LEGO Equestria Girls 3

Chapters

Secrets of the Lego World
An Unexpected Encounter
Mining Madness
Skirmish at Sea
The Dangerous Depths
The Frozen Outpost
Escape to the Next Destination
Prehistoric Pursuits
Battle in the Warehouse
Desperate Times
The Magic Unleashed
Rise of the Resistance
An Extremely Strange World
The Magic of Friendship
A New Friend
Epilogue
Prologue
The Shadowbolt Agents

Secrets of the Lego World

Chapter 1
Secrets of the Lego World

The next morning, most of Canterlot City’s primary LEGO Team — Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy — were waiting outside of a sweet shop and bakery known as Sugar Cube Corner. Their remaining friend and teammate, Sunset Shimmer, had already called to let them know she would be arriving in a few minutes. But she wasn’t the only one they were currently waiting on. In fact, some of that additional company was already with them.

Luna Playwell, overseer of the LEGO Team’s lunar branch, was also waiting beside the five girls. With her sister Celestia away on a series of business trips with their uncle Kjeld, she had agreed to take temporary leadership of the Canterlot City branch for the last few weeks. Things hadn’t been much different than what she was used to, but she did get the opportunity to welcome some new potential Master Builders into the organization.

Luna was actually in a good mood on this Monday morning because the last stop of those business trips would be today, right here in this city. Naturally, she was excited to see her dear sister again, and couldn’t wait to hear all about how things had been for her. For now, all she could do was wait patiently with the others for the arrival of their remaining guests. But not even that would turn out to be uneventful, for the gathered team members had a rather peculiar recent event to report.

“An astronaut suit?” asked Luna as she raised an eyebrow.

“That’s what Sunset told us, at least,” replied Rainbow Dash with a shrug.

“Whoever this shady feller was,” continued Applejack, “she was pretty dang sure they were up to somethin’ involvin’ that interdimensional portal at that statue in the park.”

“Are you certain the portal is closed at this time?” asked Luna.

“According to Princess Twilight’s most recent response less than a week ago,” answered Rarity, “the interdimensional portal still remains closed, and the entrance on her side is securely protected from any outside influences. So as far we’re all concerned, there is absolutely no way for something to have passed through from Equestria.”

“That is a relief to hear,” said Luna. “The Lego World has already been through quite a lot in regards to magic from that alternate universe. I think we can all agree that the last thing we want is another world-threatening crisis on our hands.”

“Totally,” agreed Rainbow. Her tone then got a bit more serious as she continued, “But still, Sunset saw that weird astronaut doing something near the portal last night. If it’s really someone from this world, then what are they up to?”

Fluttershy shuddered and quietly mumbled, “I don’t even wanna guess.”

Luna rubbed her chin and glanced upwards for a moment, then returned her attention to the five girls and said, “Come to think of it, I have occasionally received reported sightings of a mysterious individual in an astronaut suit. I never thought much of them, since such an outfit is rather commonplace where I live and work. However, I must admit that such reports do get a little strange when they come from places like the Pirate Region.”

“Have you been keeping track of these sightings?” asked Rarity. “Perhaps there might be a pattern that could give us a clue to this person’s identity.”

“Yes, I do still have access to all the reported sightings,” replied Luna, “but I had not considered compiling them in any way. I suppose I should do as you suggest and try to find any clues there might be.” She turned her attention out to the street and continued, “For now, let’s set this mystery aside. We will have a big day ahead of us, once our guests arrive.”

“Looks like we won’t have to wait any longer,” said Pinkie Pie excitedly as she pointed down the street to the left. “They’re here!”

Everyone looked over in the direction Pinkie was pointing and saw a limousine coming down the road and then slow to a stop right in front of them. The chauffeur climbed out and opened the right passenger door. The first person to climb out was Celestia Playwell, who immediately smiled and walked up to her sister and embraced her in a hug.

Luna just as happily returned the gesture and said, “Welcome home, Celestia. I trust your business trips have gone well?”

“Indeed they have,” replied Celestia as they broke their hug. “There was certainly much to discuss, but I think everything in the foreseeable future is going to turn out just fine.”

While the two close sisters warmly greeted each other, the five friends greeted the other passenger; Kjeld Playwell, leader of the entire Lego World.

“Mister Kjeld Playwell,” greeted Rarity. “On behalf of all of us, I welcome you to Canterlot City.”

“Thank you, Miss Rarity,” said Kjeld with a smile and a nod. He glanced around at the others as he continued, “I must say, it is certainly a pleasure to have us all come together like this without having to worry about a severe crisis.”

“Ah think we can all appreciate that,” quipped Applejack.

“Indeed,” said Kjeld with a light chuckle. His smile fell as he glanced around at everyone present and said, “Though I can’t help but notice that someone is missing. Where is Sunset Shimmer?”

“She said she wanted to test out that new car she just built before getting here,” answered Rainbow Dash.

Kjeld smiled again and said, “Well, in that case, let her take her time. I’ve never been one to stand in the way of one’s creativity, and I certainly don’t intend to let that change today.”

Meanwhile, in another part of Canterlot City, Sunset Shimmer was sitting in the driver’s seat of her new car, waiting at a red light. The car she had built was a red convertible with a sleek front end, two doors, an adjustable spoiler on the rear, and decals of yellow flames on front and sides. As she waited, she occasionally revved the powerful four hundred horsepower engine.

Finally, the traffic light turned green. Sunset smirked, then stomped on the accelerator.

The tires squealed and the engine roared to life as the car took off down the road. With the top currently down, the windshield did little to stop the cooling breeze from hitting her face and leaving her hair flapping around behind her head. There was little traffic on the streets at this time, so she didn’t have to worry much about driving around other vehicles and could instead just simply relax at high speed.

As she slowed down to get around each turn, Sunset would occasionally hear a pedestrian or two politely call out to her, to which she always responded with a simple smile and wave. She had to admit, it was quite remarkable how much things had changed within the past year, especially for herself. There had once been a time when she was such a dangerous wanted criminal that her presence alone would have made people flee in terror. Once she saw the error of her ways and began to seek forgiveness, most people continued to avoid her, not out of fear, but out of hatred for what she had done. And now, as one of the heroic members of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team, people were finally happy to have her around. They looked up to her as an inspiration, proving that no matter how far you fall, you could still rise up to become one of the greatest heroes in the world.

As much as Sunset enjoyed cruising around town in her new favorite ride, she knew she had somewhere to be, so she quickly drove up onto the highway and made her way across town toward her destination. As she sped down the highway, she glanced around at the surrounding city skyline as well as the clear blue sky above. It was truly a lovely day to relax.

“Hey! Look out!”

“Sunset! Watch out!”

Those panicked shouts quickly drew Sunset’s attention forward, where some construction workers had set up barriers in front of a missing portion of the highway. Her eyes widened for a brief moment, then narrowed again as she smirked and then increased her speed. Sunset’s new convertible easily smashed through the flimsy barrier and drove straight off the edge.

As soon as her car was airborne, Sunset immediately pulled back a lever on the floor. The bricks and pieces that made up this car quickly shifted around, tucking the wheels in underneath, giving the body a more aerodynamic shape, and exposing powerful thrusters out the back. The radical transformation took only a few seconds, and once it was done, the flying car immediately took off into the air.

As the uniquely converted car flew away, one of the construction workers tipped his hardhat as he chuckled and remarked, “Gotta love that creative spirit.”

Sunset Shimmer couldn’t help but feel giddy with excitement as she flew over the city of Canterlot in her flying vehicle. She had built this car with the intention of having the “convertible” part of the name not apply to just the roof, but also to its ability to shift between street mode and flying mode. This was but one example of what a talented Master Builder she had become. Once, not so long ago, she had absolutely no creative talents, incapable of building anything without the aid of an instruction booklet. But once she was finally able to open up her imagination, the possibilities had practically become endless, giving her a sense of freedom she had never felt before ever in her entire life.

After going from the most wanted criminal in the world to one of the greatest heroes there ever were, life for Sunset Shimmer was now better than ever.

Back at Sugar Cube Corner, the five friends and three leaders looked up and saw the arrival of a flying car that was red with yellow flames. As it came down low and flew along the street, Rarity stated, “I believe that would be Sunset Shimmer in her new vehicle.”

After flying down the length of a city block, Sunset turned her flying car around, brought it down even lower, then converted it back to street mode. The tires briefly screeched as they hit the pavement and the car zoomed down the street. As soon as she arrived at where her friends had gathered, she stomped on the brake and jerked the wheel to the left, causing the car to drift perfectly into an open parallel parking spot.

Sunset shut off the engine and turned to smile at her friends. “Roads?” she quipped with a light chuckle as she climbed out of the car. “Where I like to go, I don’t need roads.”

“Awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash with a huge grin on her face. “Now that’s what I call a convertible! Ya think you could show me how to build one?”

“No problem,” replied Sunset. “Now that I know everything on it works properly, I’ll be sure to write the instructions for it tomorrow.”

As Rainbow let out another excited cheer, Applejack chuckled and remarked, “Ya never seem to run outta ideas, do ya, Sunset?”

“What can I say?” responded Sunset with a shrug. “It’s what being a Master Builder is all about.”

Celestia approached Sunset and warmly greeted, “It is good to see you again, Sunset Shimmer. And I have to say, that is a rather nice outfit you’ve chosen to wear.”

Sunset glanced down at her new standard wardrobe. Her legs were medium blue with black around the feet and lower legs, and an orange chevron just above her ankles. Her torso was light blue on the lower half and black on the upper half, with the exception of the front, which was an open jacket that exposed more of the light blue shirt underneath. Her arms were black with an orange chevron on her shoulders. And finally, she wore a skirt piece around her upper legs in a rather unique color for such a piece: translucent yellow.

“I’m glad you like it,” said Sunset contently. “Now that I’m one of the good guys, I figured that I should go with a softer version of my old ‘tough girl’ image.”

“If you ask me, I’d say you’ve done a wonderful job of balancing your new image,” remarked Celestia. She then frowned and uneasily asked, “Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but does your hair piece seem a little… faded?”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that, too,” replied Sunset with a hint of sadness in her voice as she grasped a portion of her hair and held it up in front of her face. It was true. The once vibrant reds and yellows of her hair had now become noticeably faded. “I must’ve been out in the sun too long. Rarity once mentioned that too much exposure to direct sunlight can cause colors on certain pieces to fade.”

Kjeld cleared his throat and spoke up, “In any case, I am sure we are all looking forward to getting caught up with each other.” He gestured toward the front door into Sugar Cube Corner and smiled. “Shall we head inside and begin our discussions over tea?”

“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, uncle Kjeld,” replied Luna.

The six friends and three leaders all agreed and proceeded to enter the building. Sunset was just about to step through the doorway when she suddenly stopped and said, “Oh! I almost forgot.” She quickly pulled out a set of keys and pressed a button on one of them, causing her convertible car to chirp twice and the headlights flash on and off once. “Safety first,” she remarked as she pocketed her keys.

Kjeld couldn’t help but chuckle at that little display. Once the entire group was inside the building, he stated, “After all these business meetings, I am certainly looking forward to having just a simple get-together among good friends.”

The group of nine minifigs were seated around a table in the middle the main room — Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie sat on one side; Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack sat on the other side; Celestia and Luna sat at one end; and Kjeld sat at the opposite end. A tea set had been placed in the middle of the table and each person had their own cup. For the last few minutes, everyone had been enjoying their tea while sharing stories with each other.

“…so I told her, ‘Duh! It’s called SNOT walking. Not SNOT running,’” finished Pinkie Pie.

Nearly everyone responded with laughter, some more lightly than others. The only one not laughing was Rainbow Dash, though she couldn’t hide a slight smirk as she glared at the pink party girl.

As soon as Applejack had finished laughing, she nudged Rainbow Dash and remarked, “Ah can’t believe ya actually tried to charge right up that wall like that!”

“Well, what else was I supposed to do?” retorted Rainbow. “She was beating me at everything that day!” She sighed and shook her head as she glanced down at her tea.

Luna finished a sip of her tea before she said, “Still, despite that little act of recklessness, I believe you two had done a fine demonstration, proving that you and your team are fully capable of handling whatever future challenges you might face. But enough about recent events here in Canterlot City.” She quickly turned her attention to her beloved sister beside her as she continued, “Tell us, Celestia. How did things go for you and uncle Kjeld these past few weeks?”

“Oh, you know how it is with business meetings,” replied Celestia with a playful smile as she rolled her eyes. “Sitting in conference rooms for hours, listening to executives go on and on about sales, statistics, projections, research and development, and other corporate nonsense that I’m sure most of you wouldn’t be interested in.”

“True,” admitted Luna with a nod. “But still, I am sure there were certain moments that are worthy of sharing. Such as your visit to the Octan Tower.”

“Oh! I’ve heard of that,” said Rarity as she gently set down her cup of tea and clasped her hands together. “Is it true that President Business permitted you and Kjeld full access to his supposed collection of mysterious relics?”

“Indeed, you are correct,” answered Celestia. “I’m afraid I cannot share any details about these relics — Kjeld and I signed a nondisclosure agreement — but I will say that some of them certainly have the potential to unleash a great amount of devastation, depending on how they are utilized. Thankfully, Mister Business is not only now on our side, but has also promised that he will do his best to keep all of these relics safely locked up inside his office.”

“Good,” said Luna. “The rumors about his relic collection had me concerned for years, and it pleases me to know that it shall no longer be an issue.” She smiled slyly as she added, “Speaking of President Business, any word on a certain request of mine?”

Celestia leaned closely to her younger sister and whispered, “We will discuss that later in private.”

Luna silently nodded in understanding before taking another sip of her tea.

Celestia spoke up again. “In any case, one thing that certainly surprised me throughout these business trips was just how often Canterlot City’s LEGO Team was mentioned. It seems you girls are becoming quite popular.”

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” remarked Rainbow Dash as she leaned back in her seat and rested her arms behind her head. “I mean, we’ve saved the Lego World more than once from evil magic from Equestria. I’m pretty sure people would start noticing us by now.”

“And they certainly have,” continued Celestia. “City streets are being renamed in your honor, demand is high for instructions on some of the creations you’ve built, and I’ve even heard that Sunset Shimmer is now regarded to be almost as great as Clutch Powers himself.”

Sunset quickly responded, “Okay, all things considered, that might be a little too much praise for me. After all, the first incident was caused by me, and when the second incident came along, I had only intended to do nothing more than send that message to Princess Twilight.”

Rarity finished a sip of her tea and said, “Sunset, dear, you simply cannot continue to be so hard on yourself. We never could have succeeded against the sirens had it not been for all of your contributions to the team, and Mister Playwell rewarded you for your efforts with a full pardon. You must learn to let go of your past, darling, so that you may look forward to a brighter future.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” said Sunset with a smile. She took a sip of her tea before adding, “I guess I’m just still a little new to not only friendship but also being considered a hero. I actually find it remarkable that people all over the world are now looking up to us as role models.”

“Indeed,” acknowledged Celestia. “Uncle Kjeld and I attended an auction at one point, where a number of items from your recent exploits were being sold. They had anything you could imagine, such as Rarity’s sketch of a spaceship that was quickly built by Pinkie Pie, that spare gear Pinkie Pie had once placed on her head, some of those hardhats you girls had worn while visiting that construction site in Bricklyn, Rainbow Dash’s favorite laser pistols, Sunset Shimmer’s fake ID card, and even that trashcan that Pinkie Pie had once got her head stuck inside.”

“Seriously?” asked Applejack skeptically. “That darn thing ended up in an auction?”

“Believe it or not,” replied Celestia, “that specific trashcan actually sold for five hundred dollars.”

Applejack scoffed as she gazed down at her tea and grumbled, “Five hundred dollars for a beat-up ol’ trashcan. Now there’s somebody with a lotta money to throw away.”

Kjeld finished a sip of his tea and then spoke up, “Personally, I think the real highlight of our business trips was when we officially opened the newly established region of Knighton.”

“Ah, yes, the realm of the Nexo Knights,” stated Sunset Shimmer as she smiled and set down her cup. “Combining medieval knights and castles with advanced cyber technology is definitely something we haven’t seen before. I honestly don’t know what to expect, but I’ve heard people are already claiming it to be the ‘next Ninjago’, in terms of success.”

Kjeld chucked and admitted, “Well, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a lot of optimism for Knighton. Though I’ll be honest, back when the Ninjago Region was first established many years ago, none of us could have ever imagined just how successful that realm would turn out. These days, there is a general agreement that Ninjago will be staying with us for quite some time.”

“I suppose only time will tell if a similar fate awaits Knighton,” said Rarity as she refilled her cup of tea. She gently blew across the surface of her hot beverage before contently adding, “I certainly wouldn’t mind if we ever have the opportunity to visit that realm.”

“I’m sure it would be a lovely place,” Fluttershy quietly remarked.

“I’d like to have a hands-on experience with the tools they’ve got,” Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Castle weapons powered by space technology? How awesome is that?”

“Personally, Ah’m more interested in seein’ how they’re able to keep livin’ the castle life in spite of all that cyber stuff,” admitted Applejack. “It’s the simple things that deserve the most respect.”

“And I would love to see how they party in Knighton! Woohoo!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie as she threw her arms up in excitement, accidentally knocking over her cup in the process. Once she quickly realized she had spilled her tea across the table, she blushed and lowered her arms back down as she giggled nervously and muttered, “Oopsie.”

Sunset Shimmer chuckled and remarked, “I think it’s fair to say there’s a lot of hype about the Nexo Knights, isn’t there?”

“You are more accurate than you might realize, Miss Shimmer,” said Kjeld. “In fact, I would call it a cause for concern.”

The six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team quickly dropped their smiles and turned to Kjeld. “What do you mean by that, sir?” asked Rarity.

Kjeld softly answered, “When the world’s attention is focused on one place, that can leave other places more vulnerable than usual, and a competent enemy would not hesitate to take advantage of such a rare opportunity to exploit that kind of weakness.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow and asked, “An’ just what kind of bad guy would see a time like this as an opportunity?”

Kjeld took a sip of his tea and remained silent for a moment before he finally answered, “The Shadowbolts.”

Pinkie Pie gasped in shock and exclaimed, “Not the Shadowbolts!” She then leaned close to Fluttershy and whispered, “I don’t actually know who they are.”

“Who are the ‘Shadowbolts’?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“They are an underground group of secret agents,” answered Kjeld, “and their ultimate goal is to overthrow the LEGO Team and impose their philosophy upon the entire Lego universe.”

“And just what is this philosophy of theirs, Mister Playwell,” Rarity asked curiously.

“Let me put it this way,” replied Kjeld. “Us members of the LEGO Team believe that everyone should be given a chance to express their creative talents. No one is ever told they have a bad idea, and those who are genuinely very talented are rewarded for their efforts. In short, people are free to build whatever they want.” His expression then darkened. “The Shadowbolts want to impose a much more restrictive system. In their view, the people at the top should call all the shots, and everyone below them is expected to follow those orders, no matter what.”

“That sounds awful,” whimpered Fluttershy.

“My thoughts exactly,” said Kjeld. “With Sunset Shimmer reformed and the Dazzlings imprisoned, it is the Shadowbolts who are now the greatest threat to the Lego World. And as I have already explained, we are now at a particularly vulnerable time when they may attempt to make their strike.”

“Don’t worry, Kjeld,” assured Rainbow Dash confidently. “After everything we’ve been through, I’m sure we can take on these guys without much trouble.”

“Don’t underestimate the Shadowbolts,” cautioned Celestia. “Their agents are very rarely seen, and lately, they have gained a reputation of simply vanishing without a trace. No one knows the identity of even a single Shadowbolt agent.” She paused to take a sip of her tea. “I am not exaggerating when I say that you would be up against an unknown enemy.”

“That won’t be enough to stop us,” remarked Sunset with a smirk. “As long as there’s trouble out there threatening our home, we’ll do whatever it takes to stop them.”

All five of Sunset’s friends and teammates lightly cheered in agreement.

Kjeld had an uneasy expression on his face as he stared down at his tea. After a moment of silence, he finally set down his cup on the table as he looked up at everyone and asked, “Is there a room nearby where I may be able to hold a private conversation at this time?”

“The Cakes’ office should be available,” answered Pinkie Pie as she pointed up the nearby stairway. “Since the shop’s closed due to your visit, they decided to go out and get some ingredients and other supplies we need.”

Celestia set down her cup and moved to begin getting up out of her seat when Kjeld suddenly spoke up, “Sorry, Celestia, but it’s not you whom I wish to speak with.” He glanced over at a certain amber girl sitting next to him. “It is Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset’s eyes immediately widened in shock, then she quickly glanced over toward Celestia.

Without a word, Celestia sat back down in her seat, smiled at Sunset, and gave her a single nod.

Sunset glanced down at her cup as she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Finally, she finished the rest of her tea, set the cup down on the table, and got up out of her seat.

“After you, Miss Shimmer,” Kjeld said softly as he gestured towards the stairway.

The seven remaining minifigs sitting at the table watched silently as Sunset and Kjeld went up the stairs and beyond their line of sight. Many of them thought it was rather peculiar that Kjeld would request to speak privately with Sunset Shimmer of all people, but saw no reason to question his decision.

As soon as Kjeld had gently closed the door to the office, Sunset Shimmer turned to him and asked, “What is it you would like to talk to me about?”

Kjeld calmly walked past Sunset and stopped in front of the only window in the room. As he gazed outside and clasped his hands behind his back, he let out a sad sigh and muttered, “You are not the only one who has had a troubled past.”

Sunset blinked once, but said nothing.

“Let me tell you, Miss Shimmer,” continued Kjeld. “Watching over everything in this universe is not an easy task by any means.” He closed his eyes and turned his head downwards. “It is a lesson I’ve had to learn the hard way.”

Sunset leaned her back against a wall and folded her arms as she continued to silently stare at Kjeld.

“For many decades,” continued Kjeld, “my family had kept things very simple throughout the Lego World: basic bricks, basic colors, basic minifigures, and no instruction pages. But as I was growing up, I came to believe that the world had the potential for many more countless new ideas, if only the opportunity could be provided.” He turned back to Sunset. “Do you know when the first regions were established?”

Sunset nodded and answered, “About forty years ago, your father, Godtfred, divided up the Lego World into three basic themes: Town, Space, and Castle.”

“It was not my father’s idea,” admitted Kjeld as he turned to face out the window again. “It was mine. I spent many years trying to convince him that dividing up the Lego World into separate themes would lead to an unprecedented range of creativity for everyone. He was skeptical and wanted to keep things the way they were, while I wanted to establish nearly a dozen different regions almost right away. We eventually settled on a compromise: those three basic themes.”

“And seeing as the Lego World has all these different regions today, I’m guessing your idea turned out quite well, right?” asked Sunset.

“Not exactly,” replied Kjeld. “My father remained unconvinced, so things stayed mostly the same for over a decade. Of course, it didn’t help that I began publishing the first instruction books at the time, despite my father’s wishes.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why would he think that was such a bad thing?”

“He thought instructions would completely stifle all sense of creativity, while I believed that instructions could inspire people with new creative ideas they might otherwise have never considered.”

“So what made your father change his mind?” asked Sunset. “I mean, instruction booklets can be found on every street corner these days, so I’m sure he eventually saw the benefits you saw. Didn’t he?”

Kjeld said nothing. He simply shut his eyes tight and turned his head downward.

That was enough to give Sunset an answer. She turned her gaze down to her feet and sadly whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” said Kjeld as he did his best to hide his sadness. “This happened long before you first came to this world, even before you were created. Personally, I had always hoped that he would be around for a long time to teach me all that his father had taught him… but that’s just the way life can be, sometimes.”

Kjeld took a deep breath before he returned his gaze out the window and continued, “Anyway, once I assumed full control over twenty years ago, I set out to establish some new regions — such as Pirates and Adventurers — as well as subregions of the classic three, such as Exploriens, Insectoids, and Ice Planet 2002 for the Space Region; Dark Forest, Royal Knights, and Fright Knights for the Castle Region; and countless aspects of the Town Regions — later renamed City Regions.”

“I guess I need to brush up on my history,” remarked Sunset, “because hardly any of those sound familiar to me at all.”

“I would not be surprised,” said Kjeld. “Those were all from the time before things took a turn for the worst.”

Sunset began to feel worried, but also remained curious, so she simply asked, “What happened?”

“It’s very complicated,” Kjeld answered carefully. “Long story short, I had been overwhelming myself, and despite my best efforts to keep things under control, the Lego World was spiraling toward a time of crisis. There was no way I could ever go back to the simple ways of how my father and grandfather were able to manage everything, so in desperation, I hired a Board of Directors — top experts in all fields who would work together to come up with successful ideas to keep things running smoothly.”

“And did they help?” asked Sunset.

Kjeld clenched his fists as he scoffed and grumbled, “Hardly. Their efforts only made the issues even worse!” He paused and took a deep breath to compose himself before he continued, “They quite literally tried anything and everything they could come up with. The regions that were established in those days were arguably some of the most outlandish ideas to have ever been conceived, and the residents of the older regions had felt insulted that such crazy ideas were being thrown out there. ‘Not true Lego’ became a popular slur for anyone from these newer regions, and that inevitably led to some serious conflicts.”

“So how did you resolve all of this?”

“At first, I did… nothing,” answered Kjeld, hanging his head in shame. “I was in a state of denial for quite some time, and remained convinced that the Board of Directors I had so carefully hand-picked would solve everything. But as each year passed by, the conflicts only continued to escalate.” He paused and slowly raised his head back up. “The final straw came when the planet Galidor was destroyed. I’ll admit that of all the regions that were ever established, that one was by far my least favorite, but not even they deserved to be completely obliterated like that. Not long after that terrible event, I called for a meeting with the entire Board. A lot of heated words were exchanged in that conference room that day, and at the end of it all, the result was all but inevitable…”

Sunset slowly asked, “And that result was…?”

“I fired the Board of Directors. All of them. They were gone, and I was left right back where I started, except with an even bigger mess to clean up. And I ultimately realized that I had no one to blame for all of this but myself.”

Both Sunset and Kjeld remained silent for a moment. Sunset was astonished to hear Kjeld open up to her about such a troubled past. True, not even Princess Celestia was perfect — though certainly not nearly as flawed as she had once believed — but she could hardly believe that the leader of the entire Lego World had once made such terrible mistakes.

Sunset eventually asked, “So how did you fix everything? How were you able to turn things around to get the lovely world we have today?”

Kjeld turned away from the window and faced Sunset as his expression brightened and he replied, “The LEGO Team is the answer. Believe it or not, the inspiration came from my beloved nieces, Celestia and Luna. They came up with the idea of an entirely new way of managing the Lego World: work with the people, not at them. Just because I’m the leader doesn’t mean that I’ll always have the best ideas. Sometimes, the best ideas can come from outside sources, in places you may never have expected. So I started off with just one headquarters building in Lego City. When that turned out to be a spectacular success, I quickly expanded the organization to the other regions. Finally, with all the truly great minds of the Lego World working together, I had regained the confidence to establish new regions again, from average scale regions like Mining, Atlantis, and Dinosaur Island, to big-budget ideas like Ninjago, Chima, and Knighton.”

Sunset smiled and remarked, “So I guess this means my friends and I really are part of the operation that originally saved the Lego World and continues to keep it safe.”

“With the help of talented Master Builders like yourself, yes,” confirmed Kjeld. Then his smile fell as he shamefully added, “Though there are still scars from those dark days that remain to this day. For example, although most regions established at that time ultimately failed and had to be shut down, there was one region that exceeded all expectations, despite its controversial building system. It is an entire galaxy that I have since dubbed the Constraction Zone, where the inhabitants are built out of dozens or even hundreds of parts, mostly attached with ball-and-socket connections. Compared to minifigures like us, they very easily stand as giants. But even with such a successful new building system, they weren’t spared from being called ‘not true Lego’. Shutting down the Constraction Zone was simply not an option, so through highly difficult but not impossible means, the entire galaxy was moved away to a far-off corner of the universe. It’s not ideal, and I certainly hope that we can reestablish communications with them one day, but for now, keeping them in isolation is for the best.”

“Sorry if I’m interrupting,” Sunset spoke up, “but I don’t understand why you’re giving me this big history lesson.”

Kjeld gave Sunset a serious look as he replied, “It’s because the leader of the Shadowbolts, Abacus Cinch, used to be part of the Board of Directors. She was once the principal of a highly successful prep school, so I had hired her in hopes that her experience could improve the education system throughout the Lego World. When I fired the Board of Directors, she had two options. The first — and far more preferable, in my opinion — was to follow the example of most of the others: return to their old jobs and simply move on from that disastrous era. The other option was to follow the example of President Business, who was also part of the Board.”

Sunset suddenly asked, “Wait, are you saying… that you were responsible for President Business being evil?”

“I’m afraid so,” admitted Kjeld. “When I fired the Board of Directors, he remained convinced that he had done nothing wrong, and became obsessed with proving that his idea of leadership, absolute order and perfection, was superior to all other ideas. So he used his vast wealth to buy out certain regions, such as the city of Bricksburg, the Castle subregion of Middle Zealand, and the Old West town of Flatbush. Once had accumulated enough territory, he made his strike, and I’m sure you already know what happened.”

Sunset nodded and casually replied, “Yeah, the story of some ordinary construction worker becoming ‘The Special’ and saving everyone from being frozen in glue by convincing President Business the error of his old ways.” She tapped her chin and thought aloud, “I wonder if that would make a good movie?”

“Anyway,” continued Kjeld, “Miss Cinch refused to accept any blemishes to her record, so when she was fired from the Board of Directors, she took it very personally. Rather than return to her prep school, she instead decided to form an anti LEGO Team — the Shadowbolts — with the intent of proving her twisted perception that the old ways of running the world — the so-called ‘Shadowbolts philosophy’ — are somehow better than the ways of the LEGO Team.”

“By ‘old ways’, you mean how the Board of Directors tried — and failed — to manage the Lego World?” asked Sunset.

“Precisely,” replied Kjeld. “If the Shadowbolts were to ever succeed in taking the place of the LEGO Team, then we will almost certainly face a total collapse of all societies across the entire Lego universe.” He slowly approached Sunset and asked, “You understand now why it is so vital that the Shadowbolts be dealt with as soon as possible?”

As soon as Kjeld had stopped in front of her, Sunset furrowed her brown and gave a single nod as she replied, “Of course, Mister Playwell.”

Kjeld smiled and simply said, “Good.” He then turned away and slowly walked back to the window as he added, “Now that we are on the same page on that subject, I have one last piece of knowledge that I wish to share with you.” Once he arrived at the window and stared outside again, he continued with a serious tone, “It is a very powerful secret. One that, until now, I have never shared with anyone else. Not even my always loyal nieces.”

Sunset remained silent as her eyes widened in shock. She was very surprised to hear that there was a secret so powerful that not even Celestia or Luna were even aware of it. Eventually, she cautiously asked, “And what makes you think you can trust me of all people with this secret?”

“Let me start by asking you a couple of questions, Miss Shimmer,” responded Kjeld. He turned around to face Sunset and asked, “On both occasions when you were inside the storage room of LEGO Headquarters, do you recall seeing a vault with a wide range of security locks across the door?”

Sunset nodded and replied, “Yes. My first time there, I simply didn’t care about it. The second time, I only checked to be sure it had remained undisturbed. And on both occasions, I never dared to try opening it, for fear of triggering any alarms.”

“A wise choice,” remarked Kjeld. “There is something very powerful kept inside that vault, which leads me to my next question.” He took a few steps toward Sunset as he asked, “How did you first gain access to this world? Where in Equestria would one find the interdimensional portal between our worlds?”

Sunset glanced down at her feet and let out a quiet sigh before she returned her gaze toward Kjeld and answered, “In Equestria, there is a magic mirror, officially called the Crystal Mirror, that acts as a gateway to an alternate world — this world. Normally, it opens briefly only once every thirty moons, but Princess Twilight was able to figure out a way to force it open, allowing her to visit whenever she wants to.” Sunset paused before asking, “What are you trying to tell me?”

Kjeld pulled out his phone and searched through a series of pictures as he simply answered, “Equestria has the Crystal Mirror. The Lego World has this.” He found the picture he was looking for and turned his phone around to show it to Sunset.

Sunset looked closely at the image on the phone and saw what appeared to be little more than a black box that was covered in all kinds of blue lines and circles that appeared to be glowing. “A box?”

“The Dimensions Box,” stated Kjeld as he put away his phone. “Like your Crystal Mirror, the contents of this box would permit access to other universes.”

“You mean like another alternate world to this one and Equestria?” asked Sunset.

“No,” replied Kjeld. “They are completely different universes, and yes, I did say more than one — much more, in fact. The only thing these universes have in common is that they are all built around the Lego system, just like in this world.”

“And why do you wish to keep this such a closely guarded secret?”

Kjeld slowly returned to the window as he replied, “Because it turns out that these boxes were distributed to all these universes to face a terrible conflict. Most worlds immediately jumped right in, but I want this world to have no part of it.”

“Why not?”

Kjeld gazed upwards out the window as he replied, “My father was a pacifist. My grandfather was even more so. I guess you could say it runs in the family, for I, too, wish to avoid any potential conflicts at all costs.” He cast a knowing glace back at Sunset as he added, “If I ever have any say in such matters, of course.”

Sunset responded with just a slight smile.

Kjeld turned to face Sunset as he continued, “The moment that box is opened shall be the moment we gain access to all these worlds and everyone who resides in them. We could call upon many great heroes, but also attract a lot of terrible villains. And since this world and Equestria are now semi-permanently linked, that would automatically give Equestria access to these worlds, too. That is simply too great a risk for me to take, so for the sake of keeping the peace, that box shall remain closed.”

“If that’s the case, then why are you even telling me about this box?” asked Sunset.

“Because if there ever comes a time when we might face serious trouble and we are left with absolutely no other choices, then at least you’ll be aware that this option even exists.” Kjeld walked over to Sunset as he continued, “As the only person from Equestria living in the Lego World whom I can trust, you will also understand better than anyone else just how risky this option would be.” He placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder and firmly asked, “Do you promise me that you will save the Dimensions Box to be used only as an absolute last resort?”

Sunset didn’t hesitate to confidently reply, “Consider it a Pinkie Promise.”

Kjeld smiled and softly said, “Thank you, Sunset Shimmer. I knew I could count on you.” He removed his hand from her shoulder and spoke up, “Anyway, I’ll leave it entirely up to you to decide on whether or not to share with your friends and teammates everything I’ve told you in this room, though I would highly recommend that you say nothing about the Dimensions Box.”

“Understandable,” acknowledged Sunset with a nod.

Kjeld nodded back and said, “Now then, let us rejoin the others downstairs.” He walked over to the door and opened it, then gestured for Sunset to step though first.

Sunset silently accepted the gesture and left the office ahead of Kjeld. The threat of the Shadowbolts and the incredible potential of the Dimensions Box certainly gave her a sense of just how precarious a peaceful life could really be. But she remained confident that as long as she had her best friends by her side, then they would always be able to overcome whatever obstacles might lie ahead.

Author's Note

I know this chapter didn't cover all the important details mentioned in the story summary, but the next two chapters will get through the rest of it, so you won't have to wait very long to get the full picture of what will happen later on. Anyway, much of Kjeld's backstory is rather loosely meant to be sort of a reflection of the recent history of the actual Lego Company (after slowing sales in the late 90s, attempts to improve the company with a standard innovation strategy backfired and brought the company to the verge of bankruptcy by 2004, but then an entirely new innovation strategy turned the company around and is now the biggest toy company in the world). Even though this story will follow a much more original path that the previous two stories, I obviously still can't resist the occasional Lego Movie reference (along with references to plenty of other nonlicensed Lego themes). You may have also noticed that I even referenced Nexo Knights, the brand new Lego theme that just started this year, but don't expect to actually see them in this story (they will only be mentioned as a plausible reason for why the Shadowbolts are only now becoming a serious threat). As usual, I'll be adding each new chapter once every two weeks. In the next chapter, you'll find out about what the Lego World's Twilight Sparkle is really up to.

An Unexpected Encounter

Chapter 2
An Unexpected Encounter

Later that day, Sunset Shimmer and her friends had decided to grab their musical instruments and perform a few songs for their special guests. Thanks to further practice over the last few months, they had definitely improved and were now able to perform almost on par with professional rock bands. However, due to other obligations — especially as members of the LEGO Team — all six of them had agreed that they would not seek to become a full-time rock band, and instead save their musical performances for special occasions. And, of course, just as they did when they had defeated the sirens, they still ponied up whenever they performed.

As soon as the girls reached the end of their final song, their pony ears, tails, and wings or horns vanished. Their audience, Kjeld, Celestia, and Luna, all clapped in approval.

As everyone set down their instruments, Rarity fondly remarked, “I still can’t believe that happens when we get creative with both music and building. I’ve got to look into some new accessories, something that looks good in a longer ponytail.”

“I just wish I could understand more about it,” said Sunset. “I mean, we already know that when we pony up we gain ears and tails and some of us also get either the wings of a pegasus or the horn of a unicorn. But what I can’t seem to figure out is why it happens, and why it does so only when we’re building something or playing music.”

Pinkie Pie then offhandedly remarked, “Actually, those aren’t the only ways I’ve been able to pony up lately.”

Sunset stood completely still, blinked once, then turned to Pinkie and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

Pinkie Pie quickly replied, “Just last Tuesday, I decided to go to Minuette’s little get-together at her place, because you all know how much I love a good party. But when I got there, there was hardly any activity going on. Some of the guests had even fallen asleep! So I quickly went to work making the party much better by setting out lots of sweet snacks, starting up some funky music, and of course firing off a couple of party cannons. Once everyone was smiling and having tons of fun, I suddenly ponied up and started floating around with pink magic glowy stuff all over me!”

Sunset carefully asked, “Wait, are you sure you didn’t put any Lego parts together or play your drum set before you ponied up?”

“None of the above!” replied Pinkie with a smile and a shrug.

“That’s strange,” muttered Sunset to herself. “Why would your Equestrian magic suddenly show up like that?”

“You think that’s weird, get this!” Rainbow Dash suddenly spoke up. “I was at the stadium last week watching the Wondercolts play against the Bricksburg Sports Team. The home team wasn’t doing so hot early on, so at halftime, I decided to go down to the Wondercolts’ locker room and gave them a little motivational speech. As soon as I finished the speech and everyone was ready to bring their A-game, I suddenly ponied up.” Rainbow shrugged as she added, “I guess that gave them even more motivation, because they went on to win by a landslide.”

“And that’s it?” asked Sunset in confusion. “You just talked to them, their morale improved, and then you suddenly just ponied up like that?”

“Yup, that’s it,” replied Rainbow. “No building. No guitar playing. Just a motivation speech.” She couldn’t help but flash a cocky grin and add, “Must be because I’m so awesome.”

Sunset just stared blankly at her athletic friend for a moment, then turned to the others and slowly asked, “Did anyone else experience a random pony up for no obvious reason?”

The other girls silently glanced at one another. Eventually, Fluttershy stepped forward and quietly answered, “Well, just a few days ago, I was bringing a stray cat I had just found back to my place when I saw a poor little girl crying on the side of the road. She wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, but I knew she needed something to make her feel better, so I offered to let her have the kitty I was carrying. Once she was holding that cute little feline, she smiled, thanked me, and promised to take good care of that kitty. And that was when I ponied up.”

Sunset asked, “So all you did to pony up was simply give that girl a pet cat?”

With a shy smile, Fluttershy silently nodded.

Sunset sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Just when I thought Equestrian magic in this world couldn’t get any more confusing,” she mumbled.

“Then perhaps it would be wise to start investigating this strange phenomenon,” suggested Kjeld.

Sunset lightly flinched as she and her friends turned around to the three special guests they had briefly forgotten about.

“An unknown variable is a dangerous variable,” continued Kjeld. “If we don’t know what the advantages or the disadvantages are, then the high level of uncertainty means that there should be cause for concern. Whether by accident on our part or by deliberate actions by a villain, the consequences could be catastrophic if we cannot assess the true risk of what we are dealing with.”

“Believe me, Kjeld,” said Sunset, “I’ve already tried what I could to understand how Equestrian magic works in this world, and it all blew up in my face. Literally.”

“But clearly, this was before you found out about this new information your friends have just shared with you,” Luna pointed out. “Perhaps this means there are other factors you had not yet considered that would be worth looking into.”

“You girls are such wonderfully talented Master Builders,” Celestia calmly stated. “With this Equestrian magic you all possess, you are special in ways unlike anyone else in the Lego World. I do not wish to see anything unfortunate happen to any of you, especially if such an incident could’ve been easily avoided or prevented.”

“Sunset Shimmer,” began Kjeld as he stepped forward. “As the only resident of this world to have originally lived in Equestria, I cannot think of anyone else who would be better qualified for solving this magical mystery. Can I count on you to make your best efforts to help us understand the true nature of Equestrian magic here in the Lego World?”

Sunset thought about it for a moment. Despite her earlier failure, she wasn’t the type of person to give up so easily. Plus, there was the fact that some of her friends had ponied up for reasons that had previously not been seen before, which only added more to the unsolved mystery. Perhaps Luna was right in that she should try some other methods. But what really helped her make up her mind was the realization that there was one valuable resource she had not yet tried.

Sunset smiled and replied, “Of course, Kjeld. I think I’ll start by sending a message to Princess Twilight and see if she could provide any useful insight.”

Kjeld smiled and nodded once as he said, “That sounds like an excellent place to start. And for a girl as brilliant and ambitious as you, I am confident that you will get to the bottom of this in no time.” He glanced down at the watch on his wrist and added, “Speaking of time, I’d better get going. My plane ride back to Lego City leaves in a few minutes.” He glanced around at everyone in the room and spoke up, “This has most certainly been a rather pleasant day, and I’ll be looking forward to any opportunity to have another one like it. Farewell, everyone.” He waved goodbye as he headed for the door and left the building.

Once everyone had finished waving goodbye to Kjeld, Celestia turned to Luna and said, “Seeing as I shall now be resuming my duties here in Canterlot City, I suppose this means you will also be soon departing.”

“Indeed,” responded Luna with a hint of sadness. Her smile widened as she added, “But that won’t be until tomorrow. My presence at the Lunar Headquarters is not immediately requested, so I’ve decided to let us enjoy some extra time together.”

“That sounds wonderful,” said Celestia with a smile of her own. She turned to the six Master Builders and said, “My sister and I shall now return to this city’s LEGO Headquarters, so thank you for letting us have this opportunity to chat and get to know each other a little more. Have a nice day, girls.”

After Celestia and Luna had departed, Sunset Shimmer turned to her friends and said, “You girls go ahead and enjoy the rest of the day. I need to get back to my apartment so I can send that message to Princess Twilight. See ya later!” She then headed for the door and also left the building.

“Seems like she’s got everything under control,” Pinkie Pie pleasantly remarked. “Nothing to worry about.”

Meanwhile, in a small facility with no doors or windows to the outside, a young boy was asleep on a small bed. This boy had purple skin, blue short legs, a green torso and arms, and had a red baseball cap that was currently covering his face. For a while, all he did was snore quietly as he napped, but then at one point he rolled over and ended up tumbling out of his bed. The boy grunted and was jolted awake as he hit the floor. “Why does this keep happening to me?” he faintly grumbled as he slowly got up to his feet.

The boy rubbed his eyes and as soon as he could see clearly again, he saw an image suddenly appear on a small display screen on the other side of the tiny room. He walked up to it and saw that it showed the message “Incoming Call” under a portrait. The minifig in this portrait was a woman of relatively advanced age with cyan skin, light violet eyes, a mole on her cheek, red lips, wore a pair of small red-rimmed glasses, and had a fuchsia hair piece that that was tied back in a bun with the exception of a large curl on the front.

The boy sighed and muttered, “I’d better let Twilight know about this.” He picked up his red cap and placed it back on his head before exiting the room. The short hallway, like every other room in this base, was dimly lit with only a few lights along the ceiling, just bright enough to make it easy to see where he was going. When he reached the door at the end of the hallway, he carefully opened it and quietly entered the room. Sure enough, he found a certain lavender girl in a white lab coat tinkering with one of the many pieces of machinery stored inside this room. The boy wasted no time as he spoke up, “Hey, Twilight?”

“Just a second, Spike,” Twilight quickly responded. “I just need to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow right here, and…” Once she made that final adjustment, the machine in front of her suddenly hummed to life and lit up like a holiday display. “Perfect!” she stated with satisfaction as she shut the cover panel on the machine she had been working on. “Now that all of my equipment has been properly calibrated, I can finally start focusing all of my attention on gathering the data.”

Twilight walked over to a large desk, opened up a drawer, and pulled out a small round object — the new device that she had spent much of the previous night assembling. As she pressed the central button to activate it, she explained, “With this device, I can track and contain the bizarre forms of energy that I’ve been detecting across the Lego World over the last few months, with especially high concentrations in Canterlot City.”

“You’re still obsessed with that stuff?” asked Spike in confusion.

“And for very good reason, Spike,” answered Twilight as she readjusted the glasses printed on her head piece. She eyed many of the photographs she had posted on the board on the wall as she excitedly explained, “If I can collect enough data on all these forms of mysterious energies, I should be able to reverse engineer their signatures to determine their fundamental building blocks. From there, I can then be able to synthetically replicate this energy so that it can be utilized to serve all kinds of useful purposes throughout the universe. That would make this the biggest scientific breakthrough of my entire life!” She then took a slow, calming breath before she stated, “Of course, in order to actually collect this data, I’ll need to suit up and head out again.”

Twilight made her way over to the door, but Spike quickly blocked her and said, “Whoa there, Twilight. I just came here to tell you that you’ve got a call coming in.”

“Can’t it wait?” asked Twilight impatiently.

Spike folded his arms and gave Twilight a serious look as he stated, “It’s from Miss Cinch. Need I say any more?”

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes before she grumbled, “Fine, let’s just get this over with.”

Spike stepped aside to allow Twilight to leave the room. Twilight headed halfway down the hall, entered the small central room to her left, and sat down in a chair in front of a computer monitor — which was already displaying the same message Spike had seen in his room. Twilight hit the green “Accept” button, and the monitor immediately switched to a live video feed of Abacus Cinch herself seated at her desk.

“Greetings, Twilight Sparkle,” greeted Cinch in a formal tone. “I take it your late response is due to you being preoccupied with yet another one of your personal projects?”

“Yes, Miss Chinch,” acknowledged Twilight with a nod. “I am completely convinced that I am now on the threshold of making a truly significant breakthrough, and I’ll need all the available time I can get to achieve it.”

Cinch removed her glasses and wiped them clean as she responded, “I figured you might be up to something once again that would drive you to request as much free time as possible, up to the point where you would even ask to not be sent on any missions for the foreseeable future.” Cinch placed her glasses back on her face. “Before you ask, I shall inform you that I must decline any such request.”

“But Miss Cinch,” argued Twilight, “this is very important research I’m working on.”

“Need I remind you of your priorities as a Shadowbolt agent?” asked Cinch. Without waiting for a reply, she leaned back in her seat and tapped her hands together as she continued, “I’ll be honest with you, Twilight. You have proven yourself without a doubt that you are by far the most brilliant agent I have ever recruited. But one thing I simply can’t understand is why you consistently refuse to work with other agents whenever I send you out on any missions.”

Twilight furrowed her brow and simply stated, “I’ve been saying this since the day we met, and I’m going to keep saying it: I work alone.”

“Clutch Powers used to say that all the time,” Cinch pointed out.

“Well I’m not Clutch Powers, now am I?” Twilight shot back.

Cinch remained unfazed by Twilight’s tone and stated, “Listen, Twilight. The reason I usually assign missions to teams is because every individual has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. The weakness of one individual can be offset by the strength of another, and if I choose the right individuals for specific missions — which I always do — then these teams should theoretically have no weaknesses at all.”

“I guess that would make sense,” said Twilight with uncertainty.

“Now don’t assume I’m trying to criticize your talents,” continued Cinch. “If anything, I should be praising your best strengths. Our organization today would be nowhere nearly as prepared had it not been for many of the magnificent inventions you’ve created over the years. The last time we had a major opportunity to make our move was when the planet Chima was established a few years ago. Back then, our advantages and disadvantages were at the same level as those of the opposing forces, so I knew the risk was too great to make our move. When I had made a request to every agent, you were the one who stepped forward to not only identify what our problems were, but also put in the hard work and effort to ensure that all Shadowbolts would always have the upper hand against our foes. Admittedly, it has taken quite some time to implement all of these improvements, but now, with the world’s attention mostly occupied by the introduction of the Nexo Knights, out best opportunity ever shall soon be upon us.”

“To tell you the truth,” admitted Twilight hesitantly, “I’m not so sure if all of this is really for the greater good.”

Cinch raised an eyebrow quietly said, “Perhaps you do need a reminder.” She then spoke up as she explained, “The ultimate goal of this organization is to replace the LEGO Team as overseers of all aspects of the Lego World. And our philosophy is simple: only the professionals can earn the right to make all the important decisions.” Cinch leaned forward and gave Twilight a hard stare. “All Shadowbolt agents are expected to follow this philosophy of ours by any means necessary, and those who decide to turn their backs on it end up facing very severe consequences. It would be quite a shame if I had to deliver such consequences to someone as highly intelligent as you.”

“I can assure you, Miss Cinch, I have no intentions of standing in your way,” said Twilight as she readjusted her glasses. “I’m just not sure if your hopes for the Shadowbolts can realistically be feasible.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Twilight,” rebuked Cinch as she leaned back in her seat. “Our agents are among the best of the best. I did not select people like you at random. I recruited you because I saw a lot of great potential in you, and I wanted to help you become the best you could be.”

“And I highly appreciate that,” acknowledged Twilight with a nod. “And as long as you continue to provide all the time and resources I need to pursue my projects, I see no reason to have any complaints.”

“I am sorry, Twilight, but you must realize that such demands are increasingly becoming a luxury that I can rarely afford to offer,” stated Cinch. “I must prepare to mobilize all of our agents before we lose this rare opportunity to overthrow the LEGO Team at a time when their security is relatively weak.”

Twilight frowned and folded her arms as she simply said, “Then it seems we have nothing more to discuss.”

Cinch nodded and responded, “So be it, then. Just remember, you are still a Shadowbolt agent, and therefore I shall expect you to continue following our philosophy. Farewell and have a nice day, Twilight Sparkle.” And with that, Cinch switched off the video link, leaving Twilight looking at a blank screen.

Twilight let out a frustrated sigh as she shut off the monitor and got up out of the chair. “‘Follow the philosophy’,” she said mockingly as left the room. “‘You must always follow our philosophy because you’re a Shadobolt’.” She then abruptly scoffed and grumbled, “I don’t give two bricks about that silly Shadowbolt philosophy.”

Spike, who had been waiting out in the hallway, followed after Twilight and nervously asked, “Uh, you didn’t say anything like that to Miss Cinch, right?”

“Of course not, Spike,” replied Twilight as they entered the relatively large room at the other end of the hallway from the lab. “Cinch may be really trying my patience lately, but I’m still well aware that I can never confess my true feelings to anyone.” She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Spike as she added, “Besides you, of course.”

Twilight entered one of the changing rooms at the opposite side of the room and shut the door. As Spike waited outside in the main room, Twilight continued, “I’ve never really cared about the so-called ‘philosophy’ at all. The only reason I even joined the Shadowbolts was because they were the first ones who were willing and able to get me out of the Castle Region so I could expand my horizons and improve my talents.” Twilight paused for a moment. “You know what, Spike? Seeing as Cinch doesn’t yet know any details of my latest project, I think it might be better if I keep it that way and not share my results with anyone.”

“Why not?” asked Spike. “You’ve always enjoyed sharing your research results with everyone. Why do you wanna make such a big exception this time?”

“Like I said, earlier,” explained Twilight, “the results of this particular project could be the biggest breakthrough of my life, and if I choose not to share it with the Shadowbolts, then I might finally have the opportunity I’ve been so desperately waiting for. A chance to leave the Shadowbolts and strike out on my own.”

Spike immediately gasped in shock and fearfully exclaimed, “Leave the Shadowbolts?! But Twilight, don’t you know that’s impossible? This is one of those things where you’re in it for life! Cinch is not kidding when she says there are consequences for anyone who tries to leave.”

“Lucy was able to leave the Shadowbolts without suffering any retaliation,” Twilight pointed out.

“Only because she quickly found refuge as the personal student of the late great wizard Vitruvius,” reminded Spike. “Plus, she kept changing her name a whole bunch of times. I think the one she’s got right now is Wild Style or some other DJ-sounding name like that.”

Twilight stepped out of the changing room, now wearing her trusty astronaut suit. Tucked under her right arm was the suit’s helmet with its golden visor to fully protect her identity, and clasped in her left hand was her data-gathering device. As she carefully fitted the device onto the chest part of her suit, she confidently stated, “Relax, Spike. I’ve been seriously considering this for quite a while, and I’ve spent a lot of time and effort to ensure that nothing goes horribly wrong.” She jokingly added, “I mean, it’s not like I’m going to unleash the complete destruction of the entire Lego World as we know it.”

“I don’t know, Twilight,” said Spike uneasily. “It sounds to me like you’re taking a really big risk.”

“Trust me, I’ve got everything on my part under control,” assured Twilight with a confident smile. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Finally, she fitted the helmet over her head. With a faint hiss, the helmet was securely attached to the rest of the suit. Twilight Sparkle was now ready to go out and start collecting valuable data.

As evening fell on Canterlot City, Sunset Shimmer drove her new car along the streets surrounding City Park. As she arrived at the main gate into the park, she carefully pulled into one of the empty parallel parking spots and shut off the car. She reached under the passenger seat and pulled out a book — her magic journal that she used to communicate with Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria. Under the light of a nearby streetlight, she read through the message she had just recently written to Princess Twilight.

Dear Princess Twilight,

Haven’t heard back from you yet. I guess you must be pretty busy with your role as a princess. But I could really use your advice right now. You see, I’ve been given the job of determining all of the effects and advantages (and possibly even disadvantages) of Equestrian magic here in the Lego World, even though I still haven’t quite wrapped my head around it. And now after hearing some peculiar stories from some of my friends about how they’ve been able to pony up in new ways, it makes me think our magic might be… changing. Everyone is looking to me to figure things out and I really don’t want to let them down. But I’m not sure I have enough experience with friendship magic to solve this. Hope to hear from you really soon.

Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset flipped though the next few pages and saw to her disappointment that they were all completely blank. She sighed and muttered, “Still no reply.”

She then glanced over at the park, reminding herself why she had come here. She was well aware that Twilight had promised that she would always be more than welcome to return to Equestria whenever she wanted to. Sunset had chosen to stay in the Lego World because it had now become more of a home to her than Equestria had ever been, though she secretly hadn’t completely ruled out the idea of making a quick visit to her former home world for certain occasions. With Princess Twilight still not responding to any of her messages, she was now considering possibly returning to Equestria so she could personally ask the Princess of Friendship for help.

Sunset glanced back and forth between the park entrance to her left and the blank pages of the magic journal down in her lap, uncertain if she should really go through with such a radical idea. Eventually, she made up her mind. Well, I’m already out here, she thought as she closed the book and placed it back underneath the passenger seat. Might as well give it a shot. She got out of the car, locked the doors — making the car chirp twice and the headlights flash once — and made her way into City Park.

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World — fully disguised by her astronaut suit — had just arrived at a certain statue of a horse rearing on its hind legs. Thanks to all of her research, she knew that a few individuals from an alternate universe had been visiting this world by passing through some sort of interdimensional portal, and thanks to yesterday’s observations, she now had a hunch that she might have finally found out where that portal was located. However, that was still only a hypothesis, and she needed to gather some hard data before she could commit to any further research. So she walked up to the front side of the pedestal and reached her hand up.

Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack…

Before she could touch the surface, the highly sensitive audio sensors on her suit detected the noise of someone’s footsteps coming down the nearby paved pathway. Despite her desire to learn more as soon as possible, Twilight knew very well that whenever she was anywhere outside of her secret hideout, her first priority was always to not be seen by anyone at all. Running for the bushes would make too much noise, so her only hope was to simply run around to the other side of the statue and wait for that person to pass by.

However, that person did not simply pass right by along the path. Instead, as soon as that person reached the part of the pathway that was closest to the statue, those footsteps suddenly became much softer. Twilight didn’t dare to peer around the side to see where exactly that person was going, for that would put her at risk of being seen herself. She had no choice but to rely only on the noise of those footsteps. Despite the fact the grass made those footsteps much quieter, she could still barely hear them and, to her horror, realized they were coming directly towards the statue.

Twilight quickly started thinking up some potential escape routes, but her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a faint humming noise coming from the special device she had placed on the chest of her astronaut suit. That’s strange, she though curiously. I’m pretty sure I switched that thing off before I headed out. She noticed that a few lights on the device were glowing on and off at a steady rate, indicating that there was some energy anomaly straight ahead of her. Before she could even wonder what her device was detecting, she was in for one more surprise as the device suddenly opened up on its own.

On the other side of the statue, Sunset Shimmer slowly walked up to the interdimensional portal to Equestria, then stopped only one step away from it. “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I came to visit for a little while,” she said quietly with a small smile as she reached her hand up. But as soon as her hand contacted the surface, a bright red and yellow glow suddenly surrounded the contact area. Startled, she immediately tried to pull her hand off, but was shocked to discover that it was stuck to the surface as if it was glued on there. She reflexively pressed her other hand against the surface to try pulling her first hand off, only to end up with both hands stuck in a similar way. As she then tried to use her foot in a vain attempt to pry herself off the portal’s surface, Sunset couldn’t help but feel a sense like some sort of energy was draining right out of her.

On the other side of the statue, Twilight was stunned to see some kind of glowing red and yellow energy flow right out of the statue in front of her and collect inside her opened device. On one hand, she was pleased to see that she was already gathering a potentially valuable sample that she could extensively study back at her lab. On the other hand, she could tell from the other person’s straining noises that whatever was going on was likely harming this person in some way. Twilight struggled for a moment to figure out what she should do. Finally, she made up her mind and forcefully closed her device.

As soon as the flow of magical energy was suddenly cut off, both girls on either side of the statue fell backwards. While Twilight looked curiously down at her device as strange sparks of energy danced across its surface, Sunset glanced up at the site of the portal and muttered, “What was that all about?”

Sunset stood back up and carefully placed her hand against the statue’s pedestal again. She quickly paled as she noticed that she was feeing nothing more than a regular solid surface. “Where’s the portal?” she cried out in panic as she ran both hands all across the surface of where the interdimensional portal should be, but kept finding absolutely nothing. “Where’s the portal?!”

Twilight perked up when she heard those words. Not only could she now confirm that she really had found the site of the interdimensional portal, but also realized that whoever was standing on the other side of the statue was among the few people in the Lego World who knew all about it. But those words also confirmed that, somehow — possibly due to her device — the portal was now completely shut.

In the heat of the moment, both girls soon found themselves peering around the side of the statue, Twilight to the right in curiosity, and Sunset to the left in desperation, and both girls instantly froze as they suddenly found themselves staring at each other face to face. Twilight Sparkle was stunned that, of all the people she could have foolishly alerted her presence towards, it was none other than Sunset Shimmer, one of the most talented Master Builders on the LEGO Team. And Sunset Shimmer was shocked to see that mysterious person in an astronaut suit she had seen yesterday was now back, and very likely had just done something to completely remove the portal to Equestria.

“YOU!” shouted Sunset, seething with rage as she immediately rushed for the astronaut.

Twilight knew right away that it was time to flee, so she ran back around the statue. In a desperate effort to buy enough time to come up with a good escape plan, Twilight decided to keep running around the statue, hoping to keep it between herself and the enraged girl pursuing her.

Sunset chased the astronaut clockwise around the statue three times before she realized what was going on, so in an attempt to outsmart this stranger, she quickly reversed direction and ran the other way around the statue.

Twilight briefly panicked when she suddenly saw Sunset running towards her from the opposite direction, but since it happened just as they had both rounded different corners, Twilight barely had enough time to reverse direction and continue fleeing around the statue.

Sunset chased the astronaut counterclockwise around the statue three times before she grumbled, “Okay, this is just getting silly.” Rather than reverse direction again, she instead decided to simply stop and wait for the stranger to come to her. The instant the mysterious astronaut rounded the corner, Sunset pounced.

Twilight barely managed to stay on her feet as Sunset suddenly ambushed her. Although Twilight’s typical response to a confrontation was to flee, she knew when she was in a situation where she had no choice but to fight back, and it was in these kinds of moments that her training as a Shadowbolt agent really payed off. The two girls pushed against each other for a few tense moments, then Twilight twisted her body around and used her opponent’s momentum to throw Sunset over her shoulder and hit the ground hard on her back. With the enraged Sunset Shimmer now briefly subdued, Twilight quickly turned away and began to flee once more.

Sunset wasn’t bothered much by that hard take-down, so she quickly got back to her feet and then jumped right onto the astronaut’s back. The stranger tried to shake her off, but she held on tight and eventually managed to pull her opponent back just far enough to get her feet back on the ground. With that additional leverage, Sunset was then able to swing the astronaut around and slam her opponent face-first against the side of the pedestal, right in the center of where the portal to Equestria had once been.

The mysterious astronaut fell to their rear and slightly wobbled. The helmet’s golden visor was now covered in a spider web of cracks, but still kept the identity of this astronaut hidden. Sunset smirked in satisfaction and smugly declared, “Now let’s see who’s hiding under that helmet.” She gripped the helmet, detached it with a faint hiss, and quickly tossed it away.

Once her eyes fell upon the face of the mysterious person in an astronaut suit, Sunset suddenly gasped as her smug and confident expression was instantly replaced by one of absolute shock and disbelief. Despite the glasses on her face and the different shape of her hair piece, there was no mistaking that lavender skin tone, those violet eyes, and that dark blue hair with a violet and magenta streak down the middle. At this very shocking discovery, Sunset could only manage to say just one word.

“Twilight?!”

Twilight slowly came out of her dazed state and glanced up at Sunset. She immediately noticed that she was no longer viewing the world through the golden tint of her visor, so she knew right away that her helmet was now gone. Even worse, Sunset Shimmer was staring right at her, completely still and silent with her mouth gaping wide open. It took Twilight a moment to realize that her worst nightmare had just come true: her identity had just been exposed!

Once that terrible realization finally hit Twilight, she bolted up to her feet and ran away as fast as she could. She didn’t care where she went or who else might see her now exposed head. All that mattered to her was that she had to get out of there now!

As Twilight started to flee the scene, Sunset shook her head. Despite such a shocking revelation, she quickly reminded herself that this Twilight had just done something terrible to the interdimensional portal to Equestria, and she had to find out what it was. “Hey! Wait! Stop!” she shouted as she immediately chased after Twilight. “Get back here!”

Twilight never once glanced back as Sunset pursued her out of the park and onto the city streets.

As soon as they passed through the main gateway into the park, Sunset smirked and smugly muttered, “You won’t get away from me, because now I can use this.” She ran across the street and quickly hopped right into her convertible car. Without any hesitation, she started up the car and zoomed out of the parking spot.

Sunset may have lost some ground in the time it took to get into her car, but the vehicle’s high speed was able to more than make up for it in no time. She spotted Twilight running along a sidewalk next to the street she was currently driving down, then glanced ahead at the approaching intersection, where she saw a perfect opportunity to cut off her fleeing opponent. She easily zoomed ahead of Twilight and as she arrived at the intersection, she quickly prepared to turn left to block the sidewalk.

SMASH!

Without any warning, a grey armored van suddenly slammed right into Sunset’s convertible from the right, smashing both vehicles completely to pieces. Despite that completely unexpected crash, Sunset remained relatively unscathed and quickly managed to stand up amidst the wreckage of both vehicles.

“Darn it, Mugsy! This is why I never let ya drive!”

“Hey! Not my fault, Rocky! She cut me off!”

Sunset glanced over at the source of those two voices and, sure enough, saw the all too familiar pair of incompetent crooks named Rocky and Mugsy. They both glanced at her, then quickly yelped and ran away without another word. Sunset simply shook her head. She would deal with those two brick-heads later, because right now, she had a much more valuable target to pursue.

As Sunset glanced around at all the surrounding Lego pieces that used to be two different vehicles, she smirked and confidently remarked, “Just a minor setback.” She immediately picked up two random parts. “All I have to do is… is… uh…” Her confidence quickly faltered. As a Master Builder, she should be able to quickly come up with any creative ideas right on the spot. But for some reason, her mind was now drawing a complete blank. She knew she needed to quickly build something she could use to chase and probably even capture the fleeing Twilight Sparkle, but she just couldn’t seem to come up with any ideas.

Sunset soon began to panic. “No! No! No!” she exclaimed as she scrambled around, desperately grabbing parts and struggling to figure out how to put them together. “This can’t be happening! This can not be happening!” She tried to fit two random pieces together, but they wouldn’t even connect. Her eyes shifted rapidly from one piece to another as she grew more and more horrified of what was happening to her. She hadn’t felt this helpless since before she had first unlocked her full potential as a Master Builder. What had happened to all of her creative talents?

Crash!

Sunset’s attention was immediately drawn toward a nearby sidewalk and saw that, in her attempt to continue escaping, Twilight had just crashed into none other than police officer Flash Sentry. Twilight had lost her left arm and right leg, while Flash had lost his right arm, both legs, and his hat.

As soon as Flash realized who had just bumped into him, his eyes widened and he asked, “Twilight?”

Realizing that she had just been seen by someone else — and a police officer at that — Twilight immediately panicked. She quickly reattached her arm and her leg, then resumed running for her life without even acknowledging the officer in pieces on the ground.

Sunset glanced back down at the two Lego parts in her hands and quickly remembered what her true priority was at the moment. “Forget it,” she grumbled as she threw those pieces to the ground and resumed chasing after Twilight.

As he noticed Sunset rush by, Flash asked, “Sunset, what’s going on?”

“Not now!” snapped Sunset, refusing to slow down or take her eyes off her target.

Twilight eventually came to a stop in front of a small alleyway between two buildings. With quick and fluid motion, she tapped a few buttons on her right forearm, then stuck that arm straight ahead towards the alleyway and tapped one final button. A large doorway suddenly materialized right in the middle of the alleyway, and its pair of doors soon parted to the left and right. On the other side of this doorway was the main room of Twilight’s hidden base.

After a quick glance to see how close Sunset was — and she was getting dangerously close — Twilight rushed through the doorway. Once she was inside the room on the other side, she skidded to a stop and turned around. Although she lost her footing and slammed facedown against the floor, she quickly got back up and smacked a large red button on the control panel next to the doorway on her side. The doors quickly slammed shut, and the entire doorway completely vanished from the alleyway.

Sunset was already running into the alleyway by the time Twilight had rushed through the strange doorway and fully intended to go in after her, but then the door suddenly slammed shut and somehow phased completely out of existence only an instant before she could reach it. With that mysterious doorway now gone, Sunset’s momentum carried her past the site of the doorway and into a large pile of empty cardboard boxes, startling a stray cat that screeched and quickly scurried away from the scene.

Sunset quickly threw off all the surrounding boxes and turned back to the site of where Twilight Sparkle had somehow managed to escape. She just stood there, gawking for a few moments before she finally managed to say the only thought that was now going through her mind.

“What the brick is going on around here?”

Author's Note

When I wrote the first LEGO Equestria Girls story (long before any of us had any clue if the world of the official Equestria Girls movies even had a human Twilight Sparkle, let alone where she was or what she was doing), I had to explain why there wasn't a Lego Twilight around, so to give myself the most flexibility possible, I simply had her reported as missing for a long time for unknown reasons. I have to say, I think I've done quite a remarkable job of adapting the new content from Friendship Games to my already established Lego World, and you'll be seeing more of that in the next chapter. Also in the next chapter will be the introduction of the five Shadowbolt girls, and even though they will be secret agents instead of prep school students in this world, they will still be the same characters we're all familiar with (with the addition of a few quirks that are possible only with Lego).

Mining Madness

Chapter 4
Mining Madness

With a faint boom, the spaceship of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team suddenly appeared in the skies over the barren mountainous terrain of the Mining Region. It wasn’t long until the spaceship slowed to a hover over a suitable landing site and slowly descended down to the ground.

A few minutes later, the six teammates disembarked from the parked spaceship and began to make their way up a small ridge. Instead of their usual clothes, they were all wearing blue pants, bright orange vests with silvery reflective strips, and red hardhats with headlamps.

“Didn’t I tell you girls I would one day make us some outfits in official safety orange?” remarked Rarity with pride.

“You definitely did a nice job,” complimented Fluttershy.

“Ah’m just surprised ya made us somethin’ that’s actually practical with no fancy add-ons,” noted Applejack.

“Oh please, darling,” responded Rarity. “Even I know there is a time and place where it is better to just keep things simple, and a dark and dusty underground mine is definitely one of them.”

“Let’s just get this over with,” grumbled Rainbow Dash. “I’m really not looking forward to this mission.”

“What’s the matter?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Are you scared of small dark places?”

“I’m not scared!” Rainbow replied sharply. “I just don’t like going underground, that’s all.”

“It’s okay, Rainbow,” assured Fluttershy as she put a hand on her longtime friend’s shoulder. “I’m sure we won’t need to spend much time in that mine to complete our mission.”

Rainbow smiled and remarked, “Yeah, you’re right. All we gotta do is go in there, kick some butts, grab the Power Crystals, and then leave. Sounds easy enough.”

As soon as the team reached the top of the ridge, they all immediately stopped and their eyes widened in shock. “Or, maybe not,” muttered Sunset Shimmer.

In the valley below, at the site of the mine entrance, they saw a bunch of mining vehicles parked around a tunnel entrance that was completely filled in with rubble. Even though there were a few miners standing around the vehicles, there didn’t seem to be much happening at this site.

After a moment of stunned silence, Applejack eventually suggested, “Well, let’s go down there an’ find out what’s goin’ on ‘round here.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and made their way down into the valley. They had a good feeling that they would get some answers rather easily. The orange and lime green colors on all those various mining vehicles indicated that they belonged to the Power Miners, whom the team was told could help them navigate the tunnels below to find Twilight and her group of Shadowbolt agents. But the fact that there was currently very little activity at this site made them feel a little worried about what kind of answers they might get.

As the team arrived on the site, Sunset called out, “Hey, uh, sorry if we’re bothering you guys, but we’re here on a mission from the LEGO Team. Can we talk to the mine boss?”

“Right here!” spoke up one of the miners as he raised his hand and walked over to the team.

As the mine boss stopped in front of the team, Sunset explained, “We could really use your help. You see, there’s a group of Shadowbolt agents somewhere inside this mine who are busy stealing Power Crystals as we speak, and we’ve been told that you guys could help us reach them.”

“Shadowbolts, huh?” said the mine boss uneasily as he removed his hardhat and scratched the back of his head as he looked away. He turned back to the team and put his hardhat back on as he muttered, “Well, I guess that might explain a few things.”

“Like what?” asked Fluttershy.

“When we got here this morning, not only did we find the mine entrance sealed up,” explained the mine boss, gesturing first at the rubble-filled entrance, then at all the surrounding vehicles, “but also all of our equipment has been rendered inoperable — no doubt the result of sabotage if the Shadowbolts were involved. Since then, we’ve been working hard to get everything back up and running.”

Everyone glanced around at all the disabled mining vehicles and were disappointed to see only various efforts being done by the other miners. One guy was asleep in a wheelbarrow, another was glancing back and forth in confusion between his vehicle and an instruction page in his hand, and another guy repeatedly banged his wrench against his vehicle while grunting in frustration.

Applejack raised an eyebrow as she gazed back at the mine boss and asked, “Is there anythin’ ya got that can help us right now?”

“Well, that Thunder Driller over there should be good to go,” answered the mine boss while gesturing at a big lime green vehicle with a massive drill on the front. “But I’m afraid that’s all we got for now.”

The team stared at the massive driller for a moment, then silently glanced at one another.

Rarity shrugged and said, “I suppose that should suffice.”

“Sweet!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash with a big smile on her face. “I’ll drive!” Since the team was looking at the driller at an angle from the rear, they couldn’t easily see where the driver would sit, but Rainbow had a good idea of where it was. She ran over to the driller and hopped through the open canopy into the driver’s seat, only to suddenly get booted out and land on the hard ground beside the vehicle.

“Already taken.”

Pinkie suddenly gasped and muttered, “Could it be?” She ran over to the driller and as soon as she saw the vehicle’s operator, she immediately displayed a huge grin. “Maud!” she exclaimed cheerfully as she pulled her sister out of the seat and into a big hug. “It’s so good to see you again!”

“It’s good to see you too, Pinkie,” responded Maud, speaking with a dull monotone voice.

As the rest of the team gathered around, Pinkie broke off the hug and cheerfully said, “Everyone, this is my big sister, Maud Pie! Maud, these are my friends and fellow LEGO Teammates: Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Sunset Shimmer!” She gestured to each of her friends as she introduced them, but a low groan from the ground reminded her she had forgotten someone. “Oh, and Rainbow Dash, too.”

“Pleased to meet you,” greeted Maud. She had grey skin, a short pale violet hair piece, turquoise eyes, and had a facial expression that seemed perpetually frozen in boredom. She was also wearing blue overalls and a white T-shirt like most of the other miners.

The others glanced at one another uneasily, hardly believing that these seemingly polar opposite minifigs could actually be sisters. Eventually, Sunset cleared her throat and asked, “So, uh… you know how to operate this thing?”

“Of course,” replied Maud. “I actually built it myself.”

“Then perhaps you could be of assistance,” said Rarity as she pulled out the sheet of parchment with not only the coordinates of the now-collapsed mine entrance, but now also the coordinates provided by the Informant. “We were told that the Shadowbolts are operating at this precise location. If it isn’t too much trouble, do you suppose you could take us there?”

Maud studied the coordinates for a brief moment, then handed back the parchment and replied, “No problem. This driller can chew through that rubble like a diamond-tipped saw. Hop in.”

“Alright!” exclaimed Applejack in excitement as she climbed aboard. “Now we’re gettin’ somewhere!”

Once everyone — including a reluctant Rainbow Dash — was seated in the empty space in the back of the vehicle, Maud put on her blue miner’s helmet and said, “You girls might wanna hang on tight. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.” She flipped down the helmet’s built-in goggles and started up the driller.

The Thunder Driller rumbled to life and the massive drill on the front began rotating. Once the drill was spinning very rapidly, the driller slowly rolled forward on its huge knobby wheels. Finally, the mighty drill hit the rubble and immediately made quick work of it, pulverizing the rock into dust and pebbles that flew away in all directions.

With the six passengers holding onto their ride underground, the vehicle shook and rattled as it made its descent, clearing away all the debris through entrance tunnel. All the while, Maud barely even blinked or flinched in any way. She just kept on drilling.

Finally, after a few minutes, the Thunder Driller burst into a massive cavern deep underground. As Maud brought the vehicle to a stop and shut off the drill, the others quickly realized just how dark it was down here, so they all switched on the headlamps on their hardhats. Maud also switched on the headlamp on her miner’s helmet as she climbed out of the vehicle and walked away. With little idea on where to go, the team silently decided to simply follow her.

With a quick sweep of her light, Maud soon found an electrical switch, so she walked over to it and flipped the switch. The cavern was instantly illuminated by dozens of lights scattered around the subterranean space, revealing numerous piles of Lego bricks and parts arranged in such ways to suggest they had once been complete structures that had since been destroyed.

“Well, at least the lights still work,” said Maud as she flipped her helmet’s goggles back up.

“What a mess,” Rarity quietly muttered.

Sunset glanced around the cavern as she put her hands on her hips and stated, “Looks like the Shadowbolts decided to demolish your entire mining operation.”

“Actually, this seems more likely the work of rock monsters,” noted Maud.

Fluttershy immediately turned to Maud and nervously asked, “R-rock monsters?”

“They’ve been a real pest in these tunnels lately,” explained Maud. “We mine for Power Crystals because those rock monsters always cause tremors whenever they consume these crystals. Normally, we ship these crystals off to serve civilian purposes, such as providing electric power. If the Shadowbolts want lots of Power Crystals, then I think it’s obvious they’re planning something big.”

“All the more reason for us to stop ‘em,” said Applejack with determination. “So where are they at?”

“The site you’re looking for is down that tunnel,” replied Maud as she pointed at a tunnel on the right side of the cavern. “We were actually scheduled to mine that section today, so there’s no telling how many Power Crystals they already have. Good luck.” And with that, she began to walk away.

Everyone on the team quickly turned to Maud with surprised looks on their faces. “Wait… You’re not gonna help us?” asked Sunset.

“I need to stay here and salvage what I can,” explained Maud as she began picking up some of the Lego parts scattered across the cavern floor. “Besides, you can still count on me to give you a ride back to the surface. Until then, just be careful, and watch out for rock monsters.”

“Duly noted,” acknowledged Pinkie. She then waved her arm towards the tunnel and excitedly told her friends and fellow teammates, “C’mon, everyone! It’s time for our first face-off against the Shadowbolts!”

The five other team members watched Pinkie rush into the tunnel. They glanced back at Maud, who resumed scavenging the surrounding Lego pieces, then glanced back toward Pinkie. Without a word, they all shrugged and followed their pink friend.

After less than a minute of walking down the dark tunnel, Rarity spoke up. “Um, Pinkie, dear, if I may be candid for a moment? I must say, your sister is rather… peculiar.”

“I was just gonna say that she’s weird,” added Rainbow Dash, which quickly earned her a glare from Rarity.

“I don’t see anything wrong with that,” remarked Pinkie Pie blissfully as she led the team through the tunnel. “She and I are practically the same. She just expresses herself in a very slightly different way than I do. Kinda like my two other sisters, Limestone and Marble! You should meet them sometime. They also work somewhere in the Mining Region.”

A few minutes later, as the team approached a turn in the tunnel, Sunset Shimmer took the lead. She peeked around the turn, then immediately stepped back and held her back against the wall, prompting the others to also stop. Sunset firmly gestured for everyone to be silent as she switched off her headlamp and peeked around the corner again.

Sunset had spotted someone around the corner, but now that she took more than a brief glance, she realized something peculiar about this individual. The minifig in the tunnel ahead wore a dark blue jumpsuit and a silver hardhat. But what really surprised Sunset was that this girl with pink skin and bright green hair was also wearing headphones and appeared to be thrashing around as if she was rocking out to some kind of music. She was even holding a shovel and pretending to play it as if it was a guitar.

“DARK-NESS!!” shouted Lemon Zest as she listened to yet another one of her favorite songs. “NO PARENTS!!” She then shook her head around so much that everything on her head — hardhat, headphones, and even her hair piece — did a full rotation around. As she rocked out, she had a huge wild grin on her face and kept her eyes tightly shut the whole time.

Sunset Shimmer could hardly believe what she was seeing. They were now so close to where the Shadowbolts were supposedly working that the girl ahead had to be one of them. Yet, if she was supposed to be guarding the tunnel… then she was clearly doing a very poor job. In fact, the guard was playing her heavy metal rock music so loudly on her headphones, even Sunset could barely hear it from where she stood behind the corner. Not to mention, the guard had now completely turned her back towards the very tunnel she was likely supposed to be guarding.

Sunset glanced back at her friends and silently gestured for them to stay quiet and shut off their headlamps. Once their lights were out, Sunset began to tiptoe her way towards the guard with the others following suit not far behind. Along the way, Sunset picked up a red crowbar that was lying on the ground. As she came within only a few steps of the guard, Sunset tightened her grip on the crowbar and raised it above her head.

“SUPER RICH!!” shouted Lemon Zest, blissfully and completely unaware of her surroundings. “KINDA MAKES IT BETTER!!”

Finally, as Sunset stood right behind the unaware guard, she struck. She swung the crowbar across and smacked Lemon right in the back of her head, instantly knocking her out cold — and shutting off her music too. The unconscious Shadowbolt agent then fell forward and landed face down on the ground.

“I’ve dealt with pathetic guards before,” muttered Sunset, “but this one really takes the cake.”

“What?!” exclaimed Pinkie in shock. “She stole a cake?!”

Applejack facepalmed and grumbled, “It’s just an expression, Pinkie. Golly, how many times do we have to tell ya these things?”

Pinkie’s only response was an embarrassed smile as she blushed.

Everyone’s attention was then quickly drawn further down the tunnel when they began to hear the unmistakable noise of drilling. Even though they had to go around another corner, they knew they were getting very close.

Sunset smirked and said, “Seems like we just found the Shadowbolts mining operation.” Maintaining a firm grip on her crowbar, she led her friends further down the tunnel.

Once the team came around the final corner, they found themselves at the entrance to another large cavern. To the left were stacks of countless wooden crates and steel barrels, along with a few floodlights to illuminate the cavern. To the right, the entire cavern wall was covered in a large system of scaffolding. At the far side of the cavern was a rail line that led out of the cavern through a different tunnel. And in the middle of the cavern was a large drill that was currently powering its way through the cavern wall behind the scaffolding.

There were also a total of five minifigs working in this cavern, all of them dressed similarly to the guard they had just taken out — dark blue jumpsuits and silver hardhats. Two minifigs — one with light nougat skin and blue hair, and one with light violet skin and white hair — were operating the drill. At first, only dust and pebbles were being thrown off by the drill, but then the drill suddenly jerked forward and caused a large amount of rubble to come loose. Scattered among the rubble were glowing crystals in many different translucent colors. Two minifigs — one with turquoise skin and violet hair, and one with pale yellow skin and rose hair — gathered up all the loosened crystals and tossed them into a mine cart on the rail line. There were actually three mine carts linked together on the rail line, and two of them were already completely full of Power Crystals. And standing next to those mine carts, seemingly keeping count of what they were gathering, was a certain lavender minifig with glasses: Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World.

Eventually, the drill operators shut off the heavy machine and waited until it had stopped spinning before they rolled it back and began helping the others collect the recently loosened Power Crystals.

Finally, Sunset Shimmer, followed closely by her five friends and teammates, stepped forward into the cavern and called out, “Far enough, Shadowbolts!”

All five Shadobolt agents in the cavern immediately froze and turned their attention toward the entrance tunnel, where they saw all six members of Canterlot City’s primary LEGO Team had gathered.

“How did they get past the guard?” asked Sunny Flare.

“Let’s just say she’s taking a little nap,” replied Sunset with a smirk as she lightly smacked the crowbar into her open hand.

Sugarcoat glared at Twilight and grumbled, “I told you it was a really bad idea to put Lemon Zest on guard duty.”

“I was only trying to be fair to all of my teammates,” argued Twilight. “I set all of you up on a rotating shift, so you could all prove how capable you are of handling any task.”

“Yeah!” agreed Indigo Zap with a grin as she turned to the Canterlot team and clenched her fists. “Why couldn’t you losers have waited just ten minutes for my shift to start? I can totally kick your butts any day of the week!”

“Well, today’s Tuesday, so would that include Tuesdays?” asked Pinkie.

Indigo’s grin widened. “Especially Tuesdays!”

Rainbow Dash smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?” she taunted. “Then let’s see you try.”

“You asked for it!” declared Indigo. She let loose a loud battle cry as she quickly charged straight towards Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow’s smile never faltered as she held her ground until the very last moment. When the Shadowbolt agent was only a split second away from tackling her, she simply stepped aside to the left and held out her right leg.

With no time to react, Indigo tripped over Rainbow’s outstretched leg and quickly tumbled head over heels until she crashed into a pile of crates. The crate on top of the stack teetered and fell over right on top of where Indigo had ended up.

One down, thought Rainbow as she chuckled. She turned back to the remaining Shadowbolts and smugly asked, “Who’s next?”

