“So, that’s it then?” Applejack said slowly, her gaze sliding along the waiting, blue locomotive and its wagons in Ponyville Station. “Yer really leavin’.” she sighed before facing the smaller blonde next to her.
“Come on, AJ,” Cloud said softly, resting her hand on her trainer/friend’s shoulder. “It’s not like I won’t come back!”
“Yeah, but with Vinyl gone to that fancy boardin’ school, an ya leavin’ for trainin’, Ah’m gonna be all alone!” Applejack pouted.
“Awwww!” Cloud cooed in a very girly fashion. “I’m gonna miss you too, Honey!” she whispered with affection as she hugged her friend.
“Do not call me ‘Honey’!” Applejack growled before nonetheless passing her arms around her friend’s shoulders. “Ah still got enough time to kick ya unconscious and throw ya in this here train, if ya do!”
“Nah, I’m good!” Cloud assured playfully before sighing softly. “Thanks for seeing me off, AJ! I really appreciate it,” she added in low whisper.
“It was a pleasure, Sugar,” Applejack replied gently. “Ah wasn’t gonna let ya leave Ponyville without a proper goodbye, was Ah?”
“I know but it’s so early. Beside us and the train people, there’s no one here.” Cloud argued slowly, pointing at the nearly empty platform on this morning of September.
“It ain’t much earlier than what Ah’m used to, Sugarcube!” Applejack replied with a wink.
“I suppose,” Cloud replied with a chuckle before breaking the hug. “I should get going,” she stated as the sharp whistle signaling the departure of the train rang throughout the station.
“All righty then!” Applejack nodded with a comforting smile. “Don’t hesitate to write, Cloudy. Ah sure as sugar would like to know if ma trainin’ is worth somethin’ compared to the Guard’s!” she added playfully while Cloud grabbed her travel bag and walked to the wagon.
“Well, training with you made this...” Cloud slapped her well-toned, right buttcheek with a spicy gaze directed to her friend. “...even more enticing than it was before. It’s certainly something, isn’t it?”
Applejack reacted much like Cloud had predicted she would: a slight blush followed by a few grumbles and the farmer pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. During the two years she had trained with the farmer, Cloud had the opportunities to witness those gestures many times.
Luckily, since the Jupitarian had already a foot on the train when she teased Applejack with her frisky behavior, she avoided the flick of nose that would have followed like every other time she teased her friend.
The one time Applejack had almost broken her nose while doing so had convinced her to not poke Applejack when she was in range. Many would think it would have convinced her to change her behavior, but making her freckled friend uneasy was worth the risk.
When one of the station workers closed the door of her wagon, Cloud gave Applejack a final wave and pulled a small envelope from her rear pocket before throwing it through a window to the farmer. Cloud blew a small puff of wind to make the envelope fly to her friend, and settled on a seat close to a window.
“Thank ya for training me, AJ,” Applejack read out loud the note on the envelope she had caught mid flying.
She opened it and pulled out a small note that said: So that you don’t forget about me! An extremely puzzled Applejack turned the note in her hand, noticing it wasn’t a paper note but a photograph.
“Hehehe!” Cloud chuckled softly as she saw Applejack instantly turning redder than the reddest apples of her family orchard while the train was slowly leaving the station. “How do you like them apples, Applejack?” she whispered before settling comfortably on her seat to watch the landscapes from the train.
*****
“Excuse me?” a man’s voice called Cloud out of her slumber from outside her compartment. “Can I take a seat?”
“Huh… Oh, sure, go ahead!” Cloud replied with yawn while rubbing her eyes open.
Since the train to Las Pegasus had to leave Ponyville a bit later than dawn, Cloud had decided to catch up on her sleep. After all, she was in for a twenty-four hour ride. When the blur of sleep left her eyes she saw the man who had just entered her until now empty compartment.
He was a young man, maybe three years older than her at best. He was wearing a light blue jersey that couldn’t hide the athletic build he had despite being a bit too large for him. Now, he wasn’t built like Macintosh, though Cloud was certain that she would only find men more muscular than her friends’ brother in a Half-giants tribe, should that even exist.
The man put his travelbag above the other seat of the compartment before passing his hand through his short, dark blue hair with two bright yellow stripes in it, one on each side of his head. Then the man sat down across Cloud before casting a shy smile in her direction.
