Lightning and Stitch (#2)

by LightningStar626

Chapter 2: A Day Out at the Mall

Chapter 2: A Day Out at the Mall

~With their heads now beaming under the light of day, Lightning, Karly and the seven and Spike began their route towards the mall, with Rarity leading the way. As they walked, Lightning began to see many familiar faces around the roads; a few even stopped to wave at them. Lightning slowly waved back.~

"You live in such a small community, don't you, girls?" she said. "Cause I am seeing CHS students everywhere!"

"Yes, it is a pretty tight community, but hey, I say it's nice to know everyone and see them every day, no matter where you go." Twilight replied.

"But besides that, there's still so much to see!" Rainbow added.

"Like food! How about we grab a bite?" Pinkie offered.

"I could eat." Lightning said. "But where should we…"

"I know just the place! Follow me!"

~The party girl charged on ahead, taking Lightning with her by the wrist. She shouted in surprise as she was pulled, and the rest ran after them. They made it to the mall, but they didn't go in through the front doors. Instead, Pinkie led Lightning towards the back where a pink and blue 1950's American style-like diner stood sticking out, and she could tell it was a 50's diner, because of all the bright, baby-coloured neon lights, as well as the pink thunderbird car decoration on the roof. Needless to say, Lightning was bedazzled. Karly read the title stripped across the top in lights as she caught up, panting a little.~

"Coinky-Dink World."

"YEAH!" Pinkie smiled. "Remember what I said to you the first time we met in the previous story?"

"Huh? Oh- that's right! You said that you worked here, didn't you!?" Lightning clicked her fingers.

"Yep! Part-time, three times a day, every seven hours! It's grrreat! I've been working here for only a few months, but I can assure you, I always know what every of my regular customers need before they even know it!" Pinkie said, flicking her wrist. "I also get free desserts!"

"Of course you do." Karly giggled.

"I mean, this is no surprise to Karly and I, since we also have a Coinky-Dink World in our city." Lightning said.

"We just never get a chance to try it." added Karly.

Pinkie gasped. "Well- you simply must try it now, now that you're here! I wouldn't mind having a few more new regulars!"

~With that, she swung the cafe doors open, then raced off to swipe the menu. Everyone got comfortable in a round seated booth as Pinkie scanned the menu then headed up to the counter.~

"Here! I'll go place everyone's orders!"

"Don't you need to know beforehand what we'd like though?" asked Lightning. "I haven't seen the menu yet- I don't know what's there!"

"Don't worry. I'll know."

~But before Lightning could protest, Pinkie was already at the counter, placing the orders. Figuring it was now impossible to argue, Lightning just let her do her thing and sat down in the booth with the rest of the girls. They began to make some conversation while they waited.~

"So, what's life like in your world?" Applejack asked first.

"Not much different from this world, but yet is different at the same time. If that makes sense." Lightning answered.

"What do you do there?" said Rainbow.

"Well, you know, we save the city, stop Devil from taking over, and…"

"What about when you're actually being teenagers?" asked Twilight.

"We go to…school. Spend time with our friends, whenever it's at the beach or studying in the library, or eating."

Karly nodded with Lightning. "Most times we like to hang out at our favourite burger restaurant called Burger Blast. Of course, there's also Chick, a place that does mostly chicken, annnd…The Pizza Shack."

Lightning sighed lustfully. "Ohh, The Pizza Shack is amazing. Ten out of ten for the pizza- it is gorgeous! But, we hardly ever go there to hang out."

"Why don't you?" Sunset raised her brow.
"The prices are ridiculously expensive. It's like, twenty quid, for a simple large margherita that's only, like, twelve inches long! Two extra for PINEAPPLE!"

~The girls and Spike burst out laughing. At that moment, they all felt something special, and there was a major conversation of common things now going back and forth between them, and everyone was sharing secrets. Twilight admitted about going to another school called Crystal Prep, before going to CHS, and Sunset told Lightning and Karly all about what her life was like in Equestria. Both girls were certainly intrigued by it and listened with astonishment.~

~When Pinkie came back with the food, all of the Rainbooms told the two teen spies about how it all began. The Fall Formal certainly caught the eyes of Lightning, and she had a hard time believing Sunset Shimmer was a cruel and dishonest bad girl who transformed into a raging she-demon.~

