Every year, there were maneuvers organized by the Royal Guard’s two main training grounds. It was the occasion for the trainees to show off their skills in front of the High Command of the Guard, and occasionally in front of Princess Luna. And this year, it was Las Pegasus’ training grounds’ turn to host the joined forces, making it a source of annoyance and relief for their leading figure, Sergeant Crystal Pagétonas. It was source of annoyance for she had to make room for the delegation sent by Canterlot’s training grounds, and source of relief as Blossomforth had finally stopped harassing her for a new teammate in favor of getting ready for the big event.
Three months had passed since the squad eight was left with three members instead of four. Said situation had weighed much on Blossomforth shoulders as her squad couldn’t compete against the others, despite how talented its three members were: Silent was one of the best aims of the compound, Gale had proved to be talented in the handling of a battle axe and Blossomforth had reinforced her position as number one spear-wielder of the camp. Yet it wasn’t enough to outbalance Cloud’s absence and the lack of her replacement in team exercises.
The delegation of Canterlot arrived late afternoon in the form of a good forty heavily armored Eponian initiates and a group of fifteen Adepts from the Arcanium, Canterlot’s Magical Warfare Academy. The sixty riders had stormed inside the compound’s court and kept galloping in circles before the tight ranks of the fifteen Jupitarian squads and a disapproving Sergeant Pagétonas. Her crystal blue gaze landed on a particular knight that raised his fist before the aspiring riders formed a perfect line behind him. Crystal tsked with a roll of her eyes before slowly walking toward the commander in a purple and golden armor as he climbed down his horse.
“Pull that one on me one more time, Shining,” Crystal warned as she chased the cloud of dust with a wave of her hand. “And, I’ll freeze the court of Canterlot’s academy for the next maneuvers!”
“What are you talking about, Crystal?” Shining Armor, the recently promoted Captain of the Royal Guard, asked in a playful tone. “What did I do?”
“Your punk riders filled my court with dust,” Crystal sternly replied, though her eyes shone with a rare, good-mooded glint, showing the dust-filled plaza with her hand. “I wonder who told them to make that nice, mustang-y entrance?”
“They’re young and easily excited probably.” Shining shrugged with a smile.
“Just like their commander, I guess,” Crystal suggested with a triumphing smirk.
“Is Spitfire here?” Shining asked, ignoring Crystal’s comment. “She has that trainee of hers to show o…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a loud bang resonated through the court before clouds of dust obscured the sight of every trainee and officers in the main court. Crystal and Shining both exchanged knowing glances while they each held one bridle of the latter’s horse, who had been startled by the sudden impact.
When the dust cleared off the court, all eyes fell on the two figures in the center. One was a kneeled knight in the heaviest looking full body armor and the other was standing tall woman in a dark blue ceremonial uniform and a matching cap that barely hid her fiery-colored hair. Curious whispers rang among the ranks of the trainees as Spitfire and the armored soldier behind her both made way to Shining and Crystal.
“What’s up, Boss-man?” Spitfire asked casually.
“Apparently dust,” Crystal grumbled as she noticed her trainees covered in dark brown dust. “Was that necessary?”
“The boss tries to make a great entrance, I’ve got to make a greater one!” Spitfire explained with a warm chuckle.
“Tsss, Wonderbolts!” Crystal muttered a roll of her eyes.
“I suppose I’ll have to just accept it,” Shining commented with a shake of his head before tilting it to see the massive armor following his long time friend. “That’s your trainee?”
“Huh?” Spitfire blinked in confusion before looking back behind her. “Wow! You managed to keep up?!” she asked the armor-wielding soldier in stupor.
The concerned party simply nodded in silence, much to Shining and Crystal’s confusion.
“... Nice!” Spitfire beamed with pride before facing Crystal once again. “She’s ready to get back to her sq…. Wait!” She smirked and pointed at the targets in the shooting range at West of the courtyard. “Bolt those things up in front of everyone first!”
The armor-clad woman nodded and walked to the center of the court. The Jupitarian trainees looked at her in confusion when she extended her hand towards the targets. Their confusion only grew stronger when a white haze surrounded it and that a white cloud the size of a sheep appeared before her.
“Didn’t Lieutenant Maverick asked to bolt them?” a trainee asked in a ushered whisper.
