In the Lego World, Twilight and Sunsets's team of friends join with fellow LEGO Team members Gloriosa and Timber to deal with a series of issues, which could eventually push one of them too far.
In an alternate world where everything and everyone is made of Lego, former Shadowbolt agent Twilight Sparkle is now a member of the LEGO Team in Canterlot City and has become good friends with Sunset Shimmer and the rest of her teammates, yet she continues to suffer trauma after the Midnight Sparkle incident.
When the team is sent on their next mission, they are joined by two other LEGO Team members, Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce, and it's not long before the team starts to realize they all suddenly have new magical abilities.
While Twilight, Sunset, and the rest of their friends try to figure out what exactly has been giving them this new magic, Gloriosa and Timber face their own issues against a super wealthy businessman named Filthy Rich. The team and the brother-sister duo try their best to work together, but some of them can only be pushed so far before they reach a breaking point.
It was the middle of another typical day in Canterlot City. Citizens were either busy at work or out enjoying their time off. With only a few clouds in the sky, it seemed like a great day for anyone who wished to simply relax and not have to worry about anything.
Along the sidewalk of a street, one citizen had a rather panicked look on her face as she rushed ahead in a big hurry. Her name was Twilight Sparkle — the one who had always lived here in the Lego World — and as far as she was concerned right now, she absolutely had to reach her destination right away.
When Twilight finally arrived at the correct building, she quickly burst through the front double-doors and immediately exclaimed, “I’m so sorry I’m late! I forgot to set my alarm last night and ended up sleeping in!”
Inside the lobby Twilight had just barged into were six other girls — Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity. These girls were a group of close friends who had only recently accepted Twilight as one of their own, and they were all very excited to have her on their team. In fact, despite being initially startled by Twilight’s sudden entrance, they all smiled when they saw their newest friend had finally arrived.
“It’s okay, Twilight,” assured Sunset Shimmer. “We kinda figured you were just running late and would get here as soon as you could.”
“Yeah!” agreed Rainbow Dash. “There’s no way we were gonna leave without ya!”
“Though I must admit, you have quite impeccable timing, darling,” noted Rarity. “Had you arrived just another minute later, we would have surely missed our intended departure time and be forced to rebook our reservations.”
It was at that moment when Spike — Twilight’s longtime trusty assistant — walked over to the group of friends as he dusted his hands off and remarked, “Well, that’s the last of the luggage. We’re all set to go!” He then noticed Twilight was among the group and added, “Oh, hey, Twilight. Glad to see you could make it.”
“Me too,” agreed Twilight. “I’m really sorry if I worried any of you.”
“Don’t feel so bad, Twilight,” assured Fluttershy. “We understand you’re still a little new to friendship.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Now that we’re all here, let’s get going!”
The group of friends headed down to the end of the lobby to grab their tickets. As Twilight waited, her gaze drifted over to a mirror on the nearby wall. Seeing herself standing amongst a group of such welcoming friends made her smile a little.
But that smile quickly fell when she noticed a pair of large raven-like wings suddenly unfurl from behind her back. She stumbled backwards and saw in the mirror that those wings were not attached to her back, but to someone else’s back. Someone she had hoped to never see ever again.
Twilight immediately turned around and gasped when the one she saw in the mirror turned out to be floating in the air right behind her! Around her, all of her friends also noticed the interloper’s sudden appearance, and their expressions showed they were all just as horrified at Twilight was.
“Midnight Sparkle?!” they all shouted in shock.
“How is this possible?!” exclaimed Twilight fearfully. “Sunset Shimmer helped me defeat you!”
“You and your friends can never truly defeat me!” boasted Midnight Sparkle before she began to cackle. As the evil laughter echoed across the room, the roof suddenly broke away and fell apart into separate Lego bricks, revealing a dark sky outside.
As the surrounding walls began to fracture, Midnight’s destructive power also took hold of Twilight’s friends. One by one, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Sunset Shimmer all screamed as they were torn apart and their separated pieces scattered amongst all the other Lego parts that began to swirl around in a large vortex. Twilight was absolutely terrified and couldn’t bear to take her eyes off the swirling mass of parts and pieces above as she slowly backed up towards the mirror on the wall.
