Uh…Y-Yeah, w-who are you?”

“Tempest.”

“What the fuck?!” one the man’s friend’s exclaimed.

“Bitch!” another shouted.

Sunset got into her own attack stance and said to Tempest, “They have guns!”

Tempest acted fast, she dashed towards the closest of the five and punched him in the stomach, she felt around his waist and found his gun. She pulled it out and quickly released the clip and popped out the bullet in the chamber. Sunset followed Tempest’s lead and attacked another one, she punched him in the face, the man, stunned from her attack, wobbled about on his feet. Sunset did the same thing as Tempest did, finding his gun and disarming it, once she was done, she kicked him in the stomach and put him the ground. Two more of the men were about to draw their weapons, but Tempest and Sunset intercepted them, grabbing their wrists, and wrenching them hard.

Sunset’s enhanced reflexes and strength allowed her to catch the gun and strike the owner of the weapon in the face with it, sending him spinning and falling to the ground. After disarming that weapon, she watched as Tempest broke the man’s finger in the process of getting the gun away from him, she then proceeded to pistol whip him twice across the face to put him out and disarmed his gun. The last one standing just looked at both Sunset and Tempest, both women were ready to take him down, giving him a fierce glare. The last one standing was apparently the smarter of the group as he took out his gun, removed the clip, popped the one in the chamber, and then got on the ground with his hands behind his head.

“Smart man,” said Tempest.

“Don’t you bitches move!”

Tempest and Sunset turned around and saw that Tempest had first punched had gotten ahold of Pinkie Pie, holding a gun to her head.

“Easy buddy, you don’t want to do anything you might regret,” said Tempest.

Sunset’s blood was on fire, the Witchblade could sense her anger and need to protect Pinkie Pie, making the metal coils of the bracelet undulate ever so slightly. Not enough to get noticed, but if one looked close enough they could see it. If she allowed it, the Witchblade could easily unleash metal strands to pierce the gun and cut the hand of that man off, but then that would reveal her identity as Witchblade and Sunset wasn’t ready for that kind of publicity.

Tempest inched closer to Sunset, she watched Tempest’s hand slowly grab onto something that was clipped onto her belt. At first Sunset thought it was a gun, but it looked disc shaped. “Hey, how fast are you?” she whispered.

“Pretty fast,” Sunset replied.

“Don’t ask how, but I’m going to disarm him, when he is, rush ‘em,” Tempest instructed.

Normally Sunset would ask what she was talking about, but right now she was going to have to trust this woman, so she nodded. Tempest stealthily pointed her left index finger at the gunman, Pinkie, surprisingly, wasn’t shaking. This wasn’t the first time she was held hostage, nor was it the first time she’s faced down a crazy person. At the tip of Tempest’s index finger, a small black orb formed, Tempest aligned her finger with the gun’s position and mentally commanded the orb to fire. The orb flew as fast a bullet, striking the gun in an instant.

“Don’t try anything or – what the?!” To the gunman’s shock, the gun began to rapidly age, the metal becoming rusted to the point that it was an orange, flaky mess.

Sunset took that as the sign, she dashed straight towards him. Pinkie Pie took this chance to elbow the gunman in the gut, allowing her to make him back away. Now that Pinkie was away from, Sunset barreled into him, tackling the gunman to the floor. She drove her knee into his stomach and began wailing on him with one strong punch after the other.

“Don’t you ever!” right punch. “Ever!” left punch. “Point a gun at my girlfriend!” another right punch. “EVER!” and one more left, which knocked out a few teeth in the process.

“FREEZE!”

Sunset stopped her beating in time to look up and see several police officers pointing their guns at her. She looked over her shoulder and saw that a few more were back there as well, surrounding them. “Officers, wait, we’re not the bad guys here!”

“Hey, kid, don’t resist. Just get off him and put your hands up, I got this,” said Tempest as she did just that.

Sunset did as Tempest told her, and as soon as she did, the officers rushed Sunset and Tempest, placing them in handcuffs. The former unicorn mare looked up and saw Pinkie Pie, worriedly looking down at her. Worst…first date…ever.

Sunset sat in the back of a police car, lamenting how this whole date was just shot by an asshole and his idiot friends who wanted to get into her and Pinkie’s pants. And now she was probably going to be arrested, no way Shining Armor could get that taken off her record. Say goodbye to my policing chances.

Just then there was tapping at the door of the police cruiser, when she turned Sunset was surprised to see that it was Tempest. The mohawk sporting woman opened the car door, leaned against it, and said, “Crazy day, huh, kid?”

“What…How did you get out of your cuffs?!”

“Easy, I just had to flash this,” Tempest pulled out her wallet, and in it was a badge that had the letters “FBI” stamped into the metal. “Yeah, they tend to let you go pretty quick when they see that. Which reminds me…HEY, CAN I GET SOME KEYS OVER HERE?!” Just like that, a pair of keys was thrown to her, which Tempest swiftly snatched out of the air. “Thank you! Get out and turn around, kid.”