“Why isn’t that armored dude charging up lightning?” another whispered slowly.
“Hey, that cloud was shaped quite quickly,” Gale commented softly.
“Yeah,” Silent agreed with a nod. “I haven’t see one shaped so fast since…”
“.....” Gale opened her mouth in a shocked expression as Silent let her sentence hanging.
“What?” Blossomforth asked her teammates in confusion. “What’s going…”
A loud and clear rumble drew her attention back at the center of a court while the crowd gasped loudly. The cloud had doubled its size and was turning darker every second as its creator grabbed it strongly. Multiples sparks of lightning sprung from within the cloud and got more numerous as it became darker to the point it turned black. The gauntlet squeezed one end of the thundercloud before it exploded in five loud bangs.
The same numbers of thunderbolts streaked the air in sharp, spirally paths until the touched the center of five wooden targets, shattering them all to pieces while lighting their posts on fire. The horses had reared in terror at the sudden bangs, nearly unsaddling their more than trained riders while the entire Jupitarian corp in training wowed, cheered or whistled at the armored Shaper. Crystal for her part glanced at the fiery results with an inexpressive face before turning back to face Spitfire.
“So, what do you think?” Spitfire asked with a smile. “Come on…. You know you’ve got to admit it!!!” she added playfully, nudging her friend’s elbow with her own.
“Fiiiine! You did an okay job with her!” Crystal rolled her eyes in annoyance, despite the shadow of a smile appearing on her face.
CLANG CLANG
The three commanding officers looked back at where the metallic noises came from, only to see Spitfire’s protegee bumping her fist on her chestplate repeatedly before pointing at the orange-haired lieutenant in a gesture that clearly showed displeasure.
“Oh! You want this?” Spitfire asked with a sardonic smile as she pulled a tiny, silver key from her chest pocket.
“What’s that?” Shining asked with a frown as the armored trainee nodded fervently.
“The key that keeps the armor straps locked up,” Spitfire explained slowly. “She had been, let’s say difficult during training.”
“That’s why this armor looked familiar!” Shining let out in realization as he noticed the engravings that coursed along the metal’s surface of the trainee’s armor. “I thought Princess Celestia forbade the use of Disciplinary Armors after we joined the active forces,” he then added with a frown.
“More strongly recommended to not use them for all purpose like in the past,” Spitfire stated with a shrug.
“Also, it’s not that big of a deal since you’ve spent most of your training days in one, Shining,” Crystal remarked with a triumphing smirk, earning a small blush from their superior.
“Here, kid!” Spitfire dropped the key in her apprentice’s open palm. “Go back to your squad now! You did a good job!”
The woman in armor nodded before making her way toward the still gawking Jupitarian corps. On her way, she put the small key in the matching keyhole on her left wrists while the three officers started to discuss about the maneuvers after Crystal shouted that all trainees were dismissed until further notice.
The engraving on the armor’s surface glowed blue for a brief moment after she turned the key to the right, thus unlocking the armor. Her hands reached for her helmet and throat-guard as she stepped before Blossomforth and the still stunned Gale and Silent. After pulling the piece around her neck away, she took the helmet off, freeing her long, two-toned blonde hair that cascaded over her back.
Blossomforth’s light blue eyes widened in shock when they met the purple eyes she hadn’t seen at all for around three months. Cloud smiled playfully as she noticed that her squad leader’s expression was mimicked by a lot of trainees nearby.
“Do you happen to still have room in your squad by any chance, Blossom?” Cloud asked with a chuckle. “Also, is Ford around? I might be in great need of his assistance.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More than two hours later,
“Ford, are you okay?” Ace asked with worry.
“You can clearly see he’s not fine!” Manerick snapped. “Look at how pale he is! He looks like something dead in a costume of itself!”
It was dinner time at the mess hall, and Ford had come in on shaky legs, with a more than exhausted expression glued on his face. His teammates were more than surprised when the usually full-of-energy young man’s face fell in his plate of mashed potatoes. They had cleaned him up a bit, but he kept mumbling that he was fine and was eating slowly his food, with one cheek plastered on the wooden surface of the table.
“...Just tired…” Ford whispered sleepily as his hand had difficulty to find his mouth, causing potato mash to fall on his chin.
