Chapter 4: Birthday Imposter!
~Across the blimp corridor, in the dressing rooms, Devil and Wendy are talking to each other, disguising Wendy as Lightning.~
"Ok, Wendy, let's get you some Lightning look-a-like makeup." said Devil.
"Daddy, you don't know the first thing about makeup. Allow me…" Wendy insisted.
"Ok, Lightning's identical clothes are beside you."
"Alright." She replied.
~Wendy slammed the door and Devil waited patiently outside the changing room. He looked back and forth across the hallways a couple of times with his arms crossed. Finally, Wendy comes out looking just like Lightning.~
Devil freaked out. "Ahh! Agent Star! How did you-"
"Father, it's me." Wendy frowned a little.
"Oh, Wendy. Ok, well, if you fooled me so you can fool the others. Let's get you to E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A Hideout."
~Devil races to the blimps controls and steers to CHS aka E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A Hideout, to find out they are already here.~
"Here already!? Oh, right, we were already here. Go, get 'em, girl!"
~Wendy grins and grabs Lightning's backpack, along with all of her stuff so she couldn't use anything else in there, and climbs down a ladder and lands on the roof and swings on some trees to the ground and sneaks into CHS. Lightning spots Wendy sneaking in through the window and watches helplessly.~
"Oh, no!"
~In the hideout, Twilight was scrolling through her phone while Karly and the rest of the Rainbooms were watching and waiting on the edge of their seats.~
"Hmm…once again it declined."
"Ohh, poor Lightning, maybe something did happen to her, and on her birthday too." Fluttershy sighed.
Karly angrily slammed her drink on the table. "Ok, That's it! I'm going to go and look for her because this is getting ridiculous and I swear when I see her I'm going to-"
"Guys?" Wendy's voice called from above.
"Give her a birthday and a hug she'll never forget!"
~Karly ran up the stairs and bobbed her head up from the trap door to see 'Lightning' wandering the music room. She pressed the button and opened up the piano to make room for her to get out and vigorously hug her.~
"Oh, Lightning, you're ok!"
"What happened? You weren't answering your phone and everything." Twilight said, coming up the stairs along with the rest.
"We got worried." Sunset added.
"Uh-huh, sorry 'bout that, my phone started glitching weirdly when someone tried to call me…" Wendy fibbed.
"Oh. Maybe I can fix it…" Twilight shrugged.
~Twilight goes to take Lightning's phone off Wendy, but she withdraws the phone and glares, leaving Twilight a little scared and startled.~
"No!..." Wendy cleared her throat. "Thank you. I'm sure it might clear up…soon anyway we should process at the party…"
"Ok, What about another place to go to, have you decided on that?" Karly asked.
"And are you going to open your presents soon?" Jace added. "I want to see your reaction when you see mine."
Arianna raised a finger. "Also, We are going to need your help to fix Mirus and Pinkie…"
~Everyone stares down the stairs to see Mirus and Pinkie still on the floor, sleeping.~
"Think you can fix that too?"
Wendy sighs angrily and speaks quietly to herself. "How many more questions are they going to ask?!" She turns to the gang. "Uh...Haven't decided where to go, I'll open the presents later, and those guys need a doctor…" She pointed at Mirus and Pinkie. "But now, I think I'm going to...look up some other places we can go to that's not in the city or our world...
"Not in the city or our world? But, that could cost more money than we have." Karly exclaimed.
"Well, So be it!"
~Wendy storms downstairs and into Lightning's bedroom. Everyone heard the door slam hard then complete silence. The Pixels and the Mane 7 look in confusion. Karly puts her arm around Jace and raises her eyebrows.~
"Ok...that was weird."
"Yeah, what was that all about?" Jace asked.
"I don't know." Rarity answered. "Was there really nothing Lightning wanted to do around here?"
"That's nonsense!" Rainbow said in disbelief. "There are many things to do here!"
"Yeah. Lightnin' loved it when we showed her 'round the farm." Applejack shrugged.
"And she loved the boutiques, what is there not to love?" Rarity said strongly. "The dresses are simply gorgeous, and the scarfs are to die for! And-"
"Um, Rarity, I think only you loved the boutiques. Because I was there too and all Lightning did was stand outside. She's not a shopping girl." Karly chuckled and shook her head.