Sugarcoat sighed and grumbled to her remaining teammates, “Allow me to properly handle this situation.” She then just simply walked over to the area between the Shadowbolt agents and the Canterlot girls, then stopped and folded her arms.

Both sides remained still and silent, waiting for the next move. But Sugarcoat just continued to stand there, motionlessly staring at her opponents. As seconds turned to minutes, Rainbow’s smug grin slowly fell to an impatient frown. Eventually, Rainbow exclaimed, “Well, c’mon! Make your move!”

“Making the first move usually doesn’t result in a good scenario, as Indigo Zap has clearly demonstrated,” explained Sugarcoat. “I’m simply waiting for one of you to make the first move before I make mine.”

Before Rainbow could say anything, Applejack held her arm out in front of her friend and looked at her with a smug grin of her own as she said, “Ah’ll handle this one.”

Rainbow couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, but nevertheless smiled and gave a nod of approval.

Applejack took a few steps forward and smugly said, “Y’all shoulda known better than to mess with us! ‘Cause we’re members of the LEGO Team, an’ that means we got talents ya won’t find anywhere else. An’ that’s the creative talents of a true Master Builder!” As she spoke, she also glanced around the cavern to take mental note of any Lego parts and pieces she could use, and just as she had finished talking, she already had an excellent idea.

Applejack quickly went to work, rushing around one of the piles of crates and quickly putting pieces together in large chunks. As always happened whenever she or her friends got creative, she also began to pony up. Not long ago, Applejack had discovered that — unlike the rest of her friends — whenever she ponied up, her strength was incredibly enhanced, so she took advantage of that by smashing open some of the crates, providing her with even more parts to add to her build. Once she finally completed each of the chunks, she quickly threw them all together, creating a larger version of the Power Miners’ Mine Mech, which had a claw on its left arm and a buzz saw on its right arm. With her creation complete, Applejack hopped into the pilot’s seat and powered up her mech.

All the while, Sugarcoat’s seemingly bored expression hadn’t even changed a bit. “Not bad,” she said. “But you’ve failed to account for one crucial factor.”

Applejack’s smile fell and she raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, Sugarcoat rushed back to the drill and quickly started to dismantle it. “All Shadowbolt agents are also Master Builders,” she explained as she quickly put together all of the parts from the drill and some other objects lying around in the cavern. “And unlike you noble LEGO Team types, we don’t allow anything to get in the way of completing our missions. Therefore, anything you can build…” She placed the last piece on an even bigger mine mech, with the drill on its left arm and a large chainsaw on its right arm. She hopped into the pilot’s seat and started up the mech. “…we can build better.”

Applejack gawked at the unexpected display of the creative talents of a Shadowbolt agent. But then she quickly shook off her shock and resumed her smug smile. “In that case, ya still shoulda known better than to pick a fight with me, ‘cause Ah ain’t the type who backs down from a challenge,” she boasted. With a few swift movements of the controls, she positioned her mech into a fighting stance. “Bring it on!”

“As you wish,” said Sugarcoat as she began to move her controls around, directing her mech to march forward and swing its drill arm down against her opponent.

Applejack deflected the blow with the claw arm and used the flat side of the saw arm to shove Sugarcoat’s mech back enough to make it stumble. But Sugarcoat quickly recovered and raised her mech’s chainsaw arm, ready for the next move.

As the two mechs began to battle, the rest of the Canterlot girls cheered on their friend as they watched from the sidelines. However, Rarity — thanks to her always careful attention to detail — quickly noticed that the other Shadowbolts were not showing any support for their teammate. In fact, they were completely ignoring her and taking advantage of the distraction to finish loading up the rest of the Power Crystals!

Rarity immediately nudged Sunset Shimmer and discreetly gestured toward the mine carts. Sunset silently nodded in acknowledgement and the two of them quietly crept around the cavern towards the scaffolding. As much as they hated having to make a move without bringing the rest of their friends, they also knew their sneak attack would only work if the Shadowbolts were convinced that the diversion was working.

Sunset grabbed onto the ladder on the end of the scaffolding, but before she began climbing, she turned back to Rarity and quietly said, “You’d better find something to arm yourself with. This could very easily become a real fight.”

Rarity hesitated for a moment, completely appalled at the notion of having to resort to personal combat. But she also understood how quickly tensions were rising, so she reluctantly nodded and began searching around for potentially useful tools.

At the same time, Sunset climbed up onto the first level of the scaffolding. Although Twilight and Sour Sweet were on the ground, Sunny Flare happened to be up on this level of the scaffolding. As a result, Sunset’s cover was blown the moment Sunny glanced over in her direction, so the amber girl decided to just raise her crowbar and charge right at the Shadowbolt agent.

Sunny Flare quickly glanced at her nearby surroundings and was pleased to find another red crowbar that just happened to be lying on the scaffolding. She picked up the crowbar and held it up just in time to block Sunset’s attempted strike. They both pushed against each other for a moment, then they both backed off slightly to break off the contact.

The two armed girls glared silently at each other for a moment. Sunset then smirked and stood up straight into a fencing pose, right leg in front of the left, left hand on her hip, and right hand holding her weapon down low.

“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be, is it?” quipped Sunny with a smirk of her own. She then struck a similar pose. Both girls held their poses perfectly for a tense moment. Finally, it was Sunny Flare who made the first move. “En garde!” she shouted, and the two girls immediately started swinging and banging their crowbars against each other. The clanging noise of each strike ringed out across the cavern as Sunset and Sunny commenced their match of crowbar fencing.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Meanwhile, down on the cavern floor not far away, Sour Sweet tossed the last of the loose Power Crystals into the mine cart as Twilight climbed up onto the pushcart connected to all three mine carts. “There, that’s all of them,” stated Twilight as she gripped the lever. “I’ll complete the delivery myself. The rest of you, keep holding them off.” Without another glance at anyone else in the cavern, Twilight began to push and pull on the lever. It took a bit of effort to get it started, but gradually became easier as she began to move forward, hauling all three fully loaded mine carts right in front of her.

However, Twilight’s attempt to escape with the Power Crystals did not go completely unnoticed. While still cheering on Applejack with Pinkie and Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash suddenly caught sight of Twilight slowly making her way along the rail line out of the cavern. “Hey! Twilight’s getting away!” she shouted, then immediately ran towards her.

Just as Twilight had begun to build up some momentum as she entered the rail line tunnel, she glanced back and gasped as she saw Rainbow charging right for her. Rainbow tried to jump up onto the pushcart, but since the lever was moving up, Twilight decided to take advantage of the momentum to raise both of her legs and kick Rainbow back off the cart.

Rainbow grunted in pain as she hit the ground. As she watched Twilight make her escape, she couldn’t help but bitterly think, That is definitely not Princess Twilight.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie rushed over to where the mine carts had just been resting — shoving aside Sour Sweet along the way. Pinkie yanked a long lever on the ground, and another mine cart suddenly dropped in from above and landed perfectly on the rails. Without a second to lose, she began to quickly push the empty cart forward along the tracks. It wasn’t long before she caught up to where Rainbow Dash had landed. “C’mon, Dash, let’s go!” she exclaimed cheerfully as she grabbed Rainbow and tossed her into the empty mine cart.

Back at the cavern, Sour Sweet glanced around at everything that was going on. With two of the Canterlot City girls going after Twilight and three others already occupied, that left her with only one target to pursue: Fluttershy. Sour rolled her eyes as she sighed and grumbled, “And of course, they leave me to deal with the weakling.” She picked up the closest thing she could find — a large black wrench — and marched over to the meek and shy girl.

Quickly realizing the danger she was suddenly in, Fluttershy whimpered and backed off until she found herself caught between some crates and some barrels. She rapidly shifted her gaze back and forth, but couldn’t think of a way to escape the wrath of this particular Shadowbolt agent.

Sour Sweet maintained a furious look on her face as she approached Fluttershy. But once she stopped within striking distance, her head spun around to expose her sweet face, who calmly said, “Aww, don’t worry. This won’t hurt a bit.”

Fluttershy stopped quivering in fear, but still remained frozen on the spot. “I-i-it won’t?” she asked with uncertainty.

“Of course not,” assured Sour Sweet with a smile. But then her head spun around to expose her sour face, who savagely added, “It’s gonna hurt a whole lot!” She roared out as she swung the wrench down on Fluttershy’s head, but the shy girl barely dodged and the wrench just banged against empty ground. Sour swung the wrench sideways, but Fluttershy ducked and the wrench ended up smashing one of the wooden crates. Sour swung again, but also missed again and instead pounded a huge dent into one of the steel barrels.

Fluttershy scampered away and quickly found herself crouched down next to one of the floodlights.

“Stand still so I can hit ya!” growled Sour as she rushed over to Fluttershy and swung the wrench again. Once again, Fluttershy barely dodged the wrench. This time, the wrench smashed into the floodlight’s fuse box, sending a large current of electricity up the wrench and through Sour Sweet’s body. Sour rapidly twitched and stuttered uncontrollably from the electrocution for a few seconds before she finally broke free of the current, sending her flying backwards into the middle of the cavern. She hit the ground, then grunted as the wrench came down a second later right on her abdomen.

Twilight continued to push and pull the lever on the pushcart, building up more and more speed to hasten her escape. Unfortunately, she was no longer the only one riding these rails.

“You’re not getting away from us!”

Twilight glanced back and gasped in shock as she saw a determined Rainbow Dash riding in an empty mine cart that was being pushed along the tracks by Pinkie Pie, and they were quickly catching up. Twilight quickly put all the effort she could muster into pumping that lever up and down, faster and faster.

After a few seconds, Twilight was starting to tire out, yet her mini train of fully-loaded mine carts continued to accelerate. This confused Twilight at first, but then she realized that the additional momentum was being provided not by her, but by gravity. Her carts were starting to roll down a slope. Twilight peered around the mine carts in front of her and — thanks to the light from her hardhat’s headlamp — saw the downward slope just ahead was much steeper.

“Uh oh,” whimpered Twilight before letting out a scream of terror as her mine carts went over the steep slope and rapidly accelerated.

“Let’s go get her!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly. Now that they were close to the downward slope, she no longer had to keep pushing the empty mine cart, so she hopped in to sit right behind Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, did not share her friend’s enthusiasm. “No! Wait! Pinkie! Stop!” she shouted fearfully. “I-I-I don’t think I’m tall enough for this ride!”

As the single mine cart plummeted over the slope, Rainbow Dash screamed in panic while Pinkie Pie squealed with joy.

Back at the cavern, Applejack and Sugarcoat continued to battle each other with their mechs. Applejack powered up the circular saw on her mech’s right arm, while Sugarcoat powered up the chainsaw on her mech’s right arm. Both of these weapons soon clashed, grinding loudly against each other as a huge shower of sparks flew off in all directions. However, it wasn’t long until the stresses became too much and both weapons suddenly shattered. The two combatants paused for a brief moment as they both glanced at their respective mech’s right arm, both of whom now lacking a weapon. Despite that minor setback, they were still evenly matched, and quickly resumed their duel.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Meanwhile, another duel was taking place over on the scaffolding as Sunset Shimmer and Sunny Flare continued their round of fencing with crowbars. The two red crowbars clanged against each other with every strike, neither of them ever able to land a blow on the opponent.

Eventually, Sunset saw an opening as she deflected another blow. Sunny could recover from that deflection after only a second, but that was all Sunset needed to raise her leg and kick Sunny back a short distance. Although Sunny managed to quickly jump back to her feet, Sunset took advantage of that brief diversion to turn around, jump and grab onto a horizontal bar on the scaffolding, and smoothly swing from it across the gap for the elevator and up onto the second level of the scaffolding.

Sunset turned back and grinned smugly at her opponent down below. “Face it, Shadowbolt! You’ll find me to be a very tough opponent,” she proudly boasted. “I’ve got five years of self-taught experience from avoiding every form of law enforcement imaginable! What have you got?”

Sunny Flare responded with a confident smile of her own. In a truly remarkable acrobatic feat, she leaped high into the air, backflipped once, and landed up on the second level just across the elevator gap from Sunset. “Ten years of professional training as a Shadowbolt agent!” Sunny responded with pride. “Prattle on all you want, dearie, but there’s no denying that even you won’t stand a chance against someone like me.”

Even though Sunset was genuinely astonished by what she just witnessed, she didn’t let it show, and instead responded with a smirk and said, “We’ll see about that.”

Sunny Flare leaped across the gap, did a single forward flip in midair, and landed on the opposite side of Sunset from the gap. She quickly spun around and the two girls immediately resumed their duel.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Down on the cavern floor, Indigo Zap had just recovered and now shoved aside the crate that had landed on top of her. She glanced around to figure out what was going on in the cavern and quickly saw Sunset and Sunny fighting with crowbars up on the scaffolding. With a quick glance to the right, she also noticed that Rarity had also picked up a crowbar and had just started to climb the ladder. Indigo glanced down at one of the smashed crates and saw that, among various others objects, was yet another red crowbar. With a wicked grin, she swiftly grabbed that crowbar and rushed over to the scaffolding.

Indigo headed straight for the elevator and immediately flipped the lever up, making the elevator start to rise up. It moved rather slowly, but Rarity wasn’t exactly rushing up the ladder anyway. Once she reached the first level, Indigo ran along the scaffolding and used her crowbar to smack away the ladder.

Rarity let out a startled yelp as the ladder in her grip began to fall away, but was quickly able to let go and grab onto the frame of the scaffolding. Once she was safe from going down with the ladder, she let go and gently landed on the first level… right in front of a maliciously grinning Indigo Zap.

“Ready to fight?” asked Indigo eagerly as she smacked her crowbar into her open hand.

Rarity sighed, but nevertheless tightened her grip on her crowbar. “I suppose I must,” she muttered.

Indigo immediately raised her crowbar and swung it down, but Rarity simply stepped aside and smacked Indigo’s exposed backside, knocking her face-down onto the walkway.

“Honestly, darling, must you make this so easy for me?” taunted Rarity.

“Shut it!” shouted Indigo as she quickly got back to her feet and spun around to face off against her opponent.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

When Indigo had left the elevator, she hadn’t bothered to even touch the lever, so that elevator just continued going up. As it approached the second level, Sunset noticed that elevator and decided to use it to her advantage.

Right at the moment that elevator reached the second level, Sunset casually took one step backwards onto the rising platform, then held her ground as she continued to clash with Sunny. As a result, the Canterlot girl was carried upwards, while the Shadowbolt was left behind. It wasn’t long until they were so far apart that they stopped swinging their crowbars, and Sunset simply smirked and waved her free hand as she ascended onto the third level of the scaffolding.

Sunny Flare wasn’t going to be deterred that easily. Once the elevator rose above the third level, she somersaulted across the gap and up onto the third level, then backflipped onto the elevator as it was only halfway up to the next level, kicking Sunset off the platform in the process. She then jumped to her feet and flipped the lever, reversing the elevator’s course.

Sunset got back to her feet and saw Sunny smirking from the now slowly descending platform. But Sunset immediately dove right under that elevator and landed across the gap onto the second level, landing with a tuck and roll. She then quickly ran all the way to the end of the scaffolding overlooking the rail line, grasped a horizontal bar above her head, and swung around and up onto the third level, just as the elevator began to descend from that level.

Sunny didn’t waste any time stepping off the still moving elevator and rushing towards her opponent, but when Sunset met her in the middle, she crouched down and swiped her crowbar across, striking Sunny over her ankles and flipping her onto her back.

In the brief second it took for Sunny to recover, Sunset ran back to the elevator and flipped the lever, bringing it back up again. As soon as Sunny was back on her feet, she immediately ran and then dove towards the rising platform. But by now, the elevator was high enough to allow Sunset to leap over Sunny and up onto the fourth and highest level of the scaffolding.

While Sunset waited for the duel to resume on the high ground, Sunny had other ideas. As the two opponents glared at each other, Sunny flipped the lever again and remained standing on the platform as it carried her down. While Sunset raised an eyebrow in confusion, Sunny simply smirked. Once the elevator descended past the third level, she leaped high into the air, somersaulted over Sunset, and landed perfectly on her feet up on the fourth level. She then swiftly spun around and resumed the crowbar clashing with the Canterlot girl.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

It didn’t take much for Sunset to suddenly find herself teetering on the edge of the walkway. On reflex, her arms briefly flailed before she lost her balance and fell off. Fortunately, she quickly regained control of herself and managed to catch the hooked end of her crowbar onto one of the support bars and swing herself backwards onto the third level. By the time Sunset skidded to a stop and stood up, Sunny had leaped down onto the same walkway and they immediately resumed their duel.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

At the same time, Rarity was busy with her own crowbar fencing duel with Indigo Zap. Although the Canterlot girl did well to block every offensive move, the Shadobolt agent fought fiercely and managed to gradually push her opponent back towards the elevator gap. But the whirring noise of that elevator going up and down had not escaped Rarity’s attention, and as it finally came back down to the second level, she decided it was her turn to make use of it.

Rarity allowed herself to be pushed back the rest of the way towards the elevator gap, which inevitably gave Indigo a false sense of confidence. When that elevator reached the second level, Rarity stepped backwards onto the platform and flipped the lever, making it rise up again. All Rarity had to do now was block just a few more strikes before she ascended out of reach of her opponent.

“Hey! Get back here!” shouted Indigo as she grasped onto the edge of the rising platform.

Realizing she didn’t have much time to lose, Rarity waited until the elevator was just high enough for her to jump up onto the third level, but not before flipping the lever down, sending the platform back down.

But Indigo was able to move quickly as she hauled herself up onto the platform and then leaped up onto the third level before the elevator was even halfway between the second and third levels. She and Rarity quickly resumed their duel, the Shadowbolt still able to gradually push the Canterlot girl back.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Incidentally, both dueling pairs were now fighting on the exact same walkway, so it wasn’t long until teammates Rarity and Sunset bumped into each other, back to back. They both glanced over each other’s shoulders and it didn’t take long for them to come up with the same idea.

“Care to trade?” asked Rarity.

“Over-under,” Sunset quickly responded.

As Rarity turned away from the cavern wall and crouched down, Sunset turned towards the cavern wall and rolled herself over her teammate’s back. Now the dueling pairs were Rarity against Sunny Flare and Sunset Shimmer against Indigo Zap. As Rarity and Sunny quickly came to a steady stalemate, Sunset and Indigo unleashed everything they had.

Indigo tried a wide swing across towards Sunset’s head, but Sunset ducked and took the opportunity to shoulder ram Indigo across the elevator gap and down to the second level. Sunset then jumped across the gap and landed on the other side while remaining on the third level. She then turned back and began to back away from the gap, waiting for her opponent to come to her.

Sunset was nearly caught off guard when Indigo leaped up onto the third level, not from the elevator gap in front of her, but from the other end near the rail line behind her. Sunset turned back and barely had just enough time to jump up to avoid another swing from Indigo’s crowbar.

Rather than land back on the walkway, Sunset instead stuck her feet onto the studs of a large plate piece that was resting sideways against the cavern wall. As she now stood sideways along the wall, she smirked and asked her new dueling opponent, “Does your Shadowbolts training program include SNOT walking?”

Indigo responded with a wicked grin and simply said, “As a matter of fact…” She jumped and stuck her feet onto the wall of studs. “…it does!”

Sunset was briefly surprised, but quickly regained her confident grin and remarked, “Then this fight just got very interesting.” And with that, the two opponents resumed their crowbar fencing duel while standing sideways on a wall.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Meanwhile, back on the cavern floor, Sour Sweet held a tight grip on her large wrench as her fierce gaze slowly went left and right around the cavern. By the time she had recovered from her mishap with the floodlight, Fluttershy was nowhere to be found, and she was determined to find her.

“Achoo!”

That sneeze was very faint, but it was enough for Sour Sweet’s attention to immediately snap towards the source it, which turned out to be a collection of over a dozen steel barrels sitting upright on the ground. Her head swiftly spun around to expose her sweet face and she remarked, “Oh, you’re hiding in one of these barrels. That’s really clever.” Her head quickly spun back to reveal her sour face again and maliciously said, “Too bad it won’t save you now.”

Sour used the wedge on the end of the wrench’s handle to pry open the lid on one of the barrels. She glanced inside, but found nothing, so she tossed the barrel aside and pried open another lid. She found nothing in that barrel either, so she also tossed that one aside and moved on to the next barrel. But just as she was about to peer inside, she caught some minor movement on the edge of her vision, making her immediately stop and glance up. With her focus now on all the other barrels, she saw no movement at all… though she had a feeling one of the barrels had slightly moved.

Sour slowly returned her attention towards the nearest barrels. After finding nothing in the third barrel, she tossed it aside and pried open a fourth barrel, then a fifth, but still found nothing. She was just about to move on to the sixth barrel when she once again caught some minor movement on the edge of her vision. Again, everything remained perfectly still as she refocused on the other barrels. This time, it was only a little bit more obvious that one of the barrels had moved. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make her suspicious.

Sour keep her focus on that one odd barrel on the other side of the collection as she resumed prying open lids and tossing empty barrels aside. As her noisy search resumed, she saw that odd barrel lift very slightly and slowly creep away. With a wicked grin now on her face, Sour stopped prying off lids and instead simply knocked away all the other barrels until she was left with just that one odd barrel trying to sneak away.

“I got ya now!” shouted Sour Sweet triumphantly as she raised her wrench and smashed it against the side of the barrel, sending it tumbling end over end across the ground until Fluttershy came flying right out of it.

Fluttershy and the barrel she had been hiding in came to rest right next to each other, not far from the base of the scaffolding. She was dazed from that impact and tumble, but soon managed to shake her head clear. She glanced back and saw Sour Sweet rushing towards her while holding that wrench high above her head. Fluttershy immediately panicked and placed her hands over her head as she huddled face down against the ground, unknowingly nudging the barrel to roll towards Sour Sweet.

Sour Sweet tried to jump over that barrel, but mistimed her steps and ended up landing a foot right onto that rolling surface, causing her to immediately topple forward and tumble head over heels until she finally slammed face-first against the cavern wall. Not only did she drop her wrench along the way, but she also quickly discovered that she had ended up right underneath the scaffolding elevator, and it was now descending to the ground floor. She had only one second to let out a scream of terror before that platform came down right on top of her.

“Oh no!” Fluttershy quietly said in shock. As much as she didn’t like seeing bad guys win, she especially didn’t like to see anyone get hurt. She immediately rushed over to the elevator and flipped the lever up. As the platform began to rise again, she hopped off and checked on the unfortunate Shadowbolt.

Sour groaned lightly and barely moved. She was still alive, but definitely wasn’t in any condition to be a threat at the moment.

Fluttershy pulled the defeated Shadowbolt out of the minifig-shaped depression her body had made in the ground and dragged her over to a nearby boulder. As she propped up Sour so that she was sitting upright with her back resting on the boulder, Fluttershy quietly said, “Why don’t you rest here for a moment and, um…” She nervously picked up the discarded wrench. “I-I-I’ll just hold onto this for safekeeping.” Fluttershy glanced around the cavern uneasily before she quickly ran away with the wrench in her hands.

Twilight Sparkle was screaming in terror as her small train of a pushcart behind three mine carts fully loaded with Power Crystals zoomed along the underground rail line. The carts rumbled loudly along the tracks as they sped downhill, uphill, then downhill again.

Not far behind was another mine cart, carrying LEGO Team members Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Although Rainbow was just as terrified as Twilight, Pinkie was hollering excitedly as if she was on an amusement park ride.

When the track finally leveled off, Twilight let out a sigh of relief, despite still moving very quickly from all that momentum. She was quickly back on full alert when she looked ahead and saw a junction in the tracks. She glanced back at the two Canterlot girls still in hot pursuit and soon got an idea.

As her carts rapidly approached the junction, Twilight reached into the nearest mine cart and grabbed a pink Power Crystal. She turned back, held up the Power Crystal, and waited for just the right moment. As soon as her carts passed the junction, she immediately threw the pink crystal at the switch and successfully knocked it into the other setting.

As Twilight continued down the left track, Rainbow and Pinkie ended up going down the right track. The two opposing sides were now rapidly rolling along separate tracks, but the wild mine ride had only just begun.

Rainbow and Pinkie headed right around a banked turn, down a steep hill, up a hill that was only half as high as the one they just went down, left around a banked turn in a half circle, and down a shallower hill before leveling off again. Then they found themselves going around to the right in a downward helix, completing four and a half revolutions before going down a hill that also curved to the left. All the while, Rainbow Dash hollered fearfully and kept a very firm grip on the sides of the mine cart, while Pinkie Pie simply squealed with joy on every twist and turn they went around.

Meanwhile, the tunnels echoed with Twilight’s terrified screams as she and her cargo of Power Crystals rolled up and down hill after hill in the tracks. Some slopes went straight ahead, others curved to the left or right, and one particularly steep downward slope actually twisted all the way around in a full revolution. Twilight held desperately onto the handle of the pushcart as she continued down the insane mine ride. Needless to say, Twilight would have never tried to make her escape on the rail line had she known about where it really led.

At one point, the two rail lines came close together, but did not merge together. Instead, Rainbow and Pinkie’s track went down a steep decline followed by an equally steep incline. And right at the bottom of this dip, Twilight’s track actually made a vertical loop all the way around the other track. As the two sides rushed along the tracks, Rainbow and Pinkie’s cart hit the base of the dip right at the exact moment that Twilight’s carts reached the peak of the loop.

“Why is there a loop-de-loop inside a mining tunnel!?!” shrieked Twilight after leaving that loop. Remarkably, hardly any Power Crystals had spilled out of her mine carts throughout the entire ride, though she was now willing to give up all of them if it meant an immediate end to this madness.

As Rainbow and Pinkie zoomed off through another separate tunnel, Twilight finally reached a nice stretch of straight and level track, but she had a feeling that she shouldn’t relax just yet. She cautiously peered around her mine carts and paled as she was confronted by what could best be described as the worst case scenario. Up ahead, there was a yellow barricade on the tracks that was labeled “End of the Line”, and Twilight’s carts were speeding right towards it!

With little time to lose, Twilight immediately grasped the brake handle on her pushcart and yanked back on it as hard as she could. The wheels grinded horribly as tons of sparks flew away from where they contacted the rails, but the small train of carts did begin to slow down. Twilight had no idea whether or not she had enough track left to reach a complete stop, but she was not going to let up on that brake until she could be absolutely certain.

Finally, Twilight’s carts came to a screeching halt. There was no more lurching around violently, and all noise in the area had now silenced to little more than a faint echo. Twilight, who had kept her eyes tightly shut during the entire braking procedure, finally released the brake and opened her eyes. Astonishingly, she had stopped with the first mine cart just one stud away from the barrier.

Now that the crazy mine ride was over for her, Twilight finally allowed herself to slouch forward and release a much needed sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, back in the cavern, Applejack and Sugarcoat were still going at it with their mine mechs. They continued to trade blows with each other, neither one ever managing to gain the upper hand. With both mechs lacking a weapon on the right arm and unable to find a good opportunity to use the weapon on the left arm, it seemed this mighty duel would continue for quite a while.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

At the same time, there were still two pairs of opponents trying to strike each other with crowbars. Sunset Shimmer and Indigo Zap continued to fight sideways on a wall of studs, while Rarity and Sunny Flare seemed to be engaged in a rather fierce round of fencing.

Rarity managed to expertly block every single strike against her, but could never find that perfect opening with which to attempt a strike of her own. Before long, she found herself pushed back to the elevator gap, so to buy herself just a little more time, she stepped back off the edge, grasped the horizontal support bar underneath the walkway, and swung over onto the second level. She then turned back and awaited the inevitable arrival of her opponent.

Sunny Flare somersaulted across the gap and down onto the second level, then turned around and did another big somersault across the gap to land right in front of Rarity. She continued to keep a confident smile on her face as she raised her crowbar and resumed the duel.

“You are remarkably acrobatic, I shall give you that,” said Rarity as she blocked a few more blows.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Of course I am,” said Sunny smugly. “Only the best of the best get to become Shadowbolt agents, like myself. You, on the other hand, have only mediocre talents, at best.”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“On the contrary, Shadowbolt,” countered Rarity, “I believe I have a rather spectacular talent that no one else on either of our teams possesses.”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sunny raised an eyebrow and asked with amusement, “Oh really? And what talent is that?”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“An eye for detail!” Rarity proudly remarked as she took a step back. “Observe.”

Rarity stomped on one of the plates she stood on, catapulting an empty bucket from the end of the walkway. The bucket knocked over what remained of the scaffolding’s ladder, which toppled over onto a steel barrel lying sideways on the ground. That pushed the barrel to roll across the cavern until it bumped into a tall and narrow crate. That crate fell over onto another similar crate, which then hit another one, and another one, like a set of dominos. The final crate smacked into one of the floodlights, spinning it around until its light now focused through a magnifying glass onto a rope. The intensely focused light quickly burned through the rope, snapping it and releasing a hanging drill down onto a long plate piece that pivoted over another barrel on its side. That catapulted an anvil onto another long plate over a barrel, which then catapulted a pair of 2x4 bricks stacked together onto yet another long plate over a barrel. That catapulted an empty bucket high up in an arc towards the scaffolding and ultimately landed right over the head of a dumbstruck Sunny Flare.

Now that Rarity finally had the opening she was seeking, she immediately took advantage of it and swiftly smacked her crowbar against the bucket over Sunny’s head. Sunny wobbled a bit from the sudden impact, then slumped back against the cavern wall.

“Quite impressive, if I do say so myself,” Rarity said smugly.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Meanwhile, as Sunset and Indigo continued their duel, it was gradually becoming clear that Indigo had the upper hand as she relentlessly continued to push Sunset back along the wall. Before long, Sunset found herself only a couple of studs away from the end of the sideways plate, marking the boundary of this battleground.

“You’re running out of studs!” boasted Indigo with a triumphant grin. “I’m gonna beat you!”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Don’t celebrate before you win,” cautioned Sunset. “The way I see it, you’re not thinking three dimensionally.”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Three dimensions?” questioned Indigo skeptically. “We’re fighting sideways on a wall!”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Then you clearly don’t know how to think outside the box,” continued Sunset. “I can come up with ideas you would never even consider.”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Like what?” asked Indigo impatiently as she continued striking with everything she had.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Advice from my friends,” replied Sunset. “Take Rainbow Dash, for example. If she was watching me right now, she would remind me of one of her favorite words.”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“And what word would that be?” asked Indigo.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

As the two opponents held their crowbars against each other, Sunset smirked and simply said, “Improvise.” With a swift motion of her arm, she flung Indigo’s crowbar out of her hand and hooked her own crowbar onto one of the vertical bars supporting the scaffolding. She pushed off from the wall, spun all the way around the bar, and kicked Indigo in the back on her return, sending the Shadowbolt agent flying across the elevator gap and down towards the second level.

Rarity immediately saw the incoming Shadowbolt and swiftly swung her crowbar to the left, smacking the airborne Indigo off the scaffolding and into another pile of crates.

“Nice hit, Rarity,” remarked Sunset with a smile. “You should consider taking up baseball.”

Rarity responded to her friend with a smile of her own, but it was quickly wiped away as the downed Sunny Flare next to her began to stir.

Sunny Flare removed the bucket over her head and glared at the opposing LEGO Team member. She then smiled and confidently said, “Not bad, but I’m ready for round two.”

Sunset jumped across the elevator gap and landed on the same walkway, leaving Sunny Flare trapped between two enemies. “It’s two against one, Shadowbolt,” noted Sunset. “The odds are now stacked against you.”

Sunny Flare didn’t drop her confident grin. “Actually, when you consider my skill level, I would say we are now evenly matched.”

Both Rarity and Sunset tightened their grips on their crowbars. The fight inside the mine was still on.

“There! All done,” said Spike with satisfaction as he attached the final piece to a short length of rail lines within the home base’s gateway room.

Twilight had open the Jump-Gate right in front of the barrier she had ended up near and had then asked Spike to quickly assemble a set of tracks, which would allow her to bring the loaded mine carts into the base without having to unload them by hand through the open gateway. Not only would that have been very time consuming, but it also came with the risk of an opponent or two trying to sneak their way into her home base.

“Good work, Spike,” said Twilight from the pushcart. “Now I can bring it all in.” She carefully pumped the lever up and down to slowly roll the three mine carts through the gateway. She had managed to push them ahead slowly enough that once the carts had passed through the gateway, they were able to come to a stop without needing the brake.

With a content smile, she hopped off the pushcart and said with satisfaction, “Now all that’s left to do is dismantle the track, shut the gate, and that’s another mission accomplished!”

As Twilight began tearing apart the tracks over where they crossed through the gateway, Spike asked, “Uh, Twilight? Aren’t you forgetting something? Or rather, five someones?”

Twilight sighed in frustration and rolled her eyes as she continued to dismantle the track and asked, “Do I really need to go back for them?”

Spike folded his arms and glared at Twilight as he simply replied, “Cinch’s orders.”

Twilight let out another frustrated sigh and grumbled, “If I had a dollar for every time you told me those two specific words, then I could easily afford to purchase every region in the Lego World.” Once she removed the last of the track pieces, she then walked over to the nearby control panel for the Jump-Gate and hit the red button that was labeled “Emergency Close”, triggering the doors to quickly slam shut and shut off the gateway.

Back in the tunnels, just as the Jump-Gate closed and faded away, the area began to echo with the rumbling noise of an approaching mine cart.

“Wow, who knew that other track would eventually lead us right onto the one Twilight went on?” remarked Pinkie Pie.

“Doesn’t matter,” said Rainbow Dash dismissively. “All I care about is catching up to her before she can get away.”

Finally, the single mine cart quickly rushed onto the stretch of straight and level track. The two occupants found nothing ahead of them, except for a certain “End of the Line” yellow barrier.

With eyes suddenly wide in shock, Rainbow immediately exclaimed, “Pinkie! Hit the brake!”

Pinkie quickly glanced around all sides of their mine cart, but struggled to find anything that stood out to her as a brake. “Um, does this thing even have a brake?” she asked.

Rainbow’s eyes immediately shrank and she tightened her grip on the sides of the cart as they continued to rapidly approach the barrier. Just seconds later, the cart smashed through the barrier and plunged through the empty darkness, with the panicked screams of both passengers echoing throughout the tunnels.

It wasn’t long before the mine cart miraculously landed directly on another set of rails and continued rolling along. Rainbow and Pinkie glanced around, both of them very relieved by their incredible stroke of fortune.

“Huh. That wasn’t so bad,” remarked Pinkie.

The two girls were then thrown off balance as the mine cart suddenly lurched. As they began to hear the clacking noise of a chain, Rainbow glanced ahead and realized they were now being pulled uphill. “Really?” she asked in disbelief. She switched on her hardhat’s headlamp and turned her gaze further ahead. Beyond the incline was a series of tracks that could best be described as absolute chaos. There were countless peaks and dips, twists and turns, and even loops and corkscrews.

“Really?” whimpered Rainbow.

“Yay! I love roller coasters!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly.

As the mine cart slowly approached the crest of the chain lift incline, Rainbow weakly asked, “Uh, Pinkie?”

“Yes?” asked Pinkie innocently.

Rainbow gulped before nervously replying, “I really hope you’ve got some barf bags.”

Finally, the cart reached the top of the hill and began a very steep downward plunge. All the way down, Rainbow kept an extremely tight grip on the sides of the cart as she let loose a massive scream of terror, while Pinkie held her arms up high and released a mighty squeal of excitement.

Back in the mining cavern, Applejack and Sugarcoat were still battling each other with the mine mechs they had each built. They had been locked in a stalemate for quite some time, but both of them knew it was only a matter of time before something finally gave in.

That moment arrived when Applejack clamped the claw on her mech’s left arm firmly onto the drill on the left arm of Sugarcoat’s mech, and Sugarcoat then powered up that drill. Since Applejack failed to release that claw, her entire mech was suddenly flipped over by the spinning drill and smashed to pieces upon hitting the ground.

But Applejack wasn’t going to give up that easily. As she remained ponied up, she quickly reassembled all of the scattered pieces of her mech into something new. After only a matter of seconds, she had completed a new mine mech with a stocky frame and more solid arms. This model more than made up for its short stature with massively increased strength, allowing her to grasp one of the legs of Sugarcoat’s mech and easily flip it though the air before smashing it to pieces on the ground.

Sugarcoat also remained just as determined to win, so she quickly gathered a few pieces of her mech and threw them all together. The resulting model appeared to be little more than the drill mounted on some kind of turret. Sugarcoat didn’t hesitate to power up that drill, rapidly increasing its spin to the max. Once it was spinning fast enough, she flipped a lever that released it, allowing the drill to shoot forward like a missile right through Applejack’s mech and smashing it to pieces.

Despite the heavy carnage, Applejack remained unscathed — as well as stayed ponied up. As she and her Shadowbolt opponent stood atop the mess of Lego pieces, they both narrowed their eyes, silently glaring at each other.

Both girls immediately went back to work, throwing together pieces left and right. Neither of them ever spared even a fleeting glimpse of what the other was doing. All they cared about was building the biggest and most powerful mine mech they could out of what they had available. When their respective models were completed, they simultaneously hopped into their respective pilot’s seats and tightly gripped their controls, ready to battle again.

But their eyes quickly went from narrowed in determination to widened in shock. Neither of them were facing their opponent. In fact, both of them were now standing back to back… on the same single mech!

Both Applejack and Sugarcoat tried to manipulate their respective controls and found they each had control over one arm, the right one from their perspectives. Even though neither of them could see each other, they both simultaneously smirked as they turned their controllable arm backwards. Then, as one, they both swung their arms back and made direct hits on each of their opponents.

Smash!

The self-inflicted punches shattered the two-in-one mine mech, sending all of its pieces collapsing into a pile in the middle of the cavern. The first to emerge from under the pile was Applejack, who had lost her left arm and both of her legs — not to mention, was also now no longer ponied up. As she began searching for her missing body parts in the pile, she grumbled, “Okay, now that was just dumb.”

Sugarcoat, who was now lacking her hair piece, quickly pulled herself out of the pile and simply said, “I am one hundred percent in agreement with that statement.”

Meanwhile, not far away, Indigo Zap found herself recovering from within a pile of crates for the second time today. Once again, she took note of her surroundings to determine where she would much rather fight, and found that all the action was still going on up on the scaffolding. But rather than go back up there and continue where she left off, she wanted to try something more effective. She wanted to take out both Sunset Shimmer and Rarity in one swift move, and she figured there was no better way to ensure that than by simply tearing down the scaffolding — despite the fact that her teammate Sunny Flare was also up there.

Indigo soon spotted the weak point in the support structure, and smirked as she immediately knew which tool to use. She climbed over the pile of crates and ran over to where she knew she would find what she was looking for. But just as her eyes fell on what she was after, she was suddenly confronted by another member of the opposing team.

Fluttershy nervously stepped in front of Indigo Zap and shakily held up the large black wrench as she hesitantly threatened, “D-d-don’t make me have to use this!”

“Don’t bother,” Indigo said casually as she simply shoved the timid girl out of her way. “All I want is this thing!” She picked up a jackhammer on the ground and then cackled madly as she rushed over towards the scaffolding.

At the same time, Sour Sweet was starting to recover after being briefly crushed by the elevator. She groaned lightly as she struggled to regain her focus, but was then startled as Indigo Zap suddenly rushed by with a jackhammer in her hands.

“Jackhammer time!” shouted Indigo as she thrust her jackhammer up and stuck it right onto the main support beam of the scaffolding and then immediately started hammering away.

The crowbar fight between Sunny Flare, Rarity, and Sunset Shimmer — which by now had moved up onto the third level — came to an abrupt halt. All three of them stumbled around and struggled to keep their balance as the entire structure started to shake and rumble.

Back at the pile of parts on the cavern floor, Sugarcoat had just found her hair piece and placed it back on her head just as she heard the hammering noise begin. She glanced over at Indigo Zap using the jackhammer, then up at the now violently wobbling scaffolding, and her eyes quickly widened in shock. “No! Stop!” she shouted at Indigo. “You’re gonna bring the whole thing down—”

Smash! Crash!

The jackhammer demolished the main support beam, causing all the rest of the supports under the first level to give out, bringing the entire structure down so that the first level was right on the ground. Indigo grinned in satisfaction, but that grin quickly fell as the entire structure then began to tilt over, away from the wall and right into the middle of the cavern. It all happened so quickly that nobody in the way had any time to avoid it. The structure groaned as the entire thing toppled over and came smashing down into the middle of the cavern.

CRASH!!

Pieces and debris from what used to be all of the scaffolding had now buried Sunset Shimmer, Rarity, Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, Sour Sweet, Applejack, and Sugarcoat.

Sugarcoat coughed a few times from some of the dust that had been raised, then grumbled with a slightly muffled voice, “…on all of us.”

“C’mon, Twilight!” exclaimed Spike impatiently near the closed Jump-Gate. “What could be so important that you can’t go back to help the rest of your team right away?”

Twilight came back into the gateway room from the hallway, holding onto a certain device of hers. “My latest research project, that’s what,” explained Twilight as she finished tying a loop of string onto it, allowing her to wear it around her neck and keep said device within easy reach at all times. As she put on the device like it was a large pendant, she added, “The LEGO Team girls from Canterlot City followed us into the mine, and I’m not going to pass up any opportunities to collect as much data as possible.”

With that priority now accounted for, Twilight returned to the Jump-Gate’s control panel and entered the coordinates of the power mine. In case if certain destinations were never consistent, such as a constantly expanding mine, the Jump-Gate also came with the option of entering specific coordinates. In fact, that’s how Twilight had designed Jump-Gates to function, and the list of common destinations was merely a way to help quickly reach most destinations without having to memorize hundreds of sets of coordinates.

Once Twilight had entered the proper coordinates, she hit the green “Enter” button. The Jump-Gate made that low whooshing noise, then the doors parted to reveal a dark mine tunnel. Twilight walked through the gateway, then the doors automatically closed behind her and phased out of existence.

Twilight hadn’t gone very far through the tunnel before she came across the unconscious form of Lemon Zest on the ground. Twilight paused for a moment to consider her options, and decided to just leave her fallen teammate there and retrieve her on the way back, after she had gathered the others.

Another moment later, Twilight arrived back at the mining cavern, but what she saw made her jaw drop in shock. The entire scaffolding had completely collapsed, and there was no sign of anyone in the area. Either everyone had already left — which she would’ve noticed by her teammates using their own portable Jump-Gates to return to home base — or they were all buried underneath all of that debris. Once she realized that, she immediately went to work clearing away the debris.

It didn’t take long for Twilight to find the first of her trapped teammates. After pulling aside some large Lego parts, Sugarcoat was able to pull herself out from under the pile. Once her fellow Shadowbolt agent was freed, Twilight told her, “Go back up the entry tunnel and wait for the rest of us. I’ve already completed the delivery, so now we just need to get out of here.”

Sugarcoat silently nodded in agreement and turned towards the tunnel. She ended up arriving at that entrance at the same time that another certain Shadowbolt agent finally arrived on the scene.

Lemon Zest rubbed the back of her sore head as she entered the cavern, then immediately paused as she caught sight of all the carnage and devastation in front of her. “Aww man!” she groaned in disappointment. “Did I miss out on the big fight?”

“Yes,” stated Sugarcoat without any hesitation or pity. “Yes, you did.” She then forcefully turned Lemon Zest around and shoved her back out of the cavern.

Meanwhile, Twilight resumed her search, but was suddenly startled by some shifting debris on the other side of the pile. Based on the way it sounded — slowly and practically one piece at a time — she realized that someone else was digging through the pile. She quickly climbed over the top of the pile saw that it was Fluttershy who was shifting through the debris. She initially thought the shy girl was searching for her own teammates, but was surprised seconds later to see her help Sour Sweet out of the pile.

“Go with your teammates,” Fluttershy quietly told the freed Shadowbolt agent. “I won’t stop you.”

Despite her confusion, Sour Sweet silently nodded and slowly made her way out of the cavern.

As Fluttershy gazed back at the departing Shadowbolt, she also noticed Twilight standing atop the pile. With little hesitation, the yellow shy girl pointed slightly to her left and told Twilight, “I saw one of your teammates end up over there. I’ll help another one for you.”

As Fluttershy immediately made her way towards another part of the pile, Twilight decided to trust this girl — if only just this once — and started digging through the area that had been pointed out to her. Sure enough, she ended up finding Sunny Flare under some debris. She pulled her teammate out of the pile and told her the same thing she had just told Sugarcoat.

At the same time, Fluttershy was able to quickly clear away some other debris and free Indigo Zap, who lightly shoved her out of the way and left without saying a word.

After Sunny Flare and Indigo Zap left the cavern, Twilight turned to Fluttershy and asked, “Why did you just help us out like that? I thought we were supposed to be fighting on opposite sides.”

“I just don’t like seeing anybody get hurt,” Fluttershy quietly explained. “It sure wouldn’t be very nice if I just left them there.” As soon as those words left her mouth, Fluttershy suddenly began to glow and levitate as she ponied up. She gained pony ears on her head, a tail-like extension to the back of her hair, and a pair of feathered wings appeared over her back. She smiled as she took a brief moment to appreciate such a remarkable transformation — especially for such a time and place as this — then turned away from Twilight and muttered, “Now I just need to help my friends.”

Twilight couldn’t help but gasp in awe. Although she had seen the “pony up” phenomenon from these special girls before, they had all been from a distance and through the golden tint of her astronaut helmet. To see it happen literally right in front of her eyes like this was a completely different experience.

But Twilight’s awe and wonder was quickly cut off by the faint humming noise of her device activating. She glanced down to see it not only lighting up in the direction of Fluttershy, but also seeming to levitate a bit. I’m pretty sure I didn’t design this thing to do that, thought Twilight, before the device suddenly opened on its own. She glanced back up to Fluttershy and was surprised to see the yellow glow surrounding her was now being drawn towards the device, like matter to a black hole.

Due to keeping her back turned to Twilight, Fluttershy had no idea what was happening until she suddenly felt herself grow very weak. Before she could even try to look around, she collapsed onto the pile of debris and her pony parts faded away, leaving her too weak to even stand up.

Twilight saw the last of Fluttershy’s magic swirl into her device and emit a few sparks of energy. She wondered what was behind those sparks of strange energy, but she also didn’t want to risk losing the new sample she had unintentionally just collected, so she quickly closed the device. She was surprised to find that it was noticeably harder to shut her device than it was the previous time, but she chose to set aside that observation for now.

With the issue with her research project now settled, Twilight glanced around the cavern and realized that she was now the only minifig standing and alert, and with all of her new teammates now accounted for, she saw no reason to stick around and decided to simply leave. So, without even bothering to check on the four LEGO Team girls still in the cavern, she turned away and left through the entrance tunnel.

After a short walk, Twilight reached all five of her gathered teammates. Once she stood beside them, she entered her home base’s Jump-Gate code into her portable Jump-Gate and said, “Our objectives have been met and everyone is present without any opposition in sight, so now is as good a time as any to return home.” She held her arm out into the tunnel ahead and activated the Jump-Gate, which materialized and opened.

Everyone slowly and silently walked through the gateway. Although their mission was a success, it was clear on everyone’s faces that things could have gone much better. Once everyone was back inside the home base and the Jump-Gate closed, Twilight asked, “Is everyone alright?”

“Don’t worry,” assured Sour Sweet weakly through her sweet face. “We’re fine.” Her head swiftly spun around to expose her sour face as she suddenly pointed at Indigo Zap and growled, “No thanks to you! I mean, what the brick were you thinking?! Do you even have a brain inside that empty space you call a head?!” She immediately started knocking on Indigo’s forehead.

“Ow! Ow! Hey!” exclaimed Indigo, before she yanked off Sour Sweet’s arm. “Hand’s off!” She then threw the detached arm across the room.

“Just for that…” grumbled Sour Sweet as she used her remaining arm to yank on Indigo’s goggles, then let them snap back against her face.

Indigo yelped in pain and fell to her back.

After witnessing that display of temperament, Twilight sighed and rubbed a hand over her face as she mumbled, “This is why I work alone.”

Many minutes passed within the mining cavern with everything remaining still and silent. The silence was eventually broken by a faint rumble coming from the tunnel with the rail line. It wasn’t long until a single mine cart slowly rolled up the rail line into the cavern, carrying nothing more than two passengers. The cart finally came to a complete stop when it lightly bumped into a piece of debris on the tracks.

In the rear half of the cart, Pinkie Pie had a huge grin on her face as she jumped for joy and excitedly exclaimed, “Yay! That was fun! Let’s do that again!”

In the front half of the cart, a very pale and terrified Rainbow Dash was faintly whimpering as she continued to hold an iron grip on the sides of the cart.

Now that the ride was over, Pinkie glanced around to see where they had ended up and realized they were now back in the cavern where they had started, but it was now a lot different than she had remembered. “Whoa. What happened here?” she asked. “Looks like a bomb went off.”

Rainbow shook her head clear and her skin tone returned to normal. She was just as shocked as Pinkie by what was left inside the cavern. She glanced over the big pile of debris and her eyes soon fell on someone lying face-down atop the pile. “Fluttershy!” she exclaimed, finally releasing her grip on the mine cart as she hopped out and rushed over to her fallen friend. As she helped up the yellow shy girl, she was relieved to see that although she was noticeably weak, she was still conscious. “What happened? Where’s everyone else?” asked Rainbow.

Fluttershy weakly replied, “The rest of our friends are still trapped under this pile.”

As Pinkie Pie immediately began to quickly clear away all of the fallen debris, Rainbow Dash helped Fluttershy off the pile and asked, “What about the Shadowbolts?”

Once they stopped next to the pile, Fluttershy replied, “They already got away.”

It was at that moment that Pinkie Pie managed to pull Sunset Shimmer out of the pile, who was not happy with what she just heard. “What?!” she exclaimed as she quickly brushed off Pinkie and ran over to Rainbow and Fluttershy. “What do you mean they got away?!”

Before Fluttershy could answer, some nearby pieces of debris were quickly shoved aside as Applejack pulled herself out of the pile. “Dagnabbit!” she grumbled. “Ah can’t believe we let that happen! Ah thought we were done with makin’ dumb mistakes.”

At the same time, Pinkie managed to pull Rarity out of the pile, who quietly thanked her and they walked over to join the others.

“Is anyone gonna tell me what happened in here?!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash impatiently.

“One of them Shadowbolts brought down the whole scaffolding on top of us,” explained Applejack. She was silently thankful that she had managed to reattach all of her body parts before that scaffolding had come down on her and the others.

Sunset turned to Rainbow and asked, “What happened to Twilight? I saw you and Pinkie go after her.”

Rainbow sighed in frustration and begrudgingly replied, “We lost sight of her in the tunnels.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but before she could even get a single word out, the entire cavern began to shake. The tremor lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough to make all six girls concerned.

“What was that?” asked Rarity worriedly.

A few seconds of silence passed. Then a few odd creatures emerged from the rail line tunnel. These creatures appeared to be boulders with arms, stubby legs, glowing eyes, and a huge mouth. These creatures growled as they entered the cavern.

“What are those things?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I think those are rock monsters,” replied Sunset. “They must be after Power Crystals.”

“Except there ain’t none in here,” noted Applejack. “The Shadowbolts took ‘em all away!”

“Does anyone know how dangerous a hungry rock monster is?” asked Pinkie.

No one had an answer to that, and they feared they were all about to get one as the rock monsters, after tossing away some of the debris, set their sights on the six girls.

However, just as the rock monsters began their approach, some bright lights began to emerge from the entrance tunnel, followed by the low rumble of a large engine. Just seconds later, a large vehicle with big knobby wheels and a large drill on the front charged into the cavern, drove through the rock monsters — sending them flying away like a set of bowling pins — and then came to a screeching halt next to the girls.

Despite the glare from the bright lights, Pinkie was able to see who was operating that vehicle. “It’s Maud!” she exclaimed excitedly.

“I told you to watch out for rock monsters,” said Maud Pie.

“What are you doing here?” asked Sunset.

“I did say I would give you a ride back,” replied Maud. “Now hop in.”

None of the six girls hesitated to hop into the rear empty space of the Thunder Driller. As soon as everyone was ready to go, not only had the present rock monsters gotten back on their feet, but also a few more had charged into the cavern through the rail line tunnel.

“Oh look, more rock monsters,” muttered Maud. She powered up the drill and started driving around the cavern, flinging away every rock monster in her path with the rapidly spinning drill.

Once all of the rock monsters in the cavern were down, Maud drove back to the entrance tunnel. She stopped the vehicle just within the tunnel and pulled out a destructa-brick. She set the timer and blast size, activated the bomb, then tossed it behind the vehicle and immediately drove up through the tunnel.

Seconds later, the explosive detonated, blasting the tunnel entrance and causing it to collapse. The resulting cave-in cascaded through the entire tunnel, but Maud was able to drive the driller faster than the rate of collapse.

Finally, the Thunder Driller zoomed out of the tunnel and quickly stopped back inside the central mining cavern, just as the last portion of the tunnel collapsed. As the end of the tunnel caved-in, a plume of dust was suddenly blasted right at the parked vehicle, causing the unfortunate passengers to start coughing.

Once the cloud of dust eventually cleared, everyone looked at each other and saw that, despite being totally coated in dust, they were all safe.

Rarity removed her hands from her face — ensuring that it was the only part of her body with no dust on it — and remarked, “And that is precisely why I designed these uniforms to be strictly utilitarian. What’s the point of making something fabulous when it will inevitably end up completely covered in dust?”

Rainbow Dash glanced back at the collapsed tunnel, then turned to Maud and asked, “Why did you do that?”

“To keep the rock monsters from getting into this mine and destroying it again,” replied Maud while gesturing to all of the newly rebuilt mining structures in the cavern. “I can always drill a new tunnel to that site, once the other miners are ready to deal with the rock monsters.”

“Just as well,” stated Sunset Shimmer with disappointment as she stared at the collapsed tunnel. “I’m afraid the Shadowbolts got away with the Powers Crystals, and since we’re all back together and relatively okay, there’s nothing left for us to do here.” She turned to Maud. “Take us back up to the surface. Our mission is over.”

Maud nodded and drove the Thunder Driller up through the mine entrance tunnel. The members of the Canterlot City LEGO Team were ashamed that their first confrontation with a group of Shadowbolt agents had ended in failure. The fact that one of those agents was Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World only made them feel even worse.

Even after everything they had just been through here in the Mining Region, the Canterlot girls had a feeling that their confrontations against Twilight’s group of Shadowbolt agents were only just beginning.

Author's Note

Wow, this turned out to be quite a very long chapter. And based on how much I've got planned for some of the later chapters, this may not be the last one of such length. Anyway, for this chapter, I had decided to do a bit of research on the Power Miners Lego theme from 2009, so even though the initial idea came from the opening scene of the Clutch Powers movie, I was able to somewhat accurately mention some of the actual sets that came out, like the Thunder Driller. For those of you who have seen the Lego Movie, I'm sure you can easily guess which song Lemon Zest was listening to. Also, as I've been glancing back at my previous stories to ensure I don't accidentally add things that conflict with the older content, I couldn't help but get the feeling that I've not been coming up with bits of quirky humor as frequently as I used to. Lego is famous for that kind of humor, and since this story has a comedy tag for a reason, I hope that I'm still delivering well on that.

Skirmish at Sea

Chapter 5
Skirmish at Sea

Once again, Twilight had placed her research project’s primary device on the desk of her research lab and prepared to make sense of the sample she had just collected. Or at least, try to. As she picked up a new scanning gadget, she muttered, “This scanner is more than twice as robust as the ones I used last time, so if this doesn’t work, then nothing will.”

She held the scanner over her device and began recording data. The gadget warbled lightly and emitted a soft blue light as it scanned the device. Twilight smiled, convinced that she would now finally have the answers she was seeking. Unfortunately, within only a few seconds, the gadget began to spark and sizzle, and as soon as she realized something was wrong, the gadget suddenly ignited.

Twilight yelped and immediately tossed the flaming gadget to the floor. She then rushed over to grab the nearby fire extinguisher and used it to put out the small fire. Once she was sure the fire was gone, she stared down at the charred remnants of that scanner, then glanced over at her device. That reaction was even more violent than my previous attempts, and this scanner was supposed to be tough enough to avoid that kind of failure, thought Twilight in confusion. It could be the result of now having two samples instead of one. If that’s the case, then whatever kind of energy I’ve got stored inside this thing must be having some sort of exponential effect with increased quantity.

Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door open and saw Spike standing in the doorway with a worried look on his face. “Are you okay, Twilight?” he asked. “I heard you yell.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and sarcastically replied, “Oh, just proving once again why a fire extinguisher is such an essential tool to keep within easy reach in a research lab.” She set down the fire extinguisher and turned back to her device as she more seriously continued, “I just don’t understand it, Spike. I’ve successfully collected a second sample, but it seems to have made it even harder for me to try recording any data.” She paused for a moment. “Well, on a more positive note, the samples contained within the device seem to be stable. At least, for now.”

It was right at that moment when the familiar “Incoming Call” alert from Cinch appeared on the small display screen near the door. Twilight sighed and shook her head. As she placed her device back inside the desk drawer, she muttered, “I’d better take this call before the others start asking.” As she left the room, she added, “After all, this is my home base, so taking these calls should be my responsibility.” She walked down the hallway, entered the communication room, switched on the soundproof feature she had built into the walls of this room, then sat down in her seat and tapped the “Accept” button.

“Greetings, Twilight Sparkle,” greeted Cinch on the video screen. “Nicely done on another successful mission with those Power Crystals. However, it seems that you and the others have had a few issues amongst yourselves.”

“My team has been together for only a few hours now, Miss Cinch,” explained Twilight. “I think it’s excusable that we’re not yet familiar enough with each other to make the smartest of decisions.”

“Such as trying to complete the mission without any of your fellow teammates?” questioned Cinch.

Twilight’s eyes widened a little. “I didn’t specify that in my report,” she muttered.

“All involved agents are required to submit a report following the end of a mission, including your young assistant,” answered Cinch.

Twilight grumbled something under her breath, then spoke up, “Look, Miss Cinch, I know you don’t agree with some of my preferences, but the fact remains that this mission was a success.”

“You may have been successful this time,” responded Cinch, “but if you don’t solve these issues soon, they will eventually escalate to the point where your missions will start ending in failure. And if there’s one thing I will not tolerate, it’s failure of a mission.”

Twilight sighed and rubbed her eyes. She readjusted her glasses and said, “I can’t make any promises, but I will try my best to make things work on future missions.”

Cinch rested her arms on her desk and said, “Then I suppose that, for now, I have no choice but to trust your word, Twilight. I can only hope that you will not disappoint me.” She leaned back in her chair and continued, “Now then, I will say that I was rather surprised by just how quickly the LEGO Team’s Canterlot branch was able to respond to your activity in the Mining Region.”

“Believe me, so was I,” said Twilight with a nod of agreement. “Even though they knew I existed, I thought for sure they would’ve focused on searching for me in Canterlot City or even the Castle Region. The fact that they found us in that specific cavern, let alone that we were working in the Mining Region, is just mind-boggling.”

“Not unless someone specifically told them where you and your team were operating,” Cinch pointed out.

Twilight sat up and raised an eyebrow. She slowly asked, “Miss Cinch… are you implying there might be a traitor on my team?”

“It is a possibility we cannot ignore,” replied Cinch with a small shrug. “And to prove whether or not that’s true, I’ve got a new mission for you and your team. You are to travel to the sunken region of Atlantis and recover the treasure that the Aqua Raiders had failed to retrieve many years ago. Obviously, you are going to need a ship to get there, and a submarine to descend to those depths. You are to tell your teammates that one of our fellow agents will search for a suitable vessel in the coastal City Region of Baltimare and arrange to have it head out to the site of Atlantis, at which point you will board the ship through the Jump-Gate. However, what will actually happen — and what you must not tell anyone under any circumstances — is that this agent will instead be on the lookout for the Canterlot City LEGO Team. If those girls are not only seen in the area but also try to board a vessel bound for the Atlantis Region, then we will know with absolute certainty that someone on your team is providing information to our enemy. If that turns out to be the case, then you must proceed with the mission to avoid alerting the traitor that we’re on to her, despite the fact that your team will inevitably have to confront that particular LEGO Team for a second time today.”

Cinch paused for a moment before continuing. “I personally hope that my hunch is wrong, but if it does turn out to be true, then I want you keep a close eye on your teammates and be very careful of what information you share with them. Until we can determine which one of them is the traitor, then you must assume that it is any of your new teammates. It will be quite a shame if I have to deal with one of my finest agents, but such treachery will not go unpunished.” She pounded her desk as she firmly spoke that final statement.

Twilight nodded and said, “Understood, Miss Cinch. I will do as you’ve requested.”

“Good,” responded Cinch with a nod and a smile. “Then I wish you the best of luck on your mission. Farewell.” Cinch then ended the call and shut off the connection.

Once the call was over, Twilight took a moment to gather her thoughts. Cinch had certainly placed a lot of trust in those five agents to have them work with her as a team, so it was hard to believe that one of them could be a traitor. Still, she had to admit that Cinch was right, and they first needed to confirm if there really was a traitor on the team before any further action could be taken.

Eventually, Twilight got up out of the seat and left the communication room. The first step for this investigation was to tell her teammates about the next mission, but only the parts that Cinch wanted her to tell them. If her fears were true, then it would only be a matter of time before she would receive word from an agent in Baltimare.

“I must say, out of all the upgrades Mr. Wrench installed on this spaceship, by far my favorite would definitely have to be that shower with running hot water,” remarked Rarity contently as she wiped a small cloth over her detached hair piece. Once she was satisfied that her coiffure part had been thoroughly cleaned and dried, she carefully returned it back to its proper place atop her head.

After leaving the mine, the six girls of Canterlot’s LEGO Team had returned to the spaceship, washed off all the dust that had accumulated on them, and changed back to their regular clothes. Now they were all gathered in the control room of the ship’s upper deck and ready to discuss their next move.

“So where do we go from here?” asked Applejack.

“I think it’s pretty obvious,” replied Rainbow Dash. “We gotta keep going after Twilight and those other Shadowbolt agents, find out what their evil plan is, and put a stop to it!”

“But how?” asked Fluttershy. “All we know is that they needed a lot of those Power Crystals. We don’t even know where they went after they left the mine.”

Rainbow eyed her shy friend suspiciously. “Are you really sure you don’t know where they went?”

“Rainbow Dash!” scolded Rarity. “Whatever are you trying to imply?”

“When Pinkie and I returned to the cavern,” explained Rainbow, “we saw Fluttershy lying on top of the pile, while the rest of you were buried under it. That meant that whatever brought you guys down did not affect her. Something else happened to take her out.” She narrowed her eyes at Fluttershy and asked, “So what really happened in there?”

Fluttershy hesitated as everyone’s eyes soon turned towards her. She gulped and nervously replied, “W-w-well… I was standing far enough away to avoid getting hit when that scaffolding came down on top of everyone — both our side and theirs. I-I-I wasn’t sure what to do, but then Twilight came back into the cavern and started pulling her teammates out from under that pile.” Fluttershy paused. “I… I guess I just wanted to make sure no one was hurt, so I… I-I kind of helped her rescue the rest of her teammates.”

“What?!” exclaimed Applejack in disbelief. “Ya mean ya let ‘em get away?! An’ then ya didn’t even bother to pull us free?!”

“I was going to help you girls next,” continued Fluttershy. “But I just happened to pony up right after I had finished helping Twilight.”

Sunset’s eyes widened as she asked, “You just ponied up right then and there? Not with any creative ideas like Applejack did earlier?”

“Not at all,” replied Fluttershy. “All I did was make sure no one was hurt, regardless of whose side they were on.”

“Okay, so ya ponied up after helpin’ the bad guys get away,” grumbled Applejack. “What kept ya from helpin’ the rest of us?”

Fluttershy nervously continued, “Well… right after I ponied up, I was just about to start helping you. But then… something very strange happened.”

Pinkie raised an eyebrow and asked, “What kind of strange?”

“I don’t know how to describe it,” replied Fluttershy. “It… it kind of felt like my Equestrian magic was just… draining right out of me all of a sudden.”

All of the other girls, including the ones who hadn’t approved of what Fluttershy did, suddenly looked at her in astonishment.

“Not only did my, um, ‘pony up’ parts vanish,” continued Fluttershy, “but I also suddenly felt so weak that I just collapsed on top of the pile.”

Silence fell within the spaceship. Although some still felt upset that Fluttershy had helped the Shadowbolts escape, none of them could deny just how terrible Fluttershy’s unfortunate experience must have been like. Even worse, most of them had no idea how such a thing might have happened.

Sunset had a hunch she knew what might have caused that strange incident. “Was Twilight doing anything at the moment?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” replied Fluttershy with a sad shake of her head. “I was facing away from her at the moment it happened.”

Sunset placed a hand on her chin as a thought came to her. Just seconds later, she suddenly rushed back towards the crew quarters, grabbed three random assembled objects, and then smashed them all to pieces on the floor. Before anyone could question her, she quickly turned back to Fluttershy and requested, “Fluttershy, try to build something out of these pieces. I don’t care what you build, I just want you to get creative and try to pony up again.”

Fluttershy was very confused by Sunset’s abrupt and rather peculiar request, but she silently nodded in agreement and approached the piles of Lego parts. She picked up a few pieces and tried to visualize something she could build. However, no matter how much she stared at each of the pieces, nothing seemed to come to mind. As the seconds ticked by, each more tense and worrying than the last, she eventually just dropped the parts in her hands and practically whispered as she hesitantly confessed, “I… I can’t do it.”

As poor Fluttershy began to tear up, Sunset solemnly explained, “Just as I feared. Our Master Builder talents appear to share some kind of special link to our Equestrian magic. That means that if our magic were to be somehow taken away from us, our Master Builder talents would go with them, leaving us incapable of building anything without the aid of an instruction book.”

As Rarity and Pinkie tried to comfort a now sobbing Fluttershy, Applejack turned to Sunset and asked, “What makes ya so sure of that?”

Sunset explained, “I think that what happened to Fluttershy in the mine is just like what happened to me in the park last night. And both of those incidents share only one thing in common.” She clenched her fists and furrowed her brow. “This world’s Twilight Sparkle was standing nearby. I don’t know how she’s doing it or why, but she’s doing something to take away our Equestrian magic.”

Rainbow sighed and grumbled, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. That is definitely not Princess Twilight. The Twilight we all know and love would never try to hurt us in any way. This world’s Twilight, on the other hand, is clearly evil.”

“Whoa there, Rainbow,” said Applejack cautiously. “Let’s not jump to conclusions on a matter as serious as this.”

“She’s working for the Shadowbolts!” argued Rainbow. “I don’t know about you, but that automatically qualifies her as a bad guy in my book.”

“Regardless,” stated Rarity, “I believe that we should at least inform Celestia about this latest development.”

“Rarity’s right,” said Sunset with a nod. She walked forward toward the front of the control room and stood in front of the video screen on the main dashboard. She tapped a nearby button, bringing up the faces of Celestia and Luna on the small screen.

“Ah, Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia greeted warmly from the other end of the live video link. “I was just about to contact you. How have things been in the Mining Region?”

As the rest of her friends gathered around, Sunset shook her head and sadly replied, “Not very good. The Shadowbolts got away with the Power Crystals. Even worse, we’ve just realized that Twilight is somehow able to take away our Equestrian magic, which in turn takes away our Master Builder talents as well. Only Fluttershy and I have been affected so far, but it’s very clear that we’re gonna have to be very careful around them, from now on.”

“That’s quite a shame,” acknowledged Celestia solemnly. “But still, some progress has been made, not only thanks to you, but also to our researchers.”

“Luna Playwell?” Pinkie Pie suddenly asked. “What are you still doing in Canterlot City?”

“I have decided to extend my stay, in order to better provide my assistance to you in your struggle,” replied Luna. “Speaking of which, my sister is right in that our researchers have already made some significant discoveries. Specifically in regards to those other Shadowbolt agents that are now working with Twilight.”

“Indeed,” said Celestia with a nod. “Thanks to those names so kindly provided to us by Princess Cadance, we have successfully dug up all existing records on those five girls and can now share with you information that might help you be better prepared on how to deal with each of them.”

Sunset smiled and responded, “That would be very great to hear. Right now, all we know about them is that they are all Master Builders and have been highly trained to be very excellent in certain ways.”

“Yeah, it would totally help us out to know who we’re really up against,” agreed Rainbow Dash.

“Not to mention it would certainly be nice to be able to identify each of them by a name other than just some Shadowbolt agent,” added Rarity.

“Very well then,” stated Luna as she tapped some buttons off-screen.

The first portrait that came up was of a girl with turquoise skin and a short light violet hair piece.

“Sunny Flare,” explained Celestia. “She was once a very charismatic politician. Not long after she graduated from university with high honors just a few years ago, she decided to run for mayor of her home City Region. She managed to become a very popular candidate and could easily have won and thus become the youngest mayor to ever serve in any City Region. However, just days before the election, a massive scandal broke out. Private recordings had been leaked, revealing that she didn’t really care at all about the citizens of that city, and had intended to fully abuse all of the privileges she would receive with the office. Needless to say, she lost that election in a landslide, and completely disappeared the following day.”

“And that was only a few years ago?” asked Sunset in confusion. “She told me she had ten years’ worth of training as a Shadowbolt Agent.”

“Interesting,” remarked Luna. “Either she took some very intensive training within a short period of time, or has had some connection to the Shadowbolts long before she officially disappeared.”

“Or maybe she was just lying to make herself seem like she’s better than she actually is,” speculated Rainbow Dash. “Let’s face it, politicians do that all the time.”

“But considering how astonishingly acrobatic she appeared to be, I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Rarity pointed out.

The next portrait on the video screen showed a girl with light nougat skin and a short blue hair piece with a pair of goggles resting on her forehead.

“Indigo Zap,” continued Celestia. “You are already familiar with her cousin, Lightning Dust, and she is just as reckless and fearsome, if not more so. While Lightning was accepted by the Wonderbolts Space Fleet before being kicked out soon after, Indigo’s application was completely rejected. More than once, in fact. Even though she claimed to be able to build a spaceship out of anything, she seemed to have no care about where she got those parts from, such as an office building with people still inside. Not to mention, her habit of always placing all kinds of destructive and often lethal weaponry on all of her spaceships was never acceptable to the Wonderbolts. She was officially declared missing a few years ago after her third application was rejected without even a second thought.”

“If she really is that reckless,” noted Sunset, “I’m surprised that she was actually made part of any team, let alone the Shadowbolts.”

“Though Ah guess that explains why she actually thought tearin’ down the whole scaffolding was even a good idea,” Applejack pointed out. “That girl may be though, but she sure ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed, if ya know what Ah mean.”

The next portrait was of a girl with light yellow skin and a rose hair piece that was tied back in a long ponytail.

“Sour Sweet,” continued Celestia. “Ever since the day she was created, she has had to live with a rare condition called Two-Face Syndrome. This preexisting condition gives her two faces on opposite sides of her head, each with polar opposite personalities, and control frequently switches back and forth between the two, depending on which one is facing forward. As her name implies, one face is perpetually sweet, while the other is perpetually sour. As a result of this condition, she was never able to hold a steady job or maintain a stable lifestyle, very rarely for more than a single month. The fact that she officially disappeared a few years ago suggests that working with the Shadowbolts may have finally given her that sense of stability she always wanted.”

“I’ve heard of that condition,” remarked Pinkie Pie, “though I never thought I’d actually get to meet someone with it.”

“I’m just glad it’s a very rare condition,” said Fluttershy. “I found her sour face to be really scary.”

The next portrait that came up on the video screen showed a girl with pale violet skin with a white and light blue hair piece that was tied back into two long pigtails and wore red-rimmed glasses.

“Sugarcoat,” continued Celestia. “She used to work as a rather brilliant detective in one of the City Regions, and as her name once implied, she used to have a habit of trying to say nice things to everyone she spoke with, even if it meant twisting the truth a bit. A few years ago, she tried to ease some tensions between two rival gangs, but it all spectacularly backfired. Creation Sparks were lost on both sides of the conflict, and Sugarcoat was forced to turn in her badge. She disappeared the following day, though based on the occasional sightings since then, it seems her habit has now made a complete reversal. Now, instead of speaking nicely to the point of lying, she instead speaks nothing but the absolute truth, regardless of whether or not people appreciate it.”

“How tragic,” muttered Rarity. “That unfortunate event must have completely traumatized her.”

“Ah reckon a good reason why she joined the Shadowbolts was ‘cause most people wouldn’t wanna put up with someone that blunt,” said Applejack. “Honesty may be mah specialty, be even Ah know when not to take it too far.”

The final portrait that came up was of a girl with pink skin with a long bright green and yellow hair piece and wore a pair of magenta headphones.

“Lemon Zest,” continued Celestia. “After failing numerous times to form her own rock band, she instead decided to organize rock concerts. She did manage some modest success at first, but when her big chance finally came with a popular battle of the bands just a few years ago, it was a complete disaster. A lot of poor planning left spectators and performers very frustrated, and when her poor choice of opening comments insulted practically everyone, a large riot broke out, forcing her to flee. It took local police hours to bring the crowds under control, and she was officially reported as missing the following day.”

“Yeah, that girl really doesn’t seem to think things through,” remarked Rainbow Dash.

“At least she still got to keep her obsession for loud music,” Pinkie Pie pointed out.

The video screen returned to showing Celestia and Luna. “Of course, much of this information applies to before they joined the Shadowbolts,” said Luna. “We do not have any knowledge regarding their current skills and talents, or what specific activities they may have done as Shadowbolt agents.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely not a whole lot to go on,” said Sunset. “I’m not even sure which one of them might be the Informant.”

“Ah, yes, the Informant,” said Celestia with a nod of understanding. “Princess Cadance told us about how she acquired those names, and I think we can all agree just how fortunate we are to have a member of the Shadowbolts secretly assisting us.”

“As we speak, our researchers are already discussing which of these five girls is most likely the Informant,” added Luna. “However, chances of getting any answers on that subject are very slim, as each of them all have legitimate reasons for why they may wish to help us.”

“Personally, I don’t care who it is,” said Sunset. “As long as the Informant continues to help us, then that’s good enough for me.” Sunset then headed back to the crew quarters as she added, “Speaking of which, I’d better check to see if she sent us any new messages.”

Sunset searched through a few things and retrieved the messaging tablet they had received back at the Crystal Castle. As she walked back to the front of the control room, she glanced down at the screen of that tablet and said, “Well, nothing new at the moment.” She was about to continue, but suddenly paused as something came up on the screen. “Oh, wait, we just got a new message right now.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” asked Rainbow Dash eagerly. “Read it to us.”

Sunset opened the message and read it aloud to her teammates and to Celestia and Luna.

Greetings, LEGO Team of Canterlot City.

Twilight Sparkle has just told us about our next mission, assigned to us by Miss Cinch. We must go to the Atlantis Region to retrieve the treasure that the Aqua Raiders had failed to collect. Obviously, we will need a ship to get there and a submarine to dive down to the site, so another Shadowbolt agent is currently searching for a proper vessel in the city of Baltimare. Until then, there is nothing we can do but wait for confirmation from this agent, so this could be an opportunity for you to get ahead of us. Good luck to all of you.

From, The Informant.

“Ah guess we don’t need to ask what we’re doin’ next,” remarked Applejack.

“Agreed,” said Rarity with a nod. “The real question right now is simply how we are going to reach the Atlantis Region.”

“That shouldn’t be much of a problem,” said Celestia. “You will need to fly your spaceship over to Baltimare and—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow Dash suddenly argued. “We can’t go there! That’s where that other Shadowbolt agent is looking around! If we’re seen in the same city, then they’ll know that something is up.”

“I understand your concerns, Rainbow Dash,” replied Celestia, “but I’m afraid you girls have no choice but to take that risk. Baltimare is by far the closest City Region to the Atlantis Region. In addition, the ideal vessel to take you there happens to be currently docked in Baltimare.”

“Then we’d better hurry and board that vessel before the Shadowbolts do,” said Sunset as she quickly put away the messaging tablet and buckled herself into her seat.

“I can call the owners of that vessel and tell them to permit only the six of you aboard, as well as where they need to bring you,” said Luna. “That should guarantee you access to the Atlantis Region, while also denying the Shadowbolts of one of their best options.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Applejack as she also buckled herself into her seat, with the rest of the team soon following.

“We’ll call you back in a few minutes, once we can confirm that the vessel is ready to assist you,” stated Celestia.

“Thanks for helping us out,” said Rainbow Dash. “See ya soon!” She switched off the video screen, then began to power up the spaceship, ready to take another very short trip to another region of the Lego World.

Less than an hour after leaving the Mining Region, the six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team now found themselves walking along the docks of the coastal city of Baltimare. As soon as their spaceship had landed just outside the city, they packed up everything they would likely need, then — after receiving the confirmation call from Celestia — headed into the city. Now all they had to do was find their ship and board it before anyone found out they were there.

“Let’s try to be quick with this, girls,” reminded Sunset to her friends as they each hauled some luggage with them along the docks. “The sooner we’re out to sea, the better.”

“Eeyup,” agreed Applejack. “No doubt about it.”

Rarity paused to set down the one small suitcase she was carrying. As she took that short moment to rest, she smiled at Fluttershy and said, “Thank you for helping me carry some of my necessities, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, it’s no problem, Rarity,” replied Fluttershy with a shaky smile as she struggled to carry over half a dozen large and heavy suitcases in her arms. “Really, it isn’t.” It was right at that moment that her arms suddenly came off, allowing the stack of suitcases to crash to the ground and collapse into a pile. As everyone turned to the now armless Fluttershy, she blushed and quietly asked, “Um… a little help, please?”

As she walked over to help Fluttershy, Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes as she grumbled, “This is why we’re always tellin’ ya to never overpack. All it ever does is slow us down.”

Rarity turned her head away and folded her arms as she scoffed and rebuked, “You could make the same argument about Pinkie Pie, and I have not once ever heard anyone complain about her packing habits.”

“That’s because it’s Pinkie Pie,” rebuffed Rainbow Dash as she rolled her eyes. “Her bags are practically a bottomless pit.”

While everyone had stopped, Pinkie Pie had decided to double-check the contents of her single suitcase by pulling out and putting back in various items like a rubber chicken, a tub of strawberry ice cream, a kitchen oven, her favorite party cannon, and even an alligator — which she quickly tossed away into the water off the dock when it started chomping madly near her face.

Rarity kept her head turned away as she reopened her eyes, which made her catch a glimpse of a face that was rather familiar to her. She unfolded her arms as she lightly gasped and muttered, “Is that who I think it is?”

Right next to where the team had stopped was a café along the dock, and sitting at one of the tables outside was someone holding a small drink. This minifig had light brown skin, a short blonde hair piece, wore an olive green sweater, navy blue pants, and had a pair of white-rimmed glasses on his face.

Rarity’s expression brightened as she gasped again and excitedly said, “It is! It’s Trenderhoof! The famous travel writer!”

Rarity’s excited exclamation caught Trenderhoof’s attention. He adjusted his glasses and remarked, “Well I’ll be. It’s the girls from Canterlot City’s branch of the LEGO Team.” He smiled. “I must say, it is quite the honor to finally meet the six of you in person. Word of your heroic deeds has spread far and wide across the Lego World and beyond.”

Rarity was practically starry eyed as she rushed over to Trenderhoof’s table and gushed, “But not as much of an honor it is to meet you in person!” She couldn’t resist letting out a faint squeal before she excitedly continued, “I’ve read all of your writings and tried all of your recommendations. Personally, I find it to be quite a shame that, aside from publishing your most recent works, you’ve been making yourself rather elusive.”

“Ah, yes, that little detail,” noted Trenderhoof. He closed his eyes as he casually explained, “Over the last few years, I have decided to take a more… undercover approach to my travels. You see, I have come to realize that it is simply impossible for me to enjoy the authentic atmosphere of any town or city when I have obsessive fangirls constantly breathing down my neck.”

His eyes suddenly snapped open as he felt a warm breeze on the back of his neck. Trenderhoof glanced back and saw Rarity apparently inhaling his scent before letting out a love-struck sigh. He furrowed his brow as he loudly cleared his throat.

Rarity finally snapped out of her daydream and blushed when she realized she was probably invading his personal space. With a wide guilty smile, she took one big step back without saying a word.

Meanwhile, Applejack had not only helped Fluttershy reattach her arms, but had also decided to carry all of the heavy luggage herself. “Alright, Ah got everythin’ ready!” she called over to Rarity. “Now let’s get a move on!”

Trenderhoof glanced over at the rest of the team and asked, “I take it you girls are here on another special mission for the LEGO Team, correct?”

“Why, most certainly indeed,” replied Rarity with a smile and a nod.

“And we really need to get going,” added Sunset irritably. “We have to reach the Atlantis Region before the Shadowbolts do!”

“Oh, so you’re here to stop some Shadowbolt agents,” noted Trenderhoof. He turned back to Rarity and asked, “Tell me, Miss Rarity, how does your team plan on reaching the sunken region of Atlantis?”

“Celestia Playwell was able to arrange access for us to an ideal vessel,” explained Rarity. “We will be heading out to sea aboard the Deep Sea Explorer, which includes two large submersibles located on the main deck.”

“C’mon, Rarity! We’re wasting time here!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she and the rest of the team began to continue walking along the docks.

Rarity turned back to Trenderhoof and apologetically said, “I’m terribly sorry that I can’t stay any longer and enjoy a good conversation with you. I sincerely wish that we could have more time together, but I must follow my obligation to the team.”

“I completely understand, Miss Rarity,” replied Trenderhoof. “Go ahead and do what you must do. I shall be sure to make a note of our brief meeting in one of my future writings.”

Rarity quietly squealed in giddiness at the promise of being mentioned in one of Trenderhoof’s future writings. As excited as she was, she still understood that she had to go with the team, so she retrieved her one remaining suitcase and followed her friends, but not without a wave goodbye to the travel writer she adored so much.

After a few more minutes of walking, the team finally arrived at the docked vessel Deep Sea Explorer. It was a rather large ship with two submarines resting on the main deck. These subs were big enough that just one of them could hold the entire team of six. As they climbed up the ramp onto the vessel, one of the crewmembers was there to greet them and guide them to where they could rest for the duration of the voyage.

“How long will it take for us to get there?” asked Sunset Shimmer as she watched some of the other crewmembers casting off the lines that tied the vessel to the dock.

“It should be approximately two hours,” replied their guide.

“Ah guess this means we now gotta wait a while,” muttered Applejack.

“What do you girls wanna do for the next two hours?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“Well, I did happen to design far more outfits for us than just those mining uniforms,” replied Rarity with a smile. “Since we never really know which regions we could be visiting on any of our missions, I had decided to make us plenty of options. And since I decided to bring many of them along with us, I think this would make an excellent opportunity for us to try them all on!”

As the team headed inside the vessel, Rainbow Dash reluctantly said, “As long as you’ve got some stuff for some of the cooler themes… I guess I might be okay with that.”

Meanwhile, back at the café, Trenderhoof silently watched as the Deep Sea Explorer pulled away from the dock and began its voyage out to sea. With a serious expression on his face, he finished the last of his drink before he pulled out his phone and began typing a text message.

Back at Twilight’s secret home base, Twilight was passing the time in her research lab by working on a new type of scanner for her research project. Although she had already received the message about the Canterlot girls heading out to the Atlantis Region, she had decided to withhold the news from her team until enough time had passed for the vessel to arrive at the site. Since they would be confronting the LEGO Team again, they would need to strike hard and fast to have any chance of retrieving the treasure.

