Tales of Apple Scratch : The Sergeant Cloud Kicker goes to Canterlotby Mariacheat-BronyChaptersThe Sergeant is "needed" in CanterlotThe Sergeant goes to the library.The Sergeant goes back to the girls' dormsThe Sergeant visits the Castle... at night!The Sergeant is "needed" in CanterlotAll the Royal Guard outposts received a missive from Canterlot in early July. Said missive went on about how the Princesses had finally chosen a new member of the Council of Harmony, which had been left empty by Lady Cinabelle’s retirement four years prior. While the letter didn’t hold any information on who the new Council Member was, probably because the Princesses didn’t want any leak to the medias. Or at least, not one that would put her new Councilor in the spotlight too soon. After having read the missive, each leading officer of the many outposts called a meeting with their troops, for a new Council member meant a certain task from the Royal Guard. Said task was to send a delegation of four people to swear their allegiance to the new Councilor, and that was the cause of the constant chatter in Ponyville Guard post’s main hall. As soon as their commander, the aging, stern Constance Vigilance had explained the situation and the need for a flag bearer and two escorts to accompany her to the Capital, many started to argue with one another on who should have the honor to go to Canterlot with her. While she usually hated a big commotion like the one that followed her announcement, Constance Vigilance let her soldiers to their argument and simply strolled around her troops. Like a bird of prey, she scanned the room, mentally gauging each of her soldiers to see who would be best suited to accompany her to that ceremony. At first, she inspected her veterans and other seniors officers, who were the closest to her. She was slightly put out when she managed to overhear their conversation. Many hoped to represent Ponyville in order to gather the attention of the new Council Member with the goal of getting promoted far away from the Everfree and that country hick of a monster that lived in that backwater town. Quietly letting out a growl of displeasure at the jab aimed at the eldest daughter of her late brother-in-arm, she went back to observing the rest of her troop. Quickly enough, she was glancing at the younger recruits instead. While their conversations were also about possibly gaining the favors of the new Princess representative, they had that glint in their eyes that showed genuine excitement and honor at the thought of being chosen by their commanding officers. The short times of their services hadn’t made them bitter of the situation of the Ponyville Platoon: which mostly consisting in fighting off creatures of the Everfree, at least not yet. It was at that moment that Constance realized that bringing her newest generation of guards to the ceremony in the honor of the newest generation of the Council of Harmony would be the better choice. Haaaa, if only little Jacquelyn had walked the other half of her father’s steps… Constance thought with a mental sigh. At least, I would have my standard-bearer…. and I probably wouldn’t need the two escorts… she added with a mental chuckle before the thoughts of the late Jonah Apple’s daughter brought another blonde in her mind. She scanned the room once again, and realized that her newest recruits weren’t in attendance. Frowning a bit, Constance left the main-hall in the search of the three girls that had begun their services a few days ago. She glanced around the courtyard as she remembered that the girls were supposed to still be on duty, so they were probably still in the compound, or at least she hoped for them to be. As she crossed the courtyard, she heards metallic clashes which reassured her a little. At least, they’re training. Constance thought as she strolled to the training grounds on the other side of the compound. As she reached the fence beyond which the fighting noises were coming from, Constance caught sight of the trio’s training and stopped in her tracks a little. The Winterjet had mentioned in her recommendation letter that the blonde had an unusual set of combat-shapes for a Jupitarian, but she would have never imagined something like what she saw. Constance observed in silence as a tall, muscular redhead and a smaller watermelon-haired girl were attacking in concert the third girl of the trio. Axe blades and a spear tip tried to reach for the two-toned blonde, only to be repelled by her metal-covered wings in the loud clashes Constance had been hearing from the courtyard. … Oooookay, a Jupitarian who can shape metal… That’s certainly a first. Constance thought with wide eyes as the whitish metal seemed to flow along the feathers and the bones of the blonde’s fuchsia wings, coating the right just before her opponents could land a blow. “Come on, Blossomforth,” the blonde taunted as she repelled the watermelon-haired’s spear with a flutter of her right wing. “You’re getting soft on me… I like you more when you’re fierce and ready to bite!” she added in a low seductive pur. “Don’t you want to bend me over your desk anymore?” ….That was also in Pagétonas’ letter, Constance remembered as the spear-woman’s face turned beet red in a matter of seconds. I wonder how she’ll rea…” “I TOLD YOU TO STOP DOING THAT, CLOUD!” a very flushed and angry Blossomforth snapped as she unleashed a fury of thrusts at the blonde, who had to cover herself with her wings to block the onslaught. “Wow, Blossom, take it easy,” The redhead, whom Constance recognized as the Private Gale Swiftwing, called with a frown. “It’s just sparring!” “It’s okay, Gale!” Cloud called back nonchalantly, the metallic mist slowly covering every feather of her wings to block all of Blossomforth’s blows. “I love it when she’s hot and bothered like that,” she purred while licking her lips sensually. Unbeknownst to them, Constance imitated Gale in perfect synchronicity: both of them facepalmed with a soft chuckle at the sight of an even redder Blossomforth intensifying her assault while shouting “DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!” in righteous fury. The many metallic clangs that rang through the training grounds clearly showed that her entreprise wasn’t successful at all. “All right! Time for The Grand Finale!” Cloud shouted excitedly as she flapped Blossomforth’s spear out of her grasp. She spread her metal-covered wings open, which looked like they were made of hundreds of silvery blades instead of fuchsia feathers, before she took off with a strong flap. Cloud hovered above the ground and closed the distance between her and Blossomforth in a blink of an eye. Cloud then used her wingspan to “enrobe” Blossomforth in it before she turned around the watermelon-haired girl three times. Once that was done, Cloud flapped herself away from a surprised, and seemingly unharmed, Blossomforth. Okay, she turned around her a few times and? Constance asked herself in confusion before getting more confused when the metal on Cloud’s wings simply evaporated in a puff of smoke. “...Huh, what exactly did you d….KYAAAH!” As soon as Blossomforth moved, the plates of her training armor fell of her body due to its straps being cut in two. At the same time, Blossomforth’s red undershirt and leggings slowly fell apart in multi-sized patches of fabric, slowly but surely unveiling her pale, fit body for all to see. Gale immediately burst out laughing at her friend while Blossomforth was too shocked to even react or try to cover herself with her hands. “Woooo, you're wearing the underwear I gave you for your birthday!” Cloud commented with a genuinely happy grin at the sight of the stripped, dark pink and green bra and panties. “Is that how Pagétonas trains her cadets?” Constance asked in a shout before Blossomforth could managed a shaky retort. “Because that’s quite unorthodox, even from her.” Instantly after noticing the presence of their commanding officer, the three girls quickly stopped laughing, or trying to cover themselves and stood at attention in a perfect line before the ashen-haired Eponian. Cloud, who was standing in between her comrades, conjured her left wing to at least mask Blossomforth’s custom-made underwear from their Officer's view, while the red on the almost-naked girl’s cheeks vanished from her focused and calm face. Constance blinked a bit stupor at quickly their demeanor had changed. “Good to know that discipline with an officer is still a standard she keeps.” Constance mused slowly before waving casually at the trio. “At ease! And, please do cover yourself, Private Shields,” she added gently to Blossomforth. “Yes, Ma’am!” Blossomforth replied in an even tone before quickly going to her and her comrades’ bags on side of the training court, a patch of fog following her and thus masking her underwear-clad body from Constance eyes. The lieutenant’s eagle-eyes were not focused on Blossomforth’s near-nudity at all though. They aimed their stern irises on the blonde who was maintaining the fog around the with small circles of her haze-covered fore-finger. “I probably should punish you for the humiliation you put your underling through, Sergeant First Class Cloud Kicker,” Constance stated slowly. “There are limits an officer can’t cross with his troops, even if they are long-time acquaintances, best-friends, or occasional bed-partners.” From the corner of her eyes, she noticed Blossomforth gulp nervously while Cloud’s face remained impassible, but her eyes shone with guilt. “Now, you’ve been promoted not even ten days ago, so I’ll let it pass for once… Only once though, is that clear?” “Yes, Ma’am!” Cloud replied instantly. “Thank you, Ma’am!” “That being said, I must admit it’s really nice trick to have in one’s arsenal,” Constance let out with a wink. “Now that that’s out of the way, I have a couple of questions to ask you, Sergeant Kicker.” Constance said slowly as Blossomforth, now dressed in sports gear, joined them. “Why weren’t you attending the meeting in the main hall?” “Master sergeant Silverrain told me and my partners weren’t needed for this meeting when I asked him, Lieutenant,” Cloud replied in a confused tone. “It’s true, Ma’am,” Gale and Blossomforth both assured when Constance raised a dubious eyebrow at the blonde sergeant. “That’s weird. I told him that I wanted everyone in the main hall,” Constance replied with a frown. “It’s not like him to disobey a direct order from me.” “Anyway, what was the meeting about, Ma’am?” Cloud asked with curiosity. “Long story short, the Princesses finally found someone worthy of starting the whole Council of Harmony,” Constance explained laconically. “There’s an oath of allegiance to the new Councilor to be sworn by the representatives of the Royal Guard from each Equestrian city.” “.....That’s rather important, I admit,” Cloud let out slowly. “If I may say something,” Gale slowly called. “I think the Master Sergeant was right. That doesn’t really concern us. We’re just rookies.” “That seems more like something you and the….hum,” Blossomforth started before searching for the most appropriate words. “Let’s say, you and the “older guards”,” Cloud finished for Blossomforth with awkward air quotes. “...I was going to say “more seasoned”,” Blossomforth sheepishly whispered as they waited for the Lieutenant’s reaction, all three prepared for the worst. It wasn’t what they had thought they would get : the angry scowl followed by a violent exposition about how experience outrank everything that a youth could offer. Instead, the Lieutenant Vigilance simply let out a short, sad chuckle and a brief nod. “I’m about two years away from my retirement, closely the same for all the more seasoned ones of our platoon,” Constance explained softly. “What purpose would my oath of allegiance serve to a youngster whose function will outlive me for certain? Whoever was chosen by the Princesses doesn’t need my loyalty, he -or she- needs the loyalty of those who will be with him/her all along the way.” “...Makes sense, I guess,” Gale let out slowly, scratching the back of her head. “Why are you telling us that though?” Cloud asked in confusion. “Surely, you could have had someone filling us in, like you probably will with those who aren’t on duty today.” “I could have done that but that was before I remember what I heard about your exploits in Las Pegasus,” Constance explained with a small smirk. “Your “mission” in the Great Rift probably made you more seasoned than some of the older fellows around here.” “You’ve heard about that?” Blossomforth asked in shock. “I’ve heard about a lot of things,” Constance replied with a smile before pointing at Blossomforth. “Graduated from the young officer program in West-Hoof; designated team leader for three years in a row by Pagétonas; top spear-woman of the Las Pegasus compound; daughter of the Lieutenant Steel Shields of Detrot; despite many anger outbursts, mostly caused by the young Miss Kicker, the quality you’re known for is your iron discipline,” she said, earning a sheepish blush from the watermelon-haired girl. “Though, you’re easily embarrassed by any sort of praise thrown at you, which isn’t much of a surprise when you know how coldly strict your father can be,” she added with a smile before facing Gale Swiftwing. “Born and raised in Las Pegasus’ low-town; you got recruited by Pagétonas when she spotted you beating the crap out of the thugs that had bag-jacked your neighbor during one of her stroll in the city; a little bit obsessed with axes, of which you keep a large collection : your favorite being the one you took as a souvenir from your combat against the Diamond dogs in the Great rift; always the first one in battle, and always the last one out of it.” “That does sounds like me,” Gale mumbled with a shaky chuckle. “And then, there’s you, Cloud Kicker,” Constance slowly turned her gaze toward the blonde. “... I think about half of the Ponyvillians in their twenties are well acquainted with you…” Pfffft, as if it was only half! Blossomforth thought with a mental giggle, oblivious that her thought was shared by both Gale and Cloud herself. “... Yet unlike many others, I remember more than you being the most libidinous roach to have graced our town,” Constance slowly continued. “I remember a seven-year-old offering friendship to another child who needed it the most; I remember a twelve-year-old giving her two friends all the support they needed during their the harshest times of their lives; I remember the sixteen-year-old who faced death head-on for the sake of her little sister; I remember the eighteen-year-old who took a train for the harshest training grounds of the Guard and came back with the stripes of Sergeant First Class.” What? What did Cloud face when she was sixteen? Blossomforth and Gale wondered in confusion, eyeing the blonde between them. “Glad to know that I’m not known just for my hobby, Lieutenant,” Cloud commented with a warm chuckle. “Do you think you can tone down your hobby if you were to be in presence of many higher-ups of Equestria?” Constance asked slowly with narrowed eyes. “Sure! I gotta grow up at some point, Lieutenant,” Cloud admitted with a shrug. …...WHAT?! Gale mentally shouted, her widened, shocked eyes turned toward Cloud. ...Did she really just say that?! Blossomforth asked herself in total confusion. “I mean, as you said, I’m an officer now… I’ve got responsibilities, an image to uphold,” Cloud explained with a sheepish grin. ….Is this really happening?! Gale stared blankly at the newly-promoted sergeant. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE!? ...She...She’s changing… She’s becoming a respectable woman… Blossomforth thought as her hands over her mouth. “Good,” Constance slowly nodded before observing the three girls before for a few seconds. “You three are coming to Canterlot with me! We leave in four days, Get your ceremonial armors ready by then and pack enough for a week.“ “A week?” “Ceremonies like that one needs to be rehearsed,” Constance replied with a shrug. “It probably won’t last that long, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared,” she explained before facing the exit of the training ground. “You can resume your training for now. If you have any questions, you can find me in my office.” “Just a quick one before your leave, Lieutenant,” Cloud said as she walked to her superior. “Do we know who the Princesses pick as a Council member?” “No name was mentioned in the missive I got,” Constance replied casually. “Though the ceremony is happening on the Arcanium’s grounds… So I guess it must be someone related to it.” “Thanks anyway, Lieutenant,” Cloud nodded with a brief smile. ...Looks like you made it after all. she thought with pride as the image of a certain Titanian filled her mind, before facing back her long-time teammates. “Okay, what do you say we start ag...Blossom, are you crying?” she asked with worry as she noticed the line of tears on the freckled cheeks. She’s finally behaving like a true officer. Blossomforth thought with pride. I can finally look up to her without fearing a slap on my butt or a comment about how great I’d look with a mini-skirt… “I think what you say to Lieutenant Vigilance broke her,” Gale supposed softly. “To be honest, I can relate to that. You giving up on your banging spree is something we never thought possible.” “Now, come on! You make it sound like I lived only for banging…” A crimson red eyebrow was raised high on a pale forehead in response. “... That’s a bit of a stretch and you know it,” Cloud argued, pointing an accusatory finger at the redhead. A single coughing noise escaped the redhead’s throat as she leaned her head forward, her eyebrow still high. “Okay, I used to flirt and try bang every cutie that I encountered, with a lot more successes than failures. Happy?” Cloud asked with a false frown, a chuckling grin slowly forming on her lips. “What changed then?” Gale asked with a grin, crossing her arms before her sergeant. “Unlike Blossomforth, I know and didn’t hope that your promotion would change your rabbit-like drive,” she added, nodding at the still beaming and crying Blossomforth. “Something happened before we left Las Pegasus…. Something before the whole Spitfire-Trend debacle,” she added slowly in a shameful tone. “I’ve been thinking about a lot of stuff because of that. Stuff like maybe stop fooling around like a horny teenager all the time.” Best day ever! Blossomforth thought as sobs of joy went past her lips. “Huh,” Gale let out with a surprised nod. “That’s good, I guess… It’s going to take a while to get used to the new you… It feels like the world’s suddenly become flat!” she added with playful chuckle. “Don’t worry, Gale!” Cloud assured with a sly grin. “The world’s still as round as Blossomforth’s cute little buttocks,” she added after giving her blissfully crying friend’s right buttcheek a slow and sensual grope. “I’m not giving up on everything… at least not yet!” she added as she let go of Blossomforth’s butt and conjured her wings. “You really are just a libidinous roach, aren’t you?” Gale playfully asked, picking up her two axes and getting in position. “It’s Sergeant Libidinous Roach to you,” Cloud warmly corrected as the metallic fog once again covered her feathers. “Let’s go!” As the two Jupitarians resumed their earlier sparring, Blossomforth kept on crying, but this time for four reasons : One, she was saddened by Cloud shattering her hopes of seeing her act like a decent human being; Two, it still made her happy that Cloud still considered to behave professionally enough, even if it would requires baby steps: Three; she was upset that Cloud had invaded her personal space right after the Lieutenant Vigilance told her not to