“Midnight Sparkle’s a part of you!” continued Midnight as she suddenly appeared in the mirror behind Twilight.
Twilight screamed and rushed forward toward the middle of the disintegrating lobby while Midnight punched the mirror’s surface, smashing through it as if it had been a window. By the time Twilight reached the middle of the room, the walls were completely gone and the whole floor suddenly broke away from under her feet and was quickly torn apart. Twilight was now left floating in a seemingly endless void with countless Lego parts of all kinds swirling all around her.
“I’ll always be there, waiting in the darkest shadows of your mind,” continued Midnight as she hovered in front of Twilight. “I’ll be back, Twilight!” She flew around and gripped Twilight’s shoulders from behind. “And this time, I won’t stop until I have all the magic!” She then slammed herself against Twilight, fusing their bodies into one.
Twilight instantly felt the addition of the wings, glowing horn, and flaming goggles to her body, as well as the excessively violent mind of Midnight Sparkle. Twilight tried desperately to resist being overtaken and shouted, “No! STOP!!”
Thud!
Twilight flailed her limbs around desperately until she finally threw off the bedsheet that had ended up tangled around her. She panted heavily and rapidly glanced around for a few seconds before she noticed her true surroundings and finally began to relax. She was in her bedroom within her new apartment. More specifically, she was on the floor beside her bed.
Just a dream… thought Twilight, still in shock. I swear it felt so real…
Knock-knock-knock!
The door opened right after that knocking. “You okay, Twilight?” asked Spike with concern as the young boy stepped into the bedroom.
“I’m fine…” muttered Twilight. “Just fell out of bed, I guess.”
Spike closed the door behind him and asked, “You had another one of those nightmares, didn’t you?”
Twilight ignored Spike as she untangled herself out of the bedsheet and tossed it back onto her bed.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” mumbled Spike as he reached down and picked up the alarm clock that had also fallen to the floor. As he glanced at the time on that clock, his eyes widened as he suddenly gasped and exclaimed, “Twilight! We have to hurry! Our ride to Lego City leaves in half an hour!”
Twilight immediately snatched the clock out of Spike’s hands and gasped when she saw the time. “Oh no-no-no-no-no!” she exclaimed and tossed the clock aside as she rushed toward the closet and quickly grabbed her standard outfit — an entirely new wardrobe she had decided to start wearing after the end of her time as a Shadowbolt agent and the beginning of her time as a member of the LEGO Team with a group of the best friends she could ever ask for.
“Spike! Make a quick breakfast to go for us while I shower!” requested Twilight urgently as she grasped all of her clothes and rushed to the door, but in her haste, she was unable to push the door open and slammed right into it. She grunted from the impact and then grumbled, “Right… door opens the other way.” She then pulled the door open and rushed out into the hallway.
Spike stepped out into the hallway just in time to see the bathroom door slam shut. He then sighed and headed over to the kitchen. As he grabbed two waffles and stuck them into the toaster, he mumbled, “I guess some things will never change.”
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.
Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, and the rest of their friends and teammates were all riding in a small passenger jet airplane that was taking them back to their home region of Canterlot City. Although they had a relatively good time being on the LEGO News Show earlier today, they were certainly looking forward to returning home. For now, they simply did whatever they could to pass the time. Sunset and Twilight were looking out the windows near their respective seats, Rainbow Dash was watching a video on her phone, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were playing a card game, Rarity was reading a magazine, Fluttershy was listening to some relaxing music on her phone, and Spike was playing a game on his portable gaming device.
Sunset suddenly felt her phone vibrate, so she pulled it out and took a look at it. She read the text she had just received, then got up out of her seat and walked forward into the cockpit.
Twilight noticed Sunset leave and was curious about it, but decided not to say anything.
