Fifteenth day of Competitions, a little while after lunch time,...
“Thanks for coming with me, Twilight,” Cloud said to her lover as they made way to the train station.
“I should be thanking you for letting me tag along,” Twilight retorted playfully, entwining her arm with Cloud’s.
“You want to thank me for coming with me to pick up someone at the train station?” Cloud asked with a cocked eyebrow before smiling brightly. “Please, knock yourself out!”
“.... You were supposed to return the compliment,” Twilight let out with a brief pout that disappeared after a chuckling Cloud gently pecked her cheek.
“That’s what they say in “dating tips 101” sort of books,” Cloud explained softly as her lover blushed before twirling a lock of hair around her finger in an adorable fashion. “I hardly do stuff by the book!”
“....Makes me wonder why I fell for you in the first place then,” Twilight replied, giggling softly. “Since I’m all about books.”
“Well, I think I’m way sexier than books,” Cloud replied with assurance. “That’s gotta have something to do with it,”
“.......I can’t really disagree with that,” Twilight commented as she leaned backwards a bit to subtly give her lover’s rear side an once over. “Can’t disagree at all as a matter of fact.”
Very happy about that last whisper from her lover, Cloud swayed her hips just a little bit more than usual, earning a discrete gulp from Twilight who then went back to walking normally. Well, as normally as possible for a woman with her thighs unnaturally close to one another, and cheeks as red as an apple.
“So… Why must you go to the train station again?” Twilight asked after regaining her composure as they were getting closer to their destination.
“I gotta pick up someone,” Cloud explained casually.
“If I remember the station’s timetable right, there are no trains coming to Ponyville for the next three hours,” Twilight let out softly. “Won’t you be a bit too much early?”
“..... You memorized the station’s timetable?” Cloud asked back with a surprised, raised eyebrow.
“Yes,” Twilight replied with a shrug. “Didn’t you?” she then said, tilting her head curiously.
“.... I’ll just say that I tried once… Missed a couple of trains before deciding to simply check the schedule before taking one,” Cloud explained slowly. “Anyway, back to your first question, I simply ‘rendez-vous-ed’ the person I’m picking up there.”
“Rendez-vous isn’t a verb, Cloudy,” Twilight commented drily. “You can’t conjugate it.”
“Yeah, I know.” Cloud shrugged as they reached the plaza before the train station. “I just love to hear your stern teacher voice,” she added, winking slyly. “It gives me ideas for the night to come,” she added in a faint, purred whisper in Twilight’s ear.
Much like she had imagined her to do, Cloud witnessed Twilight froze mid step after her whisper, her cheeks almost glowing red as the battle between her reason, and her lust raged inside her mind. Cloud watched her lover with amusement for a few seconds before Twilight shook her head like a dog, clearing her thoughts. She then threw an embarrassed glare at Cloud who realized that, as she had expected it to, Twilight’s reason had won over her lust.
“.... I’ll…. “ Twilight opened her mouth a couple of times, but no words came out of it. “.... There will be consequences for what you just did, Cloud!” she finally stated in a shaken vigor.
“I’m not against consequences, Twilight,” Cloud retorted, wiggling her eyebrows at the flustered Titanian.
“...A new girlfriend I see,” a girl’s voice came from above the couple, causing Cloud, and Twilight to look up, the latter still sporting a set of brightly red cheeks. “She doesn’t strike me as your type, Cloud… She looks way too smart for you.”
Twilight frowned at the condescending comment about Cloud’s intelligence given by the teenage Jupitarian above them. The violet-haired teen kept herself a couple of meters above them thanks to her pale yellow light-made wings. She took her flight goggles off her face as she floated down to the ground before putting them away in the travel bag that hung from her shoulder.
“I don’t think I’m type of girl to have a type,” Cloud replied softly, scratching her chin with a pensive expression. “Besides, trying to seduce someone smarter, and or prettier than oneself is good for self confidence. Actually succeeding in that endeavor is even better.” She glanced at the teen with a soft smirk. “You probably know what I’m talking about, right?”
“What are you implying there, Cloud?” the teen asked angrily as a puzzled Twilight glanced back and forth between her lover and the younger girl.
