Chapter 1: The E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A Hideout!

E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A Spies: Lightning and Stitch (#2)

Chapter 1: The E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A Hideout!

"Lightning, where exactly are you taking us?"

"You’ll see…"

~Lightning was leading Karly and the Rainbooms around CHS, blindfolded. She directed them through the corridors until she stopped at a double doorway. She flung the two doors open and led everyone inside.~

"Alright, everyone, you can take them off now." Lightning softly said.

~Each one of the girls removed their blindfolds, to see...that they were in their music room. Nothing looked different so, what exactly did Lightning bring them here for?~

"Uh, this is our music room. What’s so special ‘bout it?" Applejack asked.

"We come here all the time to play our instruments!" Rainbow added.

"She’s right. Is there anything in here we should know about?" Sunset shrugged in confusion."

"Yes!” Lightning claimed. “I definitely didn't know this was your personal room. But, hey, that's even better! Come here."

~Lightning goes over to the grand piano in the room and plays a small tune on the keys. The piano suddenly splits in half and slides in the opposite direction of each other to reveal some blue and black carpet stairs heading down. Everyone looks in shock. Twilight straightens her glasses and turns to Lightning.~

"What’s this?"

"Follow me...and all will be revealed…" Lightning said mysteriously, drawing her hand in a straight line.

~Lightning walks down the stairs with a grin as the rest follow her carefully. The piano closed above them and once they reached the bottom, they saw a large open space room. Everyone looks to their right to see red, blue, orange and green large, square tables in a circle in the corner. Against the black wall near the table was a blank, black screen monitor. To the opposite wall of the table and monitor were nine doors, labelled with everyone’s name on each one in this order: Lightning Star, Karly Crystal, Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie. The Chief (Steven) was looking through some files on the red table. He suddenly looks up to see the girls.~

"Hello, agents." Steven holds his arms out warmly. "Welcome to our new E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A Hideout!" He greeted.

"Ta-da! What does everyone think?" Lightning asked rather joyfully.

Everyone stood in silence, they were completely paralysed by shock.

"...What exactly was wrong with the old hideout, Lightning?" Karly asked.

Lightning scoffed. "Three words for you all: Living in style! Come, I’ll show everyone around!"

~Lightning hums and skips pass the Chief to the door with her name on it.~

"You see the doors with your names on them...? That's your room/office." She explained. "It has a bed, a desk, and I have filled it with all the things you know and love in them. Check them out!"

~Pinkie was very ecstatic so she bounced and ran right into hers at the end of the hideout, the next thing that everyone heard was Pinkie loudly gasping with glee and racing back out to Lightning.~

"You gave me an unlimited supply of cupcakes and a CONFETTI BOMB?!" Pinkie asked, feeling pretty hyped.

"What a girl needs to feel comfortable." Lightning replied.

"Just don’t overwhelm yourself, Agent Pie." Chief mentioned while sounding worried because he knows how crazy Pinkie can get.

~Pinkie screams joyfully and zooms back into her room. After seeing Pinkie's reaction, the rest of the Rainbooms eagerly went into their rooms.~

"Impressive, Lightning. How and when did you build all of this?" Karly asked with curiosity.

"I had A Lot of help." She answered. "My uncle is a builder so...with him and my ideas, and 50 builders, this took only 1 week."

"Wow."

"Well, Karly, I don’t know what you're waiting for, go check out your room!"

~Lightning playfully shoves Karly to the door with her name on it and without hesitation, she walks in.~

"You really outdid yourself, didn’t you, Agent Star?" Steven smiled.

"Maybe…" She shyly said, darting her eyes all over the place. "You know, I want these girls to feel comfortable into our agency, and they have to earn our trust and--"

"We need to trust them too. I know." The Chief responded. "And they will. Firstly, I’ll give them a test and an understanding of all this, then you will train them for a bit. Understand?"

"Of course!"

Steven pats Lightning’s shoulder in an appealing manner. "That's my agent. This agency is going to be successful, I can see it in your eyes."

"Don’t forget who’s really in charge…" Lightning points at Steven, then to herself. "You do your thing, I do mine."

"Go on then. While I’ll prepare the introduction."

~Steven goes into a different room opposite Pinkie and Rarity’s room, most likely his office, and leaves Lightning to chill and think for a moment. She leaned on her back and onto the table and happily relaxed until she heard a voice coming from above, she didn’t seem to recognize it.~

"Hello? Twilight?" The voice sounded like barking.

"Uh, who’s there?" Lightning asked.