Well, isn’t he a cutie? Cloud thought while she returned the smile gently. “Hi there!”
“Good afternoon,” he replied politely.
Cloud waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. He simply tapped his thumbs together while gazing absently outside the moving train. If her past experiences were of any indication, Cloud wasn’t used to men not trying to flirt with her, whether she wanted or not. Though the latter wasn’t really common occurrence.
She brushed it off quickly. Maybe he was in a happy relationship and didn’t have to look around, maybe she wasn’t his type of girl, he could be gay for all she knew, or extremely shy with girls. Or her charms weren’t as good as she thought they were…. though she really hoped it wasn’t the case for the latter.
“So, which town did we just leave?” Cloud asked after not recognizing the landscape outside.
“Baltimare,” he replied casually.
“Huh, that far already?” Cloud commented to herself. “I sure took a long morning nap.”
“I suppose you needed it,” the blue haired young man commented slowly.
“Sort of,” Cloud agreed with a small smile. “Someone sure tired me out yesterday,” she added as she thought back to her last training session with Applejack.
“Boyfriend, huh?” the man commented casually before realizing that he had voiced his thoughts out loud.
Cloud blinked before flashing a seductive smile at the man, causing him to blush in embarrassment. She knew that her choice of her words hadn’t been the best to talk about her physical training with her friend… though, wrestling with the tall blonde, clashing bodies together in attempts to throw her off of herself… It wasn’t that far from what the man had imagined.
“Maybe…Maybe not.” Cloud replied with a wink, causing the man to look straight at the ground, his blush deepening. “My name’s Cloud Kicker!” she added before extending her hand to the man.
“Hmm.. Ford Mustang,” Ford replied, slowly shaking Cloud’s hand.
“Mustang, huh? You don’t look like the wild type,” she commented slowly.
“Quite the opposite actually,” Ford replied with a sheepish chuckle.
“Well, I hardly give kicks so who am I to judge?” Cloud asked jokingly, relaxing her interlocutor a bit. “Where are you heading?”
“Las Pegasus,” Ford replied matter-of-factly.
“Trying your luck in the casinos?”
“Not really,” he commented in a sour tone. “Royal Guard’s training grounds,” he specified when he saw the interrogation on the blonde’s face.
“If I hear you correctly, it wasn’t your decision,” Cloud commented with sympathy.
“You heard right.” Ford nodded slowly. “Being a guard is a family tradition that I can’t skip apparently.”
“Family traditions can be a tad annoying when they don’t match your aspirations,” Cloud agreed slowly.
“Glad to see I’m not the only one with familial issues of that order.” Ford nodded sympathetically.
“It’ll give us something to talk about in the barracks at the end of the day.” Cloud’s comment puzzled Ford. “I’m also going for the training grounds, though it’s against the familial traditions in my case,” she explained with a chuckle.
“You actually want to become a royal guard?” Ford asked with a dumbfounded expression.
“Why is it that hard to believe?” Cloud asked with annoyance, repeating the same question she had kept asking to her parents since she told them what she wanted to do with her life.
“Well, you don’t really look the part, no offense!” Ford explained uneasily.
“What part do I look then, Ford?” Cloud snapped bitterly. “The one of a nameless weatherwoman?”
“While there’s nothing wrong with being in the weather management, I was thinking something more along the line of modelling,” Ford replied, scratching his nose sheepishly.
“Oh!” Cloud let out in surprise. “Really?”
“Well, you’re kinda really pretty so...yeah, really,” Ford mumbled with a small blush.
“Thanks.” Cloud gave him a coy wink. “It’s getting a little cold, don’t you think?” she asked with slight shivers.
“I don’t really think so,” Ford replied in confusion. It wasn’t really summer anymore, but it was still a rather mild temperature.
“I’m still going to grab a sweater though,” Cloud replied before standing up to reach for her bag above her seat. “It’s a bit warmer where I come from!”
Tall as she was, which didn’t mean much compared to Applejack or Ford, Cloud had to stretch to grab her bag, inadvertently lifting the downside of her baggy T-shirt, thus giving the man in the compartiment a much more interesting sight than the moving landscapes.
“Are you going to help me, or you plan on staring in the hope that my pants eventually disappear without reason?” Cloud asked playfully after a minute or two spent trying to reach her bag.
“Oh, huh, sure!”
