The Origins (#1)

by LightningStar626

Chapter 3: The Rainbooms' Next Challenge

Chapter 3: The Rainbooms' Next Challenge

~Sometime later, the seven Rainbooms, the principal, and the other KH dimensional man, clear and only needing some bandages around his chest by nurse Red Heart, sat around in Celestia's office sipping on either tea or hot coco. Made on Pinkie's behalf, of course. The pink girl still feeling somewhat guilty for everything that had happened as, in a reverse turn of events from earlier, was being comforted by Fluttershy and assured it wasn't her fault. By then, the two had filled them in on any and every detail as to what had happened. While also, addressing the man, Steven, although it felt easier for most of them to call him by his last name, Secret, as his first name sounded weird to most of them. Which he didn't seem to mind as he got all of their names, and was able to realize why his first had sounded strange. He seemed even less fazed as they explained to him about the basics about their own dimension on his request.~

"An entirely different dimension." He laughed. "We have theories about other worlds where I come from, but nothing ever that would have been concrete."

"It's still just as much a strange concept to us." Twilight mused. "Still," she turned to Sunset. "I didn't know the statue could open portals to dimensions other than Equestria."

"I shouldn't. Although," Sunset shrugged. "It's not as if even the greatest unicorn minds can claim they know everything. Especially when something like this happens to the contrary."

Steven squinted his eyes. "I'm sorry; unicorn?"

"That said," Rainbow Dash interrupted, narrowing her eyes. "You haven't told us where you're from."

"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack chastised.

"It's alright," Steven assured. "It's the least I can do after you shared all about your earth. Right then... Yes, my world, is also called earth. The parent me and my students are from is called, The United Kingdom, which is a part of a continent called Europe." he frowned. "Gosh, my students! Oh. We were all at school when a portal appeared in the sky and vacuumed us here!"

“Principal Celestia!” suddenly came a voice from outside the office door.

~Who but to then walk in next suddenly but the Rainbooms’ good friend, and Sunset’s ex-boyfriend, Flash Sentry. He was tall with slick blue hair and a handsome yellow face and deep blue eyes to match his hair. He seemed to be stressed, along with a very panicky look on his face.~

"Excuse for the interruption, but I’ve brought over a flurry of new students into the school."

"They must be my students from my world. They must be quite confused about what's going on around here." Steven said.

"Come and bring them here." Celestia kindly suggested.

"Right away." Flash obeyed as he excused himself out of the office.

~A minute later, Flash came back with five shaken up students with pale skins. When their eyes met with Steven's their faces lit up.~

"Oh, Mr. Secret, sir! Thank goodness you're here!" The first student exclaimed, wiping the sweat off their forehead.

"What's happening?!" The second student asked Steven in a distraught manner.

"Who are these girls with different coloured hair?" The third student questions while looking at the Mane 7.

"Calm down, everyone." Steven slowly soothed. "These girls are going to help us." He turned to Celestia and the Mane 7. "They are probably still in shock about this world."

"That's part of it." The fourth student confirmed.

"It's just that...there were more of us...to begin with, but now...They are all missing!" The fifth student babbled.

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed in shock.

"What happened?!" Twilight asked.

Steven stroked his shaved beard. "Yes, Mose, Shork, Willow, Jomes, Valerie, have you seen the rest of the year?"

---

~Serval minutes prior, in Sweet Apple acres. From out of the hundreds of portals that had appeared around the Canterlot area, ten students crashed into a farm's hay barrels.~

"Ugh, where are we?" Mose asked, looking around in a panic.

"Some kind of farm." Shork threw out, blowing a tuft of straw out of his face.

"Gah!" Willow whined, stepping out of the hay. "Is this, are we, could this stuff have been, by... EW!"

"Oh, quit your complaining, Willow!" Valerie called out, being held upside down off of a high barrel of hay. "Yes, that hay was probably slept in by some smelly animals. Now help me down!"

"Hang on, Val, I got you." Jomes, the tallest of the ten students present, replied and started to help his friend down. Valerie tried to hide a blush as she fell into Jomes' arms.