do things like to her anymore; And four, Blossomforth was upset by the fact that her previous reason didn’t really upset her that much. Cloud’s Magic Touch was still as effective on her as it had been during that night after the Great Rift maneuvers, all those years ago. Author's Note Okay, my faithful readers are probably going to hate me for starting another story, but this one is already completed, I'm just publishing it one chapter at the time. It is also very short (only 4 chapters) so it should be completed very soon As it has been said in the story Description, this story was written for Chengar Qordath's Cloud Kicker Ship-fic event. I'd like to give a huge thanks to Royal Rainbow for Pre-reading this little bit of writing of mine. And also, My patrons for their Support. Joseph Marques, Adam Tomkinson, Brad Snow, ScaredTuna, DerRotSpassvogel, Robert Redd, Michael Abell, James Zhang, Anthurak. You can support my writings and my other mlp project on Patreon Don't hesitate to tell me what you thought of the beginning of the story, or to complain of those two hiatus-y months, both are appreciated Love, Mariacheat-Brony PS: Angel Wings still needs voice actors for fan fiction reading project of the first Apple Scratch Story: More infos here! The Sergeant goes to the library.Four days later in Canterlot, in front of the Arcanium’s Main Gate, Boy, does it feel weird to enter here through the front door, Cloud thought with a mental chuckle as she, Blossomforth and Gale followed the Lieutenant Constance inside the high walls that separated the Arcanium from Celestia’s School for the Gifted. Looks like security has been reinforced. As soon as the four had crossed the threshold, a group of heavily armored guards stood before them. With their black and golden shields, they formed an impenetrable wall in front of the four Ponyvillians. Constance sighed briefly at the sight before raising her hand to stop the leading guard from speaking, her other hand reaching for beneath her breastplate. “Lieutenant Constance Vigilance of Ponyville,” Constance declared, pulling a scroll out of her armor and handing it to the guard. “I’m here to pledge my allegiance to the New Council of Harmony in company of the sergeant Cloud Kicker, Private Blossomforth Shields and Private Gale Swiftwing.” The lead guard promptly opened the scroll and gave it a quick read. “All is in order, Lieutenant,” the chief guard stated slowly. “Initiate Sentry, lead them to the guests' tower.” “Yes, sir!” the youngest of the armored soldiers assured with a nod. The wall of guards broke formation to let the four Ponyvillians pass. As the Initiate Sentry lead them through the maze of gardens, courts and spirally towers, Gale picked the folded Ponyville Banner up again while Blossomforth walked to their guide’s level. “So, how is it going, Flash?” Blossomforth asked politely. “It’s been a while.” “It’s going, Blossomforth,” Flash replied matter-of-factly. “We met during the annual maneuvers in Las Pegasus,” Cloud answered Constance’s silent question when she looked at her. “It sure must be hard-work for the whole Golden Shield to move around with all the students there,” Blossomforth commented slowly as she noticed a few group of students casting curious looks in their direction. “We make due,” Flash replied with a shrug. “The students are quite respectful and do their best to not disturb our work.” As they came closer to the Guest tower, Blossomforth kept chatting with Flash, occasionally joined by Constance or Gale. In the mean time, Cloud gazed around before her eyes caught of sight of a familiar tower. Her purple orbs travelled up the white stones, skipping the first floors’ balconies, until they reached the one on the eighth floor. Cloud watched parts the familiar burgundy curtains slowly moved to the breeze blowing through the open glass door. I wonder if Velvet Sparkle reinforced the wards she put on the tower… Cloud thought as images of the burgundy curtains falling on top of the Master Arcanist flashed through her mind. Considering what happened the last time I was in there, I wouldn’t put it past her. After Flash showed them to their rooms in the Guest tower, Constance allowed the trio to be off duty until three pm. With the rest of the morning and the beginning of the afternoon to spend at their leisure, Gale and Blossomforth decided to first hit the cafeteria before going sightseeing, while Cloud decided to go for a stroll immediately. At first, the blonde wandered off close to the open-sky amphitheater, in which a lecture was given. Her eyes found the hatch door that lead under the stage, on top of which the professor was demonstrating a spell to his class. “What are you doing?! Master Sparkle’s giving a lecture just above us!” “Shhhhhhh. she’ll hear us if you scream like that…. You’ll have to be quieter… A lot quieter.” “—Oh, Gods!— How do you –AH!—want me to —HUMMM!— remain quiet if you do thaAAAAAT!” “It’s a matter of self-control. You are a Canterlot Arcanist, you should have plenty.” “Hunnngggh!” “Do you want me to stop?” “HAAaaaa!” “…Is that a yes or a no?” “…P…Ple…please…” “Hmm?” “...Don’t stop… please.” “Atta girl!” “Hehehe! Good times!” Cloud whispered with a small grin before she looked away from the amphitheater. I wonder what she’s doing at the moment… Maybe she’s in the library… A couple of minutes later, the blonde Jupitarian landed before Celestia’s School for the Gifted’s Library and went inside, ignoring the curious looks cast in her direction. After consulting the map of the library, Cloud walked to the stairs to get to the Genealogy shelf on the third floor. Once she reached the correct floor, Cloud was welcomed by a rather peculiar event : A young boy with spiky green hair, clad in a purple and green hoodie and matching sweat pants, ran into her with his arms loaded with books. “OW!” the young boy let out on impact before falling down on his behind, sprawling all the books he was carrying on the floor. “You okay?” Cloud asked worriedly, extending a helping hand to the boy who was rubbing his nose. “I’ll live,” he said slowly before he looked at the mess of pages around him. “Or not if she finds me like that,” he nearly shouted in fright. “....Ooookay,” Cloud let out in confusion as the boy frantically gathered all the books on the floors, all while checking that no pages had been folded during their fall. “I understand that it’s a famous library but, come on, it was an accident!” “You don’t understand, she’ll get pissed at me if the….” “SPIKE!” A feminine, angry voice rang through the entire third floor. “What did you do?!” “...Dang it!” Spike muttered under his breath. Before Cloud could even blink, the many scattered books were levitated in a deep purple aura while a small girl with dark skin and purple, pink and violet hair tied up in a messy bun walked out of a nearby alley. As the fallen volumes gathered in piles behind her, she started lecturing the youth on the importance of well treating the reservoirs of knowledge that were books. Cloud silently observed the young girl, noticing the dark circles under her eyes, the stray locks of her hair bursting out of her bun, and how messy her school uniform was: one side of her shirt wasn’t tucked in her skirt, her pullover was on backwards, and she had missed the first button of her shirt. “I’m sorry, Twilight,” Spike sheepishly replied to her lecture. “It’s just that I didn’t see the miss over there and I kinda bumped into her,” he explained softly. “So, it’s because of you that those books nearly got ruined?!” Twilight asked angrily, putting her hands on her hips in front of an unfazed Cloud Kicker: more than two years of training with Pagétonas made her resistant to sudden outbursts. “Huh,” Cloud let out before tilting her head to look at Spike who standing behind Twilight. “I understand why you were a bit scared, kiddo. She looks to be an handful.” “I’m talking to you!” Twilight growled as Spike let out a faint “You’ve got no idea…” behind the purple-haired girl’s back. “No, you’re shouting at me, and we’re in a library,” Cloud reminded playfully, prompting Twilight into instantly covering her mouth with both hands as she realized where they were. “...Still, you could have paid attention to where you were going,” Twilight whispered in a reproachful tone. “Some of those books are decades-old originals!” “Well, If they’re so important why loading such large amount of them up in the hands of a child?” Cloud asked as she noticed the large stack of books in Twilight’s magic. “I don’t think he can see right before him when he’s carrying them…” “Uh?” Twilight blinked in confusion before glancing between the stack of floating books and Spike. “Oh…” She gulped sheepishly when the stack was indeed as high as the youth’s upper body. “That being said, why didn’t you use one of the carts I saw by the reception?” Cloud asked Spike. “Well, we’re on the third floor,” Spike replied slowly. “So?” “So, how do you expect him to pull a cart up three flights of stairs?” Twilight asked in a defensive whisper. Cloud simply raised her right eyebrow high up her forehead before dully pointing behind Twilight’s back. The young boy and the purple-haired Titanian looked at where she was pointing, seeing the stack of floating books behind them. Spike blinked in total shock before his palm met his forehead in a loud slapping noise while Twilight looked blankly at her levitating reservoirs of knowledge. “....Huuuuh,” “I really hope for your sake that you’ve got more wits than that in general,” Cloud commented mockingly. “I’ll have you know that I have a 4.0 GPA!” Twilight instantly snapped back at the blonde. “That you probably won’t keep if you’re letting yourself go like that… I don’t mean to sound rude, but you look like hell!” Cloud commented with wince. “I understand that life in this school can be harsh, but you must still take care of yourself! “I tried to tell her that, but she didn’t listen!” Spike chimed in sternly. “She’s been obsessed with works for the last six days!” “Excuse me?!” Twilight shouted angrily. “She doesn’t even let me eat cookies when I do a good job anymore!” “Why don’t you just call me tyrannical while you’re at it?!” Twilight snapped at the youth. “I would, but I don’t know what that means!” Spike snapped right back at her. “You would know if you hadn’t been reading comics instead of the books I recommended you!” This just like Alula and me, Cloud thought with a smile as the two continued arguing like siblings, inadvertently attracting the attentions of a few other students. I should pay her a visit soon, hopefully, Mom or Dad won’t cause a scene… Cloud thought before she spotted Spike slamming one of the floating books on the ground, causing Twilight to look at him with shocked, but vengeful eyes. “Okay, I feel that I should probably separate you now!” Cloud quickly let out as she placed her hands on the messy-dressed student and the spiky-haired child’s shoulder. “Let’s not do things we would reg…” “ENOUGH!!!” At the sound of the booming voice, all the other students scattered away before Cloud was caught in a deep purple telekinetic field and violently cast away from the pair. The blonde winced when she was slammed and then pinned against the wall. Growling in pain, Cloud managed to turn her head to see a tall, dark skinned woman with piercing, light blue eyes, purple and white striped hair, extending her forefinger right back at her. “M..Mom?” Twilight asked in a shocked whisper, gulping nervously at the angry scowl on the Master Arcanist of Canterlot’s face. That’s why that girl looked familiar! Cloud thought in realization. ...How did I not see that immediately? “Are you okay, dear?” Velvet asked her daughter, her face instantly becoming gentle as she faced the younger girl. “She didn’t do anything to you?” “....Huuuh, no?” Twilight replied uneasily. “I mean, Spike kinda bumped into her while he was carrying books around to re-shelve them, and when I went to see what was going on… And she mocked me a little bit, but I think I kinda deserved it now that I think about it...” “Did she touch you?” “Well, no. I mean, aside from when she tried to calm me and Spike dow…” “Seriously?!” Cloud snapped loudly, interrupting the sheepish reply of Velvet’s daughter and thus prompting the mother to glare back at her. “That’s seriously what you ask?!” “Considering your track record, Miss Kicker, and the state of my daughter’s outfit,” Velvet explained coldly, leaving Twilight’s side to step closer to the pinned Jupitarian. “I thought it necessary to ask…” “What does you not taking the time to dress correctly have anything to do with her?” Spike asked Twilight in a confused whisper. “I’ve got no idea at all, Spike,” Twilight replied with as much honesty as confusion. “Hang on, what do you mean by that?” “Have you looked yourself in the mirror today?” “No. I should have?” “Yes,” Spike said in a deadpan tone at the confused teenager. “Besides, I wouldn’t put it past you to get closer to my daughter just to spite me,” Velvet let out in disgust. “If I wanted to get closer to your daughter, believe me, you’d be the last thing in my mind,” Cloud argued vehemently. “She’s got that nerdy, adorable charm of a girl who wants to learn ALL sorts of things!” she added in a low, defying purr, causing Velvet’s eyes to cast lightning at her. “Really?!” an excited shout resonated in the third floor before Twilight appeared in front of Cloud in a purple flash. “I’m totally that sort of girl! I just love learning about new stuff!” she asked with a wide, curious smile as her mother’s jaw dropped to reach the ground. “Twilight! Do not talk to her!” “What can you teach me?!” Twilight asked excitedly, ignoring her mother’s command. “Well, I’m sort of an expert in human anatomy, if you know what I’m saying,” Cloud suavely whispered to Twilight, whose excitement deflated instantly. “Oh, I already know all the books of this library on the matter by heart, now,” Twilight explained sadly. “It’s not the kind of knowledge you can find in a book from a library like this one, Miss,” Cloud explained, instantly re-igniting Twilight’s interest. “While I personally prefer the practical approach, there are books on the matter in very specialized stores.” “Really?! Is there one in Canterlot?” “Sweet Night Shop, Stellar street number thirty-five,” Cloud instantly replied in a whisper as Velvet’s eyes widened even more than before at her daughter’s question. “Open from eleven AM to twelve PM.” “Thank you!” Twilight beamed at the pinned Jupitarian before the magical aura restraining her simply vanished. “Spike! Keep on reshelving while I’m gone!” she added before running to the staircases as the books from before fell loudly on the ground. “Tell the shopkeeper that Cloud Kicker sent you!” Cloud recommended warmly. “Also, try taking things easy, Twilight. You’re too cute to look that stressed out already!” The young, messy-dressed scholar, stopped in her tracks with a wide blush spreading on her cheeks at the compliment. “I have a lot more to do lately, but I’ll try to do that,” Twilight replied sheepishly before running down the stairs. “Goodbye, Miss Kicker,” Cloud looked at her disappear in the staircase before looking back at the still frozen Velvet Sparkle and an angry Spike, who was frowning at the large stack of books Twilight had left in his care. Cloud playfully chuckled as her hand got covered in a whitish fog. Spike let out a brief startled yelp as patches of fog appeared before him and around Velvet Sparkle. He witnessed the fogs getting denser and denser as one encased the Master Arcanist in a silvery white cocoon and the other formed a floating, open case with a long handle. “At least, you wont have trouble pulling this cart up the stairs,” Cloud explained to the confused youth before taking one of the books and dropping in it the wheel-less cloudmade cart. “Wow!” Spike let out as he witnessed the book lying perfectly still in the shaped cart. “What did you do to Twilight’s mom?” he asked with worry at the sight of the white, oval cocoon. “Well, she pinned me against the wall for no reasons, so I trapped her in a cloud,” Cloud reasoned before pulling a small pouch of bits from one of her jacket’s pockets. “Since Twilight left you on your own, I think you can take a break for a while and buy yourself a little snack,” she added with a wink as she gave him the pouch. Spike eyed the cocoon, then the cart, then the stack of books and then at the pouch of bits. “I suppose I could take a break,” Spike said with a devious smile. “Good!” Cloud said as she ruffled the hair of the boy. “I’ll see you around.” I better skedaddle before she recovers from her precious daughter going to a sex-shop… And I suppose that if all the commotion didn’t bring ‘her’ here,I should look for her elsewhere… At worst, I’ll see her at the rehearsal this afternoon. Author's Note Here goes part 2/5 of the story, hoping you like the characterization of the new comers. (I know that in real life, nobody freeze like Velvet did in this chapter. but just go with it and blame it on my Manga-inspiration. ) I'd like to give a huge thanks to Royal Rainbow for Pre-reading this little bit of writing of mine. And also a huge thank you to My patrons for their Support: Joseph Marques, Adam Tomkinson, Brad Snow, ScaredTuna, DerRotSpassvogel, Robert Redd, Michael Abell, James Zhang, Anthurak. You can support my writings and my other mlp project on Patreon Feedback is always appreciated. Love, Mariacheat-Brony PS: Angel Wings still needs voice actors for fan fiction reading project of the first Apple Scratch Story: More infos here! The Sergeant goes back to the girls' dormsWhile it had started out okay, despite her search being sadly unsuccessful, Cloud’s first day in the Capital quickly went downhill when it was time for the first rehearsal for the ceremonies. She didn’t know how much time it took her, but Velvet Sparkle did came out of her cloudy-prison and was clearly not too happy about where her obviously sheltered daughter had gone. If the constant glaring the Master Arcanist cast in the Ponyville’s representatives’ directions was of any indications. Luckily for Cloud, everyone else in the Arcanium Main hall was much too busy following the instructions of the ceremony planner, a strict woman with glasses and shiny black hair styled in a tight bun named Raven, to notice Velvet’s obvious animosity. The representatives of each town’s Guard were forming two long lines on both side of the red carpet, according to the following plan Raven had given them : “Town A: escorter 1, Officer, escorter 2; Town B; escorter 1, Officer, escorter 2;... and so on. Behind each town’s officer stood their standard-bearer, holding their unit’s flag above the heads of his comrades. While it had been decided at first to have Gale holding it, Constance decided to have Blossomforth do it when she realized the girl’s unease for facing the Detrot’s representatives, among which stood her father. -That and the fact that Gale’s muscular figure was more escorter-like than Blossomforth’s lithe body- After everyone was at his proper place, Raven reminded the guards of the first lines that they would have to kneel as the Princesses would walk before them, only to repeat the process when the new Council member would walk up to the Princesses’ sides. “Now, the Princesses having an awful lot to do today, they won’t be present for this first rehearsal,” Raven explained in her megaphone. “As such, Sir Kibitz and I,” she added, waving at the nearly bald man with an impressive ashen mustache beside her. “We’ll act as replacement for them today!” “Well, I don’t think the Princesses would even need to come to those,” Gale whispered as the “princesses” took