Chapter 6: Wives and Fathers.
~Sunday morning rolled around pretty quickly. Twilight Sparkle spent the night in her room in the hideout so she could mark the test she gave Lightning and Karly. The clock chimed 7am. She woke at once and rushed to her desk to where the papers were. She was shocked when she got the results.~
"Lightning and Karly...actually did remarkably well. They are spot-on in all of her subjects...Even speaking fluent Spanish. That's weird...I thought they needed so much help. They missed 3 weeks of school! I guess I was wrong. They're actually doing fine. I better inform this to Steven. Maybe I can convince him to let Lightning and Karly continue training us since they are already doing well. All they have to do is appear at school tomorrow."
~Twilight ventured through the door and saw Steven by the tables. She was about to walk up to him, until she saw that he wasn't alone. There beside him stood a light-skinned woman of middle age, dressed in a buttoned up, cerise pink blouse and skirt. She had brown glossy hair, keen blue eyes and a pure smile. She and the Chief were too focused on the files and themselves, neither of them noticed Twilight standing behind them.~
"So, Lightning and Karly have been off school for 3 weeks?" The woman said to Steven.
"Yes." He replied. "And I don't think they're studying as much as they should. So, I want you to keep an eye on them and they're studying until tomorrow."
"Of course, Steven, my dear, you just get your work done and don't worry about a thing! I'll make sure Lightning and Karly know everything."
~The woman gave Steven a little kiss on the cheek and he happily looked at the files in front of him. Twilight was a little confused. Who is that woman? Where did she come from? Her thoughts were put on a halt when Lightning came down the stairs, with irritation on her face. She cheered up a little though when she saw Twilight.~
"Oh, hey, Twilight, how did I do in the te-" Lightning stopped in mid-sentence as her eyes alighted upon the woman with Steven. "Is that...Katherine Secret?!" She asked quietly.
"I don't know." Twilight answered. "Maybe. Do you know her?"
~Lightning ignored Twilight's question and turned to her wrist calm. She clicked a button three times and waited. Twilight's wrist calm began flashing and beeping three times without stopping, this also meant everyone's wrist calm was too flashing and beeping. In a matter of seconds, a rainbow bolt sped down the stairs and in front of Lightning.~
"I got the triple flash, Lightning! What's the emergency?!" It was Rainbow Dash.
"This is very bad! Wait for the others to get here, and I'll explain then."
"Lightning, I don't understand. Who is that?!"
~Lightning, once again, ignored Twilight and continued to wait impatiently for the other to get here. However, Steven noticed the three girls and called out to them. Lightning went pale when she heard him call out her name.~
"Ah! Agent Star! You're here! Have you been studying…?"
She turned around to face him and frowned. "Yes! Every hour!" She then brought hers and his attention to the women. "-What is she doing here?!"
"Katherine...is going to be your tutor, I don't believe you're studying hard enough, so I've brought her here to lend a helping hand." He explained.
"If I may, Chief…" Twilight budged in between him and Lightning. "I can confirm that Lightning and Karly have been studying. Very well, in fact. I gave them a test yesterday, and their results are almost perfect. There's no sights that they are behind on any of their subjects. So, can they-"
Steven raised a hand. "Agent Sparkle…I get it. You want Lightning and Karly to help you fight against the Dazzlings, but covering for them isn't going to help. They need to study and be back at school tomorrow so they can do their exams. And if they don't, they will fail and be kicked out."
"Um…"
"So, just continue training by yourselves and don't think about anything else." He walked back over to the tables.
"But-"
"Thank you for trying, Twilight...but nothing is going to make Chief change his mind on anything." Lightning shrugged slowly.
"Now, now, Lightning. My husband is only doing what's best for you. It's his job as a principal." Katherine said sweetly.
"Oh, quit the sweet talk, Katherine!" Lightning jabbed. "You are going to make this much harder as it already needs to be!"
"Auntie Katherine?!" A voice exclaimed.
~Everyone turned and saw Karly and the rest of the Rainbooms standing a metre behind them. Their eyes stared in dismay.~
"What are you doing here?!" Karly stammered.
"Hello, Karly, my dear. I'm here to help you and your friend get top marks in your exams." Katherine smiled.
"Really?"
"Yes, Of course." She petted Karly's head like she was a dog. "Don't you worry you're precious little head about a thing. I'll help until the end."
~Lightning lets out a disgusted noise and jolts her head to the right.~
"Is this the emergency, Lightning?" asked Rainbow.
"Yes!" She sighs deeply. "Ok, this here is Katherine Secret, The Chief's wife, also Karly's auntie. Don't let her jolly nature fool you though, she is cruel. She's like an evil stepmother in movies. The minute the Chief is out of her sight, she blows up in our faces." Lightning warned.
Steven sighs in relief. "Right, I should begin my work, then. You guys take care!"