~The Battle of the Bands also had Lightning filled with crossness. She legitimately felt livid just by listening to all the things that happened to them because of the Dazzlings and kinda their own fellow classmates too. Karly, however, was just glad the mess and fights they caused was cleaned up.~

~The Friendship Games seemed like a repetitive story of the Fall Formal to Lightning and Karly, only this time switching Sunset with Twilight. The only differences they could make were the Shadowbolts, plant beings with teeth, a magic extracting device, and lastly, motorcycling, to which they found extremely outrageous.~

~And finally, Camp Everfree was now the icing on the cake, and from there they learned the origin of where exactly their geodes came from and what they are to them. A gift, and a source of connection towards their personality that they must now cherish. Karly smiled and Lightning winked. Now it was their turn to tell their stories. And they started with how they see each other as.~

"Wow. You two do everything together!" Pinkie Pie started.

"Of course. Best friends to the end, you know? I mean, who else is going to listen to your problems?" Lightning smiled, putting her arm around Karly.

"And give you words of wisdom to make you feel better?" she added.

"Save them from perilous situations?"

"Help them re-organise your notebook collection?"

"Share your nachos with them?" Lightning held up a nacho that was dipped in with cheese and gave it to Karly.

"I don't know." laughed Twilight.

Sunset shrugged. "Still. Don't you ever, perhaps, spend time with your…family?"

~At the mention of the word 'family', Lightning choked on the drink she was gulping, and a little bit of water spluttered on the table. Quickly and viciously cleaning it up with the shirt sleeve, she wiped her mouth and cleared her throat.~

"I…uhh…"

"What's wrong?" Sunset asked.

"Nothing! I just…don't talk about my 'main' family very much. Can we…can we skip this topic- or perhaps lend the question to…someone else?"

~Sunset Shimmer obviously didn't want to, but now seeing how distraught Lightning suddenly was, she agreed. The rest of the Rainbooms saw this too, but never dared to question it at the moment. Karly, instead, took the lead.~

"Here, Lightning, I'll take it." she said, rubbing her best friend's back. She created her throat. "I live with my mother, brother, grandmother and uncle Steven in a small house near the city. My mum works a lot however, so I rarely see her. Our grandmother, and sometimes Steven, raised us in the meantime."

"What about your father?" asked Fluttershy.
"He's about."

"But, do you know where he is now?"

"No. My parents divorced after my little brother, Bron, was born. My dad just…wasn't doing enough for the family. He had no job, no life, no purpose. And, one time…when my mother, grandmother and I went out, Bron had an accident on our staircase and broke his arm; Dad never noticed because he was too busy playing games. Nobody found my brother until hours later, and like that, Mum just had enough, and she kicked out my dad, followed by the divorce."

"Oh, I'm really sorry."

"It's okay. I was eight when it happened. I sometimes visit my dad, but it's not nice. He moves a lot. I haven't seen him since last year in February."

"Oh, you poor thing." said Rarity.

She shrugged. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't burden you with all this. Maybe we should move on."

"Karly, you're not a burden. We support you. And you can always talk to us whenever you feel the need to vent." said Sunset.

Pinkie nodded. "We're good at listening!"

Karly breathed a chuckle and a small smile. "Thanks, girls."

~The Mane 7 smiled back with a friendly laugh. Lightning felt better herself after that too, and began to forget about her own problems for now. She honestly had no idea how much better life will be when the Mane 7 will now care for them as much as she cares for Karly. By the time they had finished brunch, it was time to move on.~

---

~One small step into the mall was enough to make Lightning and Karly skip ahead and look about, completely awestruck. Two floors, shops everywhere, filled with fashion, literature, sports, games, and entertainment, and a fountain in the middle. This place had everything anybody could have ever dreamed of!~

"Whoa…! This place is like the freaking O2!" Lightning marvelled. "But with better shops and furniture."

"Just about." Sunset said. "So, where do you want to go first?"

"There's so much to do, and so much time." Rarity added.

Twilight began listing. "There's music, clothing, games, books, sports, books…"

Karly put her hand to her chin. "What do you girls suggest?"

"Ooo! Ooo! I know." Rarity said, and she urged everybody along somewhere gently.

~They came across a small fancy fashion-forward shop named: Four Season Fashions. Rarity eagerly went inside while Applejack and Rainbow Dash groaned, bored already. Lightning looked at the clothing inside.~

"Clothing shopping?" she quired.