places at the entrance of the main hall. “I mean, they’ve been to hundreds of those, right?” “It’s not that they need to rehearse, Swiftwing,” Constance replied softly. “It is us, soldiers, who need to get used to be in their presence. Imagine Sergeant Kicker’s first reaction to meeting the Princesses?” “It would involve a lot of drool, I reckon,” Cloud whispered back playfully, earning quiet chuckles from her teammates and Lieutenant. “ANNOUNCING, PRINCESS CELESTIA CORONA FAUSTBORN AND PRINCESS LUNA SELENIA FAUSTBORN OF EQUESTRIA,” Raven nearly shouted in her megaphone, oblivious to Kibitz wincing in pain at the volume of her shout. She and Kibitz, after he recovered, walked slowly along the red carpet’s length, prompting each group of guards to kneel as they passed before them. As the two “princesses” reached for their respective thrones, which had been installed at the end of the hall, the two lines of Royal Guards stood back in unison. Raven nodded appreciatively, before giving a look at her clipboard as Kibitz pulled a set of fluffy ear plugs from his pocket and put them on. “All right, now, you’ll have to do the same for the new Council Member,” Raven explained matter-of-factly. “As she’s taking part in those rehearsals, I must remind you that you’re all forbidden to divulge her identity to anyone before the official ceremony!” Finally, you’re going to make your appearance, Cloud thought with excitement as she cast a fleeting glance at the group of banner-women masking the future Council member. Hang on a minute… Her symbol wouldn’t be like that. Cloud frowned at the sight of the purple banners with a big pinkish star surrounded by five white, smaller ones. “So, what are you working on? More statistics on the average Titanian magic core?” “Nope! Just trying to come up with a sigil for me.” “...What for?” “Well, once I’m on the Council, I’ll need a symbol of my own. Something to have on banners, or signet ring.” “Sounds cool enough! Let me see!” “What do you think?” “.....It’s nice, but why do you want to have a yellow and red squid as your symbol?” “It’s not a squid! It’s a sun!!!” “Oh……” “Oh, what?!” “Oh, thank the gods, you’re good at magic and you’ve got that killer-body of yours, because your drawing skills sucks!” SLAP “Hmmm, fiery as the sun, just how I like you, ” “Cloud, stop! I’m trying to do something,” “Me too, and unlike you, what I’m trying to do is something we’re both good at! So put that poorly drawn squid away so that we can make good use of that desk!” “Why do I put up with you? You only think about one thing!” “You love it and you know it!” “That’s besides the point!” “ANNOUNCING, THE NEW REPRESENTATIVE OF THE MAGICAL ARTS IN THE COUNCIL OF HARMONY,...” Raven yelled in her megaphone, with Kibitz softly smiling with his fuzzy ear plugs on. …...Oh, no, that would mean… Cloud thought with worry as the blonde banner-women broke formation to let who they were hiding pass. “THE LADY TWILIGHT VELVET SPARKLE!” WHAT?! Cloud almost let her jaw drop as the same girl she had met at library earlier today sheepishly started to walk along the red carpet. Well, not exactly the same, as Twilight was now correctly dressed, coiffed and had traded her school uniform for a simple yellow dress with a pink belt. She gulped nervously at the sight of the two long lines of soldiers clad in their respective ceremonial armors, and started to tremble a bit. It took one of her banner-woman gently tapping her back to get the nervous teenager moving. Once again, the Guards kneeled as Twilight passed before them, much more quickly than Raven and Kibitz had done, while she was glancing in their directions. Of course, she’d look at me! Cloud thought desperately as she spotted Twilight pausing her walk just in front of her from the peripheral vision granted by her kneeling. Cloud slightly raised her head to get a proper look at the young lady, only to see her wide-purple eyes looking back at her. Aaaaand her mother clearly didn’t catch her before she reached that store! Cloud mentally facepalmed when she realized how Twilight’s cheeks were redder than her crimson ceremonial armor. After another nudge from the banner-woman as before, only this time it was more forceful, Twilight sheepishly resumed her advance up to the Princesses’ assistants, and her mother who stood closely by. Cloud’s briefly locked her eyes with Velvet Sparkle’s, noticing the angry fire of retribution in them, while the Master Arcanist saw the equally angry glint of interrogation in Cloud’s. “Great, what did you do now, Cloud?” Blossomforth asked in a scared and angry whisper. “Shut your trap, Private Shields!” Cloud whispered back in an unusual bout of cold authority. “Or I’ll shut it for you!” No more casual searching now! I really need answers now! Cloud thought as Constance cocked a surprised eyebrow at her while Blossomforth and Gale were left speechless at the blonde’s threat. As soon as this shindig is over, I’m coming for you, Sunset Shimmer! ******************************************************************************************************* As soon as the rehearsal ended, around six PM, Cloud was probably the first person out of the main hall. After her cold snapping at Blossomforth, she had reverted to her usual self in appearance while her mind was bubbling with questions that needed answers. Without losing anymore time, she rushed to the female dorms of the Arcanium. It was just the time when most of the future arcanists would return to their tower to rest. Many of the younger titanians around looked at the armor clad blonde in confusion, while a pair of older students, who Cloud recognized from the Las Pegasus’ maneuvers, stood between her and the dorms’ main door. “Kicker, you can’t come in here!” a curly-haired pinkette called in a warning tone. “Master Sparkle forbade it!” “I never needed or cared of Master Sparkle’s permission before, Twinkleshine!” Cloud replied slowly. “I’m not going to start now!” “What she means is that Master Sparkle set up wards,” a teal-haired arcanist, whom Cloud had once nicknamed Lemonhearts, explained more forcefully than Twinkleshine. “That didn’t stop me before either,” Cloud cockily replied as she reached the open door of the tower. She softly pushed the two girls out of the way and stepped through the threshold, only to pull her leg back with a pained wince. As soon as she had put her foot on the ground beyond the door, purple sparks of magic surged from a suddenly glowing inscription on the floor and went straight to her limb. Many students jumped away from the blond guard and the doorway in fright after that. “See?” Twinkleshine let out with a sigh as the younger arcanists wondered if the door was safe for them to travel. “Hmmm,” Cloud let out pensively as she extended her arm through the door. Once again, Velvet Sparkle’s runic inscription appeared on the threshold and purple lightning sparks went straight for Cloud’s arm. With a pained frown, she pulled her arm away. Lemonhearts and Twinkleshine looked at the Jupitarian in the red and golden armor, only to blink in shock when she let out a warm chuckle. They, as well as the many other arcanists present, watched in confusion as patches of fog appeared around them before those patches became denser and moved up to cover Cloud’s body. “Girls, when Velvet Sparkle gets here, could you tell her something for me?” Cloud asked as the silvery fog hugged every single curves and plates of her armor, making it look as it was made painted white and silver instead of red and gold. “Huh?!” Lemonhearts and Twinkleshine let out in confusion. “Tell her that clouds are lightning-proof!” Cloud stepped into the tower, once again triggering the warding spell. Only this time, when the purple sparks stroke her, it merely was absorbed by the silvery coating she had applied on her armor and herself. Many arcanists’ jaws dropped wide open as the Jupitarian walked the three steps that put her out of range of the wards. “...Wow!” Twinkleshine let out as the cloud-covering of the blonde’s armor dissipated itself in the air. “.....Should we tell what she said to Master Sparkle?” Lemonhearts whispered sheepishly as Cloud conjured her fuchsia wings on her back to take off inside the tower. “Of course not, Flask-head!” “HEY!!” While the two arcanists started to argue with one another, Cloud took flight up to the eighth floor of the tower, startling the many female students on her way up. She landed before a very much familiar, oaken door. Ignoring the confused inhabitants of the eighth floor, Cloud nearly ran to the door before banging her armored fist against the wooden surface. “Sunset, open this door!” Cloud called after subtly knocking at her door. “Sunset, I’m going to count up to three, and unlike before you won’t like it if I reach number three!” she warned angrily when her heavy banging was met by silence. “ONE!” She violently punched the door. “TWO!” She punched it harder. “THR….” She began as a blackening smoke coursed by sparks of lightning gathered around her fist. It was then that the door of Sunset’s room, shaken up by Cloud’s hits, opened itself a little. Dissipating the storm-cloud around her hand, Cloud grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. As soon as she took a few steps in the room, Cloud’s anger was replaced by complete confusion at the emptiness of the room. The bookshelves stood bookless whereas they had been filled of books about magical theory, the histories of the many noble houses of Canterlot and Equestria, politics and statistics.The desk was clean of the piles of research papers, spread quills and stack of bottles of ink that usually laid on top of it. The bed was made and looked as if no one had slept in it in days. After a few seconds of stunned silence, Cloud walked to the wardrobe. “Congratulations on passing my wards,” a cold voice commented when Cloud pulled it open, only to see it empty of all of Sunset’s clothes. “You’re much more creative than I thought. Maybe you do deserve your rank as a sergeant.” “Where is she?” Cloud asked as she looked back at the entrance, finding Velvet Sparkle standing on the threshold. “Sunset decided to leave the Arcanium two days ago,” Velvet explained matter-of-factly. “Why would she leave?” Cloud asked slowly with narrowed eyes. “Her formation isn’t over yet, and she’s your top arcanist-in-training… Some even said she was better than quite a few of your teachers… I have a hard-time imagining her dropping out.” “She didn’t handle the news of her not getting chosen into the Council very well,” Velvet replied with a short sigh. “Funny thing that she wasn’t chosen, don’t you think?” Cloud asked sharply. “You make it sound as if I had any say in the matter,” Velvet commented with narrowed eyes. “The Princesses choose the people in their Council!” “You’re the head of Arcanium, your husband is the head of Princess Luna’s Guild of Astrology and your son is the Captain of the Royal Guard,” Cloud countered. “Don’t try to convince me that you’re not in Celestia and Luna’s good books.” “I’m not sure of liking what you’re implying, Sergeant Kicker,” Velvet warned coldly. “Don’t be so uncertain! You’ve never really liked anything about me, Master Sparkle,” Cloud replied with a shrug. “Back to what I was saying. Just basing myself on what I know, the Princesses had the choice between the young teenager from Celestia’s school for the gifted with a 4.0. GPA, Twilight Sparkle who seemed completely unprepared for that function during the rehearsal, and the Arcanium’s top apprentice, coming from Celestia’s school for the gifted with a 4.0. GPA as well, Sunset Shimmer who has participated in three joint maneuvers with the recruits of the Jupitarian Corps training grounds of Las Pegasus and the Initiates of the Golden Shield -The first one of them leading to her saving 40 citizens from a gruesome execution in the paws of a Diamond Dogs pack with only four other people- and who’s been working on establishing a list projects to help the magical education of the young Titanians throughout the nation ever since YOU, the master Arcanist of Canterlot, mentioned that Princess Celestia was thinking of selecting someone from the Arcanium for the seat of Councilor of the Magical Arts.” Cloud took an exaggeratedly long and laborious breath of air after finishing her exposition. “Did I miss anything?” “...You forgot that Sunset has also taken extra classes in Political sciences,” Velvet reminded with a sigh. “I always forget about those.” Cloud chuckled softly before focusing back her attention on Velvet Sparkle. “Now, of course that’s only what I know. Maybe your daughter followed a similar cursus than Sunset.” “No,” Velvet softly replied. “My daughter’s magical abilities and knowledge are all for the sake of academical performances and for the knowledge in itself. She finds a subject that tickles her fancy and she studies it, period.” “So, what does she have over Sunset?” Cloud asked with a frown. “Is it her social skills?” “She’s seventeen and her only friends outside the family are a nine-year-old boy whom she taught how to speak Equestrian and her pet owl,” Velvet replied impatiently. “Is it because she’s good judge of character despite her social issues?” “She thought you were a decent human being!” Velvet replied snappily, her blue eyes sending lightning bolts at Cloud. “Then what is it?!” Cloud asked angrily. “What is that one thing that made it that your daughter was chosen and not Sunset? Because, with what you told me, I don’t think anyone will look at your daughter without screaming “Nepotism”!” A brief silence followed the blonde’s angry comment. A silence during which Velvet didn’t blink or move a single muscle before she rubbed her eyes with a sigh. “I didn’t think you’d actually know the meaning of the word Nepotism,” Velvet commented slowly. “Sunset rubbed off on me in more ways than the one you think,” Cloud explained in a playful whisper, smiling at the groan the Master Arcanist let out in response. “...The only thing that my daughter has over Sunset is about who was in charge of her magical education,” Velvet explained in a resolute tone. “You were also Sunset’s teacher,” Cloud reminded with a confused frown. “I haven’t taught anything about magic to my daughter since she was eight years old,” Velvet retorted slowly. “Princess Celestia did.” “W-what?” Cloud stammered in shock. “For the past nine years, Twilight’s, let’s say, magic tutor has been none other than Princess Celestia,” Velvet explained with a hint of resentment in her voice. “There has been an… incident during her entrance exam for this school and the Princess had to intervene. After that, Celestia stated that Twilight had a lot of potential and asked me and my husband if she could take her as a personal student. We said yes,” she added with a sigh. Cloud stared blankly at the Master Arcanist after the new bit of information on the latter’s daughter. It lasted until she mimicked Velvet’s earlier gesture : rubbing her eyes with a deep sigh. “So, you knew that Sunset never had a chance.” Velvet wasn’t surprised that Cloud’s reply had no interrogative tone. She nonetheless nodded to confirm the Jupitarian’s statement. “And, you still pushed her to work harder to get Celestia and Luna’s attention,” Cloud stated slowly. “Even though you knew that she was likely to not get chosen, you always told her that the odds were in her favor, that there wasn’t any candidate more suitable for the seat of Councilor than her,” Once again, the Master Arcanist simply nodded in response. “Why did you do that?” “Because I wanted Twilight to distance herself from Celestia a bit,” Velvet explained in a shameful tone. “Don’t get me wrong! I am very proud that my daughter was chosen first as Celestia’s student then and now as a Councilor. But for the last nine years, it’s always been : Princess Celestia advised me this! Princess Celestia recommended that I do that! Princess Celestia likes cake, so I’ll try to bake her one myself as a Heart's-Warming-Eve gift. Thanks for the blue dress you bought, Mom, but Princess Celestia told me I looked good in yellow, so you can take it back to the shop.” she added spitefully. “It’s been frustrating, to say the least.” “I can imagine,” Cloud admitted slowly. “So, with Sunset as a Council member, your daughter would have started to what? Listen to you again? That was what you were hoping for?” “A fool’s hope, now that I think about it,” Velvet admitted. A cold, mirthless chuckle escaped Cloud’s throat at Velvet’s admittance. “That’s it?! That’s the whole reason you lead Sunset on for more than a year with false promises of greatness and empty encouragements?” Cloud asked coldly. “All because you’re jealous of Princess Celestia?” “I’m not exactly proud of that, but yes,” Velvet admitted slowly. “And you told that to Sunset?” “Yes, Sunset deserved to know… Though I thought she would have accepted her loss to Twilight,” Velvet commented slowly, waving at the empty room in which they stood. “Obviously, I was wrong.” “I’ll admit that Sunset’s a sore loser, but even she would have come to accept your daughter, Princess Celestia’s student, in the function she wanted so much,” Cloud coldly stated. “What she couldn’t accept was your attitude! She was your star student, and you didn’t support her! Sure, you encouraged her to work harder for it but you didn’t really believe in her, nor did you do it for her!” Cloud explained with a slightly disgusted tone. “You were her teacher, a woman she looked up to, and you failed her! Failed her really hard! That’s probably why she left!” “And how would an armored whore like you know that?” Velvet asked snappily. “Because I love her whereas the selfish, frigid bitch that you are didn’t even bother to care!” Cloud snapped back at a shocked Velvet Sparkle. The Master Arcanist expected many things from Cloud Kicker, but the L-word and seemingly gratuitous insults weren’t part of them. After speaking her mind, Cloud walked past Velvet, angrily shoving her steel shoulder-pad into her silk-clad shoulder. While she thought it extremely rude, Velvet didn’t call the younger guard over it, thinking she deserved it a little. With a sad sigh, the purple-and-white-haired rubbed her sore shoulder as she heard the metallic steps behind her coming to stop. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry to hear about what’s happening between you and your daughter,” Cloud softly said in a compassionate tone. “...With some luck, the errand I accidently sent her through this afternoon will make her go back to you a little. I can’t really imagine her asking the Princesses for advice about what she found in a sex-shop,” she added with a playful chuckle. Cloud expected a fuming reply from Velvet Sparkle, the woman who had spent the last three years trying to discourage her and Sunset from visiting each other, but instead she got a booming, crystalline and heartfelt laugh from the Master Arcanist. “If it turns out like that, I’ll owe you big time!” Velvet replied once her laughter died down a bit. “...Goodbye, Sergeant Kicker.” “Goodbye, Master Sparkle.” Author's Note Here goes part 3/5 of the story, Velvet Sparkle vs Cloud Kicker :p (not an actual fight with magic and lightnings and shit... would be awesome though) I'd like to give a huge thanks to Royal Rainbow for Pre-reading this little bit of writing of mine. And also a huge thank you to My patrons for their Support: Joseph Marques, Adam Tomkinson, Brad Snow, ScaredTuna, DerRotSpassvogel, Robert Redd, Michael Abell, James Zhang, Anthurak. You can support my writings and my other mlp project on Patreon Comments are always appreciated. (even the negative ones ) Love, Mariacheat-Brony PS: Angel Wings still needs voice actors for fan fiction reading project of the first Apple Scratch Story: More infos here! The Sergeant visits the Castle... at night!Three days later, Twilight Sparkle’s official introduction ceremony had finally come to an end. The teenager’s cheeks rosied up a little when the Ponyville Delegation took their oath to her, but other than that everything went well. Once the Ceremony was complete, The Princesses invited all the delegations to the gala organized in the honor of the young lady Sparkle, who was to happen in the Canterlot Castle later that day. While most of the guests were still mingling with the nobles and other big names of Equestria, the recently introduced Twilight Sparkle retired herself from the celebrations early. While she had appreciated the effort put into the party, her sudden rise into fame and the attention it had caused had quickly exhausted the girl. Soon enough, she reached her quarters in the Western wing of the castle, and bid her escorter good night after thanking him for his services. Said escorter, also known as the initiate Flash Sentry of the Golden Shield Order, briefly bowed before the young girl and walked away as she closed the door of her room. As soon as the door was closed, Twilight let out a long, relieved sigh. The ceremony had been stressful enough, especially whenever she was close to that blonde sergeant of Ponyville, -If only I hadn’t found that store!