“What do you think I’m implying, Alula?” Cloud asked back mirthfully.
“I think you’re implying that I’m not that intelligent, or pretty,” Alula replied slowly, her light blue eyes narrowed at the blonde in front of her.
“Well, you’re obviously smarter than I first thought since you caught on it so quickly,” Cloud admitted casually, earning a shocked, mute gasp from Twilight.
“Of course, I am!” Alula retorted with a knowing smirk. “And, I’ll have you know that quite a few guys in my school in Cloudsdale are interested in m…”
Before Twilight, and Alula could blink, Cloud had seized the younger girl by the collar with one hand, and had yanked close strongly. Twilight thought the worst when Cloud’s other hand was raised high above her shoulder, as if ready to slap Alula. She was about to grab her lover in her magic before she saw her suddenly smile before bringing her fore-finger in front of Alula’s eyes.
“First things first!” Cloud waved her finger at Alula. “I want to know their names, their backgrounds, their looks, and if they’re smart!” she raised her middle finger, forming a V with her other raised finger. “Second, You’re going to tell me exactly what they told you to make you think they’re interested in you, so that I can tell you if he’s into you as a person, or as a thing, because that’s REALLY, REALLY important to know that sort of stuff.” Her ring finger was raised quickly afterwards. “Third, we’ll get you a box of rubbers, and you’ll start practice putting them on… Don’t start thinking that boys know how to put one on correctly.” She finally raised her little finger as Twilight choked on her own tongue at that last recommendation from her lover. “And finally, we’ll have a large bowl of ice cream with whipped cream, sprinkles, and chocolate sauce on top. How’s that for an afternoon?”
“......Can I have just the ice-cream, and not the three other things?” Alula asked sheepishly after a few seconds of silence.
“The first two, okay, but you’re not escaping the third one, Alula,” Cloud replied casually. “If there’s one thing, just one thing, you will do just as your big sister did is not getting pregnant before the time is right,”
“.... Just so you know, I’m not going to the pharmacist with you,” Alula stated confidently.
“What for?” Cloud asked in confusion. “You’re sick or something?” she then asked worriedly as she rested her palm on her sister’s forehead.
“Well, if you’re going to give me those...you know… You’ll have to buy them somewhere,” Alula reminded slowly.
“Ooh! No need for that, I’ll just give you those I keep at my place, little sis’,” Cloud replied with a wink. “I won’t need those anymore.” she added with a not-so-subtle nod aimed at Twilight. “Before I forget!” She pulled a flaming red Twilight closer to Alula. “Alula, meet my girlfriend, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, meet my sister, Alula Kicker,”
“Hang on!” Alula let out in shock. “THE Twilight Sparkle?! The same Twilight Sparkle who’s Princess Celestia’s student, and considered the leader of the Council of Harmony?”
“huh… Yes, that’s me,” Twilight sheepishly stated as she offered her hand to Alula who shook it half-heartedly.
“.... I’ve gotta ask why.” Alula stated slowly, her face showing nothing but incredulity. “Why would someone like you,” she waved at Twilight’s general direction. “..would want to go for that perverted ...thing there!” she then pointed at her older sister.
Cloud’s arm found its way around her sister neck, trapping her in choking hold before she brought the violet-haired head down. She then brought her other hand’s knuckles against the top of Alula’s skull, as the younger jupitarian tried to free herself.
“To think I actually missed you for a while, Alula,” Cloud stated calmly before she gave Alula a well-deserved, in Cloud’s opinion, noogie, earning a brief chuckle from her lover, and moans of pain from her sister.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a rather awkward start, Twilight and Alula were properly introduced to each other before Cloud lead her younger sibling around: showing her all the things that had changed since she left Ponyville with their parents. When Cloud wasn’t there to hear her, Alula asked Twilight again why she was with her sister to begin with, only to have Twilight sheepishly answer that she had no concrete idea of how she fell so hard for the blonde, while inwardly thinking that was probably the main reason of their relationship. The thrill of something new, unknown to her, and learning all there was to learn from it had always been a good incentive for the Council Member, though she suspected that Cloud’s expertise in the many facets of the art of seduction had also something to do with it, but Alula didn’t need to know that.