Rainbow groaned. "Ugh, you just had to go and ask that, didn't you?"

~She directed the question at Karly who shamefully looked at the ground. They were in that shop for the next forty-five minutes, and funnily, nothing progressed. Rarity just kept on going through outfits, and in and out of the fitting rooms while everyone else slumped and sat on the waiting chairs, waiting boredly.~

Rarity came to them, holding up two dresses. "Hmm… Girls, which dress do you think works better for me? This? Or this? Which one do you think goes better with my eyes? Be honest."

Lightning hummed continuously. "Ummm…"

"I think they'd both look stunning on you, Rarity. And the sparkles on them will bring out both eyes!" Spike answered, wagging his tail.

"Ooh, thank you, Spike! You always know what to say! I'll get them both!"

"Wow. To think that a dog knows more about fashion than me." Lightning said, unblinking.

"Uhh, Rarity, I hate to burst your bubble, but we should go an' do somethin' for Lightnin' and Karly." said Applejack.

"Yeah! So, will you just get what you need so we can go somewhere that's not boring!?" Rainbow grumbled.

Rarity made a scowl, but Lightning stood up. "Why- What did you have in mind, Rainbow?" she asked.

~Rainbow Dash smiled at the question before speeding off in a bolt of rainbow thunder. Nobody saw exactly where she went, but Twilight and Sunset made their few guesses. It rounded them up all the way back down the escalator and towards the shop that sold sports items. Lightning smiled.~

"Ahh, sports. Now, this is a topic I am quite familiar with."

She suddenly heard Rainbow's voice. "Lightning, heads up!"

~The spy girl turned to just see a football flying straight at her and towards her head. She reached out quickly with both hands and caught the ball without any thought. Staring at it, then bouncing it down on the floor a few times, she smiled as Rainbow approached her.~

"Nice catch!" she said.

"Nice kick." Lightning replied, and handed her the ball again.

Rainbow turned to Karly. "Hey, Karly, think fast!"

~Rainbow then kicked the ball directly at Karly, just as she was entering, expecting her to catch it like Lightning. But instead, she flinched and held still. Letting the ball hit her hard, she stumbled back and fell on the floor. The girls gave a hardy 'Rainbow!' in exclamation while turning to her incredulously, but Karly assured them and stood up, clutching her head. She gave them a thumbs up.~

"I'm okay, I'm okay! Ugh, sorry! Not a sports girl!"

"Mayyybe we should move on to something else." Sunset said.

~And that's exactly what they did. This time they ventured towards the opposite of sports, and entered into a small book shop. Twilight's eyes gleamed as if she was seeing lights and wandered as if she was in a palace made of crystals. The walls, filled to the brimmed with shelves and books, caught her immense attention immediately, and she sped off to the science and astrology genres.~

"Reading!" Karly exclaimed. "I've certainly dabbled with a few books before in my time."

"Me too!" said Twilight, joyfully. "And I can't believe the new volume of 'Astrology's Greatest Discoveries' has come so early! Part sixteen, page one hundred and ten, chapter…"

"Pffft! Nerd alert!" Rainbow called, to which was then followed by her, Pinkie and Lightning laughing.

Twilight gave them a dry look. "Very funny." she ignored them only to catch Lightning now scanning the shelves. "Anything catching your eye, Lightning?"

"Ehh. Not at the minute. I'm more into action, adventure and mystery genres of books. Other kinds like romance make me sleepy."

"You got that right." Rainbow agreed. "I'm gonna go find the Daring Do section."

~As Rainbow headed off to another display, Fluttershy turned to Karly to ask about her interests, only to see she wasn't where she last saw her. That was, until they heard a little bit of scuffling, and then saw Karly on the ground, legs crossed, reading patiently through a book she found. Twilight peeked over just to see.~

"Ooh. What's that book about?"

"I don't know, I just started reading."

"How about you read some of it to us?"

"Umm… Sure." Karly coughed politely. "Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, long before there was such a city as Etheria, deep in the dark labyrinth of the Wuloric forest, there was a…"

~Karly stopped in her sentence as everyone suddenly heard the sounds of soft snoring. They all turned towards Lightning, fast asleep in her seat already. Pinkie gave her a quick nudge. Her eyes shot wide open.~

"AHHH- Kill it with fire! Huh?"