Ford quickly stood up to help her, his cheeks red because of what she had suggested. Though he couldn’t deny that hope had made its way through his mind, even for a second.
As soon as he took a step in her direction, a loud and sharp screeching sound rang through the whole compartment before the train came to a sudden stop. Cloud let out a very high pitched shriek when the momentum of the train made her, and most likely every one on the train, fall backward.
“Aouch!” Ford groaned, rubbing the back his head that had bumped into the edge of his seat during his fall. “What happened?”
“I think it was the emergency brake,” Cloud supposed from on top of Ford. “Looks like you softened my fall… That’s good news!”
“Glad I was useful for something,” Ford replied with a roll of his eyes. He didn’t like the role of safety cushion very much.
“Well, that too. But I was mainly talking about the feeling I have on my buttocks that makes me think you’re totally, 100% not gay!” Cloud grinded her backside against the blue-haired man softly twice. “That’s really good news for me!” she looked back at him with a very sensual smirk before slowly licking her upper lip.
Ford’s face became as red as a tomato and froze in his sitting position with Cloud straddling him. After a good minute long lack of reactions from the young man, Cloud sighed.
“The girls told me to be very careful when I tease boys.” Cloud shook her head. “Poor lads only have enough blood to circulate through one of their heads when they blush too much!”
It turned out that it had been a teenage girl who had pulled the emergency brake after seeing a wild deer being hunted through her wagon’s window. Cloud had been puzzled by that explanation the train manager gave her, but she left it at that.
The rest of the journey had been without any problem whatsoever. The only downside was that Ford spent all his time focussed on the pencil strokes he gave to his sketchbook. Apparently, he didn’t like being riled up like that and decided to ignore Cloud’s attempts at a more casual conversation.
The silent treatment kept going for hours, but Cloud was sure she could befriend him before long. Ford probably liked that what happened actually happened. After all, he hadn’t left the compartment after her teasing despite his clear annoyance. By the time, they both got off that train, things would certainly be better.
*****
“Thanks again for the sketch, Ford,” Cloud commented as the pair got out of Las Pegasus station. “You didn’t have to give it to me though, you know?”
“Mah, see it as an apology for being a bit boring during the first half of the trip,” Ford waved off casually. “Also, you obviously liked it…”
“Is that how you pick up girls, Ford?” Cloud asked playfully. “Drawing them a nice portrait so that they fall for you?”
The artist cocked an eyebrow at the blonde. “You’re asking so that you see if you can use it as a dating trick, aren’t you?”
“There’s a bit of that,” Cloud admitted with a shrug. “But, considering I’ll have to learn how to draw from the start, it might not work out for me. Also, I’m just curious to know if you’re hitting on me?”
“No, I’m not,” Ford replied with a sigh. “I’m not interested in a relationship, I already told you!”
“Who said anything about a relationship?”
“And, the same goes for the friend with benefits business!” Ford added sternly with a growing blush.
“Wow, don’t get ahead of yourself, Mister Mustang,” Cloud replied loudly, a silent chuckle on her lips. “We’ve met like yesterday. We should get to know each other a little bit first.”
“We should get going!” Ford muttered before conjuring a pair of light made, sky blue wings on his back.
“Ha, I didn’t know you were a Jupitarian,” Cloud stated as her new friend hovered a few feet above the ground.
“It never came up,” Ford replied with a shrug. “Is it going to be a …” a feathery, purple appendage brushed his cheek as Cloud flapped it and its twin to stand at the same altitude as him. “... Apparently not,” he commented slowly. Feather wings huh? Well, she’s more in touch with her animal side, sort of…
“Shall we?” Cloud asked, pointing at the mountain a bit outside of town on top of which was located the Jupitarians training facilities.
“Let’s go,” Ford replied with a sigh before the pair flew to the mountain.
*****
“Well, that’s cosy,” Cloud commented as she entered inside the dorm she had been assigned to.
The room was the textbook definition of a military dorm. Two bunk beds, four tiny cupboards, a weapon and armor rack situated next to the door. All four spots were occupied by a complete set of a dark brown, studded leather armor, while the weapon rack only held a spear against the wall with a green and pink ribbon tied just below the blade.
“Looks like there’s only one top bed left,” the red-head, who had been assigned to the same dorm as Cloud, remarked.
“Claimed!” the third rookie, a tanned girl, with grey hair and golden eyes called from the last top bed, sticking photos on her portion of the wall.