After buying Alula her promised bowl of ice cream, without mentioning the three other parts of Cloud’s idea of a pleasant afternoon with her sister, the lieutenant agreed on showing her little sister, and Twilight, her office at the Guard post. Cloud had had troubles keeping her giggling fit in check in front of her men, as the awed look on Alula’s face whenever someone saluted her was almost too adorable.
While Alula sat on her sister’s chair, bombarding her older sibling with questions about the reports on her desk, which Cloud quickly, but playfully pulled away from her sister’s all-too-curious eyes, or about the various trophies on the wall: like that hydra tooth which was as long as Alula’s whole forearm, Twilight’s gaze wandered over the wall behind the desk. It displayed a series of framed pictures, newspapers articles, or official document, like Cloud’s letter of promotion to the rank of Lieutenant signed by Twilight’s brother, and Princess Luna. -It was more of a formality nowadays, but the Night Princess had always had to be the one to officially approve of the choice of a platoon commander.
Hearing Cloud’s tale of how exactly she came in possession of that Hydra’s tooth, Twilight kept glancing at the pictures on the wall. Her eyes stopped on a photo that dated from about four years ago. She immediately recognized the armored girl in the center of the image, as it was none other than her lover. Twilight also recognized the younger Blossomforth on the picture, whom Cloud had introduced to her as she toured them around the Guard post, and the tall redhead, whom she had spotted in the main court sharpening a sword for what seemed to be a new recruit. Twilight didn’t know who the tanned, grey-haired woman holding a crossbow was, but she couldn’t stop her frown when she recognized the girl with red, and yellow hair who had Cloud’s arm around her shoulders.
Return from Las Pegasus Maneuvers… Twilight read the caption of the picture before she noticed that all five armor-clad girls were standing in front of a dead, she guessed, Canis Minor. ...Cloud actually worked with Sunset Shimmer? Her frown deepened at the happy smile Sunset seemed to return to Cloud on the picture… There’s no way Cloud had been friend with that punk!
Twilight had only met Sunset Shimmer once, but that one time had only confirmed what she had heard from many of Sunset’s supposed fellow Arcanists, and from her own Mother, who was in charge of her training: Sunset Shimmer was nothing but self-centered brat who thought herself superior to all others. Twilight’s mother had been more gentle in her comments about her apprentice, stating that her skill matched her feeling of superiority at least, but in essence Sunset Shimmer was not good company.
And, if that wasn’t enough, Sunset also had no respect for the rules: like that morning when she had been mean to Twilight who just wanted to get back the book Sunset had borrowed from the Celestia’s school for the Gifted’s Library. Not only she didn’t want to return the book to Twilight, but she had been really awful to her as well. Twilight had never been one for petty revenge before, but when she found out that Sunset was having someone in her room, something strictly forbidden by the Arcanium, just before Sunset insulted her for merely doing her job, she didn’t stop herself when she came across her mother on her way to the library.
***************
“Are you certain of what you’re telling me, Twilight?”
“She didn’t levitate the book to her, Mom. Someone must have thrown it at her… And, she also said that thing about ‘’having Queen-sized beds in every room of the tower”... I’m quoting her on the matter.”
“Yeah… That sounds like something she would say.”
“She was also very huh…. messy in her appearance….”
“Messy?...What do you mean?”
“Her robe was all wrinkled, and not exactly well tied and closed… Her hair was a mess, and she smelled really sweaty… Not much, but still noticeable…”
“Hummmmm, I’ll go check to be sure. Thanks for letting me know, Twilight. I’ll see you later.”
“Later, Mom.”
“I swear if it’s that blonde slut from Pagétonas’ compound again, I’ll have her discharged…”
***************
Hang on, Twilight thought worriedly as the scene of her Mother walking away from her, grumbling in her proverbial beard was played back in her head. Cloud told me she did her training in Las Pegasus under Sergeant Pagétonas’ command…… Could it be that…
Twilight turned away from the picture to look at her lover in puzzlement as she kept telling her story to her entranced little sister. Her gaze went back to glance at the group picture with Sunset, her eyes narrowed as she examined the Titanian’s face to determine if it was more than an expression of friendship that she had while standing next to her lover. Her musing about Sunset came to a stop when she heard someone running toward the office door.