- and the great party with all the uppercrust of Equestria and the nosy reporters had been even worse. Twilight was extremely grateful that the Princesses were fine with her leaving the party. Feeling her exhaustion catch up to her, Twilight navigated through her half-emptied boxes, which contained the part of her collection of books she hadn’t sorted out to put it in her vast bookshelves, to her large four-poster bed. Her hands travelling to her neck as she did. As she reached her nightstand, Twilight pulled off the thin, golden chain and its medaillon before she took it in her hand to give it a proper look. She absently traced the engraving of the rearing Unicorn with her finger while her eyes focused on the six-pointed-star-shaped gemstone embedded into the center of the golden surface. She read the inscription on the medallion out loud, Magia est clavem ad Concordiam, before she gently put it on the nightstand with a long sigh. “Being a “key” is going to be tough,” Twilight commented with a yawn. “I wonder what sort of a key-hole will I fit int..…” Her train of thoughts suddenly derailed as her metaphor brought back a very specific image of a very specific place in Canterlot. An image that brought a lot of red to her dark complexion. “Why? Why can’t I forget this?!” Twilight groaned in frustration as the embarrassing image brought its siblings into her mind. “I never should have set a foot in that store!” Twilight let out as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Letting out a low growl, Twilight went to her wardrobe, grabbed a pair of pajamas and a hanger for her dress before heading into the bathroom, slamming its door behind her. A couple of seconds later, the sounds of the shower running could be heard from beyond the door. It was right after that the door of Twilight’s balcony opened in a faint green-blue hue. A black-clad figure pulled itself up from the edge of the balcony as soon as the door was slightly open. The person in black slowly made her entrance in the room, delicately closing the door behind her. Softly adjusting her hood so that it didn’t bother her sight, the intruder cast a glance at the bathroom door. The trespasser moved closer to the bed through the remaining moving-boxes of the Council member, nimble and discreet as a cat. A flash of triumph appeared in the trespasser’s eyes as they landed on the medaillon on the nightstand. She grinned under her hood before grabbing it and raising it to her eye-level. She admired the craftsmanship of the necklace for a few seconds and then reached for bulky satchel at her hip as she faced the bathroom door. “Now, let’s take care of Miss goody-two-books,” the trespasser whispered with glee as she unhooked her satchel, whose content agitated the leather with low hisses. “You’re really mad at the girl, aren’t you?” “Damn straight I...Wait, what?!” the trespasser asked in confusion before she felt someone grabbing her left ankle. A sudden yank of her left leg made the trespasser fall forward, her satchel and the medaillon leaving both her hands as she tried to soften her fall. She looked at her leg, seeing an arm coming out from underneath the bed. An arm that was quickly followed by the rest of its owner’s body. The first trespasser blinked in shock as another woman dressed in a skintight, black ensemble with a matching hood, just like her. Though on the other trespasser, spots of greyish dust covered certain areas of her outfit. “You’d think that the maids of Canterlot Castle would clean under the bed,” the newly-appeared trespasser whispered with a chuckle as she dusted her arms off a little. The other’s response was to quickly stand back up and throwing a kick at the prone newcomer’s sides, only to have her roll out of to her right and thus dodging the stroke. the slightly dusty woman pulled herself completely from underneath the bed, and rolled forward to avoid the other trespasser’s angry stomp. The newcomer managed to stand up on her two feet to catch another kick cast at her. “Wowowowa!” the first-comer let out as her opponent gently pulled her caught leg to her, forcing her to hop forward a couple of times. “Hehehe!” the dusty-one let out with mirth as her adversary tried to keep her balance with wide circles of her arms. “Why you!” The playful chuckle turned into a worried “oh-oh” as the eyes of the hopping thief flashed teal before books came flying at the one holding her leg. Keeping a firm hold on the trapped leg with one arm, Dusty raised the other one to cover face, letting out pained noises each time a heavy volume, which meant every single book available, hit a part of her upper body. Under her face-hiding hood, the Titanian grinned madly as she felt the grip on her leg getting loose as more books collided against her opponent. She strongly started to pull her leg away, leaning backwards to gain more momentum. It was then that she heard a playful “HA” coming from Dusty. Yelping in surprise, she barely had the time to see her suddenly letting go of her right leg before the Titanian saw a deep purple wing appeared on the right of Dusty’s back. The feathery appendage came swiftly against her right shin, making her fall backwards even more abruptly than before. Mid fall, the Titanian felt the wing flapping her lower back upward, thus making her continue her heavy fall on top of the bed instead of the ground, or worse the edge of the wooden bedpost. “Dam…” she began before feeling a gust of wind and her opponent landing on top of her. She struggled against the weight of the Jupitarian for a couple of seconds, landing a fierce punch where the cheek was supposed to be. Growling a bit, the winged woman tried even harder to pin the Titanian down, resulting in a sharp headbutt against her forehead. “OW!” they both let out in pain as stars appeared in front their eyes as they instantly stopped struggling. The slightly stunned Jupitarian shook her head like a dog to recover her wits whereas the Titanian underneath her slowly started to massage her sore forehead with both hands. Blinking the proverbial stars away from her sight, the winged-woman secured her adversary’s wrist in her hands and pinned them above the Titanian’s head. Said Titanian was still feeling a bit faint because of the sudden headbutt and thus barely managed to put up a resistance before she realized the situation she was in. Her arms were strongly held down, just above her head, while her thighs were pinned down onto the bed by the Jupitarian straddling them. She tried to push the woman off, but only succeed in prompting her soft chuckles. The Titanian glared at her until the woman straddling her leaned her head over hers. The embers of anger in her teal eyes were replaced by glimmers of total surprise when they met the playful glint in the purple orbs of the woman above her. A glint that she had seen in only one pair of eyes. The surprised teal orbs then looked at the purple wings displayed on her opponent’s back, seeing the many familiar feathers that she had often used as a warm blanket over her naked body. She felt the grip on her wrists disappear before the Jupitarian’s fingers grazed her skin as they pulled her sleeves up a little, sending exhilarating shivers through her spine. The digits travelled up to her shoulders, quickly but delicately tracing the sides of her neck before they hooked themselves on the Titanian’s hood. “You’ve been hard to catch these days,” the Jupitarian whispered softly as she pulled the hood away, revealing a tanned, panting face under curly locks of red and yellow. “Luckily for you, Sunset Shimmer, I’m quite stubborn in my own rights,” she added in a purred whisper, her face a couple of inches above Sunset’s. “I don’t exactly feel lucky right now, Cloud,” Sunset whispered back softly as her magic unveiled Cloud Kicker’s grinning face and her reddening cheek which Sunset had punched. Cloud rolled her eyes at the pinned Titanian before lowering her face in. Sunset let out a quiet squeal as the blonde’s lips capture her own as her hands caressed both her cheeks. Other than that, she didn’t even put a token resistance and quickly returned the kiss with much dedication and pleasure. Sunset entwined her fingers in the winged-woman’s golden locks as Cloud’s tongue was warmly welcomed in her partner’s mouth. Both women let out muffled moans of pleasure for the rest of their passionate exchange until the blonde pulled away, slowly and purposefully letting the tip of her tongue brush against Sunset’s tongue and lips as she did. “.....Okay, I lied,” Sunset whispered with a heaving chest and half-lidded eyes. “Everyone would feel lucky if I were to pin them down on a bed,” Cloud boastfully claimed with a small smirk. Sunset giggled briefly at the blonde’s boasting, softly brushing the back of her hand against her face. She winced apologetically when it brushed Cloud’s bruised cheek and made her pull her face away a little. It was then that the circumstances of the bruise and their current situation violently came back to her. “What were you doing under Sparkle’s bed?!” Sunset asked with an angry frown and a cold glare. “...Jealous much?” Cloud asked back with mirth, only earning a colder glare in response. “If you must know, I was waiting for you.” “Under her bed?” “Well, I couldn’t be seen or else we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Cloud explained casually. “Considering she didn’t see me and that I managed to catch you by surprise, you’ve got to admit it was a good hiding spot,” Cloud added with a proud smile. “That doesn’t really explain why you’re in Canterlot,” Sunset commented slowly, her tone soft but clearly threatening. “I’m part of the Ponyville delegation for that new Council member ceremony thingy,” Cloud replied. “That doesn’t explain why you’re in this room!” “I had, let’s say, a chat with Velvet Sparkle after seeing her daughter in the rehearsals instead of you,” Cloud explained softly. “She told me that you left the Arcanium as well as why you left…” “And you came in this room to get friendly with my replacement?!” Sunset asked with an angry snarl. Cloud simply cocked a skeptical eyebrow at her. “....Sunset, do you even hear yourself?” she asked slowly. “Did you really think that just because Princess Celestia deems Twilight Sparkle more worthy to put her skinny ass on a seat at a round table of some sort, I would ditch and your much-more-rounded-and-attractive behind?!” Cloud asked with a glare of her own, prompting a small blush from Sunset. “Don’t you know me even a little?” she asked, a little bit of hurt in her voice. “I thought I knew Master Sparkle and look how that turned out,” Sunset replied after a brief time of shameful reflexion. “I thought she had my back, but I was wrong…” “Well, I’m not Velvet Sparkle,” Cloud replied softly. “I’ll always have your back, Sunset…. Especially its lower part,” she added with a playful purr as her palm slided to Sunset’s hip. SLAP “Hmmm...So much passion,” Cloud purred even louder, ignoring the reddening bruise on her other cheek. “Pervert,” Sunset whispered, a small smile chasing her anger away as Cloud brought her face closer to hers. “More seriously though, I’m not here for Twilight Sparkle,” Cloud explained softly. “I’m here because I wanted to be here for you. I’m here because I wanted to stop you from doing a huge mistake.” “What mistake could I possibly do here?” Sunset asked softly. Cloud nodded towards the bathroom door, making Sunset see her hissing satchel and Twilight’s necklace before it. “Revenge will not exactly help you, Sunset,” Cloud replied in a gentle whisper. “It will make me feel good,” Sunset replied with a shaken tone. “She took everything from me. All my dreams, my future and everything…” “She didn’t take me,” Cloud retorted with a small peck on Sunset’s cheek. “And I’m sure I can make you feel better than everything else,” she added with a bold kiss on her jawline. “..N..Not ev-every pr-probl-blem can be reso-olve by your w-ways, Cloud,” Sunset stammered with a mad blush as Cloud peppered her neck with gentle kisses. “A-and you’ve never be-been mine to begin with…” “Let’s assume I let you use whatever there is in that bag on Twilight, what would you do afterwards?” Cloud asked in between her kisses as her hands reached for the Titanian’s cat-suit’s zipper. “I...I’d laugh at her... probably,” Sunset replied with difficulty, as the zipper gently went down. “Th-then I’ll take that medaillon and go.” She managed to say before Cloud nipped at her throat, causing her to bit on her lip. “Why taking the medaillon?” Cloud asked as she pulled the skin-tight suit of her paramour slightly open to kiss her way down Sunset’s shoulder. “I..It was supposed to be mine,” Sunset managed to reply in a moaned whisper. “And then what would you do with an easily recognizable stolen necklace like that one?” Cloud asked softly as she pulled away from Sunset’s golden skin. “....I didn’t think of that yet,” Sunset admitted with a gulp. “I figured as much,” Cloud whispered gently. “If you had thought this through, you wouldn’t be here…” she added before resuming her trail of pecks on her paramour’s shoulder. “Because you thought your actions here through?” Sunset asked with a relaxed moan. “I knew you’re a sore loser and that you’d come here,” Cloud replied with a warm chuckle. “I just wanted to see you and maybe stopping you from doing something stupid… But mostly because I wanted to see you. Badly!” “Why?” “Remember that last conversation we’ve had in your room?” Cloud asked softly as she remembered the day of Sunset’s final trials before the Princesses. “The conversation that was interrupted by Master Sparkle after her daughter ratted on us?” “What are you talking about?” “It was Twilight Sparkle that knocked at my door that day, Cloud,” Sunset explained slowly. “She’s the reason her mother interrupted us.” “Huh. I did not know that,” Cloud let out, casting a brief glance at the bathroom door. “Back to what I was saying though, with that interrupted conversation of ours in mind, I’d like to ask you one thing.” Cloud cleared her throat for a seconds. “Sunset Shimmer, would you like to put up with me being your girlfriend?” Sunset froze instantly as soon as the words escaped Cloud’s lips. Gaping like a fish out of the water, she blinked rapidly as Cloud flashed her brightest and warmest smile. “You mean, girlfriend as in Girlfriend or as in girl that is your friend and with whom you have flings with?” Sunset asked in a timid, shaken whisper. Cloud’s reply was to simply press her lips against hers. It was nothing like what she experienced with the blonde. The animalistic desire and the volcanic passion were absent in Cloud’s kiss, replaced by calm affection and warm tenderness. Sunset and Cloud both closed their eyes as they lost themselves into the gentle kiss. “That answers your question, Sunset?” Cloud asked after softly breaking the kiss, grinning at the sight of Sunset’s lips trying to still capture her own. “Huh-huh,” Sunset replied with a nod. “Come on, let’s get out of here before she gets out of the shower,” Cloud advised as she finally stood up from the bed, and thus off of Sunset. “You know, for a moment there I really thought you’d try to have your ways with me here.” Sunset whispered with rosy cheeks as she pulled her zipper back up. “You know what? For a moment, I thought that too!” Cloud commented as she scratched the back of her head. “So I suggest we move before the idea warms up to me again.” “What am I going to do with y…” “SNAAAAKEEES! SNAAAAKESSSS!” A panicked yell coming from the bathroom startled the two trespassing lovers. Both of them snapped their heads towards the door, noticing the half-dozen of small, scaly and sinuous bodies spread on the floor between the partly-opened satchel and the door. Cloud blinked in horror as she noticed a couple of reptilian tails disappearing through the interstice of the bathroom door. “Really?!” Cloud asked, nearly shouting. “Snakes?!” “Please, those are young ones and I made certain that they’re all fangless and non-poisonous,” Sunset argued with a roll of her eyes. “We’re going to talk about this,” Cloud argued back as she grabbed Sunset’s arm and pulled her toward the balcony. As they opened the door leading to the balcony, a purple flash popped behind them. The pair witnessed the sight of a soaking wet and terrorized Twilight Sparkle, clad in a half-put bathrobe, who had just appeared outside of her bathroom. Right in the middle of the rest of the snakes. She froze instantly as she noticed the sinuous reptiles next to her, too nervous to even move a muscle. Until a snake wrapped itself around her knees. Cold shivers of dread travelled up the Councilor’s body before they reached her head. It was then that it proved to be too much for her and she heavily collapsed on the floor. As a snake slided on top of the collapsed young girl’s upper body, Cloud cocked an eyebrow at the curly-haired Titanian who was trying to pull her away from the glass-door. “Ahem!” Cloud coughed in her hand. “What?!” “Aren’t you forgetting something?” “No!” “Sunset!” “I told you, no!” “Sunset!” “Urgh! Fiiiiine!” Teal auras of magic surrounded the scattered reptiles before levitating them back into the satchel. After a vigorous nod from Cloud, Sunset went back inside, opened the door of the bathroom and caught the remaining snakes in it, ignoring the unconscious girl in the room. Once the twelve reptiles safely gathered in her satchel, Sunset joined Cloud on the balcony. Smiling playfully at the sour pout of the Titanian, Cloud wrapped her arms around her waist and conjured her wings to take off, while someone knocked at the door. They safely reached the ground below as Initiate Sentry timidly peaked inside the room, asking if everything was alright. Author's Note Here goes part 4/5 of the story, Cloud finally caught Sunset Shimmer :) (Poor Twilight though ) I'd like to give a huge thanks to Royal Rainbow for Pre-reading this little bit of writing of mine. And also a huge thank you to My patrons for their Support: Joseph Marques, Adam Tomkinson, Brad Snow, ScaredTuna, DerRotSpassvogel, Robert Redd, Michael Abell, James Zhang, Anthurak. You can support my writings and my other mlp project on Patreon Comments are always appreciated. (even the negative ones ) Love, Mariacheat-Brony PS: Angel Wings still needs voice actors for fan fiction reading project of the first Apple Scratch Story: More infos here!