Of course, Twilight was also well aware that the text from agent Trenderhoof meant more than just setting their next mission into motion. It also confirmed Cinch’s suspicion that one of Twilight’s new teammates was secretly supplying information to their enemies, the LEGO Team. This didn’t bother her personally as a team leader — she still preferred to work alone, anyway — but rather she was frustrated that she knew so little about any of her new teammates that she just couldn’t figure out which one of them was the possible traitor. But she did know that she couldn’t just start asking questions, because then the traitor would know that their actions were not going unnoticed and would then make efforts to make themself even harder to identify. Just like with her current research project, she would have to keep this information completely to herself.

As Twilight reached a good stopping point on her work, she glanced over at a digital timer she had set up and saw that it was now only a few seconds away from zero. Once the timer hit zero and started flashing on and off, Twilight rolled her swivel chair over to a nearby computer. On the screen was a live image from a GPS satellite showing that the Deep Sea Explorer was now very close to the site of Atlantis, but was still moving toward it, making this the ideal moment for her team to board that vessel.

Not one to pass up any opportunities, Twilight made sure to bring her sample collecting device with her before she left her research lab and headed down the hallway and into the gateway room, where her teammates were waiting.

In the gateway room, Sunny Flare was reading something on one of her wrist-mounted tablets, Indigo Zap was working out on a punching bag, Lemon Zest was listening to some music on her headphones — as usual — and Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet were playing a game of chess.

Sugarcoat moved one of her pieces and said, “Checkmate.”

Sour Sweet’s head spun around to expose her sour face before she furiously threw the table aside and scattered the pieces all over the floor. “I hate this game,” she grumbled.

“Okay, everyone!” Twilight called out to all of her teammates. “I just got the message from our agent in Baltimare. Our vessel will be the Deep Sea Explorer, and he has already arranged to have it sent out to sea and should be arriving on the site of Atlantis right about now, so let’s get ready to move out.”

“Finally,” grumbled Sour Sweet as she and the others stopped what they were doing and gathered around the Jump-Gate.

While the rest of the team were wearing their standard solid black hooded jumpsuits, Twilight was still in her research lab outfit, so as she walked over to the changing rooms, she added, “I’ve taken the liberty to pack up everything we might need for this mission, so feel free to take a look at what we’ll have while I go change into something more appropriate for the mission.”

As Twilight entered one of the changing rooms, the five other Shadowbolt agents started looking inside some of the boxes that had been left near the Jump-Gate. Many of them contained scuba gear and other parts for underwater exploration, which made sense for a trip to the Atlantis Region. However, there was one box that contained something rather unexpected, and when Indigo Zap peeked inside, she couldn’t help but smile and remark, “Nice!”

Sugarcoat glanced over Indigo’s shoulder and raised an eyebrow. She turned to the changing rooms and asked, “There’s something you’re not telling us, is there?”

Even though Twilight didn’t see what they had found, she had a good feeling she knew what they were referring to. She also knew that she had to word her response carefully to avoid tipping off the traitor that she was aware of their actions. “Let’s just call it insurance,” she replied. “We all saw how quickly the LEGO Team was able to find us in the mine, and there’s a good possibility they may do that again.”

The rest of the team paused and glanced at each other. It seemed a little preposterous to them that the LEGO Team could find them on a vessel out in the middle of the ocean, but after how terribly things had went in the mine earlier that day, they silently agreed that it was probably better to not take any chances.

Meanwhile, on board the Deep Sea Explorer, the six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team had gathered in one of the empty rooms within the vessel, where Rarity had pulled out racks holding dozens and dozens of vastly different outfits.

For the last two hours, Rarity had been excitedly rushing back and forth between each of her friends and helping them into yet another random outfit. Right now, Rainbow Dash was wearing an imperial navy costume complete with epaulets and an admiral’s hat, Pinkie Pie was wearing a chicken suit, Fluttershy was fully dressed up in a ninja costume, Sunset Shimmer was wearing a firefighter’s uniform and helmet, and Applejack was dressed up as a baseball player with a bat and glove in each hand and a cap on her head.

As Rarity picked a surgeon’s outfit and an old western cavalry uniform off another rack, Applejack turned to her and asked, “Uh, Rarity, these outfits are great, but why would ya put so much time an’ effort into clothes we might not even wear? You’re just gonna exhaust yourself.”

Rarity just scoffed as she put those outfits back on the rack and enthusiastically replied, “Don’t be silly, darling! Putting effort into clothes is what I live for, and spending time on my friends fills me with energy!” With that excited statement, Rarity suddenly began to glow and levitated off the floor as she ponied up. She gained pony ears on her head, a tail-like extension to the back of her head, and a unicorn horn on her forehead.

The other girls in the room all gasped and awed — except for Pinkie Pie who excitedly clucked like a chicken — as they witnessed Rarity’s sudden and rather unexpected pony up.

“And magic, too, I guess,” muttered Sunset before she flipped down the visor on her helmet.

For a moment, Rarity just remained levitating in the middle of the room with a smile on her face. But that smile soon faded as she suddenly felt herself begin to weaken. As she slowly dropped back to the ground and her pony parts faded away, she said with exhaustion, “Actually, Applejack, now that you mention it, I suppose I could use a tiny break.” She then slumped forward and landed on her hands and knees.

“See? Ah told ya,” said a concerned Applejack as she knelt down to help Rarity.

While the others looked worriedly at the fallen Rarity, Sunset suddenly noticed a wisp of purple energy — the same color as the glow that had briefly surrounded Rarity — float out of the room through the slightly opened doorway. She wasn’t exactly sure what that was, but she had a hunch.

“I’m not so sure if you’re correct, Applejack,” said Sunset. “It just all seemed to happen way too suddenly to be blamed on simple exhaustion.” She then focused on Rarity and asked, “Did you feel a sensation like your magic was being drained right out of you?”

As she leaned on Applejack’s shoulder for support, Rarity weakly replied, “Come to think of it… I suppose that does accurately describe what I felt not long after I ponied up.” She turned her gaze up to Sunset and asked, “Why do you ask?”

Sunset narrowed her eyes. “I think I know exactly what just happened,” she said with determination before she threw off the firefighter outfit.

Not far away in a hallway, the last of Rarity’s Equestrian magic swirled into Twilight’s opened device. “Ugh! This is not how I intended to start this mission!” grumbled Twilight as she struggled to force her device closed.

Twilight had almost closed her device when a spark of energy suddenly jumped out and struck the wall in front of her. She ignored her still opened device and gazed at the impact point on the wall. The spark swirled around for a brief moment before it suddenly started to expand, opening up a large hole in the wall. But this hole didn’t expose the room on the other side of the wall, but instead actually opened up to some kind of dark forest.

Twilight gasped in shock. Somehow, the samples she had collected so far were now able to open up some kind of dimensional rift. Realizing that connection, and not wanting to draw any unwanted attention, she immediately closed up her device. Once that was done, the rift quickly shrank until it had completely vanished.

As her device powered down on its own, Twilight glanced down at it and scratched the back of her head as she thought, Okay, that was new. I’m gonna have to look further into this later. She then tucked away her device and continued on her way down the hallway alone. Since she was currently wearing her black hooded jumpsuit with the hood up, all she had to do was be careful to not let anyone on the ship see her face.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!”

Twilight gasped and flinched, causing her hood to drop and expose her entire head. She glanced back and saw a very furious Sunset Shimmer standing at the end of the hallway. “H-h-how did you know it was me?” she shakily asked.

Sunset said nothing and simply raised an eyebrow.

Twilight glanced downward and realized that emblazoned on the back of her jumpsuit was a magenta six-pointed star surrounded by five smaller white stars — her Creative Mark. As she turned her gaze back over to Sunset, she chuckled nervously and uneasily said, “Yeah, you see, the funny thing is, I never really anticipated that I would ever wear this thing out on a mission, so, uh…” Finding herself at a loss for words, Twilight did the only thing she could always rely on to deal with a confrontation: run away as quickly as she could.

Sunset shook her head as she sighed and grumbled, “Why does she always have to run away?” She immediately chased after the fleeing Shadowbolt agent and shouted, “Get back here!”

Sunset chased after Twilight through the corridors of the vessel, following her around each corner she tried to disappear behind. After a full minute of running around, Sunset followed Twilight around another corner, but was quickly forced to stop as she suddenly encountered something much more dangerous.

“Don’t move,” said Sugarcoat as she swiftly raised a laser blaster.

Sunset stood perfectly still and held her hands up a little bit. There was no sign of where Twilight had run off to, and with that powerful rifle pointed right at her head, she had little choice but to comply with that demand. When the rest of her friends — all of whom were now back in their usual clothes — inevitably followed, they were also forced to stop in their tracks.

“If any one of you takes one more step closer, then there will be severe consequences,” warned Sugarcoat, tightening her grip on the laser blaster.

Not one to be intimidated so easily, Rainbow Dash quipped, “Oh yeah? Like what?” She then boldly took just a single step forward.

Sugarcoat remained silent for a second before she replied, “Then let’s hope for your sake you know how to dance.” She aimed the blaster at Rainbow’s feet and quickly fired off a few shots.

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

Rainbow Dash yelped as she was forced to jump around in place to avoid getting hit. Once the shots ceased, she exclaimed in panic, “Let’s get outta here!” She immediately turned away from the armed Shadowbolt and fled down the corridor, soon followed by the rest of her panicked teammates. They made their way around one corner, only to suddenly encounter another Shadowbolt agent armed with a laser blaster.

“Hasta la vista, losers!” shouted Indigo Zap excitedly before she aimed her blaster above everyone’s heads and fired off a few shots, taking out one of the lights with the last laser bolt.

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

The team was forced to turn back and go down another corridor. “This way!” shouted Pinkie Pie as she gestured ahead. They soon went around another corner, only to find an armed Shadowbolt in the way.

“Wrong way,” stated Sugarcoat.

Again, the team had no choice but to turn back and take a different path. They went around yet another corner, only to once again find their escape route blocked by an armed Shadowbolt.

“You’re going down, LEGO Team!” shouted Indigo with a wicked grin on her face.

Before long, the team found themselves in a three-way intersection with both of the opposite paths blocked by each of the two armed Shadowbolt agents, leaving the only option of escape down the third hallway to the side. They quickly ran down that corridor and decided to go left at the three-way intersection at the opposite end.

Indigo Zap was the first to arrive at the corridor. She let loose some mad laughter and shouted, “You want some of this? Then have some more!” She quickly fired off a few more shots down that corridor with her laser blaster.

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

As soon as Sugarcoat arrived, she pushed down Indigo’s blaster and gave her a disapproving frown as she scolded, “Take it easy. Our job is to keep them off the deck. There’s no need to turn them into swiss cheese.”

At the same time, the Canterlot girls quickly reached the end of the corridor and found only two doors on opposite sides. Rainbow Dash tried to open the door to the right, but found it to be locked.

“How the brick did the Shadowbolts even get on this boat?!” asked Sunset Shimmer in disbelief. “There’s no way they could’ve done it without being seen!”

“Forget about askin’ questions!” argued Applejack. “We gotta find a way to get those two off our backs!”

It was at that moment that Fluttershy decided to try opening the left door, only to suddenly find the contents of that closet topple all over her.

“Great idea, Fluttershy!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly as she picked up one of the objects that had fallen to the floor. “We’ll hit ‘em with anything we can get our hands on!”

Rarity pointed at the object in Pinkie’s hand and said, “Um, Pinkie, dear… that’s a banana.”

Pinkie’s grin didn’t falter as she pointed the yellow fruit at her friend and said with determination, “Exactly!” She then rushed back to the intersection and tossed the banana down the corridor as she shouted, “Take this!”

The banana flew down the corridor and bounced along the floor a few times before landing harmlessly near Indigo’s feet. Both Shadowbolts gazed down at the piece of fruit in confusion, then turned to each other.

Indigo Zap scoffed and muttered, “Pathetic.” She took a few steps forward, only to suddenly slip on that banana and hit the floor on her face.

“I could say the exact same thing about you right now,” remarked Sugarcoat.

Indigo merely growled in response.

Meanwhile, the Canterlot girls searched desperately though all the items in the closet, but were unable to find anything that could aid them in such a moment. “C’mon, there’s gotta be somethin’ in here we can use,” grumbled Applejack.

Fluttershy soon managed to find a rather modestly sized box. Curious about what could be inside, she lifted open the lid on that box.

Rainbow Dash glanced over Fluttershy’s shoulder and immediately grinned when she saw the contents of that box. “BOOYAH!” she shouted, startling Fluttershy and making her drop the box. Rainbow reached into that box and pulled out the twin items that had her so excited. “Laser pistols! Now we’re talking!”

Back at the other end of the central corridor, once Indigo was finally back on her feet, she and Sugarcoat began to make their way down the hallway. However, they only made it a few steps before Rainbow Dash suddenly leaped through the air at the other end of the corridor and fired a few laser bolts at them.

Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew!

Both of the Shadowbolt agents yelped and immediately rushed back to hide behind either of the corners at their end of the corridor. Neither of them had been hit, but that sudden move had certainly startled them. After a few seconds of silence passed, they both peered around their respective corners — Indigo turning to her left and Sugarcoat turning to her right. They saw nothing at first, but then Rainbow Dash suddenly peeked out from the corner she had jumped towards and began firing some more shots.

Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew!

Both Shadowbolts quickly hid behind their corners again. “She’s got laser pistols!” exclaimed Sugarcoat worriedly. “She’s shooting back at us!”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious!” Indigo shouted back derisively before she raised her laser blaster and peered around the corner to fire a few shots back at Rainbow, forcing her to take shelter behind her corner.

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

“I take offense to that,” responded Sugarcoat irritably. “Captain Obvious is my father’s name.”

Indigo stopped firing her blaster and gazed back at her teammate while raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew!

A few shots from Rainbow Dash made Indigo snap back to the issue at hand and duck behind her corner again. It was only a second later when she peered around the corner again and responded with a few more laser shots of her own.

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

Rainbow Dash ducked behind her corner again. As the laser bolts whizzed by, she glanced back at her teammates and waved her arm forward as she shouted, “Go! Get outta here! I’ll hold them off!” She then peered around the corner again and fired a few more shots with her two laser pistols.

Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew!

“You heard her y’all!” exclaimed Applejack in determination. “Let’s move out!” She then shoulder-rammed the locked door, breaking it off its hinges and opening an escape route for the team. The five girls quickly rushed through the opened doorway and soon found themselves in some kind of service corridor with a very high ceiling.

“There’s no telling how long Rainbow Dash will be able to keep those Shadowbolts occupied,” stated Rarity, “so whatever our next course of action shall be, we must make haste.”

“I overheard one of those Shadowbolts say they’re trying to keep us off the deck,” noted Sunset. “There’s definitely something going on up there that we need to stop. We just have to find some way to get there.”

“How about up there?” asked Pinkie Pie as she pointed up at a walkway above them that led to a door.

As everyone turned their gaze up at the high walkway, Rarity replied, “Yes, I suppose that could suffice.” She then irritably added, “If only there was a way we could actually get up there.”

“Y’all leave that to me!” said Applejack with pride as she pulled out her lasso and began twirling it around. Within a few seconds, she hurled the hooped end of the rope up towards the walkway and pulled it taut once it was hooked onto the railing. “There!” she said with satisfaction. “Now all we gotta do is climb on up.” Without wasting another second, she immediately began climbing the rope.

As Sunset Shimmer quickly went up next, Fluttershy nervously mumbled, “Oh dear. I was never any good at the rope climb in gym class.”

As Pinkie Pie rushed up the rope, Rarity turned to her nervous friend and calmly said, “There’s no need to worry, darling. If you can’t pull yourself up, then perhaps you could just hold onto the rope while the rest of us pull you up. Would you be okay with that?”

Fluttershy lightly brushed her foot across the floor as she uneasily replied, “Well… I… I guess so.”

Rarity smiled before she turned to the rope and began to make her way up. It took quite a bit of effort, but she was able to reach the walkway at the top in a reasonable amount of time.

Down on the floor, Fluttershy hesitantly approached the dangling rope. She turned her gaze up and felt very nervous about just how high up she would have to go, but the smiling faces of her friends assured her they would not let anything bad happen to her. She nervously gulped, then quickly grasped the rope tightly with both arms and both legs. Once she was on that rope, the others immediately began to pull her up. Fluttershy kept her eyes shut and whimpered in fear as she rose further and further away from the floor.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” assured Applejack as she reached down to grab her friend. “We got ya.”

It had taken only a few seconds to reach the top, but Fluttershy was still very relieved when she felt the hands of her friends grab her and pull her the last few inches over the railing and onto the walkway.

As Applejack put away her lasso, Sunset turned to the nearby door and said, “Now let’s find out what’s happening on the deck.”

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew!

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew-Pew!

The fierce exchange of laserfire continued between Indigo Zap and Rainbow Dash. Neither of them ever relented in the intensity of their fight, while also taking cover swiftly enough to never take any hits.

As Indigo Zap took cover behind her corner again and some laser bolts from Rainbow Dash whizzed by, she glance over at Sugarcoat to see that her fellow Shadowbolt agent had remained standing still with her back against the wall and her laser blaster lowered. At this sight, Indigo irritably exclaimed, “Y’know, you could do something more useful than just stand there like an idiot!”

“We’ve been at this for five minutes and nothing has changed,” Sugarcoat pointed out.

“Your point?” questioned Indigo before she turned back and fired a few more shots at her opponent.

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew! Pew!

Rainbow Dash quickly returned fire, forcing Indigo to hide behind her corner again. She glanced over at Sugarcoat again and saw that not only was her laser blaster now leaning against the wall, but also she was now holding a small canister that was labeled “Tear Gas”.

“We need to try a different tactic,” replied Sugarcoat before she pulled the pin and tossed the canister down the corridor towards Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash saw the canister bounce along the floor with a few clanks before it soon rolled to a stop just a few studs away. “What the?” she mumbled in confusion.

The canister suddenly made a loud hiss as it began to quickly unleash the toxic gas contained inside.

“Whoa! Not good!” exclaimed Rainbow fearfully as she quickly turned away from the canister and rushed down the corridor. Although there were a few doors on either side, she was only interested in reaching the window at the very end of the hallway. As soon a she reached that window, she immediately started beating her laser pistols against the glass, but no matter how hard she struck, it just wouldn’t break.

It wasn’t long until the cloud of toxic gas reached Rainbow. The fumes quickly irritated her eyes and lungs, making her eyes tear up and causing her to start coughing uncontrollably. As she began to hunch over, she took a second glance at her laser pistols, then beat her head against the window for making such a stupid oversight.

Despite her near blindness, Rainbow pointed her laser pistols at the window and fired. The two laser bolts easily shattered the glass, opening up a large vent for the gas to escape. Desperate for some fresh air, Rainbow quickly leaned as far out the opened window as she could. In her haste to reach out the window, she had dropped both of her laser pistols, which plunged into the ocean outside, but she was too busy coughing frequently and uncontrollably to care about that.

Eventually, the gas thinned out enough to allow Rainbow at least a small break from her fit of coughing. She glanced to her right towards one of the submarines sitting on the main deck. Even through her vision was still very blurred, she could tell something wasn’t right. She saw three minifigs apparently loading things into that sub, all of them wearing nothing but black, and she was pretty sure none of her friends typically wore that much black. Not to mention, if there were two Shadowbolt agents on this vessel, then it wasn’t hard to imagine that some others were doing something else nearby.

Rainbow tried to shout at the shady people, only to suddenly start another fit of loud and uncontrollable coughing. Although the toxic gas had thinned out, it was still billowing out the opened window, right past Rainbow Dash. Realizing that she had to get entirely away from this gas, she had no choice but to pull herself out through the window, grab onto a narrow ledge along the side of the vessel, and carefully shimmy her way over to the deck, all while her vision remained impaired by tears as she continued to cough uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, as the Shadowbolt agents continued to load supplies into one of the submarines, it didn’t take long for them to notice the loud and persistent coughing coming from the side of the vessel. Sour Sweet was standing atop the sub, allowing her to glance over and see who the source of that noise was. “Oh no! We’ve been spotted!” exclaimed her sweet face. Her head spun around to her sour face as she turned to her teammates on the deck and shouted, “Hurry up and get inside!”

“Don’t worry,” assured Twilight. “This should be the last of our supplies.” She and Sunny Flare were each carrying a scuba tank and a small box of other supplies as they climbed up atop the sub. They passed the items down through the opened hatch to Lemon Zest inside, then climbed down into the sub.

It was right as Twilight began to enter the submarine after Sunny Flare that the rest of the Canterlot LEGO Team suddenly burst through the door onto the deck. It didn’t take more than a very brief glance for Sunset to realize what was going on. “Hey! They’re stealing a submarine!” she shouted.

“Buzz off, Loser Team!” spat Sour Sweet. “We’re here on a mission and you’re not gonna stop us!”

Meanwhile, inside the sub, Twilight and Sunny set aside the last of their supplies while Lemon sat down in the pilot’s seat and flipped a few switches. Twilight turned to the front of the sub and asked, “All set, Lemon Zest?”

“Ready to rock and roll!” responded Lemon excitedly as she grasped the main controls.

Twilight turned her gaze up through the hatch and shouted, “Now, Sour Sweet! Now!”

“Finally!” grumbled Sour Sweet as she picked up a random tool and tossed it towards a winch on the deck, knocking over the lever and causing the overhead crane to latch onto the submarine and slowly lift it off the deck and into the water. “So long, suckers!” she taunted the Canterlot girls before climbing inside and pulling the hatch closed.

As the five girls from Canterlot City rushed over to the side of the vessel, they were unable to do anything but watch as the submarine was lowered into the water, detached from the crane, and slowly descended into the depths of the ocean. They were too late to stop the Shadowbolts.

A series of loud coughing and hacking suddenly drew their attention towards Rainbow Dash as she slowly climbed her way off the side of the vessel and onto a stairway down to the main deck. However, she was now so weakened that as she climbed over the railing, she slipped and tumbled down the stairs.

Rainbow’s concerned teammates quickly rushed over to her as she continued her frequent coughing. “Rainbow Dash! Are you okay? What happened?” asked Pinkie Pie worriedly as Fluttershy knelt down beside her friend.

Rainbow remained lying face-down on the deck as she rubbed her watery eyes and coughed a few more times before she managed to wheeze, “Tear gas.”

“Those brutes!” growled Rarity in disbelief. “Have they no shame?!”

“They’re Shadowbolts, remember?” Applejack pointed out. “They don’t give a darn ‘bout who they run over to get what they want.”

“All the more reason for us to go after them,” stated Sunset Shimmer. “I don’t know what they need that treasure for, but we need to stop them.”

“But how?” asked Pinkie. “They’ve already got a submarine in the water.”

That question was quickly answered as all six girls turned toward the other submarine that was still sitting on the other side of the main deck.

“Good thing this here vessel came with two subs,” remarked Applejack.

“We gotta move fast,” Sunset firmly said. “Let’s grab whatever diving equipment we can find, climb inside, and dive down to Atlantis.”

“But what about Rainbow Dash?” asked Fluttershy as she slowly helped her impaired friend up to her feet.

“We’ll have to take her with us,” replied Sunset. “We should be able to find a few spare oxygen tanks lying around, so I’m sure she’ll be okay.”

With little time to waste, the Canterlot LEGO Team quickly gathered up all the diving equipment they could find and loaded it into the second sub. Once everything and everyone were all set to go, Sunset flipped the lever on the other winch and climbed into the sub with the others as the crane lifted it off the deck and into the water. With Rainbow Dash currently out of commission, Sunset Shimmer decided to step up and handle the controls as the sub was lowered into the water and detached from the crane. Sunset flipped a few switches and grasped the main controls as she began to pilot the submarine down into the depths of the ocean. They were now in a race with the Shadowbolts to retrieve the lost treasure of Atlantis.

Author's Note

Another very long chapter, though not quite as long as the previous one. At least the next one looks like it'll be a bit shorter, as far as I can tell. Anyway, since the main characters in this Lego World are not high school students (unlike in the Equestria Girls world), I decided to come up with my own ideas for some brief backstory on each of the main Shadowbolts. Also, as with the previous story, I'm including a few more familiar characters for the first time in this Lego World. (I'm surprised nobody bothered to point out the appearance of Maud, a supposedly popular character, in the previous chapter.) In this chapter, Trenderhoof is associated with the Shadowbolts (just like in Friendship Games), but also still follows his passion for being a travel writer (just like his counterpart in Equestria).

The Dangerous Depths

Chapter 6
The Dangerous Depths

Deep beneath the waves of the open ocean, two small submarines descended down to the ruins of the Atlantis Region. It was a rather dark and dangerous place, with craggy structures that could easily trap a diver and inhabited by some of the most unusual sea creatures. Of course, there was also the one thing that brought both of these subs down to these ruins: a great hidden treasure, just waiting to be recovered.

The first sub to arrive at the site was carrying four Shadowbolt agents. With Lemon Zest at the controls and Twilight Sparkle busy setting up some gadget that she claimed would help them find the treasure more easily, that left Sunny Flare and Sour Sweet as the ones who were putting on scuba suits and preparing to head out into the water. Although they had no idea why they were told to recover this treasure, they were nevertheless more than ready to carry out their orders.

A little further behind was another sub, except this one was carrying all six members of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team. These girls were also here to retrieve the treasure, but it was with the intent that they keep it out of the hands of bad people like the Shadowbolts. But they also had to be careful to not let the people in that other sub know they were following, so they held back for now near the edge of the sunken ruins.

Although there were six people on board this second sub, they had enough diving equipment for only three people, so it was soon agreed who would be suiting up to go diving outside. Well, mostly agreed.

“Do I really have to do this?” asked Fluttershy uneasily as she looked at a scuba mask in her hands with uncertainty. Behind her, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were already attaching flippers to the bottom of their feet. In front of her, Applejack sat beside Rainbow Dash, who was lying on her back while breathing slowly through an oxygen mask she held over her face, while Sunset Shimmer remained seated in the pilot’s seat.

“We don’t really have much of a choice,” Sunset pointed out. “Rainbow Dash is in no condition to go diving, I need to stay here and keep an eye on these systems, and Applejack, well…” She turned to the apple farmer and asked, “How many hours of diving experience do you have?”

Applejack glanced at Sunset in confusion as she replied, “Uh… zero.”

“My point exactly,” finished Sunset before returning her attention to the controls.

Fluttershy let out a sigh of disappointment and mumbled, “Why me?”

“Don’t feel so bad, darling,” assured Rarity as she put on a pair of oxygen tanks over her back and attached them around her neck. “Swimming around through an underwater environment can be quite enchanting.”

“And scary,” added Fluttershy worriedly. “There’s no telling what kind of dangers might be waiting for us out there.”

“Ya keep a pet shark, Fluttershy,” Applejack pointed out irritably. “How can ya be afraid of the ocean when ya ain’t even scared of one of the scariest things swimmin’ around out there?”

“Bruce was raised in captivity,” stated Fluttershy. “He knows better than to hurt me, but I definitely can’t say the same for any wild sharks that might be out there.”

“Maybe we can find some cute dolphins,” suggested Pinkie Pie as she placed a helmet over her head while keeping the diving mask flipped open so she could keep talking. “I’ve heard that they can actually scare off any sharks.” She suddenly pointed towards the nearest window and excitedly exclaimed, “Oh, look! There’s some dolphins right over there!”

Everyone glanced in the direction Pinkie was pointing and, sure enough, they saw at least four dolphins were slowly swimming by near their sub.

Fluttershy was especially intrigued by the sight of those aquatic creatures, and as she heard the occasional chirping noises they made, she began to smile. “Actually… I think I will go out into the water,” she said. “In fact…” Before she resumed putting on her diving suit, she reached into one of the boxes they had brought aboard and pulled out some device that she attached to her right wrist. “I think this would be a great opportunity to try this thing.”

“What is it?” asked Rarity as she curiously glanced over at the gadget.

“It’s a dolphin communicator,” answered Fluttershy. “It listens to the sonar noises dolphins make and translates it into understandable text. It also works the other way around. I can type a message into this thing and it turns it into a series of chirps and whistles that dolphins can understand.”

“Wow, that’s really neat!” said Pinkie Pie excitedly.

“Where did you even get such a device?” asked Sunset.

“I… I honestly don’t know,” replied Fluttershy. “It just showed up on my doorstep one day with no return address on the package.”

“That does sound kinda strange,” noted Applejack. She then shrugged and added, “But Ah don’t see anythin’ wrong with receivin’ somethin’ so useful.”

“Agreed,” said Rarity with a nod. As she began to carefully fit her hair inside the helmet she was about to put on, she remarked, “Perhaps you could use that to ask the dolphins where the treasure might be located.”

“Hey, that’s actually not a bad idea at all,” said Sunset with a smile. “There’s nothing like local knowledge to help you find what you’re looking for, and in a place like this, dolphins are pretty much our only option.”

With an endorsement like that, Fluttershy agreed to finish suiting up for underwater exploration. Once she, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were all set, they each stepped into separate airlocks and closed the inner hatch. As the chambers began to fill with seawater, they each flipped down their diving masks and began to breathe from their oxygen tanks.

After a few minutes of waiting, the chambers were completely flooded and the three divers opened the outer hatch. Each of the three girls could only hear the light hissing of their breathing apparatuses as they slowly swam away from the sub and towards the nearby pod of dolphins.

As the dolphins began chirping, Fluttershy swam ahead of her two friends and focused her attention on her dolphin communicator as a conversation between minifig and marine mammal began.

What brings you to these waters?

We are looking for the lost treasure of Atlantis. We need to find it before it gets taken away by the evil Shadowbolts.

Yes, we know where that treasure is located. We can take you there, as long as you promise to not harm our habitat.

Absolutely. I would never dare to do something so terrible.

The dolphins chirped in approval and turned towards the ruins of Atlantis. Right behind them followed the three divers, each with a unique method of swimming. Rarity swam with a graceful breaststroke, Fluttershy held her legs together and moved them back and forth to swim almost like a dolphin herself, and Pinkie Pie somehow managed to keep up with a silly doggy paddle. As they followed their guides, they knew it would not be much longer before they would find the treasure.

Inside the submarine piloted by the Shadowbolts, with Sunny Flare and Sour Sweet already fully suited up and ready to go, Twilight Sparkle was smiling as she read the messages on her special gadget. “Good thing I invented the dolphin communicator and anonymously sent one to Fluttershy,” she remarked. “Since sound waves travel more quickly through water than through air, that means I can easily eavesdrop on the conversation she just had with those dolphins.”

“That sounds pretty neat!” praised Sour Sweet’s sweet face. Her head then spun around to her sour face and irritably asked, “But how is that gonna help us?”

“Just follow the dolphins,” replied Twilight. “According to these translations, they know exactly where to find the treasure and are already leading the LEGO Team right to it.”

“Sounds simple enough,” acknowledged Sunny Flare. “Let’s go, Sour Sweet.”

As the two Shadowbolt agents entered the airlocks, Twilight quickly added, “Try not to make too much movement. Dolphins can echolocate.”

The two divers nodded in acknowledgement before they shut the inner hatch of their respective chambers and flipped down their diving masks. They waited for the chambers to fill with seawater, then opened the outer hatch. They swam around to the front of the sub and grabbed a pair of motorized propellers before swimming towards where they had last seen those dolphins.

The two Shadowbolt divers stayed close to the seafloor and swam slowly from one piece of ruin to another. It wasn’t long until they found that pod of dolphins and the three LEGO Team divers in the middle of what was left of a great temple.

At the ruined temple, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy pushed aside some light grey Lego bricks that were in a pile until they uncovered three large treasure chests. Now that the treasure had been located, Fluttershy thanked the dolphins through her communicator. The dolphins chirped in gratitude and the whole pod began to swim away.

Not far away, the two Shadowbolt agents held their ground until the dolphins were gone. Now that the risk of being detected had been significantly reduced, they carefully began to move in. As they slowly approached the temple ruins, the three LEGO Team divers were too occupied with pulling those chests out of the rubble to notice they were not alone. By the time all three chests were completely free, the two Shadowbolts were right behind them, and immediately made their strike.

Sunny Flare grabbed Fluttershy from behind and tossed her aside, while Sour Sweet did the same for Pinkie Pie. Rarity’s eyes widened as she realized she and her teammates were being ambushed, but had no time to react before Sunny punched her in the abdomen and tossed her aside as well.

The two Shadowbolt agents quickly went to work grabbing various bricks from the surrounding ruins and putting them together to hold the three large chests together. As they worked, their enemies tried to stop them, but they managed to keep holding them off. Sunny Flare kicked Fluttershy in the chest, Sour Sweet spun Pinkie Pie around and around and leaving her highly disoriented before kicking her away, and Sunny Flare flipped Rarity upside down before slamming her down against the floor of the ruined temple.

Once the Shadowbolts completed their crude bracket around the chests, they attached the two motors on opposite ends and aimed the propellers downward. The small propellers weren’t powerful enough to raise the chests, but they did provide enough downward thrust to lighten them enough that the two minifigs could easily lift it up and push it along with them as they swam back to their sub.

The two Shadowbolts were so focused on completing their objective that they failed to notice Pinkie Pie drifting close to them and, as they swam past her, one of the propellers sliced right through her scuba suit’s air supply. As all that air began to rapidly escape in a column of large bubbles from the back of her neck, Pinkie immediately grasped the air tubes around her neck and thrashed around in panic.

The eyes of both Rarity and Fluttershy widened in shock when they saw their friend was suddenly in dire threat of drowning. Rarity moved first by rushing over to her helpless friend and pulling out her grapple gun. Ironically, Rarity had seen no reason to bring these along while it was Pinkie Pie who insisted that all three of them have one.

As Pinkie’s wild movements began to slow down, Rarity wrapped her left arm around Pinkie, while she used her right arm to aim the grapple gun at their team’s sub and fired it. The grappling hook took a few seconds to shoot through the water, but it did manage to latch onto the sub. With no time to lose, Rarity immediately began to reel in the grappling hook, causing her and Pinkie to be quickly pulled towards the sub.

Fluttershy had been frozen in shock during the ordeal. As she finally came back to her senses, she quickly felt a wide range of emotions. The first was obviously fear and worry of Pinkie’s life hanging in the balance. The second was relief that Rarity had managed to move as quickly as possible to save their friend. The third was concern that, despite her best efforts, Rarity might already be too late to help Pinkie.

As Fluttershy turned her attention towards the two Shadowbolts fleeing with the treasure, she felt another emotion: anger. She was angry. She was furious. She was enraged. How dare they severely harm her friend at a moment when she was so helpless! Without any consideration for the consequences, she immediately picked up an old trident on the floor of the ruined temple and quickly swam after the Shadowbolts.

Meanwhile, Sunny Flare and Sour Sweet hauled the treasure chests onto the storage rack just under the sub’s front window. Once they were sure the cargo was properly secured, they swam around to the airlocks and closed the outer hatch. Now all they had to do was to wait for the water to drain from those chambers before they could reenter the sub, then they just had to return to the vessel and bring the treasure home to complete their mission.

However, as the airlocks were almost completely drained, Lemon Zest noticed something in the water outside. It was another diver heading right towards them, and as the Shadowbolt pilot looked more closely, the look on this diver’s eyes was definitely not something one would want to see underwater.

“Rogue diver!” shouted Lemon Zest in panic. “Incoming rogue diver!”

It was right at that moment that the inner hatch of the airlocks opened, and as Sunny Flare and Sour Sweet stepped back inside, Twilight walked over to Lemon Zest. “Rogue diver?” asked Twilight in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that!” exclaimed Lemon as she pointed at the incoming diver.

Outside, Fluttershy felt nothing but pure, unfiltered rage as she swam towards the Shadowbolts’ submarine. She didn’t care about what she was about to do or the morality of her actions or even her own safety. All she cared about was making them pay for what they did.

As soon as she arrived at the sub, she immediately started beating the shaft of the trident against the hull. By the time she moved over to the top of the sub, she also used the prongs of that trident to pry off individual parts and pieces, fully intending to tear apart this vehicle piece by piece. They had seriously harmed her friend, so now she was going to seriously harm them!

Inside the sub, the constant banging and scraping made all four minifigs aboard very concerned. Twilight quickly turned to Sunny and Sour and exclaimed in panic, “Keep your suits on and help me find some spare oxygen tanks!” As she and her teammates began to quickly search through their supplies, she muttered, “I do not intend to lose my Creation Spark at the bottom of the ocean!”

Meanwhile, Rarity had finally returned to her team’s submarine with Pinkie Pie in her grasp. By now, Pinkie was no longer moving and had fallen completely limp, but Rarity refused to give up on her. She quickly swam over to one of the airlocks, threw open the outer hatch, then tossed Pinkie inside before slamming the hatch shut.

Inside the sub, Sunset Shimmer, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had all seen Rarity rush back towards them with Pinkie in her arms and they knew right away that something really bad had just happened. As soon as Pinkie was inside the airlock, Applejack immediately tried to open the inner hatch, despite the fact that chamber was still full of seawater. The door groaned as the apple farmer struggled to turn the wheel to open that hatch. Her mighty strength eventually won out and she pulled the hatch open, flooding the interior of the sub with a few inches of seawater.

Pinkie Pie’s motionless body flopped out of the chamber and came to rest on her back on the floor of the sub. Applejack quickly removed her diving mask and helmet and was horrified to see no response at all on her friend’s face. Without any hesitation, Applejack quickly began compressing Pinkie’s chest repeatedly in an effort to get her breathing again. “C’mon, Pinkie!” Applejack muttered desperately. “C’mon!” After nearly a dozen quick and hard pushes, the pink party girl still gave no response. “Dang it, Pinkie! Don’t give up on us!” shouted Applejack as she began to roughly beat on Pinkie’s chest. She pounded so hard that Pinkie’s body actually bounced a bit with each impact.

With Applejack doing her absolute best, the others couldn’t do anything but watch helplessly. Sunset Shimmer lowered her head in sadness, convinced that they were too late to save their friend. Rarity watched from outside through the front window, wondering if there was anything she could have done differently to have given Pinkie any chance of survival. And Rainbow Dash sat up and removed her oxygen mask, knowing that her recent ordeal with tear gas paled in comparison to what had just befallen one of her closest friends.

When Applejack pounded Pinkie’s chest for the seventh time, two very unexpected things happened at the same time. Pinkie Pie lurched forward and let out a loud cough, while Applejack suddenly found herself slapped in the face by a big fish. “The heck?” asked Applejack in confusion as she removed the live fish from her face and held it up by its tail.

Miraculously, Pinkie Pie was sitting up and rubbing her throat as she looked at the fish in Applejack’s hand. “Wow,” she remarked hoarsely. “Good thing that fish got stuck in my throat. Otherwise I might’ve drowned!”

Applejack was left dumbfounded as she glanced back and forth between the flopping fish in her hand and the revived Pinkie Pie in front of her. Eventually, without saying a word, she just smiled and rolled her eyes as she tossed the fish behind her back. Even with her life in jeopardy, Pinkie still had moments where she was just being Pinkie, though that didn’t diminish just how relieved Applejack was that she was okay. And based on the looks of the others, it seemed that everyone else shared that same thought.

Sunset turned around and smiled at Rarity, silently thanking her for bringing Pinkie back to the sub as quickly as possible.

Rarity responded with a single nod.

Sunset thought about just how fortunate they all were that nobody had been seriously hurt, but then her smile faded when she realized that not everyone was accounted for. Where’s Fluttershy? she thought as she gazed around over the surrounding ruins. When her eyes fell on the other sub in the distance, her eyes suddenly widened in shock.

Not only was Fluttershy near the Shadowbolts’ sub, but she was also beating on it with some kind of weapon.

Knowing right away just how badly that could end, Sunset turned back to Rarity outside and banged on the window as she desperately shouted, “Stop Fluttershy! Stop Fluttershy!”

Rarity was confused by Sunset’s demand, but it was at least loud enough for her to barely understand it through the surrounding water, so she turned back to look in the direction Sunset was gesturing. As soon as she realized what was going on at the Shadowbolts’ submarine, her eyes widened in shock. Once again, she knew she had no time to lose and immediately began swimming towards Fluttershy and the enemy sub. After a few seconds, she decided to speed up her journey by pulling out her grapple gun again and firing it at a piece of ruin near that other sub, then rapidly winched herself towards it.

Back at the LEGO Team’s sub, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie crowded around Sunset near the front window. They all felt very concerned as they watched Rarity go after Fluttershy, who was savagely attacking their opponent’s submarine.

Rainbow Dash, with her voice still a bit more raspy than usual, simply said, “I don’t know what’s scarier underwater: a shark or an angry Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy was beyond angry as she continued beating on the enemy’s submarine. She had already pounded a few dents in the top of the hull and torn off some exterior parts and showed no signs of stopping. She was so blinded by rage that she failed to notice the arrival of another diver.

Rarity swam frantically towards the Shadowbolts’ sub. By the time she arrived, Fluttershy had moved forward along the top of the sub and started pounding that trident near the main window on the front. She beat the shaft of it against the glass a few times until she put a large crack in it, but that was the last piece of damage she managed to make before Rarity suddenly dropped down in front of her and shook her violently.

Fluttershy tried to resist, but Rarity grabbed her by her head and forced them to stare each other in the eye. Fluttershy was forced to stare into those desperate and pleading eyes and soon managed to snap out of it. As she finally began to relax, she continued to stare at Rarity, then glanced behind her towards their team’s sub in the distance — and saw a bit of pink in the window that could only come from Pinkie Pie — and then she glanced around at the damage she had done to the Shadowbolts’ sub. When her eyes fell on the trident, she quickly cast it aside. With her rampage now over, Fluttershy turned her head down in shame.

Rarity placed a hand under Fluttershy’s chin and lifted her face up so they were looking each other in the eye again. Once the now sad eyes of Fluttershy were directed at her, she gave her a single nod, silently assuring her that everything was okay. Fluttershy remained still for a few seconds before she embraced her friend in a hug, which Rarity gladly returned.

Inside that sub, the four Shadowbolt agents stood completely still as they realized all the horrifying banging and scraping had ceased. “She stopped?” asked Sunny Flare in confusion. With no way to look outside at the top of the sub, they had no way of knowing what was going on out there.

Twilight glanced over at the front window and immediately noticed that big crack near the top. It may not have seemed like much on such a massive window, but considering the surrounding water pressure at these depths, even a small crack could cascade into a catastrophic failure.

“This is getting way too dangerous,” muttered Twilight worriedly. She then suddenly rushed toward the front of the sub and declared, “I’m pulling the plug on this operation.” She ignored Lemon Zest’s protest as she flipped a lever that dumped the treasure chests on the front rack.

Outside, Rarity and Fluttershy heard a faint mechanical whirring noise. They glanced over the front window and saw the storage rack tilting downward until all three treasure chests tumbled off and down to the seafloor below. They glanced at each other for a moment before they both pushed off from the sub and swam down to go after the treasure.

Inside the sub, the three other Shadowbolt agents could hardly believe what Twilight had just done. “What was that for?!” Lemon Zest shouted furiously.

“This sub’s taken too much damage, and we need to return to the surface before it implodes!” Twilight frantically explained as she rummaged through some of her gadgets. “Dumping the treasure should distract the Canterlot girls long enough to let us make a quick and safe escape.”

“Yeah, I can see what you mean,” agreed Sour Sweet’s sweet face. But then she switched to her sour face and furiously exclaimed, “Except our primary objective was to leave with the treasure!”

“Yes, I know,” acknowledged Twilight as she continued rummaging. “But there comes a point where you need to just cut your losses and go home. And with damage like that…” Twilight pointed at the cracked front window. “…we have definitely reached that point.”

Sunny Flare sighed and shook her head. “Miss Cinch is not going to be happy when she finds out,” she stated.

Twilight grabbed a gadget that resembled a translucent red 1x1 round plate as she said, “I don’t know about you, but I’d rather keep my Creation Spark.” She then added under her breath, “It’s not like I have any friends worth sacrificing it for.” As she made some final adjustments to the gadget, she continued “Besides, I prepared a backup plan in case something went wrong down here. Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat are still on the vessel, so they can bring us back aboard if we need to make an emergency ascent — which we certainly do right now. That way, we can take control of the vessel and leave without the other sub, leaving the Canterlot LEGO Team stranded at sea.”

“And how can you be sure they won’t follow us?” asked Sunny Flare.

“With this tracking device!” answered Twilight with a smile as she held up the completed gadget. As she then walked over to the port side torpedo tube, she continued, “I’ve read the official Shadowbolts report regarding the events of when the Dazzlings had attempted to take over the world, and I’m not gonna repeat the same mistake they made by letting the enemy go with no way to know where they are.” She removed the torpedo and began to modify it. “Of course, I need to somehow plant the tracking device onto their sub without any of them realizing it. My solution is to disarm this torpedo, place the tracing device on the end of it, then fire it at them. They’ll just assume they got hit with a dud and think nothing more of it.”

The other Shadowbolt agents stared silently at Twilight. After a brief moment, Sour Sweet switched to her sweet face and praised, “That’s good thinking, Twilight. That’s some really good thinking!”

Sunny Flare had to admit that it really was quite an ingenious plan. “How long should this take?” she asked.

Twilight attached the tracking device onto the end of the modified torpedo and contently stated, “Done!” She then reinserted it into the port side torpedo tube and turned to Lemon Zest. “Okay, Lemon Zest,” she carefully explained, “I need you to aim for the bottom hull of the other sub and fire the port side torpedo — I repeat: port side torpedo.”

Lemon gave Twilight a nod of acknowledgement before turning her attention to the controls. She let out a sinister chuckle as she carefully aimed the sub in the right direction. Finally, once she was on target, she shouted, “Torpedo away!” She hit the red button on the left, firing the port side torpedo and its modified payload.

Just under the Shadowbolts’ sub, Rarity and Fluttershy had just finished making sure all three treasure chests were undamaged when they suddenly heard a loud rush of water above. They both looked up and were very shocked to see that a torpedo had just been fired directly at their team’s sub.

The four girls inside the LEGO Team sub had seen Rarity calm down Fluttershy, much to everyone’s relief. Then they were astonished to see the Shadowbolts had simply dumped the treasure they were after. Whatever the reason for that, they were at least glad to see Rarity and Fluttershy quickly swim down to where in had landed. But then came something that absolutely terrified them all: the Shadowbolts had just fired a torpedo right at them!

“Torpedo!” screamed Sunset Shimmer, followed by the panicked screams of all four girls as they immediately rushed towards the back of the sub. That torpedo was only seconds away from impact, and there was no guarantee that any of them would survive.

Dong…

All four girls had huddled near the damp floor, fully expecting the inevitable. But there was no massive explosion. There was no hull breach with tons of water gushing inside. In fact, as everyone slowly opened their eyes and uncovered their ears, they realized that nothing had apparently changed and all systems seemed to still be functioning just fine. They all slowly got up and looked around, hardly believing what they thought was an incredible stroke of good luck.

“Huh, what do ya know? It was just a dud,” remarked Applejack.

“Ha!” shouted Rainbow Dash triumphantly. She rushed back to the front of the sub and pointed out the front window as she taunted, “Nice try, Shadowbolts! You’re gonna have to do better than that!”

Twilight gazed down at a small signal receiver in her hand. After a few seconds of watching the information on the screen, she smiled. “The tracking device has been successfully planted on their submarine, and the signal is coming in perfectly clear,” she contently announced.

“Job well done, Twilight,” commended Sunny Flare.

“Yeah, nice work,” agreed Sour Sweet. She then switched to her sour face and added, “At least we got some success on this total failure of a mission.”

Before any of the four Shadowbolts could make any further comments, a low groaning noise began to echo all around them. They had momentarily forgotten that their submarine was still damaged, and the surrounding water pressure at these depths meant there was a chance it would get only worse.

BANG!

All four girls yelped and flinched as the whole sub suddenly jolted. As they all quickly glanced around, they were relieved to not hear any running water that would indicate a hull breach, but when their eyes fell on the front window, they were all shocked into silence. The small crack near the top had now suddenly expanded into a massive spider web system, as if the window had just been impacted by a large object.

“We gotta get outta here now!” Twilight quickly noted.

“Yeah, no kidding,” acknowledged Lemon Zest as she grasped the controls and immediately began to pilot the crippled sub back up to the surface.

“Hey, look! They’re leaving!” Pinkie Pie pointed out as she and the others watched the Shadowbolts’ submarine turn away and begin ascending to the surface.

“Yeah! That’s right! Run away!” gloated Rainbow Dash with a huge grin on her face. “You know you can’t beat us, so just give and go home! Which, by the way, is exactly what you’re doing right now, so in your face!”

“Quit yer gloatin’ Rainbow,” Applejack spoke up. “We still gotta grab that treasure before we can call this mission accomplished.”

“Right you are,” acknowledged Sunset. She grabbed the controls and began to pilot the submarine downward. “I’ll bring us closer to Rarity and Fluttershy so they can load up the treasure more easily.”

Down on the seafloor, Rarity was holding up some bricks that used to be part of the bracket that had held the three treasure chests together. She had intended to rebuild that bracket for the sake of convenience, but was confused as she failed to visualize a creation like she always did.

When she felt a hand on her shoulder, Rarity glanced over at Fluttershy and saw the sad look in her eyes. It didn’t take long for the fashionista to understand what her friend was trying to convey to her. She had just recently lost her Equestrian magic back aboard the vessel, which also meant that she was no longer a Master Builder. It was a truly devastating loss, to say the least.

The arrival of their team’s submarine reminded Rarity that they still had a mission to finish. Without that bracket, she and Fluttershy silently agreed to simply haul the three separate chests onto the cargo rack on the front of the sub. It was going to be more time-consuming, but at least now they didn’t have to worry about any more interference from the Shadowbolts.

The Shadowbolt’s submarine resurfaced next to the Deep Sea Explorer. Just seconds later, the crane swung over, latched onto the sub, and lifted it out of the water and up onto the main deck. Right at the exact moment the sub touched down on the deck, the front window completely shattered, bits of broken glass falling into a pile on the deck just in front of the parked submarine.

Inside the sub, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief and remarked, “And not a moment too soon.”

With the front window now completely open, the four girls inside decided to simply step through it rather than go up the hatch and over the side. As they gathered in the middle of the main deck, they were soon joined by their two remaining teammates, Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat.

Twilight turned to the two Shadowbolts who had remained on the vessel and asked, “What’s the status up here?”

“The whole crew’s been rounded up and locked inside the brig,” Indigo proudly stated as she rested her laser blaster on her shoulder. “The ship is all ours.”

“Nice work,” commended Twilight with a smile. “We’ve placed a tracking device on the LEGO Team’s submersible, so now we can just take this vessel and leave without them, all while keeping track of where they might go next.”

Sugarcoat glanced over at the parked sub, then turned to Twilight and stated, “You didn’t return with the treasure.”

Twilight sighed and confessed, “No, we had to dump it on account of needing to make an emergency ascent.” She gestured towards the broken bits of glass under where the front window used to be.

Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow. “How did you manage to take on that much damage?” she asked.

Sunny Flare stepped forward and replied, “Let’s just say we’ve all learned a valuable lesson regarding… certain people: Don’t make them angry. You won’t like them when they’re angry.”

“So who did all this?” asked Indigo as she eyed some of the other damages to the sub. “I bet it was one of those tough girls.”

Twilight answered, “Based on the Creative Mark shown on her diving suit… it was Fluttershy.”

Indigo was left speechless as she glanced back and forth between the destroyed submarine and the four Shadowbolt agents who had been inside it. She eventually managed to say in disbelief, “Fluttershy did this?!”

“I know!” added Lemon Zest. “I was totally surprised, too!”

“Let’s save our thoughts and reactions for our post-mission reports,” stated Sugarcoat. “Seeing as there’s no way we can take the treasure away from those Canterlot girls, leaving them stranded in the middle of the ocean will have to do as the next best thing.”

“I’ll take the bridge,” said Twilight as she made her way over to the stairs towards the front of the vessel. “The rest of you are free to do whatever you want until we return to Baltimare.”

As Twilight left, the remaining five Shadowbolt agents simply remained standing on the main deck and glanced at one another, unsure of what to say. Without the treasure of Atlantis, this mission was not a success, but with the Canterlot LEGO Team about to be left behind, this mission would also not be a complete failure, either. It was a rather peculiar position to find themselves in, as they had no idea how Cinch would react to such a mixed result.

Back under the sea, Rarity and Fluttershy finished securing the last of the treasure chests to their team’s submarine. With that task complete, there was nothing left for them to do out in the water, so they returned to the airlocks and shut the outer hatch for their respective chambers. After waiting a few minutes for the chambers to completely drain, they both opened the inner hatch and rejoined their friends inside the sub.

Rarity removed her diving mask and remarked, “I must say, darling, this deep sea dive was quite the experience. I’m not sure if I would call it outright traumatizing, but it will certainly be rather memorable.”

“I would rather forget this whole dive,” muttered Fluttershy sadly after removing her diving mask. She then turned to Pinkie Pie and smiled. “I’m just glad Pinkie’s okay.”

“Yeah, so am I,” agreed Pinkie.

“Well, I guess that’s mission accomplished,” Sunset happily declared. “Let’s return to the Deep Sea Explorer and head home.” All of her friends voiced their agreement as Sunset handled the controls to pilot the submarine back up to the surface.

A few minutes later, the sub resurfaced next to the vessel. They all waited a moment to be pulled back aboard, but no sign of such movement ever came.

Figuring that the crew had simply not noticed their return, Sunset grabbed the radio and spoke into it, “Deep Sea Explorer, this is one of your submarines. We’re ready to be brought back aboard.”

Everyone waited for a response, but all they heard was some faint static.

Sunset returned the radio to her mouth. “Deep Sea Explorer, this is one of your submarines. We have just resurfaced and are waiting for you to pull us out of the water.”

Again, everyone waited for a response. At first, all they heard was the usual faint static. Eventually, they got a response, but it was nothing like they had ever expected.

“Sorry, girls, but this ship is now under Shadowbolt control,” said the voice of Twilight Sparkle over that radio.

Everyone inside that submarine was suddenly left completely speechless. Even though they had seen the Shadowbolts flee, it had never occurred to any of them that those agents would instead try to take over the vessel and thus deny them any chance of returning to port. The fact that they received word of this devastating news from the smug voice of Twilight Sparkle left them especially crushed.

“Goodbye!” finished Twilight cheerfully as the vessel began to leave the site. “Have a nice day!”

Author's Note

So far, it's looking like the next few chapters will be a bit shorter than those from last month, which is good because it'll free up a bit more time for me to work on another project (which you'll find out about soon enough). Anyway, my favorite level in the Lego Movie Videogame was the one that involved swimming around at the bottom of the ocean, so for quite some time I had really wanted to include an underwater theme somewhere in this series. However, I couldn't think of a good way to include it in the previous story, so I decided to hold it off until this one, and I think it turned out pretty well.

The Frozen Outpost

Chapter 7
The Frozen Outpost

The six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team couldn’t believe what had just happened. After recovering the treasure of Atlantis, they tried to return to the Deep Sea Explorer, only to discover that the Shadowbolts had taken over the vessel and, not surprisingly, refused to bring their submarine back aboard. But perhaps the most shocking part of all was that, of all the Shadowbolts agents, it was Twilight Sparkle who smugly informed them of this over the radio. And now, as the Deep Sea Explorer sailed back to Baltimare without them, they were at a loss on what to do next.

“So what now?” asked Applejack. “Can’t we just follow ‘em all the way back to port?”

“I doubt we’ve got enough fuel,” replied Rainbow Dash sadly. “Submarines like this just aren’t meant to cross oceans.”

“Does that really leave us with no alternative than to drift aimlessly over the open ocean for days on end?” asked Rarity worriedly.

Silence fell across everyone inside the sub as the reality of their situation really began to sink in.

Sunset Shimmer, however, refused to give up so easily. She tried to think of any possible alternatives. Not only did they not have enough fuel to go very far, but also the sub’s radio had a very limited range, so calling for help wasn’t possible. However, that thought did give her an idea.

“There’s only one person who can help us now,” stated Sunset as she headed back to where they had stored their supplies. She dug through a few bags until she found the messaging tablet. She then sat down and quickly began typing a new message.

To the Informant.

You and your fellow Shadowbolts agents have just left us stranded in the middle of the ocean with not enough fuel to reach shore and a radio that’s not powerful enough to call for help. What do you suggest we do next?

From, Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset then set down the tablet on her lap and began waiting for a response. Even though she had not spoken aloud any part of her message, the rest of her friends could easily assume what she was trying.

“Do you really think the Informant can help us?” asked Fluttershy.

“She’s one of those Shadowbolt agents working with Twilight,” replied Sunset. “She should be totally aware of the situation they’ve just put us in, so if anyone can think of a way to get us out of here, it’s the Informant.”

For the next few minutes, everyone just waited in silence. With very few options available, they could only hope that the Informant would be able to help them in any way possible.

It wasn’t much longer before a new reply came up on the messaging tablet. Sunset immediately opened the message and read it aloud to her friends.

To the LEGO Team of Canterlot City.

Your best chance will be to ride the ocean current until you arrive at these coordinates. You will find an abandoned outpost at that location where you might be able to call for help and safely wait for a rescue team to come get you. It’s a long shot, but I can’t think of any other course to take with odds as good as this. Good luck to all of you.

From, The Informant.

As Sunset read the provided coordinates, Rainbow Dash entered them into a search feature on her phone. As soon as she saw the location of that site, her eyes widened. “Whoa,” she said in astonishment. “That’ll put us all the way up in the Arctic Region.”

That revelation certainly made most of the team rather uncomfortable. “Do we really need to go there of all places?” asked Applejack as she scratched the back of her head.

“If that’s where the current will take us, then I’m afraid so,” replied Sunset. “The ocean current will act like a tailwind, pushing us forward and allowing us to use as little fuel as possible.”

“Why can’t we just ride the current partway and then hop off at some other port?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“The current is too far from shore,” explained Fluttershy. “We would slow down too much before we could even see the coast.”

“And if we tried that, we would just end up wasting fuel,” continued Rainbow Dash. “We might not be left with enough to continue up the current. Heck, we might not be left with enough to even get back onto the current!”

“Then I suppose there really is no alternative,” concluded Rarity.

“Eeyup,” agreed Applejack reluctantly. “Looks like it’s the Arctic Region or bust for us.”

“Then let’s get going,” said Sunset as she sat down in the pilot’s seat and began working the controls again. “Any idea where we’ll find the fastest part of the current?”

After a quick search on her phone, Rainbow Dash answered, “It should be about a mile to the west from here and almost fifty meters below the surface.”

“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing we’re already inside a submarine,” remarked Pinkie Pie.

With a definitive destination in mind, there was nothing left for the Canterlot girls to do but to enter the current and hope it would be enough to take them there.

Up in the Arctic Region, a blizzard was blowing through in the early morning hours. With strong winds howling loudly and thick snowfall creating whiteout conditions, it was hard to imagine anyone would last long out in the open of such a bleak and desolate area.

Out in seemingly the middle of nowhere was a large outpost built atop the pack ice. It was built mostly out of light grey Lego bricks with a few dark grey pipes stretching across numerous sides of the old facility. The large accumulation of snow on the roof and along the bottom of the walls was a clear indication that this base had not been in use for at least a few years.

Just a short distance away from the abandoned outpost, the ice suddenly began to split apart. The ice fractured over a small area and lifted upwards before sliding away, revealing a small submarine resurfacing. The voyage along the ocean current had lasted through the entire night, but at least the LEGO Team of Canterlot City had safely made it to their destination.

Within a few minutes, the hatch was opened and the six girls — all of them now wearing bright orange parkas with their hoods up — climbed out into the blistering cold blizzard. None of them bothered to talk, as the howling winds made that virtually impossible, but as soon as they saw the facility looming in front of them, they all knew exactly where to go.

The six girls struggled against the strong winds as they trudged over to the nearest wall of the large building and then began searching for a way inside. They eventually managed to find a door, but snow that went up to their knees had piled up against it, leaving them with no choice but to kick away all of that snow. It took them over a minute, but they eventually managed to clear away enough of the doorway to open the door and step inside.

The inside of the abandoned facility was just as frigid as the outside, but the surrounding walls and roof did provide shelter against the loud winds and blowing snow. This permitted the six girls to lower the hoods on their parkas.

“Ugh, what a way to spend a Wednesday mornin’,” grumbled Applejack as she pulled her hat out of her parka’s hood and placed it back on her head.

As Rarity smoothed out her hair, she said, “At least I had the foresight to pack us these cozy and fabulous parkas.” She then cast a knowing look at Applejack and smugly added, “And to think you actually accused me of overpacking.”

Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes. “You’re never gonna let me live that down, ain’t ya?”

“I’m just glad we actually made it here,” said Fluttershy. “After what happened yesterday, it really is the best we could’ve hoped for.”

Rainbow Dash finished brushing snow off of her parka and asked, “Okay, so now that we’re here, what’s next?”

“Now we need to find some way to contact someone who can get us home,” answered Sunset. “Spread out and search the building, everyone. There’s gotta be some kind of communications room around here somewhere.”

“Um, wouldn’t it be better if we all just stayed together?” Fluttershy nervously asked. “I-I just think it would be much safer.”

“Oh, relax, silly!” assured Pinkie Pie. “This place looks like it’s been totally empty for a really long time, so there’s no way there’s anything in here that would want to attack you because if there was then they’d already be frozen solid by now, although it would still look scary to suddenly open up a closet somewhere and find something scary frozen solid in a block of ice, like a yeti or a caveman or a—”

Rainbow Dash cut off her hyperactive friend with a hand over her mouth. She gave the pink party girl a disapproving look and muttered, “Pinkie, not helping.”

Pinkie glanced back at Fluttershy and saw the shy yellow girl was shivering, though she couldn’t tell if it was from fear or just the cold.

“Still, Pinkie’s right about one thing,” noted Applejack. “This place sure hasn’t been used in a while, so y’all better watch where you’re steppin’ in case somethin’ gives out.”

“Besides, we’re only splitting up so we can cover more ground,” assured Sunset as she began passing out flashlights to all of her friends. “Once we’ve found a proper communication system, we’ll get back together and stay that way until rescue arrives.”

Fluttershy glanced down at the flashlight in her hand and hesitantly said, “Well… I guess that makes sense.”

The six girls switched on their flashlights and began exploring different areas of the abandoned outpost. Even though they were optimistic they would be able to find a way home, there was no telling what else they might find.

At Twilight’s home base, she and her fellow Shadowbolt agents were seated together at the kitchen table as they ate their breakfast. Lemon Zest and Sour Sweet were helping themselves to some eggs and bacon, Sunny Flare and Twilight each had a small stack of pancakes with syrup, Sugarcoat settled for a couple of waffles, and Indigo Zap enjoyed some sausages.

While most of her new teammates shared a little casual conversation, Twilight remained silent. She was still thinking about the call she had received from Cinch the previous night regarding their most recent mission. Cinch was obviously very disappointed in their failure to retrieve the treasure of Atlantis — especially regarding the fact that it had been Twilight’s decision to dump it — but at least she appreciated the effort made to keep track of where those Canterlot girls would be.

Most notably in Cinch’s call, she understood very well the fact that this mission even happened at all was troubling, because it had definitively confirmed that one of Twilight’s new teammates was secretly supplying information to the LEGO Team. Even though the question of who it was in particular remained an absolute mystery, there was now no doubt at all that there was a traitor on the team.

As she glanced around at her fellow Shadowbolt agents, Twilight couldn’t help but consider the possible reasons why each of them would want to betray all the others. Her thoughts decided to work clockwise around the table, starting with the girl sitting to her left. Let’s see… Sunny Flare has a reputation of being very persuasive, so if it’s her, I’m sure she would do an excellent job of denying any involvement. Indigo Zap doesn’t seem like an obvious possibility, but with how ruthless she can be to get what she wants, I wouldn’t put it past her to resort to treachery. Sugarcoat is highly intelligent and always tells things as they are, so if she was convinced the LEGO Team had the more rightful cause, then she might view treachery of this group as simply a net positive. Sour Sweet is practically a toss-up, depending on which face is in control, and since I can’t determine which of her two faces is the more dominant, it’s really difficult to say for sure. And Lemon Zest is a bit of a wild card, since she only seems to care about having fun and playing loud rock music, so I can’t really think of any legitimate reasons why she either would or would not betray us.

Twilight stared down at the last pancake on her plate and sighed. At this point, it really is anyone’s guess as to who the traitor might be, she thought to herself.

SLAM!

“MAIL CALL!!” shouted Spike excitedly as he suddenly kicked open the kitchen door and stepped inside while carrying a small stack of objects in his arms.

That sudden shout had startled everyone in the kitchen, with Sunny Flare spilling her orange juice, Lemon Zest dropping her fork onto the floor, and Indigo Zap losing her balance while leaning back in her chair and ultimately falling backwards onto the floor.

Sour Sweet turned to the young boy as she spun her head around to her sour face and furiously exclaimed, “Don’t do that again!”

Spike chuckled nervously and said, “Sorry. It’s just that I’ve always wanted to do that, except it was never any fun when Twilight was the only one around.”

While Twilight simply rolled her eyes before resuming her breakfast, the others just glared at Spike without saying a word.

Spike kept his smile up, though it had become forced due to the angry looks directed at him. After an uneasy moment of silence, he cleared his throat and said, “Anyway…” He then began walking around the table. “I’ve got this week’s Fashion & Gossip magazine for Sunny Flare…” From the top of his stack, he handed over that magazine.

“Thank you,” said Sunny as she took the magazine and set it aside.

“A letter for Sour Sweet…” Spiked walked over to Sour Sweet and handed her a white envelope.

Sour Sweet switched to her sweet face and pleasantly remarked, “Wow, I hardly ever get a letter.” She opened the letter, then immediately switched back to her sour face and exclaimed, “Jury duty?!” She blew a loud raspberry as she tore that letter in half and tossed it behind her back.

“This month’s Swords & Lasers weaponry catalogue for Indigo Zap…” Spike handed the catalogue over to Indigo Zap just as she sat back down in her chair after turning it upright again.

“Sweet!” said Indigo excitedly as she quickly snatched that catalogue and immediately began flipping through it.

“A package for Lemon Zest…” Spiked walked around to Lemon Zest and handed her a small brown box.

“Oh! This must be that boom box I ordered last week!” said Lemon excitedly as she quickly tore off the wrapping and opened the box. She had a huge grin on her face as she pulled a pink boom box out of that package. “Yes! I can’t wait to take this thing out on the road!”

“And finally, the morning paper for Sugarcoat.” Spike walked around the table and handed over the white 2x2 tile, the last item he had been carrying.

“Thanks,” said Sugarcoat as she took the paper and began flipping through the pages.

Indigo Zap raised an eyebrow as she glanced over at Sugarcoat and asked, “You read the newspaper?”

Once she reached her desired page, Sugarcoat pulled out a pencil and stated, “What can I say? I’m a sucker for the crossword puzzles.”

“Personally, I prefer sudokus,” remarked Twilight as she got up out of her chair and carried her now empty plate over to the sink. After rinsing off that plate, she then picked up a pen and a scroll on the counter and unrolled that scroll. “Eat breakfast: Check,” she said as she checked that item off the list.

The five other Shadowbolts glanced over at Twilight in confusion. “You made a checklist for everyday tasks?” asked Sunny Flare.

“Of course I did,” replied Twilight contently. “I always make one at the start of every day so I know what needs to get done it a specific sequence.”

“Have you been living in Bricksburg under Lord Business?” asked Sugarcoat incredulously.

Twilight rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t taunt me and my lifestyle choices. The way I see it, checklists help me keep things neat and orderly on a day-to-day basis.”

Indigo Zap threw down her catalogue and got up out of her seat as she retorted, “Well the way I see it, checklists are like instruction books. If you’re smart enough to put two bricks together, then you don’t need ‘em.” She then snatched the checklist out of Twilight’s hands and quickly tore it to shreds. “There! Problem solved!” she boasted as she tossed away the shreds of parchment.

Twilight was indeed shocked at first, but then she smirked at Indigo. “You know,” quipped Twilight, “one thing I certainly don’t miss about the Castle Region is that I no longer have to be completely dependent on parchment.” She pulled out her phone and opened an app before showing the screen to her fellow teammate. “I made a digital copy of that checklist.”

Indigo smacked herself in the forehead and groaned as she flopped backwards into her seat.

Twilight giggled lightly before turning her attention down to her daily checklist app. “Let’s see, next item on the list is to… check the tracking system for the current location of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team.”

As Twilight switched to a different app on her phone, Sunny Flare noted, “Yes, I suppose that’s one task worthy of placing on a checklist.”

“Barring some sort of miracle, they’re probably still drifting in the middle of the ocean,” stated Sugarcoat as she filled in another word on her crossword.

“I’m kinda hoping they got captured by pirates,” quipped Indigo Zap as she rested her feet on the table.

“Oh no,” muttered Twilight as a look of panic suddenly appeared on her face. “Oh no no no no no no no!” She began frantically pacing around the room as her breathing rate increased. “This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!”

Sour Sweet switched to her sweet face and asked, “What? What’s wrong?”

“They’ve found one of my old secret hideouts!” answered Twilight in panic. “I don’t know how, but the tracking device clearly indicates that they are precisely on that site!” She hyperventilated for a few seconds before she eventually managed to calm herself down, or at least as calm as she could be in such a frightening situation. “I’ve gotta find out what they’re up to.” She immediately put away her phone and rushed out the door.

The five remaining Shadowbolts silently glanced at one another in confusion. No words were spoken as everyone set aside everything on the table and walked over to the doorway.

As soon as everyone was out in the hallway, Twilight suddenly burst out of her research lab with her special device hanging around her neck. “Spike! Build me a snowmobile! Pronto!” she requested urgently as she rushed down the hallway towards the gateway room.

“Uh, okay,” responded Spike with uncertainty. Despite his confusion, he quickly gathered up a bunch of Lego parts from the storage room and brought them out into the gateway room.

At the same time, Twilight quickly started entering a set of coordinates into the Jump-Gate.

“Do you mind telling us what’s going on?” asked Indigo Zap irritably as she and the rest of the group entered the gateway room.

“That old facility of mine is literally out in the middle of nowhere,” Twilight hastily explained, “so I wasn’t exactly as thorough with clearing it out as I was with most of my other previous secret bases.” She finished entering the coordinates, but did not open the Jump-Gate. Instead, she immediately rushed into the nearest changing room. “There’s no telling what kind of Shadowbolt secrets those Canterlot girls might uncover!”

As Twilight rummaged around inside the changing room, Sunny Flare asked, “And I assume this means we must accompany you, correct?”

“Not this time,” responded Twilight. “I’m going there alone. The rest of you will stay here.”

The five girls muttered words of confusion at that statement.

“Do you even realize that’s a direct violation of Miss Cinch’s personal orders to us?” asked Sugarcoat.

“I’m pretty sure that only applies to major missions officially assigned to us by Miss Cinch herself,” argued Twilight. “This is going to be just a minor scouting expedition, and the fewer agents involved the better, so it doesn’t get any better than just a single agent — namely me.”

It was only a few seconds later when Spike attached the final piece to the snowmobile. “There! All done!” he proudly stated.

“Perfect timing!” remarked Twilight as she stepped out of the changing room, now wearing a dark blue parka. “Open the Jump-Gate!” she requested and she rushed over to the snowmobile.

Spike ran over to the Jump-Gate’s control panel and hit the green “Open” button. The Jump-Gate made its low whooshing noise for a few seconds before the doors parted, opening up to a fierce blizzard. Twilight immediately flipped her hood up and began pushing the snowmobile through the Jump-Gate.

“Miss Cinch is going to be very furious when she finds out about this,” warned Sunny Flare, needing to raise her voice so she could be heard over the howling winds outside.

“She won’t find out,” rebuffed Twilight. “Like I said, this is only a minor scouting expedition. I’ll be back before you know it.” Once she had pushed her snowmobile completely through the Jump-Gate, she tapped a red button on her wrist-mounted device, which quickly closed the gateway’s doors and made them vanish on her side.

Twilight was now completely alone in the middle of the Arctic Region. After a quick check to make sure everything was in place — including her research project’s key device stuffed under her parka — she hopped onto the snowmobile and started it up. With little time to lose, she sped off across the frozen wasteland and towards the abandoned facility she once resided in for a short time.

Fluttershy moved carefully through the dark corridors of the abandoned outpost. She made sure to aim her flashlight in every direction with each step she took, ensuring that nothing would ever catch her by surprise. So far, she had seen very little besides empty rooms and hallways. Whoever once occupied this facility had clearly packed up nearly everything that may have once been here before leaving.

But of all the directions Fluttershy was watching, the one she neglected to observe was down on the floor around her feet. Due to this oversight, she ended up slipping on a patch of ice on the floor. As she yelped and fell to the floor, she accidentally tossed her flashlight away, knocking over an empty filing cabinet that came crashing to the floor.

Fluttershy slowly sat up and rubbed the sore spot on her back where she had hit the floor on, then crawled over to where her flashlight had ended up. She picked up her flashlight and rested a hand on the fallen filing cabinet as she stood back up. As she was getting back up, she caught a glimpse of something when the light of her flashlight passed over the spot on the floor where the filing cabinet had once stood. She pointed the flashlight at the spot again and saw what appeared to be a small index card on the floor. The side that was facing up was blank, so she walked over, picked it up, and turned it over to reveal a short phrase printed on the other side: “Pick-A-Brick”.

I wonder what that means, thought Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash called out.

Fluttershy quickly turned back to the hallway she had come down, where she had heard her friend calling from. She glanced back down at the card in her hand, then stuffed it into her parka before turning around and heading back down that hallway. She went around the corner and soon met up with Rainbow Dash and Rarity.

“Are you alright, darling?” asked Rarity in concern. “We heard you cry out, followed by a crash.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” assured Fluttershy. “I just slipped on some ice and knocked over an empty cabinet.”

Rarity placed a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder and said, “I’m glad you’re okay, dear, but please do try to watch where you are stepping.”

“Yeah, there’s a reason AJ warned us about that,” added Rainbow Dash. She then frowned as she continued, “At least you’re having better luck than me. Everyone single room I’ve looked through is completely empty. I think whoever last used this place decided to take everything that wasn’t nailed down.”

“Not according to what I discovered in the kitchen,” Rarity pointed out. “Not only were all the appliances and fixtures still in place, as one might expect, but there was also a table and set of chairs sitting in the middle of the room. If this had been my former residence, I would have ensured that nothing at all would be left behind when the time came to move out.”

“Maybe they left in a hurry and took only the important stuff?” suggested Rainbow Dash.

“Perhaps,” acknowledged Rarity with a shrug.

“Good news, girls,” said Sunset Shimmer as she suddenly came around another corner and walked over to the others. “I found an antique radio system and managed to contact the nearest branch of the LEGO Team. They’re already preparing to send out a rescue plane as we speak to not only bring us home but also collect the Atlantis treasure that’s still with the sub. They’ll arrive as soon as there’s a clear enough break in the weather, which they estimate may be a few hours from now.”

“That’s wonderful news, darling,” said Rarity happily.

“Awesome! Now it’s only a matter of time before we’re finally out of this mess,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Nice work, Sunset,” added Fluttershy.

Sunset nodded and said, “Now we just have to find Applejack and Pinkie Pie and tell them about this.”

A sudden noise of rushing water through one of the pipes startled the four girls. They briefly looked around in confusion before Sunset led them down another corridor, trying to follow that noise until they soon arrived at a closed door.

Just seconds after the girls arrived, the door suddenly opened and out stepped Applejack as she let out a sigh of relief. She left the room and only made it a few steps before she stopped as she noticed the looks of confusion on her friends. She returned the confused expression and simply said, “What? The toilet still works.”

As Applejack walked over to the others, Rarity suddenly started waving her hand in front of her face and asked, “And what about the air vent?”

“Eh… not so much,” admitted Applejack uneasily.

As the others reacted in disgust, Rarity quickly pulled out her can of air freshener and began to liberally apply it along the way to the bathroom door in a continuous spray. As soon as she reached the door, she quickly closed it, put away her air freshener, and slapped a large biohazard sticker onto the door.

Sunset stared blankly at Rarity’s actions for a moment before eventually saying, “Well, uh… I guess now we just have to find Pinkie Pie.”

“There you girls are!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly as she suddenly came skidding around another corner. She waved for them to follow as she added, “C’mon! I wanna show you something fun!” Without waiting for any of them, she then ran back the way she came.

The others looked at one another in confusion and then silently shrugged and followed after the pink party girl.

The girls soon arrived in a large empty room. The first thing that immediately caught everyone’s attention was the huge stacks of pizzas — which were actually yellow 2x2 round tiles with printed detailing on the top surface that looked like pizza toppings — piled up in one corner. Pinkie grabbed two of those pizzas and explained, “I found the pantry was packed full of these frozen pizzas, but it’s so cold in here that there’s no way we can eat them.” She proved her point by rubbing the two pizzas together, which sounded more like grinding two rocks together. “But then I realized that even if we do manage to call in for a rescue, it might take a really long time for them to get here, so instead of spending all that time just sitting around and doing nothing, I figured it would be a great idea to use these pizzas to play a game so we can all have lots of fun!” She tossed the two pizzas over to Rainbow Dash and Applejack and then spread her arms out wide as she excitedly announced, “I call it: The Pizza Toss!”

Pinkie pointed at the far half of the room, which was covered in a layer of ice and had what appeared to be a large bullseye target painted on it, along with a line separating the target half from the other half of the room. “All you have to do is toss one of these frozen pizzas like a frisbee so that it’s sliding across the ice by the time it crosses that line, and whoever gets their pizza closest to the center of that target wins!”

“Oh, so it’s like curling, except without using those sweepers?” asked Rarity.

“No brooms here! Couldn’t find any!” answered Pinkie cheerfully. “Oh! And while we’re playing, how about a little music to go with it?” She ran over to a record player nearby and pulled out a record. “This one’s a little retro, but I think it fits the ice theme pretty well.” She placed the record on the player and started it up.

As the music started, Rainbow Dash quickly smiled and said, “Hey, I recognize this! They played this tune at the Ice Planet Pathway track during the old LEGO Racers competition.” She let out a nostalgic sigh. “I loved watching all those races when I was a kid.”

Pinkie rushed back to her friends and held up two more frozen pizzas as she grinned and excitedly asked, “Who wants to go first?”

When none of the others immediately responded, Sunset shrugged and replied, “I guess I’ll take it.” She grabbed one of the pizzas Pinkie held out and then turned to face the target. She held her arm steady and narrowed her eyes on the target. After a few seconds, she tossed her frozen pizza forward and it slid on the ice across the line, into the target zone, and just past the center, stopping halfway between the center and the edge of the target zone.

“Nice toss, Sunset!” cheered Pinkie. “Okay, my turn!” She picked up another frozen pizza and quickly tossed it, sending it sliding across the icy floor, past the line, past the target, and eventually hitting the far wall. “Whoopsie! Too much. Oh well! Who’s next?”

Fluttershy picked up a frozen pizza from the pile and said, “It does look kind of fun, so I guess it’s worth a try.” She walked over to stand beside her friends, held the pizza at just the right angle, and tossed it forward. The pizza slid across the ice, but barely made it across the line.

Rarity placed a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder and assuredly said, “It was a nice effort, darling.” A frozen pizza was suddenly tossed to her by Pinkie Pie and she barely managed to catch it. “I suppose this means it’s my turn now.” She moved into a proper stance, held the pizza low near the floor and at just the right angle, and then tossed it while giving it a good amount of spin. The pizza slid to right and curved forward a bit, but not enough to bring it into the target area.

“That was a pretty good one, Rarity,” remarked Pinkie Pie happily. “Who’s next?”

“I know how these kinds of games work,” bragged Rainbow Dash confidently. She turned to Applejack and said, “You can go next.”

Applejack was a little surprised by Rainbow’s offer, but then smirked and said, “Well, if ya say so.” She already had a frozen pizza in her hands, so all she had to do was toss it towards the target. Unfortunately, she tossed her pizza at a poor angle and it ended up bouncing off the floor once before rolling away on its edge.

Rainbow Dash immediately burst out laughing. “I think you put a little too much muscle into that one!” she remarked before resuming her hysterical laughter. Within seconds, everyone else also joined in the laughter, even Applejack.

As the six friends really enjoyed participating in this new game, Pinkie Pie suddenly began to glow and levitate off the floor as she ponied up. She gained pony ears on her head and a tail-like extension to her hair piece. “Oooh, floaty!” she remarked cheerfully.

The others looked up in awe and wonder at Pinkie’s sudden magical transformation. “Of course that happened,” muttered Sunset as she just smiled and rolled her eyes.

Eventually, Rarity turned her gaze away from their hovering friend and handed a frozen pizza to Applejack. “Here, darling. You deserve another chance,” she said.

Applejack smiled and nodded as she took the pizza and prepared to toss it properly this time. It took her a moment to be sure she was in a good stance before she made her toss. The pizza slid across the ice and came to a stop almost right over the center bullseye. “Nice!” she remarked. She turned to Rainbow Dash and smugly added, “Let’s see ya top that!”

“I don’t have to,” bragged Rainbow as she prepared to toss her frozen pizza. “All I’ve gotta do is knock you off your perch.” Once she was certain she was at just the right angle, she tossed her pizza, which slid across the ice and smacked right into Applejack’s pizza, knocking them both out of the target zone. “Yea— Ohhh!” She was thrilled that she knocked Applejack off the target zone, but then was crushed to see that she has also knocked herself off the target zone, leaving only one pizza left in that area.

“Huh? Looks like I win,” remarked Sunset with a smirk.

While everyone else’s attention was focused on the results of the pizza toss game, Pinkie Pie suddenly felt her Equestrian magic begin to drain out of her, causing her to slowly drop back to the floor as her pony parts vanished.

“Eh, that was just a bad toss,” argued Rainbow Dash. She picked up another frozen pizza and offered, “Best two out of three!”

Crash!

Everyone immediately turn to Pinkie Pie and saw that she had fallen onto the record player — shutting off the music in the process.

Fluttershy quickly ran over to Pinkie while Rarity asked with concern, “Pinkie, dear? Are you all right?”

Pinkie groaned tiredly as Fluttershy helped her up. “I am party pooped,” she mumbled.

With Pinkie Pie suddenly exhausted after spontaneously ponying up, it didn’t take long for Sunset Shimmer to realize what was going on. She furrowed her brow as she turned to Applejack and Rainbow Dash as she firmly said, “I think we all know what that means.”

Elsewhere in the abandoned outpost, Twilight Sparkle had only recently arrived when her special device started acting up again. Since it would lead her to one of the Canterlot girls, she decided to follow it in hopes of finding out what those girls were doing here. Unfortunately, she failed to foresee the device opening on its own again and was now absorbing some pink glowing energy coming from a nearby room. “Ugh! Not this again,” she grumbled as she struggled to force the device shut after absorbing the last of that strange energy.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!” hollered the voice of Sunset Shimmer throughout virtually the entire facility.

That shout startled Twilight, causing her to yelp and lose her grip on the device. With that device now left wide open, sparks of energy shot out all over the place and began to open up rifts in space all around her. “Oh, not good,” she muttered worriedly as she glanced back and forth between each and every hole in space that opened up. “This is not good at all.”

One of the mysterious portals suddenly opened up right in front of Twilight. After the initial shock of seeing it appear, she looked through it and realized that, aside from some night sky around the edges, it led to a slightly different location right inside this very facility. In fact, as she cautiously moved her arms around, she confirmed the she even saw herself from a distance. She glanced up and to the left and, sure enough, saw the other end of that portal near a walkway up there.