Cloud had heard it too, as she looked in the door’s direction at the same time as Twilight, and Alula. They also heard a few voices shouting someone to stop as the running steps came closer to the Lieutenant. At the sound of a body colliding with another, followed by the one of someone in armor falling heavily on the ground with a pained grunt, Cloud slightly pushed Alula behind her, and waved at Twilight to do the same. As she held a reassuring hand on Alula’s shoulder, Twilight saw a small patch of fog appearing around Cloud’s left hand.
A few seconds later, the door of the office was slammed open, revealing who was the one who had charged in like a bull. Cloud blinked in shock at the sight of a well-known, muscular figure clad in jeans, and a red shirt with short orangish blonde hair.
“Mac?” Cloud let out in confusion as Big Macintosh realized that Cloud had company, unlike what he had thought.
He was about to speak when something yanked on the back of his collar, forcing him to take a step back.
“I told you to wait!” Blossomforth snarled angrily as she tried to pull Big Macintosh out of the office. “Sorry for this, Lieutenant. I tried to explain to him that you were bus…”
“It’s okay, Blossom,” Cloud quickly assured as Twilight let go of the breath she was holding back. “Let him go,” she ordered gently while Alula waved excitedly at the tall Apple who sheepishly waved back.
“All right,” Blossomforth nodded slowly as she let go of Big Macintosh. “Know that he shoved Moonshield to the ground when he tried to stop him.”
“That means that Moonshield still gotta work on his balance for when he’s opposed to people larger than him,” Cloud commented slowly before she stepped toward her best friends’ brother. “So, you were in quite a rush to get here apparently, Big Mac,” she stated casually, an expectant look on her face. “Wanted to tell me something?”
“...Eeyup,” Big Mac replied, his voice barely above a whisper before he brought his mouth to Cloud’s ear after he glanced at Alula, and Twilight uneasily.
With Cloud’s back turned to them, Twilight, and Alula couldn’t see the Lieutenant’s reaction to what the tall Apple was whispering in her ear, but Blossomforth saw it all. She saw Cloud’s calm expression turn livid in a stupor before anger found its marks on her face. Whatever Macintosh was telling her, it was clearly serious business. A few moments later, he pulled away from Cloud’s ear, and looked at her worriedly.
“.... Twilight,” Cloud let out softly after a few seconds of silence. “Could you do me a favor?”
“Huh...Sure!” Twilight assured, even if she was a bit surprised by her lover’s question. “Anything, you want!”
“Could you take Alula back to my place, and take care of her for tonight?” Cloud asked slowly, earning a puzzled “Huh?” from her sister. “There’s money in the living room sideboard, you can go to the restaurant with it,” Cloud explained as she moved closer to a double slide-door on the right wall of her office.
“What’s going on?” Twilight asked worriedly as Alula was shocked by the serious expression on her sister.
“My job,” Cloud replied matter-of-factly as she grabbed the handles of the slide-doors. “Sergeant Shields!”
“Yes, Lieutenant?” Blossomforth instantly replied after standing at attention.
“Go find Swiftwing,” Cloud ordered calmly. “Tell her the three of us are going on a little hunting trip.”
As Blossomforth left the office, with Macintosh on her heels since he had told what he had to say, Cloud pushed the slide-doors open, revealing three sets of armor, and an impressive rack full of swords, and daggers. Twilight saw the ceremonial red, and golden armor Cloud had worn during Fancy Pants’ reception, along with the standard Royal Guard armor next to it, but Cloud turned to the third set: an armor made of black leather, with a matching mask and hood.
“Cloud, what’s happening?” Twilight asked as Cloud pulled the light armor out of its display. “Where are you going?”
“I’m doing my job. That’s what’s happening. As for where I’m going, it’s none of your concern,” Cloud replied with a shrug before she looked at her sister in an apologetic frown. “Sorry to leave you like that, Alula, but it’s really important. We’ll catch up when I get back. Promised!”
“It’s okay,” Alula replied softly, still awed by the numerous swords on display around her sister’s armors. “When you gotta go, you gotta go…” she added absent-mindedly.
“You can go take a closer look, but DO NOT TOUCH! You could get hurt!”