~Lightning goes upstairs and opens the piano to reach the upstairs music room. She stands in the music room and looks around to find out where that voice came from but sees nothing. Then she looks down and spots a small purple and green-haired dog below her feet gazing at her, he wore a spiked collar and had lime green eyes. Both are silent for a second until the dog speaks.~

"Uh...hi. Have you seen Twilight? She’s the one that cares for me. She wears glasses and has dark blue/purple hair…"

Lightning looked at the dog in shock. "...Uh...suuurrre. Down here. "

~Lightning opens the piano again and leads the puppy downstairs when they saw Karly and the Rainbooms relaxing by the table. It seems as if they had finished checking out and admiring their rooms. Lightning suddenly had the audacity to pick up the dog in her arms and show him to the others. Twilight noticed him right away and stood up from her seat.~

"Spike!" She exclaimed.

"Twilight! I found you!" Spike happily said, kicking his legs and wagging his tail.

Lightning smiled. "Yeah! I believe he is yours…"

~Spike abruptly jumps out of Lightning’s arms and into Twilight’s. Fluttershy also flung out of her seat and walked over to see Spike. She petted him several times on the head as he enjoyed it. Karly softly freaks out and went over to Lightning and whispers.~

"The dog is talking…"

"Well--yeah, I noticed!" Lightning answered in an obvious tone. She then speaks clearer again and turns the girls."So, do you want to say to us who this is, girls?"

"This is Spike. My dog." Twilight introduced.

"He’s...chatty. I mean--he can chat! I mean--he can talk!" Karly stuttered.

"Yeah. It’s a long story." Sunset said.

Fluttershy started to rub the back of the head. "I...gave him equestrian magic, and it gave him the ability to talk…"

"Oh. So, not much of a long story…" said Lightning.

"Well, there’s more than that." Sunset replied.

"But, anyway, Twilight, who are these girls?" Spike asked, pointing his snout towards Lightning and Karly.

"This is Lightning Star and Karly Crystal." Twilight explained.

"They are awesome secret agents for who we are going to help stop bad guys!” Rainbow Dash added, clenching her fists.

"Well, I guess when you put it like that, yeah…" Karly said nervously.

"Really? That sounds amazing! I’ve always wanted to meet a secret agent, even be one!" Spike jumped, wagging his tail faster.

“Well, you’re in luck, Spike! We are training your one and only owners to be SA’s!” Lightning clicked her fingers.

“Well, when they get the approval.” Karly added, smiling.

Spike’s jaw dropped and he smiled while his eyes bulged. “Oh...my...goodness!”

~Spike wags his tail in pleasure when he heard that exciting news. He was very happy to hear his owner was going to be a secret agent.~

“Well, when? When do they get the approval?” Spike asked.

“Very soon. The Chief is preparing it. For now, he just wants us to bond.” Lightning explained.

Rarity slowly lifted her arms up in confusion. “As in…?”

“As in getting to know each other more. Since, we didn't get much of a chance, first time we met.”

“Really?” Karly lifted her eyebrows.

“Yeah. I want to say it’s part of the test. But he could just want us to really get along by sharing details about ourselves and our interests.” Lightning said.

Sunset thinks about it. “Well, if it’s going to help out the Chief, also if we are all going to be together now.”

~The rest of the Rainbooms all agree with Sunset. Lightning, Karly, The Rainbooms and Spike sit or lay on the table and begin to chat.~

“How about we start with the easy stuff, like family.” Twilight suggested.

Lightning’s happy face suddenly changed and she got all serious. “OH, I DO NOT talk about my family. Can I--Can I skip this one?” She then says calmly, raising her hand.

“Yeah, can I too?” Sunset also asked shyly.

Karly frowned. “Uh...certainly girls, especially you, Lightning, I know how you get when it comes to your family…Stingy and sad.”

~Karly watched Lightning curl up in a ball and pull a sad expression on her face as she sits on the table. The Rainbooms and Spike did look a bit suspicious but moved on.~

“I’ll go first. I live with my Mother, Shine Secret, my Father, Crystal Mines, and my little brother, Bronze Crystal.” Karly started. “They are all wonderful, but sometimes we argue. My uncle, Steven Secret is the principal of mine and Lightning’s school and the Chief of this agency now. My uncle, in my opinion, is bossy. And very over-protective towards me. And I try to calm myself but sometimes it’s annoying.” She starts to build up anger suddenly. “If I’m one thing, it’s clumsy. I have a history of breaking my uncle’s glasses to the point where he once had to use bowls to drink from!”

Everyone sat in shocked silence until Lightning chuckled weirdly. “It’s true. But don’t worry. She’s--she’s ok.” Lightning pats Karly’s back softly and she calms down.

“Wow, that's a lot to take in when you say it all at once.” Pinkie pointed.

“Now that I think about it, maybe talking about family wasn’t a good idea…” Twilight nervously said while placing her hand on Spike’s head.

“How about we just talk about our interests instead?” Rarity suggested.

“Yeah…that's easier for me…” Lightning sighed in relief.

“I’ll go first...again...I guess.” Karly shrugged.