Curious, Twilight picked up a light grey 1x2 plate that happened to be on the ground near her feet and tossed it through the portal in front of her. Little more than a second later, that piece flew out the other portal and tumbled along the walkway until it went over the edge and fell to the floor below. “Dare I take my chances?” she muttered.

To Twilight’s right, Rainbow Dash suddenly came around the corner and stopped for only a brief second. “There she is!” she shouted before charging towards the Shadowbolt agent.

After only a brief glance at Rainbow, Twilight immediately made up her mind. “Heck yes!” shrieked Twilight as she ran straight towards the portal in front of her and jumped in feet-first. Just a second later, she flew out of the other portal and landed on her feet up on the walkway. Panting as she took a moment to regain her bearings, she realized that she had in fact successfully jumped from one of these portals to another. When her eyes fell on a dumbstruck Rainbow Dash down on the floor, she immediately ran off along the walkway.

“Oh, so that’s how we’re gonna play, huh?” remarked Rainbow with a cocky grin. “Game on!” she shouted as she dove head-first through the same portal Twilight took. She came flying out the other portal, only to slam her head against the walkway and then tumble a short distance until she landed on her belly. She groaned in pain as she put a hand on her head and grumbled, “So that’s why she went in feet-first.”

Meanwhile, Twilight continued to flee along the walkway. She quickly came to a stop as she saw Applejack climb up a ladder and block off the route ahead.

“Ah got her!” Applejack called out as she charged towards the Shadowbolt agent.

Twilight glanced over the railing to her right and saw another portal. She climbed over the railing and twisted her body around as she jumped, allowing her to pass through the portal face-down, parallel to the walkway, and with her head pointing in the direction she had come from. Applejack quickly followed by simply hopping over the railing and falling in feet-first.

In another corner of the facility, Twilight flew out of the portal in an upright position and hit the walkway on her feet, allowing her to continue running right away. Applejack flew out the portal feet-first and hit the walkway flat on her face. She got up and stumbled around a bit before she turned around and resumed the chase.

After going around a turn, Twilight stopped as she encountered another portal right in the middle of the walkway. After a quick observation of what was on the other side, she jumped through while turning her upper body sideways to the right and slightly forward. Right behind her, Applejack simply dove through head-first.

In yet another corner of the facility, Twilight once again flew out of the portal in an upright position and hit the walkway on her feet, allowing her to continue running right away. But when Applejack flew out of the portal, she flailed her limbs around as she tumbled uncontrollably. Once she finally came to a stop face-down, she grabbed onto the railing and struggled to get back up.

“Whoa, nelly,” mumbled Applejack as her eyes spun around in dizziness. “This is highly disorientin’.”

Meanwhile, Twilight jumped over the railing and landed on a lower walkway that ran perpendicular to the upper one. Twilight continued to run, only to stop as Fluttershy reached the top of a stairway and blocked Twilight’s escape route.

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before she mustered what little courage she could and firmly said, “I’m sorry, but I have to do this.” She clenched her fist and moved to punch Twilight in the face.

But before the blow could land, Twilight simply caught the fist and held it back. As the shy yellow girl looked at her in shock, Twilight simply smirked and remarked, “I’m sorry, but I have to do this.” She then spun around and threw Fluttershy over her shoulder, tossing her over the railing and into another portal.

Fluttershy screamed as she fell through the portal. That scream resumed as she flew up out another portal at the opposite end of the hallway and then down through that portal. She then came flying back out of the first portal, fell down into it, flew up out the second portal, fell back down into it, and the cycle just kept on repeating.

“That should keep her occupied for a while,” noted Twilight before she continued down the walkway.

Twilight eventually made her way down a set of stairs to reach the ground floor again. She only made it a few steps before she encountered two portals on opposite sides of the hallway. But what made her momentarily pause was Pinkie Pie flying out of one portal and diving straight into the other one, all while squealing excitedly with a huge grin, completely oblivious of the Shadowbolt agent she had just passed right by. Twilight was left dumbstruck for a few seconds before she eventually remarked, “I guess that takes care of that one.”

“And just what do you think you are doing, darling?”

Twilight immediately glanced back and saw Rarity standing behind her, arms folded and with a disapproving frown on her face. Twilight wasn’t sure how to respond, so she quickly checked her parka for anything potentially useful. The only thing she managed to pull out of her pocket was a can of soda. Against most opponents, this wouldn’t be effective at all, but if used properly against someone like Rarity, it was exactly the kind of thing that could work. A perfect case of using the right tool for the right job.

“Oh, let’s just say…” said Twilight as she began to vigorously shake the can around. As she finished shaking the can, she pointed it at Rarity and smirked. “It’s a science experiment.” She then popped the top of the can, spraying soda all over Rarity’s face and hair.

Rarity immediately shrieked as she started flailing her arms around while hopping from one foot to the other. “Gah! Soda in my hair! Soda in my hair!” she cried out desperately. “I must go wash it off before it gets all sticky!” She quickly turned away and rushed to the nearest washroom, screaming all the way.

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle and remark, “This is too easy!” She sipped what little remained of that beverage and tossed the empty can away. “You were wrong, Cinch!” She proudly declared to no one in particular. “I do work best alone!”

“Then prove it!”

Twilight spun around again and saw Sunset Shimmer was now standing in her way. Out of all the members on Canterlot City’s LEGO Team, she was by far the toughest, most brilliant, and most talented. She was definitely not a minifig one would want to mess around with.

Sunset raised both fists as she firmly declared. “Let’s settle this, Twilight. Mono a mono.”

“Actually, the correct translation would be ‘niña a niña’, since we’re both girls, not men,” Twilight quickly pointed out.

“Whatever!” shot back Sunset as she rolled her eyes. “My point is, you’re going down, even if I have to do it myself!” She then lunged at Twilight.

Twilight ducked and Sunset just flew right over her head. She glanced back to where Sunset landed, then glanced ahead and saw another one of the strange portals opening up. Unlike all the others, this one led right outside the facility, if the complete whiteness and bits of snow coming through were any indication.

As Sunset got back up, Twilight made her decision and bolted for that portal. All I need to do is jump through, shut off this silly thing, and then grab my snowmobile and leave, she thought to herself. It was a rather simple plan that mostly depended on timing, and she was confident she would get it right.

As Twilight raced for the portal with Sunset Shimmer in hot pursuit, Rainbow Dash arrived down a side corridor just in time to witness the Shadowbolt’s attempt to escape. “Hey! Twilight’s getting away!” she shouted. Uncertain of whether any of her friends were able to heed the alert, she decided to join Sunset in chasing after the fleeing Shadowbolt agent.

Unlike all the other portals Twilight had previously jumped through, this one had the exact same orientation on both sides, so there was no need to twist her body into an awkward direction as she jumped through. Once she was outside, she ignored the harsh blizzard that was suddenly blasting against her face. Her first priority was to shut her device — which had been left wide open the whole time — and thus close up all those portals and leave the LEGO Team stuck inside.

As soon as Twilight forced her device shut, all the portals all over the abandoned facility began to shrink and vanish. Sunset barely managed to dive through the one leading outside to Twilight, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t quite quick enough and ended up slamming into a solid wall before falling to her rear.

The closing of those portals also put an end to Fluttershy’s endless falling. With the portals gone, she no longer fell through to the other side and instead simply dropped straight down to floor, smashing to pieces on impact. “Ow,” she muttered weakly as all of her pieces scattered across the area.

Rainbow Dash rubbed the sore spot on her head from the impact for a brief moment before she quickly got back up. She moved her hands all across where the portal had once been, but felt only a solid wall. She pounded that wall and growled in frustration.

Just seconds later, Rainbow glanced over to the right and saw Applejack arrive. The apple farmer opened her mouth to speak, but Rainbow immediately cut her off.

“AJ, go find and help the others! I’ll go after Twilight and Sunset!” Rainbow hastily demanded as she began to quickly tear apart any Lego object she could find and rebuild them into something useful. As the blue athlete began to pony up from getting creative, Applejack silently nodded and ran off to find the rest of their friends.

It wasn’t long until Applejack found Fluttershy in pieces on the floor. She immediately rushed over to her shattered friend and asked, “You alright, Fluttershy?”

“Um… I think so,” Fluttershy quietly replied. “Um… maybe if you could… help me out a bit…?”

There was no need for anything else to be said as Applejack right away began to gather up all of Fluttershy’s scattered pieces.

“Whoa, what happened to you?”

Applejack and Fluttershy glanced over and saw that Pinkie Pie had now joined them. However, she also happened to be holding a red balloon in her left hand, a blue pennant with the Wonderbolts logo in her right hand, wore a white cap with a blue horseshoe printed on the front, and instead of her parka was now wearing a white T-shirt with “I walked between worlds and all I got was this silly T-shirt” printed on the front.

“An’ where have you been?!” asked Applejack irritably.

“Oh, y’know, here, there, anywhere, everywhere!” replied Pinkie Pie excitedly. She tossed aside the pennant and pulled a tray of cupcakes out from behind her back and offered, “What a cupcake? They’re grass flavored!” With a flick of the wrist, she tossed one of those green cupcakes into her mouth, but the more she chewed, the more her facial expression gradually changed from delight to disgust. When she finally managed to swallow the poorly-flavored treat, she stuck out her tongue and hesitantly added, “Then again, maybe I should just throw these away.”

Just outside the facility, Twilight had just barely enough time to stuff her device under her parka and pull her hood up before she was forced to run away from Sunset Shimmer again. Despite the freezing gusts blasting snow in their faces, neither of the two girls relented in the chase.

With Sunset staying hot on her tail, Twilight continued around the perimeter of the building until she finally found her snowmobile. Without any hesitation, she quickly hopped on and started it up. She then revved up the snowmobile at full gear, kicking up a ton of snow behind her and rapidly burying Sunset under a large pile. Once that was accomplished, she eased on the accelerator to regain traction and began to speed off.

Sunset popped her head out of the pile of snow and watched helplessly as Twilight made her getaway. But just seconds later, something burst out though a nearby doorway from inside the facility. She glanced over and saw it was a ponied up Rainbow Dash on a snowmobile of her own.

Rainbow slowed down as she passed by Sunset and, with a determined look on her face, remarked, “Quit playing around in the snow! Come on!” She yanked Sunset out of the pile of snow and tossed her into the rear seat as she hit the accelerator and zoomed off after Twilight.

Twilight made her way across the desolate wasteland of the Arctic Region as rapidly as she could. She glanced back to make sure she was in the clear, but her eyes widened as she saw Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer giving chase on their own snowmobile.

Fully aware there was nothing but flat empty ground for miles around, Twilight knew that she had to make her ultimate escape right now. Keeping her right hand on the handlebars, she entered the code on her portable Jump-Gate device. Then, needing to take both hands off for just a brief moment, she aimed her right arm far ahead and hit the final button. Off in the distance, the Jump-Gate materialized and the doors parted open to her home base.

Twilight zoomed across the icy landscape at full speed. Once she came very close to her Jump-Gate, she immediately jerked the handlebars to the left, causing the snowmobile to slide sideways across the snow, slowing herself down just enough that she passed through the Jump-Gate without slamming into the wall at the opposite end of the room. Without even a second to lose, she hopped off her snowmobile, rushed over to the control panel, and slammed her hand on the red “Emergency Close” button. The door of the Jump-Gate slammed shut and the gateway dematerialized from the Arctic Region.

Rainbow Dash’s snowmobile zoomed right through the site of the Jump-Gate not even a full second after it had vanished, but it was still just too slow to catch Twilight. With the chase over, Rainbow had no choice but to bring her snowmobile to a stop out in the middle of nowhere.

Rainbow Dash roared out in rage and shouted, “She got away!”

Crack cr-crack-crack!

Both Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer immediately held still and glanced around. Those low cracking noises slowly continued, and worse, seemed to be coming from literally every direction. The ultimate evidence of their fate came when visible cracks began to appear in the icy ground all around them.

Sunset sighed and mumbled, “Of course.”

Finally, the ice gave way, sending the snowmobile and its two passengers plunging into the abyss.

Author's Note

Wow, I sure seem to be going through these different regions rather quickly, compared to the previous stories. At least these chapters I've been writing this month are a bit shorter than the ones I wrote last month, so that makes it a little easier for me. Anyway, I sure hope the reasons I had the team go to the Arctic Region aren't too implausible, since it was one of the few parts of this chapter that I had not considered for a long time, and there was no way I was going to cut out all of this awesome content just because I wasn't sure how to get them there. And yes, that card Fluttershy found will be of significance later in the story.

Escape to the Next Destination

Chapter 8
Escape to the Next Destination

It was midday in the Arctic Region, and the harsh blizzard that had been blowing through the area remained as fierce as ever. With such heavy whiteout conditions, it was almost impossible to search for any signs of life in this desolate wasteland.

Not far from the abandoned outpost, a makeshift snow crawler slowly made its way across the frozen land, following a rapidly vanishing trail in the snow. Even though the trail quickly disappeared under a fresh blanket of snow, the occupants had been fortunate enough to start following it before that happened. All they had to do now was keep going in a straight line — easier said than done, not only due to the weather, but also the assumption that the trail had even continued in a straight line.

Eventually, the snow crawler began to approach a large hole in the icy ground. The slow-moving vehicle came to a stop just a short distance from the edge of the hole and all four occupants climbed out and walked the rest of the way to the edge.

Applejack was the first one to peer into the abyss. After a few seconds, she turned back to the rest of her friends and hollered over the roaring winds, “Ah can’t see a thing! Anybody got a light?!”

While Fluttershy and Rarity remained huddled together to protect against the cold, Pinkie Pie quickly dug through the pockets of her parka until she managed to pull out a flashlight. She then simply tossed it over to Applejack.

Applejack reached over to grab the flashlight, but it slipped out of her hand and fell into the abyss. She glared at Pinkie for a moment, then asked, “Anybody else got a light?”

Rarity and Fluttershy glanced at each other, then turned back to Applejack and shook their heads. “I’ll check the snow crawler,” replied Rarity before she began to walk back to their vehicle.

“Do you guys hear something?” Pinkie Pie suddenly asked.

Everyone paused and listened closely, though it was next to impossible to hear something over the roaring blizzard winds. But soon, they began to faintly notice a low buzzing noise. More surprisingly, it seemed to be coming from inside the hole in the ice.

Applejack peered into the abyss again, only to suddenly get a blast of cold air to the face as some kind of hovering vehicle rose up out of the hole. The strange object wobbled a bit in the strong winds, but managed to stay upright and made a careful landing not far from the edge of the abyss. And riding atop that hovering vehicle were two familiar minifigs.

After shutting off the odd vehicle — rebuilt from the pieces of that snowmobile she had used earlier— Rainbow Dash held up an object and asked, “Did somebody drop a flashlight?”

Applejack smiled as she quickly walked over to Rainbow and gave her a big hug. “We thought we’d lost the two of ya!” she exclaimed in relief.

“It’s like I always say — it takes a lot more than a crash to hurt this minifig!” boasted Rainbow Dash excitedly as she broke the hug. “And we all know how tough Sunset Shimmer can be, so never think that either of us would fall that easily!”

“But you did fall!” Pinkie Pie pointed out. “Down a ginormous hole in the ice!”

“And what about Twilight?” asked Rarity. “Do either of you know what happened to her?”

Sunset sighed and replied, “She got away through that vanishing door again. I’d certainly like to know how she does that.”

“What about you guys?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Did you really come all this way just to make sure we were okay?”

“Sure did!” Applejack proudly replied. “We’re all in this together, so we always gotta look out for each other.”

“Though I’m afraid we have some bad news to share with you,” added Rarity with concern. “Just prior to our departure, I contacted the nearest LEGO Team with that radio and they’ve reported that the weather has taken a turn for the worst. This storm will not be letting up any time soon, and rescue may not arrive until tomorrow at the very earliest.”

“We can’t afford to wait that long!” exclaimed Sunset. “There’s no telling what kind of trouble Twilight and those other Shadowbolt agents could cause while we’re just sitting around waiting to be rescued!” She sighed in defeat. “I guess our only choice now is to find our own way back home.”

“Good thing we found something awesome under that ice!” remarked Rainbow Dash.

“What did you find?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash sat back down in the pilot’s seat of the hovering vehicle and simply answered, “You gotta see it for yourselves! Hop in, everyone!”

The others were curious about what Rainbow and Sunset had found, so they all climbed onto the hovering vehicle and held on tight as Rainbow started it up. Once again, it wobbled a bit in the high winds, but once they began to descend down into the giant hole in the ice, the lack of blistering winds made the ride a lot smoother. It didn’t take long for them to reach to bottom of what turned out to be a massive ice cavern.

Rainbow landed the vehicle and shut it off. Once everyone was ready, she and Sunset led their friends up a nearby small ridge. At the top, they were able to gaze down at a large Lego structure partially trapped within the ice.

“It’s an old Viking ship,” noted Rarity in astonishment.

“I wonder how it ended up in here,” Fluttershy quietly said.

Applejack let out a long whistle and remarked, “That sure is a mighty fine discovery y’all made right there. Just one question, though. How exactly is this thing gonna help us?”

“Simple,” answered Sunset. “You and Rainbow Dash just have to rebuild it into something that can get us across the ice as quickly as possible.”

Applejack did a double-take and suddenly asked, “Whoa, whoa, wait… Did you say just me an’ Rainbow Dash? Why us in particular?”

Sunset rolled her eyes and replied, “Because, in case if you haven’t noticed, Twilight has taken away the Equestrian magic of me, Fluttershy, Rarity, and now Pinkie Pie, so that leaves just you and Rainbow as the only ones who can get creative. We’re all counting on the two of you to make this work.”

“I can totally handle this,” Rainbow responded smugly. “What about you, AJ?”

Applejack looked over the wrecked Viking ship for a moment, then glanced back at the giant hole in the ice they had entered through. She considered all the options and eventually replied, “It sounds plum crazy to me, but if there were a way to get that darn thing outta this here cave… then Ah reckon we just might have a chance.”

“We’ll carry it out brick by brick if we have to,” remarked Rainbow Dash. “Not like it’ll matter, since we’ll probably have to completely rebuild the whole thing anyway.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow and asked, “An’ just what kind of crazy idea have ya got in mind?”

Rainbow Dash smirked and replied, “I think you girls are gonna love this one.”

On most days, much of the Arctic Region was a rather lifeless place. Aside from the wind and snow of fearsome blizzards, not much ever really happened out in such a wasteland. But today, there was something big that really stood out, and it was moving very rapidly across the empty landscape.

That old Viking ship had been successfully brought up out of that ice cave. Not only was it completely rebuilt, but it also had a special addition to its structure in the form of two parallel giant ice skates attached to the bottom of its hull. With the ship’s sail fully opened, the howling blizzard winds were pushing the repurposed ship across the icy terrain at an incredibly high speed. And riding aboard this ice-skating Viking ship were the six members of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team.

“Hoo-wee! Look at us go!” hollered Applejack with enthusiasm.

“It’s the world’s biggest ice skate!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly. “Wheeeeee!”

Rainbow Dash laughed and excitedly remarked, “I think we just invented a new kind of sport! Wind-skating!”

Needless to say, the team’s morale was at a new high thanks to such a remarkable success of creativity. The ice-skating ship shook lightly with every minor bump on the ground, forcing each of the six girls to keep at least one hand firmly onto the structure, but it never stopped any of them from smiling. Sunset Shimmer held onto the ship’s rudder and made sure they sailed in an ideal direction with the winds as they zoomed across the frozen wasteland.

Within a few moments, Rarity checked the GPS on her phone and soon spoke up, “Brace yourselves, everyone! We’re about to reach the ocean!”

Just seconds later, the whiteout conditions began to clear away. Everyone on the ship held on tight as they saw the edge of the ice shelf rapidly approaching. At the speed they were going, it wasn’t long until the ship flew off the ice shelf and dropped a short distance to the surface of the ocean. The skates sliced through the water, then the hull bounced off the surface a few times like a skipping stone, shaking everyone aboard with each rough impact. Finally, the water slowed down the ship enough that it stopped skipping and began to sail across the surface like a real ship.

“That worked out pretty nicely,” remarked Sunset Shimmer contently. “Now all we gotta do is sail this thing to the nearest port and we’re home free.”

The other girls cheered with various words of agreement. It seemed that after so many setbacks, things were finally starting to look up for them.

But then Fluttershy suddenly frowned and asked, “Does anyone else hear that?”

Everyone quickly fell silent and listened closely. At first, all they could hear was the wind on their backs and the crashing of ocean waves around them. But then they also began to hear a trickling noise beneath their feet.

Applejack removed one of the plate pieces that made up the deck and looked below. She was shocked to discover that the hull was quickly filling up with water, with much of it leaking in through the joints to the ice skates. “Dagnabbit, Rainbow!” she exclaimed. “Ya put too many holes in this thing! We’re sinkin’ like a stone!”

“Hey, nobody told me to make it watertight!” Rainbow Dash shot back. “I just offered to slap on some giant ice skates and everyone was cool with it! No questions or concerns were ever brought up!”

“Save your argument for later!” Sunset interjected as the Viking ship gradually began to sink lower into the water. “We gotta find a solution, and fast! At these temperatures, we won’t last more than a few minutes if we end up in the water!”

“Don’t worry, girls! I got just the thing!” assured Pinkie Pie as she took off her hair piece and began to shake it. As she shook it, a red apple fell out, followed by a party horn and then a pink cupcake. She glanced at the underside of her hair piece, then shook it much more rapidly. “C’mon! Where is it?! Where is it?!” As she shook it, more odd items fell out, such as a party hat, a balloon animal, a roll of giftwrap, and even a rubber chicken.

Finally, a large yellow block fell out of Pinkie’s hair and hit the deck with a dull thud. “Aha! Found it!” exclaimed Pinkie cheerfully as she put her hair back on her head. She then pulled a cord sticking out of one corner of the block, which then hissed with air as it rapidly unfurled into a large raft. Pinkie immediately hopped into the middle of the raft and called to her friends, “Hop in, everyone! There’s enough room for all of us!”

Without any hesitation, all five of the other girls quickly hopped into the raft. It was only then, once they were all safe from falling into the freezing water, that they began to ask questions. “You packed an inflatable raft?” asked Sunset.

“Of course I did!” replied Pinkie Pie cheerfully. “I always pack anything that’s inflatable!” She then pulled a deflated blue balloon from her hair, blew it up, and tied it to a string and held onto it.

Just seconds later, the Viking ship had by that point sunken so low that the water began to wash over the top of the deck, lifting the inflatable raft off it and away from the doomed ship. All six girls in the raft looked back and watched helplessly as the old Viking ship slowly slipped beneath the waves. The team was now left all alone in the middle of the frigid ocean under a light snowfall.

“Good thing we decided to leave the Atlantis treasure back at the outpost for that rescue team to collect,” noted Rarity. “I would hate to imagine having to retrieve it again, especially at these latitudes.”

“So, um… What now?” asked Fluttershy.

“What can we do?!” responded Rainbow Dash irritably. “We’re now stuck in the middle of the ocean with no way out, even worse than when we were in that sub yesterday! I mean it’s not like a big gigantic ship is just gonna come out of nowhere and save us.”

Applejack turned around and saw something behind Rainbow that made her smile. “Actually,” she quipped with a chuckle, “that’s exactly what’s gonna happen!”

Rainbow Dash glanced back and what she saw made her jaw drop faster than gravity. “MY GOSH!” she shouted in disbelief.

Sailing right up to the inflatable raft was a large pirate ship, carefully weaving its way between the icebergs that dotted this frigid sea.

“Avast, mateys!” hollered the captain of the ship. As the ship began to sail beside the raft, he called out to his crew, “Haul them aboard!”

The crew quickly rushed over to the starboard side of the ship and tossed some ropes over to the raft. At each end of the raft, Sunset Shimmer and Rarity each caught a rope and tied them to their respective ends. Once the raft was secured, the crew then began to pull on those two ropes, hauling the raft out of the water and up onto the deck of the pirate ship.

As soon as the inflatable raft was safely on the deck, the six girls climbed out and turned toward the stern of the ship, where the pirate captain was already making his way down the stairs towards them. When he reached the same deck they were on, they immediately recognized him for his light blue skin and short green beard. “Storm Wave!” they all exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

“Aye, lassies!” greeted Storm Wave with a tip of his hat. “Tis been a long time since we stopped the sirens, has it not?”

“It sure is good to see you again,” admitted Sunset with a smile.

“What’re you guys doin’ this far north?” asked Applejack.

“I be not bluffing when I say that me hearty crew and I can handle any of the roughest conditions the sea can deliver,” explained Storm Wave. “This voyage be a training session to see if me crew can handle the grinding icy seas and bone-chilling air of the Arctic Region.”

The six girls glanced around at the crew members at various places all over the ship doing all kinds of tasks — or not so, in some cases. One crewmember was chipping away ice that had built up along the railing, another was sweeping snow off the deck, only to suddenly get a lot of it dumped on top of him by another crewmember carelessly shoveling away on an upper deck, another one up in the rigging didn’t move as he was apparently shivering, and there was even one laying down in a reclined chair on the deck while sipping a tropical drink.

“Now what brings ye lassies to such a forsaken region as this?” asked Storm Wave.

“It’s kind of a long story,” explained Sunset. “Basically, we’ve been out on a series of missions these last few days to stop a group of secret agents who call themselves the Shadowbolts. Have you heard of them?”

“Can’t say that I have,” admitted Storm Wave. “Though they sound like the type who would cause nothing but trouble wherever they may be.”

“Absolutely,” confirmed Sunset with a nod. “They oppose everything the LEGO Team stands for, so there’s no question that they need to be stopped.”

“Well then shiver me timbers, lassies! It seems we shall be working together, once more!” declared Storm Wave with pride. “How may I be of assistance to ye, this time?”

Rarity stepped forward and replied, “After being stranded at sea twice over the last two days, I think we can all agree that we wish to finally return home, or at least resume contact with the Playwell sisters to discuss our next course of action.”

“We left our spaceship back in Baltimare,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “How fast do you think you can get us there?”

Storm Wave laughed heartily and proudly replied, “Much faster than ye might expect! For ye see, upon me return to the Pirate Region after the defeat of the sirens — and me ship rendered a pile of wreckage — I was offered assistance from none other than MetalBeard himself! He offered to not only help me crew and I rebuild our ship, but also added in a few… upgrades.” His smile widened as he spoke that final word. He then turned away and hollered, “Full steam ahead!”

The crew immediately scrambled into action. As they opened up secret compartments and flipped a few hidden levers, the entire ship began to undergo an incredible transformation. On both sides of the hull, a pair of structures shifted outwards and unfolded themselves into giant paddlewheels before being lowered down to have them only partially submerged in the water. At the stern, a large propeller shifted out the back, unfolded itself, and dipped completely under the surface. And in the middle of the main deck, a cargo hatch slid away to allow a large boiler to rise up, followed by a tall funnel that came up in four telescopic sections. The pirate ship — the Hurricane II — was no longer a standard sailing ship, but was now a steam-powered beast ready to conquer the seas faster than any old pirate ship.

“Ye lassies wish to be in Baltimare?” boasted Storm Wave. “We shall arrive by the crack of dawn tomorrow!”

The entire crew let out a loud cheer at that statement.

The six Canterlot girls simply glanced around at the transformed pirate ship around them, staring at all the steampunk additions almost in disbelief.

“This… is… awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash excitedly.

“Well Ah’ll be! Now there’s somethin’ ya don’t see every day,” remarked a very impressed Applejack.

“Yay! We finally got a ride home!” cheered Pinkie Pie.

“Goodness! This is really… something special,” muttered Fluttershy.

“It’s a little gaudy as far as pirate ships go, but I suppose if it works, it works,” commented Rarity.

“Now that is impressive,” said Sunset in approval. She turned to Storm Wave and said, “Thanks for helping us out, Captain.”

“It be no trouble,” assured Storm Wave. “After yer success against the sirens, me crew and I shall always be more than happy to lend a helping hand.” He then pointed ahead and shouted, “Now onwards! We make haste for Baltimare!”

As Captain Storm Wave returned to his post at the ship’s wheel, the six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team gathered together and headed below deck to finally get out of the cold weather. If all went as Storm Wave promised, then it wouldn’t be long before they could finally begin to plan their next move against the Shadowbolts.

Back at her secret base later that night, Twilight was once again alone in her research lab trying to find out more about the strange energies she had been collecting from the Canterlot girls. She now had four samples in her device, and she was going to pull out all the stops to study it.

This time, she had gone all the way to the absolute most robust scanner she could get her hands on. The manufacturer had claimed that it could be submerged into molten lava for over an hour and still remain perfectly functional. Even with that kind of claim, she was not taking any chances, so she attached it to the end of a long pole to keep a good distance between herself and her device.

“This is it,” noted Twilight. “If I can’t get any data out of this attempt, then I honestly don’t know where to go from here.” She lowered the pole so that the scanner was now just inches over her device. “Well, here goes nothing…” She remotely activated the scanner. For the first few seconds, everything seemed to be working just as she was hoping. No smoke, no flames, no shorting out, the scanner just warbled lightly while emitting a soft blue light over the device. She smiled, hopeful that she would now finally get the answers she had been desperately seeking.

BANG!

Twilight jumped and shrieked loudly as the scanner suddenly exploded quite violently. Her gaze quickly shifted around the room, but found a surprising lack of debris. That scanner didn’t burn or even blast into tiny pieces, it had been vaporized! She was very thankful she had taken the precaution to keep a safe distance away, but that had done nothing to prevent the absolute shock she felt from such a sudden and very unexpected detonation.

Despite all of that, her device still remained perfectly intact. It seemed the strange energies it contained would continue to remain a mystery, for now.

Spike suddenly barged into the lab and fearfully exclaimed, “You okay, Twilight?! I heard something blow up!”

Twilight keep her focus straight ahead towards her device on the desk as she weakly replied, “I’m fine, Spike… though I think I’m gonna need some fresh underwear.”

It was right at that moment that the “Incoming Call” message from Cinch appeared on the display screen next to the door.

Spike glanced over at that screen, then turned back to Twilight and awkwardly said, “Uh, in that case, you’d better change before you answer that.”

Twilight slowly set down the pole and quietly said uneasily, “Yeah… that’s probably a good idea.”

Twilight spent the next few minutes in her bedroom before she left and headed to the communications room. She shut the door, activated the noise-cancellation walls, then sat down in the chair and hit the green “Accept” button.

“Greetings, Twilight Sparkle,” greeted Cinch on the live video feed of her seated at her desk. “I trust you understand why I am contacting you tonight.”

Twilight tensed up as she realized what was going on. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she nervously replied.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Miss Sparkle,” scolded Cinch. “All of your teammates informed me that you left on a so-called ‘scouting expedition’ without any of them because you had insisted on it.”

“I can assure you, Miss Cinch, I had very good reasons for doing so,” said Twilight.

“I do not wish to hear any excuses, Twilight,” Cinch said firmly. “My orders were for you to stay with the team under all circumstances, with no exceptions.”

“But I had to go alone for this one!” insisted Twilight. “The Canterlot girls somehow ended up in my old Arctic base! I don’t know how they found it, but I had to make sure they didn’t uncover any Shadowbolt secrets!”

“A self-imposed mission you could have just as easily done with the team by your side,” countered Cinch. “I will concede that the LEGO Team most likely found out from the traitor on your team. We keep records of all sites where each agent once resided, mostly for the sake of keeping track of where we’ve been, so it would only take a quick search through those archives for the traitor to know precisely which sites to point out.”

“Miss Cinch, I had to make this a quick and simple operation,” argued Twilight. “It’s an isolated site, I’m the only one familiar with it, I wanted to avoid contact as much as possible—”

“Did you not hear what I just said?” Cinch shot back. “I don’t want any excuses! I don’t care if by some miracle you managed to take down all six members of that LEGO Team single-handedly, the fact remains that you disobeyed my primary orders. And if you place any value on your own Creation Spark, then you would be wise to not let that happen again, understood?”

Twilight lowered her head and sighed before she reluctantly responded, “Yes, Miss Cinch.”

“Good,” acknowledged Cinch with a frown. “Now then, you should consider yourself fortunate that you had the foresight to plant a tracking device on the Canterlot LEGO Team’s spaceship, because your next mission will be to intercept them at whatever their next destination might be. Those six girls have proven themselves to be quite the nuisance, so for the sake of future successes, we must get rid of them once and for all. And from now on, I insist that you stay with all five of your teammates under all circumstances. If you disobey this order again, then there will be severe consequences. That is all.” Cinch then ended the call.

Twilight stared at the blank screen for a moment. She then removed her glasses and rubbed her hands over her face as she growled in frustration. She lowered her hands and grumbled, “I hate you so much right now.”

As Captain Storm Wave had promised, the six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team finally returned to the city of Baltimare in the early morning the following day. They had already removed their parkas and winter pants, leaving them back in their standard outfits. They disembarked from the Hurricane II and began their journey back to their spaceship, while the pirate ship and its crew soon left on its next voyage across the high seas. The team stopped in town only once to grab some breakfast before they resumed walking. By around mid-morning, they arrived at the airport and finally returned to their spaceship.

“Ah, it sure is good to be back,” remarked Rainbow Dash as they climbed inside the spaceship.

“Indeed it is,” agreed Rarity. “As much as I’m sure we all love a good adventure, it is definitely pleasant to be back in familiar surroundings.”

“Ah don’t know ‘bout y’all, but Ah’m more than ready to head on home right now,” said Applejack as the six girls reached the control room on the spaceship’s upper deck.

“But first thing’s first,” said Sunset Shimmer as she took the messaging tablet out of her jacket and set it aside on the dashboard. “We’ll need to contact Celestia and Luna and inform them of what’s been going on these last few days.”

The others said various words of agreement as Sunset stepped forward and switched on the main display screen. As soon as they made contact with headquarters back in Canterlot City, the first thing they saw on the screen was Celestia looking over at something else while sipping a mug of coffee. She suddenly paused when her gaze fell towards them — or at least the display screen they appeared on at her side. She then immediately turned away and shouted, “Sister! Come quickly! The team has just made contact with us!”

As Celestia turned back to them with a shocked but relieved expression, Sunset Shimmer rubbed the back of her head and apologetically said, “Yeah, sorry for worrying you so much. The Shadowbolts hijacked the ship and left us stranded at sea. We just barely got back and we’re all very glad to talk to you again.” The rest of her friends nodded in agreement.

“The feeling is mutual, Sunset Shimmer,” replied Celestia. “You have no idea how relieved I am to discover you are all okay.”

“As am I,” said Luna as she suddenly came into view on the screen. “I came over as quickly as I could!”

Celestia turned to her sister and her eyes widened. “Um, perhaps a little too quickly,” she said hesitantly as she held up a hand mirror.

Luna glanced into the mirror and realized that, instead of her usual hair piece, she had a bright red plunger on her head. She blushed and hastily said, “Be right back.” She then left just as rapidly as she had arrived.

Celestia giggled as she set down the mirror and then turned to the display screen and quipped, “Believe me, girls, that is not the most embarrassing thing she had the misfortune of having end up on her head.”

The six girls in the spaceship couldn’t help but giggle along with her.

Celestia then relaxed and asked, “So anyway, what have you girls been up to since we last spoke?”

The six friends took turns explaining everything they had been through since they first arrived in Baltimare less than two days ago. By the time they were done, Celestia spoke up, “I have to say, that is quite the journey you have been on. Though I do have a few questions that I feel may be worth asking. To start off, what was Twilight doing in that supposedly abandoned outpost, and why was she completely alone, unlike during the previous encounters?”

“We honestly don’t know,” replied Sunset with a shrug. “The Informant simply told us to just go there and call for a rescue. I can’t think of any reason why Twilight would want to go after us by herself.” A thought suddenly crossed her mind and she narrowed her eyes. “Unless if you count that magic-stealing she’s somehow been doing to us on every encounter.”

“Eeyup,” agreed Applejack with a solemn nod. “Darn shame that me an’ Rainbow are now the only Master Builders left on the team.”

“Any ideas how this can be prevented on any future encounters?” asked Celestia.

“I’m not sure,” replied Sunset. “The only connection I can see is that it always seems to happen while one of us is ponied up, but since I still can’t figure out how that’s been happening lately, that’ll leave us very vulnerable.” She slumped down in the nearest seat and sighed.

Fluttershy turned to Celestia on the display screen and asked, “Has there been any word from Princess Twilight of Equestria over the last few days?”

Celestia shook her head and sadly replied, “I’m afraid not, though I will continue to keep an eye on that journal.”

“Oh, if only we knew more about what the Shadowbolts intend to achieve,” muttered Rarity.

“Hey, I got an idea!” Pinkie Pie suddenly spoke up. “If we knew where their secret hideout is, we could just go there and take the fight directly to them, or at least swipe any intel we could find there.”

“Easier said than done, I’m afraid,” responded Celeatia. “Not even the best secret agents on our side have been able to uncover the secret location of any Shadowbolt base.”

“But we have seen Twilight escape through that weird vanishing doorway,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “If we could somehow figure out where that door leads, then we’ll know where to find at least one Shadowbolt base.”

“Ah doubt they’ll just open it up for us,” said Applejack skeptically. “We’re gonna have to be pretty darn lucky if we wanna take advantage of that.”

As everyone continued discussing plans, Sunset Shimmer silently contemplated what her team’s next course of action should be. Her eyes soon fell on the messaging tablet she had left on the dashboard and began to consider asking the Informant for advice. She stood up and reached over to grab it, and as soon as she picked it up, a notification for a new message suddenly came up on the screen.

Meanwhile, Luna — now with her proper hair piece back on her head — quickly joined Celestia and asked, “Did I miss anything important?”

Sunset glanced over at the two Playwell sisters and remarked, “Good timing, Luna. I just received a message from the Informant.”

“In that case, please read it for us right away,” responded Luna.

Sunset cleared her throat as she opened up the message and began to read it.

To the Canterlot City LEGO Team.

Twilight has just informed us of our latest orders from Miss Cinch. Thanks to the fact that we had planted a tracking device on your spaceship, our next mission is to intercept you at your next destination, wherever it might be, and take you all out for good. Wherever you’re going next, prepare to expect an ambush. Good luck to all of you.

From, The Informant.

As soon as Sunset had finished reading the message, most of the others quickly got the same idea.

“I believe it is crystal clear what our very next task shall be,” noted Rarity.

“Eeyup,” agreed Applejack. “We gotta find that trackin’ device an’ get rid of it.”

The others began to move when Sunset suddenly spoke up, “Wait! I’ve got a better idea!”

The rest of the team paused and turned back to Sunset. “What is it, Sunset?” asked Fluttershy.

A plan had quickly formed within Sunset’s mind, and once she took a moment to think it through, she smiled as she realized that it could actually work. “I know this is gonna sound totally crazy, but… leave the tracking device on. Let them follow us.”

“You’re right, that does sound totally crazy,” remarked Pinkie Pie.

“And how is that gonna help us?” asked Rainbow Dash doubtfully.

“Look, the Shadowbolts want to attack us at whatever our next destination will be,” explained Sunset. “But here’s the thing: they don’t care where our next confrontation will be, because that decision will be entirely up to us. They’re gonna be following us, so we need to lead them to any site, and that will give us a huge advantage! To use a sports analogy, the ball is now in our possession, and it’s up to us to decide which part of the field we play it on.” Sunset grinned. “They want to ambush us, but when you consider the position we’re really in, we can ambush them!”

“That’s… that’s quite ingenious!” praised an almost speechless Rarity.

“I’ll say!” added Applejack contently. “Who would’ve thought that we’d ever find ourselves in such a powerful position?”

“If that’s what their leader wants them to do, then let’s show ‘em that she just made a terrible mistake!” boasted Rainbow Dash.

“So I guess that just leaves us with only one question: What will be our next destination?” asked Fluttershy.

“That’s a very good question,” acknowledged Sunset with a smile. She turned to Celestia and Luna and said to them, “The girls and I will need some time to discuss where we’ll be going. We’ll call you back once we’ve made our choice.”

“Understood,” replied Celestia. “We’ll be waiting patiently in the meantime. See you in a few minutes.” She then ended the contact, leaving the display screen in the spaceship as blank static.

Sunset quickly rummaged through the supplies they had left on the spaceship and soon pulled out a large rolled-up map of the entire Lego World and unfurled it on the floor for everyone to see all of it. “Okay, girls,” she spoke up, “pick a region, any region. Where do you wanna go?”

“Why limit ourselves to this planet?” argued Rainbow Dash. “I say we go for the Space Region! We are in a spaceship after all.”

“Seems a lil’ too risky to me,” countered Applejack. “There’s always the chance we could lose the spaceship, an’ Ah’d rather we be somewhere on this planet if that were to happen. Sure, we’d have to take the long way home if it came to that, but at least it’s way better than bein’ completely stranded in space.”

“Okay, so we’re staying on this planet,” noted Sunset. “Anyone want something more specific?”

“Let’s discount all the City Regions,” stated Rarity. “We’re about to have a major confrontation with the Shadowbolts, so it would be prudent to not let any innocent bystanders get caught up.”

“Agreed,” noted Sunset with a nod. “We need a place that’s thinly populated.”

“But that still leaves us with a whole lotta choices,” said Pinkie Pie. “Castle Region, Pirate Region, Old West Region, Pharaoh’s Kingdom, I just don’t know which one to pick!”

“What about you, Fluttershy?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Where do you think we should go?”

Fluttershy looked over the map and carefully considered the available options. Eventually, she quietly answered, “Well… I’ve always wanted to see Dinosaur Island.”

Everyone silently considered Fluttershy’s suggestion for a moment. Applejack was the first to speak up. “Y’know… that might not be such a bad idea.”

“A region full of prehistoric beasts could be rather dangerous,” noted Rarity, “but if we enter that region with the proper kind of plan, we could turn those threats around so that the Shadowbolts would end up with more to fear.”

“There’s also a few active outposts throughout the region,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “If we land our spaceship at one of them, we would have instant access to all kinds of tools and supplies to not only set up a good ambush, but also help us get through the jungle in case if something goes wrong.”

“If everyone else is okay with it, then I say we go for it!” added Pinkie Pie enthusiastically.

“Then it’s agreed,” declared Sunset Shimmer as she rolled up the map. “Next stop: Dinosaur Island!”

Author's Note

The ice-skating Viking ship was among the earliest ideas I had for part of this story, and although I've had to make a lot of changes from my original idea to ensure the story would flow more easily, I think it still shows how remarkably talented Master Builders can be. Yes, Captain Storm Wave from the previous story made a brief return here, along with a reference to Lego Movie character MetalBeard (I honestly couldn't resist making a reference to the part where MetalBeard rescues the others, especially with Batman's reaction).

Prehistoric Pursuits

Chapter 9
Prehistoric Pursuits

It was early afternoon by the time the LEGO Team spaceship from Canterlot City appeared in the skies over Dinosaur Island and quickly landed within a small compound located deep within the prehistoric jungle. Just seconds after the spaceship had landed, the six girls stepped outside, all of them now wearing some variation of a vest, short pants, and a hat in shades of tan and olive green, suitable attire for a day in a tropical jungle.

“Okay, girls,” Sunset Shimmer spoke up as they stopped in the middle of the compound, “now that we’ve arrived, the clock is ticking and the Shadowbolts will be here any minute, so let’s quickly go over this one more time to be sure we all know what to do.”

“Right,” agreed Rainbow Dash with a nod, before starting their quick review. “After we told Celestia and Luna where we were going, they immediately contacted Josh Thunder — son of legendary adventurer Johnny Thunder and regional leader of Dinosaur Island — who then contacted us to let us know which compound we would be allowed to use.”

“I can see a white flag atop the main building,” noted Rarity. “That’s a good sign, because it indicates to us that all personnel have already been safely evacuated. As a result, there shall be no risk whatsoever of any innocent bystanders being harmed in the conflict to come.”

“And according to Josh Thunder,” continued Fluttershy, “we should find some tranquilizer guns and plenty of tranquilizers in the supply shack. They will allow us to defend ourselves against any dinosaurs that might threaten us, much more humanely than what the first people on this island used a few decades ago.” She smiled as she quietly added, “I must say, I’m really proud of Josh for coming up with the idea years ago of handling dinosaurs with tranquilizers instead of conventional weapons.”

Applejack continued, “He also gave us a complete map of this here compound, allowin’ us to take the time to plan for anythin’ before we even went anywhere. Now that we’re here, each an’ every one of us knows exactly where to go an’ what to do to prepare our ambush.”

“So now all we gotta do is grab our walkie-talkies, get into our positions, and then just wait for the Shadowbolts to arrive, and when they do, we pounce them!” finished Pinkie Pie excitedly.

“Good,” said Sunset with a nod and a smile. “Now let’s get going!”

In the gateway room of her hidden base, Twilight and her five teammates had just finished putting on their jungle uniforms — a vest, short pants, and a hat in various shades of dark green and brown — and were now ready to begin their next mission. However, even though they knew where they were going, there was quite a bit of uncertainty among the secret agents.

“I wonder why they went to Dinosaur Island, of all places,” muttered Sunny Flare as she made some final adjustments to her outfit.

“Who cares?” responded Indigo Zap dismissively. “This is our big chance to take ‘em out! That’s all that really matters to me.”

“Though I have to admit, you do bring up a good point, Sunny Flare,” said Sugarcoat. “I can’t think of many reasons why members of the LEGO Team — let alone the six members of Canterlot City — would be specifically requested to travel to a place that’s, let’s face it, nothing more than a prehistoric wilderness.”

“Maybe there’s an ancient relic on that island they’ve been told to recover,” suggested Lemon Zest.

“It does sound plausible,” noted Sour Sweet’s sweet face. Her head then spun around to her sour face and she grumbled, “Except if there really was such a thing, us Shadowbolts would’ve already gotten it a long time ago.”

“Believe me, I’m just as confused as all of you,” Twilight spoke up as she set the coordinates on the Jump-Gate. “But Cinch’s orders were to go to whatever location the Canterlot City LEGO Team went to next and do whatever it takes to ensure they never again interfere in any Shadowbolt activity.” Once she finished setting the coordinates, she turned back to her teammates and explained, “This should bring us to within a short walking distance from the compound where they’ve landed, but also far enough away that no one will notice our arrival.”

Twilight then hit the green “Open” button. Once again, the Jump-Gate made its low whooshing noise for a few seconds before the doors parted open, leading right into the middle of a humid tropical jungle.

Twilight stood in front of the open gateway and stopped. She was once again wearing her special device around her neck, and as she stared ahead into jungle, she rubbed her hand over it and sighed. She then glanced back at her teammates and said, “Well, let’s get to work.”

The five Shadowbolt agents followed Twilight through the Jump-Gate and stepped out onto Dinosaur Island. After the Jump-Gate closed and disappeared behind them, Twilight pulled out a compass, checked her bearings, then signaled ahead for everyone to follow her. They all crouched down and began to move through the underbrush carefully enough to avoid attracting any unwanted attention — not only from the dinosaurs that lived here, but also from the enemies they were after.

On the top floor of the main building, Rainbow Dash was on her knees to keep a low profile in the window as she watched outside through a pair of binoculars. She and the rest of her friends had taken positions throughout the compound to watch for the arrival of the Shadowbolts. The Canterlot girls had made over a dozen plans to prepare for every possibility, and once the Shadowbolts were spotted and their location identified, Sunset would specify which plan they would utilize, then it would be only a matter of getting into position and waiting for the signal to strike. But first, they would need to wait for the Shadowbolts to arrive, so Rainbow continued to silently observe, slowly turning her gaze left and right while remaining on high alert.

After some time passed, Rainbow suddenly spotted some movement in the jungle underbrush. Her attention locked in on the part of the surrounding fence she could see between two buildings. Sure enough, the six Shadowbolt agents they were after emerged from the jungle and stopped right up against the fence. As she held her binoculars steady with one hand, she pulled out her walkie-talkie and quietly spoke into it, “I got a visual.”

“Where are they?” asked the voice of Sunset Shimmer over the walkie-talkie.

“They’re just outside the fence between the supply shack and the garage,” reported Rainbow quietly. As she continued to observe, she quickly added, “They’re cutting through the fence! We gotta move fast!”

“Copy that,” responded Sunset. “Everyone, we’re going with Plan Number Six. Repeat, Plan Number Six. Identify yourselves by codename once you’re in position and ready.”

Without another word spoken, all six Canterlot girls silently moved from their observing stations to their positions for Plan Number Six. Meanwhile, the Shadowbolts continued to slowly cut their way through the fence in an effort to make a stealthy entrance, unaware they had already been spotted.

Sunset Shimmer climbed up the ladder on the outside of the garage. She reached the roof, immediately got down in a prone position, and then crawled over to the edge facing the supply shack, putting her in an ideal position to strike. “Magic is up for action,” she reported over her walkie-talkie.

Rainbow Dash climbed up onto the roof of the main building and crawled forward to maintain a low profile. She pulled her hat down as she reached the edge and got a clear view of where the Shadowbolts were likely to go. “Loyalty is good to go,” she reported.

Pinkie Pie made her way into the main building’s kitchen and approached the room’s one small window. She cracked open the window and peeked through the opening to confirm she had a clear view outside. “Laughter is ready to roll,” she reported.

Applejack climbed up a regular ladder onto the roof of the supply shack. She lied down against the slope that faced away from the garage, providing her with excellent cover from where the Shadowbolts would pass by. “Honesty is all set,” she reported.

Rarity entered an office on the second floor of the main building. She carefully unlatched the window behind the desk and slowly opened it only a slight amount, providing necessary access to the outside without revealing her position. “Generosity is fully prepared,” she reported.

Fluttershy crawled behind some crates and barrels stored on the ground just outside the garage. She cautiously peeked her head up, just to be sure she was hidden behind the correct pile of cargo, then ducked back down again. “Kindness is ready,” she reported.

“Okay, girls,” Sunset quietly spoke over the walkie-talkie, “ready your tranquilizer guns and wait for my signal to strike.” At their respective battle stations, each of the six girls pulled out a tranquilizer gun, loaded a tranquilizer dart, and then took aim. Sunset also pulled out an opened can of soda, finished off what was left inside, then held it at the ready as she watched.

Meanwhile, the Shadowbolts finally finished cutting a big enough hole in the fence and, one by one, they all carefully slipped through. Indigo Zap took the lead, followed by Sugarcoat, Twilight Sparkle, Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, and Lemon Zest at the rear.

Indigo stopped at the corner of the garage and glanced around at the compound. “It seems quiet here,” she noted quietly. “Too quiet.”

“I agree,” stated Sugarcoat, making almost no effort to keep her voice down. “This compound appears to be suspiciously deserted.”

“But this is supposed to be an active research station,” said Twilight in confusion. “Why is there nobody here?”

Clink!

“Ow!” exclaimed Lemon Zest as she suddenly felt something strike the back of her head. “What the…?” She rubbed her head and glanced down at the ground to see an empty soda can near her feet. She raised an eyebrow and asked, “Did somebody just throw a soda can at me?”

Sugarcoat suddenly caught a glint of light off the roof of the nearby shack. A quick glance confirmed there was something up there that shouldn’t be there, and she immediately dove aside. As soon as she hit the ground, she glanced back and saw a tranquilizer embedded into the wall just behind where she had stood only a split second earlier. “Ambush!” she shouted.

Two more tranquilizers suddenly whizzed by, but both missed hitting any of them. Sunny Flare ducked, while Twilight cowered behind Indigo Zap — using her fellow Shadowbolt agent as a shield. Lemon Zest yanked on Sour Sweet’s hair and dragged her back around behind the shack, despite the latter’s protests.

“Quick! Get inside!” exclaimed Sunny Flare as she immediately rushed around to the front of the garage and toward the front door. As she ran, another tranquilizer hit the ground just inches away from her feet. Sugarcoat quickly followed after her, along with Indigo Zap and Twilight.

As they rushed inside, Twilight felt her hat fly off. She caught before it even hit the ground, but then she yelped as she suddenly felt her hair piece shift a little. Once she was safely inside the garage, Indigo slammed the door shut. The four remaining Shadowbolt agents had successfully reached shelter, but they knew it wouldn’t last.

Sunset quickly stood up and immediately spoke into her walkie-talkie, “They’re inside the garage! Move in! Move in!”

All around the compound, the six Canterlot girls swiftly took action. Applejack jumped off the roof of the shack, Rarity left the office and made her way downstairs to the main door, Pinkie Pie jumped out the kitchen window, Rainbow Dash grabbed onto a cable and slid down it from the roof to the ground near the supply shack, Sunset slid down the ladder outside the garage, and Fluttershy stayed behind the crates and barrels as she tried to peer inside the building through the nearby window.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight removed her hair piece and discovered that a tranquilizer had pierced right through the bun of her hair. She extracted the tranquilizer, tossed it aside, put her hair back on her head, and then put her dark green sunhat back on top of that.

“What the brick is going on?!” exclaimed Indigo Zap. “We’re supposed to be surprising them! Not the other way around!”

“There’ll be time for questions later!” argued Sugarcoat. “Right now, we gotta get outta here and regroup!”

“Agreed!” said Sunny Flare as she ran over to one of the jeeps in the garage and quickly hopped into the driver’s seat. “Let’s grab whatever we can and make a run for it!”

Twilight followed Sunny Flare and climbed into the passenger seat of that same jeep, while Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat immediately headed for where about a dozen motorcycles were parked. Indigo had an excited grin on her face as she quickly chose her bike, but just as she was about to start it up, she suddenly got hit in the abdomen by a helmet. She glanced over at Sugarcoat, who simply gave her a disapproving frown before putting on her own helmet and climbing onto her own bike. Indigo simply sighed and rolled her eyes before putting on the helmet that had been tossed to her.

Meanwhile, Sunny Flare crouched down under the jeep’s steering wheel and muttered to herself, “Let’s see if I can remember from my Shadowbolt training program how to hotwire a car.” She removed the cover panel and just as she was about to touch one of the numerous wires, the jeep suddenly started up. She paused in confusion for a moment, then sat back up in her seat and glanced over at Twilight.

“Somebody left the key in the ignition,” Twilight casually explained.

Sunny simply facepalmed in frustration.

Outside the garage, Fluttershy had been watching through the window, and once she saw them approach some of the vehicles, she gasped. With a good idea of what was about to happen, she quickly held up her walkie-talkie and exclaimed, “Look out! They’re about to escape!”

Sunset had run around to the back of the garage and kicked in the back door. However, she had arrived just in time to see the Shadowbolts begin their escape.

Applejack was outside the front of the garage when the jeep suddenly drove right through the main garage door, breaking it off its hinges and forcing Applejack to yelp and dive out of the way. As two motorcycles followed close behind, the jeep then quickly crossed the compound and smashed through the main gateway of the surrounding fence. Applejack held up her walkie-talkie and exclaimed, “They just smashed through the gate! They’re off into the jungle!”

“We gotta go after them!” shouted Sunset through the walkie-talkie. “Meet me in the garage! Now!”

Since everyone was already on the move near the garage, it was only a matter of seconds before all six members of Canterlot’s LEGO Team had regrouped inside the building.

“I saw them escape in one jeep and on two motorcycles,” Rarity pointed out. “I would suggest that we take a similar set of vehicles to ensure that we keep up with them.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Applejack immediately agreed before swiftly jumping into the driver’s seat of the one remaining jeep. “I’ll drive this thing, two of ya can ride with me, an’ the rest will take the motorcycles.”

“Fine by me!” agreed Sunset as she grabbed a helmet and ran over to the motorcycles.

“Yeah, I’m cool with that,” agreed Rainbow Dash as she followed Sunset’s example.

At the same time, Rarity climbed into the jeep’s passenger seat, while Pinkie Pie hopped into the back. Since this jeep also had its keys left in the ignition, Applejack didn’t hesitate to start up the vehicle and immediately took off out of the garage, across the compound, and out into the jungle, hot on the trail of the fleeing Shadowbolts.

As Sunset and Rainbow quickly chose their rides, Fluttershy glanced around at all the remaining motorcycles with uncertainty. However, there was one in particular that caught her attention. “Oh, look! That one’s got a sidecar,” she pointed out.

Roar! Hiss! Roar!

The three girls in the garage immediately glanced back and saw a raptor standing in the back doorway, with at least two more visible behind him.

“Uh oh. Raptors!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

“They must’ve gotten in through that hole the Shadowbolts cut into the fence,” noted Sunset.

As the pack of raptors began to slowly walk into the building, Fluttershy turned to her remaining friends and said, “You two go ahead. I’ll stay here and deal with them.”

“Are you sure about that?” asked Sunset with uncertainty.

Fluttershy just smiled confidently and replied, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

“C’mon, Sunset! Let’s go!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she put on her helmet and started up her motorcycle. She didn’t even bother waiting for a response as she hit the accelerator and zoomed off after the other vehicles.

Sunset glanced back and forth between Fluttershy and where Rainbow Dash had just left. She didn’t think it was a good idea to leave her friend alone against a pack of raptors, but the shy girl was an expert with animals, and the confidence she was currently displaying seemed to imply that she could handle these prehistoric predators.

Reluctantly, Sunset put on her helmet, started up her motorcycle, and sped off after the others, leaving Fluttershy all alone to deal with the pack of over half a dozen raptors.

However, Fluttershy was not completely alone in the compound, for there were two Shadowbolt agents that all of the LEGO Team girls had failed to account for.

Behind the supply shack, the lid of a dumpster suddenly burst open and Sour Sweet — covered in various bits of trash — gasped for breath. As a similarly filthy Lemon Zest also got up out of the dumpster, she glared her sour face at her and furiously exclaimed, “What’s the big idea of dragging me into a dumpster?!”

“What?” responded Lemon Zest innocently. “It’s one of my favorite evasive tactics! ‘Taking refuge in the refuse.’ Get it?” She grinned and waited for a response.

Sour Sweet continued to glare at Lemon. After a few seconds, she finally responded, “My sweet face has nothing to say to you.”

Out in the prehistoric jungle of Dinosaur Island, the four escaped Shadowbolt agents continued to flee from the compound. Sunny Flare and Twilight Sparkle rode the jeep down the middle of the trail, while Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat rode their motorcycles side by side just ahead. The rough terrain on the trail made it a rather bumpy ride for all of them, but comfort was the last thing on their minds at this time.

As they continued down the trail, Twilight glanced back and her eyes widened as she saw the other jeep from the garage — with three of the Canterlot girls riding inside — was already within sight and was rapidly closing in on them. “We’re being pursued!” she exclaimed.

The other Shadowbolt agents glanced back at their pursuers for a brief second before returning their attention to the trail ahead. “I would highly recommend that we split up,” suggested Sugarcoat.

“But Miss Cinch ordered that we all must stick together!” Twilight pointed out.

“Forget Cinch’s orders!” argued Indigo Zap. “I say we divide and conquer!”

“Agreed,” said Sunny Flare with a nod. “I’ll stick to the trail. You two take another path.”

Only a few seconds later, Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat veered their motorcycles to the right, taking them off the trail and deeper into the jungle, while Sunny Flare and Twilight continued riding their jeep down the trail.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer had caught up to their friends in the other jeep just in time to witness the fleeing Shadowbolts take separate paths. “They’re splittin’ up!” Applejack alerted her friends.

Rainbow Dash immediately responded, “Go after the jeep! We’ll handle the motorcycles!”

The others silently agreed and took their respective paths. Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie continued down the trail to go after Sunny Flare and Twilight, while Rainbow Dash and Sunset veered off the trail and followed after Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat.

On the trail, Sunny Flare continued to drive the Shadowbolt jeep ahead as rapidly as possible. As they passed through a small clearing, Twilight glanced back and saw only the LEGO Team’s jeep in pursuit with no accompanying motorcycles. “Looks like they decided to follow our example,” she pointed out. “The only thing we’ve got after us is the jeep.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll shake them off our tail!” Sunny Flare confidently assured her teammate.

The two jeeps continued to zoom along the rough trail. At the speed they were going, every minor bump shook the vehicles, while every major bump — such as a fallen tree in their way — gave the vehicles some airtime. At one point, they even tore straight across a stream, sending up a huge spray of water in front of the jeeps as they each plowed through.

As the LEGO Team’s jeep climbed out of the stream and continued after the Shadowbolts’ jeep, Pinkie Pie remarked, “Wow, these jeeps sure are pretty tough!”

Just a split second later, the LEGO Team’s jeep hit another small bump and the jeep’s hood suddenly flopped open, completely obscuring the view out the front windshield.

“Dagnabbit!” exclaimed Applejack in frustration. “Ah can’t see a thing!” She was now forced to lean over the side of the jeep as she kept driving at full speed ahead.

Slam!

The jeep hit another bump, lurching the vehicle enough to make the hood slam down and quickly pop back up again. As the Shadowbolts’ jeep continued down the trail at the highest velocity possible, the LEGO Team’s jeep remained close behind at every turn, despite every bump making the hood of the latter jeep constantly slam loudly.

Slam! Slam!

Elsewhere, deep within the jungle, two motorcycles driven by Shadowbolt agents tore through the underbrush, while two more motorcycles driven LEGO Team members followed them in hot pursuit. The small and nimble vehicles made quick work of terrain that would have been all but impossible for the jeeps to cross.

Indigo Zap rode up a mound of dirt and cleared a fallen tree, while Sugarcoat simply rode under the part of that tree that was far enough from the ground to provide safe clearance. Indigo glanced back and saw Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer both take the path Sugarcoat had taken, so she turned to her fellow Shadowbolt agent and exclaimed, “If we’re gonna shake ‘em off our tail, then we gotta make moves they wouldn’t dare to follow!”

“Feel free to risk your own neck, but I choose life,” Sugarcoat shot back.

Indigo growled in frustration, but chose not to argue any further. After all, the real issue they faced right now were following right behind them.

Sunset and Rainbow were doing an excellent job of keeping up with the Shadowbolts, but the rough terrain and high speeds were starting to take their toll of them. Sunset hit a wet patch of ground and wobbled a bit on her motorcycle, but quickly managed to regain her balance. “How are we supposed to stop them?” Sunset asked desperately.

Within a few seconds, all four riders began to hear a gradually growing noise. It sounded just like the engines on their motorcycles, except much more numerous. It wasn’t much longer until over half a dozen motorcycles suddenly jumped out of the surrounding underbrush to join the pursuit. But by far the most shocking thing of all was that each of these motorcycles was being driven by a raptor!

Indigo’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she glanced around at all the riding raptors. “What the—?! Since when do raptors know how to ride motorcycles?!” she exclaimed in absolute disbelief.

“I think you can blame the girl riding in that sidecar over there,” Sugarcoat pointed out.

Among the motorcycles the raptors were riding was one that had a sidecar, and riding in that sidecar was none other than Fluttershy, now wearing an aviator’s cap and goggles. The shy yellow girl also had a surprisingly confident smile on her face as her pink hair flapped around behind her.

Rainbow Dash simply laughed and remarked to Sunset, “I dunno how she does it, but it’s times like these that I’m glad she’s on the team!”

Sunset responded with a smile, then turned her attention forward again and quipped, “Looks like the hunt is on!”

Fluttershy turned to the alpha raptor — who happened to be driving the motorcycle her sidecar was attached to — and signaled to move in against the Shadowbolts. The alpha raptor let out a loud roar and the other raptors on motorcycles began to move in for the attack.

The two Shadowbolt agents glanced around as the pack of raptors on motorcycles closed in on them, but Indigo Zap knew she wasn’t going down without a fight. “Fine!” she exclaimed defiantly. “These guys wanna play rough? Then we’ll play rough!”

Indigo immediately veered her motorcycle to right, colliding into one of the raptors and knocking him away. The raptor veered over until he hit a large branch on the ground, catapulting his motorcycle and flinging him high into the air until he smashed to pieces against a tree.

Indigo Zap glanced back at the fallen raptor and smirked. “One down,” she smugly muttered.

Slam! Slam! Slam!

With every bump on the trail, the hood on the LEGO Team’s jeep kept loudly slamming down and popping back up. Since it never stayed down, Applejack had no choice but to constantly keep leaning out the side to actually see where she was going, not to mention make sure they were still pursuing the Shadowbolts’ jeep. However, this left her head completely exposed, and in a prehistoric jungle such as on Dinosaur Island, there are certain reasons why a windshield is more important than ever.

Splat!

A very large dragonfly suddenly smacked right into Applejack’s face. Applejack immediately spat and sputtered and groaned in disgust before smearing away the bug remnants on her face with her forearm.

“That does it!” Applejack furiously exclaimed. She reached forward and grabbed the edge of the loose hood, then started yanking on it. She struggled to get it off, but then they hit a big bump on the trail, shaking the vehicle enough to make the hood break loose and fly off, forcing Pinkie Pie to duck as it soared right over her head.

“There! All fixed!” shouted Applejack in frustration.

Rarity glanced back at the discarded hood as it clattered on the ground behind them, then turned to Applejack and stated, “Yes, I suppose that helps a tad, except for the fact that you nearly took off Pinkie Pie’s head!”

Pinkie quickly sat up and was about to say something when her head suddenly spun around a few times to the left. That was her Pinkie Sense telling her that a bad surprise was heading their way. She glanced behind their jeep and quickly discovered what the problem was. “Uh oh, we got trouble!” she alerted her friends.

Rarity and Applejack glanced back and, much to their shock, saw a pack of raptors had just emerged from the surrounding jungle and were now chasing after them.

Applejack quickly turned her attention forward again and urgently said, “Sorry, y’all, but Ah gotta keep mah eyes on the trail ahead!”

“Then what do you propose Pinkie and I shall do?” asked Rarity.

“Y’all still got tranquilizers, don’t ya?!” Applejack shot back. “Use ‘em!”

“Oh, yes, but of course,” muttered Rarity as she turned around in her seat and retrieved her tranquilizer gun from the back, then loaded a tranquilizer. Pinkie Pie also picked up her tranquilizer gun and loaded a tranquilizer. The two girls then took aim at the pursuing raptors and fired.

Unlike back at the compound, their aim was much more accurate, despite the rough ride they were shooting from. As two of the raptors suddenly fell, Rarity and Pinkie quickly reloaded, aimed and fired, and repeated the process. However, they had taken out only most of the pack when they suddenly realized they were all out of tranquilizers.

“Oh dear,” Rarity said worriedly. “We seem to have used up all of our ammunition.”

“Good thing I always remember to pack my party cannon!” remarked Pinkie Pie cheerfully as she threw off the tarp covering the backseat, revealing her trusty party cannon sitting right beside her. As she spun the cannon around to point it behind the vehicle, she added, “This one’s gonna require some special firepower.” She somehow pulled a whole cake out of her pocket and stuffed it into the barrel. She took aim at one of the raptors and fired her party cannon.

The chasing raptor not only got covered in confetti, but also got cake and frosting splattered all over his face, forcing him to stop running so he could rub it all off. Pinkie quickly stuffed another cake into her party cannon and fired it at another raptor. A couple more similar shots later and the last of the pursuing raptors had finally been taken out.

“Yay!” cheered Pinkie Pie. “No more raptors!”

“Thank goodness!” said Applejack with relief. “Now Ah can keep mah focus on catchin’ the Shadowbolts!”

Up ahead, Sunny Flare and Twilight Sparkle held on tight as their jeep zoomed off along the trail as rapidly as possible. It was beginning to become apparent to them that speed and maneuverability weren’t going to be enough to make a clean escape, so they would have to think of some other strategy. But their thoughts were put on hold as a large reptilian leg suddenly came down in the middle of the trail right in front of them.

“Whoa!” shouted Sunny Flare as she was forced to steer the jeep around the massive leg.

As the jeep swerved around back onto the trail, Twilight glanced up and found herself staring up into the eyes of a tyrannosaurus rex. Fortunately for the two Shadowbolt agents, the giant dinosaur made no move to go after them. “I really hope that’s the closest I ever get to a real-live full-sized tyrannosaurus rex,” whimpered Twilight.

Right behind them, the LEGO Team’s jeep was also forced to swerve around the giant leg blocking the trail. However, once that jeep had passed by, the t-rex showed an interest in it and immediately began to chase after it.

Rarity immediately screamed and shrieked, “Now there’s a tyrannosaurus rex after us!”

The t-rex quickly caught up to the jeep and lunged his head forward.

“Duck!” shouted Pinkie Pie. All three girls in the jeep immediately ducked their heads down, and the mighty t-rex snapped its jaws just inches over them before retreating back.

Applejack sat back up and remarked, “Whoa, nelly! That was a mighty close call!”

Rarity sat back up, but quickly noticed that something didn’t feel quite right on her head. She removed her bright yellow sunhat and gasped when she discovered that nearly half of it had been bitten right off! Tears began to run down her cheeks as she sobbed, “Oh, and that was my favorite headwear for tropical climates!”

Pinkie Pie watched Rarity cry over the loss of a fabulous accessory, then immediately glared at the t-rex that continued to chase them and shouted, “Hey! Nobody makes my friend cry!”

The t-rex simply responded with a terrifying roar.

ROAR!!

That earth-shaking roar didn’t even phase Pinkie as she then furiously hollered, “That’s it! The party wheels are coming off!” She swiftly removed the wheels from her party cannon, then shook that cannon to empty out all of the various party supplies stored inside. She then grabbed a dark grey 1x1 round brick and shoved it into her cannon. Holding the cannon with nothing but her own two arms, she then aimed it directly at the t-rex’s head.

“Sayonara, Rexy!” shouted Pinkie Pie with a fierce scowl before she yanked the trigger on the back end of the cannon, firing what was now a dangerous weapon.

Boom!

The projectile smacked right into the dinosaur’s jaw piece, knocking it right off its hinge and sending it tumbling to the ground. Without a jaw, the t-rex now had no choice but to stop and retrieve it, allowing the jeep and its occupants to get away.

With the vicious t-rex dealt with, Pinkie began to quickly restore her party cannon back to its original condition. At the same time, both Rarity and Applejack had been stunned into silence by what had just occurred. Even though Applejack had to keep her attention on the trail ahead, she had managed to spare a quick glance back, and that was all she needed.

“I suppose that’s one way to deal with a tyrannosaurus rex,” muttered Rarity.

“Let’s not tell Fluttershy ‘bout this,” suggested Applejack. The fact that no one made any response showed they all silently agreed to that.

As the two jeeps continued to speed along the trail, the t-rex tried to grab his detached jaw on the ground, but his puny arms couldn’t even reach it. The massive prehistoric predator could only whimper through an open mouth as he kept struggling to pick up his jaw.

It wasn’t long until the two jeeps reached a clearing with ground that consisted of barren rock. Sunny Flare took immediate advantage of this and put the petal to the metal, forcing Applejack to do likewise just to keep up.

But the forces of nature weren’t finished with them yet. As the two jeeps rushed over the barren terrain, the ground suddenly began to shake and tremor, and since the bare rock wasn’t as bumpy at the dirt trail, everyone quickly realized the true source of the vibrations they felt.

“Earthquake!” screamed Pinkie Pie in terror.

Both jeeps quickly came to a screeching halt, neither side willing to take any chances until the earthquake had passed. However, the rocky ground suddenly began to fracture, with one particularly large crack forming right under where the Shadowbolts’ jeep had stopped.

Before anyone could react, the large crack suddenly split open, just wide enough for that jeep’s front wheels to drop down into it. Twilight and Sunny Flare peered over their respective sides of the vehicle and gazed downward, where they could see the reddish orange glow of molten lava slowly rising up through the crevice. The two Shadowbolt agents then turned to each other, completely speechless.

Another violent tremor widened the crevice further, expanding it past the front bumper and causing the jeep to now teeter forward.

“Bail!” shouted Sunny Flare as the jeep began to plunge into the crevice. She and Twilight quickly climbed out of their seats and jumped off. As they grabbed onto the crevice wall in front of them, the jeep tumbled down until it ultimately hit the lava below and was quickly incinerated.

Sunny Flare didn’t hesitate to leap back and forth from one side of the crevice to the other. Her acrobatic skills allowed her to return to the surface in just three bounds, landing on the ground opposite of the crevice from where the LEGO Team’s jeep had stopped.

Twilight, on the other hand, struggled to hold on to the side of the crevice. “Sunny Flare!” she shouted desperately. “Help me!”

“Help yourself!” Sunny shot back with no sympathy at all. “You did say you work best alone, so let’s see you prove it!”

Twilight whimpered as she could already feel her grip on the rocky surface starting to slip. She didn’t need to look down to remind herself of the danger. She could already feel the heat of the rising lava and hear the thick bubbling noise it made.

Meanwhile, the three Canterlot girls in the other jeep had done nothing but watch helplessly. They could hear Twilight’s cries for help, but didn’t know what they could do to help.

Applejack in particular felt very torn right at this moment. She did know of a way she could save Twilight, but did she really want to do that? After all, this Twilight Sparkle was a Shadowbolt agent, placing her among their greatest enemies. However, she was desperately requesting help, a request that had been completely denied by the only other Shadowbolt around to do anything. Nobody deserved to lose their Creation Spark, not even a Shadowbolt agent. But what ultimately convinced Applejack was the simple fact that, despite being a different individual, this was still Twilight Sparkle.

With her mind made up, Applejack immediately got out of the jeep and ran around to the front bumper. She grabbed the hook on the end of the winch’s cable and carried it over to the crevice. Once it was down in the crevice, she turned back and quickly unspooled the rest of the cable, lowering it down as far as it would go. Once that was done, she peered down into the crevice and shouted, “Twilight! Grab on!”

Twilight opened her eyes and saw the cable that had just been lowered down. Unfortunately, it was dangling near the opposite side of the crevice, beyond her reach. “I can’t reach it!” she called up.

“Then you’re gonna have to jump across to grab it!” Applejack called down.

“What?!” Twilight hollered back. “Are you crazy?! There’s no way I can make that jump! And did I mention there’s boiling hot molten lava rising up through this crevice as we speak?!”

“Stop panickin’, Twilight!” Applejack shouted back. “Here, Ah’ll make it a lil’ easier for ya!” She grabbed the cable and began to lightly sway it back and forth, allowing the end of it to swing close to Twilight with each pass. Applejack then explained, “Your best chance is to wait for me to tell ya exactly when to jump.”

Twilight watched the swaying cable as she asked with uncertainty, “Should I really trust you on that?”

“Ah’m tellin’ ya the honest truth, Twilight,” assured Applejack with a smile. “If ya wanna live, then you’re gonna have to trust me.”

Twilight remained silent as she considered Applejack’s words. Sure, they were fighting on opposite sides, but Applejack was offering help where a fellow Shadowbolt agent had outright refused. And besides, with no other way out, she really had no choice.

Applejack continued swaying the cable back and forth, not knowing for sure whether or not Twilight would really listen. Finally, right at the moment the cable was at it farthest from Twilight, Applejack shouted, “Now!” Then she swung the cable forward.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight made her leap of faith across the crevice. Sure enough, she managed to grab onto the cable just as it came as close as possible to her. She screamed as she now found herself swinging straight toward the other side off the crevice. However, before she could slam into the rocky surface, Applejack yanked on the cable, bringing a sudden stop to her momentum and thus preventing a very painful impact. Now that she was dangling motionlessly from the cable, Twilight glanced around and let out a sigh of relief.

Applejack smiled, then turned back to the jeep and exclaimed, “We got her! Winch her up!”

Rarity immediately started up the winch, and the cable slowly began to rise up out of the crevice, taking Twilight with it. Twilight continued to hold on tight to the cable, knowing all too well that she wasn’t safe until she was actually out of there.

Finally, as Twilight reached the edge of the crevice, Applejack reached a hand down, which Twilight happily accepted, and pulled the Shadowbolt agent up to safety. Once her feet were finally on solid ground again, Twilight immediately walked up to Applejack and gave her a big hug.

Applejack was a little startled by such sudden forwardness, but nevertheless smiled and patted the Shadowbolt agent on the back. “See? Ah was tellin’ ya the truth,” she remarked.

It was right at that moment that Applejack began to glow as her pony ears and tail suddenly appeared. She didn’t understand why she suddenly ponied up right then and there, but the fact that it happened right after she helped Twilight made her keep her smile.

Twilight was also astonished to witness yet another member of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team go through such a magical transformation. However, her awe quickly turned to worry as she heard her device suddenly power up again with its lights flashing straight ahead at Applejack. The device then suddenly lifted itself off of Twilight’s chest and pulled taut on its string around her neck as it tried to get as close to Applejack as possible, then opened on its own and began to draw in the glowing orange energy that surrounded the ponied up girl.

With almost no time to react, Applejack grunted as she suddenly felt her Equestrian magic being drained away from her. “What… are… you… doin’?” she asked with a strained voice.

“I don’t know!” Twilight answered helplessly as she struggled to bring her device under control again.

After only a matter of seconds, the device had taken away all of Applejack’s Equestrian magic, making her pony ears and tail vanish and leaving her exhausted to the point where she staggered backwards and slumped against the jeep’s front bumper.

With the device done drawing in the energy, Twilight now tried the close it, but this turned out to be even more difficult than any of the previous occurrences. As she struggled to shut the device, she took a few steps back until she suddenly found herself caught in a net and rising up into the air, making her yelp in shock.

The four minifigs on the ground glanced up and saw there was now a large helicopter hovering directly over them, and suspended from the bottom of it by a long cable was the net that now entrapped Twilight Sparkle.

“How did we miss that?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Up inside the helicopter, the occupants happed to be the two Shadowbolt agents who had stayed behind at the compound, Lemon Zest and Sour Sweet, who had used their Master Builder talents to create this helicopter to go after their teammates.

“Yeah!” cheered Lemon Zest as she piloted the helicopter. “We got her!”

“Nice work, Lemon Zest,” congratulated Sour Sweet’s sweet face. Her head then spun around to her sour face and irritably added, “Now drop the ladder so we can grab Sunny Flare and get outta here!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m on it,” said Lemon dismissively as she tapped a button on the console. From one side of the helicopter, a rope ladder unrolled itself as it fell, with the bottom landing right beside where Sunny Flare stood.

Sunny turned to the three Canterlot girls and smiled as she smugly remarked, “Well, dearies, this has been highly entertaining, but I must now take my leave.” She then stepped one foot onto the bottom rung of the ladder and grabbed onto a higher rung with her hand. As the helicopter then began to lift and depart, she waved her free arm and quipped, “See you later, alligators!”

The Shadowbolts’ helicopter then began to fly away, and as Sunny Flare began to climb up the ladder, Twilight could only scream in terror as she was left dangling underneath within the net.

Rarity scoffed and grumbled, “What nerve! How dare she have the audacity to call us alligators?!”

“Really?” asked Pinkie Pie in confusion. “I thought she was talking about those alligators.” She glanced over her shoulder towards the dozens of angrily hissing alligators that were now swarming over the clear ground behind the jeep.

Applejack groaned in frustration as she pulled herself up to her feet while holding onto the jeep for support. Despite her weakened state, she managed to stagger along the side of the jeep until she finally reached the driver side door. “Y’all don’t worry,” she stubbornly assured her friends. “Ah got this.”

As Applejack climbed into the driver’s seat, Rarity turned to her in shock and hesitantly said, “I’m not too sure if you’re in any condition to—”

“Ah said Ah got this!” snapped Applejack and she shifted the jeep in reverse and hit the accelerator, sending the jeep backwards right into the alligators. She never relented on the accelerator and the jeep began to run right over all those alligators. Some of them snapped their jaws at the fleeing jeep, but it was just too big and fast for them to really do anything about it.

It wasn’t long until the jeep made it over the swarm of alligators and backed up into the jungle. Applejack made a sharp turn, shifted the vehicle back into drive, and then sped off into the jungle. “Whew! Nothin’ like a good adrenaline rush to get ya goin’ again!” remarked a now fully alert Applejack in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Rarity and Pinkie Pie glanced back at the alligators they had just run over and saw that many of them had literally turned belly-up. “Let’s not tell Fluttershy about this, either,” said Pinkie Pie.

“And I sincerely hope we don’t encounter a third such incident today,” Rarity quietly added.

Applejack began to slow down a bit as she searched the skies for the Shadowbolts’ helicopter. As soon as she spotted it through the jungle canopy, she pointed up at it and exclaimed, “There they are! We gotta go after ‘em!”

Applejack immediately turned the jeep towards the direction of the fleeing helicopter, despite the fact that it forced her to leave the trail. Either way, some of the Shadowbolt agents were trying to escape in this helicopter, including Twilight Sparkle with the recently ill-gotten magic, and Applejack was determined to not let them get away.

Deep within the jungle, the motorcycle chase was still on. Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap continued to rapidly navigate their way through the dense floor of the jungle while being pursued by three LEGO Team members and a pack of over half a dozen raptors — all of them on motorcycles.

Although Indigo had managed to take out one of the raptors early on, she had since been unable to repeat that success with any of the others, much to her growing frustration. Sugarcoat, on the other hand, had made no attempts to act aggressively against the pursuing raptors and instead focused more on evading their efforts to take her out. One raptor had tried to ram right into her, but she easily swerved out of the way, and that reckless raptor ended up crashing right into a tree, smashing to pieces upon impact.

But there were still a lot of raptors, and this pursuit couldn’t last forever, so Sugarcoat knew it was once again time for a change of tactics. “Keep up the pursuit!” she told her teammate. “I’ve got a plan.” She then steered her motorcycle away to the right into a different part of the jungle, while Indigo continued straight ahead.

Sugarcoat’s escape did not go unnoticed. While the pack of raptors began to split up, Sunset turned to Rainbow and said, “Stay with this one! I’ll go after the other!”

Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement and continued after Indigo with Fluttershy and half of the raptors, while Sunset Shimmer followed the other half that went after Sugarcoat.

Sugarcoat kept her eyes peeled as she continued speeding through the jungle, not only to watch out for obstacles, but also to find something she would need for her plan. She eventually found just the right object in the form of a large fallen branch that was resting diagonally against a tree trunk. She reached her right arm out, grabbed that long and straight branch, and then held it under her arm like a jousting lance. With her new tool acquired, she turned left. She knew she was being followed, thanks to the noise of the motorcycle engines, but she also knew that it was not the entire pack that was after her, which meant that her plan could still work.

Meanwhile, Indigo Zap led her group of pursuers through some of the densest part of the jungle yet. Without Sugarcoat around, she was free to take all of the more dangerous routes. However, her efforts to evade them were futile, as they always took the easier alternative paths right beside her. Even the motorcycle with a sidecar attached to it was still able to keep up!

“Quit showing off!” taunted Rainbow Dash. “You’re only making this harder on yourself!”

Indigo growled in frustration. Whatever plan Sugarcoat has, she’d better do it now! she thought to herself.

Indigo soon got her answer as Sugarcoat, armed with a large tree branch, quickly appeared up ahead and was charging right at her. “Move over!” shouted Sugarcoat.

Despite her confusion, Indigo did exactly as she was told and swerved aside to allow her fellow Shadowbolt agent to pass right by.

With her teammate safely out of the way, Sugarcoat next had to face all of the pursuers, so she tightened her grip on the branch as she approached the raptors. One by one, she aimed her branch at each raptor and knocked them all off their motorcycles. Even the alpha raptor wasn’t spared, leaving Fluttershy screaming as the now driverless bike and her sidecar careened right through some thick underbrush.

With those raptors all taken out, that left only Rainbow Dash. Sugarcoat aimed her large branch at the oncoming LEGO Team member, but Rainbow leaned left to avoid getting struck off her bike. Unfortunately, she leaned over too far and ended up sending herself and her motorcycle sliding sideways against the ground. Once she came to a stop, she didn’t hesitate to pick up her motorcycle, hop back on, and turned around to begin chasing after Sugarcoat.

