Chapter 1
Breaking the News Show
“Welcome to the LEGO News Show!”
With that announcement, the entire audience in the studio began to clap and cheer loudly as the show’s upbeat theme music began to play. The people gathered in the audience consisted of a very wide variety of minifigs such as a firefighter, a space robot, a cowboy, a cheerleader, an astronaut, a scuba diver, a knight, a pirate, a viking warrior, a ninja, and many, many more.
“And here are your hosts, Helen Stone and Dan Brickman!”
As the theme music ended, the cohosts smiled and waved at the audience from behind the studio desk as they waited for cheering to cease. Seated on the left was Helen Stone, who had blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and wore a red blazer. Seated on the right was Dan Brickman, who had brown hair with some stubble on his face and wore a dark grey suit with a red tie. They both also had the standard yellow skin tone of most minifigs.
“Thank you! Thank you, everyone!” greeted Dan as the audience finally began to quiet down. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m very excited for what we have lined up for today’s episode.”
“Indeed, Dan,” agreed Helen. “Today, we have some very special guests joining us here in the studio. One might even call it a magical experience.”
“Or should I say, otherworldly magical,” added Dan, “because these girls have been using magic from an alternate world to stop supervillains from taking over the world. I mean, how cool is that?!”
Helen chuckled and replied, “Definitely not something you see very often, that’s for sure.”
“Then what are we waiting for?!” said Dan excitedly. “Let’s get right to it!”
The cohosts turned to the audience as Helen began, “These seven girls are a group of best friends from the City Region of Canterlot City, they are members of their local branch of the LEGO Team, and they are among the most talented Master Builders in the Lego World.”
Dan continued, “They have defeated raging she-demons, a trio of power-hungry sirens, and the now-disbanded group of secret agents known as the Shadowbolts. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome… uh…” After he suddenly trailed off in confusion, Dan leaned close to Helen and quietly asked, “What’s the name of their group, again?”
Helen shrugged and quietly replied, “Actually, I’m not quite sure about that, either.”
Dan quickly turned back to the audience and spoke up, “Well, whatever you wanna call ‘em, let’s welcome them into the studio! Come on in, girls!” He then glanced to his right and waved his arm in a gesture that called for the guests to come over.
As the audience clapped and cheered while the theme music played again, the seven special guests walked out from behind the set to the left and out into the studio. The first one out was Sunset Shimmer, followed by Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and finally Twilight Sparkle. As they walked over to the central desk, they all greeted the cheering audience in various ways. Sunset, Rainbow, and Rarity smiled and waved one arm high in the air, Applejack smiled and gave a tip of the hat, Fluttershy and Twilight gave a rather shy smile and slowly waved a hand rather close down, and Pinkie Pie had a huge grin as she practically bounced around while waving both arms wildly around.
As the team of seven friends stopped beside the central desk, Helen greeted, “Welcome, girls. I must admit, it’s quite an honor to have you all with us here today.”
Sunset smirked and remarked, “Funny you should say that. I had just mentioned to my friends what an honor it is that we would get to make a guest appearance on the LEGO News Show.”
Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped in front of the camera and excitedly exclaimed, “Look at me, I'm on TV! Hi mom! Hi dad! Hi Maud! Hi Limestone! Hi Marble!” Applejack then grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her away from the camera.
Sunset couldn’t help but giggle and quipped, “See what I mean?”
The audience responded with a bit of laughter.
“Yeah, I remember when I made my television debut,” remarked Dan. “I was so out of control with excitement that the producer practically had to drag me away kicking and screaming.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” quipped Rainbow Dash.
“But enough about me,” continued Dan. “Why don’t you all introduce yourselves to our audience? After all, you’ve saved the world like a dozen times, so I’m sure they’d like to know more about heroes who we should be thanking.”
