A Dazzling Return (#3)

Chapter 3: Project E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A

"Here, follow me," Steven proclaimed, leading the Rainbooms out of their music room, and down the flight of stairs and elevator back to the main area of the hideaway.

~After a little walk left, they had made it to the small room about the size of a classroom, that appeared to the left labelled 'Screening Room'.~

"Here, everyone in," Steven said, and the seven teens piled into the room.

~The walls, floor and ceiling appeared to be a very shiny white, and the room's corners were rounded. There was no furniture at all, and the floor was somewhat slippery, maybe from how polished it seemed. And indeed it was, as it looked as though nobody had stepped foot in it ever. The seven Rainbooms could even vaguely make out their reflections.~

Steven instructed them, "Stay in the centre," and they did so, until he'd shut the door, and walked off, having told them to, "Wait here."

~Immediately, they started marvelling at how perfectly cut the walls were, and trying to touch the ceiling and floor (especially Pinkie). All but Sunset, Twilight, and Fluttershy stayed in the centre, as they were the most obedient when it came to following instructions. Suddenly, the walls glowed a bright red, causing the seven to shield their eyes. A circular platform with seven seats in the centre then appeared in the middle of the room, seatbelts being fastened automatically, and with only Sunset and Twilight in their seats.~

"W-what the heck is going on?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. Fluttershy and Rarity held on to each other.

"I-I dunno!" Applejack replied, who noticed the seats, and pointed to them, "Girls, quick!"

~The five ran for their seats, but were briefly ejected into the air because of a sudden and impactful THUMP! that launched them into their seats. The sensation of descending in an elevator fell upon the girls, as the door disappeared out of view. They were indeed in some sort of elevator.~

"H-h-he didn't tell us that this was a freakin' elevator!" Sunset shouted, holding onto her seat tightly, being rocked back and forth in her seat.

~Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash held onto their seats in fear, with Rainbow trying and failing desperately to undo the seatbelt. Twilight, Rarity and Applejack attempted to slip into their seats, eventually successfully doing so just as the elevator came to a brisk stop. Pinkie fell into her seat, and the others breathed sighs of relief.~

"Wh...what the heck was that about?!" Sunset gasped.

~A few seconds later, the door opened, and Steven appeared behind it. All that was seen behind him was a low red light.~

"Quickly, now! All follow me!" he exclaimed, immediately noticing how out of breath everyone looked. "Y'all alright?" he asked, to which the seven gave a groan and a nod. "Good! Now, if you'd all follow me…"

~The seven friends stared at each other, before rising from their seats, and exiting the elevator. As Sunset, Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie stepped out of the elevator, their eyes were immediately filled with awe, and the vicinity gave off a vibe of mystery and suspense. The current room they were in was full of a dark red light that coated them, giving the feeling of a night-club. However, one giant, green light bled through the red, due to a humongous, translucent, tablet-designed screen near the centre of the room. It looked to be a screen people used to type something out. And connected to these screens, were small computers, each with its own little cubicle, and they were all wearing headphones.~

"Ooooooh…" The seven girls' eyes widened in wonder, as they gawped at every single detail in the extensive room.

"Wondrous, is it not?" Steven affirmed, and the girls nodded slowly. "Now, then. If you come with me up here…" he pointed up at the door behind the green screens, "We can get down to 'business'."

~The girls complied, and ran after Steven through the threshold. As soon as they reached the barrier, they saw several rooms shaded by lamps that emitted white glows, although the light appeared a pale red, as the low red glow was still present. They noticed other doors labelled 'Break Room', and 'Weapons Room'.~

"In here!" Steven called, beckoning the gang into the second-to rightmost door labelled 'Steven's Office'.

~The girls instantly froze on the spot as they walked into the room. This office was about twenty times larger than the one on the surface, to the point where it was practically the size of a throne room. The ceiling seemed so high up, that it felt like they were standing in a cathedral.~

"Whoaa...what the…?"

"Well, what can I say? Sometimes it's great to shoot big!"

~Steven skipped over to his desk that, compared to the size of the room, looked about the size of an anthill. It seemed miles away from the girls' perspective.~

"What are you waiting for?!" Steven called gleefully from the other end of the room, sat comfortably in his chair that seemed twice the size of the one in his smaller office, "Get over here!"