With all of Indigo’s pursuers taken out, Sugarcoat now had to reverse direction and deal with the ones coming after her. She was initially surprised to see her first target was Rainbow Dash again, but nevertheless aimed her tree branch lance at her again.

This time, Rainbow swerved out of the way much sooner, allowing her to not only avoid getting struck but also avoid falling over again. She growled in frustration at having to turn around again, but remained determined to stop this Shadowbolt agent.

Meanwhile, Indigo Zap suddenly found herself speeding head-on right into the raptors who had been chasing after Sugarcoat. Indigo immediately swerved to the left and drove up a large rock, sending her flying right over those raptors — as well as Sunset Shimmer — before landing on the ground again and speeding off into the jungle once more.

Sunset quickly spun around on her motorcycle and began chasing after Indigo. Two of the raptors also did the same, while the rest simply continued ahead after Sugarcoat.

Far above the jungle canopy, while Sunny Flare had just finished climbing the ladder to join Lemon Zest and Sour Sweet up inside their custom-built helicopter, Twilight Sparkle continued to remain dangling below inside a net. Not only did this give her a very terrifying ride, but also the net was so tightly wrapped around her that she was unable to move her limbs around much.

Twilight grunted and mumbled, “Can’t… move…” Even though she was stuck in a rather uncomfortable position, the real problem with her immobility was the fact that her device was still open, and she had no way to close it. Even worse, she could already see portals opening up just like what happened before, only this time they were opening close to the ground in a trail that followed the helicopter’s flight path. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she could also see some large green vines starting to slither their way out of some of these portals.

“Oh, this is not gonna end well,” Twilight muttered helplessly.

Meanwhile, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie continued to chase after that helicopter in their jeep. Although their ground-based vehicle was doing a remarkable job of keeping up, the ride had definitely become a lot rougher after they left the trail. With such uneven terrain, no more than a few seconds could pass without the jeep lurching either left or right or forward or backward, sending all three girls thrashing around in their seats.

“Whee! Bouncy bouncy!” squealed Pinkie Pie cheerfully as a few large bumps sent her bouncing around in the backseat.

Rarity held tightly onto the door on her right as the jeep suddenly jerked left and right from a few more large bumps. “Applejack, dear, please do try to be more careful!” she pleaded desperately.

“Don’t blame me!” Applejack shot back. “Ah can’t stick to the trail if we wanna go after that chopper!”

The jeep soon entered a small clearing in the jungle and the lack of obstructions allowed them to confirm they were still chasing after the Shadowbolts’ helicopter. However, they also suddenly ran over a large hump, sending the jeep lurching up into the air and then coming back down hard on its front wheels. The impact caused the right front wheel to completely come off and start rolling away while the jeep skidded to a sudden stop.

“Oh no! Runaway wheel!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie before she hopped out of the backseat and immediately began chasing after that lose wheel into the jungle.

“Wait! Pinkie! Come back!” Applejack called out, but the pink party girl had already disappeared into the jungle underbrush. She then growled in frustration and exclaimed, “Dagnabbit! Don’t she realize we got a spare on the back?!” She gestured toward the back of the jeep, where a spare wheel was attached just over the rear bumper.

Unknown to Applejack, Rarity noticed a portal suddenly open up not far from the jeep on the driver side. But what really startled the fashionista was a large green vine that immediately came slithering out. “Uh, Applejack?” she weakly tried to point out.

Applejack kept her back turned to the portal as she continued, “Ah mean, there’s a reason jeeps got spare wheels back there, an’ it sure ain’t for decoration!”

“Applejack?” Rarity asked again as she saw the vine begin to slither towards them.

Applejack remained completely unaware as she continued ranting, “Why Ah bet that party animal don’t even know how to fix a flat tire!”

“Oh for Ole’s sake, Applejack!” shrieked Rarity as she threw open the passenger door, grabbed Applejack’s arm, and yanked her out of the jeep and a good distance away.

Applejack was startled by Rarity’s sudden action and was about to lash out at her, but then she glanced back and finally saw what she had been missing for the past minute. “What in tarnation?” she muttered in disbelief.

The giant vine reached under the jeep and wrapped itself around the middle a few times. It then pulled back, tipping the jeep over on its side, then began to squeeze. The vehicle groaned for a few seconds before it finally broke in half. Another vine quickly came out of the portal and wrapped itself around the two halves, folding them over into a more compact shape. Then the vines dragged the mangled jeep into the portal and out of sight, leaving behind only a few small Lego parts that had fallen off.

Applejack and Rarity just stood motionlessly with eyes wide and jaws hanging open as they stared silently at the site of where their jeep used to be. What they had just witnessed was arguably one of the weirdest things anyone in the Lego World had ever seen, and for a while, neither of them could think of anything to say or do in reaction. Eventually, one of them did manage to say something.

“FINE!!” snapped Applejack. “TAKE IT!!” She then threw her hat on the ground and stormed off.

Rarity carefully picked up the discarded cowboy hat and brushed off the dust from it.

“Found it!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie cheerfully as she suddenly reemerged from the jungle with the lost wheel in her hands. “I got the runaway wheel!” But then she immediately stopped in her tracks once she realized that the clearing was now completely empty. “Uh… where’s the rest of the jeep?” she asked in confusion. “I’m pretty sure we left it right here.”

Rarity just didn’t have the heart to explain everything to her cheerful friend, so she simply hung her head in sadness and let out a sigh of defeat.

It wasn’t much longer before the helicopter began to fly over the area where the motorcycle chase was taking place. Although the Shadowbolts piloting it knew they were in the right area, it was all but impossible to find them through the dense canopy, but that wasn’t going to stop them from trying. All the while, Twilight’s opened device continued to tear open holes in space wherever the helicopter went.

Sugarcoat soon encountered most of the raptors who had been chasing after her and quickly knocked them all off their motorcycles with her tree branch lance. Now that nearly all of the riding raptors had been taken out, she decided to rejoin Indigo Zap and think of a new strategy to deal with the LEGO Team members who were still after them.

However, as the helicopter passed over Sugarcoat, another portal opened up, and with it came the intrusion of another vicious vine. She saw from the edge of her vision on her left that vine suddenly lunge out at her as she passed by, but she narrowly avoided it by leaning way over to her right, far enough that she and her bike slid across the ground a fair distance before coming to a stop.

As that vine slithered around to find another target, Sugarcoat discarded the tree branch, then quickly picked up her motorcycle and tried to start it up again. However, with each attempt, the engine simply sputtered and failed to ignite. “Stubborn piece of junk,” she grumbled as she fruitlessly continued to get it started up.

At that moment, Rainbow Dash had followed Sugarcoat and was shocked to suddenly find a large vine blocking the path ahead. “Whoa!” she shouted before the end of that vine suddenly wrapped around her waist and lifted her off of her bike. The driverless motorcycle slammed into the giant vine, tumbled through the air, and crashed to the ground right beside Sugarcoat.

“Let me go, let me go!” Rainbow Dash shouted desperately as she beat her fists against the vine that had grabbed her, but to no effect. She grunted in pain as that vine started to squeeze, but when she realized what part of her body was trapped within the grip of this aggressive plant from another universe, she suddenly got an idea and smirked.

Rainbow grabbed onto her legs and yanked them down once, then twice. On the third yank, her legs and hip joint separated from her torso, allowing both halves of her body to slip right out of the vine’s grip and tumble back to the ground. Her legless upper half flipped over so that she was facing up and she triumphantly shouted, “Ha-ha! Too smart for you!”

Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer and the two remaining raptors continued to chase after Indigo Zap as the helicopter passed over them, and more of the dangerous portals opened up within the jungle. One vine shot forward and struck Indigo right off her bike. Two more vines, each topped with the head of a carnivorous plant, snatched up the two raptors and even the motorcycles they were riding. The raptors squealed helplessly as they struggled to break free, but with only their heads and tails sticking out, there was no hope for them as the plants carried them off back through the portals.

Sunset immediately skidded to a stop as she witnessed the carnage up ahead. She glanced around and realized that those vicious plants were not part of this jungle, but were actually emerging from some interdimensional portal that had suddenly appeared. “Portals again?” she mumbled to herself.

Sunset then began to hear the chopping rotary noise of a helicopter overhead, so she glanced up and saw through a small gap in the canopy a large helicopter with something small dangling underneath it. She quickly pulled out a pair of binoculars and focused on the dangling object. She gasped lightly when she realized it was Twilight Sparkle, and her device was once again glowing and opened.

As she put away her binoculars, Sunset muttered to herself, “I’ve gotta bring down that helicopter.” She glanced over at Indigo Zap, who had finally recovered and began to make her way over to her fallen motorcycle. Sunset realized that this particular Shadowbolt agent presented her with an excellent opportunity, and as much as she hated to admit it, it was time to take a page from her old book of dirty tricks.

Indigo reached down to pick up her motorcycle when Sunset suddenly stopped right beside her. She quickly stood back up and raised her fists, ready for the one-on-one fight that she was sure was about to take place.

“Where’s your rocket launcher?” asked Sunset.

Indigo briefly paused in confusion and lowered her fists, then she shot back, “Why do you care?!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Oh, so you admit that you don’t have one with you? That is just lame.”

That last word struck a nerve in Indigo. “Oh yeah?!” she snapped. “I’ll show you!” She immediately threw off her backpack and pulled out a few parts that she then quickly assembled into a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. She chuckled mischievously as she stared at the rocket launcher in her hands and remarked, “I never go anywhere without packing some heat!”

Indigo suddenly felt her head get shoved from behind, causing her to smack her forehead against the rocket launcher and knock herself unconscious. She groaned deliriously for a moment before finally passing out and falling backwards. As her body hit the ground, the rocket launcher bounced out of her grip, and was snatched away in midair by Sunset Shimmer.

“Why thank you,” said Sunset mockingly with a smile. “You are so generous.” She quickly slung the rocket launcher over her back, hopped back onto her motorcycle, and sped off after the helicopter.

Sunset soon reached a small clearing in the jungle, providing her with an excellent location to search for the helicopter without having to climb one of the trees. Sure enough, the Shadowbolts’ helicopter came back into view, so she unslung the rocket launcher, checked to make sure a missile was already loaded into it, then lifted it up onto her shoulder and prepared to aim.

“Gotta get this just right…” muttered Sunset as she took careful aim. She wanted to bring down the helicopter without seriously harming anyone, so she had to disable it and not simply blow it up. The best way to achieve this was to take out the tail rotor, so that was exactly what she aimed for. As that helicopter came just a little closer, she was able to lock onto the tail rotor, and then she fired the missile.

Twilight Sparkle managed to catch a glimpse of something red and yellow down on the ground just before a missile was suddenly launched from that location and flew straight towards the helicopter up above her. The missile struck the tail of the helicopter, blasting it to pieces and sending the rest of the helicopter spiraling out of control.

The three Shadowbolt agents inside the helicopter’s cockpit held onto their seats as multiple alarms blared all around and they began to rapidly descend. As Lemon Zest tried and failed to regain any control, she exclaimed, “We’ve lost the tail rotor! We’re goin’ down!”

As the spinning helicopter descended, Twilight also began to drop down and soon found herself smacking into countless tree branches. Still trapped within the net, there was nothing she could do but grunt in pain with each impact. Eventually, the disabled helicopter hit the treetops, tipped over, and finally crashed to the ground inside another small clearing. With no more helicopter holding her up, Twilight hit a few more branches before finally hitting the ground. She was still trapped within the net, but at least now she was no longer dangling helplessly in the air.

Twilight gasped as another portal suddenly opened up nearby and another one of the large vines came slithering out. She glanced over at her still-open device and realized that she had to close it now. Even though the net was now loose enough to permit free movement, she had also fallen to pieces upon hitting the ground, so while her head watched from one side, her right arm dragged her torso over until she could finally reach that arm over to the device. She tried to force it closed, but one arm alone wasn’t quite strong enough to do it.

Twilight began to panic as that vine slowly crept closer to her. With no time to put herself back together, she had to rely on just that one arm. In a desperate effort, she then made her torso hop off the ground and press its weight atop the device while trying to close it with her right arm. Thankfully, that provided just enough force to finally shut the device. Every portal that had opened all over Dinosaur Island immediately closed and all of the vicious plants that had crawled through retreated back into the alternate world they had come from.

With all of that madness finally over with, Twilight relaxed and let out a long sigh of relief.

Sunset Shimmer had the rocket launcher slung over her back again as she rode her motorcycle through the jungle. It wasn’t long until she suddenly came across Fluttershy wandering around, so she stopped beside her friend and hopped off her motorcycle. “Fluttershy!” she called out. “Thank goodness you’re okay! Have you seen Rainbow Dash around here?”

“Lego!” shouted the voice of Rainbow Dash, not too far away.

Sunset and Fluttershy glanced at each other, then ran over to where they had heard their friend. When they arrived, they were both shocked to discover that not only were Rainbow’s legs separated from her torso, but also happened to be the subject of a tug-o-war between the rest of Rainbow’s body and one of the raptors, with the latter gripping those legs with his jaws.

“C’mon!” shouted Rainbow Dash in frustration as she kept tugging on her legs. “My legs are not a chew toy!”

“Excuse me!” Fluttershy suddenly exclaimed furiously.

Both Rainbow Dash and the raptor immediately stopped tugging those legs and turned their attention towards Fluttershy.

“Drop it!” demanded Fluttershy.

The raptor suddenly let go of Rainbow’s legs and lowered his head while whimpering like a sad puppy.

“Yes, you should be ashamed of yourself,” scolded Fluttershy. “Those legs belong to one of my best friends, and she clearly doesn’t like not having them. How would you like if I decided to take away your legs?”

The raptor just looked away in shame.

“That’s what I thought,” finished Fluttershy.

“Okay, it’s official,” muttered Rainbow Dash in shock. “Never get on Fluttershy’s bad side.” She turned her legs around, placed them upright on the ground, and then hopped her torso into place on top of them. As soon as her legs were reattached, she suddenly staggered backwards and hissed in pain as she rubbed her hands over her legs.

“Are you okay, Rainbow?” asked Sunset with concern.

“I’m fine,” replied Rainbow Dash. Her voice escalated as she added, “My legs are just a little sore, probably because a certain raptor has been gnawing on them!” She glared at the raptor in question.

The raptor glared right back and growled in anger.

Fluttershy loudly cleared her throat and glared at the raptor in disapproval.

Once again, the raptor just lowered his head and whimpered like a sad puppy.

“We don’t have time to lose,” Sunset quickly explained. “We gotta get to the crash site of that helicopter before the Shadowbolts get away again. Now let’s go!” She immediately ran back to where she had left her motorcycle, not too far away.

As Rainbow Dash began to limp her way forward, Fluttershy turned to her and asked, “Would you be okay with driving the motorcycle with the sidecar attached?” She gestured over to the motorcycle in question, which she had only recently managed to drag out from some thick vegetation.

Rainbow sighed and muttered, “Not like I have much of a choice.” She then limped over to that motorcycle, while Fluttershy climbed back into the sidecar.

At the helicopter crash site, very little was left of the helicopter aside from a large pile of various Lego pieces. The first sign of movement came when one of the parts was shoved aside, revealing Sunny Flare without her hair piece. She coughed a bit and slowly pulled herself the rest of the way out of the wreckage. She brushed herself off, then upon noticing the absence of her hair, quickly began digging through the pile for it.

On the other side of the pile, Sour Sweet suddenly burst out from underneath some other pieces and, with her sour face exposed, grumbled, “Well that could’ve got a whole lot better!”

Close by to her, Lemon Zest’s head was sticking up out from under some other bits of debris. Lemon turned to Sour and remarked, “Hey, take it easy. Let’s try not to lose our heads here.” She then stood up from under the debris, only to realize that her body was actually separate from her head and on the other side of the pile. She stared at her headless body for a moment, then hesitantly added, “Uh… I stand corrected.”

As Lemon’s body walked over to retrieve her head, Sunny Flare had just managed to find her hair piece. As she carefully placed it back on her head, she contently remarked, “Regardless, we are all still alive and with all of our parts intact.”

The three Shadowbolt agents at the crash site were unaware of the arrival of their teammate Twilight Sparkle. Had any of them noticed, they would have seen her with a fierce scowl on her face as she slowly walked up to them while dragging the net along behind her.

“Now then,” continued Sunny Flare, “let us try to salvage what we can of this—”

Twilight suddenly threw the net over the three Shadowbolts, startling them all into yelping in panic. It took a bit more effort than necessary due to everyone yanking it in different directions, but the girls soon managed to pull the net off of themselves.

Sour Sweet kept her sour face exposed as she turned to Twilight and furiously shouted, “What was that for?!”

“For leaving me dangling from the helicopter like a piece of bait for some bird of prey, that’s what!” Twilight shot back just as furiously. “I mean, what was that for?! You allowed Sunny Flare to climb aboard and forgot about me?! And worst of all, I actually saw that it was Sunset Shimmer who shot us down! I almost guarantee that she saw me dangling outside and realized the rest of you had to be in that helicopter. In which case, you would’ve been no better off than just painting a big red target on the side that says, ‘Shoot me down! I’m a Shadowbolt!’”

Twilight’s rant was cut off by the noise of an approaching motorcycle. The four gathered Shadowbolts turned their attention towards it and saw that it was Sugarcoat, with an unconscious Indigo Zap draped over the rear like a piece of luggage.

As soon as Sugarcoat came to a stop and shut off the motor, Indigo finally began to wake up. She groaned as she tried to make sense of what had just happened to her, but then suddenly found herself grabbed by Sugarcoat and flung off the motorcycle. As she was tossed over to the other Shadowbolts, she staggered to her feet and glanced around in confusion. Her attention eventually focused on Sugarcoat, who seemed to be even more displeased than usual.

With clenched fists and barely contained rage, Sugarcoat grumbled, “I cannot believe you were actually stupid enough to fall for that!”

“Fall for what?” asked Lemon Zest.

Before Indigo could even lift a hand, Sugarcoat immediately turned to the other Shadowbolt agents and explained, “Sunset Shimmer egged her into revealing she had a rocket launcher, who then proceeded to easily knock her out and steal said rocket launcher.”

“What?!” shouted Twilight in disbelief at Indigo. “You mean that was your rocket launcher she used to shoot us down?!”

Indigo immediately stared over at the helicopter wreckage in shock, while the three Shadowbolt agents involved in that crash stared back at her in just as much shock.

Twilight gripped her hair and roared out in frustration. “I don’t know which of my so-called ‘teammates’ I should be more furious at!” she snapped.

As Twilight panted heavily from her unleashed rage, the rest of the Shadowbolt agents glanced around at one another. On the outside, they showed displeasure at their fellow teammates for making so many stupid mistakes. But on the inside, they were each ashamed of themselves for making such stupid mistakes.

After a few seconds, Twilight threw up her hands and exclaimed, “Okay, y’know what? I don’t care what any of you think, but I’m calling off this mission, right here, RIGHT NOW!” She held out her right arm and began tapping her Jump-Gate code onto the device on her wrist. As she entered that code, she added, “And to be honest, I’m actually starting to question Cinch’s judgement.”

“After a miserable failure like this one, I would not be surprised if we all shared that sentiment,” remarked Sugarcoat.

“Yeah, this day’s been nothing but a total waste of time,” agreed Lemon Zest.

As Twilight opened the Jump-Gate back to their secret home base, Sunny Flare stated, “Let’s just return home and get some rest. I’m sure that once we take some time to let things cool off, we will be ready to face our next mission without too much trouble.”

“If there’s a next mission,” grumbled Sour Sweet as the six Shadowbolt agents stepped through the Jump-Gate.

The last one through was Twilight Sparkle, but just before she took that step through the gateway, she suddenly began to hear the familiar noise of a motorcycle engine. She glanced back and soon saw Sunset Shimmer on her motorcycle suddenly burst out of the jungle and headed right towards her! Twilight immediately stepped through the gateway and smacked the “Emergency Close” button, slamming shut the Jump-Gate doors and quickly vanishing from Dinosaur Island.

As soon as the Jump-Gate dematerialized, Sunset was forced to skid sideways to a stop to avoid crashing into the pile of wreckage. Just seconds later, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy also arrived on their shared motorcycle.

As soon as her friends had stopped their motorcycle, Sunset removed her helmet and grumbled in disappointment, “She got away again, along with the other Shadowbolts.”

Rainbow Dash flipped up the visor on her helmet, while Fluttershy flipped up the goggles on her aviator’s cap. “Man, that stinks,” groaned Rainbow Dash in just as much disappointment. “This was our big opportunity to finally stop the Shadowbolts, and we totally blew it. Sure, we were able to ambush them and send them on the run, but we didn’t catch them or find the location of their secret hideout. No matter how hard we try, they always seem to be one step ahead of us. There’s gotta be something we can do!”

“If there is, we just don’t know about it yet,” responded Sunset as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “If only we had some kind of clue…”

“Oh! Wait! I just remembered something,” Fluttershy suddenly spoke up. She reached into her vest and pulled out a small index card. She handed it over to Sunset and explained, “I found this back at that abandoned Arctic base. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, so I decided to hold onto it and see if someone else could figure it out.”

Rainbow Dash looked over Sunset’s shoulder and read aloud what was printed on that card. “‘Pick-A-Brick’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m not sure,” replied Sunset as she pocketed the index card, “but this could be just the kind of clue we might be looking for.” She picked up her motorcycle and climbed on. “Let’s find the rest of our friends and return to the spaceship. Then we’ll contact Celestia and Luna and find out if this little card can provide some useful information.” She then put on her helmet, started up the motorcycle, and began to ride off back into the jungle.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy climbed back onto their motorcycle, started it back up again, flipped down their respective visors, and then followed after their friend.

Author's Note

Among many of the gags I put in this chapter, the idea of raptors on motorcycles came from the game Lego Jurassic World. Although I haven't played that game (nor do I anticipate I will anytime soon), I have heard of certain aspects: nearly all playable characters can ride vehicles, and among the playable characters are certain dinosaurs like raptors, so that inevitably allows you to have a raptor ride a motorcycle if you really wanted to. That to me seemed like such a hilariously outlandish and ridiculous image that I just had to include it. (Not to mention, it certainly gave Fluttershy a chance to do something truly epic.)

Battle in the Warehouse

Chapter 10
Battle in the Warehouse

As the late afternoon slowly gave way to dusk, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy rode their motorcycles back to the compound where their team’s mission on Dinosaur Island had begun. As they passed through the destroyed gateway of the surrounding fence, they saw the rest of their friends — Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie — were sitting on the steps just outside the main building. The three minifigs on motorcycles came to a stop, shut off the engines, and removed their helmets.

“I figured you would try to meet up with us here,” remarked Sunset with a smile.

“Not like we had much of a choice,” grumbled Applejack. “After we lost the jeep, we had to walk the whole way back.”

“I always knew that a long hike through the jungle would be rough on one’s feet,” noted Rarity, “but at least now you can’t argue that I don’t have the personal experience to back up that claim.”

“How did you lose the jeep?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Rarity explained, “An unusual portal opened up and out came some rather aggressive plants, and although we all safely got out in time, the jeep was crushed by those plants and then dragged off to who knows where.”

“A portal with vicious plants coming out?” asked Sunset. “Did you happen to be following Twilight hanging from a helicopter when that happened?”

“Why most certainly indeed,” replied Rarity.

“Though you gotta admit,” added Pinkie Pie, “it was pretty weird that they allowed Sunny Flare to climb up a rope ladder while they just left Twilight hanging around inside that net.”

Sunset rubbed her chin as she thought aloud, “If these strange portals have been opening around Twilight again, then that could only mean…” She turned her attention toward Applejack.

“Eeyup,” confirmed Applejack bitterly. “Ah ponied up right after Ah saved Twilight from fallin’ into a river of molten lava, then she stole mah Equestrian magic an’ got carried off by the other Shadowbolts.”

“The three of us all saw it happen with our own eyes!” explained Pinkie Pie. “The pendant thingy that Twilight always seems to be carrying around her neck suddenly opened up and sucked in all of that glowing magic energy. She then tried to close it, but then she got snatched up in that net and was carried away by a helicopter that totally came out of nowhere.”

“So Twilight’s been using some weird device to steal our Equestrian magic?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“At least now we know how she’s been able to do that,” mumbled Fluttershy.

“What about you three?” asked Rarity. “How did things go on your side?”

“I gotta admit, that was a pretty awesome chase we gave ‘em,” remarked Rainbow Dash excitedly. “You should’ve seen Fluttershy out there! She practically turned a pack of raptors into a motorcycle gang!”

Fluttershy simply smiled and blushed while gazing off to the side.

“Well, despite the obvious problems with attack plants coming out of those portals,” explained Sunset, “I was able to bring down that helicopter, but the Shadowbolts all got away through that vanishing doorway just as I arrived at the crash site. We still don’t know where they went.” She smiled as she pulled out the index card that Fluttershy had found earlier. “But I think we might finally have a clue to help us solve this mystery.”

“And what have you got there?” asked Rarity.

“All it says is ‘Pick-A-Brick’,” replied Rainbow Dash with a shrug.

“Now how does that help us?” asked Applejack irritably.

“I don’t know,” admitted Sunset. “But at least it’s something. We may have to do some research before we can determine just how useful this might be.”

“Maybe you could ask the Informant,” suggested Pinkie Pie. “If that little card has anything to do with the Shadowbolts, then the Informant must know what it means.”

Sunset turned to Pinkie and smiled. “That’s actually a pretty good idea.” She turned to the others and continued, “Let’s get back inside the spaceship. I’ll send a message to the Informant, then we’ll contact Celestia and Luna and discuss what we should do next.”

The rest of the team agreed with Sunset and they all climbed back inside their spaceship, which they had left parked inside the compound. After everyone changed back into their regular outfits, Sunset sent a message to the Informant asking about the phrase “Pick-A-Brick”, then the six girls gathered in the control room.

Once contact was made with the Playwell sisters and greetings were exchanged, the girls of Canterlot City went on to explain how their latest encounter with the Shadowbolts went. Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie left out the parts were certain creatures had been harmed along the way, but other than that, everyone had explained in full detail what had happened.

“I arrived at the crash site just in time to see them all get away through that vanishing doorway again,” finished Sunset. “We may have succeeded in disrupting their plans, but we still failed to catch them or even determine where their secret base is located.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Sunset,” assured Celestia. “You and your friends did the best you could under the given circumstances, and that’s all that matters.”

“For now,” Luna spoke up, “it might be best to review what we do know so we can determine what step we should take next. Have you received any new information from the Informant?”

“Not yet,” replied Sunset. “But I did just send her a message asking for some clarity on a possible clue we might have.” She pulled out the index card and showed it to the display screen so Celestia and Luna could see its content. “Fluttershy found it back at that Arctic base yesterday and none of us have any idea what it means.”

“‘Pick-A-Brick’,” read Celestia. She then nodded and said, “Yes, we are familiar with that.”

“You are?” asked Sunset. She and her friends were now paying very close attention.

Celestia nodded again and explained, “It is the name of a distribution warehouse located just outside of Industrial City in the Steampunk Region.”

Luna continued, “The owners of that building are two businessmen who sell and distribute all kinds of Lego bricks and pieces imaginable. They have been known to offer their services to anyone who is willing to pay up, and if your discovery of one of their business cards is any indication, then it seems that not even the Shadowbolts are an exception.”

“I recall one of Twilight’s teammates stating that all Shadowbolt agents are Master Builders,” Rarity pointed out. “If that is indeed true, then there is little doubt that they would a need a supplier of some sort to ensure they can be ready at any time to build anything they want.”

“Pick-A-Brick is one of the largest commercial suppliers of bricks and parts in the Lego World,” explained Luna. “It could very well be of strategic value to not just Twilight and her team, but quite possibly for every Shadowbolt agent.”

“Then let’s cut off their supply!” declared Rainbow Dash.

“To be honest, Ah doubt it’ll do much to stop ‘em,” argued Applejack. “If they’re all Master Builders, then they’ll know how to make the most of any pile of bricks, an’ Ah reckon they’ve all got plenty of ‘em already stored inside their secret bases.”

“Even so,” stated Sunset, “we could still prevent them from easily obtaining new parts, forcing them to make do with their current inventory. That could still put them at a disadvantage, even if it’s just a small one.”

“I agree,” said Celestia with a nod. “With that information in mind, I shall assign you girls a new mission. You are to go to the Steampunk Region and convince the owners of Pick-A-Brick that it would be in their best interests to cut off all ties to the Shadowbolts.”

“But what if they won’t listen to us?” asked Fluttershy.

“I shall contact the LEGO Team’s branch in Industrial City,” replied Luna. “Since that warehouse falls within their jurisdiction, then they shall have the final say on how to deal with it, should your diplomatic efforts fail.”

“As nice as it is to have a backup plan,” said Rarity, “I can assure you that we will most certainly do our best to complete this mission.”

“I know you will,” acknowledged Celestia with a smile.

Sunset suddenly heard a faint tone come from the messaging tablet she had been holding onto the whole time. She looked at the screen and said, “Hold on a minute. I just got a reply from the Informant.”

“Then let’s find out what she has to say about Pick-A-Brick,” stated Celestia.

Sunset opened the message and read it aloud.

To the Canterlot City branch of the LEGO Team.

Yes, I do know about “Pick-A-Brick”. It is the name of a warehouse that sells all kinds of Lego parts to anyone who is willing to pay up. Twilight has mentioned to us that she always goes shopping there every Friday afternoon starting at 1:00 p.m. sharp. If you wish to set up another ambush to stop Twilight, then you now have a rare second chance to do so. Good luck to all of you.

From, The Informant.

As Sunset put away the messaging tablet, Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Hey, tomorrow happens to be Friday. Do you think we might see Twilight there?”

Sunset chuckled and remarked, “If she’s anything like Princess Twilight from Equestria, then she will definitely stick to her schedule.”

“In that case,” stated Celestia, “you shall be free to take advantage of your next mission as another opportunity to find out more about what Twilight is up to and perhaps even uncover the location of her secret base. It’s possible she may also bring her teammates along with her, so be prepared for another major confrontation.”

“Consider it done,” confirmed Sunset. “We’ll fly over to Industrial City, get some rest tonight, and then we’ll head over to that warehouse first thing in the morning. If all goes well, we should have plenty of time to prepare a new ambush by the time Twilight arrives.”

“Then I wish you all good luck,” responded Celestia. “Farewell.” She then shut off the connection.

With contact now over, the six girls soon took their seats in the control room and buckled up. “Alright, everyone,” Rainbow Dash spoke up as she started up the spaceship’s engines. “Next stop: Industrial City.”

Later that night, Twilight was once again hard at work in her research lab. Although she had collected yet another sample of the strange energies possessed by the Canterlot City girls, she also knew by this point that she had no way to safely analyze these samples. Instead, she decided to try a more theoretical approach. So while her special device was left sitting on the desk, she stood in front of a whiteboard as she worked on some very complex calculations.

“Let’s see…” Twilight quietly mumbled to herself as she wrote on the whiteboard. “I can confirm that these samples are beyond the capabilities of advanced technology, yet the molecular structure of my device seems to be more than capable of containing them.” She continued writing for another minute. She soon finished yet another set of equations by drawing an arrow pointing towards the center of the board. Many other sets of equations already on the board also had arrows pointing toward the center, which was labeled with nothing more than a giant question mark.

Twilight sighed in frustration and rubbed her forehead. “What am I missing?” she grumbled. “It’s like trying to make scientific sense of magic!” She suddenly paused. She thought over what she had just spoken and made a startling realization. “Could it really be magic?”

Magic was not unheard of in the Lego World. In fact, Twilight was originally from the Castle Region, which had plenty of magic that came in many different forms. However, she was not well educated on the subject, since she had preferred to study science and technology over the years, and she doubted she would have the time to learn more about such a huge field of knowledge. Despite her lack of experience on that subject, she had a feeling that she might be dealing with some kind of magic that was unfamiliar even to the Castle Region.

Most notably, Twilight had heard claims that the girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team had used these strange powers to defeat their enemies, but only when they were working together as one. At this time, there were six members on that team, and Twilight had so far collected only five samples. That simple statistic led her to a rather startling theory. Is it possible that I might need the complete set to unlock its full potential? she thought to herself in astonishment.

Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted when she saw the familiar “Incoming Call” message from Cinch appear on the display screen beside the lab’s door. Twilight growled in frustration and threw the marker she had been holding across the room before storming over to and out the door.

Out in the hallway, Spike was just about to enter the research lab to inform Twilight about the incoming call when the door suddenly slammed open in his face, pinning him against the wall behind it. He soon managed to push the door off himself and, despite being slightly dazed from the sudden impact, saw Twilight enter the communication room and slam that door shut. “Whoa…” he quietly muttered. “Must’ve been some really bad timing to get her that furious.” He then carefully shut the door to the research lab.

Inside the communication room, Twilight activated the soundproof walls and sat down in her chair in front of the main monitor. As she took some calming breaths, she gazed down at the green “Accept” button on the desk in front of her. Normally, she would just hit that button without question whenever Cinch called, but this time, her gazed shifted a little to the right towards the red “Deny” button. The layer of dust atop this button was a testament to her loyalty to Miss Cinch.

But now things had become very complicated. Just hours ago, she and her teammates had just returned from a mission that ended in total failure. Since post-mission reports were always mandatory, Cinch almost certainly knew about it by now, and would no doubt be demanding an explanation on this call.

Twilight kept shifting her gaze back and forth between the two buttons. She was seriously considering something that no sane Shadowbolt agent would even imagine trying, but was uncertain if she could really go through with it.

Then something rather significant occurred to Twilight. She had made sure to omit in her report any and every reference to her personal research project — the one that involved her magic-collecting device. However, the rest of her teammates had also submitted their own reports, and the effects of her device out there had been very hard to ignore. No doubt, at least some of her teammates would be very suspicious of the strange events that had occurred, and that suspicion would inevitably extend to Cinch as well.

Twilight still had hopes that her research project could allow her to finally leave the Shadowbolts for good, and the last thing she wanted was for Cinch to find out about it. That meant she simply couldn’t take the chance to let the leader of the Shadowbolts find out about her true intentions.

Twilight instinctively moved her hand over the green “Accept” button, but didn’t press it. She thought over every reason she had to hit that button, then thought about all the reasons she had to hit the other button. After a few seconds, she understood which option gave her the most to gain or the most to lose, and finally made her decision.

Twilight Sparkle moved her hand over to the red “Deny” button and hit it.

The monitor displayed the message “Call Denied” and then shut off. Twilight slumped in her seat and sighed. She was well aware that she had just done something very significant, and there would definitely be consequences for that.

Cinch was sure to become either very suspicious or very furious at this very moment. In fact, it was quite possible she might try contacting again very soon, but Twilight most certainly didn’t want that. So the Shadowbolt agent reached under the desk and pulled the plug on her primary communication system.

Twilight glanced around the room and saw many other secondary communication systems, intended as redundancies in case if any of the other systems failed. However, Twilight knew that if she wanted to avoid dealing with Miss Cinch over the short term, then she would have to deliberately cut off all possible means of contact with her.

So Twilight quickly went ahead and unplugged every single piece of electronics inside the room. Once every single device and gadget was shut off and powerless, she then shoved them all off the tables with one mighty sweep of her arm. Many of those electronics were smashed to pieces upon hitting the floor.

Twilight was breathing heavily as she stared down at the remains of her communication room with a look of pure contempt on her face. She knew very well there was no turning back from this point. She was now explicitly disobeying Cinch’s orders, which meant it was now only a matter of time before she would have other Shadowbolt agents coming after her with orders to eliminate her. Her hopes of leaving the Shadowbolts were now living on borrowed time, and she would have to do everything within her power to succeed before it was too late.

One way or another, everything is about to change, thought Twilight with determination. I don’t know if things will change for the better or for the worse, but either way, I honestly don’t even care at this point. Regardless of whatever happens, I refuse to spend another day of my life as a Shadowbolt agent.

The following morning, the six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team were walking along the side of a road on the outskirts of Industrial City. The Steampunk Region was a land where all kinds of fanciful steam-powered contraptions made civilized life possible, from automobiles to airships and even computers. Of course, the downside to having so many steam engines all over the place was that the skies were often completely cloudy. A land where sunlight was rare and soot was common would clearly not appeal to everyone, but to the people who called this region home, they wouldn’t have it any other way.

It was mid-morning by the time the team arrived at a massive warehouse. “Pick-A-Brick” was painted on the upper half of the front wall in big white letters, exactly in the same style as what was printed on the business card. Knowing that they were at the right place, they all entered through the main front door.

If the outside looked massive, then the inside was simply enormous. The interior was filled with hundreds and hundreds of giant tubs, each of which was twice the height of a minifig, a width four times a minifig’s height, and a length eight times a minifig’s height. These tubs were stored on large racks made out of Technic beams and pegs, stacked five units high and covered much of the building’s floor space.

The six girls stayed together and gazed around in awe as they began browsing through the aisles. Each and every one of these tubs seemed to be filled with countless amounts of a specific part in a specific color, and considering just how many of these tubs were stored in this warehouse, it was quite possible that the full inventory really did include every Lego part imaginable.

As the team reached the end of the first of dozens of aisles, two minifigs suddenly came sliding into view on their feet from opposite sides and soon stood before the group. These two guys were almost identical with yellow skin, white pants, a blue and white striped shirt with a black bowtie, and a tan boater hat on top of a red and white smoothed-back hair piece. The only apparent difference between these two was that the one on the right had a red mustache on his face, while the one on the left didn’t.

“Welcome to Flim & Flam’s Pick-A-Brick Distribution Warehouse!” cheerfully greeted Flim, the one without a mustache.

“If you want it, we’ve got it!” added Flam just as cheerfully.

The two guys then began zipping back and forth, swiftly showing off different Lego parts on every return.

“We’ve got much more than just your standard bricks!” explained Flim as he held up a blue 2x4 brick.

“We’ve also got plates and tiles!” continued Flam as he held up a green 2x3 plate and a white 2x2 tile.

“Sloped and diagonal bricks!” Flim held up a black 2x2 sloped brick and a light grey 3x3 plate with a diagonal side that left the part with only six studs

“Round and curved bricks!” Flam held up a light grey 2x2 round brick and a red 1x4 brick with a curve along one of its long sides.

“Doors and windows!” Flim held up a yellow basic door and a red 2x4x2 window frame.

“Hinges and wheels!” Flam held up a pair of light grey 2x2 hinged bricks and a white small wheel with a smooth rubber tire on it.

“Technic bricks and beams!” Flim held up a red 1x6 Technic brick and a yellow 5-length Technic beam.

“Technic pegs and axles!” Flam held up a light grey connector peg and a black 4-length axle.

“Plant and animal parts!” Flim held up a green palm leaf and a white small curved horn.

“Minifigure accessories!” Flam held up a racing helmet and a knight’s shield.

“Even bricks with ball-and-socket connections!” Flim held up a pair of dark grey 2x2 bricks, one with a ball joint on one side, and the other with a socket joint on one side.

“And lastly…” began Flam.

“But certainly not least…” continued Flim.

The two guys then rolled out a large filing cabinet and pulled out one of the absurdly long drawers, revealing that it was stuffed full of pages and booklets.

“Copies of every single instruction page ever published!” finished both Flim and Flam simultaneously.

Throughout the entire presentation, all six girls had stood still and remained completely silent.

As Flam shut the drawer and shoved the filing cabinet away, Flim asked, “So, how can we be of assistance to you fine ladies?”

Sunset Shimmer glanced back at her friends and quietly said, “Allow me to handle this.” She took a few steps forward and spoke up, “We are here on behalf of the LEGO Team’s Canterlot City branch, and we have recently been informed that you had been conducting business with Shadowbolt agents.”

“So what if we are?” asked Flim. “What’s your point?”

“The Shadowbolts are a threat to the Lego World,” explained Sunset, “and we would highly appreciate it if you were to cut off all ties with them right away.”

Flim and Flam both folded their arms and frowned. “Listen here, young lady,” argued Flam. “We are an independent business, which means we should be free to offer our services to anyone who is willing to pay up for them.”

“Our stance in any conflict has been and always will be neutral,” continued Flim. “If both sides come to us with deep pockets, then we will gladly help them both out in any way they want.”

“As long as we get to profit from both sides of the conflict,” added Flam, “we could care less about who wins or loses.”

Sunset sighed and lowered her head. Then she shrugged and said, “Well, I’ve tried to ask nicely, so now I’ll just have to try other methods.”

Flam raised an eyebrow and asked, “What other methods?”

Sunset firmly explained, “The nearest branch of the LEGO Team — the Steampunk Region’s branch — has also been informed of your actions, and they’ve been authorized to take any action necessary should you fail to agree with our request.” Sunset folded her arms and smirked. “Think about it. Do you really wanna risk having your business completely shut down just because you refused to stop helping the bad guys?”

Flim and Flam immediately turned to each other with worried expressions and some sweat visible on their faces. They quickly turned back to Sunset and swiftly gave their answer.

“Well, when you put it like that,” replied Flim, “we would be fools to take a chance like that.”

“Indeed,” added Flam. “We shall agree to terminate all future transactions with any and every Shadowbolt agent that we know of.”

“Though we can’t make any promises to be sure of that,” cautioned Flim. “Although many of them don’t bother hiding their Shadowbolt status from us—”

“Thanks to our customer confidentiality policy,” Flam quickly added.

“There are almost certainly some of our regular customers who may or may not be Shadowbolt agents who would go the extra mile to not tell even us about who they really are,” finished Flim.

“Well, at least what you can promise is good enough for us,” acknowledged Sunset. “Now then, on a more personal matter, do you happen to know a Shadowbolt agent by the name of Twilight Sparkle?”

“Why most certainly,” replied Flam.

“She is arguably one of our most loyal customers,” added Flim, “and quite punctual, too.”

“Every Friday afternoon at one o’clock sharp,” continued Flam, “she always shows up with a list of exactly what she wants, knows exactly where to find it all, and knows precisely how much all of it will cost.”

“In that case, do you mind if we borrow your warehouse for a few hours?” asked Sunset. “My friends and I have being going after her all week, and we do not wish to lose such an excellent opportunity to finally catch her.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” said Flim uneasily as he rubbed the back of his head. “After all, I did say earlier that this business of ours always stands neutral in any conflict.”

“Not to mention that we like to keep things neat and tidy around here,” added Flam. “A conflict between you and the Shadowbolts is sure to leave behind a big mess.”

“What if I could ask Celestia to compensate you for your troubles?” suggested Sunset. “Even though we’ll try our best not to cause too many problems, perhaps we could at least have the assurance of our leader that your business won’t be disrupted too much by the time this is all over.”

Flim and Flam looked at Sunset with uncertainty before turning to each other. “What do you say, dear brother of mine?” asked Flam.

“As much as I would like for us to not get caught in the middle of a conflict,” replied Flim, “it seems that such an event has become practically unavoidable, so we might as well take the option that minimizes any disruptions to our business.”

The two brothers in business turned back to the Canterlot girls. “Very well, then,” answered Flam. “You have our permission for limited use of our facility.”

“Just be sure not to make too much of a mess, if it can be avoided,” added Flim.

“Can’t make any promises there, but we’ll do our best,” said Applejack.

“Does Twilight usually just come through the front door?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“No, she always arrives through a, quote-unquote, ‘special entrance’,” replied Flam.

“But we can lure her to any specific location within the building by claiming that we have some new inventory that she might be interested in,” added Flim with a sly smile.

“So I guess this means we can set up another ambush and you two can bring Twilight right into our trap,” stated Sunset.

“Is there any particular location within this facility that you would recommend for this sort of task?” asked Rarity.

“Aisle 36 would be your best bet,” answered Flim.

“Let’s face it,” explained Flam, “if you wanna trap a Master Builder in a warehouse full of all the Lego parts imaginable, then you’ll have to corner her into a section where any available parts within reach are rather worthless in a fight.”

“That should work for us,” said Sunset with a nod. “You two go ahead and tend to your business while my teammates and I make a plan for our trap.”

Flim and Flam silently nodded in agreement and quickly went around the aisle to another part of the warehouse.

Sunset turned back to her friends and explained, “Okay, girls, before we take a look at Aisle 36 and start planning our new ambush, I just wanna make one thing very clear. We know that Twilight has been stealing our Equestian magic — taking our Master Builder creative talents with it — and we now also know that she’s been storing it inside that strange device she always seems to be carrying around. And as of right now, there is only one of us who has not yet lost her Equestrian magic.”

All eyes immediately turned to Rainbow Dash, who then glanced around at everyone in confusion and asked, “What?”

Sunset sighed and continued, “I’d hate to put any pressure on you, Rainbow Dash, but now that you’re the only one of us left who’s still a Master Builder, we’re depending on your help more than ever. And as strange as this might be for someone like you, I must also ask you to be very careful. If Twilight were to steal your Equestrian magic, that would leave our entire team at a huge disadvantage, and that’s something we just can’t afford.”

“Yeah, sure, no pressure at all,” muttered Rainbow Dash uneasily. She then smiled and spoke up, “But still, you’re all my best friends, and you all know that I would never let anything bad happen to any of you. As long as I’m still around, you can totally count on me to help ya out.”

“That’s exactly what I was hoping you would say,” said Sunset with a smile. She turned to the rest of her friends and spoke up, “Okay, everyone. Let’s find Aisle 36 and make a plan.”

Just a few hours later in Twilight’s secret base, all five of Twilight’s teammates had gathered in the gateway room, while Twilight herself was busy putting on a different outfit in one of the changing rooms.

“So where are we going this time?” asked Lemon Zest.

“And what’s our next mission?” asked Indigo Zap.

“I haven’t gotten any new orders from Miss Cinch, so there’s no mission for us today,” replied Twilight from within the changing room. “This is just going to be a simple shopping trip to a Lego brick warehouse that I always do once a week.”

“Then why do you insist that we accompany you?” asked Sunny Flare.

“Cinch’s orders — much as I despise those two words — are that the six of us must always travel together whenever we must leave this base, even if it’s just one of us wanting something for personal reasons.”

“Then I guess that just leaves the question of why you’re insisting that we put on our formal uniforms,” said Sugarcoat.

“It’s because I’ve been a loyal customer for years now, but this will possibly be the first time any of you have set foot inside that warehouse,” answered Twilight. “If there’s one piece of advice I have for business interactions, it’s that first impressions are very important, so it is vital that we all display just how serious we are about establishing and maintaining good connections with them. And since we’re Master Builders and they’re a major supplier of Lego parts, this is one connection we cannot afford to jeopardize.”

Twilight finally stepped out of the changing room. She now had dark blue on her lower legs, a dark purple plaid skirt wrapped around her upper legs, pale blue on her arms, and dark purple on her torso with printing on the front showing the pale blue shirt underneath and a black necktie between the two layers. On top of her standard-issued Shadowbolt formal uniform, she also wore her special device around her neck, as she had on nearly every mission over the past week.

Twilight adjusted her necktie and said, “Since a formal uniform is among the standard outfits issued to all Shadowbolt agents, I expect all of you to also have one of your own. We leave at one o’clock sharp, so you all had better get changed now.”

It didn’t take long for the five other girls to grab their respective formal uniforms — each with a slightly different variation, but all with similar basics such as a dark purple skirt and jacket or vest, a light blue undershirt, dark blue shoes and socks, and a tie of some sort. There were a total of five changing rooms available, so they were all able to get changed at the same time.

“I hate these uniforms,” grumbled Sour Sweet’s sour face. “They make me feel like we’re going to some sort of prep school.”

“Not too surprising, considering that Miss Cinch used to be the principal of a successful prep school,” Sugarcoat pointed out.

“Hey, uh, does anyone know how to put on one of these bowties?” asked Indigo Zap. Before anyone could answer, she dismissively added, “Oh, never mind. I’ll just try this and call it good enough.”

“I hope we don’t have to wear these uniforms for very long,” said Lemon Zest irritably. “They’re just so uncool!”

“I don’t think they’re that terrible,” remarked Sunny Flare. “Every uniform has a proper time and place to be used, and I agree with Twilight that we’ll want the formal uniforms for today’s excursion.”

As she waited for the rest of her team to finish changing, Twilight thought about what she would do next after her weekly shopping trip was over. After cutting off all communication links to Miss Cinch the previous night, Twilight knew that her time with the Shadowbolts would soon be coming to an end, leaving only the question of how that would happen. She would need to escape somewhere, and thanks to how often she had kept moving to a new home base, she felt confident in her ability to do just that, once more. Of course, not drawing any attention from her forcefully assigned teammates brought on a new challenge, but she felt she could handle it. And above all else, she knew that if she was ever caught, then the consequences would be nothing short of the loss of her Creation Spark.

One way or another, Twilight Sparkle knew in her heart that today was going to be her last day as a Shadowbolt agent.

It was 12:59 in the afternoon, and Flim and Flam stood patiently in front of the site of Twilight Sparkle’s “special entrance” in a far corner of their warehouse. The two business partners had good reason to feel concerned about what would soon take place, but they were both shrewd enough to hide it behind expressions of confidence.

Finally, right at the stroke of 1:00 on the clock on the wall just above, the solid doors of a Jump-Gate suddenly materialized in front of the empty wall. The doors parted open and out stepped the familiar face of Twilight Sparkle… along with five other Shadowbolt agents.

“Welcome back to Flim & Flam’s Pick-A-Brick Distribution Warehouse!” the two brothers greeted simultaneously.

“We can see that you’ve brought some company along with you this time,” noted Flim.

“Let me guess, Cinch’s orders?” asked Flam.

“Unfortunately, yes,” grumbled Twilight as she rolled her eyes. She then pulled out her shopping list as she cleared her throat and said, “Anyway, I’ve got my list ready, as usual. Although this time it obviously doesn’t account for what the others here might want, so perhaps one of you could show them around while the other assists me with my shopping.”

“I think we can work with that arrangement,” agreed Flam.

“But first,” Flim spoke up, “we would like to show you some new inventory we just received.”

“Right this way, please,” said Flam as he and Flim gestured ahead and began walking away.

“New inventory?” asked Twilight in confusion. But then her expression suddenly brightened as she giddily asked, “Oh! Are they parts from the recently-established Castle subregion of Knighton?”

The two brothers in business simply gave each other a knowing look and silently agreed to play along.

“They most certainly are!” replied Flam.

“A new region is all but guaranteed to come with new molds and recolors,” added Flim, “so it’s really only a matter of time before we start acquiring a healthy supply of these new parts and pieces.”

“Oh, I can’t wait!” said Twilight excitedly. “I’ve heard that the detailing that’s printed on those new shields come in a very wide range of varieties!”

As Flim and Flam guided them through the aisles, the other Shadowbolt agents glanced around at their surroundings. Each of them had to admit that the extensive inventory of this warehouse was quite impressive. With so much to choose from, and the owners having no reservations against assisting members of the Shadowbolts, it seemed like this would be the perfect place to get anything they wanted.

It wasn’t much longer until the business brothers stopped in the middle of a certain aisle and simultaneously declared, “Here we are!”

Twilight glanced around and her smile immediately fell. “But this is the doors and windows aisle,” she said in confusion. “I don’t see anything new here at all. Why did you bring us here?”

“Oh, let’s just say…” began Flim slowly.

“When the authorities arrive and threaten to shut down your business, you’ve gotta obey their demands,” finished Flam quickly.

Twilight raised an eyebrow and asked, “What authorities?”

At both ends of the aisle, a pair of large barriers suddenly rolled into place, blocking off the main escape routes.

“These authorities!”

All six Shadowbolts turned their gaze upwards and saw the last group of people they wanted to see. All six members of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team stood atop the tubs on the top shelf, staring down at their enemies from both sides of the aisle

“They’ve caught us in another ambush!” noted Sugarcoat. “Second day in a row!”

“How do they keep following us like this?!” asked Lemon Zest.

As the rest of her teammates glanced around at their surrounding enemies, Twilight turned to the business brothers and said in confusion, “I thought you said your business always maintains a neutral stance in any conflict.”

Flim rubbed the back of his head and sheepishly replied, “Yes, well, we have to make an exception for those who would threaten to shut down our business.”

“And have the power to do it!” added Flam.

The two brothers stood side by side and, with big grins on their faces, simultaneously shrugged and shouted, “Sorry!” And with that, they both immediately fled the scene.

“So much for a relaxing afternoon,” grumbled Sunny Flare. She then glared up at the LEGO Team members and defiantly shouted, “We’re not going down without a fight!” She then immediately began climbing up the rack, her athletic talents allowing her to leap up from one shelf to the next. It wasn’t long before she reached the top and found herself facing off against Rarity.

Rarity smirked as she held up a rapier and quipped, “Shall we resume our little duel from back inside that mine?”

Sunny Flare raised an eyebrow and asked, “And what do you expect me to fight with?”

Rarity simply remarked, “Oh, come now, darling. Since when do you Shadowbolt agents care about playing fair?”

Now it was Sunny’s turn to smirk. “Good point.” She then leaped into the air and swiftly kicked Rarity in the chest, causing her to drop the rapier as she fell backwards into a tub full of green window shutters.

Rarity quickly pulled herself out of the tub and stood on the edge opposite from where Sunny stood. She noticed that the Shadowbolt agent had taken her rapier, but that didn’t bother her too much. “Good thing I came prepared with a spare,” she remarked as she pulled out another rapier.

Sunny Flare leaped and somersaulted over the tub and landed on the same edge as Rarity. And it was there that Rarity and Sunny Flare began their intense fencing duel.

At the same time, Sugarcoat stood still as she stared up at Applejack, who looked down at her with a smug expression from the edge of another tub up on the top shelf.

“You ain’t got much of a chance, Shadowbolt!” taunted Applejack. “Ah’ve got the high ground!”

“Not anymore,” stated Sugarcoat as she pulled out a grapple gun and fired it up at the tub right next to where Applejack stood. The grapple latched onto the edge of that tub, and she quickly winched herself up. She came up so rapidly that when she fully retracted the grappling hook, her momentum carried her further up just enough to land her feet right on the edge of that tub.

Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but Sugarcoat quickly cut her off by holding up her grapple gun and stating, “My personal favorite gadget is the grapple gun. I never go anywhere without one.”

Applejack simply smiled and remarked, “That may be quite a fancy toy ya got there, but Ah prefer to keep things old school. All Ah need are some simple hand tools an’ Ah can get any task done.” She reached behind her back and pulled out two tools: a large hammer in her left hand, and a giant pipe wrench in her right hand. “Ah think a wrench an’ a hammer should do just fine right here.”

Sugarcoat suddenly fired her grapple gun, and the grappling hook latched into the hammer. She then retracted the grappling hook, yanking the hammer right out of Applejack’s hand and sending it flying right into Sugarcoat’s free hand. “Another demonstration of the usefulness of a grapple gun,” she stated.

Applejack was initially shocked, but then smirked as she gripped the pipe wrench with both hands and remarked, “Ah’ve still got a good enough tool for the job.”

Meanwhile, the rest of the Shadowbolts immediately took action. As Twilight slipped between two tubs on the floor, Indigo Zap and Lemon Zest immediately rushed down the aisle towards one of the barriers, with Sour Sweet not far behind them. As soon as they reached the barrier, Indigo and Lemon didn’t hesitate to start shoving against it. Despite their best effort, they barely even got it to budge.

However, when Sour Sweet arrived, she just lightly pushed it sideways and the barrier simply rolled out of the way on its wheels. When Indigo and Lemon turned to her, she switched to her sweet face and remarked, “Isn’t it so much easier to do things when you use common sense?”

Indigo just rolled her eyes and grumbled, “Whatever. Let’s just find some good parts and start building!” The three Shadowbolt agents immediately took off in different directions.

Atop the racks, the rest of the Canterlot City LEGO Team ran along the aisle towards the end that was no longer blocked off. “They’re getting away!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

“Pick someone and go after them!” responded Sunset. “I’ll try to find Twilight.”

Right away, the four Canterlot girls each picked up one of the many basic walkways that Rainbow Dash had assembled earlier and swiftly swung them out so that they spanned the gap between racks. This allowed them to cross from one rack to the next while staying atop them, and since these bridges were simple and light, they hardly slowed down their progress.

Pinkie Pie tried to follow Sour Sweet, but quickly lost sight of her. Rather than continue atop the racks, she instead decided to climb back down to the floor and try her luck running from aisle to aisle.

Rainbow Dash tried to go after Indigo Zap, but also quickly lost sight of her. As the only Master Builder left on the team, she decided to instead focus her efforts on building something more useful to not only find the escaped Shadowbolts, but also to catch them.

Fluttershy did struggle to keep up with Lemon Zest, but it wasn’t long until she found a trail of scattered parts along the aisles. She followed the trail and soon came across the Shadowbolt agent she was after.

Lemon Zest finished attaching the final pieces to a small jetpack when she noticed Fluttershy on the top shelf just above where she was working. The Shadowbolt agent quickly attached the jetpack to her back as she chuckled mischievously and taunted, “So long, sucker!”

Lemon Zest fired up her jetpack and immediately took off into the air, whooping with excitement. However, as she tried to fly up over the racks, she clipped her shoulder against the edge of one of the tubs, sending her spiraling out of control. She struggled to regain control, but ended up banging her head against a pipe along the ceiling, knocking her out.

The jetpack continued to fly around uncontrollably while still attached to Lemon’s limp body. It soon collided into one of the tubs on the middle shelf and finally broke free from the unconscious Shadowbolt agent, who then landed in a tub of corrugated tubes — a rather soft landing due to those parts being made of rubber.

The now pilotless jetpack spiraled around uncontrollably for a few seconds until it finally crashed right into a tub of small black tires. The rockets on that jetpack continued firing, but since it was now trapped at the bottom of that tub, all of that heat and flame had nowhere to go, and the rubber tires soon caught on fire.

Meanwhile, Applejack and Sugarcoat dueled on the top shelf of the same rack they had started on, although by now they had moved to one end of it. Sugarcoat tried to make strategic strikes with the hammer she held, while Applejack kept swinging her giant pipe wrench around in a wide arc, with neither side able to land a blow on their opponent.

The stalemate was finally broken when Applejack’s pipe wrench was able to smack the hammer right out of Sugarcoat’s hand, sending it clattering to the floor far below. Applejack smirked as she held up her pipe wrench and asked, “What’re ya gonna do now, partner?”

Sugarcoat, as stoic as ever, replied, “Simple. I’ll just find another hammer.” She whipped out her grapple gun and fired it up at the rafters on the ceiling. Once the grappling hook was latched onto the ceiling, she swung from the cable across the aisle and onto another rack, beyond Applejack’s reach. Then with a flick of the wrist to loosen the hook, she retracted it back to her grapple gun.

Applejack glared across the aisle at her opponent while keeping a tight grip on her pipe wrench.

“Time to bring down the house!”

That shout suddenly caught Applejack’s attention. She glanced down at another nearby aisle and saw Indigo Zap charging ahead with a jackhammer in her hands. The apple farmer remembered all too well what happened the last time that reckless Shadowbolt had tried to use a jackhammer, and she sure as heck didn’t want a repeat of that incident.

Applejack knew she had to take out Indigo right away, but since she was atop a rack and her target was down on the floor, they were simply too far away. However, as she glanced at the pipe wrench still in her hands, she realized that she had a shot, but she would have to make it count. With a mighty swing of her arm, she hurled the pipe wrench right at the charging Shadowbolt agent.

The giant pipe wrench twirled rapidly through the air until it finally struck Indigo Zap right on the left side of her head, instantly knocking her out. As the reckless Shadowbolt was knocked to the floor, she unintentionally tossed the jackhammer high into the air. That jackhammer deflected off a rack to the left, then collided into a tub to the right, knocking it off the shelf and spilling its contents to the floor. The contents of that tub happened to be dozens of very large tires, which began to bounce and roll down the aisle.

As Pinkie Pie glanced back, her eyes shrank as she realized that she had the misfortune of being right in the path of those rolling and bouncing tires. She immediately started running in terror as she screamed, “Ahh! Runaway wheels!” Despite how remarkably fast she could run, the tires quickly caught up to her, and she soon found herself run over and then sent tumbling around on the outside surface of one of those giant tires a few times before ultimately being flung off and sent hurtling up over the racks.

It wasn’t long until those tires reached the end of the aisle and started bumping into another rack. Sunset Shimmer had the misfortune of standing atop this particular rack as it started to shake and rattle from all of those impacts. She soon lost her balance and fell off, though she did manage to grab onto the edge of one of the tubs on the top shelf. Even though she avoided a long fall to the floor far below, she was now left dangling off a precarious edge and still very much at risk of that long fall.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie came back down and landed, of all places, right onto a moving target. And that moving target happened to be a rather small and speedy hovering vehicle that was built and being operated by Sour Sweet.

Sour Sweet glanced back and as soon as she saw her unwanted passenger, she switched to her sour face and exclaimed, “Hey! Get off!”

“Nope!” responded Pinkie cheerfully as she sat up. “I actually like this ride! I just wish I could be able to build one of my own.” She paused as a thought suddenly occurred to her, then she gave the Shadowbolt a mischievous stare. “Although now that I think about it, I may not be able to build things… but I can still take ‘em apart!”

Pinkie Pie immediately began to swiftly remove pieces from the flying vehicle and tossing them away as she cheerfully exclaimed, “No need for this! Or this! Oh and this must go! Say bye-bye to this!”

Simultaneously, Sour Sweet furiously shouted, “Stop that! Stop it right now!”

“Ooh! This looks important!” remarked Pinkie as she then removed a grey 1x1 brick with a green lightning bolt labeled on the side.

“No! You idiot! That’s the Power Brick!” shouted Sour Sweet as the vehicle suddenly lost all power and began to silently glide through the air.

“Exactly!” remarked Pinkie as she casually tossed the Power Brick away. She then waved her hand and cheerfully said, “Happy landings!” She then jumped off the powerless vehicle and landed in a tub full of red fezzes.

“Gah! You pest!” hollered Sour Sweet furiously as she and her vehicle gradually descended. The vehicle was only halfway down when it suddenly collided into one of the tubs. As the vehicle smashed to pieces and Sour Sweet fell into the tub below, the tub that got hit was knocked off the shelf, spilling its contents onto the floor.

In a rather unbelievable turn of events, the contents of that tub happened to be the flaming tires that had been ignited by Lemon Zest’s jetpack, and the part of the floor they had been dumped on happened to be right under where Sunset Shimmer was hanging on for dear life.

Sunset screamed fearfully and exclaimed, “How does this even happen?!”

Fluttershy was still walking around atop the racks when she had heard Sunset’s scream for help. When she looked over in the direction she thought it came from, she gasped when she saw thick smoke rising up. Although she couldn’t see much due to some other shelves in the way, she was almost certain that Sunset had to be in the same location as that fire.

Fluttershy glanced around and quickly found Rainbow Dash nearby, who was busy assembling some kind of small vehicle. With no time to lose, the shy girl shouted, “Rainbow Dash! Sunset’s in trouble!”

Rainbow Dash immediately stopped building and turned to Fluttershy, then turned to where she was pointing and saw the smoke. Not sparing a moment for any questions, Rainbow began to shove her creation along the top shelf as she rushed to attach the last few pieces. As soon as the final piece was on, she shoved her creation off the rack, hopped into the pilot’s seat, and started up the small flying vehicle. The miniature spacecraft was airborne just before it could hit the floor and soon flew over to the site of the fire.

Meanwhile, Sunset tried to pull herself up into the tub she was still holding onto, but her grip kept slipping. The heat of the flames below and the surrounding smoke were starting to take their toll on her. Eventually, she finally lost her grip entirely and she screamed as she began to fall.

Sunset Shimmer fell towards the pile of burning tires, but halfway down, she suddenly landed inside a small spacecraft piloted by Rainbow Dash. Sunset glanced around, astonished to have landed so perfectly in the seat behind her friend, but also very glad to still be alive. She let out a sigh of relief and said, “Thanks for saving me.”

“No problem!” responded Rainbow confidently. “I wasn’t about to let my friend become toast!” It was right at this moment that she suddenly started to glow as her pony ears, tail, and feathered wings appeared.

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle continued to slowly weave her way between the tubs on the bottom shelves in a desperate effort to avoid being noticed. But as soon as she noticed her device activate and light up, she knew that all bets were suddenly off.

As Rainbow Dash’s spacecraft flew through the aisle right by Twilight, the device instantly lifted off her chest and pulled itself towards its target with so much force that it began to slowly drag her along. “Oh no!” whimpered Twilight. “No no no! Not now of all times!” Finally, the tugging force became so great that Twilight actually lifted off the floor and flew after the spacecraft.

Back inside that speedy spacecraft, a now ponied up Rainbow Dash glanced down and around at the glowing blue energy that surrounded her body, and of course admired her wings again. “Wow!” she exclaimed excitedly. “Now that was really awesome!”

Sunset Shimmer glanced back and her pleasant smile was instantly replaced with a worried frown. “Maybe a little too awesome!” she exclaimed. “Twilight’s after us!”

Rainbow glanced back and was shocked to see Twilight was literally flying right after them, though her constant screams of terror seemed to indicate that she had no control over her flight. With that magic-capturing device following after her like a magnet, Rainbow turned her attention forward again and said with determination, “Then let’s see if she can keep up with a spaceship!” She increased the throttle to the max and expertly weaved her way through the aisles of the warehouse.

As that was going on, Sunny Flare and Rarity continued their rapier duel atop the racks. It wasn’t long until the spacecraft flew by, followed by Twilight Sparkle being dragged along by her now very active device. It was certainly a strange sight, enough so that Rarity and Sunny stopped dueling and watched them fly around.

Sunny Flare had not forgotten what she saw on Dinosaur Island the previous day, and knew for a fact that Twilight’s strange device somehow had the power to weaken the members of this particular LEGO Team. If that device was trying to go after another one, then perhaps she could help out a little.

Sunny Flare smirked at the idea, then somersaulted backwards over yet another tub of parts. “Pardon me for a moment, dearie,” she casually said to Rarity. She pulled out a handheld mirror and, at first, simply looked at her reflection. As she saw that small spacecraft fly by behind her, she then pulled out an ultra-bright flashlight, turned the mirror towards the spacecraft’s pilot, and then shined that flashlight onto the mirror. The incredibly intense light reflected off the mirror and hit Rainbow Dash’s face.

Rainbow’s concentration was suddenly thrown off by a bright light that came out of nowhere and quickly affected her vision. “Where are my sunglasses when I need ‘em?” she grumbled as she was forced to shut her eyes to prevent any further pain.

Unfortunately, this meant that Rainbow Dash could no longer watch where she was going, and in a fast-moving small spacecraft, this was very dangerous. Barely a few seconds passed before Sunset Shimmer suddenly shouted, “Pull up, Rainbow! We’re too low!”

Rainbow opened her eyes and although the bright light was gone and she could see again, she realized that the spacecraft was heading straight into one of the racks. She immediately tried to pull up as much as she could, but couldn’t quite clear the top shelf. As the spacecraft smashed to pieces upon slamming into one of the tubs, Rainbow and Sunset — still followed by Twilight against her will — were sent hurtling over the shelf and across the aisle. The three minifigs fell into a tub full of red 2x4 bricks, hitting it with enough force to push the tub off the rack and down to the floor, tipped over so that those bricks spilled out.

Sunset was the first to pull herself out from within that pile of bricks, soon followed by Rainbow. Twilight didn’t get a chance to pull herself out because she was instead yanked out by her device just before it opened up and immediately began to take away Rainbow Dash’s Equestrian magic. Rainbow grunted as she felt that magic being drained away and soon collapsed backward into Sunset’s arms.

“I’m sorry!” Twilight hastily explained as the last of that glowing blue energy was pulled into the device. “You have to understand, I’m not doing this intentionally! It just started absorbing energy on its own, but I’m not sure how!”

As Twilight spoke, Sunset dragged Rainbow out of the tipped over tub and left her resting her back against the side of it. Once her friend was safely out of the way, Sunset finally confronted Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World. She expressed nothing but pure anger as she exclaimed, “What do you mean you don’t know how?!”

Twilight tried to shut her device with both hands, but then a few sparks of energy suddenly jumped out, once again opening up a series of portals. This time, there were only a few of them, but they also opened up much wider than any of the previous portals. One of them actually opened on the floor right under part of the spilled pile of bricks, causing those Lego bricks to start cascading down through the rift in space.

“It also causes these corresponding rifts to appear!” added Twilight as she was forced to walk backwards atop the ever shrinking pile of bricks to avoid falling in after them. “I don’t know how that works, either!”

“Is there anything you do know?!” asked Sunset furiously as she climbed up the shrinking pile to stand right in Twilight’s face. “Like how to get our magic back?! Or how to fix the portal to Equestria?!”

“Equestria?” asked Twilight in confusion.

“You’re supposed to be so smart,” Sunset shot back, “but did you ever think that you shouldn’t be messing around with things you don’t understand?!” She then gripped the device with both hands over Twilight’s hands and their combined strength was enough force it shut. Right away, all of those rifts sealed shut, including the one on the floor, and the remaining red Lego bricks settled in a stable but much smaller pile.

“But I wanna understand!” Twilight desperately argued.

“But you don’t!” snapped Sunset as she slapped away Twilight’s device. “And worst of all, you’ve done nothing but constantly put the lives of me and my friends in danger!”

Twilight lowered her head and sighed. She turned away and quietly said, “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I just wanted to learn all I could about the strange energy that first showed up in Canterlot City. I was hoping that my research on it could allow me to finally be completely independent and free to pursue my own interests, without having to answer to a shady organization like the Shadowbolts… But I guess it was all just too much to ask for.” She then began to slowly walk away, not once ever glancing back at the people behind her.

Sunset continued to glare furiously at the one person in the Lego World who had caused so much trouble and misery for her friends. But as Twilight’s parting words began to sink in, Sunset slowly realized that perhaps she had just made a terrible mistake and may have been wrong the whole time. Twilight had not been stealing their magic with no regrets or to aid in some villainous plot. She was simply curious and had wanted to learn more, only for her research project to somehow spiral out of control and ultimately left all six members of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team devoid of their Equestrian magic and Master Builder talents. And now, as Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World walked away in sadness, Sunset Shimmer was forced to face the fact that she had been too aggressive with Twilight for reasons that turned out to be false.

Sunset turned away and sat down beside Rainbow as she shamefully covered face with her hands and muttered, “What have I done?”

Rainbow said nothing and simply placed an assuring hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

Sunset removed her hands from her face and glanced over at Rainbow. She also said nothing, but it was still a friendly gesture that she very much appreciated at a time like this. She then turned her gaze forward and noticed Pinkie Pie was standing not far away and looking in their direction.

Pinkie suddenly asked, “Am I the only one who realizes there’s now suddenly a whole bunch of red 2x4 bricks somewhere in Equestria?”

Not much time had passed when Twilight finally decided to stop walking and stopped between two random tubs on the bottom shelf. Sunset Shimmer’s words had certainly hurt her, and she had no one to blame but herself for allowing these events to happen.

Twilight took a moment to think about everything that had happened over the past week. Everything had changed that fateful Monday when she not only finished creating the device but also collected the first sample — which turned out to be Sunset Shimmer’s magic, and possibly even the interdimensional portal to Equestria as well — and subsequently had her identity exposed to the LEGO Team.

As the week progressed, things just grew more and more beyond her control. First, she was forcefully assigned a team that is still unable to get along. Then they were sent on missions that quickly drew the attention of the Canterlot City LEGO Team, and ended in ever worsening results. And since she had always brought her collection device with her, she only further alienated herself from both sides with each sample she gathered.

Twilight held up her device and gazed down at it. Although it had certainly caused some problems, there was still the possibility that it could provide the salvation she so desperately wanted. After all, she now had samples from all six members of what was apparently the only team in the Lego World to possess such a strange form of magic, and if her latest theories were correct, then perhaps now it wouldn’t take much effort to uncover its true potential.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. Even though things hadn’t gone as she had anticipated, she had successfully completed the data-collecting phase of her latest research project. The next step would be to uncover any secrets she could find in analyzing those samples, and that was a phase she was very much looking forward to.

Of course, there were still a number of issues to deal with. Most immediate of them would be on how to deal with the organization of the Shadowbolts. Cutting off all communications was certainly a very bold move to make, and a recovery from that much loss of trust would not happen overnight. Not that it would matter in the long run, for she still had intentions to leave the Shadowbolts very soon. The LEGO Team would have been an ideal group to turn to for further assistance, but all the troubles she had caused meant that they probably wouldn’t want her to be associated with them in any way.

If no one wanted to be on her side, then so be it. She always did prefer to work alone, anyway.

Twilight let go of her device and pulled out a walkie-talkie. She switched it on and firmly spoke, “Everyone, return to the Jump-Gate site. We’re done here.”

Author's Note

I have to admit, this was one of the toughest chapters I've written for any of my stories. It didn't help that I apparently had some writer's block along the way, but at least I was able to power through and get it done. Anyway, I don't know how many of you were actually wondering about that mystery card Fluttershy found a few chapters back, but at least now you know that it's the name of a Lego brick warehouse owned by the Lego World's Flim and Flam (so that's some more familiar characters shown in Lego form). And yes, the formal uniforms the Shadowbolts wear for this chapter are just like their respective Crystal Prep uniforms from the actual Equestria Girls universe. As for Pinkie Pie's question regarding what happened to all those red bricks, well I'm leaving that entirely up to you readers (feel free to comment on where you think those bricks ended up).

Desperate Times

Chapter 11
Desperate Times

At a hidden corner of the Pick-A-Brick Distribution Warehouse, Twilight Sparkle waited patiently. She had remotely given the order to her teammates that it was time to return to their home base, and once everyone arrived, she would then open the Jump-Gate and they would leave right away. Of course, considering that many of the other Shadowbolt agents were probably still battling against members of the LEGO Team, she had a feeling that she would have to wait a while.

It wasn’t long until the first of these Shadowbolt agents arrived. It was Sugarcoat, with Indigo Zap slumped against her right side as they both walked slowly with an arm over each other’s shoulders.

Both curious and concerned, Twilight asked, “What happened?”

“She took a pipe wrench to the head,” replied Sugarcoat.

“Aw, come on,” argued Indigo. “It didn’t hurt that much.”

Sugarcoat responded by flicking Indigo right on the part of her head that had been struck.

Indigo Zap immediately let out a long and very loud cry of pain. She then hissed as she inhaled before shouting, “Don’t do that again!”

“My thoughts exactly,” stated Sugarcoat. “You need an icepack on that head right away.”

Twilight sighed and muttered, “I guess I’d better open the Jump-Gate right now.” She entered the code onto her portable Jump-Gate activator, aimed it at the wall of her “special entrance” to the warehouse, and hit the “Open” button. The doorway of her Jump-Gate soon materialized and the doors parted open. Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap slowly made their way through, while Twilight stayed outside it as she waited for the rest of her teammates to arrive.

Meanwhile, atop the nearest rack, Applejack had successfully been careful enough to not draw any attention to herself as she followed Sugarcoat from retrieving the fallen Indigo Zap to stepping through Twilight’s “special entrance”. Now she had a clear view of Twilight’s strange doorway, and Twilight had no idea she was even there.

Applejack pulled out a walkie-talkie and quietly spoke into it, “Sunset, Ah found Twilight, an’ she’s got that weird doorway open in the corner over by the ball-an’-socket bricks. Now’s our chance, so ya better get a move on before the other Shadowbolts get here.”

The voice of Sunset Shimmer immediately responded, “Copy that. I’m on my way.”

Applejack held onto her walkie-talkie as she crouched down and continued to observe Twilight. There was no doubt that Sunset would get here as quickly as possible, so the real question was whether the three remaining Shadowbolt agents would all get here first.

Elsewhere in the warehouse, Rarity and Sunny Flare continued dueling atop the racks with their rapiers. Sunny had certainly heard Twilight’s call to return to base, but first she needed to disable her opponent — at least long enough to provide her with a chance to escape.

“You are certainly a worthy opponent,” remarked Rarity as their swords continued to clash. “We appear to be evenly matched.”

“Not so,” argued Sunny smugly. “Unlike you righteous LEGO Team types, us Shadowbolt agents are never afraid to fight dirty.” She then leaped into the air and kicked Rarity in the chest.

Rarity was kicked back off the edge of the tub she stood on, smacked into the side of the other tub next to it, and then rebounded back and forth between the two stacks of tubs all the way down to the floor. By the time she hit the floor, she had fallen completely to pieces.

Up on the top shelf, Sunny smugly looked down at Rarity’s scattered pieces and said, “As much as I would love to relish in my triumph over you, I’m afraid I’m needed back at base at once. Adieu to you.” She waved her free hand and then ran off along the top shelf.

Down on the floor, Rarity could do little more than glance around at the aisle her pieces hand landed in. Thankfully, it wasn’t long until she noticed Fluttershy carefully climbing down a ladder from the rack on the opposite side of the aisle from the one she had fallen from. “Oh Fluttershy!” she called out. “Could you be a dear and assist me in reassembling myself?”

Fluttershy had just reached the bottom of that ladder when she heard Rarity call out to her. When she glanced back and saw the terrible shape her friend was in, she did not hesitate to approach her and reply, “Of course.”

Meanwhile, Lemon Zest had finally started to recover after her failed jetpack ride. She lightly groaned as she slowly pulled herself out of the tub full of corrugated tubes up on a middle shelf.

“There you are!”

Lemon glanced down at the floor and saw Sour Sweet in the driver’s seat of what appeared to be some kind of golf cart.

“I was wondering what happened to you,” said Sour Sweet’s sweet face. She then spun her head around to her sour face and growled, “Now hop in! Twilight just called us all back to base.”

“Aw man!” moaned Lemon Zest in disappointment as she began to climb down along the frame of the rack around the tubs. “The fight barely even got started!”

Sour Sweet grumbled, “I think Twilight decided to cut our losses because today went even worse than yesterday. And this isn’t even a real mission!”

Lemon Zest leaped off from the shelf above the bottom one and intended to land inside the cart, but overshot by a short distance and ended up smashing to pieces on the floor.

Sour Sweet rolled her eyes and growled in frustration. She quickly gathered up all of Lemon’s pieces and carelessly tossed them into the cart, then got back into the driver’s seat and began driving down the aisle towards their exit.

As they crossed from that aisle to the next one, they were spotted by Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash as they slowly made their way down a perpendicular aisle. Rainbow suddenly pointed ahead at them and shouted, “Hey! They’re getting away! Stop ‘em!” She and Pinkie immediately started running after that cart.

Of course, Rainbow’s shout had alerted the two Shadowbolt agents, so Sour Sweet hit full throttle. Unfortunately, since she was driving a golf cart, its top speed was barely faster than the two minifigs running after them.

Sunny Flare casually twirled her rapier around as she arrived at the Jump-Gate with a smile on her face.

“You sure seem to be in a good mood,” noted Twilight.

“As well I should be,” Sunny remarked confidently as she strutted through the gateway. “Rarity never stood a chance against me. If only the rest of my teammates could be even half as competent as myself.”

Sugarcoat stood alone in the gateway room in her usual stoic posture with her arms folded. “You do realize you just insulted all of us right in our faces, do you?” she asked.

“And why should I care?” said Sunny shamelessly as she tossed aside the rapier. “The success rate of this team has done nothing but decline all week, and I seriously doubt that I am in any way part of the problem.”

“But an attitude like that certainly would be,” Sugarcoat quickly shot back.

Sunny rolled her eyes and responded, “And I would argue that for you.”

The argument between them would have continued had it not been for a sudden shout from an aisle near the gateway.

“Come on, you stupid cart!” shouted Sour Sweet furiously as she struggled to stay ahead of the two Canterlot City girls chasing after her.

Noticing their enemies closing in, Twilight immediately rushed through the gateway and held her hand over the “Emergency Close” button on the control panel.

In the back of that cart, Lemon Zest finished reattaching the last of her body parts. She smiled, but that lasted for only a second when she saw Sunset Shimmer suddenly step out from behind one of the tubs on the floor and aim a small projectile weapon at them. “Look out!” she shouted as she swiftly turned around and tackled Sour Sweet down.

Sunset fired a translucent red 1x1 round plate from that small launcher. The small projectile flew over the ducked heads of the two Shadowbolts in the cart, through the open gateway, and clattered against the far wall of the gateway room.

As the cart passed through the gateway, Sour Sweet shoved Lemon Zest off and furiously exclaimed, “What was that for?!”

“Sunset shot something at us!” responded Lemon.

It was right at that moment, when the cart completely cleared the gateway and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were only a few steps behind, that Twilight shut the Jump-Gate. The doors quickly slammed shut and vanished from the warehouse, exposing only a blank wall of grey Lego bricks.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were forced to stop right in front of the solid wall. They both stared at it in disbelief for a moment. Rainbow growled in frustration and kicked the wall, then winced in pain from that kick.

Fluttershy and a fully reassembled Rarity soon arrived at the site, followed by Sunset Shimmer and then Applejack after climbing down the ladder from the top shelf. Rainbow turned to her friends and grumbled, “They got away again. How do they keep doing this?!”

“I’m afraid your guess is as good as mine,” replied Rarity with a shrug.

Meanwhile, Sunset pulled out a gadget that was in the form of a 1x2 tile with a screen and some buttons printed on its surface. Fluttershy glanced over at her and asked, “Um… what is that?”

Sunset smirked as she turned her gaze up to her friends and replied, “Let’s just say the Shadowbolts didn’t quite escape this time.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Pinkie in confusion. “We saw them all go through before they slammed the door shut in our faces.”

“Didn’t you see me shoot something at them?” responded Sunset. “That wasn’t just a random little piece. That was a tracking device, and since I shot it through that doorway before it disappeared, we should now know where their hidden base is located.”

The five other girls were speechless for a moment. It wasn’t long until Rainbow Dash suddenly jumped and excitedly shouted, “YES!! Finally we’re getting somewhere! Take that, Shadowbolts!”

“Well, where are they?” asked Applejack.

“Let’s find out,” replied Sunset as she held out the gadget for all to see. All six girls saw a set of coordinates on the screen, but that lasted for only a split second before the whole screen was suddenly replaced with a message in red letters that said, “SIGNAL LOST”.

Once again, everyone was left speechless for a moment. “Uh… What just happened?” asked Applejack.

Sunset lowered the gadget and replied, “They must’ve already realized that I shot a tracking device into their hidden base. This is probably telling us that the tracking device has just been destroyed.”

Rainbow Dash roared out in anger — loud enough to be heard across every aisle in the warehouse — and furiously shouted, “Why are they always one step ahead of us?!”

“Yeah, I figured this would happen,” added Sunset. She then smiled as she continued, “Which is why I decided to go a few more steps ahead. You see, this particular tracking device also had a built-in recording system. That means that even though it’s now destroyed, I still have a recorded history of where it’s been on this gadget in my hands. So even though the tracking device lasted for only a few seconds inside that Shadowbolts base, that’s all I need to find out exactly where they are.”

“Okay, seriously, can we stop swinging back and forth between bad news and good news?” asked Pinkie Pie. “It’s starting to give me a headache.”

Sunset giggled and replied, “Relax, Pinkie. I’m completely confident that we’ll finally get our answer this time.” She tapped a few buttons on the device. “Okay, I’ve got the coordinates,” she muttered contently. “Now to find out where in the Lego World that location is…” She tapped a few more buttons and soon got the definitive answer she and her friends had been so desperately seeking. Sunset smiled at first, but once she saw the final result, she gasped in shock and her eyes widened. “No… way…”

“What is it, darling?” asked Rarity.

Sunset quickly pocketed her gadget and replied, “We gotta get back to the spaceship and return to headquarters in Canterlot City right away. You are not gonna believe where they’ve been hiding.” Before anyone could say anything in response, she immediately turned away and began running towards the front doors to the warehouse. Her friends had no choice but to follow her.