“Actually, I’m sure it was only three times that we’ve saved the Lego World,” Sunset pointed out, “and that’s if you exclude myself and Twilight here.” As Sunset then introduced her friends, she gestured towards each of them as she explained. “Anyway, my name is Sunset Shimmer and I’m sort of the de facto leader of this team. That’s Rainbow Dash, the self-proclaimed ‘team pilot’ who’s always eager go somewhere in a hurry. That’s Rarity, a rising star in the fashion industry who always provides us with whatever outfits we might need. That’s Pinkie Pie, perhaps one of the best when it comes to throwing parties and having fun. That’s Applejack, an apple farmer who values honesty and can hold her own in a fight. That’s Fluttershy, our expert on dealing with animals and creatures of all kinds. And that’s Twilight Sparkle, a brilliant researcher and inventor — not to be confused with the pony princess from Equestria.”
“Well, it’s very nice to meet all of you,” stated Helen. “By the way, Twilight, I couldn’t help but notice that you seem to be wearing a new outfit that I don’t recall ever seeing before.”
For the new standard outfit of the Lego World’s Twilight Sparkle, she had a magenta torso with detailing of a violet belt around her waist, a low neckline to show a light blue shirt underneath the magenta one, and a magenta bowtie on the front of the neck. She also had light blue on her shoulders and lower legs, violet on her feet, and had a violet skirt wrapped around her upper legs with her Creative Mark symbol on the left side, which consisted of a magenta six-pointed star surrounded by five smaller white stars. On her head, her hair piece was tied back in a ponytail with a violet hair tie in the shape of a six-pointed star. The only part of her outfit that had remained the same was the black thick-rimmed glasses on her face.
Twilight glanced down at herself and, with some nervousness in her voice, replied, “Oh, yeah, well, I-I just figured that I wanted to move on from my past as a Shadowbolt agent, but I also didn’t want to make myself look like an exact copy of the other Twilight Sparkle, so I settled for somewhere in between the two.”
Helen complimented, “I have to say, that’s actually a very nice look.”
“I most certainly agree,” agreed Rarity. “It’s familiar, yet unique to show us that she is without a doubt her own person.”
“She’s quite a special person, that’s for sure,” remarked Dan. “Remember when she turned into that crazy monster who called herself Midnight Sparkle? Boy, that sure was something.”
Judging from the pleasant smile on his face, Sunset knew that Dan had meant no ill intent with that remark. However, when she glanced over at Twilight, she was looking down and away from everyone with a look of great shame visible on her face. She turned to the show’s cohosts and quietly suggested, “Um, maybe you guys should lay off mentioning that particular incident around Twilight. I think she’s still pretty sensitive about it.”
Helen and Dan glanced over at Twilight, who was still too ashamed to even look back at them. “Oh, well, sorry about that,” said Dan with an apologetic smile. “I guess somebody didn’t get me that memo.”
“I’m not sure if there even was such a memo,” responded Helen. “This is the first I’ve heard that she’s still recovering from that day.” She turned to Sunset and added, “I’m guessing you went through a similar experience.”
With a smile, Sunset scoffed and replied, “Please, I had it way worse than Twilight. I actually had to go to prison after my she-demon experience. I’m just glad my friends here were willing to give me a second chance and welcomed me as one of their own.” As she spoke that last sentence, she gestured back to all of her friends.
“Couldn’t’ve said it better, mahself,” remarked Applejack. She then turned to the cohosts and asked, “Now then, how ‘bout we get on with that lil’ ‘demonstration’ Ah heard y’all talkin’ about before the show?”
“Oh, absolutely!” agreed Dan excitedly. He hopped out of his seat and walked over to the side of the studio as he addressed the audience. “There’s an awesome new invention, once exclusive only to the Shadowbolts, that’s now being adopted all across the world and the universe. It’s a simple idea that’ll change everything so much, you’ll wonder how we ever lived without it. And we have one set up right here in the LEGO News Show studio! Behold… the Jump-Gate!”
A large spotlight illuminated the Jump-Gate that had been built up against the right side wall of the studio and the audience began to clap. Once the clapping ceased after a few seconds, Helen turned to the group of friends and asked, “Twilight, since you’re the original inventor of the Jump-Gate, would you like to show us how it works?”