“When did she get there?” the red-head asked in confusion.
“Not a clue,” Cloud replied while scratching her temple. “I didn’t even realize she was behind us.”
“For a good reason, I was three meters ahead of you two,” the grey-haired girl commented in an apathetic tone.
“Huh,” the pair let out before shrugging and starting the get themselves settled.
“So, what’re your names?” the red-haired asked after taking the bed under the grey-haired’s. “Mine’s Gale Swiftwing.”
“Silent Cloud,” the grey-haired replied matter-of-factly.
“Name’s Cloud Kicker,” Cloud introduced herself casually as she started to put her clothes in a cupboard. “Where are you from?”
“Cloudsdale,” Silent answered simply.
“I’m a local actually,” Gale said with a smile. “Born and raised in the wonderful, city-sized scam that is Las Pegasus!”
“What about you, Cloud?”
“Ponyville,” Cloud replied, earning questioning looks from her new roommates. “A small town located five hours East of Canterlot, right at the edge of the Everfree Forest,” she explained.
“THE EVERFREE FOREST?!” The pair shouted with horror.
“Who in their right mind will settle a town so close to that creepy forest?” Gale asked in disbelief.
“It’s not that bad, you know?” Cloud said slowly. “It looks like a normal forest when you’re outside of it.”
“Yeah, but there are monsters!” Silent remarked slowly.
“The town isn’t getting invaded by Everfree’s wildlife every two days,” Cloud stated. “Some beasts used to get out of the forest occasionally, but the Guard always chased them back where they came from, and it’s been a few years since the last incident.” Without counting mine a year and a half ago. She thought while holding back a wince at the memory.
“If you say so,” Gale let out slowly. “Any ideas on who’s the one sharing the dorm?”
“Apparently, each dorm represent a team of two or three rookies and a squad leader chosen among the cadets from the Military School… Westpoil? Westfoot?...” Silent tried to figured the name out.
“West Hoof, actually!” a fourth voice came from the door.
All three new cadets turned their head to the door, seeing a young woman leaning against the door frame, wearing camo pants, a white t-shirt with a “L” armband on her right sleeve. She had slightly pale skin with freckles on her cheeks, and her striped, green and light purple hair was in a military cap.
“Hi,” Cloud, who was the closest to the door, called politely. “This is Silent Cloud, Gale Swiftwing, and I’m Cloud Kicker!” she introduced everyone before extending her hand to the newcomer. “And you are…”
“..Here to tell you three to get dressed!” the newcomer finished the sentence sternly. “You have ten minutes to go to the main courtyard before Sergeant Crystal explains to you how are things going to be here.” She walked out of the room. “Don’t be late! Also, training starts right after that!”
“....Rude much?” Gale asked after their possible roommate left the dorm.
“A bit,” Silent agreed with a nod before jumping from her bed to get her training clothes out of her bag.
“What do you think, Cloud?”
“Hum? I think she’s got cute freckles, and the potential for a nice butt,” Cloud replied with a shrug.
Her roommates stopped what they were doing before slowly exchanging a glance, then cocking an eyebrow at the blonde, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the concerned party.
“What? It’s true!” Cloud argued. “Just like you have really beautiful hair, and your chocolate-milk colored skin is to die for!” she added pointing at Gale, then at Silent, who both blushed at the compliment.
The pair didn’t reply, and simply started to get changed as well. When the three women were clad with the same outfit as their purple and green haired roommate was, minus the armband, they went to courtyard, joining the rest of the new cadets.
It took a bit of time before the cadets stood in a decent line formation, but when the sergeant instructor, a woman with snow white skin, icy blue eyes and long, ashen grey hair, found it satisfactory she started to talk.
Sergeant Crystal explained the ground rules of the compound and went over the system of squads: Each dorm would host a squad with future officer in training, who were all in a line across the cadets’ front row. They all had the same armband as the girl who had told Cloud, Silent and Gale to get ready.
While the rules were pretty simple and clear, Cloud had troubles in getting them. It wasn’t that they made no sense for her or anything. She just kept being distracted by the two mounds trying their best to burst the instructor’s leather bustier open.
She wasn’t the only one with that problem, of course. A lot of boys were in the same situation as her, only she had been placed on the front row. After the sergeant walked past her, Cloud closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her thoughts.