~Walking down the aisle of a hallway felt so mesmerising, mostly for Rarity, and it was all down to the magnificent view. Beautiful, colour-changing lights horizonatally dotted the walls, and a small moat of crystal-clear meandered around a long, sea blue carpet, and made its way up the vertical aisle, and circled around Steven's workspace. A small but sturdy bridge allowed entry. The entire room was engulfed in a bright orange light coming from the arch-shaped stained glass windows that stretched up most of the length of the walls. Behind the windows were likely bright spotlights that were filtered orange by the glass. The entire experience made Twilight feel like royalty. She embraced the feeling, as she slowly strode down the hall next to Sunset, who seemed equally as awestruck as Twilight felt. It was like being in Princess Celestia's castle again. Pinkie Pie had seemed to regain her composure, but, instead of simply soaking in the feeling like the other two, bolted all the way down the aisle, jumping the moat and almost rocketing straight into Steven's desk.~

"Jesus! C-calm down, Agent Pie."

~The other Rainbooms finally crossed the bridge, and stood before Steven's desk.~

"Now then, I know that I know this already, but please, to enlighten me, give me your names."

"Sunset Shimmer…" Sunset said, placing a hand on her chest, before pointing at the others, "Twilight Sparkle… Rainbow Dash… Applejack… Fluttershy… Rarity…" Sunset then pointed at the ditzy Pinkie face-planted into a soft, wine red rug, "...Pinkie Pie."

"...Right. So, now that we're in the 'main' office, I can offer you your 'job." Steven said, a slight sinister tone in his voice.

~Suddenly, the door to the office closed abruptly by itself, causing Fluttershy to jump into Rarity's arms, and Rarity into Applejack's.~

"D-does that normally happen?!" Rarity stuttered, fear overtaking her voice.

"Why, of course!" Steven replied, his finger on a blue button on his desk labelled 'Close door', "Say, what if someone leaves the door open and I don't want to waste precious time walking all the way back down there to close it? That's what this is for!" he pointed to the button.

"O-oh."

~Fluttershy and Rarity jumped back onto the floor immediately.~

"So, about our training…" Applejack went on.

"Indeed."

~Steven pressed another button, which created a magic shield around the Rainbooms. Fluttershy screamed while Pinkie stretched out a hand to touch it.~

"HEY! You don't wanna do that, Agent Pie!" Steven shouted, and Pinkie withdrew her hand, "It'll sting on contact."

"What!" Sunset grew angry. "What on earth are you trying to do?!"

"Hey, hey, calm it. I'm not going to hurt you." Steven reassured, "This is all part of the production. It is very important, Lightning's orders, so you MUST be paying close attention, understand?"

~The girls looked at each other with worry, but nevertheless nodded in capitulation.~

"Good."

~Steven pushed a button that lowered and switched on a projector that cued a short presentation onto the wall behind Steven's desk.~

"Welcome! This presentation will detail the brand new project that we shall be working on! You are probably here because you are perhaps interested in our new program! If so, please listen on!"

~A bright, high-pitched male voice sounded on the monitor, echoing the palace room of the office.~

"If you're currently unaware, this program will involve fun, mischievous and magical hijinks, but will require rigorous constant training, so make sure you're up for the job! You shouldn't worry, though! Our plethora of professional and incredibly helpful trainers and employees will help you find your footing almost immediately! As unconventional as this plan sounds, we guarantee to pay well, and maximum enjoyment is imminent the moment you join the team! Your fellow employees will welcome you with open arms! We hope you'll enjoy this project! We're calling it: The Equestria's Qualified Undercover Equestria Spies Trustful, Respectful International Agency, or E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A for short! See you around!"

~The video feed cut, and the projector raised itself back into the ceiling. Steven turned back to the girls, who were staring back at him. The silence lasted several moments before Sunset broke it.~

"Magical... hijinks?!" she shouted, accidentally making contact with the magical restraint, crying out in pain.

