//------------------------------// // The Sergeant visits the Castle... at night! // Story: Tales of Apple Scratch : The Sergeant Cloud Kicker goes to Canterlot // by Mariacheat-Brony //------------------------------//                Three days later,         Twilight Sparkle’s official introduction ceremony had finally come to an end. The teenager’s cheeks rosied up a little when the Ponyville Delegation took their oath to her, but other than that everything went well. Once the Ceremony was complete, The Princesses invited all the delegations to the gala organized in the honor of the young lady Sparkle, who was to happen in the Canterlot Castle later that day.         While most of the guests were still mingling with the nobles and other big names of Equestria, the recently introduced Twilight Sparkle retired herself from the celebrations early. While she had appreciated the effort put into the party, her sudden rise into fame and the attention it had caused had quickly exhausted the girl. Soon enough, she reached her quarters in the Western wing of the castle, and bid her escorter good night after thanking him for his services. Said escorter, also known as the initiate Flash Sentry of the Golden Shield Order, briefly bowed before the young girl and walked away as she closed the door of her room.         As soon as the door was closed, Twilight let out a long, relieved sigh. The ceremony had been stressful enough, especially whenever she was close to that blonde sergeant of Ponyville, -If only I hadn’t found that store!- and the great party with all the uppercrust of Equestria and the nosy reporters had been even worse. Twilight was extremely grateful that the Princesses were fine with her leaving the party. Feeling her exhaustion catch up to her, Twilight navigated through her half-emptied boxes, which contained the part of her collection of books she hadn’t sorted out to put it in her vast bookshelves, to her large four-poster bed. Her hands travelling to her neck as she did. As she reached her nightstand, Twilight pulled off the thin, golden chain and its medaillon before she took it in her hand to give it a proper look. She absently traced the engraving of the rearing Unicorn with her finger while her eyes focused on the six-pointed-star-shaped gemstone embedded into the center of the golden surface. She read the inscription on the medallion out loud, Magia est clavem ad Concordiam, before she gently put it on the nightstand with a long sigh. “Being a “key” is going to be tough,” Twilight commented with a yawn. “I wonder what sort of a key-hole will I fit int..…”         Her train of thoughts suddenly derailed as her metaphor brought back a very specific image of a very specific place in Canterlot. An image that brought a lot of red to her dark complexion. “Why? Why can’t I forget this?!” Twilight groaned in frustration as the embarrassing image brought its siblings into her mind. “I never should have set a foot in that store!” Twilight let out as she pinched the bridge of her nose.         Letting out a low growl, Twilight went to her wardrobe, grabbed a pair of pajamas and a hanger for her dress before heading into the bathroom, slamming its door behind her. A couple of seconds later, the sounds of the shower running could be heard from beyond the door. It was right after that the door of Twilight’s balcony opened in a faint green-blue hue.         A black-clad figure pulled itself up from the edge of the balcony as soon as the door was slightly open. The person in black slowly made her entrance in the room, delicately closing the door behind her. Softly adjusting her hood so that it didn’t bother her sight, the intruder cast a glance at the bathroom door. The trespasser moved closer to the bed through the remaining moving-boxes of the Council member, nimble and discreet as a cat.         A flash of triumph appeared in the trespasser’s eyes as they landed on the medaillon on the nightstand. She grinned under her hood before grabbing it and raising it to her eye-level. She admired the craftsmanship of the necklace for a few seconds and then reached for bulky satchel at her hip as she faced the bathroom door. “Now, let’s take care of Miss goody-two-books,” the trespasser whispered with glee as she unhooked her satchel, whose content agitated the leather with low hisses. “You’re really mad at the girl, aren’t you?” “Damn straight I...Wait, what?!” the trespasser asked in confusion before she felt someone grabbing her left ankle.         A sudden yank of her left leg made the trespasser fall forward, her satchel and the medaillon leaving both her hands as she tried to soften her fall. She looked at her leg, seeing an arm coming out from underneath the bed. An arm that was quickly followed by the rest of its owner’s body. The first trespasser blinked in shock as another woman dressed in a skintight, black ensemble with a matching hood, just like her. Though on the other trespasser, spots of greyish dust covered certain areas of her outfit. “You’d think that the maids of Canterlot Castle would clean under the bed,” the newly-appeared trespasser whispered with a chuckle as she dusted her arms off a little.         