“Thanks!” Alula quickly added as she hovered to the weapon rack, her hands firmly holding each other behind her back.
“Cloud, I think it is of my concern,” Twilight whispered angrily as soon as Alula couldn’t hear her anymore. “WHERE are you going?!”
“Twilight, think for a moment,” Cloud replied softly. “There must be a reason for me not wanting to tell you. So let’s leave it at that!”
“.....Lieutenant Kicker, I’m ordering you, as a Council Member, and as your Lover, to tell me what’s going on!” Twilight demanded, her cheeks burning with a growing anger.
Cloud paused her inspection of her suit of armor before she cocked an eyebrow at her lover. She then sighed before licking her lips in annoyance.
“Twilight, I love you, but if you think that I’m going to let you order me around HERE of all places..” she waved at the office in general. “...Then, we’re gonna have a problem a lot bigger than your mentor’s ass!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Much later, in the Everfree Forest, ...
Cloud, Blossomforth, and Gale had flown to Sweet Apple Acres after they got geared up. Like Macintosh had said, many of the Apples were standing guard by the fence that separated the most secluded part of the orchard and the Everfree Forest. They had run after the intruder until they had reached the limit of the forest, which the dogs wouldn’t cross no matter what. The trio had started to follow the tracks left by the woman who had assaulted Vinyl two hours ago.
They had followed them until they completely disappeared on the bank of a large river, making them think the runaway had gone by boat. They followed the current that went deeper into the forest without too much trouble, something that unsettled Gale quite a lot.
“I don’t like this,” the redhead stated for the tenth time as they hovered a few feet above the river, searching for any signs of a boat, or a woman having reached the shores. “It’s way too quiet to be the Everfree,” she added, reaffirming her grip on her battle axe.
“As much as I found annoying you repeating it, I must agree on that,” Blossomforth said softly. “We’ve been here for hours, and we haven’t encountered anything other than the trees, the river, and rocks…”
“We should go back,” Cloud stated with a groan as she glanced up the starry skies above them. “It’s getting too dark to continue further, if they followed the river in the first place…”
“What do you mean?” Gale asked with curiosity.
“Maybe the person we’re after teleported when she reached the river,” Cloud suggested slowly. “To get us off track.”
“I thought the Everfree Forest’s magic messed up any teleportation spells,” Blossomforth let out in puzzlement.
“Yeah, I know, but maybe that person is able to adapt her magic to still succeed in her teleportations,” Cloud said softly. “Stranger things than that happened around here before.”
“I guess you’re right,” Gale agreed with a sigh. “That’s probably why we didn’t find anything on the shores…”
“Wait!” Blossomforth whispered, raising her hand to silence her two comrades. “You guys hear that?”
“....Yeah…” Gale let out after pricking her ears up. “Sounds like someone’s singing...”
“Let’s go check it out,” Cloud called quietly after she landed softly on the right shore of the river.
They stealthily moved through the thick canopy of the Everfree, slowly but surely getting closer from the source of the hummed song. They walked to the top of a hill covered with trees before they reached a clearing in which they saw who was singing. Remaining hidden by the trees, they observed the young woman with a two-toned teal ponytail, carrying a large, and nearly full basket of fruits.
“... I’m picking up fruits…. Just picking up fruits,” She sang absentmindedly as she plucked a polka-dotted papaya from a branch. “...In the middle of the Everfree… Cause I suck at drawing lots, so I’m here picking fruits… Just picking up fruits… I’ll make them into a punch… Without the grapes… ‘Cause Aria dislikes grapes… But she doesn’t know how to make a good fruit punch… So I’ll just put grape juice in it…”
“What do you think?” Cloud asked in a whisper as the girl kept humming her improvised song which was now about tacos somehow.
“She has a really good singing voice, but she sucks at coming up with lyrics,” Gale commented casually. “But, you’re probably talking about the fact she’s in the middle of the Everfree at night, picking up fruits.”
“Well, she’s clearly not on her own according to what she just sang,” Blossomforth stated slowly. “Do you think they’re lost travellers?”
“Lost travellers who would send a girl out alone at night in the Everfree Forest?” Cloud asked back slowly. “.... I don’t know about you two, but I don’t buy it!”
