//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The First Steps // Story: A Dazzling Return (#3) // by LightningStar626 //------------------------------// Chapter 3: The First Steps. ~The next day in the hideout, Steven was in his office, going through the school files once again. From outside the office, Lightning stood everyone in a line and made them stand up straight. She put on a camouflage cap and started to march back and forward in front of the Rainbooms and Karly, hands behind her back.~ "Alright, girls! Today you come in as noobs! Maggots! Worthless Worms! But, soon, you will become...the greatest agents that ever lived! You may get hurt, you may be defeated, you may cry, and most of all, you may get angry. But that's what...becoming...true agents is all about. So, let's get moving! Any questions? No?" "I have a question." Karly slowly raised her hand. "Yes, Agent Crystal!?" Lightning asked. "Can you please stop talking like a military general? You're making me paranoid and uncomfortable. We're not in the army." "..." Lightning breathed in and out. "Sorry. Got caught up in the moment. One of my uncles is actually a military general, so...anyways! Let's start-wait...Where's Stitch and Spike?" "Probably in their room." Fluttershy guessed. "Argh...That room is not even finished yet. Ok. Stitch! Spike!" ~Lightning turns and heads for Stitch and Spike's room. She arrives and softly knocks.~ "Stitch! Spike!" Lightning opens the door and finds Stitch and Spike dancing on the floor. "Baby Shark, doo doo, doo doo, doo doo! Baby Shark, doo doo, doo doo, doo doo! Baby Shark, doo doo, doo doo, doo doo! Baby Shark!" Stitch sang. "Mummy Shark, doo doo, doo doo, doo doo! Mummy Shark, doo doo, doo doo, doo doo! Mummy Shark, doo doo, doo doo, doo doo! Mummy Shark!" Spike continued. "Daddy Shark, doo doo, doo doo, doo doo! Daddy Shark, doo doo, doo doo, doo doo! Dad-" "O...k…" Lightning slowly slammed the door and turned back to the rest. "They're busy…Let's just start training without them, it's fine." ~The Dazzlings make their way back to the front of CHS and glare at it. Aria frowns and crosses her arms and turns to Adagio in a mad but sophisticated way.~ "How can you be sure The Rainbooms are here?" She groaned. "I just thought we were going on a walk. You know, exercise on a beautiful Saturday." Sonata smiled. "It's not Saturday!" Aria shouted. "It's Tuesday." "Is it? Oh." Adagio groaned. "You two are so annoying. We're here because I am sure they will be here now. So, let's go." ~The Dazzlings snuck through the hallways and looked in every room in search of the Rainbooms, as well trying to not be seen by anyone. Back in the hideout, Lightning led everyone to a door between Pinkie's room and to Steven's office.~ "Ok, girls...come over here." ~Karly and the Rainbooms exchanged confused faces to each other before they turned back to Lightning with curious faces. She smiled before opening the door. Her mouth turned into a smug while everyone else's dropped to the floor. Before them was a large arena full of weapons, destroyed training dummies, monkey bars across the ceiling, dangling ropes, ninja walls, moving platforms and rubber spiked balls swinging back and forth, resembling booby traps.~ "When was this installed?!" Karly exclaimed, rather terrified. "Quite recently." Lightning shrugged. "I told you the hideout wasn't fully completed, but I am glad I got my dream training arena done in time for us." "Firstly, I just have to ask: Is this safe?" Twilight inquired. "Completely. The spikes. They're made of rubber. And if anyone falls off the bars or platforms, the ground will break your fall. Or you could save yourselves with your powers, but you know, you need fast reflexes." "So, we should think of this as a children's play area?" Applejack shrugged. "Yes, I suppose. Trust me, it will help. So what do you want to go on fir-" "I wanna practise shooting!" ~Pinkie skips over to the shooting area and points at the dummies moving back and forth.