"Alright, honey!"
~The Chief smiles and heads down into his office. And after he went inside and closed the door, a flicker of anger flashed across Katherine's face and she blew up in Lightning and Karly's faces.~
"You wanted me to quit the sweet talk, Lightning, well here you go! And just like you said, I am making this much harder as it needs to be! Now, go get your textbooks and get to work immediately!"
~Katherine snarled with rage and with a spitting, she stomped to the tables and sat down. Lightning and Karly gave each other intense faces before glumily walking into their rooms to retrieve their books. While they were doing so, The Rainbooms took another glance at Katherine. Her eyes had now completely changed since the last time they saw them. She was fiddling with her nails, but then she noticed the seven staring at her.~
"What do you girls want?!"
"Nothin'." Applejack replied hastily.
Twilight shrugged. "It's just that…"
"I don't think you should be talking to Lightning and Karly like that…" said Fluttershy.
"I'll treat whoever I want in any kind of way as I darn well please!" Katherine shouted. "Hmm…"
~Katherine scratched the tip top of her forehead with her sharpest nail. She was thinking of something, most likely something malicious, and the Rainbooms did not like it one bit.~
"So, you're the new agents my husband can't stop blabbering about? You're training and learning all the skills, aren't you?"
"Yeah, so?" Rainbow ventured.
She gave a twisted smile. "Well...being a part of this agency and training here requires cleaning…"
"Cl-Cleaning?" Rarity said.
"Yes. Cleaning." Katherine grinned.
~Katherine points her sharp nail over to a closet on the opposite wall to where everyone was. She angrily motioned Applejack to go over and open it. The cowgirl reluctantly did, and when she did, a load of cleaning supplies came out of it and scattered the ground. Katherine ambles to the supplies and forcefully handed the girls a mop, sponge or cloth each.~
"You girls will be a big help in cleaning the hideout."
"The Chief nor Lightning didn't say cleaning was a part of the training." Sunset retaliated.
"They did now! Scrub the floors, will you? My niece and her friend have already cluttered up the place!" Katherine demanded.
"Hey! We are not here to clean up after anyone!" Rainbow glared.
"And we certainly aren't here to take orders from you!" Pinkie added.
Katherine grew mad. "How dare you say that to me?! Just because you are friends with my niece, doesn't mean you're allowed to bother me and my family whenever you feel like it! I do not tolerate such behaviour."
~The woman's eyes narrowed and she shrugged with indifference.~
"You better not put a bad influence on my niece and cause trouble and force Karly to follow…"
Rarity scoffed. "Well, some trouble you speak of, might not even be our fault-"
Katherine ignores the girl and grumbles. "I can see people like you know nothing about respect. Of course Karly and Lightning would find such stupid friends, I shouldn't even be surprised…"
~The Rainbooms (Even Fluttershy) glowered.~
"That's all I have to say to you, agents. You can get to cleaning now." Katherine frowned.
~The Rainbooms were completely nonplussed, but did as they were told, since they feared what would happen if they did not. The day went by very roughly. Lightning and Karly had their heads on the tables, and the Mane 7 worked their hats off to make the hideout fresh and spiffy. Finally, Katherine's tutoring was done and she went home. Everybody breathed in relief the moment she walked up those stairs.~
"Wow, she's controlling…" Sunset said, dropping the mop to the ground.
"Yeah, Katherine is as cold as you can make them!" Lightning shrugged.
"How could she have married someone as kind as Steven?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know, families are weird sometimes…" Lightning simply said.
"And, speaking of families, Lightning…"
~Steven appears out of nowhere and approaches the girls. Lightning and Karly rose from their seats expectantly, while the Rainbooms stopped mopping.~
"Your father is coming to visit." Steven said.
"My father?!" Lightning exclaimed.
"Yes. I have told him everything and alerted him about your...issue, regarding school, so he's coming over here to see you and talk about somethings."
"Oh boy, he is not going to be happy…"
"I'll leave you to think for a while."
~The Chief slowly returns to his office.~
"Should we tell Steven that Katherine is abusing us?" asked Fluttershy.
"We tried to tell him ages ago…" Karly explained.
"But, he didn't believe us." Lightning sighed. "It's a cliche world, mates. You're going to have to get used to it! Don't worry, I will get Katherine one day." She raised her finger. "ONE day! She will pay!"
"One day…" Karly nodded. "But, enough about Katherine now, We have another problem. Your dad, Lightning…"
She groaned. "What am I going to do? What am I going to say? What's he going to do and say?"
"He's not the violent type, Lightning, so, calm down..." Karly assured.
"Are you going to tell him about our magic?" Fluttershy inquired.
Lightning nodded. "I am going to have to. I just wonder how he's going to take it…"
"I guess...we'll have to find out." Twilight said.