“Tired of what?” Stardust asked with a frown. “You were completely fine not two hours ago!”
“....A lot can happen ...In two hours,” Ford slowly explained before his fork reached for his plate once again, ignoring the mash on his face.
Before anyone could make a remark about it, a delicate, woman’s finger brushed it off Ford’s chin. The almost-sleeping soldier in training barely looked up to see Cloud licking her mash-covered finger slowly while casting an intense fiery look at Ford, who blushed madly along with his teammates who didn’t miss a second of what Cloud was doing. She put a pack of six can of energy drink between Ford and his plate while leaning close to him.
“I’m far from being done with you, Mustang!” Cloud whispered sultrily in his ear before giving it a quick lick. “You better be full of energy by the time I’m done eating!” she added when Ford’s body was coursed with intense shivers.
And with that, Cloud went to grab a plate of her own before having dinner with her once-again teammates, giving a little sway of her hips every three steps as she knew that Ford kept staring at her. Once she was far enough, Ford took one of the cans she had brought and opened it slowly.
“That woman is evil…. With her evil mouth, her evil fingers, her evil breasts and her more-than-evil ass!” Ford muttered slowly as he sat up straighter to chug down his energy drink. “Should I die later tonight, don’t tell her I said that!” Ford added with insistence before taking another can.
“.....What?!” his teammates let out in confusion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, thirty minutes before the start of the maneuvers...
“KICKER, WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!?” Blossomforth shouted angrily as Cloud walked casually inside their squad barrack.
“Resourcing myself with the help of Ford…” Cloud admitted before sighing blissfully. “Oh gosh, I needed that!” she moaned softly in remembrance.
“...... You… You’re just back in the compound and you’re already getting late because you can keep your hormones in check?!” Blossomforth asked furiously as Gale and Silent finished gearing themselves up.
“Chief, relax!” Cloud let out with a wave of her hand. “I just need to put my armor on and get a weapon at the blacksmith rack and I’m ready!” She stated before taking a vial full of a reddish liquid in her travel bag that laid beneath her recently re-acquired bed.
“What are you drinking?” Gale asked with curiosity while Blossomforth grumbled something under her breath sourly.
“...It has been a while since Blossomforth actually showed her anger out,” Silent mused softly, observing their squad leader while tilting her head.
“Contraceptive potion from Ponyville’s best brewer,” Cloud explained matter-of-factly before gulping it down in one swig. “It also have a nice effect on hangover and it tastes like cranberry juice!”
“YOU DIDN’T EVEN USE PROTECTION?!” Blossomforth yelled so loudly, that it would be a miracle if the whole compound hadn’t heard her.
“I have very active libido, Blossomforth, it doesn’t mean I’m stupid,” Cloud retorted with a roll of her eyes as she took her leather armor off the rack. “I’m just not taking any risks since standard protection isn’t totally one hundred percent safe.”
“Is it now?” Gale asked with curiosity as she helped Cloud with the buckles of her armor since she was already ready for action.
“In the heat of the moment a misplacement or an accidental tear can always happen,” Cloud told with wisdom while taking another piece of her armor from the rack. “And moments were very, very heated last night,” she explained in an ushered whisper.
“Kicker!” Blossomforth snapped angrily, though the effect was lost due to her rosy cheeks. “Just get ready for today’s maneuvers in silence!”
“I’ll tell you two the details when she’s not paying attention to us!” Cloud whispered with a wink to Gale and Silent who both nodded with interested expressions plastered on their faces.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“The purpose of today’s maneuvers lies in one word!” Shining shouted to the ranked-up recruits before him. “Teamwork! Today, you lot are going to be split up into fifteen squads of eight soldiers: Four soldiers from the Jupitarian Corps, Three initiates from the Golden Shield Order and One apprentice of the Arcanium!”
“As soon as your squad is assembled we’d departure for this year’s maneuvers grounds!” Crystal barked loudly. “Listen carefully, because there would be no repeat of the team repartition!”
“For squadron number one,” Spitfire called in an authoritarian and serious tone that Cloud hadn’t heard from her during her training with the renowned officer. “From the Jupitarian Corps: Ace Orator, Silver Stardust, Ford Mustang, ....”