Twilight flinched at suddenly having all the attention on her. She then tried her best to regain what little composure she had as she smiled and nervously replied, “Oh! Y-yes. The Jump-Gate. Of course.” She couldn’t hold back a nervous chuckle before she continued, “W-well, l-like Dan just said, it’s— it’s a rather simple idea, but, uh, but the technology that goes into it is, um, is… very complicated. What— what it does is… is, uh… w-well, my friends just like to call it a, um, ‘instant doorway to anywhere in the universe’. To, uh, use it, you, um… you have to… uh… y-you just… um…”
Behind her, Twilight’s friends all shared nervous glances at each other as they heard Twilight stuttering a lot and struggling to get her words out. Eventually, Rainbow Dash walked over to Twilight and placed her arm around her friend’s shoulders as she turned to the cohosts and said, “Hey, you guys have your own egghead on this show, so why don’t you ask him to show us how it works?”
As Helen walked over to join him by the Jump-Gate, Dan said, “I’m guessing she’s referring to Professor Egghead.”
“Sure, that can be arranged,” replied Helen with a shrug. She turned back and asked, “Does anyone on our staff know where he is?”
Suddenly, the door at the other end of the studio burst open and in stumbled someone — a guy wearing tan pants with suspenders, a white shirt, and a red bowtie — who appeared to be struggling to get some kind of large pipe section off from his head. He soon tripped over his feet and fell to the floor, causing the pipe section to come off, revealing his head. He had a grey hairpiece with a receded hairline, a grey mustache, and wore square glasses.
“Oh look! There he is!” Pinkie exclaimed as she pointed at the fallen minifig.
Professor Egghead quickly got back up on his feet and turned to the cohosts and guests as he asked, “Oh! You were expecting me?”
“We were actually just about to call for you,” replied Helen.
“Care to show us how to use this Jump-Gate?” asked Dan as he gestured at the machine behind him.
Professor Egghead smiled and excitedly replied, “Oh, I would love to! But first…” He quickly walked over to Twilight and vigorously shook her hand as he remarked, “I just want to say it is a real privilege to meet the inventor of such a remarkable wonder of scientific discovery.”
After the handshake was done, Twilight readjusted her glasses — which had been knocked askew — and had a hesitant smile as she replied, “Uh, you’re welcome… I guess.”
Professor Egghead walked over to the Jump-Gate and began explaining, “Now, this is truly a miracle among inventions, as the amount of engineering and software programming that goes into one of these is quite astronomical. But the one part that everyone cares about, the user interface on the control panel here, is actually remarkably simple. Just enter the coordinates of your destination — for this demonstration, I shall take us to the observatory.” He entered the coordinates onto the keypad under the display screen to the right of the massive closed doorway. “Then you just hit the big green button, and…” Egghead hit the open button, the gateway made a low whooshing noise for a few seconds, then the massive doors parted open, revealing the interior of an observatory and its massive telescope.
“Wow,” said a very impressed Helen. “That really is like an instant doorway to anywhere.”
Professor Egghead then picked up a device on a nearby shelf and placed it on his right wrist as he continued, “Before we step through, we must be careful not to forget this return device. Now then, just walk right through the gateway and you’ll be right at where you wanted to go.” He then walked through the open gateway, followed by Dan, Helen, and a cameraman who would ensure the show could continue.
Helen glanced around and noted, “This observatory is on a mountaintop far from Lego City.”
Dan gasped and asked, “You mean we just traveled hundreds of miles in just a single step through that gateway?” He then grinned and excitedly exclaimed, “That is so awesome!” Then he heard a whirring noise behind him, so he turned around and saw the gateway door automatically closed, and then completely vanished as if it was never there at all. “Whoa… That was weird,” he muttered.
“Not to worry,” assured Professor Egghead as he held up his right wrist with the device attached to it. “That is what the portable return device is for. Just enter the identity code for the gateway you wish to return through,” He tapped the code into the device. “Then aim the device at a clear space or an empty wall, and hit the open button.” He aimed the device at an empty wall not far from where they had entered and then hit the green button. The exact same set of massive steel doors that had vanished only seconds ago behind them now suddenly materialized right on that wall in front of them, and then those doors parted open, leading right back into the LEGO News Show studio. The four minifigs who had just entered the observatory then walked through the reopened gateway into the studio. “And now you’re back home just as instantaneously as you had left,” finished Egghead.
With the demonstration complete, the audience began to clap and cheer.