A few seconds later, Sunset returned and spoke up, “Okay, everyone, I’ve got an announcement to make.” Once everyone had turned their attention to her, she continued, “I just got a text from Celestia saying that we’ve just been assigned a new mission and she wants us to report to headquarters as soon as possible. I’ve already told the pilot to take us down to the runway just outside that building, rather than landing at Canterlot City Airport, so I’ll let her know that we’re on our way.” She then sat down in her seat and replied to Celestia’s text.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team on the plane had various reactions to the news of their next mission.
“Yay!” cheered Pinkie Pie as she tossed her cards into the air. “We’re going on another mission!”
Applejack set down her cards and grumbled, “Well, so much for gettin’ some time off after our trip to the News Show studio.”
“I concur,” agreed Rarity as she put away her magazine. “I was really hoping I could spend this afternoon catching up on some of my work that I had fallen behind on.” She sighed as she pulled out her phone and began dialing a number. “I’d better call my clients to inform them that their orders will likely have to be postponed.”
“I’m sure Celestia understands that we all have our own lives outside of the LEGO Team,” said Fluttershy. “If she wants us to report to the headquarters building right away, then it must be really important.”
“Well, whatever the mission is, I know it’s gonna be totally awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “Especially since this’ll be the first time we’ll have this Twilight joining us on a mission.”
Twilight was momentarily startled before she quickly responded, “Oh! Right, of course! It’ll certainly be an interesting experience. I mean, after working alone for many years, it sure will be nice to see how well I can contribute to this team.”
“You’ll do great, Twilight,” assured Sunset as she put away her phone. “If my experience is anything to go by, then I’m sure that you’ll prove to be an excellent part of the team.”
Twilight silently turned her attention to the window beside her seat and looked outside as the jet was now approaching Canterlot City. Although there was no denying her anxiety for the upcoming mission, she was able to remain relatively calm thanks to how caring and trustworthy her new friends and teammates were proving themselves to be. She could only hope that she would do just as well in returning the favor.
A short time later, the team had arrived at Canterlot City’s LEGO Team Headquarters and entered the massive multipurpose room atop the large mountaintop building. As they all walked into the room, Twilight couldn’t help but glance around in awe, since this was her very first time entering this facility. She was amazed by the high ceiling that permitted spacecraft to be docked above with a set of massive doors on one wall that could part open to allow such vehicles to enter or leave the building. Just as incredible were the massive windows along one side of the room, offering a magnificent view of the entire region of Canterlot City. She was also astonished and impressed by the relatively open environment that many employees were busy working at, which was so unlike what she had been used to as a Shadowbolt agent.
The team arrived at the briefing area at one end of the room and stopped near the elevated platform against the wall, upon which was a large console and massive display screen. And standing on that platform just behind the surrounding railing was Celestia Playwell.
“Welcome back, girls,” greeted Celestia.
“Always a pleasure to meet you, Miss Playwell,” greeted Rarity. “And congratulations on the recent news regarding your relatives in Lego City.”
Sunset turned to Rarity and remarked, “I’m guessing you’re referring to the official announcement by Kjeld that his son Thomas will be his successor.”
“Indeed,” confirmed Rarity with a nod.
“I am glad you all appreciate the announcement,” acknowledged Celestia. “I’ve met my cousin Thomas a few times over the years, and based on the kind of education he has received, I am very confident that he will one day make a great leader of the Lego World.” Celestia then turned away and walked over to the console as she added, “But enough about my family. Let us discuss your next assignment.”
“Yeah, let’s get to it!” agreed Rainbow Dash.
Celestia tapped some buttons on the console until an image came up on the display screen, showing a certain familiar minifig with blue skin, wearing a purple cape and pointed hat over her blue shirt and purple skirt, and holding a staff with a large five-pointed blue star on the end of it. “You all remember the Great and Powerful Trixie, correct?” asked Celestia.
“That arrogant sorceress from the Castle Region who was always so full of herself?” replied Sunset sourly. “Yeah, I remember her alright.”
The rest of the team, with the exception of Twilight and Spike, frowned and nodded in agreement.
