A Dazzling Return (#3)

by LightningStar626

Chapter 5: Playing and Training

Chapter 5: Playing and Training.

~Rainbow Dash stretched out a hand and laid gently upon the table. She looked quite exhausted and had no absolute strength to get up. After a few more seconds, she eventually got up because she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She cocked open one eye and saw Twilight and Sunset entering the hideout. Twilight drew in her breath with a long shuddering sigh.~

"Hey, Twilight! Sunset! How did the training go?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight whimpers in despair. "I didn't even get close to finishing the first technique! I can't believe I'm saying this, but...This is difficult! It's like studying for a test, the only problem is, I don't know what to do." Her eyes shrink down in worry. "I'm going to freak out!" She begins hyperventilating.

"Breathe, Twilight, breathe." Sunset consoled. "You're not the only one having trouble with this. Our friends and I are too. Rainbow, how did the training go?"

"Pfft! It was a cinch! I learnt the techniques in 10 seconds flat!

"You've learnt all 18 of them already?"

"What, no. Only 7 of them. I stopped on the 8th one because it was too difficult for me." Rainbow shrugged.

Pinkie jumps down from the ceiling. "Ah, Come on, Dashie! It wasn't that hard!"

"Maybe for you it wasn't. You can handle a lot of spinning, I can't."

~Pinkie slid beside Rainbow on the table and giggled. Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity shortly arrived and joined their friends at the table while they waited for the Chief.~

"Do any o' y'all know what the Chief called us here for?" asked Applejack.

"Not a clue." Twilight replied. "But, I already feel unprepared for what he has in store for us."

"Me too…" Fluttershy sighed. "I feel completely worn out from this morning...and I'm feeling a lot of anxiety coming!" She whimpered softly.

Rainbow agreed. "Yeah, I feel completely exhausted too…"

"Let's just hope Steven takes things slow on us…" said Sunset.

~Suddenly, the seven heard footsteps coming down the stairs and assumed it was Steven. They all stood up and awaited his arrival, but were cut off and surprised when they saw not Steven, but Lightning and Karly.~

"Good Afternoon, E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A!" Lightning smiled brightly.

"Lightning?! Karly?!" The Rainbooms exclaimed in shock.

"Aren't you two supposed to be studying for school?" Twilight asked.

"We have done a good old 5 hours of studying." Lightning answered hastily. "So, we decided to take a break and dedicate this time off to help you girls train, plus we need to give you a couple of extra things. That's why I told you to come here this afternoon."

Sunset was confused. "But, we got an email from Steven. How did you…?"

"I might have snuck into the Chief's office and added that 'Meet me here this afternoon' thing. Plus, that little recording." Lightning interjected. "I have a pretty good Chief impression, huh?"

~The Rainbooms pulled an unforeseen look at Lightning and said nothing.~

"Yeah, that's the exact same face I pulled when Lightning told me about this…" Karly said.

"Hey, It's a darn good thing I did that! I knew the Dazzlings would attack you again and they did. Sunset, Rarity and Pinkie were almost taken and I'm worried it'll happen again!"

~The girls continued to stare.~

"We won't train that long! Only for this afternoon, alright. Then, Karly and I will go back home to study at 6 o'clock. How about that? Pinkie. Promise."

~As Lightning and Karly crossed their hearts and pretended to stick cupcakes in their eyes, the Rainbooms grew increasingly apprehensive. Of course they feared for their own safety, but now they also feared for Lightning and Karly failing because they are helping them instead of working. Twilight, especially, felt more worried. She knows how important school is and how it roles a good part in getting into a good college.~

"Lightning...Karly, I...we...I still don't think…you should procrastinate. School is important to everyone and you."

"I don't believe it's a good idea either, Twilight." Sunset interrupted. "But, I feel like we need this."

Rainbow agreed. "Yeah...the Dazzlings will take our magic and take over the world if we don't learn these skills. Give them a chance!"

~Twilight looked up at Lightning.~

"We have this evening and all day tomorrow to study. Plenty of time. We have this under control. Trust me." said Lightning.

Twilight sighed. "Can I give you two a test after this? Just to see how you're doing?"

Lightning frowned a little. "Yeah, Alright, Miss Sparkle." She rolled her eyes.

