Cloud Kicker had come back to her apartment, nearby Ponyville's marketplace. The first thing she did was walk straight to her bathroom to get the shower running. Her water heater always took a couple of minutes before the water got warm enough to have a relaxing shower. Right now, she was in great need of relaxation.
She was about to turn the water on when she winced and let out a soft cry of pain as her right hand came in contact with the faucet. After shaking it for a couple of seconds, she took a glance at her palm and noticed it was bright red, as if it had been sunburned.
"I shouldn't have conjured that sword without my gauntlet on," Cloud Kicker commented sourly before opening her cabinet to get one ointment against skin burns. "I guess the shower will have to wait a little..."
After having treated her hand, she went out of the bathroom to get to her bedroom. She laid down on her bed and stared at the ceiling for about half a hour, her mind filled with visions of what had happened over the Guard Post. The more she thought about it, the happier she was about Blossomforth's intervention. She would have definitely hit Gilda with her 'storm-blade' if her sergeant hadn't acted on time. It would have been worse. Much more worse.
Her train of thought concerning her altercation with the Cloudsdalian was interrupted by the sound of a teleportation spell accompanied by a purple flash, both coming from her living room.
"Cloud? Cloud, are you here?" Twilight's frantic voice asked.
"Twilight?" Cloud Kicker called with a surprised tone as she sat up on her bed.
Her bedroom's door slammed open to let a panicked and slightly crying Twilight in. As soon as she saw Cloud Kicker on her bed, Twilight rushed at her to pull the surprised guard into a bone crushing hug.
"Thank Faust, you're ok," Twilight whispered with a shaken, but relieved voice.
"Why wouldn't I be ok?" Cloud Kicker asked softly.
"I... I just..." Twilight stammered as she wiped her tears away.
"Shhhh," Cloud Kicker whispered as she put her left hand on Twilight's cheek. "Take a deep breath... and relax." Twilight did as instructed, finally calming herself both thanks to Cloud Kicker's advice and the warmth from her hand. "Now, what happened?"
"One of your guards came to see Rainbow Dash when we were in the Hotel's bar," Twilight explained slowly. "He said that Gilda was locked up in the Guard Post's cells.... When Rainbow asked why, he said that she had gotten into a fight with you.... A pretty serious one apparently..." Twilight's voice trembled a bit, so Cloud Kicker started to gently caress her cheek. "...I thought she had hurt you... I teleported to the hospital... When I heard they hadn't admitted you... I teleported to the Guard Post and someone told me you might be at your place...." tears were slowly trying their way in her eyes.
"Hey... Don't cry anymore," Cloud Kicker said softly with a comforting voice. "I'm fine, you see?"
Twilight sniffed. "Yeah, I know that now...."
As she said that, the corners of her mouth raised up to form a small smile. Cloud Kicker returned the smile before giving her a reassuring kiss on the forehead. Twilight let her face fall on Cloud Kicker's shoulder, causing the guard to gently hug her and softly rock her.
"I'm sorry I panicked about...." Twilight began in a whisper, after a couple of minutes long silence.
"No, it's ok. Don't apologize." Cloud Kicker interrupted her softly.
"... What happened with Gilda?" Twilight asked hesitantly.
Cloud Kicker pondered about revealing Gilda's actions to her lover. She decided to be honest about certain facts she had left obscured, for Twilight's sake.
"You remember how I snapped at Gilda during the swordsman tournament?" Twilight nodded softly. "I haven't been completely honest about what actually happened between her and me...."
At that remark, Twilight's eyes snapped open in shock as she broke away from Cloud Kicker's hug, much to Cloud Kicker's surprise. Twilight looked at her with an incredulous expression perfectly mixed with a lot of pain. Cloud Kicker didn't understand why Twilight was making such a sad face, until she thought about what she'd just said.
"...no, no, no, NO!" Cloud Kicker shook her head vigorously. "It has nothing to do about what you think!"
"....You're sure?" Twilight asked slowly, relief slowly taking the hold of her voice.
"Yes, I'm sure!" Cloud Kicker said loudly, a little bit offended that Twilight thought that. "You're the greatest thing that's ever happened in my love life! I'm not gonna go and fool around anymore! That chapter of my life has been over for more than two months already and I'm not gonna change that! Especially not with an ugly bitch like Gilda Skytalon!"
Twilight managed to smile at the ranting guard. "Well, I'm flattered about what you said about us..... Sorry, I overreacted to what you said, I should've trusted you."
Cloud Kicker sighed. "I guess I could've phrased things better." Twilight nodded with a short giggle. "Anyway, back to what I was saying. Gilda knows about us."
