Here's chapter 15! Read it and like it!
"...no no no, that's not how you throw a knife. Try it again!" barked the instructor. I gritted my teeth and tried my luck again. The knife flew through the air and hit the bulls-eye mark on the target. The knife I threw before it was embedded in the wall. What a big difference.
"There you go. That was a big improvement over the last one, don't you think?" he said. I nodded.
"You're done for today's training. I must say, you made a big difference over your previous test" he said, consulting his list. I heard a cough behind me and turned around.
"Princess Luna! What are you doing here?" said the instructor, bowing before her. She waved her hoof and he stood up. I stared at her. For some reason, she looked very enticing. I suddenly realized my mouth was open and I was drooling and I quickly closed it.
"I just came here to check up on our trainee. He is doing well, isn't he?" she asked him. He nodded.
"That's good to hear. Practice more Azure. This war is not going to end so pleasantly" she said, walking out of the room. I stared after her. The instructor turned to me again and waved his hoof to get my attention.
"You alright there?" he asked. I quickly snapped out of my daydream and nodded.
"Hmm...maybe you would like to go through the explosives training?" he asked.
"Explosives? Count me in!" I said, following him out the door and towards the explosives training compound.
Meanwhile, in Ponyville Spa...
"Ah, isn't this relaxing?" asked Rarity, getting her hoof filed. The others nodded.
"Much better to relax than fight" said Twilight, facial cream over her face.
"True that" said Applejack, getting a massage.
"Hey guys" said Rainbow Dash, walking in. Storm came in behind her.
"Hey RD. Oh, hi Storm. What brings you here?" asked Applejack. Storm saw the jacuzzi and jumped in. He quickly rose from the water and grinned.
"I came for the hot tub. This thing is awesome" he said, lying back. Pinkie giggled.
"Hi Rainbow Dash. Come get a facial or your hoof filed. It's relaxing" said Rarity. Rainbow Dash shook her head.
"Er..no thanks. Wait, does the facial come with cucumbers?" she asked. Twilight nodded.
"Count me in" she said, lying on the chair while Lotus dabbed some cream on her face.
"Hey, where are the other guys?" asked Storm.
"Ash couldn't come. He had to work overtime" said Applejack.
"Aquarius is covering for my time being spent here, that's why he couldn't come" said Twilight.
"Stratos is here!" said Pinkie, pulling him out of the water. Storm jumped while Stratos started coughing.
"What the hell were you doing down there?" asked Storm.
"I was doing some..underwater exploration.." he said sheepishly. I stared at him.
"Oh silly, so that was you who was tickling my tail!" said Pinkie cheerfully. Everypony laughed.
"So how about Virtus?" asked Storm. Fluttershy shook her head.
"Not here. He's sleeping as usual" she said.
"Ah well, at least I got a guy to talk to." said Storm. Rainbow Dash glared at him.
"Don't make me put hoofpolish on you" she said threateningly.
"I'm sorry" he said, and there was an expression of genuine fright in his face. Stratos laughed.
"Haha. You let her boss you around. You got no balls" he said, smirking.
"You shut your mouth mister, before I make you cook again" said Pinkie. Stratos was quiet and Storm laughed.
"Hey guys..I think I located the water jet..*** that feels good" said Storm with a relaxed expression on his face. Everypony laughed.
"Anyways, do we have any plans for today?" asked Fluttershy.
"We had plans?" said Rainbow Dash, taking the cucumber from her eyes and putting it in her mouth. Twilight nodded.
"Yes. We can't let our guard down yet. Princess Celestia has warned us that the shadow rifter is still alive and active, so we must plan before he strikes" she said, a list appearing out of nowhere in front of her.
"C'mon Twilight. Relax for a bit" said Stratos, lying back against the pool. She snapped.
"How can you tell me to relax when we're going to be attacked by a dark force?" she growled.
"Uh..Twilight? I think you should control yourself. You look like you're going to lose it" muttered Applejack. She lowered her brows and sighed.
"You know, if you guys won't prepare, I'll go do some research on it. I'll come back later. Goodbye" she said, wiping the cream from her face and teleporting out of the room.
"What's her problem?" asked Pinkie. Rainbow Dash shrugged.
Sunblood Mountain...
"Presenting, the new Umbra Clones" said Hurricane, showing Ak a large group of shadow ponies. Ak presided over them and rubbed his chin.
"Are they capable of fighting well?" he asked. Hurricane nodded.
"Yes. They took down the hostages we bought in..quite efficiently. They are the best we can make" he said. Ak grinned.
"Launch their fleet. We want to decimate Ponyville first. Our scouts have reported that all of them are located in Ponyville. Once we destroy that town, none of them will be there to stop us!" he said. Hurricane coughed and Ak quickly looked at him.
"Why are you coughing? Is there something you didn't tell me?" he said. Hurricane nodded.
"They are in the testing stage right now. I'm afraid we can't send them out to attack them, or they will be destroyed. Just like our previous models" he said.
"What? Then why did you bother to introduce them? Stop wasting my time and get on improving them!" he growled at Hurricane, before stomping off towards his office. Hurricane sighed and looked at the clones.
"Time to start the training" he said, activating the protective barrier around him...
Meanwhile, back in Ponyville...
"That was worth the 500 bits" said Applejack, walking outside the spa. The others agreed.
"Yeah. Too bad me and Storm had to pay" grumbled Stratos. Storm nodded.
"I'll make it up to you" said Pinkie. Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Yeah, we'll think of something" said Rainbow Dash.