“Wow,” remarked Dan. “With instant travel like that, I won’t even to drive a car to go between home and work. I can just open the door and I’m already there! I’ve gotta try that out!” He then rushed over to the control panel and began entering coordinates as he mumbled, “Let’s see, I live on this street at this address…”
Twilight quickly pointed out, “Uh, a-actually, that’s not how the coordinate system works.”
Dan ignored Twilight as he finished entering his coordinates and then proudly declared, “Goodbye, rush hour traffic!” He then smacked the green open button and grinned as he waited excitedly for the machine to do its thing. When the doors parted open, Dan had expected to see his living room, but what he saw instead was the inside of an occupied prison cell. And to the group of friends watching, the two occupants were an all-too familiar pair of incompetent crooks, Rocky and Mugsy.
“Check it out, Rocky!” Mugsy pointed out. “We’re free!”
“Me first! Me first!” exclaimed Rocky as he suddenly charged through the opened gateway into the studio.
“Hey, wait for me!” exclaimed Mugsy as he quickly followed after his partner. The two crooks rushed past everyone in the studio and hopped into a small cart that had been parked near the door out of the studio.
“So long, suckers!” shouted Rocky as he switched on the cart and drove it forward and turned towards the door, smashing right through that door and continuing ahead out into the hallway.
As the crooks fled, everyone just stared in silence at where they had escaped. The silence was eventually broken when Sunset smirked and dryly remarked, “Wow… you just opened the Jump-Gate right into an occupied prison cell.”
Applejack giggled and quipped, “Only with Dan Brickman.”
“Um, should we try and stop those guys?” asked Fluttershy.
“Nah,” replied Rainbow Dash dismissively. “I’m sure the cops will catch ‘em.”
Outside the building, the slow-moving electric cart the two crooks had stolen had finally made it into the parking lot. However, the noise of a police siren behind then made it clear that the pursuit was on.
“Step on it, Rocky!” shouted Mugsy urgently.
“I’m floorin’ it, I’m floorin’ it!” Rocky shouted back irritably.
Despite the cart going at full throttle, it was only going as fast as a regular minifig’s jogging pace. The police vehicle chasing after that stolen cart happened to be an identical electric cart, with the addition of red and blue flashing lights and the police siren. The police officer driving that cart was also pushing it ahead at full throttle, but it was only enough to keep pace with the two crooks.
It was arguably one of the slowest police chases in the history of the Lego World.
Back in the studio, everyone suddenly began to hear some light barking, then they saw a white puppy with black spots all over his body run into the studio through the door that had just been smashed open. Fluttershy immediately recognized that puppy from previous episodes of the LEGO News Show she had seen before.
“Oh, look! It’s Snappy!” Fluttershy noted as she crouched down and held out her arms. When Snappy leaped into Fluttershy’s arms, she stood back up and began to lightly pet him as she calmly cooed, “Aw, did those mean robbers scare you? It’s okay. You’re safe now.” She then leaned close to Rainbow Dash beside her and whispered, “I sometimes wonder if Snappy is actually smarter than Dan Brickman.”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t resist snickering at that remark.
As the Jump-Gate doors finally closed on their own, Dan was still staring at it with his jaw hanging open in shock. Professor Egghead turned to him and uneasily stated, “Did I forget to mention the feature that allows you to save specific — and accurate — coordinates for easier usage?”
Dan lowered his head in shame as he sighed and mumbled, “Now you tell me…”
Pinkie walked over to Dan and placed a hand on his shoulder as she said, “Aw, don’t feel so bad about yourself. I know what’ll cheer you up!” She quickly ran off, then just as quickly returned while pushing ahead a certain familiar cannon. “I brought my party cannon!”
Dan immediately ran over to the party cannon and excitedly said, “Ooh, looks like fun! Can I fire it?”
“Abso-tootly-lutely!” replied Pinkie Pie as she spun the party cannon around so that the firing system was now right in front of Dan.
“Yeah!” cheered Dan as he jumped in excitement. He then reached down and grasped the firing cord. “Party time!” he shouted before he yanked on the cord. When the party cannon went off, not only did it toot some loud party horns and spray confetti and streamers all over the studio, it also produced such a violent kickback that it pushed Dan across the studio and crashed into something beyond the range of the cameras.