~ "Practise shooting?" "Yeah! I wanna learn how the blasters you carry work!" Pinkie stated. "I suppose I could teach you the beginnings of the blaster." Lightning shuffled through a nearby box and tossed everyone a blaster each. "These...blasters aren't completely dangerous, are they?" Rarity asked nervously. "Well, if you set it to the 'kill setting', then yes. But we of course don't use that setting. We always mostly have it on either the 'stun' or 'shoot' setting. The lasers all have specific colours. Memorise them." "Definitely. What were the colours again, Lightning? Blue for stun, Red for kill, Green for shoot?" Karly examined her blaster in her hands. "I think so." Lightning replied, sounding unsure. She shrugs it off and continues. "So, the 'stun setting' will, obviously, stun the opponent. However, if you end up hitting them on the head with either the 'shoot' or 'stun' setting, there is a 100% chance for them to be knocked out. The 'shoot setting' is just a little sting. You get hit anywhere on the body, that part of the body will sting a lot. Devil and his lackeys also have these types of blasters, so heads up there." "Got it! Let's get shooting!" ~Pinkie set the blaster onto 'shoot' and began shooting. She fired three times at the dummies but every single laser missed. Pinkie lowered the blaster and showed a sad and confused face.~ "Wow." Lightning looked skeptical. "Here Pinkie." Applejack stepped forwards. "Lemme show ya how to do it." ~Applejack smiles and aims the blaster at the dummies. She winks before firing and landing each laser square on the dummies' chests. Everyone was just speechless after what they saw in action.~ "Wow, Applejack. How did you…?" Karly kept pointing at the dummies and then to Applejack over and over again. Applejack chuckled. "I guess archery practise really did pay off durin' the Friendship Games." "Can I try…?" Fluttershy meekly asked. "Sure thin', Fluttershy! Go on right ahead." ~Fluttershy started to shake a little but stuck up enough courage to aim and fire the blaster at one of the dummies. The laser whizzed through the air and smacked the dummy's head straight off! Boy, were Lightning and Karly shocked to see that!~ "Whoa...Whoa! WHOA, WHAT?!" Lightning laughed. "Where did that come from?!" "Fluttershy is full of surprises, Lightning! You never know what's going to happen next." Sunset smiled. "Wow. What a headshot!" Karly nodded to Fluttershy as she smiled, blushed and giggled. ~Sometime later, the girls were asked to stand around Lightning as she stood in the middle of them in an arena. They were all very confused into why they were doing this until Lightning began to explain. Karly instantly saw where this was going so she stepped out of the arena and decided to be some sort of referee.~ "Alright, girls! Lets see how good your combat is now. Lets see if the seven of you can try to take me down. No using magic!" "All at once?" Fluttershy questioned. "Up to you. Come at me!" ~Everyone was hesitant at first, but Rainbow shrugged after a while. She charged in at full power but Lightning ducked down. Rainbow tripped on Lightning but it wasn't over yet. She suddenly grabbed Rainbow by the legs and tossed her into the nearby wall. Thankfully, the wall was made of rubber and sponge, so Rainbow wasn't hurt. After that, the rest of the girls reluctantly charged in. Applejack and Pinkie leapt at the same time towards Lightning, but she was too quick for them. She just jumped out of the way before one of the girls could touch her and Applejack and Pinkie ended up crashing into each other instead. Lightning landed on her feet only to move again when Sunset tried to attack. She jolted to the right and as Sunset passed her, Lightning pulled her arm behind her back and threw her into Twilight. Both girls fell to the floor in immediate defeat. Lightning finally turned to Fluttershy and Rarity who stood and froze in shock and fear. The two scared girls then looked at each other before running towards Lightning. Lightning smiles and ducks before doing a back flip and pinning the girls to the spongy wall with a lot of force. Fluttershy and Rarity slid down and sat beside the wall still in shock and pain. The Rainbooms all began panting and Lightning just stood there like nothing had happened yet.~ "Wow. 7 against 1 and the 1 wins. That's a little embarrassing…" Lightning began twiddling her thumbs. "Well, we're not qualified to fight a skilled fighter like you, Lightning." Twilight groaned. "That's true, I suppose. Ok, I'm sorry. Did I hurt anyone?" "Maybe…" Pinkie's eyes started spinning. "I thought you said you were going to go easy on them, Lightning." Karly raised a brow. "Yeah, I said that. But, I never said I was gonna let them win." Lightning smiled, feeling cocky. ~After many hours of practising fighting, shooting and climbing, The Mane 7 were getting tired. And sadly, they haven't been getting any better at fighting either. Lightning began to worry and tried to think of something, but suddenly, The Chief entered the training room and harrumphed. Lightning and Karly turned to see him and the collection of files he had in his hands. He looked at them, then to the girls swinging around the place, however they all stopped when they noticed him staring.