"And?" Twilight asked in confusion. "She's a friend of Rainbow Dash, she ...."
"She threatened me to reveal everything to Shining Armor, unless I'd deliberately lose the match," Cloud Kicker explained.
"What?" Twilight asked, slowly starting to panic again, for another reason this time. "Oh, no, no, no, no!"
"Twilight!" Cloud Kicker shouted with her best commanding tone, causing her lover to sit still as she was about to stand to run panicky in circles. "Remain calm until I finish, please. Can you do that?" Twilight nodded swiftly. "Ok. After the match, she sent a letter to your brother, saying that something between you and me was happening," Cloud Kicker explained. "If not for Spitfire knocking some sense into him, he would have come to Sweet Apple Acres yesterday."
"What did she say to him?" Twilight asked, her voice hardly louder than a whisper.
"Something along the line that what and who you're doing aren't really his business," Cloud Kicker said casually. "Not phrased like that, of course." she added when she noticed Twilight's shock.
"Of course..." Twilight said slowly. "What about tonight?"
"Well...."
Cloud Kicker explained what happened earlier; How Blossomforth had been looking for her because Gilda was venting her frustration from being expelled from the competition by Rainbow Dash. How Gilda was convinced it was her fault because she hadn't submitted to her blackmail. How Gilda had assaulted her.
"You're trying to tell me that you fought her without any weapons?" Twilight asked with a shocked, yet amazed face.
"Twilight, I'm the commanding officer of the Royal Guard's unit stationed right next to the Everfree Forest," Cloud Kicker said matter-of-factly. "I was trained and formed by some the strongest Jupitarian guards still on duty. I can face basically anything with or without any weapons." she pondered in silence for a couple of seconds. "Except dragons. And Applejack," Cloud Kicker admitted. "I don't think I could ever subdue monsters like that."
"Aachaaaa!"
"Darling...Are you ok?" a heavily panting Rarity asked with worry. "You didn't catch a cold, did you?"
"Nah," Applejack answered, rubbing her nose with her finger. "Some dust in ma nose, Ah reckon." she looked at Rarity with a hungry smirk. "So..... Yer up for round four, Sugarcube?"
"Haven't you had enough already?" Rarity asked with wide eyes and a growing blush.
"O'course Ah haven't! Ah've just finished warmin' up..... The real thing starts..." Applejack purred before leaning toward Rarity's neck. "...now!" she firmly pecked her lover's skin.
"Oh my," Rarity moaned with satisfaction as the peck turned into a sensual lick.
"Seriously?" Twilight asked with a cocked eyebrow. "You're putting Applejack on the same level as a dragon?"
"Well, not really," Cloud Kicker admitted casually. "As a matter of fact, I'm more scared of Applejack than I'm of dragons. Though, that might be because I've never seen an actual dragon before."
"Anyway, back to what you were saying about Gilda," Twilight said with concern. "She attacked you, then what happened?"
"We fought together until I conjured a storm-blade..."
"A storm-blade? What's that?" Twilight asked, her worries and concern completely abandoned to an eager curiosity.
"A form of cloud-shaping magic, I'll explain it to you later." Cloud Kicker waved off casually. "As I was saying...."
"Awwww, why not now?" Twilight complained with an adorable pout.
"Twilight, it's not really the moment...."
Twilight put her lower lip a bit forward, trying to mimic Pinkie Pie's ultimate puppy face.
"Twilight, please stop...."
Twilight leaned her head forward, causing her to have her eyes looking up to Cloud Kicker.
"Twilight,...."
"Pretty please...." Twilight whimpered while fluttering her eyelashes.
Those two things, the whimper and the flutters, added to what she'd already done previously was nearly at the level of what Pinkie could muster, which could only mean that anybody would fall for that.
"Twilight, you're probably the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life," Cloud Kicker said softly.
Twilight smiled amorously at her lover.
"But, I'm not changing the subject of this conversation," Cloud Kicker said firmly. "It's kinda important!"
Apparently, Cloud Kicker wasn't anybody.
"Awww," Twilight sighed in defeat. "I wanted to know...."
"And you will, I promise," Cloud Kicker assured affectionately. "As I was saying, at some point, Blossomforth interrupted our fight and Gilda was taken to the infirmary. I chatted with Blossom and she made a rather noteworthy remark...." Cloud Kicker paused to swallow her saliva. "She thinks that you and I shouldn't hide what we have anymore..."
"Well, it's kinda complicated...." Twilight said uneasily.
"... and I kinda agree with her," Cloud Kicker continued as if uninterrupted.
"Cloudy, it's not that simple...."