"If you're all done rolling in the hay," Shork said, trying to hide how funny he was being. "We should probably figure out what happened, how we all got here, and where's everyone else is before trouble finds us."

"Well well," trouble answered. "What do we have here? A bunch of Secret's students."

~The students turned to see a group of men wearing long red sleeved shirts under a black cape hood. They all looked-alike and had slender bodies. They moved with great agility, yet were clumsy and not well skilled, as they were not as smart as they seemed to be. The like of whom seemed to have been hidden in the hay and awaiting their arrival. They lifted their weapons.~

"Wait, what?!" Shork answered quizzically looking directly at a crossbow.

"How'd they find us!?" Mose cried out as he shrank down.

"How are we going to get out of this one?" Willow asked as she hid herself behind Mose.

"Round them up!" The one who seemed to be in charge exclaimed as the rest. "Now come quietly and we may not give you a lot any trouble."

"What's happening?!" Shork whined while throwing their hands up in the air.

~These men got closer to the students, making sure none were smart enough to escape.~

"Wait, is it just me or is the world a lot different than usual?" One man asked, not really paying attention to the guys he and his cronies are trying to catch.

"No one cares! Just capture those kids!" The guy next to him yelled while hitting the back of his head.

"Oh no!" Valerie shouted.

"Someone help!" Willow cried.

"Get them!" The men yell, raising their bows up high.

"Let's get out of here!" The students yelled altogether.

~The five students quickly pushed some minions out of the way and made a dash for the nearby building, in this case, CHS. The minions did fire arrows at them, but they didn't want to waste too much ammo and left it there, with the other five.~

---

"And just like that, they kidnapped the rest of our pals." Mose finished the story.

"I'm just scared they have been hurt or killed...it's horrible to think about!" Jomes cried while covering his eyes.

~Steven, once again, began to stroke his shaved beard, gravely thinking about what else might have happened. Sunset noticed Steven thinking right away, also wondering, is there a threat to him and these students from their world that are now in this world too?~

"...Oh no." Steven muttered.

"What is it?" Celestia asked, noticing Steven's face.

"I just remembered something. When we all spilled out of the book, so did Devil and a group of his minions."

"Dee Vill?" Rainbow asked. "What kind of name is that?"

"His. And trust me, he is not someone to be laughed at."

"Well, Who is he?"

"An evil crazy scientist who's always hungry for power and world domination." Steven explained.

"Like the Dazzlings..." Sunset said, remembering them well.

"Dazzlings?" Steven inquired.

"Our enemies." Pinkie told him. She started to spin her eyes to resemble what happened. "They tried to hypnotize everyone in the school with their singing!"

"But, we defeated them and they ran off. Haven't seen them since, well, until the Music Festival." Sunset finished.

"I see. Well if Devil and those Dazzlings join forces, I shudder to imagine the havoc they would wreak upon this world." Steven said with fear.

"But, we destroyed their singin' amulets, so they can't do much harm now, could they?" Applejack questioned. "Hmm…"

Celestia stepped forwards to the Mane 7. "Girls, it's up to you to stop Devil and the Dazzlings from teaming and taking over this school and maybe this world."

"And that will be an order from me as well." Steven added. "Can I also count on you to rescue my other students and bring them back here safely? Surely they will only be in this area."

"Don't worry, Mr. Secret, We will do our best." Rainbow spoke boldly.

"This will be your greatest challenge yet." Celestia declared.

After Fluttershy heard that, her eyes widen and she began to feel unsure. "Can I have a challenge? To be back home…" she suddenly shivered.

"Come on, Fluttershy, We need you. Our team wouldn't be complete." Sunset said, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, be brave!" Rainbow said confidently.

"I want to be brave at home!" Fluttershy stated with a small whimper.

"Don't worry, darling. We will all be here for you." Rarity comforted.

"Yeah! Where's your sense of adventure?!" Pinkie exclaimed.

Fluttershy looked at her friends before letting out a sigh. "okay…"

"Yay!" Everyone cheered, then hugged.

"Alright, we're ready!" Applejack stated.