In the next minute, Ford and his teammates broke the formation to join the group of four riders who had been called by Spitfire, not without Cloud discretely waving at Ford who was really puzzled by the hungry looks Gale and Silent were giving him. He couldn’t know it but Cloud had gone really deep into the details of last night. While the three girls quietly giggled at their friend’s expense, Blossomforth chastised them with a dark glare so that they return their attention on Spitfire.
“...For squadron number seven; From the Jupitarian Corps corps: Blossomforth Shields, Silent Cloud, Gale Swiftwing, Cloud Kicker! From the Golden Shield Order: Flash Sentry, Black Stone, Lucky Clover! And from the Arcanium: Sunset Shimmer!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cloud’s team had joined the group of four riders. The apparently leader of the group of initiates, Flash Sentry, was a tall man with deep blue hair and was wearing a suit of armor that was quite the replica of the armor Cloud had worn during her months of training with Spitfire. Except that his and his fellow initiates’ were colored in a tacky, bright yellow that clashed strongly with the black clothes they were wearing underneath.
While Blossomforth was discussing with Flash about who should be leading the squadron during the maneuvers. Apparently that required the Knight to come to boast his ties with Household Sparkle, the family from which came Captain Shining Armor, only to backed up by his two armored comrades. Blossomforth, as well as Gale and Silent, didn’t take it too kindly. Cloud, for her part, was determined into convincing the fourth rider to side with the Jupitarians, since five out of eight was a majority. She just needed to find the best argument to do so.
… maybe a D.… Nah… Definitely a C-cup! Cloud thought with a pensive frown as she observed the only female rider of their squadron. Though, among the largest C-cups!
Sunset Shimmer was a tanned woman with long, red and yellow, curly hair who looked to be around the same age as Cloud. She was already riding her cream colored horse while apathetically waiting for the argument to stop. Unlike the rest of her squadron, she wasn’t wearing any suit of armor: she was wearing a skintight deep orange and purple one piece outfit under a thick, black cloak. Sunset seemed content with just fumbling with the bridle of her horse with one hand while the other carried her dark, metallic staff. Cloud noticed that both ends of her staff were covered by pieces of leather that were held in place by dark brown laces.
… She’s gotta wear a push-up bra…They couldn’t be that perky unless she’s immune to the laws of gravity… Then again she’s a Titanian apparently well versed in the art of Magic... She probably knows stuff on how to be more sexy…. That or she’s just born that way… Meh, both are cool in my book!
Sunset yawned in annoyance before glancing away from the arguing pair, wondering how they hadn’t pulled out their weapons already, considering how high the tone had climbed. Her teal eyes took notice of the armored blonde at her left before her smooth visage took an expression of confusion.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Sunset asked slowly as Cloud’s focused eyes pierced into her intensively.
“Oh, just trying to figure out if your butt is as sexy as your breasts,” Cloud replied bluntly. “It’s quite a challenge with your cloak on, I might add!”
At that moment, Cloud realized three things: One, she was clearly missing Applejack’s blunt and rather endearing honesty. Two, said honesty wasn’t found endearing by everyone. Three, Sunset was clearly in that sort of person, if the blush on her cheeks and her staff flying toward Cloud’s face were of any indication. Cloud caught the staff end midair with a sharp move of her right arm, stopping it short from bashing her skull.
Though she couldn’t block the blunt end of Blossomforth’s spear to bash her stomach a few seconds later.
“Kicker, I told you to behave during today’s maneuvers!” Blossomforth sourly reminded as Cloud held her hand against her belly with a wince.
“Yes, you did, chief,” Cloud muttered in a pained voice.
“One more thing like that, and I can’t be held responsible for what happens to you! Special training or not!!!” Blossomforth barked loudly. “Is that clear?!”
“Like spring water,” Cloud nodded slowly, groaning a bit as she rubbed her stomach.
“Good! Now, let’s move out!” Blossomforth ordered sternly before she started to hover thanks to her white, light-made wings. “We’ve lost too much time already!”
Flash and his fellow knights barely uttered a word after Blossom’s display of brutal authority, and quickly decided to follow her in silence. Silent and Gale frowned a bit at their squad leader before hovering after her. Sunset kept her gaze on the blonde that had hit on her, smirking at her pained posture.