"I don't really see how it's not simple, Twilight," Cloud Kicker replied softly. "I love you, you love me. Simpler than that doesn't exist!"
"I do love you, but I'm scared of how people are going to react..."
"Twilight, I can understand that," Cloud Kicker admitted. "But, put yourself in my place, I've never cared about what people thought of me before."
"I know...” Twilight gave a short nod. “I- I kinda find that rather attractive," Twilight said with a sheepish grin.
"Oh!" Cloud Kicker started to blush. "Well, uh...thank you." she scratched the tip of her nose awkwardly. "Look, I care about you. I care about you a whole lot. I want to show it! I don't want to have what we have hidden because of what people might think about us. I’ve never cared about what they thought whenever I did something 'wrong'. Why should it be different about something that makes me happier than ever?" she asked with a soft, caring tone.
A deep silence filled the room after her question. Cloud Kicker watched Twilight staring at her with an impassible frown until her lover's eyes shined with happy tears and her frown turned into a small loving smile.
"... You're right," Twilight assented in a whisper.
"I know you don't want....hang on! What?" Cloud Kicker asked with a shocked and surprised expression.
"I said you were right, Cloudy," Twilight repeated with a short giggle, passing her arms around the guard's neck. "You're absolutely right. I love you and I shouldn't have to hide it from anyone!" she noticed that Cloud Kicker kept her dumbstruck expression. "Why are you so shocked?" Twilight asked cheerfully.
"Well, I kinda thought it'd take a lot more time than that to convince you...." Cloud Kicker explained.
"Blame it on you for being an incredible force of persuasion." Twilight winked. "After all, when we first met, you 'conquered' me in about twenty minutes. Me, the sheltered leader of the Council of Harmony," she added with a playful chuckle.
"Well, I'm the amazing Lieutenant Kicker after all." Cloud Kicker chuckled. “And it was fifteen minutes, not twenty.”
"I maintain it was twenty minutes, but I’ll admit that you’re indeed amazing,” Twilight beamed. ”You're MY amazing Lieutenant Kicker," Twilight whispered fondly, leaning toward Cloud Kicker.
"Hmmm, could you repeat that, please?" Cloud Kicker asked amorously, leaning toward Twilight as well.
"My...." Twilight gently pecked Cloud Kicker's lips. "...Amazing..." another peck. "....Beautiful..." a longer one. "....Sexy...." Twilight gently licked her lover's lips. "....Lieutenant.... Kickmfff."
Cloud Kicker grabbed the back of her lover's head and pulled her into a deep and passionate make out session. They both sighed with pleasure as their tongues 'dueled' together for the dominance of their lover's mouth. After a couple of minutes long kiss, which felt like it lasted for hours for both of them, they broke apart. Both sets of purple eyes locked on each other.
"So, you wanted to know what a storm-blade is, am I right?" Cloud Kicker asked softly.
"Don't you want to discuss about us coming out to my family?"
"That can wait until tomorrow morning, can't it?" Cloud Kicker whispered as she pulled Twilight close to her. "How about we have ourselves a good night of casual talk? Just like during our very first date?"
Twilight beamed before snuggling her lover closely. "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."
Cloud Kicker conjured her dark purple wings to wrap them around Twilight and herself. As she felt the feathery appendages wrapping around her, Twilight sighed happily. She had always liked the contact of Cloud Kicker's wings on her skin. They were warmer and softer than any blanket she had ever used before. Considering the fact that Cloud Kicker could put them to, let's say, a good use, it was no surprise that Twilight liked them.
"Cloudy…" Twilight whispered when she noticed something on her lover's wings.
"Yes?"
"Is it just me or your wings are darker than a couple of days ago?" Twilight asked, tilting her head to the right in confusion.
Cloud Kicker observed her feathery appendages and noticed that they were indeed of a darker purple hue than before. She kept a puzzled frown before her gaze fell upon Twilight's purple clothes. Her lover's clothes and her wings' color were a perfect match.
"I think I've grown a liking for deep purple over the last few days," Cloud Kicker said with a short chuckle.
"Huh?" Twilight let out in confusion.
"So, you're ready for a crash course on cloud-shaping?"
"Oh, yes!" Twilight squealed excitedly, her eyes lit up at the prospect of a new knowledge.
"So, cloud-shaping works thanks to several basic principles……"
"Are you sure it's a good idea to do that today, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked quietly as the others and her were standing a bit apart of the road to the reception hall in which Octavia's uncle hosted the reception.
"A good idea? I'm not sure," Twilight admitted casually. "But, the sooner it's done, the better! The fact it's a secret has already caused my Cloudy enough trouble!" she stated firmly.