“Me neither,” Gale said before she readied her axe.
“Same here,” Blossomforth agreed as she uncovered the blade of her spear. “Should we apprehend her?”
“Let’s first try to see if she’s hostile or not,” Cloud replied slowly. “I’ll go talk to her, you two cover me, and wait for my signal.”
“Okay,” Gale, and Blossomforth replied with a nod.
As her partners remained hidden, Cloud pulled her hood off, and her mask down before walking in the clearing. The girl was still humming her tune when Cloud stood a couple of meters behind her.
“Good evening,” Cloud called softly, making the girl jump in surprise. “I didn’t mean to scare you but…”
Her sentence was interrupted by a basket full of fruits flying to her face. One that looked exactly like a pineapple, if it weren’t for its bright blue color, hit her forehead with a faint thud. She rubbed her forehead before opening one of her eyes, spotting the tealette running away deep in the woods.
“Blossom! Gale! After her!” Cloud ordered as she took off in pursuit of the girl.
The girl ran zigzag among the trees, making it difficult for the three Jupitarians on her trail to catch her by flying. While they had troubles getting close enough to apprehend her, they were moving fast enough to not lose her through the forest. After a good minute long chase, the girl escaped from the canopy in favor of an open space by a cliff. She stopped at the edge, muttering a curse, before she spun around, only to face three winged women clad in black armor, and with their weapons drawn.
“You know, we were going to be civil about this,” Cloud explained as she pointed the end of her sword at the trapped girl. “But, now I’m as pissed off as when I found out my friend was attacked earlier today.”
As she spoke those words, the whole plateau became darker, making the runaway look up to see dark clouds gathering above them, thus fainting the light of the moon, and stars. She then heard the sound of the wind, along with the one of thunder, and brought her attention back to the trio. She blinked in stupor when she saw drill-shaped tornado around the spear-head of the soldier with white wings, and the sparks of lightning surging from the primitive-looking axe wielded by the red-winged one.
“The choice is on you,” Cloud stated slowly, as the black namesakes above her became denser, and closer to the ground at each second. “Either you calmly come with us to answer our questions, or we will not hesitate to use the force on you.”
The girl whistled at the shapes the Jupitarian were displaying in front of her before she smirked softly. She took one step back, prompting Cloud and her friends to lean on their good, leg, ready to take off in case she would try to escape once again.
“So, what do you say?” Blossomforth asked in a stern shout.
“...... Shoo-bee-doo-shoop-shoop-bee-doo,” she replied in a singsong voice before she let herself fall backwards.
“DAMN IT!” Cloud yelled as the girl disappeared beyond the edge of the cliff.
Instantly after her yell, the three Jupitarians lunged forward before flapping their wings to dive after the girl. Cloud managed to grab the girl’s collar just before all four of them reached the water in a loud splash. Their momentum brought them a couple of meters below the surface of the river. Due to the advanced hour, and the dark clouds above them, they could barely see ahead of them inside the water, as the only source of light came from Blossomforth, light-made wings.
Cloud seemed to see her partners coming to her aid to bring the girl back to the surface, but that was before she felt a very powerful punch hitting her stomach. The shock made her gasp in pain, causing her breath out a large quantity of air bubbles. Holding her belly in pain, she closed her mouth as she barely perceived Blossomforth, and Gale getting beat-up helplessly by the teal blur that had replaced the girl they had caught before touching the water.
When she saw blurry hands maintaining her friends’ mouths open so that they couldn’t keep water from entering into their lungs, Cloud swam forward, extending her hand toward the blur. Cloud’s hand found its way around a thin neck. Her fingers felt line-shaped holes on the side of the throat she had grabbed, before she focused her mind on the winter to come.
A pained, inhuman shriek resonated in the water after ice formed itself beneath Cloud’s fingers. The neck freed itself from Cloud’s grip before she felt something heavy hitting the side of her face, scraping the skin of her left cheek. The shock blinded her for a second, but when she glanced through the strands of her own blood that floated before her, she saw a glimmering teal fishtail swimming away a lot more faster than the current that seemed to carry her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours later, South Orchard barn of Sweet Apple Acres, ...