"It's a new feature Lightning decided upon the project due to her, Karly and you all having supernatural abilities." Steven said. "According to you alot, you seem to have a habit of finding Equestrian magic and evil forces who want to use it to cause chaos and destruction. Like Devil, the Dazzlings, and many more. So, we've been experimenting with how it works to prepare for such things. Starting with this magical barrier, designed by Lightning."

"How did she manage to do that?" Twilight asked.

"Taking a little of her DNA, and using our technology, she fashioned an electromagnetic scrambling device that renders magic completely useless."

~'Wow. Impressive', the girls thought. Realising that Lightning was broadening her horizons when it came to magic, something that Sunset and Twilight could not figure out themselves, it made them all the more curious as to what she'll do with music.~

Steven went on, "But this is all we got for the 'magical' part of this settlement. As for the rest, well, this is only the beginning. There's plenty more to come."

"Like what?" asked Fluttershy.

"That's a question you will have to ask Lightning herself. I'm only in charge of giving you the whole brief of how and where to start."

"Then let's stop wasting time and get to the point of all this," Sunset said, and she stood up. "Uhm… Do you mind letting us go?"

"Huh? Oh- uh, sure!"

~Steven pressed the same button on his desk that raised the barrier, and it immediately dissipated, setting the girls free.~

"So- uh, one more question before you go; You still gonna go through with this? Right?"

"HECK YEAH!" Rainbow started.

Pinkie jumped up and nodded. "Uh-huh! Allllll the way!"

"Aaabsolutely!" Applejack agreed.

"Mmm-hmm." Fluttershy said, though the doubt still lurked in the back of her head.

"Certainly. Whatever it takes." Rarity smiled, determination over her face.

"Of course. The concept sounds so intriguing." said Twilight.

Steven and the squad turned to Sunset, who had her arms folded, with a snobbish look on her face. "Well, yeah, of course, but are you sure you'll be able to train us?"

"We are going to try." Steven said truthfully. "Go ahead and meet Lightning and Karly upstairs. They'll fill you in on what's next."

"OI! RAINBOOMS! Get your Rain-butts in here!"

~The moment the Rainbooms returned to the upper floor, their ears were met with the deafening pierce of an old whistle. It hung on a string across Lightning's neck, who stood up straight and strong in front of them, wearing an old military hat with a camouflage pattern. Karly was there too, also standing straight, but highly nervous. She instructed the girls to join her and stand in a line as Lightning trotted back and forth in front of them like a military general did with newly recruits.~

"Alright, ladies, today you come in as rookies! Maginas! Worthless worms! But, soon, you will become...the greatest agents that ever lived! You will get hurt, you will cry, and most of all, you will get salty! But, you will become true professionals! We only have this weekend to teach you as much as we can before Karly and I have to return to school. So let's get moving! Any questions? No?"

Karly slowly raised her hand. "I have a question."

"Yes, Agent Crystal?" Lightning asked.

"Can you please stop talking like a military general, literally shouting into our faces? You're making me paranoid and uncomfortable as it is- we're not in the army."

"We might as well be! There is serious work that needs to be done!"

~Lightning stamped her foot hard, alerting everyone who dozed off for a blink second (specifically Rainbow Dash). A clipboard and pen appeared in Lightning's hands.~

"Now, first things first, let's get the most simple question out of the way: How good of a fighter are you?"

"I've mastered all kinds of martial arts," Rainbow said proudly.

"And I know how to weigh in a few scraps myself." Applejack said also.

"Good, good, I figured." Lightning jotted down what was said word for word. "As for the rest of you, I can make some pretty excellent guesses. Sunset, you seem pretty proficient in your knowledge. I've seen already that you can pull off amazing skills, you just need more practice."

~Sunset watched as Lightning wrote something down, then divided the paper into seven categories. She whirled over to Pinkie Pie next.~

"Pinkie Pie, you are automatically a wild card. Always a girl to have their guard up, ready to unleash a ray of insane attacks due to your… chaotic and unpredictable nature. Though I will have to ask you to try and control that."

"Yyyes, ma'am!"

~Pinkie gave a hardy salute towards Lightning, happy with her overall result. Lightning smiled and moved on.~

"Twilight, you have an advantage in the virtue of technology and long distance. The only thing we'll need to look at is training physically."