"Awww, isn't it cute?" Pinkie chimed in happily, as she was jumping around Twilight. "She's all possessive about her honey, just like a big teddy bear!"
"Pinkie dear, hold still a minute for Titania's sake!" Rarity chastised while Twilight was blushing in embarrassment at their bubbly friend's remark. "How do you want me to get rid of the creases on your clothes if you keep bouncing around?" she asked impatiently, her royal blue magic surrounding Pinkie's skirt. "Honestly, you could have told me before we left the hotel, Darling."
"I told you that I didn't notice them before you did, two minutes ago," Pinkie said in a genuine apologetic tone.
"It's alright, Pinkie." Octavia reassured her. "You know how crazy Rarity can get about clothes, right?"
Everyone nodded at Octavia's question while Rarity frowned in concentration as she focused her magic on Pinkie's skirt, not showing any signs of having heard her cellist friend's remark about her.
"And... Done!" Rarity exclaimed as the aura around Pinkie's, now creaseless, skirt faded. "Now, if I'm so crazy about clothes, maybe I should start asking you to pay for what you all take from my work room?" she asked slowly, smirking when she noticed how her friends seemed to dread that possibility. "That's what I thought."
"Anyway, let's go! We don't want to be late," Octavia said awkwardly before walking toward the reception in the Town-hall.
"Octavia, my dear, what a pleasure to see you!" Fancy Pants said happily when he saw his niece entering the building, the other members of the Council in tow.
"Uncle," Octavia called with a smile before hugging her uncle. "I'm happy to see you too. Where's aunt Fleur?"
"She's discussing with some of her friends from when she was modeling. Not exactly my cup of tea, if you know what I mean?" he winked playfully, earning a approving chuckle from his niece, before turning to face the other members. "Hello, my ladies," he said with a short, polite bow.
"Hiyaaa, Tavi's uncle!" Pinkie Pie said cheerfully.
"I do apologize for Pinkie's behavior, Fancy," Rarity said awkwardly. "Did everything go well with your new caterers?"
"It went perfectly, my dear. Remind me to thank Ms. Apple for her suggestion," Fancy said happily.
"Speaking of Apples, have they arrived yet, Uncle?" Octavia asked with curiosity.
"Mrs Smith, her grandson, her youngest granddaughter and one of her nieces have already arrived," Fancy explained before turning around to spot the Apple Family near the buffet table, busy talking with Bon-Bon and Lyra. "There they are!"
Fluttershy and Pinkie excused themselves to go and say hello to the Apples, as they both haven't seen them since their arrival, nearly two weeks ago. Twilight, Rarity and Octavia remained with the latter's uncle and explained why Rainbow had decided not to come. Apparently, Gilda's incident with the Guard's Lieutenant had kept her busy all day; explaining to Gilda's father why his daughter was held in the Guard's cells wasn't an easy feat.
The Council of Harmony quickly scattered after a small talk with Fancy Pants. Octavia went to see her aunt who was now busy speaking with the band, which was made up of some of Octavia's friends. Twilight went to see her brother and his wife who were busy talking to a woman with grey hair she recognized as the Ponyville's Mayor. Rarity remained with Fancy Pants as some of her contacts from Canterlot went to see him and her.
"Hi, Octavia!" Beauty Brass said happily when the cellist arrived where they were. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Brass," Octavia answered with a smile before saying hello to her aunt, Brass, Frederic and Harpo, her deep blue haired friend who played the harp. "What about you all, how are things?"
"Things are going great so far," Frederic said casually. "Your girlfriend sure impressed the entire Coliseum yesterday."
"That's so true," Harpo commented with a short nod. "Just thinking about her match with Shining Armor gives me the shivers." Octavia smiled happily at her friends complimenting her lover.
"Indeed." Fleur nodded. "I must say that Ponyville sure created the surprise in those Games. For a first time in the competition, they sure managed to gather an excellent team."
"Say, Octavia, where's Vinyl?" Brass asked with curiosity. "I thought she'll be coming with you."
"I don't know actually," Octavia answered. "Granny Smith's here with Macintosh and AppleBloom but no signs of Vinyl or Applejack so far." she noticed her friends interrogative frowns. "That's her grandmother and her siblings," Octavia explained with a chuckle while her friends let out a long 'oh' of understanding. "Do you want me to introduce you to them?"
"It would have been a pleasure but we have to start playing in a couple of minutes," Frederic answered.
"Come on, we got time. It's not like the Princess are here ye...." Beauty Brass stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw the royal carriage stopping in front of the Town Hall thanks to the large windows of the room. "Oh dear, let's go!" she said in a small panic before nearly running on stage with Harpo and Frederic on her heels, leaving Octavia and her aunt giggling softly at them.