Soon, the Pick-A-Brick Distribution Warehouse was void of any Shadowbolt agents or LEGO Team members, but it was hardly left in pristine condition. There were crude walkways on top of the racks, various parts and pieces scattered all over the floor of numerous aisles, and there was still that pile of burning tires. Needless to say, Flim and Flam were both crestfallen to see their business in such disarray.

After both brothers sighed sadly, Flim said, “I suppose we’ll just have to close early so we can clean up this big mess.”

“And people wonder why we always insist on staying neutral in all conflicts,” added Flam.

Later that afternoon, the six LEGO Team girls had returned to their home region of Canterlot City and were now gathered at the briefing area of the headquarters building. The team stood on the floor in the middle of the room, while Celestia and Luna stood up on the elevated platform in front of the massive display screen. Currently being displayed on that screen was a rotating 3D rendering of Canterlot Mountain, not only with the LEGO Team headquarters building on top, but also with a small rectangular cavity far below inside the base of the mountain.

“Our subterranean scans confirmed it,” stated Celestia. “There is definitely an unidentified underground facility deep within the base of this mountain.”

“Unbelievable,” muttered Applejack as she shook her head. “All this time, Twilight’s been hidin’ right under our feet.”

“But of all the regions in the Lego World, why would Twilight choose to establish her base of operations right here in Canterlot City?” asked Rarity.

Sunset Shimmer sighed sadly and replied, “I think it might be my fault.”

Everyone in the room turned to Sunset with confused looks. Luna raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why would you think you are to blame for our world’s Twilight’s secret residence here in Canterlot City?”

“Twilight never intended to cause us any harm, despite being a Shadowbolt agent,” explained Sunset. “She only wanted to learn more about the Equestrian magic we possessed — magic that I brought into this world when I stole Princess Twilight’s crown. And since this city is where we live and where the interdimensional portal to Equestria is located, it’s no wonder Twilight would see this as the most promising region to study.”

“But Twilight has been stealing your magic,” Luna pointed out. “How can she not intend any harm with actions like that?”

“She claimed to have no idea how that device she built could steal all of our Equestrian magic,” replied Sunset, “so she probably only wanted it to collect small samples. She told us all of this just hours ago in that warehouse, right after that device took the last of our magic… right after I yelled at her for everything that happened this week.” Sunset buried her face in her hands and sighed. “I still can’t believe I said such awful things to her.”

“It’s not your fault,” assured Fluttershy as she place a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “None of us had any idea what her true intentions were.”

Sunset shrugged off her friend and said, “But I’m the one who overreacted and jumped to conclusions. Of course it’s my fault.”

“There’s just one thing I don’t understand,” Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Twilight told us that she was hoping that studying our magic would somehow help her leave the Shadowbolts. Why would she go to such great lengths? I mean, couldn’t she just walk away from them?”

“I’m afraid it’s not that easy,” replied Celestia. “Just yesterday — with word of your activity against the Shadowbolts getting around — our branch in Bricksburg told us that they were approached by and spoke with a former Shadowbolt agent. She told us everything she knew about the Shadowbolts, despite the fact that it had been many years since she was last associated with them. Most importantly, former agents like herself are extremely rare because it is standard procedure for loyal agents to be given orders to eliminate those who would dare to turn away. This former agent claims the only reason she still hasn’t been caught is because she has been frequently changing her name — she refused to tell us her true name and asked only to be called Wyldstyle.”

“Eliminate?” asked Applejack. “Ya mean Twilight might be puttin’ her Creation Spark on the line just by even thinkin’ of leavin’ the Shadowbolts?”

“My word, no wonder Twilight has gone ahead with such drastic measures,” said Rarity. “I would never wish for anyone to endure what she must be going through right now. I suppose desperate times really do call for desperate measures.”

“I’d say we’ve all hit desperate times right now,” remarked Pinkie Pie sadly. “Not only is Twilight trying to find a way to leave the Shadowbolts without losing her Creation Spark, but now her efforts have left all of us without our magic, which means none of us are Master Builders anymore.”

“Yeah,” agreed Rainbow Dash bitterly. “That puts us all at a huge disadvantage.”

“So where do we go from here?” asked Fluttershy.

Sunset took a moment to think about the problems that everyone seemed to be facing at this time. As she considered the possibility for a single solution to all those issues, she realized that there might actually be such a solution, though it was hardly a sure bet. She sighed and spoke up, “I think I might have an idea.”

As everyone turned to Sunset, Rarity asked, “What are you proposing?”

“This is gonna sound totally crazy,” replied Sunset, “but I think Twilight’s best hope of leaving the Shadowbolts… is for us to kidnap her.”

Everyone stared silently at Sunset for a moment. “You’re right, that does sound totally crazy,” remarked Rainbow Dash.

“Ah agree,” added Applejack. “What makes ya so sure that we should go through with this?”

“As insane as this idea seems, I think it’ll work for all of us,” replied Sunset. “Think about it. If Twilight comes with us, she won’t have to worry about leaving the Shadowbolts on her own, and if she can bring her device with her, then maybe we could all figure out a way to give us back our magic. And if we can make this all look like a kidnapping, then she won’t have to worry about other Shadowbolt agents trying to get rid of her.”

“But the Shadowbolts would still be after her,” Fluttershy pointed out.

“True,” admitted Sunset, “but at least under this scenario, they would try to ‘rescue’ her instead of taking her out. In which case, we’ll need to keep her hidden in a safe location. She may not be able to go anywhere, but at least we won’t force her to do things she doesn’t like, as the Shadowbolts have done.”

“Oh!” Pinkie Pie suddenly spoke up. “And the best part of this plan is that we now know exactly where to find her!” She gestured up at the image on the big display screen.

“Exactly!” said Sunset with a smile. She turned her gaze over to Celestia and Luna and asked, “Would you be willing to let us go through with this?”

The two Playwell sisters turned to each other for a moment. Neither of them smiled, but they did silently nod before turning back to Sunset. Celestia replied, “In light of how high the stakes have become, my sister and I agree that this plan of yours could be your best chance of success. Therefore, your next mission shall be exactly that: enter the secret Shadowbolt base under Canterlot Mountain, kidnap Twilight Sparkle, and bring her back here as unharmed as possible.”

Sunset smiled and nodded back. “Thank you, Celestia and Luna,” she said. She then pulled the messaging tablet out of her jacket and added, “I should also probably tell the Informant about this. She’ll need to know in advance that we’ll be entering their base. Maybe she could even somehow help us.”

As Sunset typed and sent a message on that tablet, Rainbow Dash remarked, “Good thing we’ve still got inside help.”

“I just wish we knew which of Twilight’s teammates is the Informant,” mumbled Fluttershy. “I sure would like to thank her for helping us out so much.”

“Ah doubt we’ll ever know for sure,” said Applejack. “As long as the other Shadowbolts are around, then she sure ain’t gonna expose herself to us.”

Sunset put away the tablet and said, “Regardless, we should get going as soon as possible.” She turned back to Celestia and asked, “Does that scan reveal any entrances we could use?”

As Celestia tapped a few keys on the console to make the display screen zoom in on the underground structure, she answered, “There appears to be only one entrance, but it seems to have a very thick door that blends in with the surrounding mountainside. You may have better luck getting in through one of the ventilation shafts, and one of them happens to lead right into one of the train tunnels.”

“In that case,” stated Sunset, “we’ll just ride the train, ask the conductor to drop us off at that tunnel, then find that vent and sneak in. Once we’re inside, I’m sure we can figure out how to open that entrance so we can escape with Twilight.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Applejack contently. “Now let’s get a move on, y’all.”

As the team turned away and began to leave, Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration and grumbled, “I hate tunnels.”

The team hadn’t even reached the door out of the room when Sunset heard that familiar tone from the messaging tablet. She quickly pulled out that tablet, opened the new message, and read it aloud to everyone in the room.

To the LEGO Team of Canterlot City.

If that’s what you plan to do, then you’d better hurry. Twilight quickly figured out that the tracking device you shot into our base also had a recording system, so we all know that you know where we are. As a result, she now has us all frantically packing up everything and preparing to move to a new location. We could be out of here in a matter of hours, so you’d better not waste another minute.

From, The Informant.

Sunset and her friends were momentarily speechless. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before Sunset immediately put away the tablet and hastily said, “If Twilight gets away like this, we’ll be sent right back to square one, and without our Equestrian magic and Master Builder talents, I don’t know if we could ever recover from a setback like that. There’s no time to lose, girls! Come on!” She quickly opened the door and rushed out into the hallway, soon followed by the rest of her friends.

After the team had rushed off to begin their next mission, Celestia silently turned back to the console and tapped another button, shutting off the display screen.

Luna turned to Celestia and noted, “You seem troubled, sister.”

Celestia let out a sigh and sadly replied, “I cannot help but get an ominous feeling that something very terrible will soon happen. I’m actually starting to get flashbacks to when the old Sunset Shimmer was corrupted into a demon and devastated this city, and I’m sure we both know that can’t be a good sign.”

“Indeed,” agreed Luna with a nod. She paused for a moment before she added, “Perhaps now might be a good time to call in that favor from President Business.”

Celestia hesitated for a moment before she finally replied, “I suppose you may be right.” She reached over to the far right end of the console and picked up a telephone. To even consider a call like this, she knew something big was about to occur.

Author's Note

This chapter may not have been as long as most of the others, but at least now you all know where Twilight's secret base has been located this whole time. (I bet you didn't see that one coming.) Things will really start to pick up over the next few chapters, so be sure to stick around and find out what happens.

The Magic Unleashed

Chapter 12
The Magic Unleashed

“Hurry, everyone!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle fearfully. “We’ve gotta keep moving!”

The scene inside her no-longer-secret base was chaotic. All seven minifigs who resided here were frantically packing up everything that wasn’t nailed down and moved it into the gateway room. Now that the LEGO Team knew the location of this base, the Shadowbolt agents knew they had to completely move out of the facility before their enemy could reach them.

On the opposite end of this huge room from the Jump-Gate was the only traditional entrance into the underground base, which was a massive retractable wall built into the side of the mountain. With only a single escape pod parked behind this door, this was intended only as an emergency escape. However, the situation was not yet that dire, so Twilight intended to once again use the Jump-Gate itself to make their escape.

Sunny Flare set down another box and wiped her brow. As Twilight passed by to check the contents, Sunny asked, “Any idea where we’re going?”

As she kept inspecting the cargo, Twilight quickly replied, “So far, I’ve narrowed it down to three options: Lego Island, Ninjago City, or Middle Zealand.”

As Lemon Zest passed by and stacked one box on top of another, she asked, “Why don’t we just go to some place out in the Space Region, like Mars? They’ll never find us way out there.”

“I’ve already been to Mars,” said Twilight dismissively. “I stayed there for only a month before some Martians stumbled across my base and I had to move out.” She then ran off to check on some other supplies.

Sugarcoat set down another box on the floor as Spike entered the room while carrying yet another heavy box. She turned to him and asked, “Is moving day with Twilight always this hectic?”

Spike huffed as he set his box on top of the one Sugarcoat had just set down, then mumbled, “Unfortunately, yes.”

Indigo Zap entered the room with a pair of boxes on a dolly. She pushed the dolly ahead with one hand, while the other held an icepack against her head. She set down the dolly and turned around, only to suddenly get smacked in the head by another box being carried by Sour Sweet. She grunted in pain as she now held both hands against her head and grumbled, “Why does this keep happening to me?”

Sour Sweet spun her head to her sour face and rolled her eyes as she grumbled, “Maybe if you weren’t always so reckless, you could avoid more than half of all the injuries you keep causing, both to others and to yourself.”

Meanwhile, Twilight closed another box and checked off another item on her checklist. She swiftly pulled out her phone to check the time, then sighed in exasperation. “We’re barely staying on schedule at this rate,” she mumbled as she put away her phone. She glanced over at the Jump-Gate and exclaimed, “Spike! I need you to set up the detonation charge!”

“I’m on it!” acknowledged Spike as he handed the next box in his hands over to the nearest person — who happened to be Sunny Flare — and ran off to the opposite side of the room.

Sunny Flare glanced over at Spike as he left, then turned to Twilight and asked, “Detonation charge? Are you planning to blow something up?”

Twilight continued checking through the packed boxes as she explained, “After we’ve moved everything through the Jump-Gate to the site of my new base of operations, I’ll need to trigger a time bomb so that, once this place is absolutely deserted, it’ll completely destroy the Jump-Gate. Keep in mind, this technology is exclusive to the Shadowbolts, and the last thing we want is for our enemies to find out about it.”

As Lemon Zest passed by with yet another box, she asked, “But how will we get around without a Jump-Gate?!”

“I can always build a new one,” replied Twilight. “I’ve done it before with all of my previous relocations. Besides, I am the one who invented it, so I should have the new Jump-Gate up and running in no time.”

As the six Shadowbolt agents continued to rapidly move all of their possessions into the room, Spike ran along the wall to the side until he reached a small door marked with a red warning sticker. He pulled out a key and prepared to unlock that door, but then the large steel doors of a Jump-Gate suddenly materialized over the wall, right in front of that door Spike was about to open, forcing him to yelp and jump back. Seconds later, the Jump-Gate doors parted open, and on the other side, inside another Shadowbolts base, stood Abacus Cinch herself, with a serious frown on her face and hands clasped behind her back.

Spike stood speechless for a moment, shocked to suddenly find himself standing face to face with the leader of the Shadowbolts. He then slowly turned his head to the right and called out, “Uh, Twilight! Girls! You’d better come over here!”

All six Shadowbolt agents quickly dropped what they were doing and ran over to Spike, and all of them were just as stunned to see the sudden arrival of their leader.

“Miss Cinch?” asked Sunny Flare in confusion. “What are you doing here?”

“I have much to discuss with all of you,” answered Cinch as she adjusted her glasses, “but mostly with Twilight.”

Twilight had no idea how to respond to that. Fearing what may be on Cinch’s mind, Twilight decided to use the one legitimate excuse she had to delay the inevitable. “But Miss Cinch,” she desperately pleaded, “the LEGO Team just discovered the location of this base! I need to get everything moved out to a new secret location before they arrive!”

“That can wait,” responded Cinch dismissively. “Right now, I must ask you and your teammates to step inside. This discussion could be vital to the future of our organization, as well as your own personal future.”

“Seriously?” asked Sugarcoat as she folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. “We’re in the middle of trying to escape from a location that our enemies are now fully aware of, and if we don’t move quickly enough, then the LEGO team will show up and there’s no telling what kind of setbacks we could suffer as a result.”

“Yeah,” agreed Lemon Zest. “They could steal our stuff, or they could steal top secret information, or worse, they could capture and interrogate us!”

“I honestly doubt your situation could be that dire,” rebuffed Cinch. “Every time Twilight had moved to a new location, I would always assign an agent to observe the old location for a few days following the move, and not once have I heard of any unwanted attention showing up.”

“I was only taking precautions,” argued Twilight. “This time is different! This time, it’s a real emergency!”

“I don’t have time to argue over this,” Cinch shot back. “I have given you all a direct order, and I expect you all to follow them.” She turned to the side and gestured back to the room she stood inside. “Into my facility. Now.”

Twilight really wanted to insist that her emergency move was the highest priority at this time, but she knew there were times when there was simply no point in arguing with Cinch. She lowered her head and let out a sigh of defeat. She turned back to Spike and said, “Spike, proceed without us. We’ll be back as soon as we can.” She then began to remove the device she still had hanging around her neck.

“Bring that with you, Twilight,” Cinch suddenly spoke up. As Twilight gazed at her in astonishment, she added, “I am well aware that it is much more than just an accessory.”

Once again, Twilight had no idea what to say. She had been very careful to keep her latest research project an absolute secret, and yet, Cinch had somehow found out about it. Clearly, the upcoming discussion was going to be very serious indeed. With a reluctant sigh, she left her device hanging from her neck and nodded. She then walked through Cinch’s Jump-Gate, followed by her teammates.

Once all six Shadowbolt agents had stepped through, Cinch’s Jump-Gate closed and then faded away from the room. Left alone in Twilight’s base, Spike sighed and turned away. So much for finally getting some extra help around here, he thought bitterly.

Halfway down the side of Canterlot Mountain, the six girls of the local LEGO Team were slowly walking through one of the train tunnels. They had ridden the train most of the way down and asked the conductor to stop and let them off just outside the tunnel before resuming the rest of the journey into town. Now the girls had only one hour to search the tunnel before the train would return, so with flashlights in hand, they all wasted no time searching every surface of the tunnel.

After many minutes of seeing nothing but bare rock, Sunset Shimmer eventually found a large ventilation grate in the middle of one of the walls of the tunnel. “Found it!” she called out. As all of her friends rushed over, she put away her flashlight, grabbed onto the grate, pulled it off its frame, and then set it down off to the side.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie shined their flashlights down the ventilation shaft, but were unable to see where it led. As everyone looked inside with varying levels of doubt, Fluttershy asked, “So, um… do we just slide down or… or what?”

Pinkie Pie smiled as she stuffed her flashlight into her hair and excitedly remarked, “Sounds good to me!” She dove head-first down the shaft and squealed with joy.

“Pinkie! Wait!” shouted Rainbow Dash, but it was already too late. As she put away her flashlight, she sighed in frustration and grumbled, “So much for a stealthy entrance.” She then dove head-first into the shaft and slid down after Pinkie.

Applejack simply shrugged and said, “Well, no turnin’ back now.” She then climbed into the shaft and began to slide down feet-first.

Rarity groaned before she turned to Sunset and asked, “Must we?”

“We all agreed to use this as our entrance,” replied Sunset, “and since time isn’t on our side, we really don’t have any choice.”

Rarity let out a sigh of disappointment before she reluctantly climbed into the shaft. As she began to slide down, she couldn’t hold back a scream of terror.

Fluttershy nervously glanced back at Sunset Shimmer, who simply smiled and calmly assured her, “Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you.”

Fluttershy turned back to the dark and seemingly bottomless shaft and gulped. She cautiously climbed inside and soon began to slide down, though not without a scream of terror all the way down.

Finally, Sunset Shimmer picked up the grate, climbed into the shaft, and pulled the grate back into place before sliding the down the shaft after her friends. The slide down started off shallow, but then quickly turned steeply downward, causing her to slide down very rapidly. After only a matter of seconds, the shaft quickly leveled off and Sunset soon found herself shooting out into a small room, bouncing off a bed, and then colliding into the far wall and landing on top of where all of her friends had piled up.

As all six girls carefully untangled themselves from the pile, Rainbow Dash grumbled, “Well that could’ve gone better.”

“It also could’ve gone a whole lot worse,” Applejack pointed out. “We ain’t exactly bein’ attacked by the Shadowbolts right away.”

Everyone glanced around the room and noticed that, aside from five beds in various states of neat or messy, it was completely empty.

“Hmm, I suppose that’s a fair point,” noted Rarity.

“But just because this room’s empty doesn’t mean we should let our guard down,” argued Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash is right,” said Sunset. “We’re now inside Twilight’s secret base, so we need to stay on alert.” She reached for the only door out of the room, turned back to her friends and silently gestured for them to be quiet, then she slowly open the door. She peeked her head through the doorway and glanced around, only to see an empty hallway with seven other doors. She turned back to her friends and whispered, “Hallway’s clear. Let’s check every room.”

The six girls quietly made their way out of the room and each picked a door to check behind.

Sunset Shimmer took the door at the end of the hallway immediately to the right of the room they came from. The room inside was notably larger than the first one, and although it was mostly empty, there were also plenty of boxes full of what appeared to be lab equipment. If this is supposed to be the lab, she thought, then I guess this room would’ve been much more packed with equipment just hours ago.

Although Twilight had clearly done some work to pack up and prepare to move, it was also obvious that such efforts had not yet been completed, which gave Sunset hope that they were not too late to catch Twilight. As she continued to glance around the large room, Sunset soon noticed a large board on the wall that had various pictures and diagrams posted on it. Upon a closer look, she realized that all of these pictures showed her and all of her friends, and all of the supplemental material related to all the places they had visited, with the most prominent of them being a map of Canterlot City with a specific site in City Park circled in red. Wow, thought Sunset in astonishment. Twilight really has been watching us for a long time.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy took the door directly across the hall from the one they had come from and found a partially divided bedroom with two separate beds, but the room was otherwise completely empty. Rarity took the door to the left of that and found a bathroom with all of the fixtures still in place, but virtually all of the additional essentials had already been removed. Pinkie Pie took the door to the far left and found a kitchen with the table and chairs still in place, some empty coolers near the refrigerator, and some boxes only partially full of various tableware.

Along the side of the hallway of the room they came from, Applejack took the middle door and found a room full of various parts and pieces of damaged or destroyed electronic equipment, leaving her wondering why this particular room was left in such a terrible mess. Rainbow Dash took the door to the far right and found a room full of nothing but Lego bricks and pieces of all kinds imaginable.

It wasn’t long until all six girls had gathered in the middle of the hallway. “I think I found the laboratory,” reported Sunset, “but there was no sign of Twilight in there.”

“I didn’t see Twilight in the bedroom,” said Fluttershy.

“Nor was she in the washroom,” added Rarity.

“No Twilight in the kitchen and dining room,” added Pinkie Pie.

“All I found was a storage room for Lego bricks,” added Rainbow Dash.

“An’ Ah don’t know what Ah found, but Twilight sure ain’t in there,” added Applejack.

“Then I guess that leaves us with just one room left to check,” concluded Sunset. She and her friends immediately turned their attention to the last remaining door, at the opposite end of the hallway from the lab.

Sunset stepped up to the door first. She carefully opened the door, peeked her head through, and glanced around. The room beyond this door was far more massive than any other room in this facility, with a ceiling twice as high as the other rooms and a floor area roughly equal to all the other rooms put together. And most notably to her, there were dozens and dozens of boxes simply sitting in the middle of the room. The Informant had certainly been serious about how the Shadowbolt agents who lived here had been packing up everything and preparing to move. However, just like in all the other rooms, there was no sign of Twilight Sparkle — or anyone else for that matter.

Sunset cautiously stepped into the room and started checking behind every stack of boxes, fully expecting someone to jump out and ambush her. However, the more she looked, the more she realized this room appeared to be just as deserted as all the others.

It wasn’t long until the rest of the team followed Sunset into the room. Pinkie Pie glanced around and asked, “Where is everybody?”

“I’m not sure,” replied Sunset uneasily as she kept checking behind every possible hiding place.

“Maybe they already left,” suggested Fluttershy.

“Ah seriously doubt it,” argued Applejack. She gestured around the room as she continued, “Ah mean, just look at all this stuff they left behind. Ah really don’t think they’d go through all the trouble of packin’ up everythin’ only to just leave it all behind.”

“Perhaps they are out on some sort of scouting expedition,” suggested Rarity. “They may be searching for a suitable location for their new home base, and once they’ve found a proper site, then they will return to gather their belongings before departing for good.”

“So we can just wait for them to come back and ambush them again?” asked Rainbow Dash. She grinned and excitedly shouted, “Awesome!”

“There’s just one thing I don’t understand,” mumbled Sunset as she paced around the room in deep thought. “If the only ways in and out of this facility are some ventilation shafts and a very obvious doorway in the side of the mountain, how have Twilight and the other Shadowbolts been able to get around so quickly and remain undetectable?”

As the others pondered this question, Sunset glanced around the room again. She noticed the far end of the room had some sort of escape vehicle parked near a sloped wall, arguably indicating that this was the site of that mountainside exit. She then turned to the opposite side of the massive room and her gaze fell onto a rather odd structure. As she focused her attention on it, she realized that it appeared to be some kind of frame surrounding a rather familiar set of doors.

“Could it really be?” muttered Sunset as she slowly walked over to the structure.

The rest of the team soon noticed where Sunset was going. “What is it, Sunset?” asked Fluttershy.

Sunset stopped in front of the giant set of doors, then glanced over to her right and noticed some kind of large computer system attached to it. She walked over to it and, after a bit of hesitation, tapped the screen. The screen immediately turned on and displayed a list of some places, with “Pick-A-Brick” currently highlighted. She then glanced up and saw two large buttons: a green one labeled “Open”, and a red one labeled, “Emergency Close”.

“I think we just found that vanishing doorway,” Sunset finally answered. To test her hypothesis, she hit the green button. Everyone gasped as they heard a low whooshing noise come from the structure. It stopped after only a few seconds, and then the doors slowly parted open to the sides. Beyond these doors were the aisles of the Pick-A-Brick Distribution Warehouse.

Pinkie Pie walked up to the opened doorway, paused at the threshold, and then took a few steps forward. She was astonished to suddenly find herself in such a familiar yet very far away location. “Whoa…” she said slowly. “We were just here only a few hours ago.” As she glanced back, she was even more shocked to discover that, of all the sites inside that warehouse, the doorway had opened right in the exact same spot as where they had last seen Twilight and the other Shadowbolt agents make their escape.

Sunset gestured for Pinkie to come back though the gateway. Once the pink party girl was back inside the room with the others, Sunset decided to try the red button. The massive doors immediately slammed shut, startling everyone with just how sudden that had happened. After taking a few seconds to relax again, Sunset muttered, “I guess that explains how they made such quick escapes.”

Next, Sunset decided to scroll through the list of locations on the screen and as she searched through them, she couldn’t help but remark, “Wow… there sure are a lot of destinations on this list. Manehattan, Pharaoh’s Kingdom, Ashlar, Mars, Cloudsdale…”

“Cloudsdale?” asked Rainbow Dash in confusion. She turned to Sunset and said, “Try that one.”

Sunset selected Cloudsdale on the list, then hit the green button. Again, the mysterious doorway made a low whooshing noise for a few seconds, then the doors parted open. This time, the other side was revealed to be a narrow alleyway in a city of white structures with an open clear sky above.

Rainbow Dash stepped through the gateway and then ran down to the end of the alleyway. She took a moment to glance around at everything she could see, then returned to the gateway and stepped back into the room. “It really is Cloudsdale!” she said in astonishment. She then muttered under her breath, “So much for always being a top secret location.”

Sunset scrolled down the list further and soon found Canterlot City. She decided to select that one next and hit the green button. The doors closed slowly — possibly because she didn’t hit the red button this time — then the machine made its low whooshing noise again before the doors parted open again. This time, the destination on the other side was a particular alleyway Sunset was all too familiar with.

“Unbelievable…” muttered Sunset. “It’s the exact same alleyway that I chased Twilight into when I first encountered her.”

“Holy guacamole!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “It’s an instant doorway to any place in the universe!”

“Ah reckon this must be how the Shadowbolts have been able to appear an’ disappear so suddenly an’ without a trace,” Applejack speculated.

“If what we are seeing here is to be believed, then that is most certainly the most likely explanation,” agreed Rarity.

“It’s almost like that new feature we have on our spaceship that makes us go to places instantly,” noted Rainbow Dash. “Uh… what was it called again?”

“The Ion-Burst Relativity Jump Drive,” reminded Sunset.

“Yeah! That thing!” continued Rainbow Dash. “Except this one is built into a gateway instead of a spaceship.”

“They probably use this thing so often, they don’t even need a regular entrance into this base,” Fluttershy speculated.

“My thoughts exactly,” agreed Sunset. She then frowned as a rather odd thought occurred to her. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand. This is definitely a key component of Shadowbolt activity, yet despite how obviously aware they were that we would be coming here, they have done nothing to hide this from us. How could they be so foolish to let us find out about this powerful gateway?”

It was definitely a very peculiar and rather unsettling question. None of the six girls could come up with a realistic answer, and if they were being honest with themselves, they doubted they even wanted to know about it.

Twilight Sparkle was seated at the end of the table in a conference room. Seated at the opposite end, at the head of the table, was Abacus Cinch, with the five other Shadowbolt agents seated along the sides of the table. To say that Twilight was nervous would have been a serious understatement.

Twilight subconsciously tugged at the device hanging from her neck — something that Cinch had just revealed she was well aware of — and nervously asked, “So, um… what is it that you wish to discuss?”

Cinch leaned back in her chair and touched her hands together. She remained silent at first and just stared coldly at Twilight before finally replying, “Let me be honest with you, Twilight. If you were simply any other agent, you would already have been terminated for not only a string of disappointing failures, but also for deliberately cutting off all forms of communication between us.”

“But that’s obviously not what you have done with Twilight,” Sunny Flare pointed out. “Why is that?”

“I am glad you asked, Sunny Flare,” responded Cinch, “because it is thanks your careful observations you noted in yesterday’s post-mission report.” She turned her attention back to Twilight. “I am not sure why you never informed me about the details of your latest research project, Twilight, but I must say, the results you have achieved thus far are quite… impressive.”

Twilight had been staring down at her lap in shame, but that final word from Cinch made her suddenly look up at her in shock. She hastily adjusted her glasses and asked, “Huh? W-w-what are you talking about?”

“You know very well what I mean,” replied Cinch. “You have been using that little device of yours to take away the magical powers that had made Sunset Shimmer and her team a force to be reckoned with. Thanks to your efforts, one of our greatest obstacles to ultimate domination has now been significantly softened. They are now no better than any other branch of the LEGO Team.”

“I-I’m afraid you misunderstand my intentions, Miss Cinch,” said Twilight uneasily. “You see, I designed this spectrometer type device to collect only minor samples of energy, not take away every trace of magic from these special girls.”

“Then I suppose this may simply be a case of a flawed design gone horribly wrong,” noted Cinch. She then smiled slyly. “Or rather in this case, horribly right. Either way, I am quite pleased with the results you have achieved, and that leaves me rather curious as to what you plan to do next.”

Twilight hesitated as she glanced down at her device. There was no way she could reveal her intentions to leave the Shadowbolts, so she had to word her responses carefully. She eventually turned her gaze back up to Cinch and replied, “Well, the next stage of my research project is to analyze the samples I’ve collected to better understand their properties. Unfortunately, my efforts up to this point have proven to be quite fruitless. Not even the most robust of scanners available could give me any conclusive data, and even my best theoretical work has only led to an unproven hypothesis that I might need all six samples in order to unlock the full potential of this magic.”

Cinch raised an eyebrow and asked, “And how many of these ‘samples’ do you have stored inside your device at this time?”

Twilight hesitated before she replied, “As of just a few hours ago… all six of them.”

Cinch smiled. “Then that means every member of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team is now without their magical powers. Well done indeed, Twilight.” She then got up out of her chair and began to slowly walk around the table. “But of course, why stop there? We all know that this is very strange magic that can do incredible things. Capturing and containing it is fine, Twilight, but have you ever considered… releasing it?”

Twilight glanced down at her device again and responded, “But I don’t even understand how it works.”

“But you’d like to,” stated Cinch as she now stood beside Twilight. “You have already tried to understand it through lab tests and theoretical work. It’s only logical that you should next attempt a field test.”

“I’m not so sure if that’s such a good idea,” said Twilight uneasily as she stared down at her device. “Part of me is actually concerned that all this magic might have turned this thing into some kind of giant bomb.”

“All the more reason to unleash it against our enemies,” argued Cinch. “After all, this magic is arguably one of the most powerful weapons the LEGO Team had at their disposal, and now that it is in our possession, we would be fools to not utilize it to our advantage.”

Twilight sighed and doubtfully muttered, “I don’t know…” Hoping for a second opinion, she turned to the other Shadowbolt agents seated at the table and asked, “What do you girls think?”

“I see no reason why you should have any doubts,” argued Sunny Flare. “If using this magic is what helps the LEGO Team be so successful, then why can’t we do the same?”

“Yeah, Twilight,” agreed Indigo Zap. “This is our enemies’ ultimate weapon! Let’s use it against them!”

“I dunno what it’ll do, but I bet it’ll be awesome!” added Lemon Zest. “Go for it!”

“As far as I’m concerned,” stated Sugarcoat, “the only thing that magic really does is give you enhanced Master Builder abilities in addition to pony ears and tails with the possible addition of wings or a horn, so I don’t see how releasing this magic could do anything worse than that.”

“I think it’s an excellent way to find out what that magic could do,” said Sour Sweet’s sweet face. She then switched to her sour face and added, “And if you do nothing, then you’ll never learn anything about it. Is that what you really want?”

As Twilight turned her attention back to Cinch, the leader of the Shadowbolts stated, “You see, Twilight, every Shadowbolt agent knows where our priorities lie. Whenever we obtain something that gives us the upper hand against the LEGO team, it is our obligation to immediately take full advantage of it. After all, you’ve done it before with many of your inventions. Why should this one be any different?”

Twilight glanced down at her device again, then gazed off to the side, unable to come up with anything to say in response.

“Let me put it this way,” continued Cinch. “If your use of this magic allows us to achieve our destiny, then once I have solidified my position as leader of the entire Lego World, I shall appoint you as my right-hand advisor, my second-in-command, the one person for whom everyone except me must bow down to and obey.”

Cinch placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder and smiled. “Think about it, Twilight. I am explicitly offering you a position of power that most Shadowbolt agents would tear each other to pieces to obtain. You would be free to pursue your every desire with practically unlimited resources. No curiosity of yours would be forever beyond your reach, because you would have all the funding and volunteers you would ever need to study anything in the universe. No longer would you be bound by instruction books, because you would be the one who is writing them. Under my authority, you would receive anything you could ever ask for without any questioning from our loyal subjects.”

Cinch removed her hand from Twilight’s shoulder and returned to a professional stance as she asked, “So tell me, Twilight… Will you use that magic to help us defeat the LEGO Team?”

Twilight took a moment to consider her options. Cinch had certainly given her a very tempting offer. Who wouldn’t want an opportunity to become the master of everything? She could already imagine how she would restructure societies across the Lego World to work more efficiently than ever before, and with the promise of virtually unlimited researching opportunities, the only limits to worldwide scientific progress and discovery would be her own imagination.

On the other hand, Twilight had to remind herself of the reality she was currently in. She was still a member of an underground group of secret agents, an organization that she had desired to abandon for years now. There was no guarantee that they would achieve their ultimate goal of overthrowing the LEGO Team, and there was even less certainty about whether the stolen magic would really help to accomplish that.

As she glanced down at her device yet again, Twilight saw its ring of lights turn on and appear to revolve around. Was this a sign that she should take the offer? As tempting as it was, it was little more than a mere fantasy at the moment, and she had some more serious priorities that needed to be taken care of as soon as possible.

Twilight sighed and finally replied, “I’ll need some time to consider this. For now, I really need to get back to moving to a new base of operations at once.”

Cinch nodded and said, “Very well, then. I’ll leave you and your team to resume your relocation efforts. But we cannot afford to waste much time, so I’ll expect a definitive answer by tomorrow morning. For now, you are all dismissed.”

Twilight nodded in acknowledgement and got up out of her seat, as did the rest of her team. As she entered her Jump-Gate code onto her wrist-mounted device, she was already brainstorming ideas on how she could leave the Shadowbolts under this new set of circumstances. She had to admit, Cinch’s suggestion of somehow utilizing the magic she had collected to her advantage did seem rather tempting, but since there was no telling what that could result in, she was not yet willing to take that kind of chance.

Twilight aimed her arm at a large empty wall in the conference room and tapped the final button. However, instead of opening her Jump-Gate, she heard a faint buzzer noise from her gadget, followed by nothing. Confused, she glanced down at her gadget and was shocked to discover which particular indicator was showing up. “‘Currently in use’?” she muttered to herself. “But that’s impossible! Unless… Oh no…” Her eyes widened in shock. She then spoke up to everyone, “My base has been infiltrated! They’ve already found us!”

Lemon Zest turned to Cinch and grumbled, “Told ya so.”

Sunny Flare spoke up, “Seeing as we’re unable to use our Jump-Gate, Miss Cinch, I’m afraid we’ll need to borrow yours.”

Cinch nodded and said, “In that case, I shall accompany you. I wish to take this opportunity to observe first-hand how you girls can deal with members of the LEGO Team, allowing me to objectively determine which of you are still excellent agents and which of you are in serious need of improvement.” As she spoke that final part, she casually took away Indigo Zap’s icepack and tossed it into a nearby trashcan.

“I’ve got a better idea,” said Sugarcoat. “If we really want to see what that stolen magic can do, then let’s have a demonstration against the intruders.”

“I-I’m not so sure about that,” said Twilight uneasily. “I mean, this is their magic that’s inside my device. Trying to release it in front of them could just… let it return to them and thus restore their lost abilities.”

“If that happens, then just steal it back,” Indigo Zap pointed out. “You’ve already done it once, so you could easily do it again.”

“I doubt it’ll be anywhere nearly as easy the second time around,” muttered Twilight under her breath.

“Regardless,” Cinch spoke up as she slowly walked past everyone, “I now find myself in agreement with your teammates, Twilight. After all, you did admit that you wish to understand how that magic works, and I believe a demonstration against our toughest opponents would be an excellent opportunity to see it in action.” She then opened the door, stepped aside, and gestured through the doorway. “Shall we?”

While the other Shadowbolt agents headed out of the conference room, Twilight hesitated for a moment. She still had some serious reservations against trying to weaponize the magical energy that she had almost no understanding of. But one hard look from Cinch was all it took to remind her that she really had no further say in the matter. With a reluctant sigh, she followed her teammates out of the conference room.

Inside the gateway room of Twilight’s base, the six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team were still gathered around the Jump-Gate, which was currently opened to the Old West town of Appleloosa.

Sunset Shimmer continued to scroll further down the list of locations, but then suddenly stopped as one in particular caught her attention. “Whoa, whoa, wait… Is this one for real?” she asked incredulously as she selected the location in question.

“Only one way to find out,” replied Rainbow Dash. Without even glancing over to see which location had just been selected, she immediately hit the green “Open” button.

The doors slowly closed, the Jump-Gate made its low whooshing noise for a few seconds, and then the doors parted open again. The other side of the Jump-Gate was now a massive, dark, swirling vortex. The edges appeared to consist of storm clouds — evident when there was suddenly a boom of thunder and flash of lighting just moments after the gateway was opened. To the six girls now gawking at this sight, they simply couldn’t believe what they were seeing, yet there was no denying what it was.

“The Infinite Abyss of Nothingness,” whispered Pinkie Pie breathlessly.

“But that’s impossible!” argued Rarity. “It’s just a myth!” She paused and then uneasily asked, “Isn’t it?”

“Better start believin’ in it, ‘cause it’s right there in front of us,” remarked Applejack.

Rainbow Dash suddenly walked away, picked up the nearest Lego brick she could find, and then returned to the gateway with a white 1x4 plate in her hand. After only a brief moment of hesitation, she hurled the Lego brick through the gateway and into the seemingly endless vortex. The piece twirled around and appeared to shrink as it tumbled further and further down the abyss.

“I don’t think it ever ends,” noted Fluttershy worriedly.

“That’s… really freaky,” Rainbow slowly said.

Sunset glanced back over at the list of locations on the screen and asked, “Why would Twilight include something like this on her list of locations?”

“It was for one of my earlier research projects.”

The six girls were startled by that sudden voice and they all quickly turned around. Standing before them in the middle of the room was Twilight Sparkle and the other Shadowbolt agents. Off to the side, the doors of another Jump-Gate closed and vanished.

For a moment, there was nothing but a long and awkward silence between the two sides. Eventually, Pinkie Pie spread her arms wide and cheerfully shouted, “Surprise! We found your secret hideout!”

“We noticed,” Sugarcoat flatly stated.

As Sunset glanced across at the opposing side, she realized there was a seventh minifig standing behind them, and although she didn’t recognize the face, she had a good feeling she knew precisely who this was. She slowly stepped forward and said, “You must be Abacus Cinch, leader of the Shadowbolts. I gotta say, you must have a lot of guts to show your hideous face in our presence.”

“Petty insults,” Cinch coldly regarded as she removed her glasses and wiped them clean. “I should have expected no less from the likes of you, Miss Shimmer.” As she put her glasses back on, she added, “Quite a shame that you chose to side with the LEGO Team. You could have easily become one of my best agents.”

“In retrospect, I’m glad the old me chose to fly solo,” stated Sunset. “Ever since I changed my ways, my outlook on life has never been better, and I now know for a fact who are the good guys…” She smiled back to her friends. “…and who are the bad guys.” She glared ahead at Cinch.

“I believe you have made a rather poor decision,” rebuffed Cinch. “I and the rest of my Shadowbolt agents will soon triumph over all who oppose us, and there is nothing you can do to stop us.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong,” argued Sunset. “My friends and I have taken down supervillains before, and we can do it again.” She smugly continued, “Maybe I could even ask LEGO Maximum Security Prison to give you my old jail cell. I heard it’s right across the hall from where the Dazzlings are being held, and I’m sure they’ll provide some entertaining company.”

“Enough of this nonsense!” declared Cinch. “I have much that needs to get done in a minimal amount of time.” She smiled. “Thankfully, I now have just the right means to achieve my desired results.” She gestured over at Twilight. “Your own magical powers turned against you!”

All eyes in the room turned to Twilight Sparkle. The Shadowbolts behind her couldn’t see her face, but the LEGO Team in front of her did, and they could see that she was looking down at her feet, almost in sadness and defeat. To Sunset, it was now clear more than ever before that Twilight really was being forced into this situation against her will.

“Go ahead, Twilight,” Cinch egged on, making Twilight glace over to her. “Show them what this force of energy under our control can do.”

“Don’t listen to her, Twilight,” Sunset desperately argued, drawing Twilight’s attention to her. “Look, I’m sorry for yelling at you. I just had no idea what your intentions were, and now I see they’re actually not as bad as I feared. If you’re willing to forgive me, then you would be more than welcome to join me and my friends.”

“I think not!” Cinch shot back, regaining Twilight attention. “Twilight has been a loyal Shadowbolt agent for years, and therefore she knows exactly what she must do.” With fierce glares ahead at their enemies, the other Shadowbolt agents silently nodded in agreement.

“I know you’re better than this, Twilight,” pleaded Sunset, making Twilight turn back to her again. “We can help you. You don’t have to live in fear. Just come with us, and we’ll take care of you.” Behind Sunset, the rest of her friends smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Don’t let them get to you, Twilight,” insisted Cinch, once again getting Twilight’s attention. “Remember what I just promised you. They will never offer you anything that can even come close to that. Now do it, Twilight. Destroy them at once.”

Twilight shifted her gaze back and forth between the two sides a few more times, then grasped her still-glowing device and stared down at it. Both sides made convincing arguments, but she had no idea which one was worth taking. She had always wanted to leave the Shadowbolts, but the LEGO Team was all about working with others, something that Twilight still stubbornly refused to do. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as she struggled to make her choice.

But then it occurred to Twilight that there was a possible third option she could take, and since neither of the other two options appealed to her, she felt that it was the only one worth taking. She took a deep breath, opened her eyes — which briefly flashed a bluish green glow in that instant — furrowed her brow, and firmly responded, “No.”

All twelve of the other minifigs in the room stared at Twilight in shock. “Excuse me, Twilight?” asked Cinch in complete disbelief. “I just gave you a direct order!”

“And why should I obey you?” Twilight fiercely stated. “You’re somehow convinced that you’re always in total control of everything around you. But whose hands are holding what you claim to be the ultimate power? My hands! Not yours, mine! That means I’m the one who gets to decide how to use this magic! You promised to make me the second most powerful person in the Lego World, but why settle for second when I hold enough power that I could just take it all for myself?! And guess what, Cinch? I never cared for your stupid philosophy! Not once! I only joined the Shadowbolts because you were the first ones who offered to get me out of the Castle Region and allow me to greatly expand my studies. I had always intended to one day leave the Shadowbolts, and with this powerful magic in my possession, I think that time has finally arrived. You were a fool to believe that you could somehow control me. You think you’ve been using me this whole time? News flash! I’m the one who’s been using you!”

Jaws dropped all around the room as both sides finally knew what Twilight’s true intentions among the Shadowbolts had been all along. The Shadowbolt side was shocked speechless, including their leader. Not once had any of them ever suspected that Twilight’s real thoughts of them could have been anything even close to that. And the LEGO Team side was shocked speechless to hear Twilight so vehemently denounce what was supposedly her own side. Remarkably, this actually provided them with a glimmer of hope, and some of the Canterlot City girls slowly began to smile.

Those smiles were instantly wiped away when Twilight snapped her attention towards the LEGO Team and continued ranting, “And don’t assume this automatically means I’ll be joining your side! Working together with others is practically a job requirement for the LEGO Team, and that’s something I will never embrace. It was never my intent to go out on missions with five other losers — I was forced into that situation! And let me tell you, it was one of the worst experiences of my entire life! Not since before I finally left the Castle Region had I ever felt so constantly frustrated! They kept getting in the way, making idiotic mistakes, and were just flat out crazy! All of that just reinforces the fact that I’m much better off on my own, so I don’t need to join forces with the likes of you.”

Twilight stood right between the two sides and glanced back and forth to each side as she firmly stated, “Now then, I’m only gonna say this one more time. I… work… alone.” She glared at the Showbolts. “Always have!” She glared at the LEGO Team. “Always will!” She carefully removed her special device from around her neck and grasped it in her hands. “And that is why I choose…” She swiftly turned the device around so that it would open up — and thus release all the contained magic — directly at herself. “…to forge my own path!”

“No! Don’t!” exclaimed Sunset fearfully as she immediately began to rush towards Twilight, but before she could take more than just one step, Twilight pulled her device open.

As soon as the device was fully opened, a blindingly bright flash engulfed the room and a powerful shockwave blasted outwards. Everyone but Twilight was thrown off their feet, all of the boxes were shoved up against the surrounding walls, and Twilight’s glasses were flung off her face and landed on the floor near the door to the changing rooms. And Twilight’s device, now completely empty of any magic, was flung away over the heads of the Canterlot girls and fell through the still-open Jump-Gate.

That bright flash of light quickly faded away, revealing that all of the magical energy had now taken the form of a gradually growing sphere that had already engulfed Twilight’s hands and was now lifting her up into the air. Everyone else in the room slowly stood up and looked on in horror. As the magical energy engulfed her arms and reached the rest of her body, Twilight let out a loud and painful scream, and then she was completely gone.

“What’s happening to her?” asked Rarity fearfully.

Sunset Shimmer gulped and muttered, “I fear it’s something I’m all too painfully familiar with.”

For the next few seconds, all anyone could do was watch the seemingly featureless sphere of glowing magical energy, not knowing what would happen next. Finally, the glowing sphere quickly faded away, revealing a now radically altered Twilight Sparkle. Her lavender skin had considerably darkened and her outfit had significantly changed. She now had magenta on her lower legs and lower arms, a bluish green glow around her feet, a magenta skirt around her upper legs with a long purple tail extending from the back, and purple on her torso with her shoulders left bare, and on the front of her torso near her neck was a magenta six-pointed star on some kind of necklace. She also now had a pair of long black feathered wings attached to her back. On her head, her violet and magenta hair piece now stood up as if it were a flame, a razor sharp horn made of bluish green energy had sprouted from her forehead, and some flickering bluish green energy surrounded her eyes in place of where her glasses used to be — all of this as part of one single piece on her head. Finally, she opened her eyes, revealing that they now glowed the same bluish green color as the energy surrounding them.

With her transformation complete, Twilight Sparkle — now known as Midnight Sparkle — began to speak. “Yes… I can see… I can see everything!” She cackled madly for a moment, then turned her gaze down towards Sunset Shimmer and said, “You were right! I didn’t understand magic before. But I do now!”

Her magical horn began to glow more brightly, and then she thrust her right arm forward, firing a large blast of magical energy at the wall over the Jump-Gate. After covering their eyes from the intense light, everyone looked at the impact site and saw that it had done more than just obliterate chunks of the wall. There was also now a tear in space, and through it they could see part of the town of Ponyville in the alternate world of Equestria.

“Equestria!” muttered Sunset in shock.

But Midnight Sparkle wasn’t stopping there. All around the walls and ceiling of the room, she fired off more blasts of magic, opening even more rifts to various places in Equestria. Some of these rifts even showed a few ponies on the other side — creatures unlike anything the minifigs of the Lego World could ever imagine.

As Midnight was busy opening dimensional rifts, everyone on both sides looked on in fear, many of them simply unable to comprehend just what was going on. Suddenly, the far wall of the emergency exit began to open. The five Shadowbolt agents glanced over and saw Cinch making her way over to the escape spacecraft without any hesitation.

“Hey!” Sunny Flare called out furiously. “Where are you going?!”

As Cinch climbed into the single seat of the only escape craft, she replied, “Anywhere to avoid that… monster! And I suggest you do the same!” She closed the craft’s canopy and started its engine, causing it to start hovering over the parking zone.

“COWARD!!” hollered Indigo Zap furiously as the escape craft then quickly took off out of the base and towards the skyline of Canterlot City.

Sugarcoat scoffed and grumbled, “Typical. The big bad villain always flees at the very first sign of their evil plans coming undone.”

“I don’t think so!” snapped Midnight Sparkle as she flew through the opened exit, stopping just immediately outside. “You wanted to see what this magic could do, so have a sample!” She fired another blast of magic, aiming her arm towards the fleeing leader of the Shadowbolts. The escape craft had a head start, but Midnight’s aim was spectacular. The powerful blast flew for quite a distance before it finally struck the craft, blowing it to pieces right over the city. With that pest taken care of, Midnight grinned.

“Twilight!” Sunset Shimmer suddenly called out. “Stop this madness!”

Midnight turned back to Sunset and the others and declared, “Twilight is no more! I am now Midnight Sparkle!”

Sunset briefly rolled her eyes before she exclaimed, “Whatever you’re calling yourself, you can’t do this!”

“Why not?!” Midnight shot back with a maniacal grin. “There’s a whole other world right there, and it’s just filled with magic!” She fired another magical blast onto the mountainside just over the exit, opening yet another rift to Equestria.

“But you’re destroying this world to get it!” argued Sunset.

“So what?!” exclaimed Midnight shamelessly with a smile. “There’s more magic there, and I want to understand it all!” She then more calmly added, “Besides, I can always rebuild this world. It is made out of Lego, after all!”

“You would be putting the lives of everyone in serious danger!” countered Sunset. “My friends and I can’t let you do that!”

Midnight simply smirked and responded, “I have a lot of important research to do, so I can’t allow you or anyone else to get in my way.” With only a fraction of her power, she then telekinetically pulled dozens of chunks off the side of the mountain, reshaped each stone fragment into Lego bricks, and then rapidly stacked them into a set of walls that completely enclosed all eleven minifigs in the room.

“Am I the only one who’s getting a sense of déjà vu right about now?” asked Pinkie Pie as the walls were quickly built higher and higher.

Finally, Midnight topped off the stone jail cell with a flat roof. Now the only way in and out was through a single door, which she quickly slammed shut and locked. Then she removed the key and melted it into slag. As far as she was concerned, there was now no way that any of these girls would ever get out.

Midnight Sparkle smiled in satisfaction, then turned away and muttered to herself, “Now then, where was I?” She glanced back into the room to take note of the progress she had made so far. “Not a bad start, but I’m gonna need a lot more space to work with if I want a decent amount of data.” She turned her attention out toward the skyline of Canterlot City off in the distance and grinned. “That city over there looks like a good place to proceed with my research. Not to mention, I could also use some practice with reshaping this world to my liking. But even with all this power, I’m gonna need some assistance.”

With her new magical powers, Midnight levitated a bunch of Lego parts out of her old storage closet and then assembled them into about half a dozen small robots. Each of these robots was a flying grey box with two mechanical arms, a single eye, and an antenna on top. “These self-replicating drones should give me plenty of reach over any region,” she proudly remarked. “And once I’ve gathered enough resources to create hundreds of them, their overwhelming numbers will ensure that nothing will stop me from getting what I want.”

As Midnight Sparkle flew towards Canterlot City with the first of her mechanical drones, she smugly declared, “Once I understand all there is to know about this otherworldly magic, then I can reshape both of these worlds to just the way I like them. Permanently!”

Author's Note

I seem to be having some difficulty with writing new chapters these days, so it's a good thing I try my best to work ahead of schedule in case if I ever get stuck on something. Anyway, I'm sure you noticed this story gives Twilight a different reason for why she released the captured magic and turned into Midnight Sparkle than Friendship Games did. Keep in mind, this Twilight is not a meek schoolgirl, but rather an ambitious genius who always prefers to work alone. Oh, and for those of you wondering where Spike went, you'll find out soon enough.

Rise of the Resistance

Chapter 13
Rise of the Resistance

Some time had passed and the sun was beginning to set over the region Canterlot City. Within the Shadowbolts base under Canterlot Mountain, all eleven girls remained trapped inside the prison cell made of stone Lego bricks. The six LEGO Team members — Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity — and the five Shadowbolt agents — Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, and Sunny Flare — all sat or stood in scattered places throughout the small room, silently contemplating how everything could have gone so horribly wrong.

“A super-evil Twilight Sparkle,” muttered Pinkie Pie sadly. “I never thought I’d see anything like that in a million years.”

“How could this be even possible?” asked Rarity sadly. “The Princess Twilight of Equestria we know and love would never descend to such wickedness.”

“But she ain’t the pony princess we’re familiar with,” Applejack pointed out. “They might have the same name an’ appearances, but somewhere along the way, they took very different paths.”

“Applejack’s right,” agreed Sunset sadly. “Equestria’s Twilight was mentored by her world’s Celestia, and look at where she stands now: The Princess of Friendship, with her own castle. This world’s Twilight seemed to only want the most ambitious path, regardless of the consequences.” She paused as a sudden realization occurred to her. “Just like the path I once took. No wonder that stolen magic turned her into a monster.”

“If only we’d done more to help her sooner,” mumbled Fluttershy.

“You’re not the only ones who should feel guilty about all of this,” stated Sugarcoat. As everyone in the room turned their attention towards her, she continued, “She was forced into this situation by Cinch’s orders. Twilight and the rest of us were beginning to seriously question Cinch’s judgement over the last few days, but none of us ever acted upon those suspicions.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” agreed Indigo Zap in disappointment. “Who wants a new world order when the one who wants to be supreme leader is going crazy? We should’ve overthrown her before things went from bad to worse.”

“Yeah, we should have,” agreed Sour Sweet’s sweet face with a sad tone. She then spun her head around to her sour face and grumbled, “But we never would have. We could barely stand each other! No wonder Twilight became so desperate to abandon the Shadowbolts.”

“Ironic, isn’t it?” stated Sunny Flare. “Here we are, top members from both sides of a long-running conflict for the fate of the Lego World, and now it’s all on the verge of total annihilation at the hands of a monster created out of the rising tensions of this conflict.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and stood up. “Well we can’t just stand here,” she declared. “We gotta find a way to stop Twilight!”

“Midnight,” Lemon Zest pointed out as she removed her headphones. “She calls herself Midnight Sparkle, now.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and continued, “Call her what you want, but I think we can still save both the world and Twilight. We did it once before with Sunset, so I’m sure we can do it again.”

“Need I remind you that our first obstacle is to find a way out of this prison crafted by Midnight Sparkle?” Sugarcoat pointed out. “The walls are made of solid stone interlocking bricks and the only way in or out is through that locked door over there. It’s not like that door is just gonna magically open on its own.”

CLICK!

That sudden noise made everyone immediately turn their attention to the door. Astonishingly, the door swung open and outside stood a certain smiling young boy with a red cap on his head.

Spike chuckled and remarked, “Good thing I totally ignored Twilight when she told me to never read that book about how to pick a lock.”

“Spike?!” asked all six LEGO Team girls in surprise and confusion.

“Yeah!” cheered Lemon Zest as she jumped to her feet and immediately hugged Spike. “Way to go, little dude!”

Once Lemon broke the hug, Indigo Zap walked up to him and asked, “Where have you been this whole time?”

“I took shelter inside the air vents when I heard the others,” replied Spike. “You girls didn’t exactly make the most subtle of entrances.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and facepalmed, then turned to Pinkie Pie and grumbled, “Okay, it’s official! From now on, Pinkie, you’re never going first.”

“Awwww!” moaned Pinkie in disappointment.

“Eh, don’t take it too personally,” assured Spike as he pulled out a messaging tablet and held it up. “I had a bit of a heads up that you girls would be coming, anyway.”

Sunset’s eyes widened in shock, both at what Spike had just said and at seeing the tablet in his hands. “Wait… are you saying that you were the Informant?!” she asked in disbelief.

Spike responded by typing a quick message onto his tablet and sending it. Sunset heard the familiar tone coming from her messaging tablet and pulled it out. There was no need for her to say anything as she and her friends looked at the new message they had just received.

That’s right! It’s me! :)

“But that’s impossible!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “The Informant told us that she was one of Twilight’s new teammates — one of those five girls over there!”

“That was a total bluff,” replied Spike dismissively. “If I hadn’t thrown you off like that, everyone would’ve eventually caught on that it was me.”

“To be honest, I had never once considered it,” stated Rarity. “It never occurred to me that there even was a Spike that was native to this world.”

Spike raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why would you think that?”

Rarity rubbed the back of her head and nervously replied, “Well, it’s just that… the other Twilight always had her Spike accompanying her, and since the same couldn’t be said for this world’s Twilight, I just naturally assumed that Spike had no counterpart in this world, as is the case with Sunset Shimmer.”

“Nah,” said Spike with a dismissive wave of a hand as he walked away. “She just always wants to work alone.” When he found Twilight’s glasses on the floor, he picked them up and was relieved to see they were undamaged. He sighed and continued, “I remember the day I first met her. It was also the day she had to start wearing these.” He held up the glasses for everyone to see.

“Are you going to tell us about that ‘laser beam incident’ you mentioned to us earlier?” asked Sunny Flare.

Spike silently nodded. He gazed down at the pair of glasses and spoke, “It was Twilight’s very first mission as a Shadowbolt agent. She was supposed to recover an ancient relic known as the ‘pointed laser’ and deliver it to President Business — keep in mind, this was back when he was still a bad guy better known as Lord Business. Anyway, I was living alone on the streets back then — don’t remember how I ended up like that — and when I saw Twilight having some difficulty moving that thing around, I decided to be a nice guy and help her out. But she kept pushing me away, insisting that she worked alone and that she didn’t need any help. I knew there was no way she’d ever get that big thing into her vehicle on her own, so I kept trying to help, but she still kept trying to push me away. We kept struggling with each other until she accidentally set that thing off, shooting a short laser beam at a nearby mirror that reflected it right into her eyes, and with the way she went down and started screaming, I knew that had to hurt a lot. Fortunately, an eye doctor’s office happened to be just across the street from there, so I offered to guard her vehicle and cargo while she went over there. When she came back, she said that the damage was unrepairable, but she was able to get these glasses to correct her eyesight. And true to my word, I had kept her cargo safe, allowing her to complete her mission. Since then, I’ve always been living with Twilight, assisting her with her inventions, guarding her base while she’s out on missions, things like that. She never let me go anywhere beyond whatever base we occupied, but compared to my old life, I was totally cool with that.”

“Wow, that’s… quite a story,” remarked Applejack.

“How unfortunate,” mumbled Fluttershy as she knelt down and gave Spike a hug.

Rarity couldn’t help but notice that, while this world’s Spike had no problem speaking to her, he did have a noticeable blush on his face as he was being embraced by Fluttershy.

“Come on! We’re wasting time here!” Indigo Zap suddenly exclaimed. “Midnight Sparkle is on a multidimensional rampage and we gotta stop her!”

“But how can we do that?” asked Lemon Zest. “She’s got all the otherworldly magic she could get her hands on!”

Sunset tapped her chin as she thought about their options. Her expression brightened as she got an idea. “Maybe we could somehow turn the tables against her,” she spoke up. “What if we could somehow use her own magic-capturing device against her?”

“Seems kinda risky if ya ask me,” said Applejack uneasily.

“But it’s also the only guaranteed method we know of that can take away this magic she’s now using,” Sugarcoat pointed out. “When you consider the simple fact that everything in all of existence is at stake, I’d say it’s a risk worth taking.”

Rainbow Dash stepped forward and said, “Okay, so obviously the first thing we gotta do is actually find that thing, so everyone start looking around.”

Just as everyone began to spread out and start searching, Fluttershy suddenly spoke up and nervously said, “Um… I-I don’t think that’s going to be possible.”

Everyone stopped and turned to Fluttershy. “What do you mean by that?” asked Indigo Zap incredulously.

Fluttershy shuffled her feet around nervously as she uneasily replied, “Well… when Twilight was busy blasting open all these holes in space, I saw that device go flying over my head and fall… through there.”

Fluttershy pointed at the Jump-Gate, which was still opened to the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness. As everyone turned their attention towards it, the swirling dark vortex rumbled with thunder again.

Rainbow Dash facepalmed and growled in frustration. “Why did we have to leave that silly thing open?” she grumbled.

“So you’re saying that the one thing that could help us save the Lego World from total annihilation is now lost down the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness?!” exclaimed Sour Sweet’s sour face. She threw her arms up and shouted, “Well that’s just great!”

“So much for Plan A,” grumbled Sunny Flare. She turned to Sunset and asked, “Any other ideas?”

Sunset rubbed her chin as she continued staring into the dark swirling vortex within the Jump-Gate. She struggled to think of any alternative ways to defeat Midnight Sparkle without that device, but to her it just didn’t seem possible. No matter how she looked at it, she knew that she absolutely had to somehow retrieve that device… even if it meant taking the craziest and stupidest risk imaginable.

Finally, Sunset sighed and reluctantly said, “I think I know how to salvage this… but I’m going to need some time.” She shifted her gaze around at the others as she continued. “I need you girls — all ten of you — to go out there and hold off Midnight Sparkle for as long as possible. Build anything you can to stall her, just make sure she doesn’t go any further than she already has.”

“Do you really think we can hold our own against her?” asked Rarity.

“I’m completely confident that you can,” replied Sunset with a smile. She turned to the Shadowbolts as she continued, “And if all of us are willing to set aside our differences, I’m sure that our combined talents will give us the best chance of success. But just in case if that’s not enough, I’ve got a special task for Spike.” She then focused her attention on the young boy. “I need you to get to the LEGO Team headquarters building at the top of this mountain as quickly as possible.”

“And I’m guessing you want me to warn Celestia Playwell about what’s happening, right?” asked Spike.

Sunset smiled as she rolled her eyes and replied, “If Midnight’s rampage over the city is even half of what she did in this room, I’m sure Celestia and Luna are already well aware of what’s going on out there.” Her expression turned serious again as she placed a hand on Spike’s shoulder and continued, “No, what I need you to do is have Celestia send a message to every single citizen in Canterlot City, telling them to rise up in resistance against Midnight Sparkle, to build anything they can think of to put a stop to her. We overheard that she plans to build hundreds or even thousands of mechanical drones to expand her reach of power, so to beat her army, we’ll need an army of our own.”

“Consider it done,” acknowledged Spike with a salute.

“And what about you?” asked Fluttershy to Sunset.

Sunset pulled the messaging tablet out of her jacket, took one more look at it, then simply tossed it aside. She turned her attention ahead towards the endless vortex beyond the Jump-Gate, took a deep breath, and finally replied, “I’m gonna get that device back.”

Reactions were not immediate, but as everyone glanced between Sunset and the open Jump-Gate and realized the full implications of what she really meant, all of them were shocked speechless and many were left with jaws gaping.

“You mean you’re gonna jump in there?!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie in shock as she pointed towards the dark vortex. “That’s insane! That goes way beyond even what I’d consider to be crazy!”

“You think I don’t realize that?” asked Sunset incredulously.

“I don’t know whether to call you ridiculously brave or ridiculously stupid,” stated Sugarcoat.

“Then call me both,” remarked Sunset irritably. She took a breath to calm herself and said, “Look, there’s a rumor out of Bricksburg that a certain construction worker went through that same abyss and came back alive, and that to me is enough assurance that this might not be the one-way trip that everyone fears.”

“But what if it is?” asked Rarity worriedly. “What would we do without you?”

Sunset backed up a few steps away from the Jump-Gate and assured everyone in the room, “Try not to worry about me too much. I’ve already told you the plan, and now you just need to follow it. And I can promise you this much. If it’s even possible at all… then I will return.” She glanced around at everyone in the room and gave them all one last smile. “I will return.”

Finally, Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath and ran straight ahead right through the Jump-Gate. Not once did she ever scream as she plunged endlessly into the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness, for she had willingly chosen this fate and now couldn’t do anything but wait to see what would happen to her.

Inside the gateway room, the others just stared ahead silently as they watched Sunset Shimmer plunge into the seemingly bottomless vortex. Before long, she had fallen so far that they simply lost sight of her. For better or for worse, she was now on her way into the unknown, and there was certainly no turning back for her.

“So, um… what now?” asked Fluttershy quietly.

“Simple,” replied Spike. “We follow Sunset’s plan.” He turned away and ran across the room towards the side that was now open to the outside world. “Which means I need to get to the building at the top of this mountain right away. And I’ve got just the thing to do that.”

Spike hit a large button on the wall to the right, causing a nearby panel on that wall to slide away and the object hidden behind to extend out into the room. It was a rather odd contraption that looked like a minifig was supposed to be strapped to the front with a set of controls on either side, but by far the most notable part was that it had a pair of giant fans placed horizontally at the top on opposite sides.

“I have always wanted to use this thing,” remarked Spike with a smile as he strapped himself to the contraption and grasped the controls. He glanced over at the others one last time and said, “Good luck to all of you!”

Spike started up the personal contraption and the fans roared to life. He and his contraption then hovered off the floor and out through the opened emergency exit. Once he was outside, he revved up the fans and began to ascend up the mountain.

Back inside the base, after everyone had watched Spike depart, the ten girls who remained looked to each other. “Spike’s right,” stated Rarity. “Sunset Shimmer assigned us the responsibility of fending off the rampage of Midnight Sparkle for as long as possible, so we must not hesitate another moment.”

“And let’s not forget, we’re all in this together now,” declared Rainbow Dash, focusing her attention on the five Shadowbolts. “No more of this ‘good guys versus bad guys’ stuff. From now on, we’re all one thing and one thing only: Master Builders.”

“Except you’re forgetting that the five of you are no longer Master Builders due to Twilight’s device taking away your magic.” Sugarcoat quickly pointed out.

Rainbow Dash facepalmed and grumbled into her hand, “Rub it in our faces, why don’t ya?”

Applejack turned her attention towards the Jump-Gate, thought for a moment, then smiled as she got an idea. “Then we’ll just have to get uncreative!” she suddenly spoke up.

“Uncreative?” asked Sour Sweet’s sour face skeptically. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!”

“No, seriously, just hear me out on this,” argued Applejack. She turned to her friends and explained, “The guys at that Pick-A-Brick place said they had copies of every instruction book ever published, so if we go there an’ search through their inventory, Ah’m sure we could find somethin’ we could build to help us fight against Midnight Sparkle. Anyone can follow instructions — ya don’t need to be a Master Builder to do that.” She turned to the Shadowbolts and continued, “An’ while we’re busy followin’ instructions, you girls can search through the whole warehouse for everythin’ y’all would need to build whatever ya want. With all of us workin’ together, Ah reckon we might stand a good chance of takin’ on the forces of Midnight Sparkle.”

“It does sound rather ludicrous,” said Sunny Flare, “but I suppose it may be our best option under the given circumstances.”

“Hey, at least it’ll give us all something to do,” remarked Lemon Zest with a shrug.

“I never thought I’d ever do anything heroic,” added Indigo Zap, “but hey, I’m up for the challenge!”

“Okie dokie, then!” stated Pinkie Pie cheerfully. “Back to the warehouse we go!”

Applejack walked over to the list of destinations displayed beside the Jump-Gate and scrolled through it until she found “Pick-A-Brick”. She selected it, but hesitated to hit the big green Open button. She glanced back into the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness, then sighed and muttered, “Ah sure hope Sunset can find her way back.” Reluctantly, she hit the button.

The doors closed on the dark swirling vortex, the familiar low whooshing noise lasted for a few seconds, and the doors parted open to reveal the aisles of the Pick-A-Brick Distribution Warehouse. With their plan of action now set in motion, all ten girls immediately rushed through the gateway.

Flim and Flam were busy sweeping the floor of their warehouse. As they finished up this final clean-up task, they both set aside their brooms, wiped their brows, and smiled as they shook each other’s hands at a job well done. But just as they turned away to leave, a rope suddenly looped around and pulled them both together, back-to-back. After they both fell to their rears, they looked over and saw that it was Applejack who had just lassoed them.

As she wrapped the rest of the rope around the business brothers, Applejack just smiled and swiftly explained, “Sorry, y’all, but we’re gonna have to borrow your warehouse for a lil’ longer. All in the name of the greater good. You understand.” She quickly tied up the end of the rope and then ran off.

Flim and Flam struggled against the rope, but it was wrapped so tightly around their arms and bodies that it was clear they were not going anywhere anytime soon.

“I’m beginning to think that we might be better off just staying out of conflicts altogether,” grumbled Flim.

“You’ve said it, dear brother of mine,” grumbled Flam in agreement.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie dragged some filing cabinets over to some tables that Rarity and Fluttershy had retrieved from the break room. As soon as the filing cabinets had been set down, Applejack suddenly ran over to them and simply stated, “All taken care of.”

“Excellent work,” responded Rarity. “The Shadowbolts are busy gathering parts for their own creations as we speak, and Rainbow and Pinkie have just returned with a vast trove of instruction books.”

Before Rarity could speak any further, Rainbow Dash suddenly tossed dozens of instruction booklets onto the tables and exclaimed, “Start searching!”

Rarity sputtered as she stared at the scattered mess of pages all over the tables, then folded her arms as she scoffed and grumbled, “I would have preferred to leave them inside the filing cabinets as we searched through them. I mean, they must be properly organized for the sake of convenience.”

“No time!” shouted Pinkie Pie as she suddenly dumped a large pile of instruction booklets onto the tables. Since that was literally everything she could find in the filing cabinet she had taken, she immediately began to search through them, while Rainbow Dash continued to toss the rest of the stash onto the table. Understanding they didn’t have much time to lose, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity approached the tables and also began to search through the piles of instructions.

After a quick glance over what easily had to be hundreds of different instruction books, Fluttershy sighed and mumbled, “This might take a while.”

Meanwhile, the five Shadowbolts agents rushed up and down the aisles of the warehouse in search of all the parts they would need for their custom creations. However, since their first visit to this warehouse had been only earlier that day, none of them were familiar with where to find any of the pieces they were looking for.

“Does anyone know where I can find wing parts?!” hollered Indigo Zap across the aisles where the others were scattered. “How am I supposed to build something that can fly if I can’t put wings on it?!”

“How am I supposed to know?!” hollered back Sour Sweet through her sour face. “All these aisles look the same to me!”

“Wow,” remarked Lemon Zest as she ran down yet another aisle. “Who knew there were so many kinds of Lego bricks? There’s gotta be thousands of these tubs to look through!”

Sugarcoat had stopped in the middle of a perpendicular aisle and looked across all the surrounding aisles, but all she could see to differentiate them was simply the numbers for each aisle. “There’s gotta be a system to how all these parts are organized,” she stated. “The owners would never be able to keep this place fully stocked if they didn’t have such a system in place.” She then began to hear the quiet hum of a motorized cart, so she turned around and saw Sunny Flare riding on a cart at a modest speed directly towards her.

“I believe I may have found precisely what you’re asking for,” remarked Sunny Flare as she stopped her cart near Sugarcoat, and then tossed a rather plain booklet over to her fellow Shadowbolt agent. “While the rest of you immediately charged into the aisles without a plan, I decided to look for the owner’s guide on where to find everything and then made enough photocopies for all of us to have one.”

Sugarcoat looked at the guide in her hands, flipped through the pages, and then grumbled, “I guess even the smartest of us can still have moments where we fail to use our common sense.”

“Regardless of whose idea it was, what’s most important is that we can now proceed far more quickly,” stated Sunny Flare.

Sugarcoat stared at Sunny and raised an eyebrow. “You’re not attempting to make any snide remarks about how you came up with this idea and I didn’t?”

Sunny Flare shrugged and replied, “I just don’t see the point. Belittling my teammates won’t help us save the world, after all.” She then held up one of the plain booklets and added, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to deliver these copies to the rest of our teammates.” She then began to drive away on her cart, searching for the others somewhere in the other aisles.

Sugarcoat opened her copy of the owner’s guide and began to study the inventory more thoroughly. As a certain group of parts caught her attention, she slightly smiled and remarked, “I know just what to build.”

After many minutes, none of the LEGO Team girls had any luck finding something that could be useful in the upcoming battle. Rarity and Fluttershy flipped through a few pages of each booklet before setting them aside, Applejack studied the model displayed on the cover of each booklet for a few seconds before discarding them, and Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash simply took a brief glance at the cover of each booklet before carelessly tossing they away.

“Lame… Dull… Boring…” muttered Rainbow Dash with each instruction book she tossed over her shoulder. She glanced at another one, then blew a loud raspberry as she tossed that one away too.

Applejack grabbed a rather old instruction book and glanced at the cover. “Yellow Castle? Golly, this thing must be ancient,” she muttered as she tossed that one aside.

“C’mon, there’s gotta be something good in here!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed desperately. She held up one random booklet and continued, “I mean, how is a flower cart supposed to help us defeat Midnight Sparkle?! Even I know that throwing flowers at her won’t do anything!”

“We simply have to keep searching,” responded Rarity as she gently set aside another unsuitable instruction booklet. “Considering how much of this pile we have yet to go through, I remain confident that we will eventually find something satisfactory.”

After a few more minutes, Rainbow Dash was beginning to lose patience and started tossing away useless instructions as quickly as possible. She was about to toss away a rather large instruction book when she took a second glance at the cover and suddenly paused. She stared at the model displayed on the cover, then suddenly grinned and shouted, “Jackpot!”

As soon as the others turned to her, Rainbow Dash tossed the instruction book over to them and excitedly exclaimed, “Check it out! The LL-929 Spaceship! Built by Benny Blue Jr. for the battle against Lord Business!”

Rarity picked up the instruction book and quickly flipped through a few pages. “Oh! Look at this!” she pointed out contently. “Three seats in the cockpit, two seats in the monitoring room — that’s enough to fit all of us!”

“Yay! We can all fly together!” Pinkie Pie cheerfully exclaimed.

“And I’m sure it’ll be much quicker and easier if this is the only thing we have to build,” added Fluttershy.

Applejack looked closely at the cover and said with concern, “But this thing’s got over nine hundred pieces. That could take a while to build, not to mention we actually gotta go out an’ find all those pieces.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’m giving you one of these,” remarked Sunny Flare as she suddenly drove by while tossing a copy of the warehouse owner’s guide over to the tables.

Everyone glanced in confusion for a moment at the Shadowbolt passing by. Rarity picked up the guide and flipped through a few pages, then smiled and remarked, “Yes, I do believe this will help us save quite a significant amount of time.” She flipped to another page and her eyes suddenly widened in delight. “Oh! They even have a decal printer in this warehouse! If we’re going to be building this particular spaceship, then we’re going to need decals applied to some of the parts, and I would be more than happy to handle that task.”

“Cool!” responded Rainbow Dash with a grin. “AJ and Fluttershy can go get the parts while Pinkie and I put it all together!”

“Ah guess it’s settled, then,” stated Applejack. “We’re gonna be buildin’ ourselves Benny’s Spaceship.”

“You mean Benny’s Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!” corrected Pinkie Pie cheerfully. When everyone gave her confused looks, she pointed at the cover of the instruction book and added, “No, seriously, that’s the actual name of this kit. See?”

Applejack just rolled her eyes and said, “Whatever it is, it’s what we’re buildin’.” She tore out the last few pages of that instruction book — which contained the complete parts list for the model — and then tossed the rest of it over to Rainbow Dash. “C’mon, Fluttershy! Let’s go!” With the parts list in her hands, she ran off into the aisles.

Fluttershy was about to follow, but Rarity tapped her on the shoulder and handed the warehouse owner’s guide to her. Fluttershy smiled in appreciation as she took the guide, then followed after Applejack.

Throughout the evening, everyone worked hard to build everything they needed as quickly as possible. The LEGO Team girls cleared out enough floor space to build Benny’s Spaceship, then quickly gathered up parts and started assembling them, with Rarity printing out the decals, both onto a sticker sheet and directly onto certain parts. Despite having a plan and instructions to follow, they did have a few issues along the way — such as Fluttershy accidentally dropping the main canopy piece and putting a large fracture in it, forcing her to get a replacement — but overall, they were able to make good progress with the build.

Meanwhile, the Shadowbolt girls eventually managed to gather up all the parts they wanted and started building their own creations. Indigo Zap built a personal spaceship, Lemon Zest put big wheels and big subwoofers onto her vehicle, Sugarcoat decided to go for a small attack helicopter, Sour Sweet added treads and a turret to her armored vehicle, and Sunny Flare went with a convertible car that she claimed would have a special secret power.

Once their creations were complete, the Shadowbolts decided to check on how the LEGO Team girls were doing. When they arrived at the building site, they were quite surprised by what they saw.

“Whoa! That is a big spaceship!” remarked Lemon Zest in astonishment.

“Are you sure this is necessary?” asked Sunny Flare skeptically.

As she tossed a blue 2x4 sloped brick over to Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash irritably replied, “Since we’ve got no choice but to follow instructions, we decided it was better to just build one thing for all of us.”

Sugarcoat folded her arms and noted, “You do realize that’s never gonna fit through the Jump-Gate, do you?”

“I don’t care if we have to take the long way around to reach Canterlot City!” Rainbow Dash shot back as she tossed another blue 2x4 sloped brick to Pinkie. “This is what we’ve agreed to build, and it’s too late to change our minds.”

As the LEGO Team girls continued building the big blue spaceship, the Shadowbolts looked to each other with concerned expressions. “We gotta figure something out!” exclaimed Indigo Zap desperately. “There’s no way we’re leaving without them!”

Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow as she turned to Indigo Zap and asked, “You’re actually starting to worry about people other than yourself?”

“This is the fate of the whole Lego World we’re talking about here!” Indigo Zap sharply responded. “We need all the help we can get, and I’m not about to ditch our new allies!”

Sour Sweet spoke through her sweet face as she remarked, “I guess fighting for the good guys is already starting to improve our attitudes.” She then switched to her sour face and grumbled, “But that still doesn’t help us solve to problem of how we’re gonna get that big spaceship to Canterlot City without a Jump-Gate.”

Sunny Flare glanced over at the large empty wall close to where the spaceship was being assembled and soon got an idea. “Perhaps we could build another Jump-Gate,” she suggested. “One that’s big enough for that spaceship to fit through.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sugarcoat sharply responded. “Twilight is the only one in the whole Lego World who knows how to build Jump-Gates, and I seriously doubt she’s ever considered making one as big as what you’re suggesting.”

“True,” acknowledged Sunny Flare, “but I do find it hard to believe that she could build Jump-Gates entirely by memory. With how obsessed she can be with perfection, she must have written some instructions and kept them among her possessions. And unlike these girls here, we don’t have to precisely follow those instructions. Instead, we can just use it as a guide to help us figure out how to build the giant version that we need.”

“Sounds crazy, but it just might work!” remarked Lemon Zest with a smile.

“So now you’re suggesting that we search through all of Twilight’s personal belongings back at our base?” asked Sugarcoat.

“Do you have any better ideas?!” snapped Indigo Zap. She sighed and added, “Look, if this is what it takes to save the Lego World, then let’s go for it. We can always apologize later.”

“Fair enough,” muttered Sugarcoat as she and the other Shadowbolts began to head back to the site where they had left open the Jump-Gate back to their base.

Meanwhile, as Applejack and Fluttershy returned with the last of the parts they needed, Rarity — who had already finished with adding all of the detailing to each necessary part — was now assisting Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie with assembling the hatch to go over the monitoring room.

“Why do we need to build that special seat for Unikitty?” asked Rainbow Dash. “We all know she’s not gonna be flying with us.”

“Because, Rainbow Dash, we are not Master Builders at the moment,” answered Rarity. “We simply have no choice but to follow these instructions precisely as they are written, even if it means including redundant features that we otherwise would exclude without a second thought.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she sighed and grumbled, “Who knew something so awesome would be so lame to build?”

As soon as the Shadowbolts had found Twilight’s personal instructions for building a Jump-Gate, they immediately went to work building the frame for the giant Jump-Gate right in front of where the LEGO team girls were building their spaceship. It took a bit of ingenuity to scale up the design shown in the instructions, but thanks to their Master Builder talents, it was of little difficulty to them.

Meanwhile, the LEGO team girls were finally adding the last few pieces onto the spaceship. The final step in the instructions was to attach the two wing fighters. All five of them worked together to pick up and move one of the fighters into place on one of the wingtips. Once they finally attached it, they congratulated each other, then moved on to the other one.

At the same time, Indigo Zap, Sunny Flare, and Lemon Zest were making some final adjustments to the giant Jump-Gate. Sour Sweet had returned to the base to search for a spare Power Crystal, while Sugarcoat was busy punching some numbers into a calculator in her hand, also making sure to write down each result on a sheet of paper on the nearest table as she progressed.

When Sugarcoat reached the final answer in her calculations, her eyes widened in shock. She quickly ran through those numbers again, but each stage along the way ended up with the exact same result as she had previously written down. Once she reconfirmed that the number she was seeing was true, she knew that she had to tell everyone about her unfortunate discovery.

“Girls, we’ve got a serious problem here!” Sugarcoat spoke up. Once everyone’s attention was on her, she continued, “I just ran through a few calculations and I’ve discovered that, although this bigger Jump-Gate will obviously come with a greater power requirement, the exact rate of that increase is exponential. In layman’s terms, since this Jump-Gate is going to be five times larger than normal, the power demand will be twenty-five times greater!”

“Whoa,” muttered Indigo Zap almost breathlessly in shock. “That’s a lot of extra power.”

“I’ve heard that for most Jump-Gates, the Power Crystal needs to be replaced once every one or two months, depending on how often it’s been used,” noted Sunny Flare.

“And if this giant Jump-Gate is gonna go through Power Crystals twenty-five times faster…” began Lemon Zest.

“We may only have one shot at this,” finished Sugarcoat solemnly.

The LEGO Team girls had just finished attaching the final part to their spaceship when they overheard the bad news. Even though they had just successfully finished building Benny’s Spaceship, the possibility that they might not be able to get it to Canterlot City quickly enough had certainly tempered their enthusiasm.

“Maybe we should’ve just built something smaller,” Fluttershy muttered sadly.

“Don’t feel bad about yourselves,” responded Sugarcoat. “As the builders of this giant Jump-Gate, we’re just as committed to seeing it work as you are. Personally, I’d say it’s a chance worth taking.”

“Wow, Sugarcoat,” remarked Sunny Flare. “That’s a surprisingly optimistic thing for you to say.”

“I suppose Sour Sweet might’ve been on to something,” said Sugarcoat with a shrug. “Perhaps fighting for the good guys really has started to improve our morale.”

“Speaking of Sour Sweet, looks like she just came back!” Pinkie Pie spoke up while pointing at one of the nearest aisles.

Everyone glanced back and saw Sour Sweet arrive on one of the warehouse’s carts. She stopped beside her teammates, hopped out, and carried a translucent orange Power Crystal over to them. With her sweet face exposed, she solemnly stated, “This was the only Power Crystal I could find.”

Sugarcoat snatched the Power Crystal out of Sour Sweet’s hands and placed it on a power scale on a nearby table. “It’s not even fully energized,” Sugarcoat noted as she began to quickly run another series of calculations.

Everyone else waited nervously to hear what the result would be. If this was the only Power Crystal they could get and it wasn’t powerful enough to use the giant Jump-Gate, then they would be completely out of options, and Sunset Shimmer’s daring effort would be all for nothing.