The other’s response was to quickly stand back up and throwing a kick at the prone newcomer’s sides, only to have her roll out of to her right and thus dodging the stroke. the slightly dusty woman pulled herself completely from underneath the bed, and rolled forward to avoid the other trespasser’s angry stomp. The newcomer managed to stand up on her two feet to catch another kick cast at her. “Wowowowa!” the first-comer let out as her opponent gently pulled her caught leg to her, forcing her to hop forward a couple of times. “Hehehe!” the dusty-one let out with mirth as her adversary tried to keep her balance with wide circles of her arms. “Why you!”         The playful chuckle turned into a worried “oh-oh” as the eyes of the hopping thief flashed teal before books came flying at the one holding her leg. Keeping a firm hold on the trapped leg with one arm, Dusty raised the other one to cover face, letting out pained noises each time a heavy volume, which meant every single book available, hit a part of her upper body. Under her face-hiding hood, the Titanian grinned madly as she felt the grip on her leg getting loose as more books collided against her opponent. She strongly started to pull her leg away, leaning backwards to gain more momentum. It was then that she heard a playful “HA” coming from Dusty. Yelping in surprise, she barely had the time to see her suddenly letting go of her right leg before the Titanian saw a deep purple wing appeared on the right of Dusty’s back. The feathery appendage came swiftly against her right shin, making her fall backwards even more abruptly than before. Mid fall, the Titanian felt the wing flapping her lower back upward, thus making her continue her heavy fall on top of the bed instead of the ground, or worse the edge of the wooden bedpost. “Dam…” she began before feeling a gust of wind and her opponent landing on top of her.         She struggled against the weight of the Jupitarian for a couple of seconds, landing a fierce punch where the cheek was supposed to be. Growling a bit, the winged woman tried even harder to pin the Titanian down, resulting in a sharp headbutt against her forehead. “OW!” they both let out in pain as stars appeared in front their eyes as they instantly stopped struggling.         The slightly stunned Jupitarian shook her head like a dog to recover her wits whereas the Titanian underneath her slowly started to massage her sore forehead with both hands. Blinking the proverbial stars away from her sight, the winged-woman secured her adversary’s wrist in her hands and pinned them above the Titanian’s head. Said Titanian was still feeling a bit faint because of the sudden headbutt and thus barely managed to put up a resistance before she realized the situation she was in. Her arms were strongly held down, just above her head, while her thighs were pinned down onto the bed by the Jupitarian straddling them. She tried to push the woman off, but only succeed in prompting her soft chuckles. The Titanian glared at her until the woman straddling her leaned her head over hers. The embers of anger in her teal eyes were replaced by glimmers of total surprise when they met the playful glint in the purple orbs of the woman above her. A glint that she had seen in only one pair of eyes. The surprised teal orbs then looked at the purple wings displayed on her opponent’s back, seeing the many familiar feathers that she had often used as a warm blanket over her naked body. She felt the grip on her wrists disappear before the Jupitarian’s fingers grazed her skin as they pulled her sleeves up a little, sending exhilarating shivers through her spine. The digits travelled up to her shoulders, quickly but delicately tracing the sides of her neck before they hooked themselves on the Titanian’s hood. “You’ve been hard to catch these days,” the Jupitarian whispered softly as she pulled the hood away, revealing a tanned, panting face under curly locks of red and yellow. “Luckily for you, Sunset Shimmer, I’m quite stubborn in my own rights,” she added in a purred whisper, her face a couple of inches above Sunset’s. “I don’t exactly feel lucky right now, Cloud,” Sunset whispered back softly as her magic unveiled Cloud Kicker’s grinning face and her reddening cheek which Sunset had punched.         