~The others nodded their heads in agreement and glanced at each other with a smile. Twilight darted her eyes left, right, then forward to Lightning and firmly nodded.~

"Okay then."

"Then let's get to the arena and teach ya the 8th technique! And the other techniques too…"

~Lightning hurriedly walked to the door of the training arena with the others following her closely. Once in the room, the Rainbooms settled down and looked up and face Lightning and Karly so they can begin the teaching.~

Karly started. "Alright, my fellow E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A Agents, hold on to your hats! Uh, those of you that are not wearing hats, just roll with it. Lightning and I give to you...The Windmill Punch!"

"You punch, but you also have to spin in a circle." Lightning demonstrates the skill and spins in a circle. "This helps if you are surrounded by enemies."

"See, this is hard for me! How can you do that without becoming dizzy?" Rainbow asked.

"Or even, getting caught off guard?" Twilight added.

"You have to get used to spinning." Lightning replied. "There is another version of the Windmill Punch, this one requires no spinning. You just punch up, down, left and right, or whenever your enemies may be in rapid movement. Try it."

"Ok, but we are still very exhausted from this morning, so can we take our time…?"

"Certainly."

~Sometime later, a large patchwork training dummy was seen in the middle of the hideout. It was made of rubber and had a smiley face painted on its head. It tilted from side to side and from down below, The Rainbooms are seen fighting it. Rainbow and Sunset were punching the dummy as hard as they could. Pinkie tried to blow it up with her confetti, even though Lightning said not to do that because it was the only dummy she had not broken yet. Rarity didn't fight back, but was able to block the dummy every time it tilted towards her. Twilight and Applejack defended themselves against the dummy attacks, but were struggling a little. And, Fluttershy, was having a little bit of trouble fighting back. Luckily, Lightning and the others were there to give her a little push. She smiled and meekly hit the dummy and it shook. The girls jumped all over the place and around the dummy until Rainbow smacked it in the face and it tilted to the ground.~

"Done and Done." Rainbow smiled.

~Rainbow gives Lightning a bow, not knowing the dummy was tilting back in her direction at full speed. Lightning saw it and jumped a few feet to the right. However, The Rainbooms weren't so lucky. The dummy smacks the seven girls and throws them to the ground. It immediately tilted back upright afterwards, leaving the girls on the floor as flat as a pancake.~

"Oww…" The girls all groaned and grunted.

"Yes, you see, a real secret agent would have seen that coming..." Lightning explained, jumping back into the scene.

"Couldn't you have given us a warning?" Rainbow frowned.

"Well, I didn't have time. We need to work on getting your reflexes as quick as a hedgehog." Lightning replied.

"Hedgehogs aren't quick." Twilight noted.

"Tell that to Sonic. Let's move on."

~The girls moved back to the ordinary patchwork dummies and practised a couple more new moves on them. Lightning proudly smiled at the girls' training and slowly nodded to herself. She suddenly heard the door creak open and hear gruff woofy sort of voices coming towards her.~

"Master! Master!"

"Stitch?"

Stitch and Spike race over to Lightning's feet. "Is it alright for me to call you 'Master'? Since you kinda are?" Stitch barked.

"Um, sure, whatever. What's up, Stitch?"

"Me and Spike were wondering...if…"

"You can teach us some moves…!" Spike smiled, wagging his tail.

"What?"

"We want to be of some help to you. We know dogs like us can't do that kind of stuff...but, we could try."

"We could bite the enemies! Or maybe scare them, we can be scary! We are not just a pair of dumb, silly dogs." Stitch proudly curves upwards with his head held up high.

"Yeah, This is coming from the dogs that sang 'Baby Shark' in their room a couple of days ago." Lightning shrugged.

Stitch suddenly blushed. "You heard that?" he woofed.

"Everyone heard it."

"Oh…"

"Maybe we are a little silly…" Spike admitted.

Lightning kneeled down and ruffled the dogs' heads. "You are silly and crazy, but that's what I like about you. I'll see what I can do about you learning something then."

"Really? Thank you, Master. Me won't let you down!"

"I won't either!" Spike barked.