“Well, after being in hiding since you defeated the Dazzlings, Trixie is once again on the move,” explained Celestia as she brought up a map of the Castle Region. “This time, she has now joined forces with the evil Jestro from the subregion of Knighton.” As the subregion in question was highlighted on the map, a second image came up that showed a minifig with white skin, yellow eyes, a crazy grin, and wearing a torn red and purple jester suit. “Apparently, they are both seeking a new source of powerful magic and wish to take it for themselves.”
“How do you know that?” asked Spike. “You’ve got a spy there or something?”
“Hardly necessary,” replied Celestia. “They practically told all about their plans to everyone they encountered.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that Jestro has a habit of unintentionally giving away his evil plans,” remarked Sunset. “And with how much Trixie likes to brag about herself, she probably wouldn’t even care if her enemies knew her plans. If anything, she would see it as a way to make sure her enemies don’t fall in a matter of seconds, just so she could get more fun out of the fight.”
“You sure seem to know a lot about Trixie,” noted Fluttershy.
“Keep in mind, I used to be a bad guy, myself,” reminded Sunset. “I would occasionally recruit her and Lightning Dust to help me out on some of my biggest heists.”
“And since you’re now on our side, we’ll totally be able to stay one step ahead of her!” remarked Rainbow Dash with a smile.
“Speaking of Lightning Dust,” Celestia spoke up, “I think you will be pleased to hear that she was captured only a few days ago by none other than Twilight’s old Shadowbolts teammates.”
“Looks like those five girls are getting by just fine,” remarked Spike.
“Indeed they are,” agreed Celestia with a nod. “When they are ready to join us, I believe they will one day make excellent members of the LEGO Team.”
“Well now that we don’t have to worry about Lightning Dust, I guess this means Trixie is now the only one left on LEGO’s Most Wanted,” remarked Pinkie Pie.
“I’m afraid LEGO’s Most Wanted will never be an empty list,” explained Celestia. “There will always be various criminals and villains who wish to cause nothing but trouble. After Trixie, the next one at the top of the list at this time would be Captain Brickbeard the pirate. He’s been on quite a rampage lately, terrorizing just about any coastal settlement he can get to, though each raid of his typically ends with mixed results.”
“Maybe you could send a message to our friend Captain Storm Wave to see if he could track down Brickbeard for us,” suggested Sunset.
“I will consider it,” replied Celestia.
“Well, enough about all that,” said Applejack. She turned to Celestia and asked, “So what’s the mission for us?”
“First of all, I have some good news and some bad news,” stated Celestia. “The good news is that the Nexo Knights were able to catch Jestro before he could escape.” Celestia tapped a button on the console and the image of Jestro vanished from the screen. “The bad news is that Trixie managed to slip away with her army of skeleton warriors. She was last seen going east, which means we assume she is heading for this Castle subregion…” On the map displayed on the screen, a subregion near the middle of the Castle Region was now highlighted. “The Dark Forest.”
“If I’m not mistaken, that is a rather old part of the Castle Region,” noted Rarity. “Why would Trixie suddenly want to go there?”
“We don’t know for sure,” answered Celestia as she turned away from the console. She walked over to the edge of the platform and looked down upon the gathered team and stated, “Your mission will be to go into the Dark Forest Subregion, find and stop Trixie, and if possible, find out exactly what kind of powerful new magic she is after.”
Sunset smiled and said with a nod, “I think we can handle that.”
“Yay!” cheered Pinkie Pie as she jumped with excitement. “Isn’t this great, Twilight? Your very first mission with us!” Her eyes had remained closed, so when she reached over to hug Twilight, she was suddenly surprised to grasp nothing but empty air. She opened her eyes and quickly glanced around in confusion. “Twilight?”
Everyone else quickly noticed that Twilight had completely vanished, so they all looked around in confusion. It wasn’t long until they all spotted her trying to sneak out the door.
“Twilight…” Sunset called out in a scolding tone as she folded her arms.
Twilight had just barely opened the door when she heard Sunset, causing her to suddenly freeze in place and lightly whimper. She nervously glanced back at the others and saw them all staring at her with varying looks of confusion and displeasure.
“Where do you think you’re going?” asked Sunset.