The Sergeant is "needed" in CanterlotAll the Royal Guard outposts received a missive from Canterlot in early July. Said missive went on about how the Princesses had finally chosen a new member of the Council of Harmony, which had been left empty by Lady Cinabelle’s retirement four years prior. While the letter didn’t hold any information on who the new Council Member was, probably because the Princesses didn’t want any leak to the medias. Or at least, not one that would put her new Councilor in the spotlight too soon. After having read the missive, each leading officer of the many outposts called a meeting with their troops, for a new Council member meant a certain task from the Royal Guard. Said task was to send a delegation of four people to swear their allegiance to the new Councilor, and that was the cause of the constant chatter in Ponyville Guard post’s main hall. As soon as their commander, the aging, stern Constance Vigilance had explained the situation and the need for a flag bearer and two escorts to accompany her to the Capital, many started to argue with one another on who should have the honor to go to Canterlot with her. While she usually hated a big commotion like the one that followed her announcement, Constance Vigilance let her soldiers to their argument and simply strolled around her troops. Like a bird of prey, she scanned the room, mentally gauging each of her soldiers to see who would be best suited to accompany her to that ceremony. At first, she inspected her veterans and other seniors officers, who were the closest to her. She was slightly put out when she managed to overhear their conversation. Many hoped to represent Ponyville in order to gather the attention of the new Council Member with the goal of getting promoted far away from the Everfree and that country hick of a monster that lived in that backwater town. Quietly letting out a growl of displeasure at the jab aimed at the eldest daughter of her late brother-in-arm, she went back to observing the rest of her troop. Quickly enough, she was glancing at the younger recruits instead. While their conversations were also about possibly gaining the favors of the new Princess representative, they had that glint in their eyes that showed genuine excitement and honor at the thought of being chosen by their commanding officers. The short times of their services hadn’t made them bitter of the situation of the Ponyville Platoon: which mostly consisting in fighting off creatures of the Everfree, at least not yet. It was at that moment that Constance realized that bringing her newest generation of guards to the ceremony in the honor of the newest generation of the Council of Harmony would be the better choice. Haaaa, if only little Jacquelyn had walked the other half of her father’s steps… Constance thought with a mental sigh. At least, I would have my standard-bearer…. and I probably wouldn’t need the two escorts… she added with a mental chuckle before the thoughts of the late Jonah Apple’s daughter brought another blonde in her mind. She scanned the room once again, and realized that her newest recruits weren’t in attendance. Frowning a bit, Constance left the main-hall in the search of the three girls that had begun their services a few days ago. She glanced around the courtyard as she remembered that the girls were supposed to still be on duty, so they were probably still in the compound, or at least she hoped for them to be. As she crossed the courtyard, she heards metallic clashes which reassured her a little. At least, they’re training. Constance thought as she strolled to the training grounds on the other side of the compound. As she reached the fence beyond which the fighting noises were coming from, Constance caught sight of the trio’s training and stopped in her tracks a little. The Winterjet had mentioned in her recommendation letter that the blonde had an unusual set of combat-shapes for a Jupitarian, but she would have never imagined something like what she saw. Constance observed in silence as a tall, muscular redhead and a smaller watermelon-haired girl were attacking in concert the third girl of the trio. Axe blades and a spear tip tried to reach for the two-toned blonde, only to be repelled by her metal-covered wings in the loud clashes Constance had been hearing from the courtyard. … Oooookay, a Jupitarian who can shape metal… That’s certainly a first. Constance thought with wide eyes as the whitish metal seemed to flow along the feathers and the bones of the blonde’s fuchsia wings, coating the right just before her opponents could land a blow. “Come on, Blossomforth,” the blonde taunted as she repelled the watermelon-haired’s spear with a flutter of her right wing. “You’re getting soft on me… I like you more when you’re fierce and ready to bite!” she added in a low seductive pur. “Don’t you want to bend me over your desk anymore?” ….That was also in Pagétonas’ letter, Constance remembered as the spear-woman’s face turned beet red in a matter of seconds. I wonder how she’ll rea…” “I TOLD YOU TO STOP DOING THAT, CLOUD!” a very flushed and angry Blossomforth snapped as she unleashed a fury of thrusts at the blonde, who had to cover herself with her wings to block the onslaught. “Wow, Blossom, take it easy,” The redhead, whom Constance recognized as the Private Gale Swiftwing, called with a frown. “It’s just sparring!” “It’s okay, Gale!” Cloud called back nonchalantly, the metallic mist slowly covering every feather of her wings to block all of Blossomforth’s blows. “I love it when she’s hot and bothered like that,” she purred while licking her lips sensually. Unbeknownst to them, Constance imitated Gale in perfect synchronicity: both of them facepalmed with a soft chuckle at the sight of an even redder Blossomforth intensifying her assault while shouting “DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!” in righteous fury. The many metallic clangs that rang through the training grounds clearly showed that her entreprise wasn’t successful at all. “All right! Time for The Grand Finale!” Cloud shouted excitedly as she flapped Blossomforth’s spear out of her grasp. She spread her metal-covered wings open, which looked like they were made of hundreds of silvery blades instead of fuchsia feathers, before she took off with a strong flap. Cloud hovered above the ground and closed the distance between her and Blossomforth in a blink of an eye. Cloud then used her wingspan to “enrobe” Blossomforth in it before she turned around the watermelon-haired girl three times. Once that was done, Cloud flapped herself away from a surprised, and seemingly unharmed, Blossomforth. Okay, she turned around her a few times and? Constance asked herself in confusion before getting more confused when the metal on Cloud’s wings simply evaporated in a puff of smoke. “...Huh, what exactly did you d….KYAAAH!” As soon as Blossomforth moved, the plates of her training armor fell of her body due to its straps being cut in two. At the same time, Blossomforth’s red undershirt and leggings slowly fell apart in multi-sized patches of fabric, slowly but surely unveiling her pale, fit body for all to see. Gale immediately burst out laughing at her friend while Blossomforth was too shocked to even react or try to cover herself with her hands. “Woooo, you're wearing the underwear I gave you for your birthday!” Cloud commented with a genuinely happy grin at the sight of the stripped, dark pink and green bra and panties. “Is that how Pagétonas trains her cadets?” Constance asked in a shout before Blossomforth could managed a shaky retort. “Because that’s quite unorthodox, even from her.” Instantly after noticing the presence of their commanding officer, the three girls quickly stopped laughing, or trying to cover themselves and stood at attention in a perfect line before the ashen-haired Eponian. Cloud, who was standing in between her comrades, conjured her left wing to at least mask Blossomforth’s custom-made underwear from their Officer's view, while the red on the almost-naked girl’s cheeks vanished from her focused and calm face. Constance blinked a bit stupor at quickly their demeanor had changed. “Good to know that discipline with an officer is still a standard she keeps.” Constance mused slowly before waving casually at the trio. “At ease! And, please do cover yourself, Private Shields,” she added gently to Blossomforth. “Yes, Ma’am!” Blossomforth replied in an even tone before quickly going to her and her comrades’ bags on side of the training court, a patch of fog following her and thus masking her underwear-clad body from Constance eyes. The lieutenant’s eagle-eyes were not focused on Blossomforth’s near-nudity at all though. They aimed their stern irises on the blonde who was maintaining the fog around the with small circles of her haze-covered fore-finger. “I probably should punish you for the humiliation you put your underling through, Sergeant First Class Cloud Kicker,” Constance stated slowly. “There are limits an officer can’t cross with his troops, even if they are long-time acquaintances, best-friends, or occasional bed-partners.” From the corner of her eyes, she noticed Blossomforth gulp nervously while Cloud’s face remained impassible, but her eyes shone with guilt. “Now, you’ve been promoted not even ten days ago, so I’ll let it pass for once… Only once though, is that clear?” “Yes, Ma’am!” Cloud replied instantly. “Thank you, Ma’am!” “That being said, I must admit it’s really nice trick to have in one’s arsenal,” Constance let out with a wink. “Now that that’s out of the way, I have a couple of questions to ask you, Sergeant Kicker.” Constance said slowly as Blossomforth, now dressed in sports gear, joined them. “Why weren’t you attending the meeting in the main hall?” “Master sergeant Silverrain told me and my partners weren’t needed for this meeting when I asked him, Lieutenant,” Cloud replied in a confused tone. “It’s true, Ma’am,” Gale and Blossomforth both assured when Constance raised a dubious eyebrow at the blonde sergeant. “That’s weird. I told him that I wanted everyone in the main hall,” Constance replied with a frown. “It’s not like him to disobey a direct order from me.” “Anyway, what was the meeting about, Ma’am?” Cloud asked with curiosity. “Long story short, the Princesses finally found someone worthy of starting the whole Council of Harmony,” Constance explained laconically. “There’s an oath of allegiance to the new Councilor to be sworn by the representatives of the Royal Guard from each Equestrian city.” “.....That’s rather important, I admit,” Cloud let out slowly. “If I may say something,” Gale slowly called. “I think the Master Sergeant was right. That doesn’t really concern us. We’re just rookies.” “That seems more like something you and the….hum,” Blossomforth started before searching for the most appropriate words. “Let’s say, you and the “older guards”,” Cloud finished for Blossomforth with awkward air quotes. “...I was going to say “more seasoned”,” Blossomforth sheepishly whispered as they waited for the Lieutenant’s reaction, all three prepared for the worst. It wasn’t what they had thought they would get : the angry scowl followed by a violent exposition about how experience outrank everything that a youth could offer. Instead, the Lieutenant Vigilance simply let out a short, sad chuckle and a brief nod. “I’m about two years away from my retirement, closely the same for all the more seasoned ones of our platoon,” Constance explained softly. “What purpose would my oath of allegiance serve to a youngster whose function will outlive me for certain? Whoever was chosen by the Princesses doesn’t need my loyalty, he -or she- needs the loyalty of those who will be with him/her all along the way.” “...Makes sense, I guess,” Gale let out slowly, scratching the back of her head. “Why are you telling us that though?” Cloud asked in confusion. “Surely, you could have had someone filling us in, like you probably will with those who aren’t on duty today.” “I could have done that but that was before I remember what I heard about your exploits in Las Pegasus,” Constance explained with a small smirk. “Your “mission” in the Great Rift probably made you more seasoned than some of the older fellows around here.” “You’ve heard about that?” Blossomforth asked in shock. “I’ve heard about a lot of things,” Constance replied with a smile before pointing at Blossomforth. “Graduated from the young officer program in West-Hoof; designated team leader for three years in a row by Pagétonas; top spear-woman of the Las Pegasus compound; daughter of the Lieutenant Steel Shields of Detrot; despite many anger outbursts, mostly caused by the young Miss Kicker, the quality you’re known for is your iron discipline,” she said, earning a sheepish blush from the watermelon-haired girl. “Though, you’re easily embarrassed by any sort of praise thrown at you, which isn’t much of a surprise when you know how coldly strict your father can be,” she added with a smile before facing Gale Swiftwing. “Born and raised in Las Pegasus’ low-town; you got recruited by Pagétonas when she spotted you beating the crap out of the thugs that had bag-jacked your neighbor during one of her stroll in the city; a little bit obsessed with axes, of which you keep a large collection : your favorite being the one you took as a souvenir from your combat against the Diamond dogs in the Great rift; always the first one in battle, and always the last one out of it.” “That does sounds like me,” Gale mumbled with a shaky chuckle. “And then, there’s you, Cloud Kicker,” Constance slowly turned her gaze toward the blonde. “... I think about half of the Ponyvillians in their twenties are well acquainted with you…” Pfffft, as if it was only half! Blossomforth thought with a mental giggle, oblivious that her thought was shared by both Gale and Cloud herself. “... Yet unlike many others, I remember more than you being the most libidinous roach to have graced our town,” Constance slowly continued. “I remember a seven-year-old offering friendship to another child who needed it the most; I remember a twelve-year-old giving her two friends all the support they needed during their the harshest times of their lives; I remember the sixteen-year-old who faced death head-on for the sake of her little sister; I remember the eighteen-year-old who took a train for the harshest training grounds of the Guard and came back with the stripes of Sergeant First Class.” What? What did Cloud face when she was sixteen? Blossomforth and Gale wondered in confusion, eyeing the blonde between them. “Glad to know that I’m not known just for my hobby, Lieutenant,” Cloud commented with a warm chuckle. “Do you think you can tone down your hobby if you were to be in presence of many higher-ups of Equestria?” Constance asked slowly with narrowed eyes. “Sure! I gotta grow up at some point, Lieutenant,” Cloud admitted with a shrug. …...WHAT?! Gale mentally shouted, her widened, shocked eyes turned toward Cloud. ...Did she really just say that?! Blossomforth asked herself in total confusion. “I mean, as you said, I’m an officer now… I’ve got responsibilities, an image to uphold,” Cloud explained with a sheepish grin. ….Is this really happening?! Gale stared blankly at the newly-promoted sergeant. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE!? ...She...She’s changing… She’s becoming a respectable woman… Blossomforth thought as her hands over her mouth. “Good,” Constance slowly nodded before observing the three girls before for a few seconds. “You three are coming to Canterlot with me! We leave in four days, Get your ceremonial armors ready by then and pack enough for a week.“ “A week?” “Ceremonies like that one needs to be rehearsed,” Constance replied with a shrug. “It probably won’t last that long, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared,” she explained before facing the exit of the training ground. “You can resume your training for now. If you have any questions, you can find me in my office.” “Just a quick one before your leave, Lieutenant,” Cloud said as she walked to her superior. “Do we know who the Princesses pick as a Council member?” “No name was mentioned in the missive I got,” Constance replied casually. “Though the ceremony is happening on the Arcanium’s grounds… So I guess it must be someone related to it.” “Thanks anyway, Lieutenant,” Cloud nodded with a brief smile. ...Looks like you made it after all. she thought with pride as the image of a certain Titanian filled her mind, before facing back her long-time teammates. “Okay, what do you say we start ag...Blossom, are you crying?” she asked with worry as she noticed the line of tears on the freckled cheeks. She’s finally behaving like a true officer. Blossomforth thought with pride. I can finally look up to her without fearing a slap on my butt or a comment about how great I’d look with a mini-skirt… “I think what you say to Lieutenant Vigilance broke her,” Gale supposed softly. “To be honest, I can relate to that. You giving up on your banging spree is something we never thought possible.” “Now, come on! You make it sound like I lived only for banging…” A crimson red eyebrow was raised high on a pale forehead in response. “... That’s a bit of a stretch and you know it,” Cloud argued, pointing an accusatory finger at the redhead. A single coughing noise escaped the redhead’s throat as she leaned her head forward, her eyebrow still high. “Okay, I used to flirt and try bang every cutie that I encountered, with a lot more successes than failures. Happy?” Cloud asked with a false frown, a chuckling grin slowly forming on her lips. “What changed then?” Gale asked with a grin, crossing her arms before her sergeant. “Unlike Blossomforth, I know and didn’t hope that your promotion would change your rabbit-like drive,” she added, nodding at the still beaming and crying Blossomforth. “Something happened before we left Las Pegasus…. Something before the whole Spitfire-Trend debacle,” she added slowly in a shameful tone. “I’ve been thinking about a lot of stuff because of that. Stuff like maybe stop fooling around like a horny teenager all the time.” Best day ever! Blossomforth thought as sobs of joy went past her lips. “Huh,” Gale let out with a surprised nod. “That’s good, I guess… It’s going to take a while to get used to the new you… It feels like the world’s suddenly become flat!” she added with playful chuckle. “Don’t worry, Gale!” Cloud assured with a sly grin. “The world’s still as round as Blossomforth’s cute little buttocks,” she added after giving her blissfully crying friend’s right buttcheek a slow and sensual grope. “I’m not giving up on everything… at least not yet!” she added as she let go of Blossomforth’s butt and conjured her wings. “You really are just a libidinous roach, aren’t you?” Gale playfully asked, picking up her two axes and getting in position. “It’s Sergeant Libidinous Roach to you,” Cloud warmly corrected as the metallic fog once again covered her feathers. “Let’s go!” As the two Jupitarians resumed their earlier sparring, Blossomforth kept on crying, but this time for four reasons : One, she was saddened by Cloud shattering her hopes of seeing her act like a decent human being; Two, it still made her happy that Cloud still considered to behave professionally enough, even if it would requires baby steps: Three; she was upset that Cloud had invaded her personal space right after the Lieutenant Vigilance told her not to do things like to her anymore; And four, Blossomforth was upset by the fact that her previous reason didn’t really upset her that much. Cloud’s Magic Touch was still as effective on her as it had been during that night after the Great Rift maneuvers, all those years ago. Author's Note Okay, my faithful readers are probably going to hate me for starting another story, but this one is already completed, I'm just publishing it one chapter at the time. It is also very short (only 4 chapters) so it should be completed very soon As it has been said in the story Description, this story was written for Chengar Qordath's Cloud Kicker Ship-fic event. I'd like to give a huge thanks to Royal Rainbow for Pre-reading this little bit of writing of mine. And also, My patrons for their Support. Joseph Marques, Adam Tomkinson, Brad Snow, ScaredTuna, DerRotSpassvogel, Robert Redd, Michael Abell, James Zhang, Anthurak. You can support my writings and my other mlp project on Patreon Don't hesitate to tell me what you thought of the beginning of the story, or to complain of those two hiatus-y months, both are appreciated Love, Mariacheat-Brony PS: Angel Wings still needs voice actors for fan fiction reading project of the first Apple Scratch Story: More infos here!