"Why don't you introduce me to Vinyl's family after I’ve welcomed the Princesses with your uncle, dear?" Fleur asked softly when she calmed her bout of giggling.
"Sure thing, Aunt. I'll wait for you with them," Octavia replied with a smile before heading to the Apples while Fleur joined her husband near the entrance of the room.
"Oh, no!" the Mayor whispered in a slightly disappointed voice when she saw the carriage's arrival.
"What's wrong, madam?" Cadence asked softly in confusion.
"It's nothing important," the Mayor explained sourly. "I've arranged with the Lieutenant Kicker for the elite our town's Guard to be present for the Princesses' arrival, but they're not here yet."
"That's weird," Shining commented slowly. "It's not in Cloud Kicker's habits to be late."
"Because you know Cloud Kicker's habits, Shining?" Cadence whispered bitterly, more for herself than anyone else, with a frown.
"Well," the Mayor began uneasily. "She wasn't very keen on the idea at first. It might be partly because I talked to her about it only last night...."
"I can understand why she'd be upset about it," Twilight commented matter-of-factly.
"I know," the Mayor admitted. "But with the Games and this reception nearly getting cancelled, I haven't got time to warn her before. And with what happened yesterday, she probably wasn’t really in the good mood she seemed be in this morning.”
“What happened yesterday?” Cadence asked with curiosity.
“Don’t you remember what Fluttershy told us this morning?” Shining asked. “A guard came to tell Rainbow that Gilda got arrested after assaulting Cloud Kicker.”
“Right.” Cadence face-palmed with a groan. “How could I have forgotten that?”
After that, the group decided to go welcoming the High-Princesses with Fancy Pants and his wife. When they arrived near them, both Celestia and Luna faced the Mayor with with a genuine smile.
“Greetings, Mayor Mane,” Celestia called happily. “I’d like to bid you a good evening and to thank you for your idea. It was very thoughtful of you.”
“Indeed it was, Sister,” Luna commented cheerfully.
“What do you mean, your Highnesses?” Mayor Mane asked in a polite confusion.
Celestia looked as confused as the Mayor. “Well, I was referring to you arranging Ponyville’s Guard to escort me and my sister from our residence,” she explained by waving at her escort.
Everyone’s gaze turned to the Princesses’ escort guards and noticed none of them were wearing the traditional armor of the Solar or the Lunar Guards. The fifteen knights and the six winged soldiers were all equipped with a crimson plated armor trimmed with gold; Ponyville Guard’s ceremonial armor.
“The Lieutenant Kicker said you’ve arranged things with her in order that our carriage did a small tour of Ponyville,” Luna explained. “It was very interesting,” she added with a genuinely happy smile.
“It was partially the reason we might be a bit late.” Celestia said in an apologetic tone as she faced Fancy Pants.
“You’re right on time, your Highnesses,” Fancy assured with a polite bow.
“Thank you again, Madam Mayor,” Luna said cheerfully before coming in the village hall.
“You’re really doing a good job in Ponyville,” Celestia assured with sincerity before joining her sister inside.
Cadence, Shining and Octavia’s relatives followed the Princesses inside, leaving a rather stunned Mayor behind with Twilight who was admiring Cloud Kicker who was sharing the posts for her men out. Cloud Kicker looked quite fetching in her ceremonial armor. After her men scattered to their assigned posts, Cloud Kicker walked up to Mayor Mane before taking her helmet off.
“You wanted to impress the Princesses, Mayor,” Cloud Kicker said softly. “I guess it’s now done.” she added with a wink.
The Mayor blinked a couple of times before smiling at the leader of her town’s guard.
“You’re really full of surprises, Cloud Kicker,” the Mayor said with contentment. “I’ll make this up to you, I promise.”
“Don’t forget my men’s New Year’s bonus and we’re good.” Cloud Kicker chuckled.
“I won’t.” Mayor Mane assured with a nod before going inside the hall.
“Ok, she’s gone,” Cloud Kicker said to the two guards who were stationed next to carriage when the Mayor was out of earshot. “Thanks again for filling the gap.”
“Huh?” Twilight said in confusion.
“Next time yer two guards short, don’t call us, CK!” Applejack said as she took her helmet off.
“Yeah!” Vinyl said vigorously as she was unbuckling the crimson breastplate she was wearing. “Seriously, how do you even do to remain calm with this thing on?” she tapped her armor. “It itches terribly.”
“Well, the Mayor did ask for Ponyville’s elite, I couldn’t really do it without you two!” Cloud Kicker winked at her friends.
“You sweet talking scoundrel!” both Apples chuckled simultaneously.