“What I’m saying is annoying you, newbie?” Crystal asked angrily a few seconds after Cloud exhaled quietly.
“Huh?” Cloud opened her eyes, finding her previous distractions right in front of her. Damn! They’re bigger than AJ’s!
“I’m talking to you, newbie!” Crystal shouted.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am!” Cloud let out before standing to full attention, looking up straight into the cold pools of blue that were the sergeant’s eyes.
“What’s your name, newbie?”
“Cloud Kicker from Ponyville, Ma’am!”
“Ok, now answer my question, Cloud Kicker from Ponyville!” Crystal ordered sternly. “Did what I say annoy you?”
“No, Ma’am!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Ma’am!”
“Then what was I saying that made you sigh, Miss Kicker?”
“....” Cloud’s irises shrunk to the size of a pin tail. She had no idea what the sergeant had said. Her mind had been filled with leather bustiers cracking open under pressure at that time. “It wasn’t a sigh, Ma’am,” she said sheepishly.
“That wasn’t the question, Kicker!” Crystal remarked angrily.
“I know, I was… just pointing that out.” Cloud nervously gulped.
“You can’t answer, can you?” Crystal cocked eyebrow. “Do you know what’s your purpose in this compound?” she asked when Cloud shook her head as a reply.
“Huh… To listen to whatever you tell me to do, Ma’am?” Cloud suggested uneasily.
Crystal waited in silence for a short moment. “Looks like you’re not as stupid as I thought you were, Cloud Kicker from Ponyville,” she said calmly before turning to the line of team Leaders. “What’s your team by the way?”
“Team 8, Ma’am!”
“Shields, you know what to do with her!” The sergeant called to the green and purple haired girl who nodded before the sergeant resumed her speech.
“Well done, Cloud,” Ford whispered after Crystal had dismissed the cadets. “Now, your squad leader is going to give you a hard time.”
“Ford, if you ever want something to happen between us, you will not say another word!” Cloud groaned bitterly.
Though her sour mood diminished when the blue haired man remained completely mute for the brief moment he stood next to her. She couldn’t help but to lightly giggle at the artist/future guard’s silence. When Shields called her and her teammates to move straight, Cloud took advantage of the situation to give a discrete slap on his backside with her right wing while taking off after the squad leader.
*****
True to Ford’s warning, the leader of squad 8, Blossomforth Shields, gave Cloud a hard time for embarrassing the squad in front of Sergeant Crystal by making her do the double amount of warming up exercises. It was tiring, but training with Applejack for two years had done a fantastic job on her stamina, as well as on her butt. (She insisted on stressing that point!)
While Cloud was doing her extra push up series, Blossomforth had decided to make Silent and Gale have a little spar so that she could gauge their skill in hand to hand combat. In the end, Gale turned out to pack more punch than Silent who had shown to have a natural skill at passing her opponent’s defense when said opponent wasn’t expecting it.
“Ok, you girls can have a break!” Blossomforth said as the two girls took their breath back. “Now, Kicker, have you finished?”
“Just one left!” Cloud replied before going down for the last one.
“Just one left, who?” Blossomforth asked, resting her foot on Cloud’s back to prevent her from pushing up.
“... Really?” Cloud looked up with a cocked eyebrow.
“I’m your squad leader, Kicker,” Blossomforth retorted with a shrug. “You’ll address me as such!”
“No one told me to,” Cloud said with narrowed eyes.
“I’m telling you to!”
“Yeah, not gonna happen like that, Blossom!” Cloud shook her head. “Now, take your foot off my back, or I swear to Faust, your cute developing ass will hit the floor really hard!”
Blossomforth blushed at the mention of her backside. “Don’t talk about my…”
She didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence as a feathery, purple wing suddenly bashed her nose with great strength. She recoiled from the hit before she felt two legs entwined around her own, tripping her on the ground. Blossomforth let out a very girly yelp of pain when her buttocks hit the dirt as hard as Cloud had predicted.
“I had warned you!” Cloud said while dusting herself off. “While you sound really cute when you’re hurt, I’m going to leave it at that!”
Blossomforth growled with her cheeks red from anger, or embarrassment, well, a little bit of both. Her translucent white wings spread wide open on her back before she jumped from the ground to tackle the blonde.
*****
“How come you’re always tired when you come here?” Crystal asked the woman with large sunglasses and a cap with a winged thunderbolt on the front at her right with a cocked eyebrow.