The Sergeant goes to the library.Four days later in Canterlot, in front of the Arcanium’s Main Gate, Boy, does it feel weird to enter here through the front door, Cloud thought with a mental chuckle as she, Blossomforth and Gale followed the Lieutenant Constance inside the high walls that separated the Arcanium from Celestia’s School for the Gifted. Looks like security has been reinforced. As soon as the four had crossed the threshold, a group of heavily armored guards stood before them. With their black and golden shields, they formed an impenetrable wall in front of the four Ponyvillians. Constance sighed briefly at the sight before raising her hand to stop the leading guard from speaking, her other hand reaching for beneath her breastplate. “Lieutenant Constance Vigilance of Ponyville,” Constance declared, pulling a scroll out of her armor and handing it to the guard. “I’m here to pledge my allegiance to the New Council of Harmony in company of the sergeant Cloud Kicker, Private Blossomforth Shields and Private Gale Swiftwing.” The lead guard promptly opened the scroll and gave it a quick read. “All is in order, Lieutenant,” the chief guard stated slowly. “Initiate Sentry, lead them to the guests' tower.” “Yes, sir!” the youngest of the armored soldiers assured with a nod. The wall of guards broke formation to let the four Ponyvillians pass. As the Initiate Sentry lead them through the maze of gardens, courts and spirally towers, Gale picked the folded Ponyville Banner up again while Blossomforth walked to their guide’s level. “So, how is it going, Flash?” Blossomforth asked politely. “It’s been a while.” “It’s going, Blossomforth,” Flash replied matter-of-factly. “We met during the annual maneuvers in Las Pegasus,” Cloud answered Constance’s silent question when she looked at her. “It sure must be hard-work for the whole Golden Shield to move around with all the students there,” Blossomforth commented slowly as she noticed a few group of students casting curious looks in their direction. “We make due,” Flash replied with a shrug. “The students are quite respectful and do their best to not disturb our work.” As they came closer to the Guest tower, Blossomforth kept chatting with Flash, occasionally joined by Constance or Gale. In the mean time, Cloud gazed around before her eyes caught of sight of a familiar tower. Her purple orbs travelled up the white stones, skipping the first floors’ balconies, until they reached the one on the eighth floor. Cloud watched parts the familiar burgundy curtains slowly moved to the breeze blowing through the open glass door. I wonder if Velvet Sparkle reinforced the wards she put on the tower… Cloud thought as images of the burgundy curtains falling on top of the Master Arcanist flashed through her mind. Considering what happened the last time I was in there, I wouldn’t put it past her. After Flash showed them to their rooms in the Guest tower, Constance allowed the trio to be off duty until three pm. With the rest of the morning and the beginning of the afternoon to spend at their leisure, Gale and Blossomforth decided to first hit the cafeteria before going sightseeing, while Cloud decided to go for a stroll immediately. At first, the blonde wandered off close to the open-sky amphitheater, in which a lecture was given. Her eyes found the hatch door that lead under the stage, on top of which the professor was demonstrating a spell to his class. “What are you doing?! Master Sparkle’s giving a lecture just above us!” “Shhhhhhh. she’ll hear us if you scream like that…. You’ll have to be quieter… A lot quieter.” “—Oh, Gods!— How do you –AH!—want me to —HUMMM!— remain quiet if you do thaAAAAAT!” “It’s a matter of self-control. You are a Canterlot Arcanist, you should have plenty.” “Hunnngggh!” “Do you want me to stop?” “HAAaaaa!” “…Is that a yes or a no?” “…P…Ple…please…” “Hmm?” “...Don’t stop… please.” “Atta girl!” “Hehehe! Good times!” Cloud whispered with a small grin before she looked away from the amphitheater. I wonder what she’s doing at the moment… Maybe she’s in the library… A couple of minutes later, the blonde Jupitarian landed before Celestia’s School for the Gifted’s Library and went inside, ignoring the curious looks cast in her direction. After consulting the map of the library, Cloud walked to the stairs to get to the Genealogy shelf on the third floor. Once she reached the correct floor, Cloud was welcomed by a rather peculiar event : A young boy with spiky green hair, clad in a purple and green hoodie and matching sweat pants, ran into her with his arms loaded with books. “OW!” the young boy let out on impact before falling down on his behind, sprawling all the books he was carrying on the floor. “You okay?” Cloud asked worriedly, extending a helping hand to the boy who was rubbing his nose. “I’ll live,” he said slowly before he looked at the mess of pages around him. “Or not if she finds me like that,” he nearly shouted in fright. “....Ooookay,” Cloud let out in confusion as the boy frantically gathered all the books on the floors, all while checking that no pages had been folded during their fall. “I understand that it’s a famous library but, come on, it was an accident!” “You don’t understand, she’ll get pissed at me if the….” “SPIKE!” A feminine, angry voice rang through the entire third floor. “What did you do?!” “...Dang it!” Spike muttered under his breath. Before Cloud could even blink, the many scattered books were levitated in a deep purple aura while a small girl with dark skin and purple, pink and violet hair tied up in a messy bun walked out of a nearby alley. As the fallen volumes gathered in piles behind her, she started lecturing the youth on the importance of well treating the reservoirs of knowledge that were books. Cloud silently observed the young girl, noticing the dark circles under her eyes, the stray locks of her hair bursting out of her bun, and how messy her school uniform was: one side of her shirt wasn’t tucked in her skirt, her pullover was on backwards, and she had missed the first button of her shirt. “I’m sorry, Twilight,” Spike sheepishly replied to her lecture. “It’s just that I didn’t see the miss over there and I kinda bumped into her,” he explained softly. “So, it’s because of you that those books nearly got ruined?!” Twilight asked angrily, putting her hands on her hips in front of an unfazed Cloud Kicker: more than two years of training with Pagétonas made her resistant to sudden outbursts. “Huh,” Cloud let out before tilting her head to look at Spike who standing behind Twilight. “I understand why you were a bit scared, kiddo. She looks to be an handful.” “I’m talking to you!” Twilight growled as Spike let out a faint “You’ve got no idea…” behind the purple-haired girl’s back. “No, you’re shouting at me, and we’re in a library,” Cloud reminded playfully, prompting Twilight into instantly covering her mouth with both hands as she realized where they were. “...Still, you could have paid attention to where you were going,” Twilight whispered in a reproachful tone. “Some of those books are decades-old originals!” “Well, If they’re so important why loading such large amount of them up in the hands of a child?” Cloud asked as she noticed the large stack of books in Twilight’s magic. “I don’t think he can see right before him when he’s carrying them…” “Uh?” Twilight blinked in confusion before glancing between the stack of floating books and Spike. “Oh…” She gulped sheepishly when the stack was indeed as high as the youth’s upper body. “That being said, why didn’t you use one of the carts I saw by the reception?” Cloud asked Spike. “Well, we’re on the third floor,” Spike replied slowly. “So?” “So, how do you expect him to pull a cart up three flights of stairs?” Twilight asked in a defensive whisper. Cloud simply raised her right eyebrow high up her forehead before dully pointing behind Twilight’s back. The young boy and the purple-haired Titanian looked at where she was pointing, seeing the stack of floating books behind them. Spike blinked in total shock before his palm met his forehead in a loud slapping noise while Twilight looked blankly at her levitating reservoirs of knowledge. “....Huuuuh,” “I really hope for your sake that you’ve got more wits than that in general,” Cloud commented mockingly. “I’ll have you know that I have a 4.0 GPA!” Twilight instantly snapped back at the blonde. “That you probably won’t keep if you’re letting yourself go like that… I don’t mean to sound rude, but you look like hell!” Cloud commented with wince. “I understand that life in this school can be harsh, but you must still take care of yourself! “I tried to tell her that, but she didn’t listen!” Spike chimed in sternly. “She’s been obsessed with works for the last six days!” “Excuse me?!” Twilight shouted angrily. “She doesn’t even let me eat cookies when I do a good job anymore!” “Why don’t you just call me tyrannical while you’re at it?!” Twilight snapped at the youth. “I would, but I don’t know what that means!” Spike snapped right back at her. “You would know if you hadn’t been reading comics instead of the books I recommended you!” This just like Alula and me, Cloud thought with a smile as the two continued arguing like siblings, inadvertently attracting the attentions of a few other students. I should pay her a visit soon, hopefully, Mom or Dad won’t cause a scene… Cloud thought before she spotted Spike slamming one of the floating books on the ground, causing Twilight to look at him with shocked, but vengeful eyes. “Okay, I feel that I should probably separate you now!” Cloud quickly let out as she placed her hands on the messy-dressed student and the spiky-haired child’s shoulder. “Let’s not do things we would reg…” “ENOUGH!!!” At the sound of the booming voice, all the other students scattered away before Cloud was caught in a deep purple telekinetic field and violently cast away from the pair. The blonde winced when she was slammed and then pinned against the wall. Growling in pain, Cloud managed to turn her head to see a tall, dark skinned woman with piercing, light blue eyes, purple and white striped hair, extending her forefinger right back at her. “M..Mom?” Twilight asked in a shocked whisper, gulping nervously at the angry scowl on the Master Arcanist of Canterlot’s face. That’s why that girl looked familiar! Cloud thought in realization. ...How did I not see that immediately? “Are you okay, dear?” Velvet asked her daughter, her face instantly becoming gentle as she faced the younger girl. “She didn’t do anything to you?” “....Huuuh, no?” Twilight replied uneasily. “I mean, Spike kinda bumped into her while he was carrying books around to re-shelve them, and when I went to see what was going on… And she mocked me a little bit, but I think I kinda deserved it now that I think about it...” “Did she touch you?” “Well, no. I mean, aside from when she tried to calm me and Spike dow…” “Seriously?!” Cloud snapped loudly, interrupting the sheepish reply of Velvet’s daughter and thus prompting the mother to glare back at her. “That’s seriously what you ask?!” “Considering your track record, Miss Kicker, and the state of my daughter’s outfit,” Velvet explained coldly, leaving Twilight’s side to step closer to the pinned Jupitarian. “I thought it necessary to ask…” “What does you not taking the time to dress correctly have anything to do with her?” Spike asked Twilight in a confused whisper. “I’ve got no idea at all, Spike,” Twilight replied with as much honesty as confusion. “Hang on, what do you mean by that?” “Have you looked yourself in the mirror today?” “No. I should have?” “Yes,” Spike said in a deadpan tone at the confused teenager. “Besides, I wouldn’t put it past you to get closer to my daughter just to spite me,” Velvet let out in disgust. “If I wanted to get closer to your daughter, believe me, you’d be the last thing in my mind,” Cloud argued vehemently. “She’s got that nerdy, adorable charm of a girl who wants to learn ALL sorts of things!” she added in a low, defying purr, causing Velvet’s eyes to cast lightning at her. “Really?!” an excited shout resonated in the third floor before Twilight appeared in front of Cloud in a purple flash. “I’m totally that sort of girl! I just love learning about new stuff!” she asked with a wide, curious smile as her mother’s jaw dropped to reach the ground. “Twilight! Do not talk to her!” “What can you teach me?!” Twilight asked excitedly, ignoring her mother’s command. “Well, I’m sort of an expert in human anatomy, if you know what I’m saying,” Cloud suavely whispered to Twilight, whose excitement deflated instantly. “Oh, I already know all the books of this library on the matter by heart, now,” Twilight explained sadly. “It’s not the kind of knowledge you can find in a book from a library like this one, Miss,” Cloud explained, instantly re-igniting Twilight’s interest. “While I personally prefer the practical approach, there are books on the matter in very specialized stores.” “Really?! Is there one in Canterlot?” “Sweet Night Shop, Stellar street number thirty-five,” Cloud instantly replied in a whisper as Velvet’s eyes widened even more than before at her daughter’s question. “Open from eleven AM to twelve PM.” “Thank you!” Twilight beamed at the pinned Jupitarian before the magical aura restraining her simply vanished. “Spike! Keep on reshelving while I’m gone!” she added before running to the staircases as the books from before fell loudly on the ground. “Tell the shopkeeper that Cloud Kicker sent you!” Cloud recommended warmly. “Also, try taking things easy, Twilight. You’re too cute to look that stressed out already!” The young, messy-dressed scholar, stopped in her tracks with a wide blush spreading on her cheeks at the compliment. “I have a lot more to do lately, but I’ll try to do that,” Twilight replied sheepishly before running down the stairs. “Goodbye, Miss Kicker,” Cloud looked at her disappear in the staircase before looking back at the still frozen Velvet Sparkle and an angry Spike, who was frowning at the large stack of books Twilight had left in his care. Cloud playfully chuckled as her hand got covered in a whitish fog. Spike let out a brief startled yelp as patches of fog appeared before him and around Velvet Sparkle. He witnessed the fogs getting denser and denser as one encased the Master Arcanist in a silvery white cocoon and the other formed a floating, open case with a long handle. “At least, you wont have trouble pulling this cart up the stairs,” Cloud explained to the confused youth before taking one of the books and dropping in it the wheel-less cloudmade cart. “Wow!” Spike let out as he witnessed the book lying perfectly still in the shaped cart. “What did you do to Twilight’s mom?” he asked with worry at the sight of the white, oval cocoon. “Well, she pinned me against the wall for no reasons, so I trapped her in a cloud,” Cloud reasoned before pulling a small pouch of bits from one of her jacket’s pockets. “Since Twilight left you on your own, I think you can take a break for a while and buy yourself a little snack,” she added with a wink as she gave him the pouch. Spike eyed the cocoon, then the cart, then the stack of books and then at the pouch of bits. “I suppose I could take a break,” Spike said with a devious smile. “Good!” Cloud said as she ruffled the hair of the boy. “I’ll see you around.” I better skedaddle before she recovers from her precious daughter going to a sex-shop… And I suppose that if all the commotion didn’t bring ‘her’ here,I should look for her elsewhere… At worst, I’ll see her at the rehearsal this afternoon. Author's Note Here goes part 2/5 of the story, hoping you like the characterization of the new comers. (I know that in real life, nobody freeze like Velvet did in this chapter. but just go with it and blame it on my Manga-inspiration. ) I'd like to give a huge thanks to Royal Rainbow for Pre-reading this little bit of writing of mine. And also a huge thank you to My patrons for their Support: Joseph Marques, Adam Tomkinson, Brad Snow, ScaredTuna, DerRotSpassvogel, Robert Redd, Michael Abell, James Zhang, Anthurak. You can support my writings and my other mlp project on Patreon Feedback is always appreciated. Love, Mariacheat-Brony PS: Angel Wings still needs voice actors for fan fiction reading project of the first Apple Scratch Story: More infos here!