"What's attacking you, sleepyhead?" Pinkie laughed.

"Ugh, listening to people read..." Lightning droned.

"How about we head on over to another shop then before you fall asleep again?" Sunset chuckled.

~Lightning and Karly nodded silently. So, after waiting for Twilight to finish up purchasing, they headed off somewhere else.~

---

~Sometime later, all the girls were busy, wandering off separately into their own place of interest. Only Lightning, Karly, Sunset and Spike remained wandering. That was, until, the flashing front picture of a game coming from the front window of one of the stores, captured Lightning's eyes. She stopped mid-way from talking and walking and back towards the shop to stare.~

"Hello! What's this?"

~She stared inside with her face deliberately pressed up against the glass. Looking inside at all the games, CD's, and videos, Sunset appeared at her side.~

"This is our gaming store. Why? You play?" asked Sunset, excitedly as to see that she might have another gamer friend.

"Sure do! I've owned at least four consoles, and played games in many different ways. Though, I've never heard of these games before. Much different from our world." answered Lightning.

"Really? What games do you have in your world?"

"Oh, plenty! Four of my personal favourites are called Minecraft, Terraria, Pokemon, and Undertale. But, of course, there are some others though, such as Mario, and Rayman, and…"

She was called off suddenly by a male's voice calling out to Sunset. "Hey, Sunset!"

~A yellow-skinned male teen was suddenly spotted, waving at them from a short distance just inches away from the escalator. He had slick blue hair and deep blue eyes that shined in the reflection of the sunlight, illuminating from the glass above. He carried a heavy guitar-shaped case on his back.~

"Oh. Hey, Flash." Sunset greeted. "Nice to see you here."

"Pleasure's all mine," he replied.

Karly blinked at him. "Oh, hey. I remember you. It was at CHS… you went with Celestia, before you went off and…helped with the roof..."

"Yeahhh, that was sure something, alright." Flash admitted.

"Yeahhh, crazy." Lightning laughed nervously. "So, what's your name, stranger?"

"Flash. Flash Sentry." Flash introduced. "I rock my guitar, and always look slick when doing it. I'm a good friend of the girls and always will be there to cheer them on."

"We also dated for a while." added Sunset.

Lightning raised her brows. "Dated? Huh. What went wrong, may I ask?"

"It's a long story."

"And I wish I could explain it but I gotta head to the guitar shop to fix a string. See ya."

~The four of them waved goodbye, and the girls continued on with the day talking about games. They then went inside the shop to explore more closely, with Sunset telling Lightning about all these games, and once they were done, they went off to find the others. That was until Sunset noticed what looked like a guitar pick beneath her feet. She picked it up to see a blue shield and yellow bolt logo on it.~

"Flash's guitar pick." she identified.

"He must have dropped it when he stopped to talk to us," said Karly.

"Here. I'll return it to him. You guys stay here."

~The fiery girl wound her way up the moving escalator before disappearing down the second floor towards the guitar place. Looking about her, Lightning peered over then turned to her partner.~

"Welp, Karly. Looks like it's just me, you and Spike. For the time being."

"So it seems."

"Do you want to do something while we wait?" asked Spike.

"What can we do? We have already explored a lot." Lightning shrugged.

"Alot still isn't everything. We could possibly head to the pets and see what Fluttershy is doing, or to the party store when Pinkie Pie is looking, or back towards the…"

~Before Spike could say anything else, something outside the mall caught Lightning's attention. Her gaze followed there at once. Bouncing by the glass doors, as agile as an antelope, was the strangest, wildest, fluffiest-looking Shiba Inu puppy Lightning had ever seen, its ears high and attentive. It was a relatively small dog, standing at around one foot, two inches in height, which was roughly about thirty-nine centimetres. It was donning a cobalt blue coat with a white belly and legs, however, the fur on the centre of its back was a dark blue and in the shape of a curved rectangle. It was very fluffy, especially around its face, ears and paws, and it had a short, fluff-filled tail. What it didn't have was a collar, meaning it had no home.~

~It had obviously seen Lightning, Karly and Spike and as it came to a halt between them, and where it stood, it began to stare at them with its blackpool eyes uncomfortably for a long period of time. Then, it shot off back the way he had come from.~

"Karly, did you see that?" Lightning said.

"See what?" she replied.

"Another dog. Just outside those doors. It was just…staring at us."