"Good." Steven nodded. "But, I must warn you all though. Dr. Devil is not a merciful man. Knowing him, his minions are already lurking the school grounds as we speak, hunting for my students and perhaps even new power. So stay clear. They wear black cape hoods and all look alike. I recommend you seek out Lightning Star and Karly Crystal. They might be able to help you." Steven suggested while grinning.

"Huh?" The Mane 7 said altogether.

"Who's Lightning Star and Karly Crystal?" Twilight asked.

"That's for you to find out soon, girls. I'm sure you'll find them hanging about somewhere." Steven chuckled. "Now go! Stop Devil from interfering with this world and bring him to justice!"

"Aye aye, sir!" Pinkie saluted.

~And with that, the seven heroines set off out the front door of CHS to complete their objective. Steven and Celestia watched with firm faces before whispering under their breaths: 'Good Luck'.~

---

"So, how are we going to find over one thousand students in this huge world?!"

~Rainbow Dash sized up the land and CHS's property across the mile that was clothed in fresh green grass. They stopped at the front statue and portal to Equestria as they gathered up their thoughts. Although, Sunset Shimmer couldn't help but stare at the side, hard to believe that another portal to another world had opened up in front of them just at the flip of a book that homed deep in their school's basement. She wished she knew earlier. Maybe there was more to the portal than just her home land, Equestria, she thought. What if there is more out there? Sadly, she had to keep all this in the back side of her mind as her friends began to talk up the current situation. Twilight was the first away.~

"It's going to be tough to search these places, I know, but Mr. Secret sounded sure that his students would not have gone far."

"So let's start up the land to see what we can find." Applejack suggested.

~Pinkie Pie and Rarity followed after her. And as they left to the left of the school, Rainbow Dash suggested that she, Sunset and Twilight should search the right, leaving Fluttershy alone to search the behind. But the shy girl didn't mind. This meant that she could visit her animal friends lurking in the grove of trees behind the school and ask them for help. It wasn't what people would call a forest, but it was a nice, refreshing place, filled with rich oak and spruce trees, to lounge about. The air smelled sweet and the sun that gazed through the leaves warmed the earth with the promise of a wonderful summer's day. That's why Fluttershy and her woodland friends loved it so much. She would go there every day after school. Maybe even live there if she didn't have anywhere else besides the animal shelter she works at. She hummed and sang as she wandered under the first tree where the birds greeted her with the same tune. Rabbits, foxes, weasels, badgers, moles and skunks came next, all bounding and tumblings down the hillside together. Fluttershy giggled. Unlike the rat she encountered in the underground, these animals were much kinder than she could ever ask for. But, before she could speak and ask for any whereabouts of any humans wearing refined school uniforms or have blond, black or brown hair, she walked into a figure wearing a black hood.~

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the voice that came out growled, it sounded unfriendly and was quick to answer to.

"O-Oh! I'm...I'm sorry." Fluttershy apologized.

~She shamefully backed away from the stranger, but didn't see that she was walking backwards towards a large broken branch. Her foot caught on the limb and, in a desperation to save herself from falling, she grasped onto the cord keeping the figure's hood together and dragged a part of him down with her. However, he dug his heels into the ground and kept his feet flat. He was stronger than he looked. And while this was a relief for him, it left the startled Fluttershy hanging between him and the branch and floor. The pink girl screamed in fear and looked in the figure's eye for help, but he just stared at her.~

"Hmm! You're lucky I'm busy and in a gracious mood at the moment, so get lost before I change my mind and let out my anger on you!"

~With that, he slapped her hand off him and let her fall to the ground. The elbows were the first to make contact with the branch and once it hit, it sent shock all over Fluttershy's body as it hit the nervous system. She flinched from the pain. The nearby animals were outraged with the figure's behaviour towards their human friend, so they barked furiously at him as a form of scolding. He was not afraid however. Until, a bright rosy pink glow occurred from around Fluttershy's neck caught his attention. Her geode was activating because the animals were barking. The figure felt his eyes shine from the glow and his mouth began to gape open. Suddenly, a raspy voice rang through the 'forest', interrupting it.~

"Hey! Who do you think you are talking to Fluttershy like that!?" It was Rainbow Dash. She had watched the whole thing happen from between the nearby trees and was not happy. All her other friends came running in, too.