~Stitch and Spike's hackles rose and they charged into the field of training dummies. They crouched low and growling menacingly and pretended that the dummies were petrified enemies. Every sinew in their bodies tensed for action. Fluttershy stopped and stared down at them. She giggled a little before continuing to train.~

"Hey, Lightnin', little question, since this is a job thin', do we earn money for doin' this?" Applejack asked, wiping her forehead from the training.

"Oh, yeah! Me and Karly do this, of course, for a living." Lightning explained proudly. "I had been ever since I was 8. Karly has been since she was 11, but-blaa! Yes. We earn money!"

"How much?"

"Like, 9 pounds/dollars an hour."

"WHOO!" The Rainbooms' eyes widen.

"I know, right?!" Lightning smiled so hard, her teeth showed. "So, you want that money, work up! Work. Up!"

---

"Hey, Lightning! One of the techniques is called 'The Diamond Deflect.' How do we do that one?" asked Rainbow.

Lightning stared at Rainbow while picking up a nearby football in her room. "Oh. Right. Well, I actually made that technique up last second. It's really for Rarity."

Rarity heard her name so she stopped and turned. "Me? Why?"

"This is why. Rarity, think fast!"

~In the blink of an eye, Lightning fired the football in her hands straight forward and into Rarity's direction. It was travelling so fast, no one could keep their eyes on it. Rarity screamed, shut her eyes tightly in fear and held up her hands and her diamond shield. The ball made contact with the diamond and bounced back to Lightning. She caught it instantly.~

"That's what I'm talking about!"

Rarity opened her eyes and panted. "Phew…"

"Your reflexes are getting better, Rarity. We just need the rest of you to get there. So, let's play dodgeball! It'll help, I swear!"

~6 soft balls about the size of a basketball were laid out in a line in the center of the arena. Karly Crystal set them up perfectly. Lightning motioned the Rainbooms to the balls.~

"You all know the five D's to dodgeball, don't you? Well, now's the time you use it for the greater good! Karly, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Sunset vs Twilight, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie! Go, go, go!"

---

"Okay! Break Time!" Pinkie shrieked.

"Break Time?" Lightning inquired curiously.

"Yeah! Come on, Lightning. A little 10 minutes of relaxing won't hurt anyone." Rainbow ventured through the door.

"I guess. Alright."

~The nine girls climbed up the stairs and into the music room to settle down in. Lightning and Twilight together reached the top first and looked around aimlessly.~

"Why don't you study during this time?" Twilight suggested.

Lightning pouted her lip quizzically. "Uh, Yeah, I suppose I could."

"We could! I just happened to have brought my maths revision book." Karly swiped a book out of thin air and began to scan it.

~Lightning was also about to reach for her backpack, but Rainbow called out to her which made her stop and turn in the direction she heard her voice come from.~

"Hey, Lightning! Since you can play really good on the saxophone, violin, bass and keytar…"

"Whatcha got on the drums?" Pinkie asked, finishing the sentence.

"Oh, well…"

~Lightning walked past Twilight, who had her mouth gaping, and sat down on the leather seat besides Pinkie's drum set. Pinkie lent Lightning a pair of wooden drumsticks.~

"I have never played drums in my life, but I take it it's easy." Lightning gave a worried but happy face.

"It is. Show us what you have got!" Pinkie prompted and grinned impatiently.

~Lightning's mood changed at once. She grinned and began to ferociously beat down on the drums and cymbals, she began to sing a little too.~

~Song: In the Air Tonight- (Phil Collins)~

~Lightning smashed the drums one more time and ended the song. Pinkie's heart leapt.~

"Wow!"

"Good?"

"Awesome!" Rainbow punched in the air.

"Play something else!" Pinkie gushed.

~Lightning stepped off the drums and headed for the saxophone on the ground and tuned it before playing a jazzy beat. Rainbow and Pinkie tapped their feet and clapped/clicked their hands to the beat. Twilight disappointedly stared at Lightning and sat down beside Karly. Karly looked up at Twilight worriedly before darting her eyes and nose back into her revision book.~

---

"Alright, girls, This thing I'm about to give you is important, do not take it off or lose it, ok?"