Cloud rolled her eyes at the pinned Titanian before lowering her face in. Sunset let out a quiet squeal as the blonde’s lips capture her own as her hands caressed both her cheeks. Other than that, she didn’t even put a token resistance and quickly returned the kiss with much dedication and pleasure. Sunset entwined her fingers in the winged-woman’s golden locks as Cloud’s tongue was warmly welcomed in her partner’s mouth. Both women let out muffled moans of pleasure for the rest of their passionate exchange until the blonde pulled away, slowly and purposefully letting the tip of her tongue brush against Sunset’s tongue and lips as she did. “.....Okay, I lied,” Sunset whispered with a heaving chest and half-lidded eyes. “Everyone would feel lucky if I were to pin them down on a bed,” Cloud boastfully claimed with a small smirk.         Sunset giggled briefly at the blonde’s boasting, softly brushing the back of her hand against her face. She winced apologetically when it brushed Cloud’s bruised cheek and made her pull her face away a little. It was then that the circumstances of the bruise and their current situation violently came back to her. “What were you doing under Sparkle’s bed?!” Sunset asked with an angry frown and a cold glare. “...Jealous much?” Cloud asked back with mirth, only earning a colder glare in response. “If you must know, I was waiting for you.” “Under her bed?” “Well, I couldn’t be seen or else we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Cloud explained casually. “Considering she didn’t see me and that I managed to catch you by surprise, you’ve got to admit it was a good hiding spot,” Cloud added with a proud smile. “That doesn’t really explain why you’re in Canterlot,” Sunset commented slowly, her tone soft but clearly threatening. “I’m part of the Ponyville delegation for that new Council member ceremony thingy,” Cloud replied. “That doesn’t explain why you’re in this room!” “I had, let’s say, a chat with Velvet Sparkle after seeing her daughter in the rehearsals instead of you,” Cloud explained softly. “She told me that you left the Arcanium as well as why you left…” “And you came in this room to get friendly with my replacement?!” Sunset asked with an angry snarl. Cloud simply cocked a skeptical eyebrow at her. “....Sunset, do you even hear yourself?” she asked slowly. “Did you really think that just because Princess Celestia deems Twilight Sparkle more worthy to put her skinny ass on a seat at a round table of some sort, I would ditch and your much-more-rounded-and-attractive behind?!” Cloud asked with a glare of her own, prompting a small blush from Sunset. “Don’t you know me even a little?” she asked, a little bit of hurt in her voice. “I thought I knew Master Sparkle and look how that turned out,” Sunset replied after a brief time of shameful reflexion. “I thought she had my back, but I was wrong…” “Well, I’m not Velvet Sparkle,” Cloud replied softly. “I’ll always have your back, Sunset…. Especially its lower part,” she added with a playful purr as her palm slided to Sunset’s hip. SLAP “Hmmm...So much passion,” Cloud purred even louder, ignoring the reddening bruise on her other cheek. “Pervert,” Sunset whispered, a small smile chasing her anger away as Cloud brought her face closer to hers. “More seriously though, I’m not here for Twilight Sparkle,” Cloud explained softly. “I’m here because I wanted to be here for you. I’m here because I wanted to stop you from doing a huge mistake.” “What mistake could I possibly do here?” Sunset asked softly.         Cloud nodded towards the bathroom door, making Sunset see her hissing satchel and Twilight’s necklace before it. “Revenge will not exactly help you, Sunset,” Cloud replied in a gentle whisper. “It will make me feel good,” Sunset replied with a shaken tone. “She took everything from me. All my dreams, my future and everything…” “She didn’t take me,” Cloud retorted with a small peck on Sunset’s cheek. “And I’m sure I can make you feel better than everything else,” she added with a bold kiss on her jawline. “..N..Not ev-every pr-probl-blem can be reso-olve by your w-ways, Cloud,” Sunset stammered with a mad blush as Cloud peppered her neck with gentle kisses. “A-and you’ve never be-been mine to begin with…” “Let’s assume I let you use whatever there is in that bag on Twilight, what would you do afterwards?” Cloud asked in between her kisses as her hands reached for the Titanian’s cat-suit’s zipper. “I...I’d laugh at her... probably,” Sunset replied with difficulty, as the zipper gently went down. “Th-then I’ll take that medaillon and go.” She managed to say before Cloud nipped at her throat, causing her to bit on her lip. “Why taking the medaillon?” Cloud asked as she pulled the skin-tight suit of her paramour slightly open to kiss her way down Sunset’s shoulder. “I..It was supposed to be mine,” Sunset managed to reply in a moaned whisper. “And then what would you do with an easily recognizable stolen necklace like that one?” Cloud asked softly as she pulled away from Sunset’s golden skin. “....I didn’t think of that yet,” Sunset admitted with a