“So, she managed to escape y’all?” Applejack asked angrily as Vinyl extended a bottle of disinfectant to Blossomforth as she tried to extract the scales stuck in her Lieutenant’s cheek.
“For the last time, bringing you with us wouldn’t have changed a thing, AJ,” Cloud replied with a sigh. “If anything, we’d have moved a lot slower with you around than just Gale, Blossom, and me, and we would have missed that girl totally.”
“Besides, we didn’t expect her to be from the Sea-folks,” Gale added with a displeased groan. “Even you would have had your ass kicked by her underwater,”
“....Maybe,” Applejack admitted half-hearted with a frown.
“You’re sure that girl had a connection with the one who attacked me?” Vinyl asked slowly.
“She was in the Everfree, could sing as well as you described, we found her by following the river your attacker has probably taken, and she ran away immediately after being found out,” Cloud said softly before wincing in pain when Blossomforth pulled the fourth scale out of her cheek. “Blossom, be gentler,”
“If you’d stop talking so much when I try to get them out, it would be easier, Lieutenant,” Blossomforth retorted matter-of-factly. “Besides, only one left.”
“So, you’re saying that it’s too big for a mere coincidence?” Vinyl asked, earning a silent nod from Cloud. Vinyl waited for Blossomforth to pull the last scale out before speaking again. “What about Colgate then?”
“I’ll need a recent picture of her,” Cloud replied softly. “The Guard’s archivist, Print Sapiens, knows a very neat duplication spell. We’ll gave them to everyone under my command, and have them ask around in the hotels, and such. Also, try to reach for her, or someone who sees her often… For all we know, she might be safe, and sound in Manehattan.”
“What if she isn’t?!” Vinyl snapped with narrowed eyes. “What if she’s chained up somewhere?! What if they just killed her to take her place?!”
“....... I won’t lie to you, Vinyl, those are possibilities,” Cloud admitted slowly. “We can only hope for the best. Someone must have seen her, or her doppelganger… After all, from what you told me about her when you were in Manehatten, pure white on dark blue stands out a lot...”
“Why do you say that?” Gale asked in confusion.
“Colgate always wears dark blue, and white clothes,” Vinyl explained with a sigh. “She does that so that it matches her hair….”
“......” Gale scratched her chin in stupor. “Huh… Does she have blue hair that reaches over here?” she placed her hand at her shoulder blade level. “And a big lock of white hair on the front?” she grabbed her own hair that hung in the middle of her forehead to demonstrate.
“...Yes,” Vinyl replied softly.
“About five feet and a half tall?” Gale asked again.
“...More or less… Did you see her?!” Vinyl asked in a hopeful tone.
“Actually, I saw someone like that today, but she didn’t say her name was Colgate though…”
“It’s her nickname. Her real name is Minuette Romana Tardie!” Vinyl quickly commented.
“Oh…. Then, I can say that she’s safe… Sort of!”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘’ SORT OF’’?” Cloud, Blossomforth, Applejack, and Vinyl shouted angrily, making the redhead jump in reaction.
“Well, she’s in the cells of the Guard post,” Gale explained sheepishly. “One of the new recruits arrested her for the night after she got into a fight with another woman....”
“WHAT?!!!!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the same time, in Ponyville Guard Post’s cells…
“They’re still at it?” a female guard asked to her colleague in charge of watching the drunk tanks.
“Yep,” he replied, repressing a long yawn. “They have been at it all afternoon, and all evening. Sure they caught some sleep at some point, but it started again around midnight.”
“Woaw.” The female guard whistled in amazement as she looked at the two central cells. “I bet you’re glad Vinyl Apple agreed to teach you her sound-barrier spell for the Games,” she added with a knowing grin at the faint yellowish glow on the bars.
“I have to pay more attention to what the prisoners might do, not having to hear their insults thrown at me, or at each other in this case, is quite a relief in itself,” he admitted with a shrug, before he turned his gaze back to the two women separated by a wall of prison bars shouting mutedly at each other.
“..Ten bits the blue-haired girl lasts longer,” the female guard called playfully.
“I hope you’re ready to give me money, then,” her colleague retorted, smiling. “Because the one with the pink bowtie sure packs some spunk.”