"Oh. Right."
"Hmm...She loved sitting for the animals in the shelter when I went to help out a puppy with a broken leg." Fluttershy explained.
"So, what's wrong with her?" Sunset asked.
Everyone looked down to think, but then Fierra stepped forwards. "Maybe she's just stressed." She simply answered.
"Stressed?!" They all go.
"What could she possibly be stressed about?" Rarity inquired.
"I've seen the faces she pulled during the buffet! It's her first birthday with you girls, she probably wants it to be good and fun for everyone."
"She doesn't have to do that though, we will enjoy whatever she decides to do-"
"I've known her longer than you have. Trust me." Fierra interrupted. "Just give her some time. We have all day, and tomorrow don't we?"
"We don't really have all day, Fierra." Karly said. "Lightning said nothing after 10pm and we can't do anything tomorrow because Lightning is doing something with her dad for her birthday since he couldn't be here today.-"
"I said, give it some time, Karly!"
"Ok...ok…" She whispered.
Jace sighs. "Again? This is not really much of a birthday now without the birthday girl."
~Jace places his hand between his eyes and massages it. Everyone walks back downstairs and waits by the tables for 'Lightning' to come out. But, shortly after they got there, Spike and Stitch come down from the stairs, with Stitch holding an animal in his mouth, it looked dead and slimy.~
"Are you sure Lightning will like a dead frog?" Spike asked in discomfort.
"Ih. It shows our owner and pet relationship together." Stitch mumbled with the frog still in between his teeth.
"Alright then."
"It's fine. Cama, cama, froggy." Stitch whispered.
"What?"
Fluttershy softly smiles and lifts up Spike and holds him in her arms. "Hey, Spike. Do you know what's going on with Lightning?" She asked him.
"No. What's wrong?"
"Fierra thinks she's suffering from BS." Jace answered.
~The girls and dogs give Jace a weird look.~
"Birthday Stress. BS means Birthday Stress, sorry, Should've been specific." Jace nervously smiled.
Stitch spat out the frog on the floor. "Odd. Me heard that Lightning gets Christmas Stress. But not Birthday Stress. Maybe Stitch can cheer her up." He smiled, curving upwards.
"Go for it. After all, you are smart, funny, cute and all as we know…, fluffy." Karly shook her hands.
"I like fluffy!"
~Stitch puffs up from the compliment by Karly and then proceeds to prowl into Lightning's room and speak to Wendy. They don't hear much, but the one thing they did hear was Stitch yell.~
"Happy Birthday!"
~Stitch returns back out the room and closes the door to face the Rainbooms and the Pixels. He climbs up onto Sunset's shoulders and relaxes.~
"Lightning good to me." He confirms.
"Well, if you say so. Fine. Maybe you were right, Fierra. She just stressed." Karly shrugs.
"Exactly. She's in there probably looking for a place on her laptop or whatever. Come on, guys."
~Fierra begins to walk upstairs and Karly, Jace and Arianna follow.~
"Where are ya goin'?" Applejack asked.
"We're going back to our world." Jace answered.
"There's not much else we can do here. We only came for Lightning's party but since she hasn't decided where to go, we were gonna go back and wait." Fierra explained. "It takes forever for Lightning to think for something, just a heads up."
Arianna nodded. "And uh, maybe also call us when Mirus wakes up."
~Arianna points at Mirus, still on the floor passed out, along with Pinkie.~
"Oh, honey, honey! You...are...my...candy...girl…" Mirus sang in his sleep.
"Call us when Lightning's ready."
~Jace, Karly, Arianna and Fierra all shuffle out of the music room to leave CHS and to the portal. This now leaves only the Mane 7, Stitch and Spike to ponder on a few things.~
"I don't think Lightning is stressed." Twilight confirmed.
"What?"
"I have never seen Lightning get stressed about anything. Well, maybe except that one time with the Dazzlings, but nowhere else."
"Well, she can get stressed from a few little thin's but I believe she wouldn't be stressed on her happy day." Applejack shrugged.
"Me neither." Sunset said firmly. "Stitch, you did say Lightning gets Christmas Stress but not Birthday, right?"