"Yeah! How dare you!" Pinkie rang up next.

The figure snuffled. "I can talk to anyone anyway I like, thank you! Honestly, people have become so sensitive these days!"

"Calm down, Lars, they are just a bunch of teenagers. Too bad they are not the kind we're looking for."

~Another figure suddenly revealed himself through the trees and joined his similar-looking friend by his side. He then glanced at the seven Rainbooms before beginning to encircle around them, giving them thorough once-overs.~

"These lot have rainbow hair, humongous eyes, big heads, and weird skin colour…"

"Kinda funny-looking if you ask me." The figure named Lars nudged at his elbow and they both started laughing.

"Hey! That's not very nice!" Fluttershy scolded bravely.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, I'm just sayin'. You have very odd features."

Rarity gave a sigh. "Honestly now. Our features are very beautiful compared to how you present yourself."

"Was that meant to be an insult?" asked Lars.

"Maybe."

"Why you little- "

He was interrupted by his mate. "Ugh, look, we don't have time to chit chat, especially with brats. We're looking for something, so if you don't mind, we'll be going to find it."

"Yeah, we know exactly what you're looking for," said Rainbow abruptly. "We even know who you are. You're minions and are looking for students from your world. The ones that belong to a certain Steven Secret."

"And you plan to take them to your boss, Dr. Dee Vill…?" Sunset quired, making sure she pronounced that right. "...out of revenge. Mr. Secret sent us to find them."

The minions froze. "Steven Secret? Oh god, Agent Star and Agent Crystal aren't nearby, are they?"

~The two suddenly began making rapid glances of their surroundings, making sure nobody else was near. Obviously, they were talking about the two girls Steven was on about, Lightning Star and Karly Crystal, the Rainbooms thought. But what they were confused about was why the minions called them 'Agent Star' and 'Agent Crystal'. Was Steven hiding something else from them?~

"Agent?" they whispered to one another.

Lars suddenly flashed his eyes back to the girls. "Wait, if you were sent by Secret, and know what we're up to, that must mean you're here to stop us!" he exclaimed.

His partner gave an evil grin. "Well then, why don't we stop them first?"

~So it was. Suddenly, the two minions pounced to attack. The seven Rainbooms nimbly dodged as fast as they could as the minions hit the ground where they previously stood. The seven stumbled back from the sudden attack and looked on in vain. Not once have they been attacked by someone like this before. It was strangely just as scary as all the demons they have faced throughout the times.~

"Whoa! Hey!" Applejack said out of shock.

Lars laughed. "Pfft! I don't think they know how to fight, Leos!" he laughed, noticing their shocked looks.

"Really? This'll be easy for us then!" The minion, who seemed to be called Leos, replied.

~They leapt to attack again. But this time, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Twilight saw it coming. They flashed their hands onto their geodes, causing a sparkling glow of multiple colours that blinded the minions. Now, it was the girls' turn to attack. Rainbow Dash ran through the trees at the speed of light as a distraction while Applejack pounded one of the minions in the stomach as hard as she could. The impact sent him flying into a tree. The other one suddenly turned flabbergasted for what he just witnessed. There's no way a teenage girl could punch someone so hard that they go shooting backwards. That was when he began to put the puzzle pieces together. The glow of their geodes around their necks activated a great source of magic that gave the girls supernatural abilities! Lars could not be more angry than impressed. Until Rainbow Dash returned and lashed out at him with her arm, hitting his forehead and making him raise his arms out of sheer surprise and hit the ground, head first. He got up and clutched onto the part she hit before revealing an evil, but irritated glare.~

"Ouch… Ugh, That's not fair! They have superpowers!" grunted Lars.

"Let's get out of here!" Leos exclaimed.

~A sudden colourful explosion told them otherwise. Pinkie Pie was throwing sprinkles underneath their feet and they began popping and burning like crazy. Rarity conjured up a wall of diamonds so the minions wouldn't get away, but they found a loophole. Since the fashionista couldn't conjure up as many, the highest the wall went was about five diamond shields up. So, like a squirrel, the two minions jumped and scrambled up over the wall like it was a rock climbing wall and, thanks to their great agility, they made no mistakes and went too quick for anyone to stop them. Once they disappeared into the grove of trees, the Rainbooms relaxed.~

"Well, that was weird," Twilight sighed.