“Now, a cutie like you shouldn’t be glad of other’s pain,” Cloud stated as she suddenly stopped holding her stomach and stood tall with a mischievous smile.
Sunset blinked in confusion as Cloud passed a haze-surrounded hand over her armor, making a thin, whitish plate slide from beneath it. The teal curious eyes followed the solid, square that was large enough to cover all of Cloud’s stomach before it dissipated like a puff a steam scattered by the wind.
“You… You did that on purpose,” Sunset let out in shock.
“Yep!” Cloud nodded swiftly. “The girls told me that Blossom barely lashed out and had issues getting obeyed while I was gone… Apparently I’m the only one around which she feels the need to have her authority respected,” the blonde explained softly. “I just think she’s jealous that I didn’t hit on her as much as I did on Ford when I got back.”
“...So you just said that thing about me so that she gets the lead of the squadron after putting you back in the line…” Sunset mused before she gave her horse a start. “...Quite a clever move, I must admit,” she added with a slight rise of the right corner of her lips.
“Don’t worry though,” Cloud whispered sultrily in Sunset’s ear as she hovered next to her trotting mount. “I meant every words I said about your two eye-catching lifelong-companions!”
Cloud blew softly into Sunset’s ear and then her neck before distancing herself from the now flustered Titanian with a strong flap of her wings. The sudden gush of wind caused by it lifted Sunset’s cloak over her head, blinding her for a few seconds.
Hummmmm, rear buns as endearing and looking as tasty as her front brioches. Cloud thought as her purple eyes stared at the lower back of the struggling, female rider. …...I really shouldn’t have skipped breakfast to have a final round with Ford this morning…. I could have thought of a much sexier comparison!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You know, Blossomforth,” Gale commented as the squadron number seven trotted/hovered along the rocky canyon a few miles West from Las Pegasus. “When you first told us about those maneuvers, it sounded a lot more exciting than the glorified patrolling session we’ve been doing for the last five hours.”
“If you’re not happy about our assignment, you can blame Initiate Sentry here!” Blossomforth retorted slowly.
“Now, Miss, that’s hardly fair,” Flash snapped with an angry frown. “If you had agreed on me being the squadron leader, we would have arrived at the advanced post earlier and would have probably been given a more interesting location.”
“Or, at least one where’s it’s not that hot,” Lucky called as he pulled the collar of his undersuit. “It’s not ideal weather for the horses,” he added while caressing the neck of his mount with softness.
“Being in the Royal Guard doesn’t always include ideal conditions,” Silent commented with wisdom as she took a brief swig of her flask of water. “Though, I must admit the air is too hot to my liking.” She continued before wiping the sweat off her brow.
“That doesn’t seem to bother her,” Black commented while pointing his lance at the far away form of Cloud that had volunteered to scout ahead.
“She seems to have stopped apparently,” Gale said as Cloud glanced beyond the turn of the canyon.
“I’d rather be happy she stays far ahead of us,” Sunset muttered sourly.
“She tried to hit on you after Blossomforth hit her, didn’t she?” Silent asked with a knowing smile, earning a groan of displeasure from Sunset.
“You make it sound like it’s common occurrence,” Lucky commented slowly.
“Because it is!” Blossomforth snarled angrily.
“Blossomforth, she’s often flirty. That’s all!” Gale chastised with a playful roll of her eyes.
“That’s too much already,” Sunset whispered, causing Flash to look at her with worry.
“Maybe I should talk some sense into her,” Flash commented softly.
Gale, Silent and Blossomforth barely managed to hold back their mocking laughter for a second before it resonated through the canyon. The two Jupitarians soldiers kept themselves on their feet by leaning onto Blossomforth who was only standing thanks to her spear. Oblivious to the cocked eyebrows aimed in their directions, the laughing trio kept at it for a good minute.
“Woooooh… I needed that!” Blossomforth giggled softly, wiping her laughing tears away.
“hahaha…. Wait,” Silent let out as she noticed Flash’s bemused expression. “You actually were serious?”
“Boy, she’d wink at you and you’d be on your knees begging for more before you even realizes it!” Gale assured with a shake of her head. “You can ask Ford or Blossom if you don’t believe me!”
“....When did I ever beg for more to Kicker?” Blossomforth asked with a displeased frown.
