Tales of Apple Scratch: Meeting a Monster
"Come on girls! I know a nice little place!" Cloud Kicker smiled as she led the two women behind her through the darkening skies over Ponyville. Her companions were her fellow graduates from the Las Pegasus Training Grounds. One had lightly pale skin with freckles on her cheeks and light purple hair striped with green; while the other was brawny, pale skinned without freckles and vibrant red hair. They had just arrived off the train about an hour ago, when their new CO: Lieutenant Constance Vigilance had told them to take in the sights that evening but be ready by oh-eight hundred the next morning. So as soon as the other two had stored their gear in the barracks, and had followed Cloud to her new house to drop off her stuff, Cloud decided to introduce the two to some local flavor.
"Welcome to Bon-Bon's!" Cloud stated with a smirk after landing outside a small tavern. Striding over to the door, she opened it and waved the other two inside.
Gale shrugged and entered but Blossom hesitated, "Really Cloud?"
Cloud just grinned and waved the comment off, "It's not a bad place, and the owner's an old friend of mine!" She had found out her old friend Bonnie Sweetdrops had just recently accomplished her childhood dream and opened this tavern a few months ago, when she had come back to Ponyville and bought her new place after being required to use some of her leave time.
Blossomforth just shrugged and entered the tavern followed by Cloud. Seeing most of the bar being occupied by four burly guys, Cloud led her group to a table near the dance floor. A thin woman who had white hair with teal ends dressed in a waiter's outfit came over and hugged Cloud with a smile. "Girls meet Lyra, she's an old friend of mine. Lyra meet Gale and Blossomforth, they graduated with me and will be stationed her too!" After greeting the newcomers, Lyra took their drink orders and left.
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Cloud was finishing her third mug of cider (non-alcoholic) having just finished regaling Blossom and Gale with another tale about Ponyville, when a glance at the counter caused her to chuckle mentally. Apparently a fifth figure had taken a seat at the bar, one with a blonde ponytail and familiar worn stetson. Just as Cloud was thinking of inviting her old friend Applejack over to meet her two drinking buddies, a commotion from the four guys at the bar gave her pause.
Apparently an argument had broken out and all Cloud could do was wince as one of the men reared his hand back, mug still in hand, before swinging forward again to hit another of the men. Unfortunately the action had the unforeseen consequence of emptying the contents of the once filled mug over the countenance of the blonde and her hat. With indignation flashing in her emerald eyes, the blonde wiped off her hat before belting the offender in the back of the head. This caused the other two men to try and assault the blonde.
Sighing with just a hint of mirth, Cloud gestured at the fight, "I guess we better break it up." Motioning Gale to behind the blonde and Blossom to the other side, Cloud held back a little to observe with a grin. Gale was charging bolts into her closed hands, and Blossom had popped her wings and caught up one of the drunks in a whirlwind. Applejack, meanwhile, grabbed two of the men by the back of their necks and clonked their head together like a pair of coconuts.
"Clear!" Gale shouted as she hit the the tall blonde in the back with her lightning charged hands having come in on the other woman's blind side. Expecting the blonde to fall to the ground stunned, Gale was unprepared for her to swing her fist into Gale's midsection after a venting an irritated "Ow". To Gale it felt like someone just hit her with a sledgehammer, causing her to groan and fold up on the floor.
Blossom seeing Gale fall, after knife-handing the last man into unconsciousness, attempted to knock the blonde of her feet by hitting her with a magically called gust of wind from a beat of her wings. All this ended up doing was blowing the blonde's hat off her head. With moments quick as a viper Applejack raised her right hand to catch the hat whilst her left darted forward and flicked the end of Blossom's nose; causing her to yelp, cover the attacked area with her hands, and dropping the unfortunate drunk that had been suspended by her whirlwind.
Just as Applejack was preparing to counter another attack, she heard someone call out, "Jacquelyn, if you ever want to see what sent you a photo of in person you'll stop."
"Photo?" Applejack queried as her eyes turned to the speaker. Quickly she lowered her hat over her face to hide her grimace as recognition dawned, "Dammit Cloud, Ah don't want to see nothin' of the sort!"
Cloud smiled and stepped forward giving her friend a hug, before introducing her friends to each other with growls from Applejack after the comment of "That's the monster that trained you?" After a lot of apologies from both sides and congratulations from Applejack to the trio both for graduating and getting stationed in town, they decided to head back to the guard station.
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Connie (as her few friends still alive called her) was smoking a cigarette by the side corner of her office when she saw them, one new private helping the other (who was holding her stomach) along as her new sergeant was chatting happily with a very familiar local resident carrying four limp figures bound with fluffy bands. Shaking her head with a smirk before heading back into her office Constance just mumbled, "Well at least the next few years won't be boring."
Author's Note
A scene I had always wanted to see, but was never discussed.