~ "Agents! How's the training going?" "Not so great, Chief." Sunset sighed. "It's hard to keep up with...everything!" "Practise makes perfect, Agent Shimmer. Each and every one of you will get there. How about we now work on independence?" Steven explained. "Agent Star and Agent Crystal need to come with me to our world and to our school to talk with-Some people about some stuff." "Oh. Right now? Gotcha." Lightning clicked and pointed at him. "Oh my...Independence…?" Fluttershy questioned. "The Chief wants you girls to train by yourselves." Lightning sighed. "Since we are going to be needing to catch up on sc-" Karly quickly silenced Lightning and carried on with her sentence. "Catch up on things that are important to us." Karly gave Lightning a look and she realised she almost spilled out the small secret. Karly removed her finger from Lightning's mouth. "Yeah. Official old agent business. Just keep fighting, girls!" ~Lightning and Karly shuffle past the Chief and exit the training room. The Chief also left but not before giving the Rainbooms a slow nod.~ "Huh. I wonder what the problem is?" Applejack pondered. "Maybe they're planning a surprise for us!" Pinkie suggested. "I don't think so, Pinkie." Twilight rubbed her arm. "Maybe it's something more serious. Maybe it's something to do with the Dazzlings." "Oh yes, Steven told us that the Dazzlings were coming for us again…!" Sunset remembered. "I don't know what to do about that." "Simple! We show off our magic! I'm talking Rainbow lasers to send them back to where they have been for the past time!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I'm still a little worried though. The Dazzlings came back for revenge, right? They could have trained and gained more power over the time being. What if they're stronger than us?" "Chillax, Sunset." Rainbow put her arm over her. "They won't be the only ones who have gained powers. Look at us!" ~Sunset tilts her head up to see Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie smile at her and brim with confidence.~ "Look how far we've gone together! New Powers!" "New friends…!" Fluttershy smiled. "And New Adventures!" Pinkie cheered. "Besides, We have defeated the Dazzlings twice now, and if we can do that, we can defeat them a third time!" Sunset smiled. "You're right, Rainbow. But, the question is: Where are the Dazzlings right now?" "Right here!" ~The group turned to see three familiar faces grinning at them from the door. The Dazzlings. They close the door and lock it, preventing the seven from leaving. Adagio slowly folded her arms while Aria and Sonata stood beside her, and stared.~ "It's the Dazzlings!" Pinkie shrieked. "Hello, Rainbooms." Adagio said with a sinister grin. "How've you guys been?" Sonata asked cheerfully, pushing in between Adagio and Aria. "Why would you like to know?" Rainbow glared. "Let's just say, we've been better." Rarity replied. "How did you find us?" Sunset demanded. "Oh, we just waited outside this pathetic little school until your 'friends' left." Adagio answered. "We saw them leave through the window and as well as come out from under the piano." Aria added. "And-well, you know the rest after that." Sonata smiled. Adagio rolled her eyes. "Now, if we could just speed this along...We're here for-" "Our magic." Sunset interrupted. "You never went looking for more magic, you just wanted ours specifically!" "That's not true!" Adagio said, glaring. "We fed on some magic and negative energy when we were spending time with those...minions. They had no happiness inside them at all. It was so easy to take their energy. And now, we're going to take yours." "You want it, come and get it!" Rainbow prompted. "And good luck getting it without your voices!" "We don't need our voices to beat you this time…! Get ready…" ~The Rainbooms got worried but took the fight against the Dazzlings. It was 7 against 3, so they were positive about winning, even if they haven't learned any fighting techniques yet. They have powers! Adagio