“You think we never heard you mumbling in your sleep while we thought she was gone for good?” Silent asked with a cocked eyebrow, earning a massive blush from their squadron leader.
“Private Kicker, you will show respect to my authority and bend over that desk right now!” Gale mimicked Blossom’s voice while halfly moaning before she laughed heartedly. “This one still cracks me up!”
“.... And here I thought I could respect you for holding her on a leash,” Sunset commented as Blossomforth tried to hide her blushing face in her helmet. “But I guess you’re not the one holding the leash…”
“Blossomforth could have if Cloud wasn’t that hard to scare…” Silent replied with a shrug. “Then again, the only person to have scared her, from what she told us, would be her friend Applejack… and she still tries to get her in her bed… I think no-one short to the princesses could keep her urges in check.”
“I wouldn’t count on that too much.” Gale commented with a frown.
“Hey, she’s waving at us to come!” Black said as he noticed Cloud making sharp gestures to get over where she was quickly.
“Silent, go see what she wants,” Blossomforth mumbled from beneath her helmet.
“Aye, chief!” Silent saluted before taking off to join Cloud while the rest of the squadron walked to her.
The grey-haired girl flew beyond the turn of the canyon a good two or three minutes before the rest of Squadron seven arrived there as well. Just enough time for Blossomforth and the others to clear their heads of all the dirty stuff Cloud was capable of. Though, if it hadn’t been enough, what they saw around the corner of the canyon would have cleared their heads instantly.
Silent was kneeled next to three massive but wrecked carriages on the side of the canyon, examining a dried, brown stain that clashed against the yellowish rocks and dust of the canyon while Cloud looked at their surroundings with a serious face that no one had seen her take since she had arrived at the compound, her hand firmly gripping the handle of her sword. Immediately, everyone tensed and reached for the weapons.
“It’s indeed blood,” Silent stated slowly. “As for how long it has been there, I can’t tell!” she shook her head with a sigh. “With this heat it could have dried five minutes or three hours ago.”
“Did you find traces of any possible survivors?” Blossomforth questioned slowly, wincing as she spotted a small doll among the spilled contents of the carriage. “Carriages like those can easily transport a whole family.”
“None!” Cloud answered slowly. “I spotted foot and horseshoe prints coming here from over there, but around here its a mess of dust and blood…” she shook her head with a groan.
“... They were dragged,” Silent commented as she walked through the many traces around the carriages. “...right toward the East side of the canyon…” she added as she looked at the solid, stone wall that Cloud had been staring at for a while. “Though the traces lead nowhere…” Silent stated as the traces came to a sudden stop a few meters away from the wall.
“You think it’s a set up for the maneuvers?” Lucky asked in a tone that showed his doubts about his own theory.
“If it is, then I give them an A+ for realism!” Sunset commented as she tightened her grip on her staff and on the reins of her mount.
“We could go back to base camp…” Flash started uneasily.
“No, we can’t!” Cloud snapped sharply. “....We’re being hunted right now…” she added in a cold whisper when everyone looked at her with questioning, raised eyebrows.
“What?” Black let out in confusion.
“...Whatever it was that attacked those carriages is watching us…” Cloud explained quietly, licking her lips to keep them moisted. “... I felt that before… Something’s lurking us from around,” she added as she heard the feral roar of a manticore in her head.
“Look, Kicker, you got hunted by guys but that doesn’t…” Lucky began with an uncertain tone.
“Shut up, Initiate!” Blossomforth snapped before walked next to Cloud and looked at her in the eyes. “Kicker, are you sure, and I mean absolutely sure about what you’re saying?” she asked in a whisper.
“This is not a sensation you can forget or misinterpret, Blossom,” Cloud replied quietly. “We ARE being watched and NOT for pleasant reasons!” she assured with firmness.
The serious tone, so unusual from the playful blonde, and the assurance in her voice was more than enough to convince Blossomforth. She gave the blonde a brief nod and was about to give her orders when Gale fell on the ground and let go of her weapon. The rest of the squadron barely had the time to see two furred and bestial hands grabbing her ankles before she was pulled away from them at top speed.
“GALE!!” Silent, Cloud and Blossomforth shouted in unison as Gale screamed in panic.