"Do you think it's lost?" Spike asked.

"I don't know. But, I'm gonna find out." And at once, Lightning hared up after the strange dog.

Karly rose in surprise. "Wait, what- Lightning, wait!" she cried. "Where are you going?"

~She made to follow but stopped to assure Spike, as he was set down on the ground by her.~

"Stay here, Spike." she ordered. "I won't be long."

~And like that, she was out the door, leaving Spike alone in the mall. He immediately went to find Fluttershy. Karly yelled for Lightning over and over again. She looked about through the city but could not see her. Then suddenly, it began in an instant. Rain. One minute it was cloudy and dark, but not usually so. In the next, lightning, gale-force winds, and blinding rain exploded from the early summer sky.~

"LIGHTNING! Lightning!"

~Little did she know, this would be one of the most violent storms in Canterlot City history. But Karly could not stop now. She noticed two sets of wet footprints on the pavement, one human, one dog. She knew right away that the human ones were Lightning's.~

"LIGHTNING! WHERE ARE YOU?! There's a storm coming, we need to get back!"

"KARLY? KARLY! I'M HERE!"

"Lightning!"

"The dog went this way! Come on, let's catch it!" Lightning went to run in that direction but Karly stopped her by grabbing her hand.

"Lightning, I wouldn't bother about it! I'd bother about getting inside! The weather forecast said nothing about a terrible storm- so, we need to prepare ourselves!" Karly shouted.
"An unexpected storm isn't going to stop me! Besides, that dog would need help! If it stays out here, it may be blown away!"
"We will too if we do not get back inside!"

"It's not that bad! I just want to find that dog!" she ran off.

"'Lightning! Wait!" cried Karly.

"Just give me a minute!"

~Karly tried to stop Lightning but as she's said before, she is not the athletic type, and when she hopped over a fence to chase after her friend, she fell and scraped her expose knee right on the stones sticking out of the gravel.~

"Oww…" she droned, shortly before feeling her knee and seeing blood coming out from it. Tears came to her eyes. "Come on, Lightning, this is not the time to JOKE AROUND!"

~It might have been something in the air, but after a while, both Lightning and Karly began to feel light-headed. The world of Canterlot City certainly was strange and slightly unreal, and the only sounds they could hear were those of their panting lungs and the constant splatting of the rain chucking down on them.~

~In spite of the mistiness, Lightning found it to be much refreshing, and she was glad of the wet weather. The wild dog, although looking-like it was lacking adequate survival skills, did not seem to mind the rain one bit. No one knew how long they had been running, yet still they could not catch up with the fleeing figure of the dog.~

~Soon, they reached a site where buildings were being constructed. Karly looked around. Half a dozen building tools were placed about haphazardly as she kept on moving. At this point, her clothes were soaked and muddy, clinging to her skin. She could not go on any longer. As for Lightning, she refused to stop. To continue to the dog's trail, she raced under some scaffolding made of red steel beam poles. But she was not being cautious. Emerging to the other side, she stopped for a breather. That was when Karly and the dog saw it. Sitting on the roof's edge, less than forty centimetres above, was a box, loaded with bricks and metal. As the next roar of thunder occurred from above, it shook the beams and knocked the box over, spilling out its contents. Wild-eyed and unkempt, the dog spotted it falling downwards towards Lightning. And they were falling too fast to be stopped. As he came to a halt, the Shiba began barking wildly, trying to warn her off.~

"Bricks! Bricks!" he cried in a harsh voice. "Back away! Not safe!"

Lightning was taken aback. "Did that dog just talk?"

"Lightning, LOOK OUT!"

~With the bounce of a broken trampoline, Karly frantically, and instinctively, twisted and lunged at Lightning. Her eyes went wide and she drew in a harsh breath. It seemed as if everything were moving in slow motion, then at full speed, then slow motion again. The outcome, however, was successful, and she pushed Lightning to safety. But what about her own cause? At that moment, Karly looked up; heard the clattering of heavy metal and shattering of glass, and watched in terror as the bricks, metal and glass exploded on top of her. Since Lightning was caught off guard, when Karly pushed her, her head shot forward, and slammed into a red steel beam. A sharp, searing pain throbbed in her forehead. Then, there was nothing.~

Author's Note:

Character art done by LimeDazzle
https://www.deviantart.com/limedazzle