"Let's just hope they don't come back…" said Sunset. She kneeled down to Fluttershy who was still on the ground. "Fluttershy, Are you alright?" she asked, looking over her. "Did they hurt you?"

"One of them did a little."

"He DID?" Rainbow exclaimed. "Oh, just wait til I get the chance." She punched her fist into the palm of her hand and would have ran after them if Applejack hadn't stopped her.

"What was it all about?" The cowgirl asked. "We heard you scream."

"I...I just bumped into him and made him mad. That's all." Fluttershy said.

"Well, that's still no reason for him setting on you like that, darling," Rarity argued.

"Alright, alright, y'all, let's not go on 'bout it any longer." Applejack said. "Sure, I'm still not happy 'bout it, but it won't do us any good."

"Agreed!" Pinkie maintained. "All that matters right now is that our friend, Fluttershy, is okay!"

"That's true." Rainbow said, although she was still grumbling at the fact that those two evil minions harmed Fluttershy. And to show that she deeply cared about the shy girl, she hugged her.

"Alright everyone," Sunset began, "Let's get back onto our main focus and try to not draw anymore attention towards ourselves. We need to find the lost students…"

~Their small discussion ended when they heard a sad sigh coming from the far end of the grove, down by the football field of the school. The seven poked their heads out of the nearby green bushes to see a student of Steven wandering aimlessly around the field, his hand gently clasped over his arm and rubbing it softly. And they could tell he was a student because of the smart uniform he was wearing; A blue blazer, white light polo shirt, blue striped tie, black trousers, and smart shoes.~

"All of my friends have been abducted by Devil's minions…" he said to himself sadly. "...and all my surroundings and the people are so much more vivid than normal. What is going on? What should I do? Where do I go?!"

~He put his hands on his head and let out a stressful cry. He was unable to answer any of his questions, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. The Rainbooms felt bad for him. So, wanting to set things right, Pinkie Pie firmed up. Unaware of what could happen, she revealed herself from the bush and hopped over to the student. The others were too blank to stop her.~

"HEY THERE!" The party girl greeted a bit too loudly.

The student jumped from shock. "AHH! There's a freaky pink fluffy humanoid thing talking to me!"

The other girls arose from the bush and rushed over. "No, It's-It's okay!" Twilight assured. "She's just here to…"

"Ahh! There's more! RUN!"

~Before Twilight could ever so much as finish her sentence, the student hurried off in another direction.~

"Wait! Come back!"

"We have to go and catch him!" Rainbow cried.

Suddenly, they heard him scream. "AHH! OH NOOO!"

~The girls didn't like the sound of that. They hurried over to where the voice came from and there what they saw was extremely worrying. Black cloak, agile movements, sinister grin. No doubt about it, it was a Devil minion! He had just cornered the poor frightened student into a wall of a nearby sports shed and was about to fall upon him, as there was nothing he could do but stutter.~

"A m-m-minion!"

"Gotcha now, you little brat!" snarled the minion.

The student screamed with fear. "N-no! Leave me alone!"

~Quickly, without a sudden thought or aim, Pinkie sang a batch of confectionery sprinkles and threw a handful underneath the minion's feet. It crackled and fizzled like a firecracker on contact, to which the minion was not prepared for. And since it caught him down below, it damaged the part of his heel and caused him to flee by only hopping on his one other foot. Pinkie Pie laughed. The student stared at the minion fleeing before turning back at his rescuers and charging at them.~

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" he cried in relief.

Carefully, Pinkie shook his hand and led him up. "My pleasure!" she said to him.

"I'm sorry I ran away from you before. I just thought you were bad people coming to get me. I see now that you were maybe just trying to help." The student chuckled. "Is it...alright if I stay with you? Just for protection and such?"

"Well, actually," Sunset said, "If you go to the high school just beyond this field, you'll be safe in there. Don't worry, your principal will be there too to help guide you."