Before anyone could react, Cloud spread her purple wings which had nearly doubled in size during her training with Spitfire and had flew the distance separating her from her friend and grabbed her extended arms with her own. The powerful flaps of her wings stopped the kidnapping short.
“It’s okay, I got you!” Cloud shouted as scared whinnies came from where the four riders were standing a few seconds ago.
The four battle horses, along with their riders were being pulled underground by similar paws/hands to the ones that were pulling Gale at the moment. There was a pop of green blue light that briefly blinded Cloud’s peripheral view before a matching light levitated the three otherwise-trapped initiates off their saddles to the large boulder where Sunset was levitating them to.
“BLOSSOM! YOUR WIND-DRILL, STAT!!!” Cloud barked loudly over the cries of the doomed equines.
“Ri-RIGHT!” Blossomforth replied before taking off with Silent who picked up Gale’s battle axe beforehands.
As she had gained a little altitude, Blossomforth took her stance in the air before gushes of winds started to surround the tip of her spear. When her Jupitarian shape took the form of a lean whirlwind, very different from the bulky drill Cloud had remembered facing, Blossomforth dashed for the ground and thrusted her spear into the ground, two feet behind Gale’s.
A strong wind blew through the canyon as the furried hands let go of Gale and swept all the dirt around her and her team members. The three Jupitarians, hovered to the large boulder where Sunset had teleported herself and levitated the three initiates. Silent kept herself in the air before she tossed her weapon to Gale who was still a bit shaken by what happened to her.
When the dust lifted by Blossomforth’s shape fell back on the ground, the eight soldiers in training noticed that the four horses were gone and that, where Blossomforth had struck, the cadaver of seven foot tall, bipedal dog laid half-buried in the dirt with his back ripped open by the Jupitarian’s winds.
“Diamond dogs!” Sunset spat at the sight of the dead body.
“I thought they essentially lived underneath gem mines!” Flash commented with an angry frown. “There aren’t mines around here! They shouldn’t be here!”
“Not necessary mines, idiot,” Sunset snapped sourly. “As long as there’s gemstones in the soil, there’s a chance for a pack of Diamond dogs is close to exploit the vein,” she explained abruptly.
“That’s really not the main problem,” Cloud retorted slowly as the dirt around them started shake a bit.
“Then what is the main problem?” Lucky asked worriedly.
“The size of a Diamond dogs’ pack,” Sunset replied as dozens of dog-men bursted from beneath the dirt, some carrying primitively-made mining tools or more traditional weapons. “That’s the main problem here!”
“What do we do?” Silent asked Blossomforth in a worried tone.
Blossomforth tightened her grip on her spear so hard that her knuckles turned white while she was playing all the plans she could think off in silence. All of her thoughts ended by the same thing: eight piles of dog-food in package similar to what she and her teammates were wearing.
“Blossom, what do we do?” Gale asked again when their leader didn’t reply Silent’s question.
“You wanted the lead, so lead us!” Flash argued as he readied his mace and shield.
“I...I…” Blossomforth stuttered.
A strong gust of wind swept around the large boulder they were standing on, startling the Diamond Dogs’ advance. When the dust came down, all could see what had caused it. An incredibly long, undulating, greyish blade had drawn that circle in the dirt. The blade ended in Cloud’s left fist as the blonde Jupitarian was hovering a few meters above her teammates, with puffy namesakes gathering around her.
“Blossom, Gale! Chop down every-cur that attempts to cross that line with your Shapes!” Cloud barked loudly over the howling of the horde. “Black, Lucky, Flash! Should they be overcome at some point, you three bash the dogs back beyond the line!” she added, pointing at the trio’s sturdy, cavalry shields. “Silent, take care of those above us! Sunset, you’re good at fire magic, right?”
“How come you know that?” Sunset asked with a cocked eyebrow as all six others took positions like Cloud ordered them to without any questions. “I don’t remember telling you anything about me…”
“Your friends from the Arcanium didn’t stop talking about their bitch-ass Burning-Star at the mess yesterday!” Cloud replied with a shrug.
“That sounds a lot like me, alright,” Sunset couldn’t help but to chuckle a bit. “What do you want me to do?”
“You’ll take the same role as me!” Cloud stated as the clouds around her turned black and coursed with electricity. “The role of mobile artillery!” she specified with a smirk before a loud thunderclap rang through the canyon.