Twilight immediately shut the door and spun around to face the others as, with an awkward grin, she quickly replied, “Oh, I was just, uh… gonna get some supplies! Y’know, for the mission!” She then laughed nervously.
The facial expressions on everyone remained completely unchanged.
Realizing right away there was little point in continuing the act, she sighed and shamefully answered, “Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m… really not looking forward to this mission.”
“Why not?” asked Fluttershy.
“There’s nothin’ to worry about, sugarcube,” assured Applejack. “Just because it’s your first LEGO Team mission don’t mean—”
“It’s not that this is my first mission,” Twilight interrupted. She sighed again and said, “It’s because this mission will be in the Castle Region.” She paused as she shamefully lowered her gaze down to her feet. “I was really hoping I never had to go back there ever again.”
“Why would you be so reluctant about visiting the Castle Region?” asked Rarity.
“It’s because I don’t wanna risk going back down the same dark path that resulted in Midnight Sparkle,” admitted Twilight, “and that path started with my desire to get away from the Castle Region.”
The rest of the team remained silent for a moment. It wasn’t long before Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Well it’s not like we’re gonna force you to stay there or anything cruel like that,” she remarked with a giggle.
“Yeah, it’s just gonna be a quick visit for the mission,” agreed Rainbow Dash. “We go in there, we take out the villain, then we come back home. Done. End of story.”
“Besides,” added Sunset, “unlike the last time you were there, you’re not working alone anymore. You’re now part of a team, and we’ll be right beside you no matter what happens or wherever we go.”
Twilight smiled as she turned her gaze back to her friends and said, “You’re right… all of you. I guess I’ve just been so paranoid over what happened to me that I failed to rationally understand that I’m now living under a completely different set of circumstances.”
“It’s okay, Twilight,” assured Fluttershy. “We understand that you’ve been through a lot, and if you ever need any help, we’re here for you.”
“Anyway, now that we know we’re all in, let’s get on with the mission,” said Rainbow Dash. She turned to Celestia and asked, “Is the spaceship ready?”
“Actually, you girls won’t be using that spaceship anymore,” replied Celestia. “Instead, thanks to Twilight sharing her inventions with us, you will from now on be using the Jump-Gate to travel to your destination.”
Twilight perked up at the mention of the Jump-Gate and asked, “Oh! You’ve already got that set up?”
“Yeah, just barely finished with it.”
The team glanced back and saw top engineer Rusty Wrench slowly walking by with a very tired expression.
“Assembling that thing was a real nightmare,” grumbled Rusty. “And honestly, Twilight, did you really have to write a six hundred page user’s manual?”
Twilight placed a hand on her hip and stated, “When I said that rocket science is child’s play compared to Jump-Gate technology, I was not kidding.”
“And somehow I believe you,” mumbled Rusty. He then slowly made his way to the door and said, “I think I’m gonna go home early and call it a day. I really need to get some rest.” His eyes were partially closed from exhaustion, so as he tried to head out the door, he failed to notice where exactly the doorframe was and ended up banging his head as he walked right into it. “Ouchy,” he muttered as he rubbed the sore spot on his head, then proceeded out the door.
Celestia walked back to the console and said, “I’ll provide you with a set of coordinates that should take you to a part of the Dark Forest that’s close to where two other LEGO Team members happen to be at this time.” Celestia tapped some buttons and two portraits came up on the display screen. The one on the left was a girl with pink skin, lips in a slightly darker shade of pink, green eyes, and had a long magenta hair piece with a chain of daisies around the top. The one on the right was a boy with medium nougat skin, green eyes, and a short green hair piece with a dark grey beanie hat on top of it.
“Gloriosa Daisy and her brother Timber Spruce have been members of the LEGO Team for a few years now,” explained Celestia. “Whenever they’re not busy running their family’s summer camp in the Everfree Forest just outside of Canterlot City, we typically send them on goodwill missions that are meant to ensure we maintain good relations with every region in the Lego World. They are actually on such a mission right now in the Dark Forest Subregion, so I believe it would be wise for you to find them and ask for their assistance.”
“Are you sure they’ve got what it takes to help us?” asked Sunset.