"You mean, Mr. Secret!? Oh, thank goodness! Okay! Th-thank you again!" said the student, feeling that those words were hardly enough.

~Following Sunset's directions, he began to head back to the field and over to the building of their school to where he hoped he would find his beloved principal. Once they saw the student enter safely inside, the Rainbooms gave each other a well-needed nod well done. Twilight brought out a notebook and marked a line in it as one student saved.~

"One down! Thousands more to go!" Pinkie Pie stated.

---

~Meanwhile, bursting out on the other side of the grove of trees, the incompetent minions, Lars and Leos, were panting their hearts out from running so fast. It didn't help that they were inflicted with a lot of pain as well from the Rainbooms just moments ago. Leos glanced over his shoulder back at the grove.~

"Are they following us?" asked Lars.

"No. They're not."

"Okay, good."

~They slumped down against one of the oak trees before beginning to tender their wounds. After that, they began to discuss the battle they had endured.~

"I can't believe it though…" gasped Lars. "Those girls...have...SUPERPOWERS! That's probably what that glow was from the butterfly girl's necklace!"

"I...I know! And they were sent by Steven Secret himself to protect his students, as I recall." said Leos.

"Ugh, and I thought only Agent Star and Agent Crystal were bad enough. Now, we gotta deal with seven more!?" Lars sighed. "At least Agent Star and Agent Crystal don't have powers! Think of the possibilities that could happen to us there!"

"What are we going to do about it? Should we report this to Master Devil?" Leos asked.

"Seems like the most obvious reason. I mean, that was some strong stuff!" He suddenly felt red liquid dripping from the top of his head, so he put his hand over it. "Ugh! Look at this! That rainbow-haired one cut my forehead, so now it's bleeding! It's gonna leave a scar, I'll tell you that." Lars grumbled.

"Yeah, the one with the cowboy hat punctured my ribs." His minion friend added. He clutched his stomach. "Oh, I hope they are not broken in there."

Lars sighed again. "And the pink one created explosions with tiny little hundreds and thousands, and the fancy-haired one created diamond-like force fields! You saw that, right?"

"Okay, now thinking about it, I don't think the boss is actually gonna believe us when we tell him this, is he?" asked Leos.

"Hmm... Ugh, yeah, who am I kidding, of course not!" Lars growled.

~He banged his head against the tree out of frustration, but that, of course, turned out to be a mistake, as his head began throbbing even harder than it did before. But, just as he groaned and began to rub on the part he hit, he felt a vibration and voice coming from his right trouser pocket.~

"Minions! Minions! Calling all minions!"

"Huh?"

~Lars reached down and pulled out a small pocket phone device that looked similar to a large powder compact. He pressed down on the button on the top and the lid flipped open to reveal a message recorded by his boss, Dr. Devil.~

"It's the boss." Leos said, obviously.

"Yes, I know it's the boss!" Lars grumbled. "What does he want though, that's my question?"

"I have an important announcement to make." Devil's voice sounded through the speaker. "We have received some unbeknownst assistance from three female teeangers. They call themselves the Dazzlings: Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk. And well, teachinally, they are not teenagers from this world or ours. They are…"

"Pffft! You think he would talk about important announcements like this in person." Leos suddenly spoke up, so Lars didn't hear that part of the message.

The minion frowned. "Hey! Shush! I'm listening to the boss' message!" he scolded, and he kept on listening.

"...they have given us some information about this world, and what powers are around." Devil's voice went on. "So, here's what I want you all to do. Keep an eye out for seven teenage girls with superpowers. They call themselves the Rainbooms. I would describe them but since every single citizen in this god-forsaken world looks the same to me, I can't. So, that's left up to you. If you spot them, capture them, and bring them to me in my castle. If you fail and show up empty-handed, I'll blast you with my melt ray and turn you into a puddle of goop! So get to it!"

~The message fee cut out. The two minions were left completely dumbfounded. They glanced back from where they came from, believing that the Rainbooms would still be there, then slowly turned back to each other, their eyes wide with amazement.~

"We're gonna need some backup," said Lars.