Sugarcoat got the result, checked her math twice, and finally reported, “This should be enough to power the giant Jump-Gate, but only for just one full minute.”

“Good enough for us!” said Rainbow Dash with enthusiasm. “All we gotta do is open it up to Canterlot City, go through, and that’s it! Once we’re through, it won’t matter if it shuts down behind us.”

“I agree,” said Sunny Flare with a nod. As she took the Power Crystal from Sugarcoat, she added, “And since it won’t stay open for long, I recommend that we start up our vehicles and move them into position before we even insert this Power Crystal.”

“Sounds good to us,” agreed Applejack. She then climbed onto the big spaceship and pulled open both the hatch to the monitoring room and the translucent yellow canopy over the cockpit. “Everybody in!”

The LEGO Team girls didn’t hesitate to hop into the spaceship. Rainbow Dash took the pilot’s seat up front, Applejack sat down behind her, and Rarity settled for the rear seat of the cockpit. Inside the monitoring room, Pinkie Pie sat down on the left side, and Fluttershy seated herself on the right side.

Meanwhile, the Shadowbolt agents also quickly hopped into their respective vehicles and started them up. The only exception was Sunny Flare since she had the Power Crystal in her hands, so she simply started up her vehicle and then rushed over to the giant Jump-Gate’s control panel.

Inside the big blue spaceship, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie checked on the power core behind the rear window, then silently nodded to each other and put on their headsets. “Power core is looking good,” reported Fluttershy. “Start it up whenever you’re ready.”

In the cockpit, the others had just put on their headsets when they received that okay from Fluttershy. “Sure thing, Fluttershy,” responded Rainbow Dash. “But first, can everyone else hear each other?”

“No problem,” reported Applejack.

“Absolutely!” reported Pinkie Pie.

“Positively,” reported Rarity.

“Affirmative,” reported Sugarcoat.

“Copy that!” reported Sour Sweet.

“Good to go!” reported Indigo Zap.

“Ready to rock!” reported Lemon Zest.

Sunny Flare glanced around, then with a sudden look of realization on her face, she rushed back to her convertible, grabbed her headset, and hastily put it on as she rushed back to the Jump-Gate control panel. “Sorry, almost forgot,” she responded. “Is everyone all set?”

After the other Shadowbolt agents confirmed they were ready, Rainbow Dash responded, “Wait until this thing’s hovering off the ground before you try to start up that Jump-Gate.” Without waiting for a response, she quickly powered up the spaceship, grasped the flight controls, and then ignited the lower thrusters. As the engines gently roared to life, the big blue and grey spaceship slowly began to hover off the floor.

With the spaceship now airborne, Sunny Flare turned to the Jump-Gate control panel, opened the power supply hatch, and inserted the Power Crystal. She was silently relieved to see the control panel immediately flicker to life. As she then began entering a set of coordinates, she reported, “I’m going to open this thing to Canterlot City’s main highway right on the western city limits.”

“Copy that,” responded Rainbow Dash. “Wherever the action will be, that’ll be a good place for us to come in.”

Sunny Flare finished entering the coordinates and then moved her hand over to the big green button. She paused, let out a sigh, and then muttered, “Well, here goes nothing…” She hit the open button, then quickly ran back towards her convertible.

As was to be expected, the Jump-Gate made a low whooshing noise as it prepared to open, but the huge size of this particular Jump-Gate also caused the ground to slightly rumble with that noise. It lasted for only a few seconds, then once everything went still and silent, the enormous steel doors very slowly parted open. Everyone smiled as they saw the gateway had opened onto a highway with the skyline of Canterlot City barely visible under the nighttime sky.

It was now time for action, but Rainbow Dash wanted to spare a quick moment for something else. She chuckled mischievously and remarked, “I’ve always wanted to say this…”

“Ah think we all know what you’re gonna say,” remarked Applejack.

“Ooh! Ooh! Can we all say it together like true friends?” asked Pinkie Pie excitedly.

“I don’t see why not,” responded Rarity with a shrug.

Rainbow Dash tightened her grip on the fight controls as she grinned and said, “Okay, girls. In three… two… one…”

Finally, all five of the LEGO Team girls simultaneously and very excitedly shouted the exact same thing: “SPACESHIP!!!”

Rainbow Dash instantly hit full throttle. The three main thrusters ignited and the spaceship quickly shot right through the giant Jump-Gate and out into the skies over Canterlot City. As it blasted out of the warehouse, the massive burst of exhaust also blew all of the discarded instruction booklets off the tables and end up fluttering around all over the place like autumn leaves.

“Let’s go!” shouted Indigo Zap as she brought her smaller personal spaceship into a hover and quickly flew out through the gateway. She was soon followed by Sunny Flare in her convertible, Lemon Zest in her mighty jeep, Sugarcoat in her small attack helicopter, and finally Sour Sweet in her battle tank. All of them headed straight down the highway directly into the heart of Canterlot City, and the epic battle that was sure to await.

Meanwhile, Flim and Flam had finally freed themselves from the rope and arrived at the cleared-out space in their warehouse. Although the sight of countless instruction pages fluttering all around them was quite unnerving, it was the presence of the giant Jump-Gate still open to Canterlot City that really caught their attention.

“You know what, dear brother of mine?” remarked Flim with a smile. “I think we might have something that can eliminate all of our shipping costs.”

Before anything more could be said, a loud alarm suddenly blared from the control panel. After a few seconds, the portal suddenly shut down, and the image of Canterlot City was instantly replaced with just the blank warehouse wall. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the entire control panel suddenly burst into flames, and then the entire frame toppled over and smashed to pieces on the floor.

Flim and Flam just stared in shock with dropped jaws, unable to take their eyes off of the wreckage of what could have been a great asset to their company. Eventually, Flam simply shrugged and remarked, “Well, easy come, easy go.”

The unlikely alliance of five LEGO Team members and five Shadowbolt agents charged into Canterlot City in their respective creations. The big blue and grey spaceship took the lead with Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat flanking on either side and the others not far behind on the streets below. It certainly didn’t take long for them to notice how bad things had gotten throughout the city.

“Midnight Sparkle appears to have been quite busy,” noted Sugarcoat. “I can see she’s opened a lot more dimensional rifts all over the city.”

Something suddenly collided into Indigo Zap and sent her small spaceship tumbling around, but she quickly regained control and leveled off. “And there are drones everywhere!” she exclaimed.

Everyone glanced around and saw there were now literally hundreds of these hovering small grey boxes swarming all over the city, possibly even thousands. And since the new heroic alliance charging into the city was hard to miss, it was no surprise that many of them were already flying right towards them.

“Then let’s take ‘em out!” declared Rainbow Dash. She immediately began firing the twin laser blasters mounted atop the spaceship, quickly destroying some of the drones directly ahead.

The Shadowbolts also began to take down the countless drones that attempted to swarm them. Indigo Zap rapidly fired her own set of laser blasters on her small spaceship, while Sugarcoat fired one of the fours missiles mounted under her attack helicopter. On the ground, Sour Sweet blasted a large missile from the turret as her armored vehicle lumbered down the street, while Lemon Zest deployed a gatling turret from behind the giant subwoofers on the back of her vehicle and began firing it at drones in all directions.

Sunny Flare brought her convertible to a screeching halt at an intersection and as drones began to swarm in from all four directions, she just smirked and remarked, “Time to show how my ride is… more than meets the eye.” She pulled a lever by her feet and all the parts of the car around her began to quickly shift and move around. In a matter of seconds, her convertible car had transformed into a modest mech with her piloting from an open cockpit at the top. “Now that’s what I call a robot in disguise,” she quipped before leaping into action, punching and smashing any drone that got close to her, and even jumping up a few floors onto the rooftop of a small building.

Rainbow Dash set her sights on another small swarm of drones, but before she could take them out, they were suddenly blasted to pieces by some laser shots from the ground. Startled, all five girls in the spaceship looked around to see where those shots had come from. It wasn’t long until they all began to see something pleasantly surprising.

“Oh my, would you look at that?” said Rarity in awe.

“Well Ah’ll be,” remarked Applejack with a chuckle. “The lil’ guy actually pulled through for us.”

“Awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash excitedly. “We’ve got the whole city on our side!”

To everyone who wished to stop Midnight Sparkle, it was truly a sight to behold. Citizens all over the city had rebuilt anything around them into all kinds of wacky vehicles to take on the swarms of mechanical drones. On the streets, there were wheeled vehicles with turrets mounted on them, and there were also some modest mechs that either smashed drones or simply blasted them out of the sky. And in the air, there were plenty of hovering and flying machines that weaved around and between buildings as they went after more drones, ensuring that the forces of Midnight Sparkle were never beyond their reach.

On one rooftop in particular, a certain trio of young girls had just finished assembling a biplane with seats for each of them with a symbol painted on them. These symbols were of a shield with a tricolor of red, pink, and violet, with a slightly different addition in the middle of them; the one on the front seat had a magenta heart within a purple apple, the one on the middle seat had a magenta musical note within a purple star, and the one on the rear seat had a magenta lightning bolt within a purple feathered wing.

“Creative Mark Crusaders,” announced Apple Bloom. “Operation: City Heroes is a go!”

“Let’s go save the city!” declared Sweetie Belle.

The three girls excitedly cheered in agreement, then quickly hopped into their homemade biplane. Apple Bloom took the front seat, Sweetie Belle took the middle seat, and Scootaloo took the rear seat. Apple Bloom started up the engine and the front propeller roared to life. Each of the three girls then buckled up into their seats, put on an aviator’s cap, and lowered the goggles over their eyes. Finally, Apple Bloom grasped the flight controls and the biplane soon took off from the rooftop.

The Crusaders’ homemade biplane soared through the sky over the city and it wasn’t long until they began to follow one of the drones. Scootaloo quickly deployed a small gatling turret over the heads of her friends in front, loaded up a chain of ammunition that consisted of 1x1 round plates, and took aim at the drone. “Eat plastic!” she hollered before letting loose a rapid barrage tiny Lego pieces.

The rapid series of shots quickly broke off parts and pieces from the drone until it was reduced to just a bunch of small bricks falling out of the sky. The three Creative Mark Crusaders cheered excitedly as they flew by.

Meanwhile, the action down on the streets was no less exciting. Just about anyone who cared about Canterlot City was doing their part to defend the city from complete annihilation. Even the incompetent robbers Rocky and Mugsy had decided to join in on the fun.

“Out of our way, sissies!” shouted Rocky as he drove an armored van down the street at top speed. “We’ll show ya how it’s done!”

“Hey Rocky, watch this!” alerted Mugsy excitedly from the passenger seat as he grabbed a giant hammer and stuck his body out the side window. As they zoomed by a drone, he swung his hammer at it, obliterating it to pieces. “BOOM!”

“Nice shot, Mugsy!” responded Rocky. He then grabbed a single stud launcher and aimed it out of his side window as he quipped, “But not as nice as this!” He fired a 1x1 round plate from the small launcher towards another drone, blasting it to pieces. “BOOM! Headshot!”

“Do these things even have heads?” asked Mugsy.

“Who cares?!” rebuffed Rocky. “All we gotta do is get rid of ‘em all!”

And while all of the citizens worked together to deal with the threat of Midnight Sparkle’s mechanical drones, the five LEGO team girls and five Shadowbolt agents continued to do their part in saving the city and thus the entire Lego World.

As Lemon Zest shot down some more drones with her gatling turret, she asked over her headset, “As much fun as I’m having blowing up all these drones, does anyone know where Midnight Sparkle went?”

Nobody immediately responded. The battle had only just begun and not once had any of them seen any sign of the one who was responsible for all this madness, despite the obvious signs of her presence in the form of a few dimensional rifts.

After a moment of searching around, Rainbow Dash suddenly reported, “I got a visual! She’s on top of the Octan Building!”

Hovering over the same building where a magically corrupted Sunset Shimmer had once tried to take over the city, the magically corrupted Twilight Sparkle was glancing around in confusion and fury. She had opened more rifts to obtain a larger sample of Equestrian magic and left her drones to keep the citizens out of her way. However, she had not anticipated that the citizens would resist to such an incredible degree, and with dozens of her drones being destroyed left and right, it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on her primary goal.

“What is going on?!” Midnight Sparkle furiously screamed to everyone around. “Stop interfering with my research! Just stop it! Stop it right now!” As she saw a large blue spaceship fly by, she thrust her right arm forward and unleashed a blast of magic, tearing open another dimensional rift right in the path of that spaceship.

With no time to swerve around that suddenly opened rift, Rainbow Dash quietly muttered, “Uh oh…”

This particular night in Equestria and especially the town of Ponyville had certainly been among the weirdest ever as mysterious tears in space had suddenly opened up all over the place, revealing a very strange world made of plastic building blocks. The world beyond was so strange and mysterious that not a single pony dared to approach any of these rifts, let alone actually try to go through one.

As yet another of these dimensional tears opened up over Ponyville, the residents were in for quite a shock as a big blue and grey object suddenly flew right out of the rift. The unidentified flying object had a long pointy nose with two pairs of wings — a smaller blue set up front and a broader grey set at the rear — that never flapped. As it flew, it also seemed to shoot fire out the back with a dragon-like roar.

Ponies all over town watched in shock and fear as the strange object flew low over the town and headed directly towards Princess Twilight’s castle. Some terrified ponies feared the object was going to crash right into the castle, but then they saw the object slightly tilt to the left and looped completely around the castle, somehow managing to avoid touching the building.

The collective sigh of relief was short-lived as that strange big object headed right back towards town. Screams of fear and terror echoed all across Ponyville as residents feared the worst. Amazingly, the unknown object not only flew high enough to clear all the buildings, but also managed to fly directly back to the rift it had emerged from. Finally, just as suddenly as it had arrived, the big blue and grey flying thing flew back through the rift and completely vanished.

All over Ponyville, residents muttered amongst themselves, wondering about what they had just witnessed. They had never seen anything like that, and if something that big and terrifying came from the other side of those dimensional rifts, then they certainly didn’t want to imagine what else could be over there. Needless to say, these ponies were definitely going to stay far away from these rifts as long as they remained open. Their only hope now was that some greater force on the other side would find a way to close these dangerous rifts once and for all.

Inside the spaceship, the five LEGO Team girls all sat completely still with eyes wide open in shock. To say that they had just gone through a very strange experience would have been the greatest understatement of their lives.

After a moment of stunned silence, Rainbow Dash awkwardly muttered, “Okay… that was weird.”

The five girls eventually managed to get over their shock and returned to focusing on the task ahead. It wasn’t long until Fluttershy noticed something come up on one of the computer sensors in front of her. “Oh my! You are not going to believe who else has decided to help us!” she reported to the others.

It didn’t take long for everyone to notice the sudden arrival of three Super Secret Police dropships onto the scene of chaos. These three dropships — identified as 700, 701, and 702 of the 6thDV — ignored all of the surrounding carnage and flew directly towards Midnight Sparkle’s location. Although the dropships were obviously being piloted by Robo SWATs from the Super Secret Police force, very few of the onlookers realized that dropship 700 was carrying a rather unexpected passenger.

“I shall never be able to thank my sister enough for this!” exclaimed Luna Playwell excitedly with a huge grin on her face as she rode within the main compartment. She opened a hatch to the cockpit and commanded, “Robots! Commence Operation: Nightmare Containment!”

“Affirmative,” acknowledged the two robot pilots. The three dropships quickly approached Midnight Sparkle and began to circle around her in a counterclockwise direction. As Midnight glared at the encircling dropships, a Robo SWAT from each of them climbed into the roof mounted turret.

“Unit seven-hundred is locked on,” stated one robot as he aimed his turret at Midnight.

“Unit seven-o-one is locked on,” stated another robot as he also aimed his turret at Midnight.

“Unit seven-o-two is locked on,” stated the third robot once his turret was also aimed at Midnight.

“Engage,” stated the first robot. All three turrets immediately opened fired directly on Midnight Sparkle, unleashing so much firepower that she was obscured by smoke within seconds.

After a full ten seconds of all-out bombardment with every single weapon mounted on those turrets, the first robot ordered, “Cease fire.” The turrets on all three encircling dropships immediately stopped firing and waited to observe the status of their target.

When the smoke soon cleared, Midnight Sparkle was revealed to be completely unharmed, thanks to a magical glowing magenta shield that completely surrounded her.

“Negative,” reported the robot atop dropship 700. “Target remains.”

Midnight Sparkle was now absolutely furious. These robot-piloted dropships had dared to destroy her, so now she was going to unleash even greater devastation upon them. She immediately fired off magic blasts all around her. Many of them either missed completely or just grazed the surrounding dropships, but one final shot managed to take out the left front jet thruster on the bottom of dropship 702.

“Mayday! Mayday! Unit seven-o-two is going down!” alerted one of the pilots on the doomed dropship as it descended and veered to the left. Despite the best efforts of its robot pilots, the dropship fell over sideways and crashed onto the roof of a building, exploding into a huge fireball upon impact.

Slightly panicked by the sudden loss of one dropship, Luna quickly ordered, “Retreat and regroup! We need to restrategize!”

“Affirmative,” acknowledged the robot pilots, and the two remaining dropships quickly broke formation and retreated from Midnight Sparkle’s position, narrowly avoiding more magic blasts along the way.

As Rainbow Dash watched the retreat of the remaining Super Secret Police dropships, she sighed and muttered, “So much for getting help from those guys.”

As the Creative Mark Crusaders’ biplane flew by, Apple Bloom confidently shouted, “Don’t worry, y’all! We can still beat these bad guys!” She swooped the plane down low along a street, allowing Scootaloo to take out a few more drones with the gatling turret.

One of those drones narrowly avoided getting shot at and flew down another street, only to suddenly get snatched out of the air and smashed to pieces by being slammed against the ground, courtesy of Big Mac within a mech built out of the parts of his old pickup truck. “Eeyup!” he stated contently, then turned and began to run up another street.

Flying overhead, Indigo Zap had begun to pursue another drone. As soon as she locked her laser blasters onto it, she chuckled and confidently muttered, “I’ve got you now.”

But before she could fire off those lasers, the drone was suddenly obliterated by series of laser blasts from a completely different direction.

“What the—?!” exclaimed Indigo Zap in shock.

Another small spaceship suddenly flew up and did a barrel roll before leveling off beside Indigo Zap’s spaceship. Piloting that other personal spaceship was a member of Canterlot City’s Reserve LEGO Team, Micro Chips. “You’re not the only one who knows how to build a spaceship!” he quipped playfully, then steered away and flew off in a different direction.

Indigo Zap was momentarily shocked by the intrusion by that tech expert, but then she simply smirked and remarked, “Oh, it’s on!”

As the spaceship pulled away in another direction, it passed by a flying modified ice cream truck being piloted by Lyra and Bon Bon. As their vehicle closed in on another swarm of drones, the two best friends readied themselves for action.

“Want some ice cream?!” asked Lyra tauntingly from the pilot’s seat.

“This one’s on the house!” added Bon Bon as she pulled the lever in front of her seat.

From the two high-pressure nozzles mounted on the wings of the vehicle, liquefied ice cream shot out and coated one of the drones. The drone struggled to stay airborne, but the weight and stickiness of the ice cream proved too much and it dropped out of the sky, landing on the roof of a lesser skyscraper.

Seconds later, Sunny Flare’s mech stomped across the roof of that skyscraper, leaped across the street, and landed on the roof of another skyscraper. She stopped, deployed the cannon mounted on her mech’s right arm, and fired a few shots at some passing drones. One drone tried to sneak up behind her, but without even a single glance back, she snatched it out of the air with her mech’s left arm and tossed it down to the street below.

The fallen drone slammed into the street and managed to remain intact and slightly twitching, only to suddenly get crushed to pieces under the treads of Sour Sweet’s armored vehicle. As she continued driving slowly down the street, she also aimed the turret at every passing drone and blasted them out of the sky.

Further down that street, Sandalwood — another member of the Reserve LEGO Team — was piloting his own small mech. He aimed the missile launcher mounted on his mech’s right arm at a passing drone and cheerfully shouted, “Peace, dudes!” He fired the missile, blowing the drone completely apart on impact. “Or should I say, pieces,” he quipped.

On the other side of the block, Lemon Zest zoomed down another street. As well over a dozen drones suddenly began to swarm around her vehicle, she decided it was time to unleash her ultimate weapon. “Get ready to rock!” she excitedly hollered as she stuck her headphones onto a bust in the seat beside her and flipped a switch. The massive set of subwoofers on the back suddenly started blaring heavy metal rock music at full blast. The pressure wave of such intense noise was so great that all of the surrounding drones were quickly shaken to pieces.

It was right at this moment that two certain citizens by the names of Octavia and DJ Pon-3 flew overhead on their custom-built flying vehicle. Inspired by Lemon Zest’s efforts, DJ Pon-3 quickly rebuilt parts of the rear of the vehicle into a large rotating speaker system. As a swarm of drones closed in on them, she quickly aimed the system at them and unleashed her famous heavy metal dubstep, shattering the drones every time she dropped that bass.

“Good show!” congratulated Octavia from the pilot’s seat. “Your cousin in Lego City would be proud.

Not much further away, Derpy was flying around in a modified version of her personal micro car. With no words and just a silly smile on her face, she rammed her flying car into one of the drones, sending it tumbling off course.

The drone managed to pull itself out of that tumble and reorient itself before it could slam into anything. It then glanced around a bit to determine its location, only to suddenly get blasted to pieces by a missile from Sugarcoat’s attack helicopter.

Since that was the last of four missiles, Sugarcoat hit a button that automatically deployed a set of arms that quickly pulled four more missiles out of the storage compartment and loaded them onto the launching frame. However, just as soon as she finished reloading those missiles, she glanced back at the drone she had just taken out and her eyes widened in shock.

Two more drones had quickly picked up the scattered pieces, swiftly reassembled them into the drone they once formed, and then they and the newly rebuilt drone flew off.

Understanding very well the implications of what she just witnessed, Sugarcoat urgently reported over her headset, “This isn’t working! The drones just keep rebuilding themselves as quickly as we can destroy them! We need to deal with the source of the problem! Somebody needs to take the fight directly to Midnight Sparkle herself!”

“Leave that to us!” Rainbow Dash smugly responded. She steered the big spaceship towards Midnight and increased the throttle. “Alright, mistress of darkness!” she taunted. “Show us what you’re made of!”

As she noticed the rapidly increasing pitch of engine noise, Midnight Sparkle turned around and saw the big blue and grey spaceship flying right towards her! With just a single flap of her raven wings, she ascended just enough for the spaceship pass directly under her. She wasn’t even slightly fazed by the deafening roar of the engines as it passed extremely close by to her.

Inside the spaceship, Applejack glanced back to see that they had narrowly missed Midnight, although she personally felt that the encounter had been way too close for comfort. “Golly!” she exclaimed in shock and disbelief. “You almost made her go splat on the windshield like a lil’ bug!”

“Eh, I was just testing her,” responded Rainbow Dash dismissively. “Now it’s time for the real battle to begin!” She flew the spaceship a little further out before coming around and heading directly towards Midnight Sparkle again. As soon as she was on target, she hit a button that made the main wings extend outward, deploying the big missile launchers mounted within.

Inside the monitoring room, Fluttershy couldn’t help but worriedly mutter, “Oh, I really hope Sunset Shimmer gets back here very soon.”

“Wherever she is, I’m sure she’s doing just fine,” assured Pinkie Pie.

Little did anyone know, Pinkie Pie couldn’t have been any further from the truth…

Author's Note

Yup, this chapter finally reveals the identity of the Informant. I know some of you had already figured out who it was, so I'm wondering how many of you actually guessed incorrectly. How many of you did I successfully trick into believing it was someone else? Anyway, you may have noticed that I decided to give a little backstory explaining why the other Twilight has to wear glasses while Princess Twilight doesn't. By the way, the spaceship that Sunset's friends built with instructions is an actual Lego set that was released for the Lego Movie theme, and is a set that I proudly own (and yes, it's name is literally "Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!"). Another actual Lego Movie set featured in this chapter was the Super Secret Police Dropship (except that one was labeled as 409 of the 10thDV), so now you finally know exactly what special favor Luna had requested from President Business. Also, as of this chapter, I have now made at least one reference to each of the nine main characters of the Lego Movie in this story alone. Let's see if you can find them all.

An Extremely Strange World

Chapter 14
An Extremely Strange World

“Is this thing ever gonna end?!” screamed Sunset Shimmer as she continued to fall through the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness.

Sunset had no idea how long she had been falling through the seemingly bottomless vortex, but it felt like many hours had passed — possibly even a few days, she honestly didn’t know for sure anymore. She knew her friends were busy doing everything they could to hold off Midnight Sparkle, but if she couldn’t find the device that was lost somewhere down here, then their efforts would be all for nothing.

If there was one thing that gave her any comfort, it was that the surrounding scenery was not consistent throughout the entire journey. By now, the swirling dark storm clouds had given way to a wide array of various bright colors, almost as if she was now falling through a giant kaleidoscope. She couldn’t see any recognizable pattern among the colorful bands as they went by, but at least the fact that her surroundings had changed gave her hope that she might not be stuck in here forever.

After a while, something very strange began to occur. She felt herself beginning to slow down, and as she glanced around at the surrounding bands of colorful light, she realized that she was in fact slowing down. She had no idea how that could be happening, and it certainly made her feel quite concerned about what would happen next. When she finally came to a complete stop, it was as if she had reached the crest of a roller coaster, and she suddenly found herself hurtling down an entirely new direction very rapidly.

As she continued down this new path, she was astonished to witness not only more of the colorful bands of light, but also all kinds of sights and images imaginable, and even those beyond her imagination. She could see a dark and spooky castle, a pirate ship sailing through a stormy sea, a space station big enough to resemble a moon, a man in some kind of bat costume, a bearded wizard, a one-eyed computer, something that resembled a blue phone box hurtling through space and time, and even a rather advanced city covering an entire island in the middle of a silvery sea. At one point, she could’ve sworn that she even saw the face of Princess Celestia herself — a face she had not seen in years and had been convinced she would never see again.

In addition to all of that, she could also hear a wide cacophony of various sounds. There was the chirping of songbirds, the intense pounding of a jackhammer, the crying of a newborn baby, the roaring of a lion, the wailing of an emergency vehicle’s siren, and the horrible screeching of something she could best describe as a demon out of Tartarus. She was also able to hear bits and pieces of all kinds of music, everything from a calming classical orchestra to a raging heavy metal rock band and even the futuristic techno beats of something she couldn’t quite describe properly.

But it wasn’t just sights and sounds. She could also feel the soothing touch of a feather, the searing pain of an inferno, and even wonderful pleasure in certain places she hadn’t felt in years. She could also smell the pleasant fragrances of spring flowers, the awful stench of rotting food, and just about every kind of perfume imaginable. She could even taste the sweetness of a sugary treat, the sourness of biting directly into a lemon, and the bitterness of a cup of black coffee.

It was almost as if she was experiencing every single realm of existence all at once.

Sunset suddenly felt herself being yanked down another different direction. Perhaps she had just passed through the hub of all of existence and was now hurtling towards a specific realm. Once again, she was left with nothing but bands of bright colors spiraling around in the surrounding vortex.

But within moments, she suddenly felt her body beginning to stiffen up. Her legs ended up completely straight, her arms became stuck slightly bent at the elbows, her hands stayed stuck open, her back became as straight as a board, her hair solidified into a solid mass, and her neck stiffened to keep her head perfectly upright.

“What the—?! What’s happening to me?!” she screamed as she struggled to move her body around. By this point, her movements had become restricted to just swinging her arms and legs back and forth and rotating her hands and head around. Before long, even these points of mobility solidified. The last part of her body to go was her face being forced against her will into a friendly smile before it finally petrified.

Unable to move any part of her body, there was nothing she could do now but watch helplessly as she tumbled through the seemingly endless vortex. But after some more time had passed, she began to see a possible end to her very strange journey up ahead. The best she could describe it was a world that was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, and she was hurtling straight towards it.

The last thing Sunset Shimmer heard before she suddenly blacked out was the faint clacking noise of a small plastic object hitting a solid floor.

Sunset Shimmer had no idea how long she had been out, but she was certainly very relieved to realize that she was in fact starting to awaken. At first, all she could see was a few brief and blurry flashes of her surroundings as she struggled to fully awaken. After a few tries, she eventually managed to stabilize herself and stayed awake. Her vision remained completely blurry at first, but it eventually adjusted itself so that she could finally see clearly again.

“What…? Where…? Where… am I?”

Sunset took note of her immediate surroundings. She was lying on her side on some kind of vast concrete floor. Not far from her was a white 1x4 plate — quite likely the exact same Lego brick that Rainbow Dash had earlier tossed into the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness. To Sunset, this was a good sign that, whatever happened to Twilight’s device, it had to be close by to where she currently was. Of course, she had absolutely no idea where exactly she had ended up.

“What is this place?”

Aside from the concrete floor, all she could see ahead of her were two very tall and massive square wooden columns, one much further away than the other. She tried to turn her gaze up towards the top of those columns, but found this very simple task to be surprisingly difficult. No matter how much she tried to will her body to move, she couldn’t even so much as twitch one of her limbs. Her entire body had somehow become completely petrified, yet she was still somehow consciously aware of her surroundings. She felt her face was still frozen in that friendly smile, which left her completely unable to speak or even blink.

“Why can’t I move?”

THUD!

Sunset mentally gasped, having felt the ground shake from that heavy impact.

“What was that?!”

With her gaze stuck straight ahead, Sunset was unable to glance around to find the source of that impact. But since her eyes were also stuck open, she was able to keep staring ahead until something eventually passed by. The best she could describe it at that moment was a pair of giant brown legs walking by to the left. A few seconds later, she saw another pair of giant legs — this time purple — walk by to the right. Then she saw two more pairs of giant legs — both of them blue — actually run by in opposite directions.

“Did I end up in some sort of… land of giants?”

Then, from the very edge of her vision, Sunset saw a green pair of giant legs walking directly towards her with apparently no sign of slowing down.

“No! Wait! Don’t—!”

Sunset was suddenly crushed under the white sole of that giant green boot. Remarkably, aside from her arms and legs being slightly pushed into different directions, her body had not deformed at all. As that giant boot lifted off the floor, Sunset was stuck to the bottom of it for a moment before she came loose and clattered onto the floor.

“Ow…”

“Oh! There you are, Sunset Shimmer! I was wondering where you went…”

Sunset mentally groaned in pain, then realized that she had just heard a voice that wasn’t her own.

“Did somebody just call my name?”

Suddenly, Sunset felt a series of soft yet firm appendages wrap around her body and easily lift her up off the floor.

“Whoa! Hey! Put me down! Put me—!”

All of Sunset’s thoughts instantly came to a complete stop when those weird appendages turned her around so that she found herself staring at the face of this giant who had just picked her up. It was a face that was both unfamiliar, and yet… strikingly familiar. This giant was a female with soft skin that was pale yellow in color, long flowing pink hair, big eyes with turquoise irises, a relatively small nose in the middle, round ears on the sides of her head, and a mouth that was currently in the shape of a shy but friendly smile.

“Fluttershy?!”

“Oh! Is she alright, darling?” asked another voice.

“Well… aside from accidentally stepping on her… I think she’s okay,” replied the weird giant Fluttershy as she turned Sunset around in her grasp.

Sunset soon found herself now facing directly towards another one of these strange giants. This one had flawless white skin, long purple hair that ended in a large curl, and eyes with blue irises.

“Rarity?!”

In addition, Sunset was also far enough away that she could see more than just the face on this giant. Like minifigs, these giants stood on two legs and had two arms, but seemed to consist of organic material like flesh and bone, much like ponies in Equestria. But there was also the shape of certain parts that were completely alien to Sunset, such as a narrow waist, wide hips, and two noticeably large lumps on the chest. The giant also seemed to be wearing clothes, like a shirt over the torso, a skirt over the hips and upper legs, and tall boots over the lower legs. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more Sunset realized that these strange giants appeared to be some kind of perfect blend of ponies and minifigs. The only body part she found especially weird was that their “hands” each had five highly flexible appendages.

“Yay! She survived the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness!” cheerfully exclaimed another giant as she suddenly hopped up right in front of Sunset. This giant had pink skin, a large mass of curly magenta hair, and eyes with light blue irises.

“Pinkie Pie?!”

Just to the right of the giant Pinkie Pie, Sunset saw another giant run along the side what appeared to be a table big enough to accommodate these giants. This giant had light blue skin, messy hair that consisted of all six colors of the rainbow, and eyes with magenta irises. This giant also had an excited smile on her face as she carried around what appeared to be a model spaceship. As she then stopped and aimed that model spaceship at something on the table, she flicked something on the side of that model, causing a projectile to shoot forward and knock over that object on the table.

“Ha-ha! Got ‘em!” shouted the blue giant excitedly.

“Rainbow Dash?!”

“Head’s up, y’all! Reinforcements are on the way!” called out the voice of the fifth and final giant in this room as she moved some things around on the table. This giant had light orange skin, blond hair with a cowboy hat on top, and eyes with green irises.

“Applejack?!”

Although Sunset’s sight was still restricted due to her petrified state, the fact that she was still being carried around by the giant Fluttershy allowed her to see more of this room more clearly. She immediately realized that the wooden columns she had seen earlier were actually two of the legs to one of the many tables set up in this room. And nearly all of these tables had a wide range of models of all kinds of buildings and vehicles imaginable.

However, as Sunset looked closely at the specific table that the five giants had gathered around, she made a startling discovery. All of these models were made of Lego bricks! Compared to herself, it was still at the same scale she was familiar with, but compared to these giants, it was small enough to apparently be treated as tabletop models. And even more startling about the models on this particular table was that it was a modern city with buildings and landmarks that she was quite familiar with. It was a representation of Canterlot City!

“I… I don’t believe it!”

As she gazed over the model of her home city, Sunset noticed that everything appeared to be exactly as she suspected was going on in the real Canterlot City at this moment. Midnight Sparkle’s drones were scattered all over the city, and the citizens were operating all kinds of wacky creations to combat them. She could also see the five Shadowbolt agents providing assistance in their own custom creations, while her closest friends were riding inside the spaceship that the giant Rainbow Dash was carrying around.

But what really astonished Sunset was just how these five giants were behaving around this representation of Canterlot City under attack. They appeared to be acting out everything that had to be going on in the real place back in the Lego World; moving models around, speaking all kinds of dialogue for everyone, and even making silly sound effects at times. But even though it was obvious that Canterlot City was in extreme peril, the giants were behaving as if they were simply having fun! They were smiling and laughing as if they were kids playing with their toys.

To Sunset Shimmer, this very strange place she had ended up in was making her start to question the very existence of everything she knew and loved, and it simply terrified her. She glanced around at each of the five giants, each of whom was apparently a counterpart of her best friends in the Lego World, and slowly began to realize that something seemed to be missing in all of this.

“But if all of my friends are here, then where’s—?”

SLAM!

All five giants immediately stopped what they were doing and turned their gaze towards a stairway at one side of the room. A steady thumping came from those wooden steps, indicating that someone was making their way down those stairs into this room.

“Oh dear,” muttered the giant Rarity worriedly.

Sunset watched in awe as a sixth giant slowly made her way down the stairway. This giant was wearing dark blue shoes, black pants, and a large white lab coat. Finally, the giant reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to face everyone in the room. This giant had lavender skin, dark blue hair with a violet and magenta streak down the middle and was tied back in a large bun, and had eyes with violet irises behind a pair of black thick-rimmed glasses. Unlike the more friendly and carefree giants in the room, this giant had her fists tightly clenched, her brow furrowed, and her mouth displayed a very displeased frown.

“Twilight Sparkle?!”

The human Twilight Sparkle sighed in frustration and walked over to the others as she grumbled, “How many times do I have to tell you girls? Stay out of my basement!”

“Oh lighten up, Twilight,” argued Pinkie Pie. “We’re just having fun.”

“Do I need to explain in thorough detail all the reasons why my basement is strictly off-limits?” asked Twilight irritably.

“Okay, we get it already,” replied Rainbow Dash as she rolled her eyes. “You’ve got a whole bunch of expensive lab equipment down here that you don’t want any of us breaking. But why did you move your Lego collection down here?”

“It’s because I was hoping that, with this area being off-limits, you would not be tempted to mess around with it, but it seems that clearly isn’t enough,” responded Twilight. “Look, all of you have got Lego collections of your own at each of your respective homes. There is no reason why you should be constantly messing around with my collection in particular.”

“But none of us have got collections anywhere near as big as yours,” argued Applejack. “Ah mean, you’ve got entire cities down here! Kinda hard for us to resist playin’ with such a big Lego world.”

Twilight glanced around at all of the other girls in the room until her frustrated gaze fell on the minifig Sunset Shimmer still in Fluttershy’s hand.

“Uh oh…”

Twilight suddenly snatched Sunset out of Fluttershy’s hand and looked closely at her for a few seconds. “And these aren’t even officially manufactured minifigures!”

“Ah, yes,” Rarity spoke up. “You see, Twilight, I recently took up a hobby of customizing Lego minfigures. None of them came from your personal collection, I can assure you, but rather are ones that I’ve purchased myself — as well as those graciously gifted to me by our friends. In order to provide us with an authentic playing experience, I customized these minifigures to accurately represent ourselves and everyone we know in real life.” She giggled as she added, “And not to flatter myself, but I must say, I did a rather fabulous job of getting even the tiniest details done so perfectly, one could even mistaken them for being authentic minifigures.”

Rainbow Dash took her Lego minifigure counterpart out of the spaceship she was holding and held it up as she remarked, “What do ya think? Am I awesome or what?!” Everyone turned to her and saw the smirk on her face was a perfect imitation of the expression printed on her minfigure counterpart.

Twilight turned her piercing gaze back down to Sunset Shimmer in her hands and noted, “I don’t recall ever seeing anyone who looked like this.”

“That’s because she’s totally made up,” remarked Pinkie Pie offhandedly. “Her name is Sunset Shimmer! She used to be one of the biggest bad guys, but now she’s one of the greatest good guys!”

“Seems kinda ridiculous if you ask me,” rebuffed Twilight. “I find it hard to believe that anyone could just switch sides so drastically.”

“You don’t know what you’re missin’ out on,” said Applejack. “The rest of us have been havin’ a blast with all the adventures we’ve been sendin’ our Lego selves on. Remember when we were younger an’ used to play My Little Pony?”

“That was back when we were little girls and it was socially acceptable for us to be playing with toy ponies and dolls,” Twilight pointed out. “We’re teenagers now! We need to start taking real world responsibilities seriously.”

“Take it from me, Twilight,” explained Rarity, “as an apprentice at the local fashion boutique, I understand very well the importance of real world responsibilities. But even I have come to realize that it’s perfectly okay to occasionally take some time off and simply have fun with your friends, regardless of how juvenile those activities might be.”

“Besides,” Applejack pointed out, “for someone who always talks about real world responsibilities, you sure must’ve spent an awful lotta time buildin’ this whole Lego world of yours.”

“That’s because this was meant to be a one-and-done deal,” explained Twilight. “Once I’ve built everything exactly the way I intended it to be, I can just set it all aside and appreciate all of the hard work and effort I put into this.” She then furrowed her brow and grumbled, “If only you girls would stop messing it all up every few months.”

“Like I said, we’re just having fun!” said Pinkie Pie. “You should join us! I think you would really like it.”

Rainbow Dash held out the blue and grey Lego spaceship in her hands towards Twilight and grinned as she said, “Here. I’ll even let you fly the spaceship.”

While still holding Sunset in one hand, Twilight grabbed the spaceship with her other hand and looked at it from various angles. The five other girls smiled at this. But then Twilight set down the spaceship on the nearby table and firmly said, “Everybody out.”

The five girls dropped their smiles and mumbled in confusion.

“You heard me!” Twilight spoke up in frustration as she pointed back at the stairs. “Get out of my basement! Go! Move it! Out, out, out! NOW!!”

The five girls looked at each other in confusion, then lowered their heads in sadness and slowly made their way towards the stairs. After they all passed by, Twilight glanced down at Sunset, then shook her head and tossed the minifig aside.

Sunset mentally screamed as she hurled through the air until she tumbled onto a desk in front of one of the many computers along the walls of this large basement. She landed on her side and was able to see both the Canterlot City mockup on the table and the stairway as the other girls made their way up.

Twilight followed right behind her friends and once they were all out of the basement, she slammed the door shut and turned the lock with a faint click, then turned around and made her way back down the stairs.

Twilight walked over to the table with Canterlot City, leaned forward against the edge of the table, and sighed in frustration. “This is gonna take me forever to restore all of this,” she grumbled as she gazed out across the model city with scenes of chaos all over the place. She removed her glasses and rubbed her hand over her eyes.

Eventually, Twilight put her glasses back on as she took a deep breath and firmly stated, “That does it.” She turned away and began walking over to a large set of small drawers along another wall in the basement. “Not only am I gonna fix this mess, but I’m also gonna make sure that everything stays exactly the way I like it.” She opened one of the drawers and pulled out a small tube of superglue. “Permanently.”

Sunset Shimmer mentally gasped in shock.

“Oh no… she’s got superglue!”

Back in the Lego World, Midnight Sparkle watched with increasing fury as all the citizens of Canterlot City continue to keep getting in the way of her attempts to study the magic from Equestria. Her drones were able to keep replenishing their numbers, but it was becoming very obvious that most of their efforts were being spent on holding off the resistance, leaving her with very little resources with which to do any of the research she so desperately wanted to achieve.

“That does it!” screamed Midnight furiously. “Not only am I gonna fix this mess…” She fired a magic blast at the base of the police station, blowing open a hole into the security vault. She then telekinetically grabbed something inside that vault and began pulling it towards her. “…but I’m also gonna make sure that everything stays exactly the way I like it!” The object reached her and she grasped it with both arms. She had just stolen a giant tube of superglue. “Permanently!”

Rainbow Dash continued to fly the spaceship around Midnight and when she saw what the super villain had just stolen, her eyes widened in shock. “Look out!” she shouted over her headset to everyone else in the city. “She’s got superglue!”

Twilight glanced over her model city. With so many things in desperate need of being restored to their proper state, she didn’t know where to start. Eventually, her eyes fell on what appeared to be a red biplane build out of the parts of a firetruck, complete with water cannons on the wings. She sighed in frustration and muttered, “This makes absolutely no sense.” She then picked up the odd creation and began to quickly disassemble it.

A dozen drones quickly swarmed around the firefighting biplane. As two of them pulled out the firefighter pilots, the rest tore apart the vehicle and rapidly reassembled it into the firetruck it used to be. The drones set it down on the street, then Midnight Sparkle swooped in and blasted it with the superglue, solidifying the structure into a permanent state. “Stay that way!” she shouted.

Once she glued the last brick into place, Twilight placed the rebuilt firetruck in front of the fire station and muttered, “One down.” She then glanced over towards the rural district and saw something so out-of-place that she decided to move on to that one next.

On the outskirts of the city, Granny Smith shook her fist at the incoming drones and shouted, “Darn aliens!” She was seated in an air-cannon turret that she had built out of a tractor and immediately began shooting apples at the advancing drones. Although a couple of drones got hit and fell to pieces, the rest of them removed Granny Smith and quickly reassembled the turret into its original condition.

Twilight glued every piece into place as she rebuilt the tractor. Once it was complete, she set in down just outside the farmhouse. “Much better,” she muttered. She turned her gaze back into the city, looked over some more of the weird creations and eventually settled on what appeared to be some kind of flower cart with wings.

The three girls piloting that flying flower cart screamed in terror as the drones pulled them out, with one of them hollering, “The horror! The horror!” As the pilotless vehicle began dropping out of the sky, the drones quickly rebuilt it into the original model and then gently set it down on a street corner. Then Midnight Sparkle swooped in and blasted it with superglue.

“Perfect,” muttered Twilight in satisfaction as she set down the permanently restored flower cart. She glanced across the city in search of what needed to be fixed next, and her gaze soon fell on the spaceship that Rainbow Dash had been playing with earlier. She picked it up and inspected the minifigs that had been placed inside.

“There’s too many drones!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “We can’t hold them off!”

“We’re not giving up!” snapped Rainbow Dash. “We’re gonna do whatever it takes to bring down Midnight Sparkle!”

Their spaceship made yet another close flyby of Midnight, but this time, she refused to ignore them. Using her telekinetic magic powers, she opened the spaceship’s canopy and hatch, and then pulled all five girls out of their seats.

With no one at the controls, the spaceship gradually descended as it flew towards City Park. By the time it reached a certain statue of a horse rearing up, the spaceship was flying dangerously low. It missed a direct impact with the statue, but its wing clipped the statue, breaking it off the pedestal. Just seconds later, the spaceship finally plowed into the ground and came to a complete stop.

Meanwhile, the five LEGO Team girls were held within the magical grip of Midnight Sparkle, hovering directly in front of her. With a vicious snarl, she growled, “You girls have been a thorn in my side for too long!”

“I have no need for these,” muttered Twilight as carried the Lego counterparts of her friends over to the drawers and opened one of them.

From the other side of the room, Sunset Shimmer could do nothing but watch helplessly in horror.

“Twilight! What are you doing?! Stop! Those are my friends! NOOOO!!”

Twilight dropped the five minifigs into the opened drawer.

The five LEGO Team girls were suddenly tossed into a large pit in the ground. As soon as they stood up, they noticed a massive stone slab was now being dragged over the pit. The last thing they saw before they became trapped in total darkness was Midnight Sparkle glaring down at them.

Twilight shut the drawer, then returned to the table and picked up the now empty spaceship. “Now to put this thing back where it belongs. And hopefully find the proper minifigures to go with it,” she mumbled to herself as she carried the model spaceship to one of the many shelves upon which Lego models — all of them built according to the instructions — were sitting on display.

Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer had done nothing but remained perfectly still on the desk where she had landed. The more she had watched the giant Twilight’s actions, the more she hated herself for being stuck in such a useless state. She knew that if she didn’t do something soon, the Lego World as she knew it would be doomed.

“I can’t let her keep doing this. I’ve gotta stop her. I’ve gotta get her attention somehow!”

If she was going to have even the slightest hope of any success, Sunset knew she would have to do the seemingly impossible.

“I need to move.”

Meanwhile, Twilight was looking around as she mumbled to herself, “Now where is Benny? I need to put him back in his spaceship where he belongs.” After a moment, she just shrugged and added, “Oh well. I’m sure I’ll stumble across him while I’m fixing the rest of this.” She then returned to the table with Canterlot City and began searching for the next object in need of correcting.

Clack…

Twilight immediately stopped when she heard that noise. It was very faint, so she wasn’t sure what it was or where it came from. After a few seconds of silence, she just shrugged and resumed her search. Once she caught sight of the armored van in the street, she sighed in frustration and grumbled, “This is just ridiculous. Robbers belong in jail.” She removed the roof of the armored van.

Clack-clack…

Twilight stopped as she heard that noise again. It was still faint, but it was definitive enough that she was sure it came from near one of her computers. Nothing over there was out-of-place and she was certain that all of her equipment was still functioning properly, so she returned to the task at hand. She removed Rocky and Mugsy from the van, put its roof back on, then walked over to the police station and removed the roof of the adjacent jail.

Clack-clack-clack…

Twilight suddenly turned her attention back to the general direction of that noise. Now that she stood in a new position, she could see that the Sunset Shimmer minifigure that she had earlier tossed aside was lying on that desk. She made a mental note to do something with that later, then returned to her task. She placed Rocky and Mugsy into the jail cell, put its roof back on, then began to gaze over the city for the next object to correct.

Clack-clack-clack-clack…

Twilight snapped her attention towards the direction of that noise, but still saw nothing out of the ordinary. By now, she was certain that only a small plastic object could make that kind of faint clattering noise, and the only object over there at the moment that could do that was that Sunset Shimmer minifigure. She knew there was no way that inanimate object could make any noise, so, in frustration at these frequent interruptions, she shouted upstairs, “If this is some kind of prank, this is not funny!” She sighed in frustration and returned to her objective.

Sunset Shimmer was also feeling frustrated. So far, she had only been able to twitch her petrified body around for only a brief second on each attempt. It was enough to catch Twilight’s attention, but certainly not enough to stop her efforts. Sunset knew she would need to do much more.

“Come on…! Gotta… keep… moving!”

After a lot of mental straining, Sunset finally achieved a better result. Although she still couldn’t flex any part of her body, she was able to twitch and jerk around more consistently, keeping her petrified body in constant motion… which also resulted in making much more of that clattering noise.

Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack…

Twilight tried to ignore the clattering, but with how much longer it was lasting, that was simply impossible. She growled in frustration and turned to the source of the noise, but what she saw instantly made her unclench her jaw and widen her eyes. Somehow, that Sunset Shimmer minifigure was moving around all on its own.

She slowly walked over to the desk, not once ever taking her eyes off the minifigure jumping around on the surface. After watching curiously for a few seconds, she slapped her hand down on it, bringing its movements to a sudden stop. She carefully removed her hand and, at first, the minifigure stayed motionless. But after a few seconds, it suddenly started jumping around again.

Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack…

Twilight immediately snatched up the twitching minifigure and quickly felt her hands all over every part of its surface. “No strings attached…” she mumbled. She then pulled open a desk drawer and rummaged through the contents until she pulled out a bar magnet. She tapped both poles of that magnet against every part of the minifigure, and not once did anything stick to it. “No magnets inside…” She put away the magnet, pulled out a small magnifying glass, then removed her glasses and peered through the magnifying glass onto the minifigure. She saw nothing unusual within the legs, removed the legs and saw nothing unusual inside the torso, removed the head and saw nothing unusual inside that. “No microscopic animatronics inside…” She put away the magnifying glass, put her glasses back on, reassembled the components of the minifigure, and held the strange anomaly in the palm of her hand. “What is with this thing?”

The Sunset Shimmer minifigure suddenly started twitching around again, forcing Twilight to yelp as she fumbled around with both hands to avoid dropping it on the floor. She eventually managed to firmly grasp the strange minifigure and stared intently at it. She glanced back at Canterlot City for a moment and then muttered, “That big mess can wait.” She returned her attention to Sunset Shimmer. “This phenomenon demands further research.” She set down the minifigure on its feet on the desk and began to walk away. But then she immediately stopped, turned back to the minifig, held out her hand, and firmly said, “Stay…” When the odd minifigure made no movements for a few seconds, she turned away and began to set up some of her lab equipment.

Sunset Shimmer watched as Twilight flipped switches, pushed buttons, attached wires, tapped on keyboards, and did various other things to set everything up. Although Sunset had spared her home from the wrath of this giant Twilight Sparkle, she now found herself as a test subject, and thus still remained unable to do anything to save the city.

“What have I just gotten myself into?”

After a few minutes of countless hardware and software adjustments, Twilight was finally ready to hook everything up to her test subject. She took a bunch of wires and started wrapping them around Sunset’s arms, legs, torso, and head. She also stuck half of the wire ends between the head and hair piece, ensuring full cranium exposure. As she attached the wires, she muttered, “This specific set-up will allow me to confirm once and for all if there really are any signs of life within this household child’s toy. I have serious doubts that’s the case, but a good scientist never denies any possibility until it has been definitively proven without a doubt that it is absolutely impossible.”

Once the last of the wires had been attached, Twilight set down the minifig on its feet and began quickly typing a series of commands onto multiple computers. After many minutes of painstakingly gathering and processing data, she finally got the definitive results she was looking for. She carefully analyzed the final results and when she realized what she was looking at, her jaw dropped.

“How can that be possible?!” she exclaimed in shock. “It’s saying this thing isn’t just alive, but it also possesses a highly advanced level of intellect, practically human-level sentience!” She picked up the Sunset Shimmer minifigure and stared at it in the face. “But that can’t be possible. This is just a collection of molded ABS plastic parts that were manufactured in Denmark along with millions more just like it. It’s not scientifically possible!” She paused and continued staring at the very strange minifigure. “Isn’t it?”

SLAM!

Twilight immediately turned back towards the stairway and saw Applejack stumble down to the bottom. Applejack turned her gaze up the stairs as she smirked and remarked, “Told ya a good shoulder-ram would do the job.”

“Now you’re wrecking my house?!” shouted Twilight furiously.

As the rest of her friends walked down the stairs, Applejack suddenly turned to Twilight and nervously replied, “Uh, it was Rainbow’s idea.”

“Was not!” Rainbow Dash shot back.

As the rest of the girls reached the bottom of the stairs, Fluttershy was the first to notice that Twilight was seated at a desk with a bunch of the lab equipment powered up and connected to one specific minifig. “Um, Twilight… what are you doing?” asked Fluttershy uneasily.

“Yeah, why are you going all mad scientist on Sunset Shimmer?” added Pinkie Pie.

Twilight sighed and replied, “I know this is going to sound absolutely nuts, but while I was busy trying to undo the mess you girls made to my Lego collection, this particular minifigure was actually jumping around all by itself! There were no strings, no magnets, nothing that could’ve made such a form of trickery possible. I decided to conduct further research to figure out how this could be possible, and I’ve just reached a very startling conclusion. Somehow, this minifigure is alive! Not only that, but it seems to possess a level of intellect equivalent to human beings like us!”

The five girls all stared blankly at Twilight. The awkward silence was eventually broken when Rainbow Dash slowly said, “I think she’s going crazy.”

“Going?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Have you seen her Lego collection? How can you not call that crazy?”

“Well, darling, this is a rather… interesting discovery,” said Rarity as politely as possible. “What do you intend to do next?”

“I think it’s obvious what my follow-up study should involve,” explained Twilight as she started typing more commands onto her computer. “If this tiny little plastic figure really does possess a level of sentience comparable to humans, then it stands to reason that this thing should be intelligent enough to understand speech. By connecting the subject to a voice synthesizer, we should be able to clearly understand what it might be trying to tell us.”

“Can’t argue with that idea,” said Applejack with a shrug. “Ah guess it’s worth a shot.”

As she continued typing, Twilight added, “By the way, you all may recognize this artificial voice as the same one used by a certain wheelchair-bound physicist.” Within a few seconds, Twilight entered the last few commands. “And… there! We are now connected!” She then picked the minifig Sunset Shimmer and said to it, “Try speaking to us.”

Everyone waited patiently for a response. At first, nothing seemed to happen, and as the seconds ticked by, the girls began to doubt they were going to get anything. But then a series of words began to appear on the computer screen, immediately followed by the computerized synthetic voice.

“Let me go,” spoke Sunset Shimmer through the voice synthesizer. “You have to send me back home. I need to help my friends stop Midnight Sparkle from destroying both the Lego World and Equestria.”

The six girls all stared silently at Sunset as their jaws dropped. This customized minifigure of a supposedly completely fictional character had literally just spoken to them! Not only that, but she had also identified specific names that they had used only when acting out their imaginary Lego adventures.

One of these names in particular left Twilight very confused. She turned to her friends and asked, “Midnight Sparkle? Who’s that?”

The others glanced at each other worriedly. “Should we tell her?” asked Fluttershy.

“Tell me what?” asked Twilight in confusion.

Rainbow Dash sighed and then walked over towards Canterlot City. She looked around between the buildings until she eventually found something. She grabbed it and then tossed it over to Twilight.

Twilight caught the object in her hands and then looked closely at it. It was another customized Lego minifigure, but it was far unlike all the others she had seen. This minifig had dark purple skin, a rather revealing outfit, large black wings on the back, and a wild dark hair piece with a horn on the front and some kind of flaming goggles around the eyes. When she noticed this minifig also possessed a symbol of a six-pointed magenta star, all the clues began to add up.

“Why… this looks kind of like… me…” muttered Twilight in shock. Her stare remained straight ahead as she slowly lowered her Lego counterpart. She remained frozen in her seated position for a moment, then she turned to her friends and hesitantly asked, “You really see me as a… bad guy?”

All five of her friends shamefully looked away. None of them could bring themselves to say anything in response, but there was no need to. The very existence of Midnight Sparkle was all Twilight needed to know what her friends really thought of her.

As the awkward silence continued, Twilight looked around at her basement, the one part of her house that she had designated as strictly off-limits to her friends. It was here that she held her entire Lego collection, which was far more impressive than anything her friends had. Yet, she was so obsessed with keeping everything neat and orderly that she had completely denied any access to it, despite her friends’ wishes. The scene of chaos in Canterlot City suddenly made a lot more sense. Her friends just wanted to have fun, but she was denying them that opportunity, so they made a massively defiant act of resistance. And the worst part was that, had it not been for the completely unexpected interference from Sunset Shimmer, Twilight would have absolutely crushed that rebellion with lots of superglue. If she had actually gone through with that, there was no telling what that could have done to her friendship with these girls.

Twilight sighed and glanced down at her Lego counterpart. Her gaze then turned back to Sunset Shimmer, still standing on the desk with a bunch of wires hooked up to her. She glanced back to her Lego counterpart, then returned her gaze to Sunset and slowly asked, “If… if you could… say something… to Midnight Sparkle…” She held up the Midnight Sparkle minifig so that it was now standing face to face with the Sunset Shimmer minifig. “…what would you say?”

Twilight and her friends silently stared at Sunset Shimmer, hoping to hear some kind of response. After many seconds of uneasy silence, Sunset finally responded.

“You don’t have to be the bad guy,” Sunset spoke through the voice synthesizer. “You are a very brilliant individual who is capable of amazing things. But you don’t have to do this alone. As great are you are on your own, you can be an even better person with the help of people who are more than happy to be your friends. Some of the greatest experiences in life can only be achieved when you share it with the best of friends. As long as you always have good friends by your side, anything is possible. Because friendship is magic.”

All six human girls were astonished to hear such an inspiring speech coming from a Lego minifigure. Twilight was so moved by those words that she began to feel tears welling up in her eyes. She removed her glasses, rubbed the tears from her eyes, and then put her glasses back on. She then slowly stood up and turned around to face her friends. Finally, she gave a small smile and held out her arms.

The five other girls smiled back and gathered around Twilight in a group hug. Some of them even awwed in happiness at this reforging of their bond of friendship.

“I’m so sorry, girls,” apologized Twilight. “I had no idea my desire to maintain a perfect collection would threaten our friendship like this.”

“It’s alright, darling,” assured Rarity. “We forgive you.”

“And we promise to help you clean up your collection after we’re done playing with it,” added Rainbow Dash.

“But first, we should probably send Sunset Shimmer back to the Lego World,” Fluttershy pointed out. “It’s what she was asking us to do.”

“Yeah, that’s probably the right thing to do,” agreed Applejack

“Before you send me back,” spoke Sunset through the voice synthesizer, “you need to find and give me the magic-capturing device that Midnight Sparkle used to obtain her dark powers. It should be close to where you first found me.”

“Yes, I supposed we must,” agreed Rarity. She turned to Fluttershy and asked, “Fluttershy, dear, do you recall where you found Sunset Shimmer?”

Fluttershy walked around the table as she replied, “I found her on the floor somewhere around… here.”

“Right at the base of Canterlot Mountain,” Rainbow Dash noted. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Canterlot Mountain? But that’s just a stack of cardboard boxes with a Lego playset on top,” Twilight pointed out.

“We couldn’t exactly build a whole mountain outta Lego bricks, so we had to improvise,” explained Applejack.

“Fair enough,” acknowledged Twilight with a shrug.

While Twilight remained seated at the desk, her friends carefully searched the floor around that table, under that table, and around that stack of cardboard boxes.

A couple of minutes passed before Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted, “Found it!” She then rushed over to Twilight and placed something in Twilight’s hand.

Twilight looked down at the palm of her hand and saw a very small round Lego piece, about the same shape and size as a Lego coin. She also noticed that it was very meticulously detailed for something so very small. No doubt, Rarity had done an extraordinary job with customizing this particular Lego piece.

As Twilight picked up the piece between her thumb and index finger, she remarked, “Wow, this is a really tiny piece.” She then smirked as she turned to Sunset and remarked, “Lucky for you we didn’t lose it.” She then rotated Sunset’s right arm forward and stuck the piece into her hand with a faint click.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had picked up a heavily decorated cardboard tube that was labeled “Magic Portal” and said with a smile, “Great! Now we can send her back! I say we drop her into Canterlot City, where all the action is taking place.”

“Sounds good to me,” agreed Applejack.

Rarity turned to Twilight and asked, “Would you care to do the honors, darling?”

Twilight smiled and replied, “I’d be happy to.” She picked up the Sunset Shimmer minifig and suddenly hesitated for a moment. “So much scientific potential from this one anomaly… but I need to do the right thing,” she muttered. Somewhat reluctantly, she removed all the wires around the minifig, saved all of her results on the computers, and then shut everything off. “No point in just leaving all of this running. Not when I’m about to spend some quality time with my friends.”

Once all of her lab equipment was finally shut off, she carried Sunset Shimmer over to where Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie held up the Magic Portal. Twilight stopped in front of the portal entrance, looked Sunset in the face one last time, and said with a smile, “Good luck, Sunset Shimmer. See you on the other side.”

And with that, the human Twilight Sparkle tossed Sunset Shimmer into the portal.

Sunset tumbled down the cardboard tube, but within a few seconds, everything around her had gradually morphed into the swirling vortex of bright and colorful bands of light that she had previously gone through. To her, this was an excellent sign that she was now on her way back home.

For a while, Sunset’s body remained completely petrified. But after a few minutes of traveling through the portal, that began to change. First, she was able to blink again. Then she was barely able to move her mouth around, no longer stuck in that friendly smile. Her body parts remained completely stiff, but she did slowly regain the ability to swing her arms and legs back and forth and spin her head and hands around. This was good progress, but it was not enough for Sunset Shimmer.

“Come on…” growled Sunset as she struggled to bend her body in ways that would’ve been impossible in that other world. After a few more minutes of falling through the portal, her stiff body parts finally began to loosen up until eventually, she could once again bend her knees, elbows, back, neck, and hands. She flexed every part of her body that she could and smiled. “Now that’s more like it!”

Sunset glanced down at her right hand and was pleased to see that not only was the device still in her grip, but also the string that allowed it to hang from someone’s neck had also reappeared. She quickly placed the device around her neck and said with determination, “Hang on, my friends! I’m coming to save you!” Once the device was now hanging from her neck, she once again felt the sensation of slowing down until she came to a complete stop, then was suddenly flung down a new direction. She held her arms against her sides and dove straight ahead further into the vortex.

Once again, she passed through the space that gave her the sensation of experiencing all of existence at once. But this time, she paid no attention at all to her surroundings. This time, she was focused entirely on returning home, and since she knew this time that her journey would reach a definite end, she just kept her focus straight ahead.

Some more time passed until Sunset suddenly felt herself yanked down a different direction. Last time, she had been terrified when she reached this point and had no idea where she had been going. But this time, she knew she was going home, so there was nothing to be scared of. All she would have to do now was just wait a little longer until she would finally reach the end of her journey.

As she continued down the final leg of her journey, she thought about what she was going to do when she returned to the Lego World. She had successfully retrieved the device and was now on her way back. She wasn’t entirely sure what she would have to do next, but after the extremely strange journey she had just been on, she felt confident that she would find a way to save her friends and defeat Midnight Sparkle.

Sunset didn’t bother keeping track of time, but she knew this part of the journey was the longest. However, her hopes quickly went up as she began to see a bright light up ahead. It was now only a matter of seconds before she finally returned to the Lego World.

In the nighttime sky high above Canterlot City, Sunset Shimmer suddenly emerged from within a sonic boom. She smiled as she gazed all over the city and saw all the landmarks she was very familiar with. Regardless of the battle with Midnight Sparkle that was sure to come, there was no doubt at all about one thing: it was good to be home.

After a few seconds, Sunset’s smile soon fell. Once the good feeling of finally coming home started to wear off, she made an alarming realization. She was falling out of the sky, and she had no wings or parachute to slow her down. Naturally, there was only one word she could say in a situation like this.

“Shoot.”

Author's Note

I bet many of you weren't expecting an epic twist like this. I know I said in the previous stories that I had no intentions of including a "man upstairs", but as I got to this story, I couldn't help but toy with the idea a little. I thought it would be especially interesting if this "real world" was in fact the actual Equestria Girls universe where the group of friends simply imagined all of the adventures they could have if they were Lego minifigures. I honestly don't know what you readers will think of such big move, so I guess I'll find out soon enough.

The Magic of Friendship

Chapter 15
The Magic of Friendship

The five Shadowbolt agents — Sunny Flare, Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, and Sour Sweet — all rode their respective vehicles over to a specific site at the edge of City Park. Once they arrived, they all quickly climbed out of their vehicles and approached the site of a massive stone slab on the ground.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” asked Lemon Zest.

“They told us over the headsets to look for a massive stone slab on the ground at the edge of the park,” replied Sugarcoat. “This one is by far the largest we could find in the entire city, so I’m completely certain we’re at the right location.”

The other Shadowbolts had already started searching around the edge of the massive stone and it wasn’t long until one of them found something right up against it.

“Hey, look! I found a doorway in the ground!” Indigo Zap called out. As the others rushed over to her, she banged on that door three times. A few seconds passed before someone on the other side responded with three more bangs on the door.

“Yup! They’re in there!” noted Lemon Zest with a smile.

“Then let’s bust ‘em outta there!” declared Indigo Zap with determination.

“I’m not so sure if any of our vehicles are up to the task,” Sugarcoat pointed out.

“Then we’ll just have to do a bit of rebuilding,” stated Sunny Flare. She rushed back to her mech and immediately started taking it apart.

The four other Shadowbolts quickly followed Sunny Flare’s example and it wasn’t long until all five of their creations had been completely disassembled. Right away, they all began to reassemble all of those Lego parts into a single large vehicle with wheels on the front and tank treads on the rear. As soon as they had completed that mighty vehicle, Lemon Zest drove it around so that the rear was facing the door in the ground, then Indigo Zap grabbed a few chains and wrapped them between the door handle and the vehicle’s rear axle.

While Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, and Sunny Flare stood back on the sidelines, Sugarcoat stated, “This will either rip off the door, snap the chains, or destroy the axle.”

Sour Sweet switched to her sour face and responded, “We just built ourselves a halftrack! I really don’t think anything’s gonna happen to the axle.”

“I partially agree,” added Sunny Flare. “I’m more concerned about the chain breaking, but we won’t know for sure until we try it out.”

Once Indigo Zap finished attaching the chains, she banged her hand against the side of the massive halftrack a few times and immediately backed off. Lemon Zest stomped on the accelerator and the halftrack began to speed off. As soon as the chains pulled taut, the mighty vehicle didn’t even jerk as the door was suddenly ripped right out of its frame in the ground, flew through the air, and tumbled to the ground and continued to be dragged along until the vehicle stopped.

Sour Sweet switched to her sweet face and remarked, “See? I told you it would work.”

While Indigo Zap removed the chains, Lemon Zest hopped out of the driver’s seat and joined her teammates as they approached the now opened doorway. They all smiled as they watched the five LEGO Team girls — Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy — step outside.

Rainbow Dash smiled and remarked, “Boy, are we glad you girls are now fighting on our side!”

As Indigo Zap tossed the chains aside and joined up with everyone, Sugarcoat immediately folded her arms and stated, “Save the gratitude for later. Midnight Sparkle’s rampage has only gotten worse and unless something remarkable happens very soon, I don’t think we’ll have a remote chance of even surviving this night.”

“I think your wish just got granted,” remarked Pinkie Pie as she stared straight up into the sky. She pointed upwards and excitedly exclaimed, “Look who’s dropping in!”

All ten girls quickly turned their gaze upwards at the dark nighttime sky. It was difficult for them to see anything at first, but as they continued to follow Pinkie’s outstretched arm, they soon noticed someone dropping out of the sky high above. The lights from the entire city provided just enough illumination to reveal that this person had red and yellow hair and had a lot of light blue on her torso.

“It’s Sunset Shimmer!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash excitedly. “She’s back!”

“Remarkable,” muttered Rarity in awe. “She actually fulfilled her promise against impossible odds.”

“Where’s she going?” asked Fluttershy with concern.

“Ah dunno, but we’d better find out,” replied Applejack. “Let’s get a move on, y’all!”

All ten girls immediately climbed into the massive halftrack. Lemon Zest once again took the driver’s seat, while Indigo Zap decided to ride shotgun beside her.

“That way!” shouted Indigo Zap as she pointed straight ahead.

Lemon Zest quickly drove the mighty halftrack ahead, following the direction in which Sunset Shimmer was falling.

Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer found herself in quite a dilemma. She had successfully returned to the Lego World with Twilight’s magic-capturing device in her possession, but now she suddenly found herself falling out of the sky with no way to safely slow down her descent. All that she had worked so hard for to save her home was about to be all for nothing as she couldn’t escape the simple law of gravity.

As she gazed across the city, taking in what would probably be the last thing she would ever see, something suddenly caught her eye. She saw Midnight Sparkle, armed with a giant tube of superglue and spraying it on just about everything around her.

Sunset knew that everything she had done this evening was to stop Midnight Sparkle at any cost, and considering the situation she was now in, she realized there was a way she could still do that. It was far from an ideal solution, but it was the only one she was now left with that offered any hope of success.

Well, if I’m gonna go down… might as well take her with me, Sunset thought grimly. With a look of determination on her face, she began to angle her body to accelerate her descent and aim herself onto a collision course with her opponent.

Meanwhile, Midnight Sparkle had lost all patience as she used the superglue to freeze anyone and anything that dared to get too close to her. “I will have order!” She sprayed something to her left. “I will have perfection!” She sprayed something to her right. “And I will have it forever!” She sprayed something directly ahead. She turned around and what she saw next shocked her so much that she actually dropped the giant tube of superglue. “What the—?!”

Sunset Shimmer was now only seconds away from Midnight Sparkle. Knowing there was no turning back, Sunset held both of her fists out ahead of her as she came in at Midnight almost like a superhero. As the distance between them rapidly closed, Sunset thought about her life and remembered all the great opportunities she had, all the terrible mistakes she made, all of her inspiring efforts to redeem herself, and most importantly, all the wonderful friends she had made. This may not have been how she wanted to go out, but in the end, she had to admit… she had a pretty good run.

POW!

Sunset Shimmer slammed into Midnight Sparkle and both minifigs fell together for a few seconds before they crashed into City Hall. They impacted the side of the building with so much force that countless pieces of it were blown off and scattered all over the street below.

Moments later, the big halftrack carrying the remaining members of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team and Shadowbolt agents arrived at the scene of the impact. As soon as the vehicle came to a stop, all ten girls quickly climbed out onto the street and silently gazed up at the big hole in the side of the building. Along the way here, they had seen Sunset slam into Midnight, and there was no doubt that this was where they both came down. They all just continued to silently stare at the point of impact, not knowing whether or not either of the two had even survived such a devastating crash.

It wasn’t long until they noticed some debris within the impact site start to shift, and then out from the cloud of dust within that hole stepped a slightly dazed Sunset Shimmer. She took another step forward, but suddenly lost her footing and fell out of the building. She then grasped onto the end of a banner — advertising City Hall’s recently completed renovation — and tore it completely in half along its entire length in an effort to slow her descent. When she reached the end of the banner, she then grabbed onto the outstretched top of a streetlight, swung around it a few times, and then let go, did a few rapid backflips, and gently landed on the street right on her feet. As she stood back up, she wobbled a bit to her left, then to her right, and then back to her left until she reached out to the post of that streetlight to hold herself up.

Now that she was finally at a complete stop after her wild ride, Sunset panted heavily for a few seconds. As she gradually caught her breath, she glanced over at the gathered crowd. As she stared at the smiling faces of her friends, she couldn’t help but smile and giggle. She was finally home, alive and well, and immediately had only thing to say to her friends. “I really hope all of you saw that, because I am not doing it again!” she quipped.

Sunset’s five friends, along with the five Shadowbolt agents, all turned to each other and smiled. After everything they had been through in the last few hours, it was a huge relief for all of them to finally be back together again.

Sunset suddenly heard the device hanging from her neck warble to life. She glanced down at it and saw its ring of lights start to revolve around it. She turned her gaze back up to the other girls and saw something truly remarkable. One by one, all five of her friends began to glow with magical energy, each a different color to represent each of them. Equestrian magic that had been stolen from each of them was now suddenly completely restored. This sight made Sunset’s eyes widen and jaw drop. She glanced back down at the device and realized that she had been only partially right. The device really was the key to defeating Midnight Sparkle, but not in the way she had imagined.

The rubble in the impact site suddenly shifted again, and a slightly battered but completely unharmed Midnight Sparkle flew out of the hole in the building. When her gaze fell on Sunset, she smirked and remarked, “Well, Sunset Shimmer, I don’t know where you came from, but I have to admit, you sure do know how to make an entrance.”

Sunset looked up at Midnight and responded, “To be honest, I don’t know where I just came from, either. And personally, I’d rather not talk about it. But I do know one thing is certain.” She removed the device from around her neck and grasped it in her left hand. With more determination in her voice and facial expression, she continued, “This isn’t the way! I know you feel powerful right now, like you can have everything you want! I’ve been where you are, I’ve made the same mistake you’re making! I put on a crown and, just like you, I was overwhelmed by the magic it contained! I thought it could get me everything I wanted!”

“Oh, you’re wrong,” interrupted Midnight with a crazy grin. “Unlike you, I can have everything I want!”

“No, you can’t,” argued Sunset. “Even with all the magic and power, you’ll still be alone!”

“Good!” Midnight shot back. “I always work alone! If that’s the price for unlimited power, then I’ll gladly accept it!”

“Then I’ll just have to prove you wrong!” declared Sunset as she held up the device. “True magic comes from…” She opened the device and, one by one, began listing the Elements of Harmony.

“Honesty!”

The orange magic surrounding Applejack began to rise up and then quickly flow towards the device.

“Loyalty!”

The blue magic surrounding Rainbow Dash began to rise up and then quickly flow towards the device.

“Laughter!”

The pink magic surrounding Pinkie Pie began to rise up and then quickly flow towards the device.

“Generosity!”

The purple magic surrounding Rarity began to rise up and then quickly flow towards the device.

“Kindness!”

The yellow magic surrounding Fluttershy began to rise up and then quickly flow towards the device.

As all that magic flowed willingly into the device, it began to lift Sunset off the ground. Her confidence never faltered as she continued, “I understand you, Twilight, and I want to show you the most important magic of all!” She then slammed the device shut and threw it onto the ground.

With the destruction of that device, the magic contained within was released in another glowing sphere of energy. As that magical energy expanded to engulf Sunset, she willingly embraced it and began another magical transformation of her own. This one was unlike the one that gave rise to Midnight, and it was definitely nothing like the very first one she had experienced. This was not some painfully twisting dark magic that was flowing into her, but rather the warm and welcoming embrace of true harmony.

The magical transformation lasted only seconds, and when the glowing sphere of magical energy faded, her altered form was revealed to everyone. She now wore pale pink over her torso, hands, and a skirt around her upper legs with a long tail-like extension at the back. She also had orange over her lower legs, and her red and yellow sun symbol on her feet, upper arms, and near the neck on the front of her torso. She also now had a broad wingspan of golden glowing energy attached to her back. Her skin tone and hair color had remained unchanged, but her hair now stood up on end, she had a red band across her eyes, and she had a long horn made of brilliant golden energy on her forehead.

With her magical transformation complete, Sunset Shimmer opened her eyes and finished, “The Magic of Friendship!”

Down on the ground, all of Sunset’s friends smiled at the sight of her new magical form. The same could also be said for the five Shadowbolt agents, along with the slowly growing crowd of citizens that were beginning to gather at the scene. Midnight Sparkle, on the other hand, did not share the same enthusiasm. In fact, she actually expressed fear at the sudden arrival of one who could actually match her level of power.

“You may call me Daydream Shimmer,” declared the transformed Sunset in a calm and relaxed voice, “and I am here to undo all the damage you have done.” Her magical horn began to glow more brightly, and then she spread her arms out, unleashing two beams of magical energy in opposite directions, quickly closing up numerous dimensional rifts throughout the city. She repeated the process to close the rest of those rifts across the city, then aimed both arms towards the base of Canterlot Mountain and released one more magical beam, sealing up the rifts that had been left open in the underground base.

Midnight Sparkle was infuriated by this. Without any hesitation, she telepathically called in all of her mechanical drones and ordered each and every one of them to swarm in and attack Daydream.

Daydream Shimmer saw the incoming drones, so she raised both arms up parallel to her magical horn as it glowed brightly again. Once her magic was fully charged up, she thrust her arms outward, unleashing a golden shockwave that quickly spread across the entire city. As that shockwave passed through each of the drones, they jerked around and sparked with overloaded electricity, then they suddenly stopped and simply dropped out of the sky. All across the city, countless drones crashed to the ground, and the citizens cheered victoriously.

Midnight Sparkle furiously roared out in frustration and shouted, “You’ve just ruined hours worth of hard work!”

“No research project could be worth the level of devastation you intend to unleash upon both this world and Equestria,” argued Daydream Shimmer.

“This isn’t just about the science!” Midnight shot back. “I now have the power to rebuild this world in any way I want, and I intend to do just that.”

“You cannot remake the world in your image, Twilight,” argued Daydream. “No one can! Every individual brings their own unique contribution to the world, and if you cannot tolerate those differences, then you don’t deserve the right to rule over any of them.”

“Enough of your nonsense!” snapped Midnight. “I’m done with taking orders! And I refuse to let anyone stop me from studying or building anything I want!” Her horn began to glow brightly as she charged up a magical attack. “Maybe after I’m through with you, I’ll dissect your remains, just to find out what makes you so special.” She then unleashed a magical blast directly at Daydream Shimmer.

Daydream quickly conjured up a magical shield to block the attack. She then dispersed the shield and fired a magic blast of her own at Midnight.

Midnight easily dodged the attack and quickly fired back. The two magically enhanced minifigs continued to battle in the sky over Canterlot City. They fired quick bursts at each other, blocked and dodged attacks, and occasionally even came to physical blows against each other.

Down on the city streets, everyone was cheering for Daydream Shimmer. It wasn’t just Sunset’s friends, but also the Shadowbolt agents and all the countless citizens. They certainly didn’t have nearly the kind of power needed to take on Midnight Sparkle, so all they could really do was just stand back and watch the one-on-one battle between good and evil.

As Daydream blocked another magical blast, Midnight furiously shouted, “Why won’t you fall?!”

“Because, unlike you, I have a lot that is worth fighting for,” answered Daydream. “You are weak when you stand alone. My strength comes from the friends whom I have sworn to protect under any circumstances. The only way you can ever match my power is to embrace true friendship.”

“How many times do I have to tell you?!” snapped Midnight as she conjured up yet another attack. “I WORK ALONE!!” She unleashed a very powerful magical blast, but Daydream deflected it and moved aside.

The battle raged on for many more minutes. Each time it seemed like one had an opening, the other quickly closed it off. As they kept firing magic blasts at each other, some of them would occasionally strike something on the ground. No innocent civilians had gotten seriously hurt, but it was becoming clear that this battle would not result in a quick and easy finish for either side.

“They appear to be evenly matched,” Sugarcoat noted. “This battle could go on for quite some time.”

A stray magic blast suddenly struck the massive halftrack that had been parked not far from where the group of friends had been watching, causing it to explode into a huge fireball and sending pieces of it scattering across the street.

“To say nothing of the inevitable collateral damage,” added Sugarcoat.

“We need to help Daydream defeat Midnight before they seriously hurt someone,” said Fluttershy with concern.

“But how?” asked Indigo Zap skeptically. “They’re blasting each other with super-powerful magic! I don’t know about you, but I’m not getting in the middle of that!”

“Agreed,” replied Rarity. “But perhaps a diversion could be more feasible.”

“Good thinkin’, Rarity!” responded Applejack. “If we can distract Midnight, it might give Daydream the upper hand she needs!”

“Any ideas?” asked Lemon Zest.

“Whatever it is, we’d better do it really soon!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she pointed up at the ongoing battle.

Midnight Sparkle and Daydream Shimmer ceased their attacks and stared firmly at each other as they hovered over the city. As Midnight began to build up her most powerful attack yet, she shouted, “One way or another, this ends right here, right now!” She then unleashed a constant beam of magical energy directly at Daydream.

Daydream quickly responded with her own constant beam of magical energy fired directly at Midnight. Their attacks met in the middle and pushed against each other. The meeting point between their attacks remained at a stalemate for a moment, but then Midnight put more force into her attack, pushing back against her opponent’s. As Daydream now struggled to hold off the approaching blast, Midnight laughed triumphantly.

Everyone watching the battle now looked on worriedly. Their one hope of salvation was now only moments away from total defeat, and none of them had any idea what they would if the unthinkable were to happen.

“Twilight! Stop! This isn’t who you are!”

Midnight Sparkle glanced over to her right at the sound of that familiar voice. Standing atop the Octan Building, with a certain pair of glasses in his hand, was the young boy Spike. The fear and worry in his eyes was hard to miss, and as Midnight gazed into them, her own eyes suddenly flashed back to the regular violet color they had once been.

“Spike?” whispered Midnight.

Midnight had spoken very softly, but Daydream was just barely able to notice it. Realizing her opponent was distracted, she immediately put all the force she could into her attack, pushing the meeting point between their attacks away from her and directly towards Midnight.

Midnight’s eyes quickly flashed back to glowing blue as she suddenly realized what was happening. She tried to force back Daydream’s attack, but it was already too late. “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” she screamed as she was rapidly engulfed by the massive wave of magical energy.

The next thing Midnight Sparkle knew, she was alone in a white void. The magical flames around her eyes had vanished and her eyes had reverted back to the nonmagical violet color. She nervously looked around and suddenly flinched as she saw the slowly approaching form of Daydream Shimmer.

Daydream showed genuine concern as she slowly hovered closer to Midnight. She reached her arm forward and calmly said, “Take my hand, Twilight. Let me show you there’s another way… just like someone once did for me.”

Midnight hesitated at first. She had just been completely defeated and had been expecting her opponent to finish her off. Yet, Daydream expressed no malice at all and was actually offering her hand in friendship. She wondered why Daydream could be so forgiving after everything that had happened, but this suddenly got her thinking about just how awful the things she had done really were. She soon began to feel very remorseful for her actions, and as tears began to form in her eyes, she slowly reached her arm out.

As Midnight and Daydream clasped hands, a spark of golden magic emerged from where they met and flowed up Midnight’s arm. When that spark reached her head, it took away the glowing magical horn and wiped away her tears. As the warming glow of this magic surrounded her, she closed her eyes and actually smiled.

Finally, the surrounding white void vanished and the two girls found themselves standing in the middle of a scorched patch on the street. In addition, they had both reverted back to their original forms, albeit with slightly disheveled hair. Twilight’s hair was also hanging down loosely and she lacked her glasses.

As Twilight opened her eyes, she pulled her hand away from Sunset’s and her eyes began to tear up again. “I’m… I’m so sorry…” she mumbled sadly as she shamefully looked away. “I… I didn’t mean for any of this to happen…”

“I know,” assured Sunset with a smile. “And going by my own experiences, they’ll forgive you.” She then reached both hands forward and gently grasped both of Twilight’s hands.

Twilight slowly turned her gaze back to Sunset and smiled in response. After everything that had happened to her, it was nice to finally have someone really care for her.

It wasn’t long until the two former enemies noticed the surrounding crowd, particularly the five LEGO Team members and five Shadowbolt agents they were both very familiar with.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m sure glad that’s over with,” remarked Rainbow Dash.

“Indeed,” agreed Rarity. “After everything we all went through this week, I am most certainly looking forward to a return to normalcy.”

“I doubt that’ll be the case for some of us,” Sugarcoat pointed out. “Either way, I think we can agree that the worst is over.”

“You said it,” agreed Applejack. She turned to Sunset and added, “Good work gettin’ that device back. We never could’ve done this without ya.”