~They all nod. Lightning slowly looks up and smolders. Sometime later, Lightning reveals seven coloured watches. Red, Green, Yellow, Purple, Pink, White and Black. The Rainbooms take the one that resembles their colour and clips it on their wrist. Twilight got purple, Sunset got black, Rainbow got red, Applejack got green, Fluttershy got yellow, Rarity got white and Pinkie got pink. Lightning already had the blue one and Karly had the magenta one.~

"So, what's this for?" Rainbow asked, pointing at the watch on her wrist.

"This...is how we will contact each other. If whistling eventually doesn't do much anymore." Lightning said.

"Couldn't we just text or call on our phones?" Rarity suggested.

"Wrist calms are quicker. Right, Agents, listen closely. The wrist calm flashes."

"It flashes." Sunset repeated.

"A triple flashing light means emergency, like major stuff going down so everyone has to get here fast."

"Easy enough!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"A double flash is kinda important, but not so much…" Karly continued.

"Annnd...What about a single flashing light?" Pinkie asked happily.

"Just send me a text of whatever."

"Ok…" Sunset softly nodded.

"Ok, Now, that's we're covered the fighting and wrist calms, let's cover something else."

"Oh god…" Karly clenched her teeth in worry, she knew what Lightning was on about.

"What else do we have to learn?" Sunset inquired.

"Escaping. If you have been taken prisoner by a villain, I need to show you a trick or two about escaping their grasp."

~Lightning walked a few feet back and motioned everyone minus Karly to sit down and listen closely.~

"If you're caught, things could get pretty ugly for us, and a lot worse for you."

Karly shut her eyes, lifted her eyebrows and folded her arms. "Of course…"

"So, listen up. Usually, if you're tied up, you're going to have three problems…" Lightning began walking back and forth. "Your arms and legs will be bound, and you'll probably be gagged as well for good measure."

"Obviously…" Karly sighed. "Sorry, this is my least favourite thing to learn, knowing that this might happen."

"I would just like to also point out that we won't be able to use our geodes to get out of the situation since we won't be able to touch and activate them." Twilight noted.

"So, we're by ourselves on this one, no matter what." Sunset said.

Lightning nodded. "Getting your arms free is the hardest thing to do, since that gets the most attention, but, if you can do that, you're as good as free."

"The legs aren't usually difficult. If you get those untied first, you might be able to move around and look for an easier way to get free." Karly explained.

Lightning continued. "As for the gag...well, you get that loose, you might be able to call the guards. You could convince them to let you go? Failing that, you could trick them somehow, or bargain with them or you could just call for help, just make sure they don't gag you again."

~Everyone slowly but unsurely nodded.~

"I would recommend keeping a pocket knife or something sharp and handy on you at all times. Put it somewhere where people won't expect it, like inside your boot. Or under your hat." She addressed Applejack. "Or wherever else. Trust me. It will save your life."

---

"Now, I also gave everyone a code colour."

"Code colour?" Twilight questioned.

"If you're in danger, you click on your colour on your wrist calm. It will flash that colour on everyone else's wrist calm and will trace a signal to say that you're in danger. For example, my colour is light blue. So, when I click light blue…"

~Lightning clicks on the light blue colour and soon enough, everyone's wrists began glowing light blue.~

"Oh!" Pinkie smiled.

"Now, you all would know I'm in trouble. Well, not really, it's just a demonstration. So, Karly is magenta, Twilight is purple, Sunset is red, Rainbow is dark blue, Applejack is orange, Fluttershy is yellow, Rarity is white, Pinkie is pink and If everyone is in danger, the colour is black."

"Sounds good." Twilight slowly nodded.

"Annnd that's everything."

"Yep. And the clock should chime 6 right about...Now!"

~Karly points at the clock hanging off the wall and it chimes six times.~

"Wow. 6 already?!" Rainbow inquired.

"That was fast." Applejack said.

"Well, time flies when you're having fun…"

"This was fun?" Karly raised a brow at Lightning.

"Kinda." She replied. "Anyways, we should probably get back home…"

"And study." Twilight hissed.

"Uh-huh. Yeah. That."

"But first, Let's do the test."

"Right, Have a good evening, girls." Lightning and Karly follow Twilight in her room.

Author's Note:

I apologise that the full story isn't released. I have alot of college work to catch up on and I have been sick for a while lately. Hopefully, I shall have the rest of this story finished and published by 1st August. Thank you for understanding.