gulp. “I figured as much,” Cloud whispered gently. “If you had thought this through, you wouldn’t be here…” she added before resuming her trail of pecks on her paramour’s shoulder. “Because you thought your actions here through?” Sunset asked with a relaxed moan. “I knew you’re a sore loser and that you’d come here,” Cloud replied with a warm chuckle. “I just wanted to see you and maybe stopping you from doing something stupid… But mostly because I wanted to see you. Badly!” “Why?” “Remember that last conversation we’ve had in your room?” Cloud asked softly as she remembered the day of Sunset’s final trials before the Princesses. “The conversation that was interrupted by Master Sparkle after her daughter ratted on us?” “What are you talking about?” “It was Twilight Sparkle that knocked at my door that day, Cloud,” Sunset explained slowly. “She’s the reason her mother interrupted us.” “Huh. I did not know that,” Cloud let out, casting a brief glance at the bathroom door. “Back to what I was saying though, with that interrupted conversation of ours in mind, I’d like to ask you one thing.” Cloud cleared her throat for a seconds. “Sunset Shimmer, would you like to put up with me being your girlfriend?”         Sunset froze instantly as soon as the words escaped Cloud’s lips. Gaping like a fish out of the water, she blinked rapidly as Cloud flashed her brightest and warmest smile. “You mean, girlfriend as in Girlfriend or as in girl that is your friend and with whom you have flings with?” Sunset asked in a timid, shaken whisper.         Cloud’s reply was to simply press her lips against hers. It was nothing like what she experienced with the blonde. The animalistic desire and the volcanic passion were absent in Cloud’s kiss, replaced by calm affection and warm tenderness. Sunset and Cloud both closed their eyes as they lost themselves into the gentle kiss. “That answers your question, Sunset?” Cloud asked after softly breaking the kiss, grinning at the sight of Sunset’s lips trying to still capture her own. “Huh-huh,” Sunset replied with a nod. “Come on, let’s get out of here before she gets out of the shower,” Cloud advised as she finally stood up from the bed, and thus off of Sunset.  “You know, for a moment there I really thought you’d try to have your ways with me here.” Sunset whispered with rosy cheeks as she pulled her zipper back up. “You know what? For a moment, I thought that too!” Cloud commented as she scratched the back of her head. “So I suggest we move before the idea warms up to me again.” “What am I going to do with y…” “SNAAAAKEEES! SNAAAAKESSSS!” A panicked yell coming from the bathroom startled the two trespassing lovers. Both of them snapped their heads towards the door, noticing the half-dozen of small, scaly and sinuous bodies spread on the floor between the partly-opened satchel and the door. Cloud blinked in horror as she noticed a couple of reptilian tails disappearing through the interstice of the bathroom door. “Really?!” Cloud asked, nearly shouting. “Snakes?!” “Please, those are young ones and I made certain that they’re all fangless and non-poisonous,” Sunset argued with a roll of her eyes. “We’re going to talk about this,” Cloud argued back as she grabbed Sunset’s arm and pulled her toward the balcony.         As they opened the door leading to the balcony, a purple flash popped behind them. The pair witnessed the sight of a soaking wet and terrorized Twilight Sparkle, clad in a half-put bathrobe, who had just appeared outside of her bathroom. Right in the middle of the rest of the snakes. She froze instantly as she noticed the sinuous reptiles next to her, too nervous to even move a muscle. Until a snake wrapped itself around her knees.         Cold shivers of dread travelled up the Councilor’s body before they reached her head. It was then that it proved to be too much for her and she heavily collapsed on the floor. As a snake slided on top of the collapsed young girl’s upper body, Cloud cocked an eyebrow at the curly-haired Titanian who was trying to pull her away from the glass-door. “Ahem!” Cloud coughed in her hand. “What?!” “Aren’t you forgetting something?” “No!” “Sunset!” “I told you, no!” “Sunset!” “Urgh! Fiiiiine!”         Teal auras of magic surrounded the scattered reptiles before levitating them back into the satchel. After a vigorous nod from Cloud, Sunset went back inside, opened the door of the bathroom and caught the remaining snakes in it, ignoring the unconscious girl in the room. Once the twelve reptiles safely gathered in her satchel, Sunset joined Cloud on the balcony. Smiling playfully at the sour pout of the Titanian, Cloud wrapped her arms around her waist and conjured her wings to take off, while someone knocked at the door. They safely reached the ground below as Initiate Sentry timidly peaked inside the room, asking if everything was alright.