"Is anypony coming to Gummy's second birthday party tomorrow?" asked Pinkie.
"Sure. I got nothing to do tomorrow" said Storm. Rainbow Dash shook her head.
"I can't. I have to move some clouds around." she said flatly. Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy said they were coming.
"How about Twilight?" asked Fluttershy. Pinkie thought about it.
"I'll ask her to come after she cooled her temper. Don't want her to blow up on me" she said cheerfully.
"Then it's settled. Tomorrow at noon." said Stratos confidentially. The others nodded in unison.
Suddenly, wind started blowing around them. A moment later, something bright flashed in front of them and a portal formed. Azure walked out of it, covered in soot.
"Azure! What's up! And..uh..why are you covered in ashes?" asked Storm. I coughed.
"Don't mix gunpowder with nitroglycerin. Something bad happens" I said, dusting the soot off of myself.
"What's nitroglaciren-nitrolgalcer-nitro- ah screw it. Just what is it?" asked Stratos. I shook my head.
"It's an explosive compound, made with mixing some base ingredients-"
"I get it. It's something that explodes. Please don't turn me into an egghead. I'm sure Twilight would love to hear it" muttered Rainbow Dash. I chuckled.
"So, what's everypony up to? Sorry I couldn't come, I was a bit busy training" I said, lying on the ground.
"Nothing really. We just came back from the spa. You should've come, it was fun" said Pinkie. Rarity nodded.
"Sorry I couldn't. As I said, I was training with explosives. Anyways, you want to eat something? I'm hungry-oh, not again!"
My phone started ringing again and I picked it up to see a text.
Canterlot. Regular inspection and stuff. Be sure to come early!
"Well, that's going to eat my day" I muttered, finishing the text and putting my phone away.
"What is it?" asked Fluttershy.
"I have to go for an inspection in Canterlot. You know, Royal Guard stuff" I said, my wings opening up.
"I'll be back tomorrow. I hate my job" I said, flying off towards Canterlot...
Back in Sunblood Mountain...
"...while you were working on those clones, I have enhanced our base of operations a bit" said Ak to Hurricane. They were walking in the control center. Hurricane raised his eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" he asked. Ak smirked.
"Just watch" he said, lifting his hand. The entire mountain rumbled, and it felt like it was taking off. Dust was falling from the ceiling, and the ground cracked a bit. Ak looked at Hurricane and motioned him to go towards the window.
"Take a look" he said. Hurricane walked over to window and his jaw dropped.
The entire mountain was standing up. There were two supports under it holding it up, but the entire peak was moving on its' own. It was a sight to see.
"What the- how did you-?" asked Hurricane faintly. Ak chuckled.
"You don't know all about me, Hurricane. I can bend the force of nature. I can cause things to go past their limits" he said. Hurricane just shook his head and walked out of the room.
"You forgot to see one more thing" said Ak behind him. Hurricane turned around. Ak snapped his fingers, and the sides of the peak lifted up to reveal a large arsenal of missiles and turrets.
"You didn't think I would leave our headquarters defenseless? No, I have installed the best defensive and offensive weapons I could craft" he said proudly. Hurricane grinned.
"We will conquer them with this" he said. Ak nodded. He snapped his fingers again and the sides closed to cover the weapons again, making it look like a normal mountain.
"Wait Hurricane. I have a plan" said Ak. For the third time, Hurricane turned and slumped back towards Ak.
"I have been watching Azure. He seems to show affection towards Celestia's sibling. Can we send a small squad of Umbra Clones?" he asked. Hurricane nodded.
"But how do you know that he likes her?" asked Hurricane. Ak raised his hand.
"Silence! I know what goes on. His feelings for her is deep. That is why we will send a small squad of Umbra Clones and kidnap her. She will be held hostage here. And it won't hurt to extract vital information from her" he said thoughtfully. Hurricane was silent at first, but broke out in a malicious grin.
"Sounds good. When are we commencing with the plan?" he asked. Ak grinned, if possible, further.
"Right now. Gather up your best. I want her captured by evening. I have heard she gains tremendous power when it's the full moon, so I want her back before the evening. Now get out of my sight!" he ordered. Hurricane nodded and ran out of the room.
In the Clone Barracks of Sunblood Mountain...
"Listen up! I need three of you to volunteer on an important mission. This is not for the faint hearted. I want the best of the best. If you know anypony who is exceptional in skill, bring them forth" barked Hurricane. The army of clones in front of him looked at each other and spoke to themselves.
A few minutes later, one of them raised their hooves.
"Name!" shouted Hurricane.
"Magnus" he replied, walking up. Hurricane nodded, consulting his list. Magnus did qualify. He killed about five of his kind just to reach the top.
"I need two more! C'mon, no need to be shy!" shouted Hurricane. Ten minutes later, two of them walked up. One female, the other, a male, came up.
"Names?" asked Hurricane, checking his list.
"Tex" said the male.
"Lynx" said the female.
"Good good. I see that both of you are proficient in hoof-to-hoof combat and in using weaponry. The thing is, can you three kidnap the princess of the moon?" he asked. All three of them looked at each other and laughed.
"Piece of cake" said Magnus. The others nodded.
"We can handle it. We've done some hostage missions before" said Tex. Hurricane laughed.
"Very good. I want you three deployed today and capture her before evening. She is very powerful when there is a full moon. Failure will not be tolerated. Do we have an understanding?" he said. All three of them nodded.
"Then good luck on your mission" he said. All three of them teleported out of the room, intent on capturing Luna...
Oh no! What's going to happen next? Stay tuned to find out, and remember to review :)