“Oh, I wasn’t tired when I arrived, Crystal,” the woman replied after yawning for the tenth time since the pair had started their tour of the training grounds. “But, seeing you fill all that paperwork took the funk out of me!”
“I only filled one form,” Crystal retorted with a roll of her eyes. “I wonder how your unit doesn’t go bankrupt with you doing the paperwork.”
“Well, as a matter of fact, I don’t do paperwork!” the woman with sunglasses chuckled. “I have someone who does that for me!”
“That explains it,” Crystal said with a shrug.
“So, anyone you wanted to show me?”
“Yes.” Crystal nodded. “Private Blossomforth Shields!”
“I heard of her from her father,” the woman commented. “According to him, she’s one of the best spears in West Hoof!”
“And he isn’t exaggerating!” Crystal agreed with a nod. “She’s a natural with a spear or a staff, and her skills in hand to hand combat are quite good as well.”
“Has she found her shape yet?” the woman asked with curiosity.
“She started training it,” Crystal commented. “It’s not perfect yet, but she’s getting it so far!”
“Nice.. what’s going on?” the woman asked as she noticed the crowd massed around the training terrain five.
“Not a clue,” Crystal let out in puzzlement before noticing a blond squad leader nearby. “Orator, what’s going on?”
The leader of squad twelve, Ace Orator, snapped his head to the sergeant when he heard her.
“One of the newbies picked a fight with Blossomforth, Ma’am,” he replied.
“And you’re all standing there to watch the cadet getting beaten up?” Crystal asked with disgust.
“Hum, actually the one who’s gotten beaten up so far is Blossomforth,” Ace specified slowly.
“...What?” Crystal blinked in shock before making her way through the crowd.
When she arrived in the front row, Crystal saw the blonde she had talked to during her speech grabbing Blossomforth’s punch before it touched her head, then punching her opponent's stomach in response.
“The blonde’s not bad,” the woman with the sunglasses, now sitting casually on a cloud a meter or two above Crystal, commented with interest. “Don’t interrupt the fight!” she ordered when the silvery haired sergeant was about to move. “I wanna see who’s going to win!”
“What?!” Crystal growled as she flew to woman’s level. “I’m not answering to your request! I’m stopping this now!”
“Sergeant, it wasn’t a request, but an order!” the woman specified in a stern tone.
Crystal glared at the woman before sitting in silence crosslegged next to her on the cloud.
In the mean time, Blossomforth stood back up, wiping the blood that was coming out of her lower lip. The blonde was giving her a much harder time than what she would have first imagined.
Of course, she had made huge mistakes in her punches in the beginning as she attacked in a fit of anger. But after Cloud’s first parries, she had calmed down a bit. She was still furious for the initial humiliation, as well as for the others that followed, but Blossomforth had kept her anger in her mind.
Why can’t I land a blow on her?! Blossomforth thought angrily. I used all the tricks I knew, and she blocked my hits every time! Is she a black belt in some Neighponese martial arts or something?
“Can we stop now?” Cloud asked slowly.
“Not until I kick your ass!” Blossomforth shouted with pride.
“Well, the easiest way for that is to invite me for dinner first,” Cloud replied with a shrug.
“Huh?” Blossomforth, along with a few people in the audience, tilted her head in confusion.
“A dinner date first, then we get a room somewhere, and if the date was nice, I’ll let you have your way with me,” Cloud explained with a smile. “Just don’t use any leather binding, it marks the skin a little too much.”
“WILL YOU STOP THOSE STUPID INSINUATIONS?!” Blossomforth yelled with a mad blush, as quite a few cadets snickered at her. “I’m not into that sort of things!”
“Oh, I get it! It’s okay, I know a guy who can do it if you’re not into girls…”
“That’s not what I meant! I’m not into BDSM!”
“... So you are into girls then?” Cloud asked in a hopeful tone.
“RAAAAAAAGGGHH!” Blossomforth forgot about not attacking in a fit of anger and charged the blonde without precautions.
“Quite an unorthodox distracting technique,” Crystal commented while Cloud kneeled to dodge Blossomforth’s kick. “But it’s quite effective.”
“Are you sure it’s a technique?” the one with the glasses said casually. “I get the feeling she was sincere,”
“That’s it!” Blossomforth shouted as she used her wings to throw Cloud off her back after the Blonde had pinned her on the ground. “Playtime’s over!”