“Like I said, they’ve been on the team for some time and have proven themselves very capable,” replied Celestia. “In fact, back when Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria first came to this world and needed help retrieving her magic crown, Gloriosa and Timber were among the members I had initially considered for the team that would help her. But as you all know, she insisted on recruiting all of you instead, and although I now concede that she made the better choice, I still firmly believe that these two fellow LEGO Team members can be trusted.”
“Okay, just to be sure I got this right,” Twilight spoke up, “once we arrive at the provided coordinates, we are to find Gloriosa and Timber, explain to them the situation with Trixie, then we’ll need to come up with a plan on how to stop her from going any further.”
“Precisely,” confirmed Celestia with a nod.
Spike suddenly spoke up. “Well, you girls go ahead and have fun. I’ll just stay behind and hold down the fort, like I always do,” he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
Rarity raised an eyebrow and asked, “Now why would you automatically presume that we wish to depart without you?”
“Because that’s just the way things always were with Twilight,” answered Spike.
Twilight placed a hand on Spike’s shoulder and explained, “First of all, Spike, that was back when I was very adamant about working alone, which we all know is now no longer true. And secondly, according to what the rest of our new team has told us, when Princess Twilight had visited this world, she also brought her world’s Spike along with her and allowed him to join her and the others on just about every journey they made. He even made key contributions that would have otherwise never made success of certain missions possible. With that in mind…” She smiled. “I think it’s time I finally gave you the chance to assist us on missions.”
“Really?!” asked Spike as he began to grin with hope.
“Definitely,” confirmed Twilight with a nod. “Besides, now that we live in a residential apartment and not some secret hideout, I see no reason to keep you on guard duty.”
“YES!!” shouted Spike as he jumped with excitement. “This is one of the best moments of my life!”
Sunset giggled and remarked, “You really didn’t let him out much, did ya?”
“Let’s just say you’re not the only one who regrets her past actions,” quipped Twilight.
“Touché,” responded Sunset with a smile.
“Regardless,” said Rarity, “now that we know what our assignment is, we should make preparations for it right away. And I believe I know just the right outfits for us to wear.”
“What’s wrong with what we’re already wearing?” asked Rainbow Dash skeptically.
“An’ besides, we’re gonna be out in the woods,” added Applejack. “It’s called the Dark Forest for a reason, ya know.”
“Oh I am very well aware of that, darling,” replied Rarity with a sly smile. “Trust me, once you see what I have in mind, you will understand how talented I am at selecting the appropriate wardrobe for every environment imaginable.”
“Ah gotta admit, this ain’t so bad,” remarked Applejack.
“I knew you would appreciate it,” Rarity smugly said.
The team of eight minifigs had gathered near the newly-completed Jump-Gate that was built into a wall in a cleared out corner of the massive room. They were all now wearing clothes that were more suitable for a hike through the woods. Applejack had white on her torso and upper arms with a green stripe on the collar and sleeves, blue on her upper legs, brown on her feet and lower legs, a red apple on the front of the waist, and her usual cowboy hat on her head. Rainbow Dash had white on her torso, red on her upper arms and feet, blue on her legs, and her usual red-yellow-blue bands around her wrists. Pinkie Pie had white on her torso, pink on her upper arms, light blue on her upper legs, blue on her feet, a pink heart on the front of her waist, and her usual light blue bands around her wrists. Fluttershy had white on her torso, a turquoise skirt wrapped around her upper legs, and pink on her feet. Rarity had light blue on her torso with a frilly pattern along the shoulders and waist, purple on her upper legs with three white diamonds on each side, white with a purple outline on her feet, and her usual gold bands around her wrists. Spike had white on his torso, green on his upper arms, blue on his legs, brown on his feet, and a blue baseball cap instead of his usual red one on his head. Twilight Sparkle had light blue on her torso and upper arms with a blue stripe on the collar and sleeves, violet on her upper legs and feet, and had a magenta six-pointed star on the front of her waist. And Sunset Shimmer had white on her torso, magenta on her arms, dark grey on her upper legs, black on her feet, and her symbol of a red and yellow sun on the front of her waist.