While everyone looked over in surprise and confusion at what just happened, Pinkie casually remarked, “Whoopsie! I guess I accidentally overloaded that silly thing. Again.” She shrugged and smiled as she said that final word.
Sunset had a small smile on her face as she facepalmed and muttered, “Oh Dan, can’t we ever have an episode of this show where you don’t somehow make a complete fool of yourself?”
“I’ve asked myself that question quite a lot,” admitted Helen. She then smiled as she added, “But to be completely honest… I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
As confetti continued to rain down, Dan stumbled back into the studio. His hair piece was now resting askew atop his head and wasn’t even fully attached. “Well, I sure had quite a blast!” He remarked with a smile on his face. “Unfortunately, that’s all we have time for today, so join us next time for another exciting episode of the LEGO News Show!”
As Dan made his closing statement, Rarity walked up behind him, grabbed his hair piece, and then fitted it properly back atop his head.
Dan was initially confused, but quickly realized that his hair had been fixed, so he turned back to Rarity and said with a smile, “Oh. Thanks.”
As the show’s theme music began to play, the audience clapped and cheered loudly. Meanwhile, the show’s hosts and guests all shook hands or hugged as they gave each other various compliments.
After the show was over, the group of seven friends from Canterlot City — along with Spike — had gathered in one of the backrooms of the studio. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all stood in the middle of the room, Rarity was seated in front of a mirror, Fluttershy sat on a stool as she continued to hold and pet Snappy, Spike sat on another stool near the door, and Sunset was leaning against the wall near Twilight, who sat on a crate as she rested her head on her hands while staring down at her feet.
“I can’t believe I let my nerves get to me like that,” groaned Twilight in frustration and disappointment. “And on international television, no less!”
“It’s okay, Twilight,” assured Fluttershy. “I was feeling very nervous about being on TV, too.”
“At least until ya met Snappy,” Applejack pointed out. “We all know that holdin’ a furry lil’ critter helps ya relax.”
“I guess that’s true…” admitted Fluttershy quietly as she continued to pet Snappy.
Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight and remarked, “Hey, it could’ve been much worse. With the way you were stuttering, I figured it would be better to bring in Professor Egghead to take over the demonstration.”
“Thanks for helping me like that,” said Twilight with a smile. She then frowned again and added, “But still, I was really looking forward to this day. I had a chance to demonstrate to millions of people one of my greatest inventions, and I completely blew it.
“It’s not really your fault, Twilight,” said Pinkie Pie. “You were actually doing quite well until Dan brought up that Midnight Sparkle incident.”
“I am sure that Mister Brickman meant no harm with that remark,” stated Rarity as she inspected her facial features in the mirror. “He simply had no idea that it was such a sensitive subject.”
“I don’t think any of us had any idea that you were still so sensitive about that incident,” noted Sunset.
“Yeah, she’s been having nightmares about it,” Spike stated casually. When everyone but Twilight suddenly turned to stare at him with confused looks, Spike was just as confused as he responded, “What? I thought she would’ve told you girls by now.”
Twilight didn’t say anything and shamefully lowered her head as the others turned their attention back to her.
Sunset sighed and placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight, you don’t have to keep any secrets from us,” assured Sunset. “You’re not a Shadowbolt agent anymore. You’re a member of the LEGO Team. We’re always here to help you out, regardless of whether we’re out on a mission or just going through everyday life.”
After a brief moment of silence, Twilight sighed and muttered, “I just don’t understand… How can you girls be so nice and accepting of me? Especially after all the bad things I did as a Shadowbolt agent?”
“I spent my first five years here as number one on LEGO’s Most Wanted,” stated Sunset without any hesitation. “Trust me, Twilight, if there’s any group in the entire Lego World who’s willing to forgive you for your past, it’s this one.”
Twilight glanced up at Sunset and couldn’t help but smile.
The door into the room suddenly opened and in walked a minifig with tan pants, a light blue shirt with dark blue sleeves and an orange “M” printed on the front, and had slightly messy brown hair. “There you girls are,” he said with a relaxed smile as he stepped into the room. “Sorry I missed the show. Had a lot of fans outside who wanted my autograph.”