The Sergeant goes back to the girls' dormsWhile it had started out okay, despite her search being sadly unsuccessful, Cloud’s first day in the Capital quickly went downhill when it was time for the first rehearsal for the ceremonies. She didn’t know how much time it took her, but Velvet Sparkle did came out of her cloudy-prison and was clearly not too happy about where her obviously sheltered daughter had gone. If the constant glaring the Master Arcanist cast in the Ponyville’s representatives’ directions was of any indications. Luckily for Cloud, everyone else in the Arcanium Main hall was much too busy following the instructions of the ceremony planner, a strict woman with glasses and shiny black hair styled in a tight bun named Raven, to notice Velvet’s obvious animosity. The representatives of each town’s Guard were forming two long lines on both side of the red carpet, according to the following plan Raven had given them : “Town A: escorter 1, Officer, escorter 2; Town B; escorter 1, Officer, escorter 2;... and so on. Behind each town’s officer stood their standard-bearer, holding their unit’s flag above the heads of his comrades. While it had been decided at first to have Gale holding it, Constance decided to have Blossomforth do it when she realized the girl’s unease for facing the Detrot’s representatives, among which stood her father. -That and the fact that Gale’s muscular figure was more escorter-like than Blossomforth’s lithe body- After everyone was at his proper place, Raven reminded the guards of the first lines that they would have to kneel as the Princesses would walk before them, only to repeat the process when the new Council member would walk up to the Princesses’ sides. “Now, the Princesses having an awful lot to do today, they won’t be present for this first rehearsal,” Raven explained in her megaphone. “As such, Sir Kibitz and I,” she added, waving at the nearly bald man with an impressive ashen mustache beside her. “We’ll act as replacement for them today!” “Well, I don’t think the Princesses would even need to come to those,” Gale whispered as the “princesses” took places at the entrance of the main hall. “I mean, they’ve been to hundreds of those, right?” “It’s not that they need to rehearse, Swiftwing,” Constance replied softly. “It is us, soldiers, who need to get used to be in their presence. Imagine Sergeant Kicker’s first reaction to meeting the Princesses?” “It would involve a lot of drool, I reckon,” Cloud whispered back playfully, earning quiet chuckles from her teammates and Lieutenant. “ANNOUNCING, PRINCESS CELESTIA CORONA FAUSTBORN AND PRINCESS LUNA SELENIA FAUSTBORN OF EQUESTRIA,” Raven nearly shouted in her megaphone, oblivious to Kibitz wincing in pain at the volume of her shout. She and Kibitz, after he recovered, walked slowly along the red carpet’s length, prompting each group of guards to kneel as they passed before them. As the two “princesses” reached for their respective thrones, which had been installed at the end of the hall, the two lines of Royal Guards stood back in unison. Raven nodded appreciatively, before giving a look at her clipboard as Kibitz pulled a set of fluffy ear plugs from his pocket and put them on. “All right, now, you’ll have to do the same for the new Council Member,” Raven explained matter-of-factly. “As she’s taking part in those rehearsals, I must remind you that you’re all forbidden to divulge her identity to anyone before the official ceremony!” Finally, you’re going to make your appearance, Cloud thought with excitement as she cast a fleeting glance at the group of banner-women masking the future Council member. Hang on a minute… Her symbol wouldn’t be like that. Cloud frowned at the sight of the purple banners with a big pinkish star surrounded by five white, smaller ones. “So, what are you working on? More statistics on the average Titanian magic core?” “Nope! Just trying to come up with a sigil for me.” “...What for?” “Well, once I’m on the Council, I’ll need a symbol of my own. Something to have on banners, or signet ring.” “Sounds cool enough! Let me see!” “What do you think?” “.....It’s nice, but why do you want to have a yellow and red squid as your symbol?” “It’s not a squid! It’s a sun!!!” “Oh……” “Oh, what?!” “Oh, thank the gods, you’re good at magic and you’ve got that killer-body of yours, because your drawing skills sucks!” SLAP “Hmmm, fiery as the sun, just how I like you, ” “Cloud, stop! I’m trying to do something,” “Me too, and unlike you, what I’m trying to do is something we’re both good at! So put that poorly drawn squid away so that we can make good use of that desk!” “Why do I put up with you? You only think about one thing!” “You love it and you know it!” “That’s besides the point!” “ANNOUNCING, THE NEW REPRESENTATIVE OF THE MAGICAL ARTS IN THE COUNCIL OF HARMONY,...” Raven yelled in her megaphone, with Kibitz softly smiling with his fuzzy ear plugs on. …...Oh, no, that would mean… Cloud thought with worry as the blonde banner-women broke formation to let who they were hiding pass. “THE LADY TWILIGHT VELVET SPARKLE!” WHAT?! Cloud almost let her jaw drop as the same girl she had met at library earlier today sheepishly started to walk along the red carpet. Well, not exactly the same, as Twilight was now correctly dressed, coiffed and had traded her school uniform for a simple yellow dress with a pink belt. She gulped nervously at the sight of the two long lines of soldiers clad in their respective ceremonial armors, and started to tremble a bit. It took one of her banner-woman gently tapping her back to get the nervous teenager moving. Once again, the Guards kneeled as Twilight passed before them, much more quickly than Raven and Kibitz had done, while she was glancing in their directions. Of course, she’d look at me! Cloud thought desperately as she spotted Twilight pausing her walk just in front of her from the peripheral vision granted by her kneeling. Cloud slightly raised her head to get a proper look at the young lady, only to see her wide-purple eyes looking back at her. Aaaaand her mother clearly didn’t catch her before she reached that store! Cloud mentally facepalmed when she realized how Twilight’s cheeks were redder than her crimson ceremonial armor. After another nudge from the banner-woman as before, only this time it was more forceful, Twilight sheepishly resumed her advance up to the Princesses’ assistants, and her mother who stood closely by. Cloud’s briefly locked her eyes with Velvet Sparkle’s, noticing the angry fire of retribution in them, while the Master Arcanist saw the equally angry glint of interrogation in Cloud’s. “Great, what did you do now, Cloud?” Blossomforth asked in a scared and angry whisper. “Shut your trap, Private Shields!” Cloud whispered back in an unusual bout of cold authority. “Or I’ll shut it for you!” No more casual searching now! I really need answers now! Cloud thought as Constance cocked a surprised eyebrow at her while Blossomforth and Gale were left speechless at the blonde’s threat. As soon as this shindig is over, I’m coming for you, Sunset Shimmer! ******************************************************************************************************* As soon as the rehearsal ended, around six PM, Cloud was probably the first person out of the main hall. After her cold snapping at Blossomforth, she had reverted to her usual self in appearance while her mind was bubbling with questions that needed answers. Without losing anymore time, she rushed to the female dorms of the Arcanium. It was just the time when most of the future arcanists would return to their tower to rest. Many of the younger titanians around looked at the armor clad blonde in confusion, while a pair of older students, who Cloud recognized from the Las Pegasus’ maneuvers, stood between her and the dorms’ main door. “Kicker, you can’t come in here!” a curly-haired pinkette called in a warning tone. “Master Sparkle forbade it!” “I never needed or cared of Master Sparkle’s permission before, Twinkleshine!” Cloud replied slowly. “I’m not going to start now!” “What she means is that Master Sparkle set up wards,” a teal-haired arcanist, whom Cloud had once nicknamed Lemonhearts, explained more forcefully than Twinkleshine. “That didn’t stop me before either,” Cloud cockily replied as she reached the open door of the tower. She softly pushed the two girls out of the way and stepped through the threshold, only to pull her leg back with a pained wince. As soon as she had put her foot on the ground beyond the door, purple sparks of magic surged from a suddenly glowing inscription on the floor and went straight to her limb. Many students jumped away from the blond guard and the doorway in fright after that. “See?” Twinkleshine let out with a sigh as the younger arcanists wondered if the door was safe for them to travel. “Hmmm,” Cloud let out pensively as she extended her arm through the door. Once again, Velvet Sparkle’s runic inscription appeared on the threshold and purple lightning sparks went straight for Cloud’s arm. With a pained frown, she pulled her arm away. Lemonhearts and Twinkleshine looked at the Jupitarian in the red and golden armor, only to blink in shock when she let out a warm chuckle. They, as well as the many other arcanists present, watched in confusion as patches of fog appeared around them before those patches became denser and moved up to cover Cloud’s body. “Girls, when Velvet Sparkle gets here, could you tell her something for me?” Cloud asked as the silvery fog hugged every single curves and plates of her armor, making it look as it was made painted white and silver instead of red and gold. “Huh?!” Lemonhearts and Twinkleshine let out in confusion. “Tell her that clouds are lightning-proof!” Cloud stepped into the tower, once again triggering the warding spell. Only this time, when the purple sparks stroke her, it merely was absorbed by the silvery coating she had applied on her armor and herself. Many arcanists’ jaws dropped wide open as the Jupitarian walked the three steps that put her out of range of the wards. “...Wow!” Twinkleshine let out as the cloud-covering of the blonde’s armor dissipated itself in the air. “.....Should we tell what she said to Master Sparkle?” Lemonhearts whispered sheepishly as Cloud conjured her fuchsia wings on her back to take off inside the tower. “Of course not, Flask-head!” “HEY!!” While the two arcanists started to argue with one another, Cloud took flight up to the eighth floor of the tower, startling the many female students on her way up. She landed before a very much familiar, oaken door. Ignoring the confused inhabitants of the eighth floor, Cloud nearly ran to the door before banging her armored fist against the wooden surface. “Sunset, open this door!” Cloud called after subtly knocking at her door. “Sunset, I’m going to count up to three, and unlike before you won’t like it if I reach number three!” she warned angrily when her heavy banging was met by silence. “ONE!” She violently punched the door. “TWO!” She punched it harder. “THR….” She began as a blackening smoke coursed by sparks of lightning gathered around her fist. It was then that the door of Sunset’s room, shaken up by Cloud’s hits, opened itself a little. Dissipating the storm-cloud around her hand, Cloud grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. As soon as she took a few steps in the room, Cloud’s anger was replaced by complete confusion at the emptiness of the room. The bookshelves stood bookless whereas they had been filled of books about magical theory, the histories of the many noble houses of Canterlot and Equestria, politics and statistics.The desk was clean of the piles of research papers, spread quills and stack of bottles of ink that usually laid on top of it. The bed was made and looked as if no one had slept in it in days. After a few seconds of stunned silence, Cloud walked to the wardrobe. “Congratulations on passing my wards,” a cold voice commented when Cloud pulled it open, only to see it empty of all of Sunset’s clothes. “You’re much more creative than I thought. Maybe you do deserve your rank as a sergeant.” “Where is she?” Cloud asked as she looked back at the entrance, finding Velvet Sparkle standing on the threshold. “Sunset decided to leave the Arcanium two days ago,” Velvet explained matter-of-factly. “Why would she leave?” Cloud asked slowly with narrowed eyes. “Her formation isn’t over yet, and she’s your top arcanist-in-training… Some even said she was better than quite a few of your teachers… I have a hard-time imagining her dropping out.” “She didn’t handle the news of her not getting chosen into the Council very well,” Velvet replied with a short sigh. “Funny thing that she wasn’t chosen, don’t you think?” Cloud asked sharply. “You make it sound as if I had any say in the matter,” Velvet commented with narrowed eyes. “The Princesses choose the people in their Council!” “You’re the head of Arcanium, your husband is the head of Princess Luna’s Guild of Astrology and your son is the Captain of the Royal Guard,” Cloud countered. “Don’t try to convince me that you’re not in Celestia and Luna’s good books.” “I’m not sure of liking what you’re implying, Sergeant Kicker,” Velvet warned coldly. “Don’t be so uncertain! You’ve never really liked anything about me, Master Sparkle,” Cloud replied with a shrug. “Back to what I was saying. Just basing myself on what I know, the Princesses had the choice between the young teenager from Celestia’s school for the gifted with a 4.0. GPA, Twilight Sparkle who seemed completely unprepared for that function during the rehearsal, and the Arcanium’s top apprentice, coming from Celestia’s school for the gifted with a 4.0. GPA as well, Sunset Shimmer who has participated in three joint maneuvers with the recruits of the Jupitarian Corps training grounds of Las Pegasus and the Initiates of the Golden Shield -The first one of them leading to her saving 40 citizens from a gruesome execution in the paws of a Diamond Dogs pack with only four other people- and who’s been working on establishing a list projects to help the magical education of the young Titanians throughout the nation ever since YOU, the master Arcanist of Canterlot, mentioned that Princess Celestia was thinking of selecting someone from the Arcanium for the seat of Councilor of the Magical Arts.” Cloud took an exaggeratedly long and laborious breath of air after finishing her exposition. “Did I miss anything?” “...You forgot that Sunset has also taken extra classes in Political sciences,” Velvet reminded with a sigh. “I always forget about those.” Cloud chuckled softly before focusing back her attention on Velvet Sparkle. “Now, of course that’s only what I know. Maybe your daughter followed a similar cursus than Sunset.” “No,” Velvet softly replied. “My daughter’s magical abilities and knowledge are all for the sake of academical performances and for the knowledge in itself. She finds a subject that tickles her fancy and she studies it, period.” “So, what does she have over Sunset?” Cloud asked with a frown. “Is it her social skills?” “She’s seventeen and her only friends outside the family are a nine-year-old boy whom she taught how to speak Equestrian and her pet owl,” Velvet replied impatiently. “Is it because she’s good judge of character despite her social issues?” “She thought you were a decent human being!” Velvet replied snappily, her blue eyes sending lightning bolts at Cloud. “Then what is it?!” Cloud asked angrily. “What is that one thing that made it that your daughter was chosen and not Sunset? Because, with what you told me, I don’t think anyone will look at your daughter without screaming “Nepotism”!” A brief silence followed the blonde’s angry comment. A silence during which Velvet didn’t blink or move a single muscle before she rubbed her eyes with a sigh. “I didn’t think you’d actually know the meaning of the word Nepotism,” Velvet commented slowly. “Sunset rubbed off on me in more ways than the one you think,” Cloud explained in a playful whisper, smiling at the groan the Master Arcanist let out in response. “...The only thing that my daughter has over Sunset is about who was in charge of her magical education,” Velvet explained in a resolute tone. “You were also Sunset’s teacher,” Cloud reminded with a confused frown. “I haven’t taught anything about magic to my daughter since she was eight years old,” Velvet retorted slowly. “Princess Celestia did.” “W-what?” Cloud stammered in shock. “For the past nine years, Twilight’s, let’s say, magic tutor has been none other than Princess Celestia,” Velvet explained with a hint of resentment in her voice. “There has been an… incident during her entrance exam for this school and the Princess had to intervene. After that, Celestia stated that Twilight had a lot of potential and asked me and my husband if she could take her as a personal student. We said yes,” she added with a sigh. Cloud stared blankly at the Master Arcanist after the new bit of information on the latter’s daughter. It lasted until she mimicked Velvet’s earlier gesture : rubbing her eyes with a deep sigh. “So, you knew that Sunset never had a chance.” Velvet wasn’t surprised that Cloud’s reply had no interrogative tone. She nonetheless nodded to confirm the Jupitarian’s statement. “And, you still pushed her to work harder to get Celestia and Luna’s attention,” Cloud stated slowly. “Even though you knew that she was likely to not get chosen, you always told her that the odds were in her favor, that there wasn’t any candidate more suitable for the seat of Councilor than her,” Once again, the Master Arcanist simply nodded in response. “Why did you do that?” “Because I wanted Twilight to distance herself from Celestia a bit,” Velvet explained in a shameful tone. “Don’t get me wrong! I am very proud that my daughter was chosen first as Celestia’s student then and now as a Councilor. But for the last nine years, it’s always been : Princess Celestia advised me this! Princess Celestia recommended that I do that! Princess Celestia likes cake, so I’ll try to bake her one myself as a Heart's-Warming-Eve gift. Thanks for the blue dress you bought, Mom, but Princess Celestia told me I looked good in yellow, so you can take it back to the shop.” she added spitefully. “It’s been frustrating, to say the least.” “I can imagine,” Cloud admitted slowly. “So, with Sunset as a Council member, your daughter would have started to what? Listen to you again? That was what you were hoping for?” “A fool’s hope, now that I think about it,” Velvet admitted. A cold, mirthless chuckle escaped Cloud’s throat at Velvet’s admittance. “That’s it?! That’s the whole reason you lead Sunset on for more than a year with false promises of greatness and empty encouragements?” Cloud asked coldly. “All because you’re jealous of Princess Celestia?” “I’m not exactly proud of that, but yes,” Velvet admitted slowly. “And you told that to Sunset?” “Yes, Sunset deserved to know… Though I thought she would have accepted her loss to Twilight,” Velvet commented slowly, waving at the empty room in which they stood. “Obviously, I was wrong.” “I’ll admit that Sunset’s a sore loser, but even she would have come to accept your daughter, Princess Celestia’s student, in the function she wanted so much,” Cloud coldly stated. “What she couldn’t accept was your attitude! She was your star student, and you didn’t support her! Sure, you encouraged her to work harder for it but you didn’t really believe in her, nor did you do it for her!” Cloud explained with a slightly disgusted tone. “You were her teacher, a woman she looked up to, and you failed her! Failed her really hard! That’s probably why she left!” “And how would an armored whore like you know that?” Velvet asked snappily. “Because I love her whereas the selfish, frigid bitch that you are didn’t even bother to care!” Cloud snapped back at a shocked Velvet Sparkle. The Master Arcanist expected many things from Cloud Kicker, but the L-word and seemingly gratuitous insults weren’t part of them. After speaking her mind, Cloud walked past Velvet, angrily shoving her steel shoulder-pad into her silk-clad shoulder. While she thought it extremely rude, Velvet didn’t call the younger guard over it, thinking she deserved it a little. With a sad sigh, the purple-and-white-haired rubbed her sore shoulder as she heard the metallic steps behind her coming to stop. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry to hear about what’s happening between you and your daughter,” Cloud softly said in a compassionate tone. “...With some luck, the errand I accidently sent her through this afternoon will make her go back to you a little. I can’t really imagine her asking the Princesses for advice about what she found in a sex-shop,” she added with a playful chuckle. Cloud expected a fuming reply from Velvet Sparkle, the woman who had spent the last three years trying to discourage her and Sunset from visiting each other, but instead she got a booming, crystalline and heartfelt laugh from the Master Arcanist. “If it turns out like that, I’ll owe you big time!” Velvet replied once her laughter died down a bit. “...Goodbye, Sergeant Kicker.” “Goodbye, Master Sparkle.” Author's Note Here goes part 3/5 of the story, Velvet Sparkle vs Cloud Kicker :p (not an actual fight with magic and lightnings and shit... would be awesome though) I'd like to give a huge thanks to Royal Rainbow for Pre-reading this little bit of writing of mine. And also a huge thank you to My patrons for their Support: Joseph Marques, Adam Tomkinson, Brad Snow, ScaredTuna, DerRotSpassvogel, Robert Redd, Michael Abell, James Zhang, Anthurak. You can support my writings and my other mlp project on Patreon Comments are always appreciated. (even the negative ones ) Love, Mariacheat-Brony PS: Angel Wings still needs voice actors for fan fiction reading project of the first Apple Scratch Story: More infos here!