Blossomforth closed her fist before it was surrounded by a tiny tornado. Dust and small pebbles started to getting dragged toward the tornado, just like Cloud’s hair. The blonde was suddenly snatched forward by a sudden and really strong gust of wind.
Blossomforth’s tornado-ed fist went toward a completely defenseless, catapulted Cloud, forming a clumsy, bulky shaped drill with the wind. Despite the roaring wind, Cloud heard several shocked gasps from the older cadets. Whatever Blossomforth had done, it wasn’t good for Cloud.
Cloud focused her magic as quickly as she could, but she had no idea of how to divert a tornado-made drill. In desperation she joined her hands together, forming a cocoon around her with the first thing that came to her mind: a cloud.
From within her cocoon, Cloud hear that the wind-drill was about to reach her before she felt an intense wave of heat coming from in front of her. The heat instantly dissipated the cloud, and it was so intense that the blonde felt her mouth and her throat incredibly dry.
Someone stood before her, but the shape of the person was nothing but a blur. It was like she was looking at a mirage. The one thing she clearly saw was the drill Blossomforth had created flying straight to the sky before it collapsed on itself.
The heat became more bearable after a few seconds, dispelling the mirage effect, thus allowing Cloud to see who had come between her and Blossomforth attack. She saw who she presumed was a superior officer thanks to her complete uniform, but what caught her attention were the golden yellow wings on the officer’s back and the flame-like shoulder long hair.
“Now, Private Shields,” the woman with the golden wings said calmly to a shock-gaping Blossomforth. “Jupitarian magic isn’t supposed to be used in a hand-to-hand combat,” she added in an even tone. “Do you understand that, Private?”
“Y-yes…”
“Yes, who?” The orange-haired woman asked sternly, pulling her sunglasses down to glare at the quivering Blossomforth.
“Yes, Lieutenant Maverick!” Blossomforth bowed her head in submission.
“Good. Now get up there in give me fifty!” the lieutenant Maverick ordered calmly, putting her glasses back up to cover her eyes.
“Yes, Lieutenant!” Blossomforth nodded before taking off swiftly to start flying in circles above the compound.
Maverick glanced at the shocked faces of the cadets. “Don’t you all have practice to do? MOVE OUT!” she barked sternly, instantly causing the entire crowd to fly away like a bunch of scared birds, some in a more literal sense than others.
“Thanks, Ma’am,” Cloud said in a quiet, hoarse voice.
“Dry throat, huh?” Maverick said calmly as Cloud winced with her hand on her throat. “I have that effect on people.” she chuckled before waving at Silent and Gale. “Bring her some water, you two!”
Gale and Silent quickly nodded before flying straight to the closest cooler, located in the cafeteria across the compound. When they returned soon after with a large bottle of water, which Cloud almost chugged down in a one swig, Maverick calmly picked her cap up from the ground, as well as a three inches long, light grey shard which was stuck in it. She gave it a curious glance before putting it in her pocket as the three cadets weren’t paying attention to her.
“Well, I’m off!” Maverick let out as she dusted her cap before putting it on her head. “See you another time, newbies!” she tipped her cap at the trio before returning to her tour of the compound with Crystal.
“Who was that?” Cloud asked when the sergeant and the lieutenant were out of ear shots. “Why did Blossom act like a scaredy cat in front of her?”
Silent and Gale blinked in shock, and turned their heads to the blonde.
“Are you really asking who was that?” Gale asked in shock, pointing at the leaving pair.
“Huh, yeah!” Cloud nodded.
“Kicker, that was Lieutenant Spitfire Maverick!” Silent said in disbelief.
Cloud’s eyes widened in shock. “You mean…”
“Yes, Captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire!” Gale nodded. “Fire Angel Spitfire. Fastest flier in Equestria, Spitfire. Or, Strongest Jupitarian in the entire Royal Guard, Spitfire! Your choice.”
“Oh my gosh,” Cloud let out in awe. “I… I was just saved by the Most sexy ass on the planet three years in a row according to Playcolt magazine, Spitfire? That’s just freaking AWESOME!”
Silent and Gale simply facepalmed at Cloud’s remark. They haven’t known the blonde for even a day, and they could already see that they didn’t have the same priorities in life.