stared vacantly specifically at Sunset, Twilight and Rainbow Dash before scaring them by charging. Aria fought with Applejack and Rarity, and Sonata with Pinkie and Fluttershy. Sadly, nobody had a single chance to activate their powers at all. The Dazzlings acted fast and forced everyone to move out of the way and charge in quickly. Sunset tried to head for the door but Adagio surprisingly grabbed her wrist and pushed her hard into the rubber wall opposite to where the door was. Sonata picked up the two nearby blasters off the floor and aimed them at the girls, and Finally, Aria flipped and swung across the ropes and bars to kick Rainbow in the chest and knock her into Sunset as she was getting up. Pinkie and Fluttershy tried to dodge out of the way but in spite of a short and determined scuffle they were both soon cornered and caught along with Sunset and Rainbow. With their backs firmly against the walls they were forced to surrender. Applejack, Rarity and Twilight reluctantly fell back and joined their friends in the corner.~ "They...c-can fight without using their voices…" Sunset panted. "How…?" Twilight questioned. "Devil didn't just tell us things, he taught us things…" Adagio snarled. "Fighting moves, strengths, weaknesses, all. Learnt it quite quickly, wouldn't you say?" The Rainbooms said nothing but glowered when they heard this. "The one thing Devil was useful for." Aria rolled her eyes. "So, now what do we do?" "We take the magic!" Sonata smiled. "And...how do you plan on doing that?" Twilight asked. Adagio smirked. "We need you to take those off your necks." "Our geodes?!" "Yes...So, we can corrupt it and make it our own!" "We are not going to do that!" Sunset retorted. "So, forget about taking our magic because you're never going to take it from us!" ~Adagio's face turned a nasty shade of puce and her mouth hardened. She pushed Sunset against the wall again and sneered in the girls' faces.~ "I will have your magic, one way or another…" ~Adagio smirked again, but before anyone could talk, move or even blink, the door creaked open and somebody walked in. It was Lightning. She had a complete blank slate look on her face and she didn't emote at all when she saw the Dazzlings or the Rainbooms in trouble. Lightning looked down and opened her clenched hand to reveal a firecracker. Pinkie believed that Lightning got it from her room, since she knows that she gave her a box full of them. Lightning ignited a flame on her finger and set the firecracker on fire. It sparked and frazzled in Lightning's hand and while it sparked, Lightning threw it up and over in the air. It hit the ground and rolled over to Sonata's boot. Suddenly-BOOM!* The whole room flooded with smoke and made everyone cough, except for Lightning. Adagio got through the smoke and once she did, she opens her eyes to glance up at Lightning.~ "Hey! Who-" Lightning got serious suddenly and went over to protect the Mane 7. "Ok, If you want the Rainbooms, you're going to have to go through me!" Karly also appears. "That goes double for me! So, If you want the Rainbooms, you're going to have to go through Lightning twice!" She instantly ran behind Lightning and cowered in fear. Adagio looked confused but then shrugged it off and glared. "So be it." ~Adagio charged at Lightning but she retaliated by punching back. She then barged and fought her way through Aria and Sonata, and went out the door. The Sirens tumbled over and Lightning taunted them to follow her out of the training room and up the stairs. They growled and did so. They make it to the music room where Lightning was waiting, there they engage in a brawl. Lightning took on Adagio first. She charged again but Lightning grabbed a nearby guitar and swung it right to her head. Adagio stumbled and fell into Pinkie's set of drums, completely dazed. Lightning grunted before noticing Sonata was incoming behind her. She turned and blocked her attack, then she slammed Sonata's face down and hard onto the piano. She swiped her face on all keys and let her fall. Karly and the Rainbooms arrived and looked shocked and amazed.