~Twilight expected an answer related to close combat was going to be in her working category. She nodded to show she understood.~

"Rarity, you are a lady of high society. You must have taken some self-defence lessons in your life. I say both you and Fluttershy are almost the same. You both have areas of strength, but, no offence, I deem you two as the weakest. But don't worry. We are going to work on it. Come with me, everyone."

~Lightning dropped her board before leading them through a door opposite to where the entrance to the 'Screening Room' was. Her mouth curved into a smug grin while everyone else's dropped to the floor. Before them was a large, high ceiling, training arena full of weapons, training dummies, monkey bars, dangling ropes, hooks, moving platforms, spiked balls swinging back and forth, fire dispensers, and many more things resembling booby traps.~

"When was this installed?!" Karly exclaimed.

"Quite recently. I told you the hideout wasn't fully completed. I'm just glad I got my dream training arena done in time for us." Lightning seemed to have no excitement left in her voice, but the smile was still there.

"A-and are you s-sure this is… safe?" asked Twilight.

"Pffft! Of course not! You must be able to get a feel of reality once you get into the fields. Training is a very important stage in a new agent's life. Most times I prefer learning on the job, but you still have to train for it. For now, let's start with a warm up." Lightning blew her whistle. "ALLLLLL RIGHT! LET'S MOVE OUT, GIRLS! DROP AND GIMME ME TWENTY! HUP, HUP, HUP, HUP!"

~Screaming like a football coach and clapping her hands, Lightning motioned the Rainbooms to begin a press-up session to get the muscles going. They were taken aback by her sudden change in tone, reminding Rainbow Dash of her mate, Spitfire, who too had a loud yell. Next thing they knew, they were facing the floor and doing twenty press-ups on the ground.~

~Now that the Rainbooms' hearts were pumping and the adrenaline was flowing in their veins, Lightning led them into a boxing-like ring on the other side of the arena. Karly instantly saw where this was going and stepped to the side, deciding to be a referee.~

"Alright, girls, I'd like to see what combat techniques you know. So, let's see if the seven of you can try to take me down. No using magic!"

"A-all at once?" Fluttershy said.

"Up to you. Have at it!"

Hesitation held the Rainbooms back, but Rainbow noticed the easy advantage. "Come on, you guyyys. She's outnumbered. We can take her. It's seven against one!"

Lightning's eyes flared up with wildfire and she hid her evil grin. "I like those odds."

~Pinkie Pie decided to step up first. Without warning, she lunged for Lightning's waist and roared, but Lightning slid out of the way, causing Pinkie to slam into the soft ropes behind her. She bounced right back up though and tried again. Same result. She then tried a third time, then a fourth, then a fifth. Pinkie certainly had fast reflexes, something Lightning took into account, but she kept to Pinkie's rhythm perfectly and dodged every attempt she made to grab her, with her shoulder just skimming against hers every time. It was almost like they were dancing in the eyes of the other girls watching, and they had no idea how to jump in to help her. Finally, after alot of boxing and spinning, Lightning took hold of Pinkie Pie's shoulders, keeping her in place, then kicked down at her knees, taking them out and forcing her to give way and collapse hard. Pain shot up in her feet. Lightning narrowed her eyes.~

~Applejack charged forth next. As Lightning whirled back around, Applejack went in for a strong punch, aiming specifically at the chest. She came in close, only for Lightning to catch her fist at the last moment and twist hard, causing AJ's whole arm to turn along with it. There was a cursory crack, which everyone heard and winced at. The cowgirl gave a low groan before trying to yank her hand back, but Lightning's grip remained firm, surprisingly strong and well-flexed. Applejack may be tough, but Lightning had good skill and coordination. She knew exactly which part of the body was the weak spot and how to hit it. Applejack fell to her knees after another squeeze, but grimaced to prevent herself from crying out. Lightning would have liked to have then gone on further, showing off another move, until someone from behind jumped and wrapped their arms around her neck.~

~It was Sunset. The two wobbled back and forth all over the place and spun around in the ring in an effort to stay afoot. Finally, Lightning twisted her whole body behind her, in a way that almost looked painful, and shoved Sunset deep down onto the floor. Lightning then pounced on top of Sunset in an instant, bracketing her in with her legs, and easily capturing her wrists, pinning her down completely. Sunset strained against her, kicking her legs out, but Lightning was unfazed, deciding next to drop her whole weight down on Sunset, making it harder to writhe beneath her.~

A cocky smirk formed on Lightning's face. "Nice try."