~A loud ringing sound suddenly echoed in the hideout, and the ringing kinda sounded like a doorbell. Steven went up the stairs to answer the ringing while everyone looked up beyond the stairs and the ceiling. Lightning knew right away that it was her father at the door. Who else could it be? Her breathing grew heavy and her eyebrows fell down.~
"That must be him." Lightning sighed.
"Hello, Mr. Star. She's downstairs." They heard Steven say.
~The Chief wandered back downstairs with a tall, bright man close behind him. His particularly spiky hair was orange-brown, except the tips, which were white. He had short, stiff hairs growing on his chin and lower cheeks and his wide smile and blue eyes were very similar to Lightning's. He had his hands tightly tucked in the pockets of his brown pilot jacket and he straightened up his running sneakers. Lightning nervously but warmly opened her arms out.~
"Daaad! What a nice surprise! Everyone, this is my dad, Nimbus Star."
"Hello, Lightning…" He chucked in a low, kind voice. "How are you?"
"Fine, dad. All is well here...You?"
"I'm well, thank you. And I'm glad that my little princess and her secret agency is doing well." He began to pinch Lightning's cheek.
"Yes, It's-It's going fine! As you can see…" Lightning playfully shakes his hand off.
"I can. Hello, Karly." Nimbus nodded in Karly's direction.
"Mr. Star, sir…" Karly softly smiled.
"Howdy, Mr. Star!" Applejack spoke up. "We're Lightnin's new friends and agents to her agency."
"Really? Well, good to have you on the team of high class, super secret agents."
"Thank you, sir." said Sunset.
"You're welcome. Anyways...Lightning…"
~Nimbus Star bent his back down so his head was at level with Lightning's. Her happy smile suddenly cracked.~
"Yes…?" She asked.
"We need to talk." He said firmly.
"I know. Can we do it...in my room?"
"Yes."
~Nimbus smiles and retracts his hands and back to head off into Lightning's room. Lightning sighed one last time before turning to her friends comfortably.~
"I'll be back."
~Lightning jumps and scurries away to her room where her father is waiting. Karly wishes her for the best while the Mane 7 nod in understanding.~
"Good luck."
"Can we get back to training?" Pinkie suddenly asked.
"Yeah...of course. The 11th technique, isn't it?"
~While Karly and the Rainbooms went into the training room to train some more, Lightning and Nimbus sat down on the bed in the room. Lightning twiddled her thumbs while Nimbus looked at her.~
"So, you have been missing school-"
"I have a reason!" Lightning interrupted, raising her finger.
"Hey...no need to yell, I'm not yelling back at you, am I?" Nimbus asked calmly.
"No…" Lightning looked down.
"Exactly. Right, what is your reason?"
"I have been keeping the world safe. And my new friends who want to be agents need to learn the skills, so Karly and I need to train them." Lightning explained.
"But, do you have to train them right now?"
"Yes!" She yelled.
"What did I say about yelling?" Nimbus prompted.
Lightning took a deep breath in. "Yes...Because, there are some evil girls after them. And they know the fighting moves and everything. The Rainbooms can't defend themselves…"
"Rainbooms?"
"The seven rainbow girls, they call themselves the Rainbooms, it's their band name too-" Lightning quickly explained. "So, I need to protect them and train them so they don't get their mag-"
~Lightning quickly shut herself up, but then she realised, she has to tell her dad about the magic she has got and all about the different worlds.~
"Magic taken." She finished. "Or the evil girls will invade the world. You understand, don't you, dad?"
~Nimbus sat in silence. He thought for a moment then he stood up and placed his strong hands on Lightning's shoulders.~
"You would rather fail school than lose your friends…?"
"I guess…"
"Well,...for that I must say that I'm proud of you, sweetie."
"I-You are?"
He nodded. "I'm proud that you learnt to care and cherish people so much, you would risk not getting a good future for yourself. You remind me exactly of myself when I was younger and how I'd do anything for your mother. I still miss her everyday…"
~Father and daughter hugged each other, tears of sadness pouring down both their faces.~
"Me too. And my sister." Lightning sniffed.
"But, if you are sure that those girls are ones to keep and share memorable memories with, then of course, I understand. But just promise me you will go to school from now on. I don't want to find a new one for you."
"Ok. Thank you so much, dad."
"There is one thing I don't understand though…"
"Really? What?"
"What do you mean by 'Their magic'?"
"Oh! Um...I'll explain later…" She laughed.
~Nimbus gives his daughter a light kiss on the forehead before dismantling from the hug.~
"So, what can I do to protect the Rainbooms without protecting them personally? The Dazzlings know where we hang out most of the time." Lightning said.
Nimbus stoked his chin. "I think I have an idea. Tell everyone to pack their things and meet me outside the portal."
~Nimbus smiled while Lightning pulled a confused face.~