~ "Whoa…" "And that is how you tune a piano…" Lightning said with a smug. ~Aria growls and Adagio gets up before charging at Lightning again. However, Lightning saw them coming and slid to the side. Adagio quickly turned and tried to use a special move but Lightning countered it easily. Adagio could definitely tell Lightning knows all the moves. She needed to find a way to defeat Lightning, like a weakness or something. Sonata suddenly bumped into Adagio because she tried to go for Karly but was pushed away from her with a lot of force. Lightning held Aria in her arms, then she got bored and pushed her to Adagio and Sonata on the ground. Lightning towered over the Dazzlings and Adagio glared up at her.~ "So...up for Round Two?" Lightning shrugged. Adagio snarled. "Let's go, you two." "But, what about-" "I said, Let's go!" ~The Dazzlings got up from the ground and fled out the door. Lightning shook her fist at them. She had the urge to also get out her blaster and shoot at them but Karly interfered and shook her head.~ "Yeah, beat it! Don't ever let me catch you picking on the Rainbooms while I'm around! Understand?!" Steven turned to the Rainbooms. "...Are you girls alright?" Fluttershy nodded her head softly. "Mmm-Hmm." "You came back!" Pinkie put her arms around Karly and squeezed tight. "Ye-yeah! We heard everything!" "The Dazzlings are here?! We need to keep you girls safe! The Dazzlings could come back at any moment and attack you again-" Lightning panicked and would not calm down. "See, this is why I didn't want you to know about this…!" Chief groaned. "You're going to want to drop everything and focus on protecting, instead of studying! Let's not forget training, and meeting, and working some more, and-" "As if things could not get any worse…" Karly murmured. Twilight suddenly raised a brow and turned to Steven. "Wait...studying…?" Steven realised he just spilled out the concept of Lightning and Karly needing to go to school. He sighed. "Me and my big mouth. Yes, Lightning and Karly are way behind things in school. So, they can't train and protect you. I would help, but I have a lot of work to do also. The only reason I let you have this day to train was because I didn't want everyone to suspect that something was wrong." "Oh god…" Lightning facepalmed and rubbed her eyes in dismay. "I know, Agent Star, we will get through this. The only option we have is that the Rainbooms will have to train independently at home or here or wherever, while Lightning and Karly study and pass their exam. And hope The Dazzlings won't bother us." "You know that's not going to happen, Chief." Lightning stated. "I'm sure the Dazzlings will come back." She sighs. "We just...need to make a schedule." "I'm sorry, but I really need you to focus on school. It's important." ~The Chief sighs and walks downstairs into the hideout and into his office. The minute he vanished, Lightning grew mad.~ "Uggghhh! He sounds just like my dad! Only a lot more calmer. I think protecting friends is more important than studying! Girls, forget what he says, ok?! I'm going to shield you from the Dazzlings and train you, no matter what!" "But, Lightning, you heard my uncle." Karly said. "We need to foc- "Focus on school! Pass our exam! Go to the top of the class! I get it!" She interrupted rudely. "But, I don't want you girls to get hurt…" "That's very kind of you, Lightning…" Fluttershy smiled. "Talk about being loyal…!" Rainbow proudly said. "And generous…" Rarity nodded. "We appreciate you looking out for us, but I believe studying is more important." Twilight explained. "Ok. Fine. I know. I will go to work and school like normal, and you will train. However, when you get in trouble, just give a little whistle." "Whistle?" Sunset said. "Yeah. Whistle. I have excellent hearing, thanks to the raccoon power. And if you cannot whistle just yell 'Lightning Star!' and I'll be there. Keep it a secret from the Chief." "I suppose that could work. I'll be there and help too. The best I can, that is." Karly shyly said while blushing. "I still don't know about this." Twilight doubted. "You could go too far and not work at all." Lightning made her eyes slope. "Come on, you girls are going to need help, and lots of it. I'm gonna to become your bodyguard and that's it. Call me whenever the Dazzlings attack you. Be glad you have a friend like me." ~Lightning suddenly slides over to Pinkie's drums, finds her drumsticks and begins drumming a tune.~ ~Song: Friend like Me- (Aladdin) "Here I go! Ah, oh, Whoo!" ~Lightning began to dance and Karly tapped her foot in rhythm too. Both girls were hopping wild.~ "Back up! Uh, oh! Watch out! You gonna wound me up, I can show ya what I'm working with!" You ain't never had a friend like me, ha!