“At least you had an excuse,” remarked Spike sourly. “I wanted to be on the show too, but they refused let me because I wasn’t ‘important enough’. I mean, it’s like they wanted me to show them a VIP card or something like that.”
“You mean like this?” asked the visitor as he pulled out a card that was labeled “VIP Membership”.
Spike simply facepalmed and growled in frustration.
Pinkie gasped and cheerfully exclaimed, “It’s Max! The spokesperson for the LEGO Club!”
“Hey, Ah remember bein’ part of the LEGO Club back in the day,” remarked Applejack. “Those sure were good times.”
“You said it!” agreed Rainbow Dash. “I remember winning just about every kind of race I could enter.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow at the remarks she was hearing from her friends, so she turned to Max and asked, “Uh, sorry if this sounds a little ridiculous, but what exactly is the LEGO Club?”
Max explained, “The LEGO Club is a group that reaches out to children all over the world, encouraging them to express their creative talents as freely as possible, often with the hope that they could one day grow up to become Master Builders. We offer all kinds of fun activities for these kids, such as solving puzzles, baking, sewing, caring for animals, competing in races, and of course, building with basic Lego bricks.”
“Oh, so it’s like a kid’s version of the LEGO Team,” noted Sunset. “I guess it’s not too surprising I wouldn’t know about it, since I grew up in Equestria.”
“Yeah, you really don’t know what you missed out on,” remarked Pinkie. “Doing all kinds of things in the LEGO Club was the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life!”
“It really was such a nice group to be part of,” added Fluttershy.
“I think we can agree that we all had rather fond childhood memories, courtesy of the LEGO Club,” said Rarity contently.
“All except for me,” mumbled Twilight glumly. When everyone turned to her with confused looks, she continued, “I spent my childhood stuck in the Castle Region. Maybe if I had been given the opportunity to join that club, I might not have ended up so easily tempted to run away and join the Shadowbolts in the first place.”
“That’s probably a good point,” said Max. “I’ll have to see if we can expand the club’s outreach beyond the City Regions. It’s quite a shame you had to go through all of that, Twilight. Although there’s nothing we can do to change the past, maybe we can actually do something to prevent future generations from making a similar mistake.”
“Sounds to me like a great idea,” said Applejack with a smile. “An’ Ah’m sure a lotta other people would agree with that.”
“Absolutely!” exclaimed Pinkie excitedly with a bounce. “Just think of all the fun kids could have in places like castles, space stations, pirate ships, adventure temples, and many other places I can’t say in a single breath.” She then inhaled after finishing speaking.
Max chuckled and said, “Well, looks like I’ve got some work to do, but at least it’ll be worth the effort.”
“I’m sure we’ll all be looking forward to it,” said Sunset. She pulled out her phone to check the time, then put away her phone and said, “Well, my friends and I had better get going. Our flight back to Canterlot City will be leaving soon. But hey, it was nice being on this show.”
“And it was totally awesome to meet you, too,” added Rainbow Dash as he shook Max’s hand.
“Yeah, it was great to meet you girls, too,” said Max as he shook hands with each of the girls as they passed by towards the door. When Fluttershy passed by, he added, “Oh, and Snappy stays here.”
Fluttershy glanced down and realized she was still holding that puppy in her arms. “Oh. Right. Sorry,” she mumbled as she crouched down and gently let Snappy down to the floor. The white puppy gave a couple of appreciative barks before he scampered off down the hallway.
“Bye, Max!” shouted Pinkie as she shook hands with him.
The last one in line was Twilight, who gave Max a small smile of appreciation as she shook hands with him. Finally, Max silently waved goodbye to the group of friends as they left the room.
As the group of friends headed down the hallway, Sunset glanced over at Twilight and saw her gaze was downwards. Sunset placed her hand on Twilight’s shoulder and Twilight glanced up at her. “Relax, Twilight,” assured Sunset. “Everything’s going to be okay. Trust me.”
Twilight once again smiled at the gesture of reassurance. Adjusting to an entirely new way of life certainly wasn’t easy, not to mention the trauma she apparently still suffered from the Midnight Sparkle incident. Although today’s visit to the LEGO News Show studio in Lego City hadn’t gone quite as well she had hoped, Twilight definitely felt relieved that she could count on her new friends to help her out whenever she needed it.