The Sergeant visits the Castle... at night!Three days later, Twilight Sparkle’s official introduction ceremony had finally come to an end. The teenager’s cheeks rosied up a little when the Ponyville Delegation took their oath to her, but other than that everything went well. Once the Ceremony was complete, The Princesses invited all the delegations to the gala organized in the honor of the young lady Sparkle, who was to happen in the Canterlot Castle later that day. While most of the guests were still mingling with the nobles and other big names of Equestria, the recently introduced Twilight Sparkle retired herself from the celebrations early. While she had appreciated the effort put into the party, her sudden rise into fame and the attention it had caused had quickly exhausted the girl. Soon enough, she reached her quarters in the Western wing of the castle, and bid her escorter good night after thanking him for his services. Said escorter, also known as the initiate Flash Sentry of the Golden Shield Order, briefly bowed before the young girl and walked away as she closed the door of her room. As soon as the door was closed, Twilight let out a long, relieved sigh. The ceremony had been stressful enough, especially whenever she was close to that blonde sergeant of Ponyville, -If only I hadn’t found that store!- and the great party with all the uppercrust of Equestria and the nosy reporters had been even worse. Twilight was extremely grateful that the Princesses were fine with her leaving the party. Feeling her exhaustion catch up to her, Twilight navigated through her half-emptied boxes, which contained the part of her collection of books she hadn’t sorted out to put it in her vast bookshelves, to her large four-poster bed. Her hands travelling to her neck as she did. As she reached her nightstand, Twilight pulled off the thin, golden chain and its medaillon before she took it in her hand to give it a proper look. She absently traced the engraving of the rearing Unicorn with her finger while her eyes focused on the six-pointed-star-shaped gemstone embedded into the center of the golden surface. She read the inscription on the medallion out loud, Magia est clavem ad Concordiam, before she gently put it on the nightstand with a long sigh. “Being a “key” is going to be tough,” Twilight commented with a yawn. “I wonder what sort of a key-hole will I fit int..…” Her train of thoughts suddenly derailed as her metaphor brought back a very specific image of a very specific place in Canterlot. An image that brought a lot of red to her dark complexion. “Why? Why can’t I forget this?!” Twilight groaned in frustration as the embarrassing image brought its siblings into her mind. “I never should have set a foot in that store!” Twilight let out as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Letting out a low growl, Twilight went to her wardrobe, grabbed a pair of pajamas and a hanger for her dress before heading into the bathroom, slamming its door behind her. A couple of seconds later, the sounds of the shower running could be heard from beyond the door. It was right after that the door of Twilight’s balcony opened in a faint green-blue hue. A black-clad figure pulled itself up from the edge of the balcony as soon as the door was slightly open. The person in black slowly made her entrance in the room, delicately closing the door behind her. Softly adjusting her hood so that it didn’t bother her sight, the intruder cast a glance at the bathroom door. The trespasser moved closer to the bed through the remaining moving-boxes of the Council member, nimble and discreet as a cat. A flash of triumph appeared in the trespasser’s eyes as they landed on the medaillon on the nightstand. She grinned under her hood before grabbing it and raising it to her eye-level. She admired the craftsmanship of the necklace for a few seconds and then reached for bulky satchel at her hip as she faced the bathroom door. “Now, let’s take care of Miss goody-two-books,” the trespasser whispered with glee as she unhooked her satchel, whose content agitated the leather with low hisses. “You’re really mad at the girl, aren’t you?” “Damn straight I...Wait, what?!” the trespasser asked in confusion before she felt someone grabbing her left ankle. A sudden yank of her left leg made the trespasser fall forward, her satchel and the medaillon leaving both her hands as she tried to soften her fall. She looked at her leg, seeing an arm coming out from underneath the bed. An arm that was quickly followed by the rest of its owner’s body. The first trespasser blinked in shock as another woman dressed in a skintight, black ensemble with a matching hood, just like her. Though on the other trespasser, spots of greyish dust covered certain areas of her outfit. “You’d think that the maids of Canterlot Castle would clean under the bed,” the newly-appeared trespasser whispered with a chuckle as she dusted her arms off a little. The other’s response was to quickly stand back up and throwing a kick at the prone newcomer’s sides, only to have her roll out of to her right and thus dodging the stroke. the slightly dusty woman pulled herself completely from underneath the bed, and rolled forward to avoid the other trespasser’s angry stomp. The newcomer managed to stand up on her two feet to catch another kick cast at her. “Wowowowa!” the first-comer let out as her opponent gently pulled her caught leg to her, forcing her to hop forward a couple of times. “Hehehe!” the dusty-one let out with mirth as her adversary tried to keep her balance with wide circles of her arms. “Why you!” The playful chuckle turned into a worried “oh-oh” as the eyes of the hopping thief flashed teal before books came flying at the one holding her leg. Keeping a firm hold on the trapped leg with one arm, Dusty raised the other one to cover face, letting out pained noises each time a heavy volume, which meant every single book available, hit a part of her upper body. Under her face-hiding hood, the Titanian grinned madly as she felt the grip on her leg getting loose as more books collided against her opponent. She strongly started to pull her leg away, leaning backwards to gain more momentum. It was then that she heard a playful “HA” coming from Dusty. Yelping in surprise, she barely had the time to see her suddenly letting go of her right leg before the Titanian saw a deep purple wing appeared on the right of Dusty’s back. The feathery appendage came swiftly against her right shin, making her fall backwards even more abruptly than before. Mid fall, the Titanian felt the wing flapping her lower back upward, thus making her continue her heavy fall on top of the bed instead of the ground, or worse the edge of the wooden bedpost. “Dam…” she began before feeling a gust of wind and her opponent landing on top of her. She struggled against the weight of the Jupitarian for a couple of seconds, landing a fierce punch where the cheek was supposed to be. Growling a bit, the winged woman tried even harder to pin the Titanian down, resulting in a sharp headbutt against her forehead. “OW!” they both let out in pain as stars appeared in front their eyes as they instantly stopped struggling. The slightly stunned Jupitarian shook her head like a dog to recover her wits whereas the Titanian underneath her slowly started to massage her sore forehead with both hands. Blinking the proverbial stars away from her sight, the winged-woman secured her adversary’s wrist in her hands and pinned them above the Titanian’s head. Said Titanian was still feeling a bit faint because of the sudden headbutt and thus barely managed to put up a resistance before she realized the situation she was in. Her arms were strongly held down, just above her head, while her thighs were pinned down onto the bed by the Jupitarian straddling them. She tried to push the woman off, but only succeed in prompting her soft chuckles. The Titanian glared at her until the woman straddling her leaned her head over hers. The embers of anger in her teal eyes were replaced by glimmers of total surprise when they met the playful glint in the purple orbs of the woman above her. A glint that she had seen in only one pair of eyes. The surprised teal orbs then looked at the purple wings displayed on her opponent’s back, seeing the many familiar feathers that she had often used as a warm blanket over her naked body. She felt the grip on her wrists disappear before the Jupitarian’s fingers grazed her skin as they pulled her sleeves up a little, sending exhilarating shivers through her spine. The digits travelled up to her shoulders, quickly but delicately tracing the sides of her neck before they hooked themselves on the Titanian’s hood. “You’ve been hard to catch these days,” the Jupitarian whispered softly as she pulled the hood away, revealing a tanned, panting face under curly locks of red and yellow. “Luckily for you, Sunset Shimmer, I’m quite stubborn in my own rights,” she added in a purred whisper, her face a couple of inches above Sunset’s. “I don’t exactly feel lucky right now, Cloud,” Sunset whispered back softly as her magic unveiled Cloud Kicker’s grinning face and her reddening cheek which Sunset had punched. Cloud rolled her eyes at the pinned Titanian before lowering her face in. Sunset let out a quiet squeal as the blonde’s lips capture her own as her hands caressed both her cheeks. Other than that, she didn’t even put a token resistance and quickly returned the kiss with much dedication and pleasure. Sunset entwined her fingers in the winged-woman’s golden locks as Cloud’s tongue was warmly welcomed in her partner’s mouth. Both women let out muffled moans of pleasure for the rest of their passionate exchange until the blonde pulled away, slowly and purposefully letting the tip of her tongue brush against Sunset’s tongue and lips as she did. “.....Okay, I lied,” Sunset whispered with a heaving chest and half-lidded eyes. “Everyone would feel lucky if I were to pin them down on a bed,” Cloud boastfully claimed with a small smirk. Sunset giggled briefly at the blonde’s boasting, softly brushing the back of her hand against her face. She winced apologetically when it brushed Cloud’s bruised cheek and made her pull her face away a little. It was then that the circumstances of the bruise and their current situation violently came back to her. “What were you doing under Sparkle’s bed?!” Sunset asked with an angry frown and a cold glare. “...Jealous much?” Cloud asked back with mirth, only earning a colder glare in response. “If you must know, I was waiting for you.” “Under her bed?” “Well, I couldn’t be seen or else we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Cloud explained casually. “Considering she didn’t see me and that I managed to catch you by surprise, you’ve got to admit it was a good hiding spot,” Cloud added with a proud smile. “That doesn’t really explain why you’re in Canterlot,” Sunset commented slowly, her tone soft but clearly threatening. “I’m part of the Ponyville delegation for that new Council member ceremony thingy,” Cloud replied. “That doesn’t explain why you’re in this room!” “I had, let’s say, a chat with Velvet Sparkle after seeing her daughter in the rehearsals instead of you,” Cloud explained softly. “She told me that you left the Arcanium as well as why you left…” “And you came in this room to get friendly with my replacement?!” Sunset asked with an angry snarl. Cloud simply cocked a skeptical eyebrow at her. “....Sunset, do you even hear yourself?” she asked slowly. “Did you really think that just because Princess Celestia deems Twilight Sparkle more worthy to put her skinny ass on a seat at a round table of some sort, I would ditch and your much-more-rounded-and-attractive behind?!” Cloud asked with a glare of her own, prompting a small blush from Sunset. “Don’t you know me even a little?” she asked, a little bit of hurt in her voice. “I thought I knew Master Sparkle and look how that turned out,” Sunset replied after a brief time of shameful reflexion. “I thought she had my back, but I was wrong…” “Well, I’m not Velvet Sparkle,” Cloud replied softly. “I’ll always have your back, Sunset…. Especially its lower part,” she added with a playful purr as her palm slided to Sunset’s hip. SLAP “Hmmm...So much passion,” Cloud purred even louder, ignoring the reddening bruise on her other cheek. “Pervert,” Sunset whispered, a small smile chasing her anger away as Cloud brought her face closer to hers. “More seriously though, I’m not here for Twilight Sparkle,” Cloud explained softly. “I’m here because I wanted to be here for you. I’m here because I wanted to stop you from doing a huge mistake.” “What mistake could I possibly do here?” Sunset asked softly. Cloud nodded towards the bathroom door, making Sunset see her hissing satchel and Twilight’s necklace before it. “Revenge will not exactly help you, Sunset,” Cloud replied in a gentle whisper. “It will make me feel good,” Sunset replied with a shaken tone. “She took everything from me. All my dreams, my future and everything…” “She didn’t take me,” Cloud retorted with a small peck on Sunset’s cheek. “And I’m sure I can make you feel better than everything else,” she added with a bold kiss on her jawline. “..N..Not ev-every pr-probl-blem can be reso-olve by your w-ways, Cloud,” Sunset stammered with a mad blush as Cloud peppered her neck with gentle kisses. “A-and you’ve never be-been mine to begin with…” “Let’s assume I let you use whatever there is in that bag on Twilight, what would you do afterwards?” Cloud asked in between her kisses as her hands reached for the Titanian’s cat-suit’s zipper. “I...I’d laugh at her... probably,” Sunset replied with difficulty, as the zipper gently went down. “Th-then I’ll take that medaillon and go.” She managed to say before Cloud nipped at her throat, causing her to bit on her lip. “Why taking the medaillon?” Cloud asked as she pulled the skin-tight suit of her paramour slightly open to kiss her way down Sunset’s shoulder. “I..It was supposed to be mine,” Sunset managed to reply in a moaned whisper. “And then what would you do with an easily recognizable stolen necklace like that one?” Cloud asked softly as she pulled away from Sunset’s golden skin. “....I didn’t think of that yet,” Sunset admitted with a gulp. “I figured as much,” Cloud whispered gently. “If you had thought this through, you wouldn’t be here…” she added before resuming her trail of pecks on her paramour’s shoulder. “Because you thought your actions here through?” Sunset asked with a relaxed moan. “I knew you’re a sore loser and that you’d come here,” Cloud replied with a warm chuckle. “I just wanted to see you and maybe stopping you from doing something stupid… But mostly because I wanted to see you. Badly!” “Why?” “Remember that last conversation we’ve had in your room?” Cloud asked softly as she remembered the day of Sunset’s final trials before the Princesses. “The conversation that was interrupted by Master Sparkle after her daughter ratted on us?” “What are you talking about?” “It was Twilight Sparkle that knocked at my door that day, Cloud,” Sunset explained slowly. “She’s the reason her mother interrupted us.” “Huh. I did not know that,” Cloud let out, casting a brief glance at the bathroom door. “Back to what I was saying though, with that interrupted conversation of ours in mind, I’d like to ask you one thing.” Cloud cleared her throat for a seconds. “Sunset Shimmer, would you like to put up with me being your girlfriend?” Sunset froze instantly as soon as the words escaped Cloud’s lips. Gaping like a fish out of the water, she blinked rapidly as Cloud flashed her brightest and warmest smile. “You mean, girlfriend as in Girlfriend or as in girl that is your friend and with whom you have flings with?” Sunset asked in a timid, shaken whisper. Cloud’s reply was to simply press her lips against hers. It was nothing like what she experienced with the blonde. The animalistic desire and the volcanic passion were absent in Cloud’s kiss, replaced by calm affection and warm tenderness. Sunset and Cloud both closed their eyes as they lost themselves into the gentle kiss. “That answers your question, Sunset?” Cloud asked after softly breaking the kiss, grinning at the sight of Sunset’s lips trying to still capture her own. “Huh-huh,” Sunset replied with a nod. “Come on, let’s get out of here before she gets out of the shower,” Cloud advised as she finally stood up from the bed, and thus off of Sunset. “You know, for a moment there I really thought you’d try to have your ways with me here.” Sunset whispered with rosy cheeks as she pulled her zipper back up. “You know what? For a moment, I thought that too!” Cloud commented as she scratched the back of her head. “So I suggest we move before the idea warms up to me again.” “What am I going to do with y…” “SNAAAAKEEES! SNAAAAKESSSS!” A panicked yell coming from the bathroom startled the two trespassing lovers. Both of them snapped their heads towards the door, noticing the half-dozen of small, scaly and sinuous bodies spread on the floor between the partly-opened satchel and the door. Cloud blinked in horror as she noticed a couple of reptilian tails disappearing through the interstice of the bathroom door. “Really?!” Cloud asked, nearly shouting. “Snakes?!” “Please, those are young ones and I made certain that they’re all fangless and non-poisonous,” Sunset argued with a roll of her eyes. “We’re going to talk about this,” Cloud argued back as she grabbed Sunset’s arm and pulled her toward the balcony. As they opened the door leading to the balcony, a purple flash popped behind them. The pair witnessed the sight of a soaking wet and terrorized Twilight Sparkle, clad in a half-put bathrobe, who had just appeared outside of her bathroom. Right in the middle of the rest of the snakes. She froze instantly as she noticed the sinuous reptiles next to her, too nervous to even move a muscle. Until a snake wrapped itself around her knees. Cold shivers of dread travelled up the Councilor’s body before they reached her head. It was then that it proved to be too much for her and she heavily collapsed on the floor. As a snake slided on top of the collapsed young girl’s upper body, Cloud cocked an eyebrow at the curly-haired Titanian who was trying to pull her away from the glass-door. “Ahem!” Cloud coughed in her hand. “What?!” “Aren’t you forgetting something?” “No!” “Sunset!” “I told you, no!” “Sunset!” “Urgh! Fiiiiine!” Teal auras of magic surrounded the scattered reptiles before levitating them back into the satchel. After a vigorous nod from Cloud, Sunset went back inside, opened the door of the bathroom and caught the remaining snakes in it, ignoring the unconscious girl in the room. Once the twelve reptiles safely gathered in her satchel, Sunset joined Cloud on the balcony. Smiling playfully at the sour pout of the Titanian, Cloud wrapped her arms around her waist and conjured her wings to take off, while someone knocked at the door. They safely reached the ground below as Initiate Sentry timidly peaked inside the room, asking if everything was alright. Author's Note Here goes part 4/5 of the story, Cloud finally caught Sunset Shimmer :) (Poor Twilight though ) I'd like to give a huge thanks to Royal Rainbow for Pre-reading this little bit of writing of mine. And also a huge thank you to My patrons for their Support: Joseph Marques, Adam Tomkinson, Brad Snow, ScaredTuna, DerRotSpassvogel, Robert Redd, Michael Abell, James Zhang, Anthurak. You can support my writings and my other mlp project on Patreon Comments are always appreciated. (even the negative ones ) Love, Mariacheat-Brony PS: Angel Wings still needs voice actors for fan fiction reading project of the first Apple Scratch Story: More infos here!