Sunset, cautiously, got out of the police cruiser and turned around to present her handcuffed wrists. Tempest used the key and unlocked the cuffs, once that was done, Sunset turned to face Tempest, rubbing her wrists as she did. “You’re an FBI agent?!”

“Special agent, I worked hard for that,” Tempest corrected. “But yeah, I just told the cops that I spotted a gun on that guy who was harassing you and stepped in to intervene. I also told them that you offered your assistance in taking them down and that that one guy took your girlfriend hostage. So, we’re all good. No record, no nothing, if anything I made sure that you get a commendation for your assistance.”

Sunset smiled and chuckled. “I know a detective on the force who’ll be happy to hear about that. Seriously though, thank you. I want to be a cop someday and getting arrested would not help in that matter.”

Tempest smirked and put her hands on her hips. “You sure you just want to be a cop? With those moves you could shoot for higher if ya want to.” The mohawk woman reached into her jacket pocket, pulled out a card, and handed it to Sunset. “In case the cop thing doesn’t work out, or if you want to step up your game, give me a call.”

Sunset took the business card which read “Special Agent Tempest Shadow, Federal Bureau of Investigation” along with a couple of phone numbers. “You…You really think I can be a part of the FBI?”

“I’m never wrong on this kind of stuff, say, what’s your name?” Tempest asked.

“Oh, Sunset, Sunset Shimmer!”

“‘Sunset’, I’ll remember that,” said Tempest as she offered Sunset her hand.

The flame haired girl took Tempest’s hand and began shaking it. However, when she did that, the Witchblade glowed slightly. }}} I sense a powerful item on this woman’s person. {{{

Really?! Are you sure?

}}} Recall when I spoke of sensing other items of power in this city? I couldn’t sense them because their combined power was masking their exact locations. However, now that we’re this close, I can most definitely sense that she possesses an Artifact. {{{

Sunset’s eyes unconsciously began scanning the woman’s body, trying to find something, anything that looked like a mystical item.

Tempest saw how Sunset was looking at her and jokingly said, “Y’know, not that I’m flattered, and I’d totally would hit you up after all that, but I don’t think your girlfriend would appreciate you checking out another woman.”

Sunset blushed and quickly shook her head. “S-S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to! Y-You’re just – I mean–!”

“SUNSET!” Pinkie’s voice called out.

Sunset watched as her pink peppy girlfriend came rushing through the crowd and right towards them. She flung her arms at Sunset, wrapping them around her lover to the point that it felt as if she was going to snap Sunset in half. “I was so worried about you! Are you alright?!”

“ACK – Pinkie any longer and I won’t be – GAH! – uncle, UNCLE!”

Pinkie Pie released Sunset, smiling apologetically at her. “Sorry.” The pink curly haired teen turned around and finally took notice of Tempest. “Oh, you’re that woman who helped us out! Thank you!”

“No prob,” said Tempest. “See ya around, hopefully not under these circumstances.”

With that said, Tempest walked away, disappearing into the crowd. Sunset still felt uneasy about that encounter, an Artifact wielder was right there, and she was walking away. Was she an enemy? An ally? Was she working with Blood Sword? A possible enemy of Blood Sword?

“Who was she, Sunset?” Pinkie asked.

“Oh…uh…she’s Tempest Shadow, she’s an FBI agent. She got the police to understand what happened so we’re free to go,” Sunset explained. She took a moment to push the thoughts of Tempest aside and began walking Pinkie Pie away from police cars. “I’m sorry, Pinkie.”

“For what?”

“For messing up this date…” Sunset’s gaze turned downcast. “It was starting off so well, and then all that happened…”

Pinkie looked at Sunset with confusion. “What do you mean? You didn’t do anything, that jerk and his band of other jerks are the bad guys here. And besides, it didn’t mess anything up! Was it kind of scary? Yes, but you know, the way things are with us, it’s kinda expected that we’d have something crazy happen to us once in a while.”

Sunset sighed. “I just wanted a normal date with you. No craziness, and no other BS…”

Pinkie Pie patted Sunset on the shoulder and smiled at her. “Well, what’s a ‘normal’ date? Who says what’s normal for one couple is normal for another? We’re abnormal, and I like that ‘cause ‘normal’ is overrated!”

Sunset chuckled, she did have a point. Actually, it was the point. Sunset was a magical unicorn from parallel world, and Pinkie was probably the most unorthodox and random person in the city. A stranger pair you would be hard pressed to find. “You know what, you’re right, normal is what we decide it is, right?”

“Right!” Pinkie chirped. “Plus, this date isn’t over yet! What do you think of a little Laser Tag?!”

A devilish smile appeared on Sunset’s face. “Oh, Pinkie, you know just what to say to brighten my day!”

“I know, now let’s go zap some suckas!”