~Lifting her off the ground, still in a firm hold, Lightning took Sunset and folded her arms into a strange arm lock behind her back. It was difficult for Sunset to break out of without it hurting. Then, dragging her backwards slightly and winding up, Lightning flung her across the ring like a boomerang, spinning her, right to where Rarity was standing. The two crashed to the floor, with Sunset, out of the two, mainly experiencing the worst case of dizziness. Rarity looked down at her hand and screamed.~

"That's IT! I worked hard on my nails!"

~With a grasp of raging fury, Rarity suddenly threw herself into battle mode, launching a furious combo of jabs and hooks against the surprised Lightning. Lightning was dodged ever so gracefully, much more delicate than how she was dodging the others' attacks. Now THAT looked like she was dancing, and Rarity could not keep up for long. Eventually, she grew tired of throwing fists, and that gave Lightning an opening to strike, palming Rarity below the shoulder, lightly tipping her onto the ground. Like a little, but forceful, push.~

~Rainbow Dash rose up to the podium next, eager as she wanted to first. 'Now THIS was going to be a challenge', thought Lightning. To start off, Rainbow pivoted, swinging her leg up and around for a solid roundhouse, like how she would kick a football. However, Lightning easily sidestepped. Her grin turned to a smirk, basically telling Rainbow that she was too slow. 'TOO SLOW?' Rainbow aimed again, this time slightly faster and harder. But then, in a move that shocked everyone, Lightning performed a double back handspring as an intense dodging mechanism, followed by a backflip turned into a kick, hitting Rainbow in the stomach, propelling her down and across the arena.~

~Twilight was forced into the ring next, and she fought hard. She fought as hard as she could as to not allow Lightning to best her but, her hard-as-she-could was not hard enough…not even close, and soon, like Sunset, she was lying on the ground with Lightning straddled on top of her, sweating and panting. During the struggle, Twilight lost her glasses. The Rainbooms expected Lightning to kindly perhaps halt the battle in order for Twilight to retrieve them but, nope. She carried on like a heartless scoundrel who had no mercy. She told them that this was exactly how a fight would go, no matter what. It was no longer a child's game where children would randomly make up rules and create time outs or safe spots when they knew they were going to lose. When pulled up to her feet, and thrown across the ring, Twilight went back into the corner, easily accepting defeat.~

~Lastly, it was all Fluttershy. But she couldn't do anything. Her meek-mannered nature forced her to freeze on the spot with no sort of fight or flight contained in her bones. The only -ight she was thinking of was fright. Lightning clearly saw it but, with one strong fist raised to throw down… Fluttershy immediately dropped and cowarded, curling up into a ball and whimpering on the floor. Even if she knew Lightning would never intentionally harm her, the fear was just too much. She could hear a disappointed sigh come from Lightning afterwards.~

~After another go at a scuffle, this time literally all at once, it ended quickly and calmly. Lightning was the only one left standing, while all seven of the Rainbooms were lying, face down, scattered at her feet, gasping for air and trembling.~

"Wow." Lightning started. "Seven against one and the one wins. That's a little embarrassing…"

Twilight lifted her head. "Well, if I may, we are still not particularly qualified to fight a skilled fighter like you yet, Lightning…"

"True. But be patient, you'll get to my level eventually. This was… merely a test. Now, I know how you fight and what your strengths and weaknesses are. Now, how about we…" Lightning was about to suggest another exercise method but, seeing as the girls were knackered as hell, stopped. "...take a small break."

~The Rainbooms quietly ushered small muffled cheers from beneath their faces to the floor. As Lightning hopped out from the ring, she was joined by Karly.~

"I thought you said you were going to go easy on them." she said.

"Yeah, I never said I was gonna let them win!"