"Ih."
"How in the world does she get stressed on Christmas?" Rarity asked.
"She told me that her dad and uncles go crazy with the meat during dinner, and then gives her alot of pressure on what to get." Stitch explained weirdly.
~The Rainbooms stare at Stitch in silence.~
"Well, It made sense when she told it to me."
"Well, another thing, we know she loves our city." Twilight pointed. "She thinks it's no different from her world, but she also thinks it's wonderful. She loved-"
"The farm." Applejack said.
"The boutiques." Rarity smiled.
"And The animal shelter." Fluttershy said. "So, why hasn't she thought of those places? Why was she also being mean?"
"Maybe she's just cranky because I woke her up early this morning!" Pinkie smiled up from the floor.
"Whoa! Pinkie! How long have you been awake?" Rainbow asked, a little startled.
"A while. Ever since the Pixels left." She answered. "But, yeah, maybe Lightning is stressed from being woken up!"
"At 4am, by any chance?" Sunset smugged.
"Yep! 3:57am exactly!"
"Yeah. You woke up Stitch and me." Spike chuckled.
"Well, actually, she didn't seem angry when I woke her up…" Pinkie said, thinking about it.
"You know what, I think we should just talk to her. Maybe calm her down and help her." Sunset suggested.
"That seems like a good idea. We just have to find out what's bothering her and help her solve it." Twilight agreed.
~Before anyone could say anything else, they heard a groan. They turn to the ground to see Mirus waking up.~
"Sweet geez and louise...what happened?"
"Oh, hello. Mirus, wasn't it?" Sunset asked as she helped him to his feet.
"Yes, hello, That's my name, don't wear it out please or put it on a hot wash and expect it to not be shrunk, thank you!" Mirus smiled and saluted Sunset.
"Ok, I have no idea what that means, but, how are you feeling?"
"Good. A little better. Boy, I am never eating that much chocolate or sweets ever again. Hey, where is everyone else?" He asked, seeing no sign of his mates.
"They went back to your world." Twilight answered.
"So they left me here, alone in this room with 7 girls? Well, I'm gonna have some fun." Mirus stretched his arms out and giggled.
"UH, no thanks. We were just about to go and talk to Lightning." Rainbow explained.
"Oh right, ok. Um, If I'm being honest, I don't want to go and find the others and go back to my world. I want to stay here, if that's ok."
"I don't see why not. What damage could you possibly do?" Rarity asked.
"Ooo! Are those buttons? I love buttons!"
~Mirus zooms over to the control panel under the monitor screen and doesn't waste time. He smashed his hands on the panel and swiped down on all the keys, buttons and lever on it. The hideout goes completely mad. The alarms boom and the security system kept flashing red. The Rainbooms put their hands over their ears and ducked down. Stitch and Spike also yelped and ducked.~
"WHAT THE…? Mirus, stop!" Rainbow shouted.
"Pushing all the buttons on, the buttons on, the buttons on,
Pushing all the buttons on to find out what they do!" He sang. "Click!"
~Mirus pressed another button and a large laser beam came out from the wall and headed straight for the girls. They all ducked in time but it grazed a little bit of Rarity's hair. She screams and charges at Mirus. She grabs his wrist and flipped him over to the ground. She held him there and also activated her power and blocked the panel with her diamond shield. However, the alarms were still going off.~
"Right, I think he is too reckless to be left alone! Some of us are all going to have to stay here and watch him!" Rarity bellowed.
"Wow, even if he's not in a sugar rush, he is still a handful!" Pinkie yelled, trying to double over with the alarms.
"I'll keep an eye on him. You girls go and talk to Lightnin'!" Applejack volunteered.
"We're not going to leave you to deal with him all by yourself! I'll stay too!" Rainbow assured.
"Ooo! Ooo! Me too! Me too! I can take all the energy Mirus has!" Pinkie said strongly.
"I gotta find a way to shut off the system! You three go!" Twilight gestured to Sunset, Fluttershy and Rarity.
"Okay! We can try to speak to Lightning gently and calmly to see what's wrong…!" Fluttershy smiled softly.
"She is going to need it! Alright, the rest of you, wait out here. We'll be right back!" Sunset nodded.