“I still can’t believe you actually had to dive right into the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness just to get it back,” remarked Pinkie Pie.

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock as she glanced back at Sunset. “You actually went into the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness?” she asked incredulously. “And came back alive?!”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head and sheepishly replied, “Not exactly the smartest thing I’ve ever done.” As she returned to attention to Twilight, she smiled and added, “But at least everything turned out for the better because of it.”

“I’ve been trying to study that anomaly for years!” exclaimed Twilight in astonishment. She suddenly grinned as she grasped Sunset’s shoulders and excitedly asked, “Tell me! What did you see on the other side?!”

Sunset smiled as she gently pushed away Twilight’s hands and answered, “Trust me, you don’t wanna know.” She then frowned as she turned her gaze down and muttered, “I’m probably gonna need a lot of therapy after what I saw over there…”

Before Twilight could ask any further, she and the other girls began to hear some huffing and panting. They all turned to the source of the noise and saw Spike running down the street towards them while carrying a pair of glasses in his hand. When he stopped near them, he was so out of breath that he immediately bent over forward and continued panting. He continued huffing as he held up the glasses and mumbled between each heavy breath, “So… many… stairs…” Finally, he passed out and fell forward onto the street.

While Fluttershy knelt down to check on Spike, Sunset picked up the glasses in his hand and smiled as she held them out to Twilight and said, “I believe these belong to you.”

“Oh, thanks,” replied Twilight as she took the glasses and put them back on. She blinked a few times as her eyesight adjusted, then sighed and sadly muttered, “All that magic and power, and it still couldn’t repair my eyesight. I guess that’s one scar I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life.”

“Yeah, Spike told us about that laser beam incident,” said Sunset. “Quite a shame how that could’ve been avoided…”

“Yeah, I know…” muttered Twilight in agreement. She then smiled and said, “But I guess it can now serve as a reminder for something better. A reminder of the potential consequences when you refuse to accept any help, especially when that assistance can be of great benefit.”

Sunset looked at Twilight with a knowing smirk and slyly asked, “So what you’re meaning to say is…?”

Twilight glanced away and sheepishly replied, “I guess working alone has kinda lost its appeal to me.”

Sunset sighed and playfully remarked, “You have no idea how much I’ve been hoping you would eventually say something like that.”

Twilight turned her gaze down and shamefully added, “I just can’t believe things had to come to this before I finally realized it.”

“Don’t take it too personally,” assured Sunny Flare as she stepped forward. “I and the other agents here all had… unpleasant quirks in our attitudes. But when we were forced to work alongside with Sunset’s team, our behavior actually improved quite a bit. In a way, you could say that saving the Lego World has benefited all of us.”

“My only regret is that we saved the world in these dorky outfits,” grumbled Lemon Zest as she gestured to the formal Shadowbolts uniform that she and the others agents — including Twilight — were still wearing.

“No one says you have to keep it,” stated Sugarcoat. “After tonight’s events, I seriously doubt any of us will be working for Cinch ever again.”

“That reminds me,” Pinkie Pie suddenly spoke up. “Whatever happened to Miss Cinch anyway?”

“Duh! She got blown to pieces when she tried to escape!” replied Rainbow Dash. “We all saw it happen.”

“No, that was only the vehicle she tried to escape in,” countered Twilight. “I designed it to ensure the occupant’s survival under any circumstances, so she’s probably wandering around somewhere in this city.”

“Either way, there’s not much we can do about her right now, so let’s not worry too much,” assured Sunset. “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”

Somewhere in Canterlot City, Cinch slowly began to regain consciousness. She had certainly not expected that evil Twilight to specifically target her as she made her escape. Regardless, as she took note of her surroundings, she was pleased to see that she was still alive and relatively unscathed within the mostly intact cockpit of that escape craft. Beyond the canopy, it was too dark for her to see exactly where she had landed, but at the moment, that mattered little to her.

Cinch noticed that the canopy had apparently come loose upon impact, so she pushed it aside before she stood up and stepped out of what little remained of the escape craft. She then brushed off any dust on her clothes and straightened them out. Despite her rough landing and unknown location, she intended to maintain her sense of professionalism.

“Well, well, look who just landed behind bars.”

Cinch immediately turned to that taunting voice and saw that it had come from Canterlot City’s Chief of Police, Flash Sentry. Even more startling, he was standing on the other side of a wall of prison bars with a smug look on his face. As her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, Cinch quickly glanced around and found nothing else but solid walls and a big hole in the ceiling. She had crash-landed right into a jail cell!

“Finish rebuilding that roof, boys!” Flash called out towards the hole in the ceiling. “On the double! Stat!”

Cinch glanced up and saw some other police officers standing on the roof who were busy reassembling the bricks of this particular room. As soon as Flash had barked that order, the officers quickly picked up the pace.

Click! Clack! Click! Clack! Click! Click! Clack! Clack! Click! Clack!

“By the way, Cinch,” Flash spoke up, drawing the older woman’s attention. “I recently called Mister Kjeld Playwell over in Lego City and he says he’ll be in town tomorrow morning. I have a feeling he wants to have a little chat with you.” Flash gave another smug grin, then turned away and began to walk off out of the jailhouse. “Goodnight!”

Cinch immediately rushed over to the bars and grasped them as she furiously called out,” You cannot do this to me! I am the headmistress of a worldwide organization! I deserve better treatment than this!”

“Says you, sissy!” snapped one of the two occupants in the only other jail cell in the building.

Cinch glanced ahead through a second set of prison bars and saw the two notoriously incompetent crooks, Rocky and Mugsy.

“Yeah, sissy!” agreed Mugsy. “Who cares?!”

“I care!” Cinch shot back. “I have very high standards and demand nothing less than the upmost respect of everyone around me.”

“Well ya ain’t gonna find it here, sissy!” argued Rocky. “This is prison! There ain’t no such thing as respect in these places!”

“What I am stating is that I most certainly don’t belong in an abhorrent place like this,” argued Cinch.

“With an attitude like that, I’d say you do,” quipped Mugsy.

“I don’t know why I’m even wasting my time with you,” grumbled Cinch. “You two are by far the most dim-witted minifigs in all of the Lego World. I have no reason why I should associate myself with the likes of you.”

“Hey!” shouted one of the officers on the roof. “Lights out, crooks!” He then threw the final brick into place, completely cutting off Cinch from the outside world.

Author's Note

As with my previous stories, I made the final battle last a bit longer than what we saw in the Equestria Girls movies. In this case, not only is Midnight Sparkle around for more than one chapter, but also a few other details and bits of dialogue are added in. This particular chapter isn't quite as long as most of the others in this story, but I guess that's just the way things turn out sometimes. Just one more chapter and then the epilogue left to go before this story is complete.

A New Friend

Chapter 16
A New Friend

The next morning, over a dozen minifigs had gathered outside Canterlot City’s police station near a Super Secret Police dropship that was parked in the street. This group consisted of the six LEGO Team members of Sunset Shimmer’s team, the six Shadowbolt agents of Twilight Sparkle’s team, along with Spike the young assistant, the Playwell sisters Celestia and Luna, and their uncle Kjeld visiting once again from Lego City.

There was a police officer standing guard outside the front door of the police station. When he heard a couple of quick knocks, he glanced back through the door’s window, then opened the door. Out the door walked Cinch — her wrists handcuffed behind her back and her gaze downward in displeasure — with police chief Flash Sentry pushing her ahead from behind her back. They walked out onto the street and stopped near the parked dropship as its rear door lowered open into a ramp.

Kjeld, followed by the rest of the gathered group, walked around to the rear of the dropship and stood in front of Cinch, who then turned her bitter gaze up to him. “Abacus Cinch,” said Kjeld with mild contempt. “It sure has been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Indeed, Mister Playwell,” responded Cinch with just as much contempt. “The last time we met personally, you had fired me and many others in a fit of rage.”

“I will concede that firing the old Board of Directors like that was certainly not one of my proudest moments,” admitted Kjeld. He then spoke more firmly as he continued, “But it is also true that the Lego World ultimately benefited from the aftermath of that event. Do you know why? It is because I admitted to myself almost right away that I had made a terrible mistake, and most importantly, I was willing to move on past that mistake and take a different approach to solving the real problems this world faced.” He glared at Cinch as he added, “And that is a true leadership quality that you clearly seem to lack. You refuse to acknowledge your mistakes, you double down on your twisted beliefs, and you don’t seem to care at all about who you end up running over in the process. Most people in this world would consider those qualities to be that of an evil tyrant, and I absolutely refuse to allow a threat like that to persist.”

“And to think you actually once had a fondness for me,” quipped Cinch.

“That was a very long time ago,” confessed Kjeld. He continued more firmly, “And in hindsight, I must concede that my father was right about you. You really have turned out to be nothing but trouble. A control freak who would never realize her efforts would only continue to make things even worse until everything ultimately came crashing down in a moment of absolute devastation for everyone involved. And it seems last night’s incident with Twilight Sparkle clearly marked that moment of your inevitable downfall.”

“And what makes you so certain of that?” asked Cinch skeptically.

“Do we need to spell it out for you?” Sugarcoat spoke up. “You manipulated Twilight into releasing all the stolen magic and turning into a power-crazed magical creature that tried to rip the world apart in a futile hope that it would somehow make you achieve your sick goal of obtaining world domination.”

Everyone silently stared at Sugarcoat for a moment, then Pinkie Pie suddenly remarked, “Wow… That’s a lot to take in when you say it all at once.”

Sour Sweet had her sweet face exposed as she sadly said, “Actually, we’re all to blame for pushing Twilight into such madness, and we’re all very sorry for what we have done.” Her fellow Shadowbolt agents and even the LEGO Team members all sadly nodded in agreement. She suddenly spun her head around to her sour face and grumbled, “Although most of the blame should go to Cinch, and I don’t see her showing any remorse.”

“And why should I?” asked Cinch indignantly. “I have done nothing wrong.”

“Have you been swimming through a certain river in Pharaoh’s Kingdom?!” snapped Kjeld. He immediately took a deep breath and more calmly but still firmly continued, “You are absolutely delusional. It’s time for you to face the facts. You’ve led an organization that has constantly threatened the safety of the Lego World, you foolishly tried to utilize forces that are way beyond your control, you chose to flee from danger when your agents needed you most, and the fact that you were Midnight Sparkle’s very first target proves just how much of a monster you truly are. But above all else, you’ve got a dozen witnesses — half of whom are among your own best agents — who would testify against you in a court of law.” He stared Cinch directly in the eyes as he finished, “Face it, Abacus. Your evil quest for vengeance has reached its end. You lose.”

Cinch glanced around at the rest of the gathered group and saw all of them were either smirking or grinning smugly at her. The looks on their faces left no doubt about their confidence in her final defeat. She found this absolutely appalling. When she turned back to Kjeld, she still refused to acknowledge her fall from grace. Instead, she simply took a deep breath and indignantly muttered, “This isn’t over.”

Flash Sentry suddenly pushed Cinch forward and as they began to walk ahead, he grumbled, “Yeah, yeah, that’s what they all say.” He guided Cinch up the ramp into the back of the dropship and then shoved her into the glowing red cage inside. As Cinch turned back to the outside and Flash stepped off the ramp, the cage’s door swung down closed, then the ramp swung up and closed the dropship’s rear doorway.

Kjeld sighed in frustration and grumbled, “You have no idea how much I wished to smack Miss Cinch in the face.”

“Uncle Kjeld,” Luna spoke up. “Before I return to my Lunar Headquarters, I wish to ride this dropship to LEGO Maximum Security Prison.” She suddenly smiled nervously and quickly added, “Uh, a-as an escort to ensure the prisoner arrives as intended.”

Kjeld gestured to the dropship and replied, “You may proceed.”

“Yes!” shouted Luna as she jumped in excitement. She quickly noticed all the confused looks she suddenly got, so she immediately composed herself and more calmly said, “I-I mean, very well, then.” She turned away and quickly approached the dropship. As she hopped in through the open side of the dropship, she cheerfully exclaimed, “Robots! Prepare for takeoff!”

The side panel of the dropship — labeled as 700 of the 6thDV — slid down to close the opening, then the four jet thrusters on the bottom ignited. As the thrusters roared to life, the dropship lifted off the ground. Once it was far enough off the ground, the thrusters rotated forward and the Super Secret Police dropship flew off towards its destination.

As the dropship flew off, Celestia couldn’t help but giggle and remark, “It seems my sister is quite excited to finally have partial control over the Super Secret Police.” She glanced over at Kjeld and quipped, “Perhaps even more than you were to receive that rocket chair.”

Kjeld crossed his arms and rolled his eyes as he sighed and muttered, “You and the rest of our family are never going to let me live that down, aren’t you?”

“Don’t blame me,” remarked Sunset in mild amusement. “I had no idea a rocket chair would be exactly the kind of gift you wanted.”

Sunset and the rest of her team giggled in amusement, soon joined by Celestia and even the Shadowbolt agents. Kjeld couldn’t help but smile in amusement and unfold his arms.

As the laughter died down, Sunny Flare spoke up next in a more somber tone. “All jokes aside, now that Miss Cinch will be spending the rest of her life in prison, where will that leave the Shadowbolts? What will become of us and the other agents?”

Kjeld clasped his hands behind his back as he turned to Sunny Flare and the other Shadowbolt agents and replied, “With the arrest of your leader, I believe it’s best that I declare the underground organization of the Shadowbolts to be completely disbanded. But most importantly, I think we can all agree that the last thing we want is another Cinch to try to take over the Lego World in a fit of perceived vengeance, so to avoid the kind of circumstances that could make that possible, I would like to make an offer. As of right now, all Shadowbolt agents who step forward and confess not only their status as agents but also all of the illegal activities they had committed during their services… shall be granted a full pardon.”

Right away, all six of the Shadowbolt agents in the group looked to each other in stunned disbelief. “Seriously?!” asked Indigo Zap.

“Absolutely,” confirmed Kjeld with a nod. “You will be given a clean slate. No one will ever have to know that any of you were once Shadowbolt agents or what terrible things you may have done — that information shall forever remain completely confidential. My hope is that by giving you all a second chance to completely rebuild your lives, none of you will be tempted to cause any further trouble. You will be free to pursue whatever dreams and desires you may have — so long as it’s legal, of course.”

The Shadowbolts all smiled at each other. “That sounds like a wonderful offer!” remarked Sour Sweet’s sweet face.

“Awesome!” shouted Lemon Zest in agreement.

“What do we have to do to earn this second chance?” asked Sugarcoat.

“Just create a written confessional stating that you were once a Shadowbolt agent and list all of the criminal and illegal activities you had committed during your service,” explained Kjeld. “As soon as I receive the statement, your official record will be wiped clean and you’ll be free to create a new life for yourself. Be sure to spread word of my offer to all the other Shadowbolt agents throughout the Lego World as soon as you can. Thanks to the complete list of agents that young Spike here was kind enough to give me, I’ll know exactly who to expect these statements from.”

“Just doing what I can to help out,” remarked Spike confidently.

Twilight turned to Kjeld and asked with uncertainty, “Are you sure this offer will work as you expect?”

“If Sunset Shimmer could turn her life around, then I am confident the same can happen for most — if not all — Shadowbolt agents,” replied Kjeld. As he finished that statement, he turned to Sunset and smiled.

Sunset smiled back and nodded in agreement. She was actually quite flattered that she had set an example for all of the now former Shadowbolt agents to follow. In fact, she even felt a little jealous that they would be granted their second chance right away rather than having to earn it like she did, but it was really no big deal to her.

Kjeld turned his attention back to Twilight and asked, “Miss Sparkle, would it be okay if you and I took a little walk? There are a few things I wish to discuss.”

Twilight stared at Kjeld and nervously replied, “Uh… I guess?”

“Is it okay if I tag along?” asked Spike.

“I don’t see why not,” replied Kjeld. “As Twilight’s personal assistant, this will be of just as much concern to you, as well.” He then turned away and gestured for them to follow as he began walking. “Come along, then.”

Twilight and Spike glanced at each other before following Kjeld down the sidewalk and around the corner.

“That reminds me…” Celestia spoke up. She pulled out a certain book and handed it over to Sunset. “Now that you have no new missions to go on, I believe I should return this to you.”

“Oh, thanks,” said Sunset as she took back her magic journal. “By the way, I was in City Park earlier this morning to check on the interdimensional portal to Equestria. The statue on top has been destroyed, but the portal itself — as far as I can tell — now seems to be completely restored.”

“That’s good,” responded Celestia with a smile and a nod. “It seems that when you purged Twilight of all that stolen magic, everything and everyone that had Equestrian magic was completely restored to their original condition.”

“You said it!” remarked Pinkie Pie cheerfully. “You have no idea how much I missed being a Master Builder.”

“Hey, Sunset,” Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Let me know when you’ve rebuilt that flying convertible of yours, ‘cause I’d still like to take it for a spin.”

Sunset smiled and rolled her eyes as she remarked, “Why am I not surprised to hear that from you?”

As the other girls giggled at that remark, Celestia turned around and began to walk away.

Meanwhile, Kjeld continued walking down the sidewalk around the block beside Twilight and Spike. When he glanced over at Twilight and saw her sad expression, he said, “You seem troubled, Miss Sparkle.”

Twilight sighed and replied, “I am, Mister Playwell. For more than one reason, in fact.”

“Then feel free to speak your mind,” assured Kjeld. “I cannot help you if I don’t know what troubles you.”

Twilight sighed again. After a brief pause, she began, “When Sunset Shimmer was defeated after she was corrupted by dark magic, she was immediately sent to prison. Why have I not been given the same treatment?”

“There are quite a number of reasons for that, Twilight,” replied Kjeld. “Miss Shimmer had been nothing but trouble for the previous five years, so it was completely logical at the time that she should face the consequences of her countless crimes. But when she provided key assistance in defeating the Dazzlings, I knew that she had atoned for her past misdeeds, so that’s why I granted her a full pardon. Your Shadowbolt teammates did well to protect this city last night, and when it was all over, you immediately regretted your actions. Cinch, on the other hand, refused to even acknowledge her crimes, so that’s why she will be sent to prison and the rest of you will be granted the second chance you all deserve.”

“I guess that makes sense,” muttered Twilight.

“Not to mention,” continued Kjeld, “unlike most of the other agents, you have living relatives who have been very worried about you ever since your disappearance. Your parents, your brother, and your sister-in-law have all been looking forward to the day that you would return home safely, and I can most certainly provide that as soon as possible.”

“I’m not going back to the Castle Region,” stated Twilight without any hesitation.

Kjeld immediately stopped walking, forcing Twilight and Spike to also stop. Kjeld turned to Twilight in shock and asked, “Why not?”

Twilight sighed again and hesitantly explained, “The only reason I joined the Shadowbolts… was because I was dissatisfied with the Castle Region. I felt that it was way too restrictive, and that I would never reach my full potential if I stayed there. The Shadowbolts offered me a way out and I immediately took it without a second thought. If you try to send me back there… I’m worried I might end up going down the same dark path all over again.”

“I see…” responded Kjeld with a solemn nod. He looked back up at her and asked, “Then what would you suggest I do for you, instead?”

“Well…” began Twilight as she started looking around at the surrounding buildings with a small smile on her face. “I have grown rather fond of City Regions over the years, particularly this city right here. Not to mention, it also happens to be home to some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. After all that time I’ve spent alone, I would love to be able to get to know these people and possibly even be friends with them. I don’t suppose…?”

“You wish to take up residence in this city?” asked Kjeld.

“Could you really let me do that?” asked Twilight with hope.

“Very rarely does any minifig wish to move to an entirely different region… but yes, I can make that arrangement,” replied Kjeld. “I will need to speak with Celestia and Princess Cadance, plus we will all need to fill out some paperwork, but if this is what you really want, then I will be more than happy to provide it.”

“Thank you so much!” exclaimed Twilight cheerfully as she immediately embraced Kjeld in a big hug. As soon as she realized what she just did, she immediately backed off and giggled nervously and said, “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“Relax, I’m no Cinch by any means,” assured Kjeld jokingly. “I’m not opposed to hugs, if that makes you feel better.”

“Oh,” said Twilight in mild embarrassment. “Well, in that case…” She then hugged Kjeld again, this time making sure to be more gentle.

Kjeld simply patted Twilight’s back with one hand while Spike simply watched with a smile. As Kjeld glanced over down the street, he saw Celestia walking by, so he calmly called out to her, “Celestia, over here.” When his niece turned to him, he smiled and said, “I believe I have some good news for you.”

Meanwhile, the six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team now had their attention on the five former Shadowbolt agents.

“Well then,” began Rarity contently. “Now that the five of you are no longer serving under Miss Cinch’s ruthless authority, what do you girls plan on doing next?”

“First of all, we obviously need to grab our stuff out of that old base,” replied Indigo Zap. “We already agreed to let Twilight pick up all of her belongings first before we take whatever else is left behind.”

“I really hope we all get to become the bestest of friends!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly. “With a group of friends now twice as large, we’re sure to have six times as much fun! We can visit the theme park, go shopping at the mall, play video games, hang out at the pizzeria, read books at the library, and most importantly of all, throw a bunch of parties!”

“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think we’re quite ready for all of that just yet,” responded Lemon Zest.

“Indeed,” agreed Sunny Flare. “We have decided that it would be better if we start our friendship efforts between just the five of us.”

“Keep in mind, we barely even knew each other only a week ago,” Sugarcoat pointed out. “We need to see if we can get along with everyone in our group before we can even try to befriend anyone else.”

“Totally understandable,” acknowledged Rainbow Dash with a smile.

“Yeah, no point in divin’ head-first into somethin’ ya know nothin’ about,” agreed Applejack.

“And let’s not forget that many of us joined the Shadowbolts to get away from our troubled lives for various reasons,” Lemon Zest pointed out.

“If we wish to rebuild our lives,” added Sunny Flare, “then we will need to rely on people we can trust, and in light of recent events, I’m fairly confident that we’ve now reached a point where we can begin to truly believe in each other.”

“We clearly still have a long way to go,” stated Sour Sweet’s sweet face, “but I’m sure things will only continue to get better for us.”

“In that case, my friends and I shall wish you all the best of luck in your efforts to improve yourselves,” said Rarity.

“It sure was nice to work with all of you while it lasted,” remarked Sunny Flare. “I am sure that each of us will look forward to the day that we may meet each other again.”

“Who knows? One day, we might even join the LEGO Team,” added Indigo Zap.

“But for now,” finished Sunny Flare with optimism, “we’ve got a long road ahead of us, and we need to get started.”

The five former Shadowbolt agents then began to walk down the sidewalk along a different street. Everyone knew the future for them was uncertain, but they were also confident that life for them would soon improve. Working together in last night’s battle had provided them a taste of the benefits of getting along with each other, so there was no telling just how much better their lives would eventually become.

As they continued walking, Lemon Zest put on her headphones and started a song at random. As soon as she heard the tune start, she immediately exclaimed excitedly, “Oh my gosh, I love this song!” She then began to enthusiastically sing along to the lyrics. “Everything is awesome!”

Sour Sweet spun her head around to expose her sour face and grumbled, “Oh great, she’s listening to that song, isn’t she?”

“If by ‘that song’ you mean ‘Everything is Awesome’, then yes,” Sugarcoat flatly replied.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy noticed the magic journal in Sunset’s hands, so she asked, “Any word yet from Princess Twilight?”

Sunset Shimmer opened her magic journal to the page where she had made her last entry. She flipped through the next few pages, but found all of them to be blank. “No, still nothing,” she replied. She then smiled as she closed the book and explained, “But I think I may have figured out how Equestrian magic works in this world. We don’t just pony up when we get creative, but also when we’re showing the truest part of ourselves. I guess I was so busy waiting for someone else to give me the answers that I gave up looking for them myself. I’m sure there will be more magical problems that pop up here in the Lego World, but let’s be honest, Princess Twilight has her own problems to worry about in Equestria. We can’t expect her to always be around to help us.”

“But maybe I can be?”

The six LEGO Team girls turned around and saw their world’s Twilight Sparkle arrive with a hesitant smile on her face. Standing beside her was her trusty assistant Spike, as well as Celestia Playwell.

Celestia placed her hand on Twilight’s shoulder and announced, “Girls, I’d like to officially introduce you to your newest teammate: Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World, who has also decided to take up residence right here in Canterlot City.”

“I’m not sure how much help I could be,” said Twilight. “But I’d like to try. If you would all give me a chance.”

As Celestia stepped back to allow the team to gather around their new member and friend, she said, “I’m sure I can count on you girls to help her feel at home.”

“You sure can,” assured Sunset as she gave Twilight a hug. The rest of her friends quickly followed, with Pinkie Pie being the last to eagerly join the group hug.

It had certainly been a long and difficult struggle, but the group of friends were thrilled to finally have their world’s Twilight Sparkle join them as their newest friend. As for Twilight, not only was she sure to bring a significant contribution to the team, but she was also pleased to finally know what it felt like to be welcomed with open arms into a group of true friends. Now it was her turn to discover just how much better life could be with friendship.

Author's Note

Since it's currently unknown whether or not any of the Crystal Prep students will be appearing again in a future Equestria Girls movie, I decided to leave the fate of their Lego counterparts here rather open-ended, but at least I allowed them to leave on a rather positive note. Anyway, as with my previous stories, expect to see the epilogue in one week instead of two, and then this story will be complete.

Epilogue

Epilogue

On the other side of the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness, the human Twilight Sparkle and her friends had just finished playing out the latest adventure of their Lego World counterparts. As promised, Twilight’s friends were now helping her clean up her Lego collection and put everything back where they belonged. Twilight herself had decided remove all of the superglue she had applied to some of the models, though she still insisted that they be reassembled the way she wanted them. Regardless of their different building preferences, all six girls were just glad they could spend time together with something they could all appreciate.

Fluttershy has decided to place their six Lego counterparts, along with Sunset Shimmer, on a picnic setup in the middle of the park, right in front of the statue that represented the so-called gateway to Equestria. It was a rather nice way to show an end to the adventure and a return to everyday life for the minifigs who lived in the Lego World.

After putting away all of her glue-removal supplies, Twilight took a look at that little picnic scene and smiled. “I’m glad to see everything worked out well for everyone,” she remarked. She then turned to her friends and sadly added, “But I’m still very sorry for not sharing my Lego collection with all of you.”

“It’s okay, Twilight,” assured Fluttershy. “We forgive you.”

“And if you ever wanna see our Lego selves go on another series of wacky adventures,” added Pinkie Pie cheerfully, “we’d be more than happy to join in on the fun!”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” responded Twilight. “For now, I think these minifigures deserve some time to rest and relax. Especially Sunset Shimmer.” Twilight focused her attention onto the Sunset Shimmer minifigure in the picnic scene and let out a sigh. “I still can’t believe she was somehow able to make contact with us.”

“It is rather remarkable, isn’t it?” stated Rarity. “And to think that isn’t even the original Sunset Shimmer minifigure we had initially started out with. You see, Twilight, I was forced to give her a completely redesigned body after someone left her standing on the windowsill all summer.” She narrowed her gaze at Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, how was I supposed to know that would happen?” Rainbow Dash sharply replied. “I’ve seen posters get faded over time, but I didn’t think that could happen to some Lego pieces.”

“At least you agreed to keep Sunset’s head an’ hair,” said Applejack to Rarity. “It just wouldn’t have been Sunset Shimmer anymore if we had replaced the whole thing.”

“Of course, Applejack,” responded Rarity with a smile. “I agree that imagining Sunset wanting a change in wardrobe was an excellent excuse for me to replace her severely faded original appearance. Though it was quite a shame that I had to leave her hair piece as it was.”

“Yeah, I was wondering about whether or not that faded hair color was intentional or not,” remarked Twilight. As her gaze then drifted over to the Lego Twilight Sparkle, she added, “I guess this is the first time this group of friends got to have Twilight Sparkle join them as a friend, right?”

“Not exactly,” replied Rainbow Dash. “This is the first time the Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World is joining them. The last few times, they were joined by the Twilight Sparkle from Equestria.”

“Equestria?” asked Twilight in slight confusion. “Are you referring to the magical land of our old My Little Pony stories?”

“Exactly!” said Pinkie Pie with enthusiasm. “You see, the base of that statue in the park holds a magical interdimensional portal between the Lego World and Equestria, and any pony coming through from Equestria transforms into a Lego minifig. Sunset Shimmer is actually from Equestria, but she turned bad and went through the portal to become powerful, so Equestria’s Twilight came over to the Lego World, defeated Sunset Shimmer and turned her into a good guy thanks to some help from those other girls, and then returned home to her pony friends in Equestria.”

“Interesting…” mumbled Twilight as she looked down at the statue that — imaginatively, of course — housed this portal between two seemingly imaginary worlds. She looked up at her friends and asked, “Do you have a custom minifigure for this other Twilight?”

“Sure do,” replied Applejack as she walked over to the numerous small drawers against one of the basement walls. She opened one particular drawer, took out a Lego minifigure, shut the drawer, then walked over to Twilight and placed the minifigure in her hand.

Twilight held up the minifigure and took a close look at it from all sides. The skin tone, hair color, and eyes were identical to the other Twilight minifigure, but there were also a few key differences. Not only was this Twilight wearing a different outfit, but she also had her hair hanging loosely down, and she wasn’t wearing any glasses. “Huh, no glasses,” muttered Twilight. “Lucky her.”

“She is the alicorn princess from Equestria, after all,” reminded Rarity. “And if I recall correctly, she certainly never needed to wear glasses of any sort.”

“Just blame it on magic,” said Rainbow Dash dismissively. “Or you could go with Pinkie’s idea and say that Lego Twilight suffered from a ‘laser beam incident’.”

Twilight continued to stare at the Lego minifig of Princess Twilight for a moment. As she then glanced around at her impressive Lego collection and especially at Canterlot City on the table in the middle of the room, she said, “You know, girls… I’ve been thinking of something.”

“Like what?” asked Applejack.

“It has to do with how Sunset Shimmer was able to contact us,” explained Twilight. “By making her travel through some other magical portal, her life force was somehow actually transferred to our world, and when we sent her back, it was gone and her minifigure here simply went back to normal.”

“Yeah, that was pretty freaky, wasn’t it?” remarked Pinkie Pie.

“Absolutely,” agreed Twilight. “We had actually made contact with life from another universe entirely. And yet, only the six of us will ever know for a fact that it really happened. Sure, I saved the data from my scientific study of that phenomenon, but I seriously doubt anyone in the scientific community will ever believe any of us.”

“I suppose it is for the best,” stated Rarity. “I look forward as much as anyone else to the day we discover extraterrestrial life, but I would prefer to not get involved in such a thing. I am perfectly content with our humble lifestyle with the occasional imaginary adventures in Equestria and the Lego World.”

“But they’re not just imaginary,” Twilight pointed out. “Sunset Shimmer’s brief contact with us proved that a universe created entirely from our own imaginations really exists out there. By extension, that could also include Equestria, too. Don’t you see what this means? There really are alternate universes out there, and in some of them, we are somehow able to pull all the strings.”

“I guess that makes sense,” muttered Fluttershy, feeling a little unnerved to realize that she and her friends might have so much power over certain universes that could actually be real.

“So here’s what I’m thinking…” Twilight waved her free hand around Canterlot City as she said, “If we have absolute total control over this universe…” She looked at the Princess Twilight minifig in her hand and grinned. She then turned to her friends and excitedly finished, “Then let’s throw in some other universes!”

All five of Twilight friends froze and stared at her with blank expressions. “Wait, what?” asked Rainbow Dash in confusion.

Without a word, Twilight immediately placed the Princess Twilight minifig in the park, right between the interdimensional portal and the picnic scene.

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the region of Centerlot City in the Lego World, a certain group of close friends were enjoying a picnic in the park. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Sunset Shimmer, and their new friend Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World relaxed as they began to help themselves to some snacks and idly chat amongst themselves about various subjects. They had set up their picnic in City Park between the now statueless pedestal that housed the portal to Equestria and the crash site of the big blue and grey spaceship that was still partially embedded in the ground.

As Sunset Shimmer unwrapped a sandwich, she remarked, “I have to say, girls, things sure do have an interesting way of working out.”

Sunset was just about to take a bite when there was suddenly a brief flash and whoosh from the pedestal. All seven girls turned towards it and saw that Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria had just returned to the Lego World.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner!” Princess Twilight hastily explained. “I didn’t get your messages until just now because I was caught in this time travel loop and, honestly, it was the strangest thing that’s ever happened to me!” She giggled a little as she finished speaking, but once she took the time to actually notice her surroundings, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

Standing directly ahead of Princess Twilight Sparkle was another Twilight Sparkle. All around them, the rest of their friends just sat still, their shocked stares occasionally shifting back and forth between the two Twilights. The only sound any of them made was Pinkie Pie slurping from her juice box.

Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World was completely speechless. She knew from her extensive observations that there really was another Twilight Sparkle from an alternate universe. It was one thing to be aware of that, but it was another matter entirely to literally meet this other Twilight face to face. To say that this moment was very awkward would have been the ultimate understatement. Unable to come up with anything to say, she hesitantly smiled and waved at the other Twilight.

Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria blinked twice, then pointed at the other Twilight and weakly smiled and added, “Make that the second strangest.”

Author's Note

Once again, after eight months of work, I'm finally finished with another LEGO Equestria Girls story. As you can tell from the total word count, this one ended up quite a bit longer than the other two, despite having one less chapter than those other two stories. As much as I enjoy writing this series of stories, I don't know for sure if I'll continue to have enough time to write them at the rate that I'm used to. I'm still undecided on whether or not to write one more sequel, this time based on the upcoming Legend of Everfree movie. I won't deny that I've already come up with some ideas, but as with the previous cases, nothing will be certain until after I've seen the next Equestria Girls movie. After I watch it when it comes out in the next month or two, I'll state my final decision in a blog post. For now, I'm just very glad that I can mark this story as complete.

Prologue

LEGO Equestria Girls 3

Prologue

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the region of Canterlot City in the Lego World, a certain group of close friends were enjoying a picnic in the park. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and their new friend Sunset Shimmer relaxed as they helped themselves to some snacks and idly chatted amongst themselves about minor subjects from their everyday lives. They had set up their picnic in City Park between the central path and a statue of a horse rearing on its hind legs. These girls knew that this seemingly ordinary statue was special because it was here that the interdimensional portal to Equestria was located.

By the time the group of friends were finishing up and preparing to pack up, the late afternoon sun was nearing the horizon and causing the clear sky to change color from light blue to brilliant orange.

Sunset let out a content sigh and remarked, “I have to say, girls, it sure is nice to finally be able to just have a good time with all of you without having to worry about saving the world.”

“Most certainly indeed,” agreed Rarity as she checked herself in a handheld mirror. “As much of an honor it is to be part of the LEGO Team, I would much rather spend most of my days living the life of an ordinary citizen.”

“I’m really glad we haven’t been called away on any missions since we defeated the sirens a few months ago,” added Fluttershy as she helped Applejack fold the blanket and put it away in the basket.

Once everyone had finished packing up, Pinkie Pie asked, “So where to next?”

“We’re headin’ over to Applejack’s place for band practice,” reminded Rainbow Dash. “Celestia and Kjeld will be in town tomorrow, and since our meeting with them will include playing a few songs, we might as well get some last-minute practice done while we still can.” She waved for her friends to follow as she headed for the nearby path and excitedly added, “C’mon! Let’s go!”

The six minifigs walked together back onto the main path. But while most of them headed down that path, Sunset held back at the nearest bench and gazed back at the statue/portal.

Applejack soon noticed that Sunset was no longer walking with them, so she stopped and turned back to her as she asked, “You comin’ Sunset?”

Sunset glanced back at her friends and smiled as she replied, “I’ll catch up in a bit.”

As the other girls continued down the path, Sunset sat down on the bench that faced the statue. She opened her magic journal to the first blank page, pulled out a pen, and began writing.

Dear Princess Twilight,

How’s life treating you in Equestria? Any cool new magic spells? It’s been relatively quiet here in the Lego World since we defeated the sirens. We still pony up when we get creative or play music, which Rainbow Dash just loves to show off. But I still can’t grasp what it’s all about. I would love to hear what you think about it when you get a sec.

Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.

As Sunset’s attention was focused on her book, she failed to notice someone emerge from behind some bushes near the statue. It was a mysterious person who was wearing a standard astronaut suit. As this stranger began to carefully approach the statue, they pulled out some kind of handheld scanner. The mystery astronaut slowly walked around all sides of the statue while aiming the scanner in all directions.

When the stranger came around to the front side of the statue, the scanner began to detect some very strong readings. The mysterious astronaut slowly turned around and quickly determined the strongest readings were coming from the front side of the statue’s pedestal. Curious, the astronaut reached a hand up to touch the surface. Even though it felt solid, it appeared to ripple around their hand like the surface of a pond while also giving off a faint glow of light.

Sunset was in the middle of reading through the message she had just written when she noticed a slight glow. She glanced up and saw that stranger in an astronaut suit placing a hand on the portal while aiming some unknown device at it. Concerned, she immediately called out, “Hey! What are you doing?!”

The mysterious astronaut quickly spun around and faced Sunset. Although the stranger had not intended to aim the scanner at this girl, they did notice that it was still displaying similarly strong readings. Despite this unexpected discovery, the astronaut knew that, now that someone had spotted them, it was time to leave, so they immediately turned and fled for the nearest way out of the park.

“Wait! Stop!” Sunset called out as she quickly stood up and began chasing after that strange astronaut while carrying her book. The golden visor on that astronaut’s helmet had prevented her from seeing this person’s face, so she had no clue at all who she was chasing.

As soon as they left the park, the stranger just continued across the street without any hesitation. Sunset attempted to do the same, but was forced to stop on the sidewalk as a car passed by. She quickly glanced around to make sure there were no other oncoming vehicles before she resumed the chase.

Sunset made it across the street just in time to watch the stranger head into an alleyway. But when she arrived at that alleyway just a few seconds later, it was completely deserted, despite the fact that there seemed to be absolutely no other way out of this lane. The mysterious stranger in an astronaut suit had somehow completely disappeared without a trace.

Sunset narrowed her eyes and rubbed her chin as she muttered, “Who was that?”

In an unknown location, the mysterious astronaut was now suddenly in a large enclosed room with no one else around. Now that this mystery person was in a safe and secure place, she removed her helmet and set it down on a small table nearby before letting out a sigh of relief. Her now-exposed head had lavender skin, had a hair piece that was tied back in a large bun and was colored dark blue with a violet and magenta streak down the middle, and had a pair of black thick-rimmed glasses around her violet eyes.

She was Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World.

Twilight approached a row of doors on one side of the room and went into the room past one of them. She reemerged a moment later, now changed out of her astronaut suit and instead wearing a white lab coat with a light blue shirt underneath. She then went across the room and went through the only doorway on that side, leading her into a hallway.

Twilight walked past half a dozen doors until she arrived at the one at the very end. She opened that door into a room and flicked on the light switch. On one side of this room were some computers, monitoring equipment, and data-gathering machines of all kinds. On the other side was a large board on the wall that displayed various notes, pictures of strange sightings, and a map of Canterlot City with City Park circled in red.

Twilight walked over to the desk underneath this board and pulled out a more highly detailed map of City Park. She highlighted the exact site she had just been investigating, then drew a large question mark next to it before posting that map to the board.

With her latest findings now accounted for, Twilight set her scanner down on the desk and gathered up some tools. Now that she knew what she was looking for, it was time to upgrade her scanning device. She worked long into the night, spending many hours to dismantle her old scanner and rewire all of its components into something smaller and much more efficient. The casing she used for her new device was — as far as Lego pieces go — about the size of a coin, and could open and close like a clamshell. She also made sure to test out every component as she added them in to ensure that every part was working properly.

Finally, her work was completed. She closed her new scanning device and switched it on. The center displayed a wavering magenta star, while a series of magenta lights appeared to revolve along the circumference of the device. Twilight had a wide smile on her face as she observed this final test of her latest invention.

She was ready to start gathering some real data, and nothing was going to hold her back.

Author's Note

I really hope that I've improved my writing to avoid the mistakes I made at the start of my previous story, last year. Please don't hesitate to point out any issues to me right away so I can make corrections as soon as possible. Other than that, I hope everyone will enjoy this story.

The Shadowbolt Agents

Chapter 3
The Shadowbolt Agents

The following morning, Sunset Shimmer and her friends had gathered in Canterlot City’s LEGO Headquarters, located at the top of a tall mountain just outside the main city. They all stood in the middle of the briefing section of the main room, where the wall facing the city below consisted entirely of large windows. Against another wall of this massive room was a platform about six bricks above the floor and held a large console of various switches and buttons, above which was a massive display screen. At this moment, the Playwell sisters, Celestia and Luna, stood on the platform and gazed down at the gathered team of six friends.

Everyone was looking at Sunset Shimmer with looks of shock and confusion on their faces. Sunset had just explained to them everything that had happened the previous night, from the loss of the interdimensional portal to Equestria, to the unexplainable loss of her Master Builder talents, and, of course, the shocking discovery of Twilight Sparkle being that mystery astronaut and her escape though a vanishing doorway.

“Are you really sure that was Twilight?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Sunset sighed sadly and replied, “Even though she was wearing glasses and had her hair piece in a different shape, everything else about her, as far as I could see, was exactly just like Twilight.”

“But how can that be possible?” asked Rarity.

“I think a better answer to Rainbow’s question is both yes and no,” stated Luna.

As the team of friends turned their attention to Luna, Fluttershy asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“What I mean is that it likely was Twilight Sparkle, but not the one we are all familiar with,” explained Luna. “For those of you who may not recall — or simply weren’t there at the time — back when you had just saved the Wonderbolts Lunar Headquarters from Lightning Dust and I assigned you your next mission in the Castle Region, I had mentioned that one of the rulers of that region, Prince Shining Armor, had a sister who had been missing for many years. Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria later revealed to us that she almost immediately realized that this ‘missing sister’ had to be our world’s Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight chose to take on a false identity while in the Castle Region to avoid any confusion, but it became unnecessary on her second visit once word had gotten out that she was from an alternate world and was not the missing Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World.”

Celestia stepped forward and added, “But it seems that, as of last night, our world’s Twilight Sparkle might finally have been found.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” asked Pinkie Pie with a smile. “I mean, she’s been missing for years and years and now we finally found her so we should all be very excited about it. Shouldn’t we?” She glanced around at everyone, only to notice no one else had a smile on their faces.

“I fear this particular discovery may not be worthy of celebration,” stated Luna as she turned to the console and tapped a few buttons. Up on the display screen, a few images came up that showed fleeting glimpses of someone wearing an astronaut suit in various places, from multiple City Regions to the Old West Region to the Pirate Region and even the secret flying city of Cloudsdale.

As these images came up one by one, Luna continued, “As Rarity had suggested yesterday, I have compiled all reported sightings of an unidentified individual in an astronaut suit and the pattern I’ve discovered is quite startling, to say the least. If this stranger really was our world’s Twilight Sparkle all along…” The final image came up, which was a photo of the six friends together in a cheerful pose with the astronaut’s head far away in the background, noticeable only due to a red circle around it that had been added to the image. “… then it seems she has been watching you girls for quite some time.”

Silence fell across the entire team. All six friends could hardly believe that someone seemingly so similar to one of their best friends had apparently been stalking them for a long time. And that only led to a whole new range of questions.

“But why us?” asked Applejack. “Why would she be so interested in followin’ us?”

“And more importantly, what has she been up to this whole time?” asked Sunset. Her tone steadily grew louder and more aggressive as she continued, “What did she do to remove the interdimensional portal? Why has she been so desperate to keep her identity hidden? And just where did she go?!”

Sunset suddenly stopped once she saw all the concerned looks everyone was giving her. She quickly relaxed and let out a sigh before she more calmly said, “I’m sorry. I just get so frustrated when I find myself with a lot of questions and hardly any answers. I’m still not even sure if this Twilight had anything to do with me suddenly losing all of my Master Builder talents.”

“Then perhaps we should get to the bottom of this mystery as soon as possible,” suggested Celestia.

“Sounds good to me,” said Rainbow Dash with a smile. “Where do we start?”

“I would recommend that you go to the Castle Region and speak with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor,” replied Luna. “If there’s anyone in the Lego World who would be more willing than anyone else to help you out on such a case, it’s them. Chances are that you’ll find them at Princess Cadance’s residence, the Crystal Castle.”

“And how shall we make the journey there?” asked Rarity. “Another charter flight?”

“Not anymore!”

At that cheerful boyish voice, the team quickly turned back to see a certain familiar face from the Engineering Department had been passing by on a small forklift, which he had just stopped.

With a cheerful grin, Rusty Wrench gestured upwards and explained, “I’ve finally finished rebuilding that spaceship you girls used on your first mission. Even better, I decided to add in a few upgrades, such as an Ion-Burst Relativity Jump Drive to permit instantaneous travel to any location. The one I've installed isn't rated for intergalactic travel, but I’m pretty sure you won’t need to go anywhere that far anytime soon.”

As Rusty spoke, everyone gazed up at the newly rebuilt spaceship docked close to the high ceiling of the main room. For the five girls who had been on the original team, it looked just like they had remembered it. And with the promise of some nice improvements, they couldn’t be happier to finally use it again.

“In that case, I agree it would be good to start your investigation by speaking with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor,” said Celestia, drawing the team’s attention while Rusty continued away on his forklift. “Luna and I shall send a notice to them right away so they’ll know to expect you soon.”

“Thank you,” said Sunset with a nod.

“In the meantime,” Luna spoke up as she tapped a few more buttons on the console, “we shall still take Kjeld’s warning about increased Shadowbolt activity seriously, so while you girls are away, I shall call upon the reserve team to keep an eye out here in Canterlot City.”

The group glanced up at the display screen as it now showed portraits of the six members of Canterlot City’s reserve LEGO Team: Flash Sentry, Micro Chips, Sandalwood, Lyra Heartstrings, Bon Bon, and Derpy.

That last one made Rainbow Dash raise an eyebrow and ask, “How did she end up on the team?”

As Celestia turned to Luna with an equally curious look, the younger Playwell sister simply replied, “Let’s just say she has some… special talents.”

“Regardless,” stated Rarity, “it is assuring that our home city will be in good hands in our absence.”

“Agreed,” said Sunset. “Oh! And before I forget…” Sunset pulled out her magic journal and tossed it up to Celestia. Once that book was in the hands of the Playwell sisters, Sunset explained, “If Princess Twilight ever replies, then I want you to write her a message, letting her know what’s been going on and if she can offer any advice. With the interdimensional portal gone, that book may now be our only hope of maintaining any contact with her.”

Celestia nodded and said, “Consider it done.”

“Great!” said Rainbow Dash enthusiastically. “Now let’s get going! We need to figure out what our world’s Twilight is up to.”

After everyone voiced their agreement, Celestia and Luna emailed their notice to Princess Cadance, while Sunset and her friends headed for the elevator that would take them up to their newly rebuilt spaceship.

As soon as everyone was in the elevator, Pinkie Pie suddenly asked, “Hey, Sunset, you’re from Equestria too, right? If there’s another Twilight Sparkle from this world, then shouldn’t there also be another Sunset Shimmer from this world, too?”

As the elevator started going up, Sunset replied, “To be honest, that’s actually a very good question. Ever since I found out this world has its own Celestia, I decided to start searching for where the other me might be. Of course, back then, the old me had nefarious plans on how to take advantage of that, such as identity theft. But somehow, I was never able to find anything. Even to this day, I still can’t find any evidence that there ever was a minifig in the Lego World named Sunset Shimmer. At least, not before I first set foot in this world.”

“Oh my,” said Fluttershy in a surprised tone as the elevator reached the top walkway. “Any idea why that might be?”

As everyone proceeded along the walkway towards the spaceship, Sunset simply shrugged and replied, “Well, I’ve since come to accept the possibility that not everyone is going to have counterparts between these two worlds. I certainly don’t recall ever hearing about a pony in Equestria named Johnny Thunder, for example.”

The team passed through the spaceship’s airlock and once it was closed, they then got up onto the upper deck and entered the control room at the front. The seating arrangement was now back to the original three rows of two with a single pilot’s seat at the front. Fluttershy sat alone in the back row, Rarity and Pinkie Pie seated themselves in the middle row, and Sunset Shimmer and Applejack took the front row, leaving Rainbow Dash — the self-proclaimed “team pilot” — to take the pilot’s seat.

As Rainbow Dash powered up the spaceship, she couldn’t help but chuckle and remark, “Y’know, even though this was our team’s very first spaceship, this is actually the first time I’ll get to fly it. Princess Twilight was the one who flew it, only because she insisted on following the User’s Manual.”

As everyone attached their seatbelts, the large retractable door atop the far wall of the main room opened up. Once the spaceship was fully powered up into hover mode, the four arms holding up the spaceship detached and pulled away.

“But I like to pilot vehicles like a true Master Builder,” continued Rainbow Dash with a smirk. “Why follow the instructions?” And with that, Rainbow pushed the flight controls forward, causing the spaceship to launch out of the massive building. As the spaceship flew over Canterlot City, Rainbow tapped some buttons on the control panel as she announced, “Okay, setting coordinates for the Crystal Castle…” Once the small display screen confirmed she had input the correct destination, she announced, “And now to engage the… um…”

“Ion-Burst Relativity Jump Drive?” reminded Sunset.

“Yeah! That thing!” finished Rainbow Dash, before pressing the large green button.

To the outside observer, the spaceship stretched forward for a brief fraction of a second before suddenly vanishing with a faint boom.

Back at her secret base, Twilight Sparkle sat at the desk in her research lab while wearing her favorite white lab coat over a blue shirt. The new device she had been carrying during the previous night’s field expedition was now resting on the desk while she held a scanning gadget over it. The gadget emitted a blue light and warbled faintly for a few seconds before Twilight pulled it away to glance at the display screen on top. Unfortunately, all it showed was a completely scrambled mess of letters and numbers.

Twilight frowned as she resumed scanning and grumbled, “C’mon. Gimme some real data.” It wasn’t even more than a single second before a faint sizzling noise came from inside the gadget and smoke began to flow out of it. Twilight immediately pulled the gadget away, only to realize that it was now completely ruined. She sighed in frustration and tossed the destroyed gadget over her shoulder, which landed in a rapidly growing pile of other ruined pieces of electronics.

Twilight picked up her new device and stared thoughtfully at it as she muttered, “I’ve successfully collected a sample of one of the most incredible forms of energy ever known to the Lego World and I can’t find a way to make any sense of it.” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “How am I going to understand this substance?”

Twilight’s focus was broken by the noise of the door opening. She glanced back and saw Spike enter the room, holding a certain astronaut helmet with a completely fractured golden visor.

Spike held up the damaged helmet and said, “I’ve been told that agent Suri Polomare found this in Canterlot’s City Park last night. Some of the other agents are concerned, Twilight, and we both know why that’s not a good thing.”

Twilight adjusted her glasses and irritably explained, “Look, Spike, I know things didn’t go so well last night, but they still could’ve been much worse. As far as I know, the only thing that’s been exposed was my presence in the park that evening. Nobody is aware of where my current base of operations is located, or even the fact that I’m a Shadowbolt agent. Heck, I’m actually very lucky that I didn’t suffer a concussion from that impact!”

Taking another look at how extensive the damage to the visor piece really was, Spike couldn’t help but wince and mutter, “Yeah, I agree with you on that one.”

Twilight turned back to her desk and continued with optimism, “As long as I stay put and not go out on any field expeditions for the next few weeks, I’m sure everyone will eventually forget about that very minor incident and move with their lives, at which point I’ll be free to continue my research project.”

Spike rolled his eyes and grumbled, “Why do I get the feeling that’s totally not gonna happen?” He then glanced away and right at the moment his eyes fell on the nearby small display screen, the “Incoming Call” message came up with the portrait of Abacus Cinch. His eyes widened before he quickly turned back to Twilight and hesitantly said, “Uh, Twilight… y-you’ve now got a call from Miss Cinch.”

Twilight let out a loud sigh of frustration and then pounded the desk. She then practically threw herself out of her seat and marched out of the room as she grumbled, “Why must she always call at the worst possible times?”

Twilight entered the communication room and slammed the door shut. Once she sat down in the seat, she practiced the calm breathing technique her sister-in-law had once taught her many years ago. She waited until she was mostly relaxed before finally hitting the “accept” button.

As soon as the image on the screen switched to a live video of Cinch sitting at her desk, the leader of the Shadowbolts adjusted her glasses and stated, “Greetings, Twilight Sparkle. Now, I was recently informed that you had a little… mishap the previous evening.” She clasped her hands together and rested her arms on the desk. “Care to elaborate?”

Twilight sighed and responded, “I had a bit of a run-in with Sunset Shimmer. She was able to remove my helmet, but I managed to get away. As far as I can tell, she only knows that I was in Canterlot’s City Park that evening. She has no knowledge of where I went, what I was doing, or even that I’m associated with the Shadowbolts in any way.”

Cinch stared silently ahead for a moment before speaking. “As much as I appreciate your successful efforts to minimize the magnitude of this setback, it is still a setback, nonetheless. Now that Sunset Shimmer is aware of your existence, she and the rest of the LEGO Team will undoubtedly begin to dig deeper into who you are and where you’ve been. It will only be a matter of time before they discover more of your secrets, including your status as a Shadowbolt agent.”

“Which is why I’ve decided to lay low for the time being,” responded Twilight. “As long as I take no further risks out in the field and the other agents make efforts to deny any connections, then I’m sure this will all just blow over eventually.”

“I’m afraid time will not be on our side in this case,” rebuked Cinch. “If we cannot achieve our ultimate goal of world domination within the next few weeks, I’m afraid it’ll be years before another big-budget region is created to provide a similar opportunity as what we have now.” Cinch paused to take a deep breath before continuing. “For you, Twilight, consider last night’s incident a long overdue wakeup call. I am now issuing you some mandatory orders, the first of which is to meet me in my personal base for further discussion. Understood?”

On the inside, Twilight felt very conflicted over what this new turn of events would mean for her and her latest research project. However, she knew she wasn’t in a position to argue, so she kept a neutral expression on her face as she reluctantly replied, “Yes, Miss Cinch.”

“Good,” said Cinch with a nod. “Then I expect to see you here in one minute. Farewell.” Cinch then shut off the connection.

Twilight just stared blankly at the now dark screen for a moment before finally letting out a sigh. She got up out of the seat and left the room. “Spike!” she called out as she walked down the hallway. “I’m gonna be out for a few minutes. Cinch wants me to meet her at her base.”

“Okay, Twilight!” Spike shouted back from within his bedroom. “I’ll be waiting right here.”

Twilight reached the end of the hallway — the opposite end from the door to her research lab — and entered what was by far the largest room of her base. There was enough clear space inside this room to build a large vehicle if necessary for going out on missions, but there was no doorway to the outside world — at least, not the kind most would expect.

Dominating one wall of the room — between the door to the hallway and the doors to the changing rooms — was the rectangular frame of a large doorway with its massive solid doors currently shut. Twilight walked up to the small touchscreen on the wall just to the right of the frame and scrolled through a series of place names. Once she found and selected the name “Shadowbolt Base (Abacus Cinch)”, she hit the green “Enter” button. The structure made a low whooshing noise for a few seconds, then the doors parted to the sides, revealing a large dimly lit room where Cinch herself stood patiently.

Of all the inventions Twilight Sparkle had provided to the Shadowbolts over the years, by far the most significant one of all was the Jump-Gate. The Jump-Gate allowed someone to literally open a temporary doorway to any desired location in the universe. A wrist-mounted portable version — which she always carried around with her — allowed her to open up a preexisting Jump-Gate to any location she aimed the portable version at, allowing for quick escapes directly back to home base. Needless to say, a lot of Shadowbolt activity — not to mention her research projects — would be virtually impossible without the use of the Jump-Gate.

Twilight walked through the open doorway — which then automatically closed behind her and dematerialized from the destination side — and stopped in front of Cinch. The leader of the Shadowbolts was dressed in her standard uniform — reddish purple on her legs, medium blue on her arms and torso with a lighter blue shirt visible around the neck, and a dark blue skirt around her upper legs — and had an expression on her face that reflected serious professionalism.

The two minifigs silently regarded each other for a brief moment before Cinch turned away and simply stated, “Come with me, Twilight. The subjects of your next mandatory order are waiting in the next room.”

Twilight followed without a word. Although she remained silent, her mind was buzzing with activity as she couldn’t stop wondering what Cinch had in store for her.

Once they arrived at the door into the next room, Cinch turned back to Twilight and said, “I’ll be honest with you, Twilight. I have lost count of how many times I’ve tried to emphasize to you the importance of working with other agents, and seeing as your consistent reluctance has now led to the exposure of your identity, you have now forced me to cast my hand.”

Twilight nervously glanced to the side, not liking where this conversation was going.

“You next mandatory order, Twilight Sparkle, is to work with a team of fellow Shadowbolt agents on a series of missions that I shall be assigning to all of you over the next few days.”

Twilight tried to argue, “But Miss Cinch—”

“Don’t bother repeating your old catchphrase, Twilight, for I will simply ignore it from now on,” rebuffed Cinch. “It is now a mandatory order from me personally that you must not ‘work alone’ anymore.”

Twilight turned her gaze downward in disappointment.

Having emphasized her point, Cinch opened the door and beckoned Twilight to follow. “Allow me to introduce you to your new team. I have selected five of the best agents I could call up on such short notice.”

Twilight followed Cinch inside and glanced across the five girls who were lined up in the middle of the room. All of them were wearing a solid black hooded jumpsuit that was among the standard outfits given to all Shadowbolt agents. That left only heads and faces to tell them apart, and Twilight could easily see a lot of differences between each of them.

The first agent Cinch gestured toward was the girl on the farthest right. This girl had turquoise skin, had a shoulder-length hair piece that was two shades of light violet, and had magenta eyes. “Sunny Flare,” stated Cinch. “Acrobatic, good with words, and highly perceptive. Above all else, I can always count on her to carry out my orders, so as long as you’re not being too unreasonable, she will make an excellent member of your team.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Sparkle,” greeted Sunny with a handshake. “I may seem nice, but when duty calls, everyone will learn not to underestimate me.”

Once she finished returning the handshake, Twilight uneasily replied, “Uh, y-yeah, sure. N-nice to meet you, too.”

Cinch moved left to the next girl in line. This girl had light nougat skin, had a short messy hair piece in three shades of blue, had orange eyes, and wore a pair of round goggles on her forehead. “Indigo Zap,” stated Cinch. “Highly athletic and fearsome with weaponry. Her enthusiasm for success can be a challenge to control, but when assigned appropriate tasks, she is practically unstoppable.”

With a wicked grin on her face, Indigo beat her fist into her palm and proudly boasted, “Just show me where the fight is and I’ll take care of the rest!”

“R-right, of course,” remarked Twilight with uncertainty. “I mean, every team needs to have a little muscle, right?”

Cinch moved over to the next girl in line. This girl had pale yellow skin, had a hair piece with a single long ponytail that was rose with a few aqua streaks, and had purple eyes. “Sour Sweet,” stated Cinch. “Highly skilled in personal combat and quite intelligent as well. A fine agent who always gets the job done, despite her…” She quietly cleared her throat. “…preexisting condition.”

Twilight glanced at Cinch and asked, “What kind of condition?”

Cinch leaned close to Twilight and whispered, “Two-Face Syndrome.”

“Hi, Twilight,” Sour Sweet greeted sweetly with a smile and a wave. “It sure is gonna be nice to work with you.” Her head then suddenly spun around to reveal the face on the opposite side of her head with a more grumpy frown who then sourly grumbled, “As long as you try not to mess up any of our missions!” Her head then swiftly spun around to expose her sweet face again, who just giggled and pleasantly remarked, “Don’t mind her. She’s always like that.”

Twilight just stared blankly at Sour Sweet for a moment before eventually managing to slowly say, “Uh… okay…”

Cinch moved on to the next girl in line. This girl had pale violet skin, had a hair piece with two long pigtails that was white and very light blue, had violet eyes, and wore a pair of red-rimmed glasses. “Sugarcoat,” stated Cinch. “Very intelligent and fairly capable of holding her ground when necessary. You can always count on her to outwit any puzzles or riddles that might get in your way, though her habit of telling things as they are has been known to get on people’s nerves.”

Sugarcoat had her arms folded and a bored frown on her face as she bluntly stated, “I have a lot of serious doubts this team is ever gonna work out, but I’ll do what I can.”

Twilight glanced over at Cinch and smiled uneasily as she said, “Well, at least we know for sure that she’ll never lie, right?”

Cinch moved left to the last girl in the lineup. This girl had pink skin, a long messy hair piece in shades of bright green and yellow, had yellow eyes, and wore a pair of magenta headphones. “And finally, Lemon Zest,” stated Cinch. “Highly talented in operating any vehicle imaginable, and with enough mechanical skills to keep them running. She will never hesitate to complete any task you assign her.” Her tone became more scolding as she added, “If only she wasn’t so frequently distracted by her loud music.”

Lemon Zest, who had been bobbing her head back and forth the entire time with her eyes closed, finally stopped and shouted, “Yes, this is real music!” She then swiftly removed her headphones and placed them over Twilight’s head. “Check it out!”

Twilight immediately flinched and groaned in discomfort as she was suddenly exposed to insanely loud heavy metal dubstep music at full blast. She barely tolerated only a few seconds of that ear torture before quickly removing the headphones and handing them back to Lemon. “S-sorry,” she weakly said. “Too much too soon.”

“Eh, your loss,” said Lemon dismissively as she put her noisy headphones back on. “You don’t know what you’re missin’ out on!” She then resumed bobbing her head violently to the loud music.

With the introductions complete, Cinch took a step back and turned to Twilight as she said, “Anyway, that is your team, Twilight Sparkle, and I fully expect all of you to cooperate.”

Twilight glanced back and forth between the five agents now assigned to her. She turned to Cinch and hesitantly remarked, “Well, you’ve certainly got a wide range of talents covered, I’ll give you that.”

“And since I expect you to fully cooperate with them,” continued Cinch, “they shall be lodging with you. They are to follow you back to your home base and take up residence with you there whenever the six you are not away on missions. That won’t be an issue, will it?”

Twilight wanted to protest that arrangement right away, but one glance at Cinch’s critical gaze was all it took to make her think twice. Rather than argue, she instead politely said, “Well, as long as they’re careful not to disturb certain rooms… I think I can accommodate them.”

“Excellent,” stated Cinch. She then walked over to the middle of the room and addressed the entire team. “I shall permit you girls one hour to get settled under these new arrangements before I expect you to begin your first mission. Since this will be your first time working together, it shall be a rather simple supply run for Power Crystals.”

“What for?” asked Indigo Zap.

“Jump-Gates derive their energy from Power Crystals,” explained Twilight. “Without a steady supply of these crystals, all Shadowbolt agents would be deprived of one of their biggest advantages.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” said Cinch contently. She turned to the other agents and said, “As you can see, she has certainly done her homework, and I expect nothing less from the rest of you.”

“Not to worry, Miss Cinch,” assured Sunny Flare. “We’re all Shadowbolt agents here, and we will not disappoint you.”

The other agents silently nodded in agreement.

“Then that will be all,” concluded Cinch. “Dismissed.”

Twilight turned to her new teammates. Uncertain of what to say at first, she hesitated for a brief moment before she eventually suggested, “Well… I guess you girls better grab your things and follow me, please.” She then headed out of the room and walked back to the first room she had entered.

The five girls picked up their respective pieces of luggage from within another nearby room and followed Twilight out to the first room.

Once the new team of Shadowbolt agents was ready, Twilight entered a code into the gadget on her right wrist — the code for her home base’s Jump-Gate — then pointed her right arm at the large empty wall and hit the “Enter” button. Over the surface of that wall, the familiar doorway of her Jump-Gate materialized and the doors parted open, revealing the large gateway room of her base on the other side.

The six girls proceeded through the gateway and arrived at Twilight’s secret base. Once everyone had gone through, the Jump-Gate automatically closed the doors and switched off. “Well, girls,” stated Twilight, doing her best effort to sound optimistic. “Welcome to my home base. Allow me to give you a quick tour before we head out on our mission.”

As everyone dropped off their luggage by the hallway door, Lemon Zest glanced around and smiled. “Not too shabby,” she remarked. “How long have ya been here?”

“About a few months now,” answered Twilight as she opened the door.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” commented Sugarcoat. “You’ve been known to always move to a new base multiple times per year, far more frequently than most Shadowbolt agents.”

“That’s because I’m more adamant about avoiding any detection than most agents,” explained Twilight. “As soon as the odds that somebody will find me becomes anywhere greater than zero percent, I immediately pack up everything and move to a new site.”

“Seems to me like all that hassle would be more effort than it’s worth,” said Sunny Flare.

“Eh, I guess I’m just used to it,” said Twilight with a shrug. She then entered the hallway and gestured to the doors along each side. “For this base, I’ve decided to keep things small and simple. To the left, we have the basic amenities: kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. To the right, we have a storage room for Lego parts, the communication room for contacting other agents, and an empty room in case if I need some extra space for one of my various research projects. Since the bedroom has only two beds — one for me and one for my assistant — I’ll let you all have the empty room to yourselves. I only request that you not make too much noise.”

“Awww, no fair!” moaned Lemon Zest.

Sunny Flare suddenly raised an eyebrow and asked, “Wait, you have an assistant?”

“He always stays behind to keep an eye on things while I’m away,” replied Twilight. “I’d better introduce you to him.” She walked up to the third door on the left and knocked on it. “Spike! I’m back! And I’ve got some company!”

A few seconds later, Spike opened the bedroom door, holding a comic book in one hand. “Let me guess: Cinch’s orders?” he asked.

“Yeah, pretty much,” muttered Twilight in response. She turned back to her teammates and spoke up again. “Everyone, this is my trusty assistant, Spike. He has always been by my side ever since the day we met, when I suffered from that laser beam incident, and I can always count on his help whenever I need it.”

“Hey, everyone,” greeted Spike with a smile and a wave. “So I guess you’re all gonna be staying here with us, right?”

“You know it, little dude!” replied Lemon Zest excitedly.

“Now let’s see if I can recognize your faces,” muttered Spike. One by one, he pointed at each of the girls and said their names. “Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, and Sour Sweet.”

“Wow, he’s good!” remarked Sour Sweet. Her head swiftly spun around to expose her sour face and asked, “How did you know all that, bub?”

“A while back, Miss Cinch provided me with a list of every Shadowbolt agent with some basic information about each of them,” answered Spike. “She said she was hoping that I could use that knowledge to convince Twilight to work with other agents without needing to give out any mandatory orders.”

“Yeah, fat load of good that turned out to be,” Sour Sweet remarked sourly. She switched back to her sweet face and added, “But still, I guess it’s nice that you’re already familiar with us.”

“Hey, what’s in here?” asked Indigo Zap as she moved to begin opening the door at the end of the hallway.

Twilight immediately jumped in front of the door and firmly replied, “That’s my personal research laboratory, and I would highly appreciate it if all of you stay out.”

“Aww, come on! Not even a quick peek?” moaned Lemon Zest in disappointment.

“You do realize the temptation of a forbidden room could be too much for us to resist,” Sunny Flare pointed out. “Some more than others,” she added as she gestured at Lemon Zest, who responded with a glare.

Twilight glanced around at all the eager looks on the faces of her new teammates, then sighed and relented. “All right, but just this once.” She opened the door and allowed the others to follow her inside. As everyone began to get a good look at the contents of this room, Twilight explained, “This is where I like to spend most of my time. It is here that I conduct all kinds of scientific research and experiments to unlock any significant breakthroughs that could lead to new discoveries and useful inventions.”

Sugarcoat gazed up at the board on the wall that displayed various bits and pieces of research regarding one particular group. “You’ve been keeping tabs on Canterlot City’s LEGO Team for a long time, haven’t you?” she asked.

“Uh, why wouldn’t I?” Twilight nervously replied, her eyes shifting back and forth as she tried to come up with a legitimate excuse on the spot. “I mean, they’ve been one of the most successful teams on the LEGO Team, and we’re Shadowbolts, who, uh, fight against them, so we need to know how we can fight back, and if we can deal with the best team, then we can take on any LEGO Team, um, team.” She finished with a wide but awkward grin.

Sugarcoat’s unamused expression remained unchanged.

Sunny Flare raised an eyebrow as she noticed the strange small device that Twilight had left on the desk. She picked it up and asked, “What’s this?”

Twilight immediately snatched the device out of her hand and shoved it into a drawer as she quickly replied, “Uh, nothing important.”

Before Sunny could inquire any further, Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap had already gone over to the chemistry set resting on another desk. “Cool!” remarked Lemon excitedly as she looked closely at all the differently colored substances within the glass beakers and flasks. “You really are a mad scientist, aren’t ya?”

“Please don’t touch any of my experiments,” Twilight cautioned urgently, unaware that Indigo had already picked up a random flask and started to shake it. “Some of them are highly unstable, and potentially explosive.”

Boom!

The flask Indigo Zap had held suddenly exploded, throwing her pieces across the room. Everyone turned their attention to her head, which had landed on the floor in the middle of the room.

After an awkward silence, Twilight weakly added, “Such as that.”

Lemon couldn’t resist giggling at Indigo’s misfortune, to which Indigo responded with a bitter glare.

Somewhere in the Castle Region, there was a sparse forest with very little activity going on. With not a single person in sight and the only sound to be heard was the chirping of some woodland birds, it truly seemed like a very peaceful place.

Suddenly, a spaceship appeared with a faint boom in the clear sky above. Riding inside this spaceship, the six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team glanced around out the windows, astonished to realize that a journey that had previously taken many hours had just been completed virtually within the blink of an eye.

“Awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash excitedly. “That new upgrade just became my favorite feature ever!”

“Hey, look! There’s the Crystal Castle!” Pinkie Pie spoke up as she pointed ahead.

Not far off in the distance was a tall castle built mostly out of bricks with various slopes and angles that came in shades of blue and pink. There were tall spires atop each tower, with the central keep having the highest ones of all. And placed atop the main gatehouse was a large brick-built representation of the crystal heart from Princess Cadance’s creative mark.

“Take us down just outside the main gate,” suggested Sunset.

“Got it,” acknowledged Rainbow Dash with a nod. As they approached the castle, she slowed down the spaceship until it came to a hover over the open ground near the main gatehouse. She then deployed the landing gear and carefully descended the ship until it touched down on the ground. As she switched off the engines, she couldn’t help but chuckle and remark, “I’m getting good at this. No more random button-mashing with silly results!”

Everyone unbuckled from their seats and headed out of the spaceship.

Once everyone had disembarked from the spaceship, the main gate suddenly opened and a single castle guard wearing golden armor stepped out. The guard gave a salute to the team and stated, “Greetings, LEGO Team of Canterlot City. I am to escort you to Princess Cadance Playwell at once.” Without waiting for a response, he promptly turned back and began marching into the castle.

As the girls followed the guard through the castle, they couldn’t help but gaze up and down at all the wonderful surroundings.

“This is a most spectacular castle, indeed,” marveled Rarity. “Why, the architectural design of this palace is simply divine!”

As Pinkie Pie glanced around in awe, she thought aloud, “I wonder why we didn’t come here on our first visit to the Castle Region.”

“Probably ‘cause Prince Shining Armor’s castle was much closer to the threat we had to deal with at the time,” replied Applejack.

“I just hope we don’t have to fight off any bad guys again, this time,” mumbled Fluttershy.

“I think we can all agree on that,” stated Sunset.

After a few minutes, the guard and the team arrived at a large door inside the main keep. The guard stepped up to the door and knocked the head of his pike against it a few times.

“You may enter,” said a voice on the other side of the door.

The guard stepped aside and gestured for the team to proceed through the doorway. The six girls glanced at one another before Sunset pushed the door open and entered the room, followed closely by the rest of her friends.

The interior of this room consisted of items both expected and unexpected of a castle bedchamber. There was a large four-post bed with surrounding drapes, a large window that opened to a balcony outside, tapestries and suits of crystalline armor displayed on opposite sides of the room, bookshelves filled with all kinds of books, and a desk with parchment, quills, and ink resting on it. There was also a computer on that desk, a globe and a telescope near the window, a television screen on the wall opposite from the bed, and many other household items such as coffee mugs, suitcases, and even a radio.

And standing patiently in the middle of this room was Princess Cadance herself. But unlike during their previous encounters, Cadance was wearing a completely different outfit. She had dark turquoise on her arms and torso, a medium blue skirt around her upper legs, and gold around her feet. Her head didn’t have that gold crown on top, but the front of her torso showed a light blue shirt under her jacket with a gold necklace and her creative mark of a blue crystal heart printed on her left chest area.

“Welcome, girls,” Cadance greeted warmly. “Normally, I would be hesitant to agree to a meeting on such short notice, but considering the subject we must discuss, I am more than willing to make an exception.”

“And greetings to you too, Princess,” Rarity politely greeted with a respectful bow. As she stood up straight again, she added, “Though I am curious as to why you’ve taken on such a vastly different wardrobe. It just… doesn’t seem like something one would expect to see in the Castle Region.”

“Yes, I do normally wear that dress you’ve seen before whenever I’m out in public,” explained Cadance. “But here in the privacy of my personal chambers, I prefer to take on a more… civilian appearance. Not to mention how much in comes in handy whenever I need to secretly go on a business trip to one of the City Regions.”

Fluttershy hesitantly spoke up. “Um, pardon me for asking, but… where is Prince Shining Armor?” she quietly asked.

“He is visiting Knighton along with several nobles from all the other Castle subregions,” answered Cadance. “They want to establish good relationships with the Nexo Knights to ensure that everyone’s respective homelands can count on these new heroes to keep the people safe.” Her voice took on a more somber tone as she continued. “Personally, though, I think it’s probably for the best that he’s not here with us right now. You see, I’ve known all along what really happened to our world’s Twilight.”

“You have?!” exclaimed all six girls at once in shock.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“At the very least, I’d have expected ya to tell Shining Armor what ya knew ‘bout his lil’ sister,” added Applejack.

Cadance carefully replied, “Let’s just say that if Shining Armor knew the truth… then his depression would have been much worse.”

“What makes you so certain of that?” asked Rarity.

Cadanced glanced down in sadness for a moment before she returned her gaze to the gathered team and slowly answered, “The truth is, our world’s Twilight Sparkle… is a Shadowbolt agent.”

That revelation immediately caused all six girls to gasp loudly in shock.

“Y-you mean… she’s one of the bad guys?!” asked Pinkie Pie as tears quickly formed in her eyes.

“How do you know this?” asked Sunset. “I mean, I just find that so hard to believe. We all know how nice Princess Twilight is, so why would this other Twilight take a much darker path.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know why this happened,” replied Cadance as she approached a chest next to the desk. “But I can show you how I was able to find out about what Twilight has been up to.” She pulled out a key and used it to unlock the chest. Once the chest was opened, she picked up the object inside and turned around to show it to everyone.

The object was a white staff with a glowing blue crystal placed on the end of it.

“This is the magical staff of Star Swirl the Bearded,” explained Cadance. “His final will and testament stated that it shall forever rightly belong only to the one who watches over the entire Castle Region — a position currently held by me. Among many of the magical spells it can perform, it allows me to observe the world through the senses of another, and ever since the day Twilight vanished, she has been the only subject I’ve ever used this spell on. It only permits real-time observation, and since I obviously can’t spend a lot of time with it, my knowledge is very limited. But those small bits and pieces of information over the years have been enough to tell me that not only is Twilight really a Shadowbolt agent, but also never seems to stay in the same place for long.”

“Ah guess that explains why no one’s ever been able to find her,” remarked Applejack as she nervously scratched the back of her head. “At least, not ‘til now.”

“We need to find out what Twilight is up to,” Sunset spoke up. She turned to Candance and asked, “Can you use that staff to tell us where she is right now?”

Cadance nodded and replied, “Of course.” She pointed down at the floor and asked, “Could one of you remove that rug?”

Everyone glanced down at the round rug lying in the middle of the room. Without a word, Rarity and Fluttershy grasped the edges of the rug and pulled it aside. The floor that was now exposed had a small hole in it, just large enough to fit the shaft of the staff.

As Cadance approached the center of the room, she explained, “Keep in mind, when this spell is active, I will enter a trance-like state, so it is extremely vital that none of you girls disturb me in any way.”

“If that’s what it takes to find Twilight, then you can count on us,” stated Sunset as she and her friends backed away to give Cadance some space.

Cadance carried the staff with her and inserted the base of it into the hole in the floor. As the blue crystal on top began to glow brighter, Cadance closed her eyes and rested her forehead against it.

The six girls remained perfectly still and silent as they waited for any information. For the most part, Cadance stayed just as motionless, though she did occasionally mutter a few observations.

“It’s rather dark in here… Where are you, Twilight…?”

“I see some rocks and some mining equipment… definitely must be some underground mine…”

“Strange… There are other people with her… She always wants to work alone… Why would she suddenly be working with others…?”

“Now they’re using that mining machinery… Awfully noisy… What are they after…?”

Suddenly, Cadance gasped and exclaimed, “Power Crystals!” The staff’s crystal dimmed as she pulled herself out of her trance and removed the staff from its focus point. Cadance turned to the team and firmly stated, “I know exactly where she is!”

The six friends turned and smiled at one another. Now they were finally getting somewhere!

Cadance placed the staff back inside the chest and locked it up again. Then she grabbed a sheet of parchment on the desk, dipped one of the quills into the inkwell, and started writing down a quick note as she hastily explained, “You girls will need to travel to the Mining Region. These coordinates should take you to the nearest mine entrance to where you’ll most likely find Twilight. I would also recommend that you seek some help from the Power Miners, if you can find them. They’ll know their way through those tunnels.” Once she finished the note, she set the quill back in the inkwell and handed the parchment over to the team.

Rainbow Dash took the parchment with their destination coordinates and confidently stated, “No problem! With our new spaceship, we’ll be there in no time. Literally!”

“Then please hurry,” said Cadance worriedly. “I don’t know what they need those Power Crystals for, but if the Shadowbolts are involved, then it can’t be anything good.”

“Hey, what’s that?” Pinkie Pie suddenly spoke up while pointing out the window.

Everyone quickly turned to the window and some strange object hovering over the balcony outside. Cadance opened the window and stepped out onto the balcony, followed by the Canterlot City team. The object they were gazing up at was small, held aloft by four small propellers, and had a brown box attached to the bottom of it.

“I believe that is some sort of drone,” noted Rarity.

“What’s a drone doin’ here in the Castle Region?” asked Applejack.

“I agree that it seems odd,” stated Cadance. “I would not be surprised to see something like this in Knighton, but this castle does not fall within that subregion.”

Before anyone could ask any further, the drone slowly descended over Sunset Shimmer, released its package, and then began to fly away.

Sunset caught the package, which was about the same size and shape as a 2x2 tile. After quickly looking over the entire surface, she made a startling discovery. “It’s addressed to all of us,” she said in astonishment.

Everyone glanced up at the rapidly departing drone, then back down at the package. Right away, Sunset tore off the wrapping and revealed the package to be little more than some kind of display screen. As everyone began to glance over her shoulders, Sunset tapped the power button, activating the strange device and revealing a single piece of text: “1 new message”

Sunset glanced around at all of her friends, who all gazed back with curious looks on their faces. Without a word, she tapped the screen and the full message appeared. She then started reading that message aloud to everyone.

Greetings, LEGO Team of Canterlot City.

I cannot tell you who I am, but I will say that I wish to help you. As you may already know by now, one of you has recently had an encounter with Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World. What you might not have figured out by now is that she has been working for the Shadowbolts ever since the day she supposedly disappeared. But due to that recent encounter, our leader, Miss Abacus Cinch, has just assigned Twilight a team of other Shadowbolt Agents. Their names are Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, Sunny Flare, and Sour Sweet. I am one of these girls, but I cannot reveal which one, or why I have decided to help you. Regardless, this is the first time Twilight has ever worked with a team, and if it were not a mandatory order from Miss Cinch, she would have absolutely refused to do so. By the time you will likely receive this private communicator, we will already be working on our first mission, which is to collect a large supply of Power Crystals from deep underground in the Mining Region. I have provided two sets of coordinates. The first is the exact location of our operation, and the second is for the mine entrance that is by far the closest to where we are working.

Sunset skipped over the coordinates and continued through the rest of the message.

Do not hesitate to ask me for further help at any time, for I understand that the greater good is being done by you, and not the Shadowbolts. Good luck to all of you.

From, The Informant.

Sunset and her friends all shared shocked expressions as she glanced around at each of them.

Rainbow Dash pulled out the parchment that Cadance had given her and compared the note on it to the coordinates on the message. “Her mine entrance coordinates are exactly the same as what we’ve got!” she noted. She simply stood still with her mouth gaping for a moment, then she suddenly grinned and cheerfully exclaimed, “Awesome! We’ve got ourselves a source of inside information!” She pulled out a pencil and quickly wrote down the other set of coordinates onto the parchment.

Sunset noticed the “Send Reply” button at the bottom of the screen, then shrugged and muttered, “Well, I guess I’d better let The Informant know that we got her message.” She tapped that button, and a digital keyboard appeared on the lower part of the screen. She quickly typed out her message, than hit the “Send” button. “Interesting…” she remarked. “It’s like a computerized version of my magic journal to Equestria.”

Princess Cadance finished writing down the names of Twilight’s new teammates on a small notecard with a ballpoint pen. She quickly tucked away those items and said, “While you girls go after Twilight, I’ll send Celestia and Luna the names of these other Shadowbolt agents. Hopefully, they can do some research that might reveal some useful information about these agents and how we can best deal with them.”

“That’s definitely a good idea,” agreed Sunset with a nod as she safely tucked away the messaging device on her person. “For now, let’s just focus on getting to the Mining Region right away.”

Sunset’s friends all said various words of agreement. As they all then began to leave, Cadance waved goodbye to them and said, “Good luck to all of you!”

Moments later, as the team walked through the castle’s main gatehouse on their way back to the spaceship, some of the girls couldn’t resist voicing their inner thoughts.

“I simply can’t believe that our world’s Twilight is a Shadowbolt!” grumbled Rarity in displeasure.

“I really do wonder what would drive her to join such an awful group full of meanies,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“I don’t know, but it just makes me feel really sad,” added Pinkie Pie.

“An’ now she’s got a bunch of other agents workin’ by her side,” added Applejack. “If we’re gonna have to deal with all of ‘em, then we’ll really need to step it up.”

“Which is fine by me, because I always bring my A-game,” boasted Rainbow Dash. As everyone began to board the spaceship, she urgently exclaimed, “C’mon, everyone! Let’s go!” Rainbow Dash led the way inside, followed by Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and finally Sunset Shimmer.

“Oh, Twilight…” Sunset mumbled sadly. “Why must you and I fight on opposite sides again?”

Author's Note

Even though the Shadowbolt girls in this world are secret agents instead of prep school students, their personalities are still the same, with a few slight alterations to fit the fact they are Lego minifigures. For example, for a long time, I had always wanted to include a character who had two faces, like Bad Cop/Good Cop from the Lego Movie, and it was only a few days after I had first watched Friendship Games that I decided Sour Sweet was the perfect option for that. Also, I should probably clarify something here about this series of stories. Even though I've acknowledged the existence of licensed themes (like Star Wars or Batman) and Bionicle (through the Dimensions Box and the Constraction Zone, respectively), I will not be featuring any of these Lego themes in any of my stories. Not only do I wish to keep this Lego World sticking to the basic Lego themes, but also I just simply can't think of a good way to integrate such a massive multiverse. I'll leave that to other writers who would wish to see such a story.