“I almost feel like we’re going to a summer camp instead of the Castle Region,” remarked Rainbow Dash.
“Yes, well, keeping Twilight’s anxiety regarding the Castle Region in mind, it would probably be best for us to not go completely medieval,” explained Rarity. “And besides, since we’ll be recruiting assistance from the co-owners of Camp Everfree, I figured that they would appreciate seeing us wearing a familiar style.”
“Even if Gloriosa and Timber agree to work with us,” Sunset spoke up, “I just hope that they can offer some talents or experience that can help us stop Trixie.”
“They are on a goodwill mission,” noted Fluttershy. “Maybe they could ask the people who live there to help us out.”
While the rest of the team discussed the upcoming mission, Twilight attached a portable Jump-Gate device to her right wrist. She sighed and quietly noted, “I sure did miss having one of these with me.”
“Ah gotta admit,” remarked Applejack as she hefted her backpack onto her shoulders, “Ah’m mighty impressed by just how many fancy inventions you’ve come up with. No doubt, you’ll be bringin’ some of ‘em with ya, right?”
“Definitely,” acknowledged Twilight with a nod and a smile. “For example, here’s one of my favorites.” She reached behind her back and pulled out a black rolled-up object, then she unrolled it to reveal that it held quite an arrangement of glasses. “I call them special spectacles. Each pair of glasses in this travel case has been designed to provide me with a different range of vision that would otherwise need special cameras and equipment to detect. I’ve got night vision, infrared vision, ultraviolet vision, x-ray vision—”
“X-ray glasses?” Pinkie Pie suddenly asked excitedly. “You mean the kind that can see through clothes? Can I try ‘em on?!”
Twilight frowned as she rolled up her set of glasses cases and firmly replied, “No, and for two very good reasons. One, that’s not how x-ray vision works — the fact that hospitals use x-rays to examine a patient’s bones should be obvious proof of that. And two, all of my special specs are specifically calibrated to work with my rather poor eyesight, so the only thing you would ever see through them is a blurry mess.”
“Aww,” moaned Pinkie in disappointment. “Bummer.”
Sunset Shimmer hefted her backpack onto her shoulders, then saw Rainbow Dash and Spike do the same with theirs. “Everyone got everything they need?” she asked.
“I believe I have all the minimal essentials I shall need,” replied Rarity as she gestured toward a large pile of various luggage right behind her, easily more than two dozen suitcases. “Spike, could you be a dear and assist me?”
Spike took one look at the absurdly large amount of luggage and replied, “Yeeeaaahhh— No.”
Rarity immediately froze and her eyes shrank. She had not been expecting such a reaction at all, especially from Spike of all people. “Why not?” she asked, flabbergasted.
“Seriously?” responded Spike incredulously with a raised eyebrow. “I may be just a kid, but even I know overpacking when I see it. If you really wanna bring all that stuff with ya, then carry it yourself.” He then noticed Fluttershy struggling to get her backpack on, so he decided to walk over to her and give her a helping hand.
Rarity simply remained frozen on the spot, her jaw gaping in shock.
“It’s okay, Rarity,” assured Pinkie Pie as she suddenly jumped out from behind the pile of luggage. “I can carry this stuff for ya! I come from a whole family of miners; we’re practically built to carry heavy loads.” She then quickly strapped together all of the pieces of luggage until everything was attached into a single mass, then she grasped two of the straps over her arms and effortlessly lifted the whole pile up onto her back. “Alleyoop!”
Rarity momentarily stared at Pinkie in astonishment, then quietly muttered, “My, Pinkie… your seemingly endless talents will never cease to amaze me.”
Twilight hefted her backpack onto her shoulders, then walked over to the console beside the Jump-Gate and entered the coordinates that Celestia had recently provided. She turned back to her teammates and asked, “Is everyone ready?”
The others all nodded and said varying words of agreement.
“Now let’s see if this one works,” muttered Twilight as she hit the big green “Open” button on the console. The Jump-Gate made the familiar low whooshing noise for a few seconds, then the large doors parted open to the sides. Beyond the now opened gateway was a dirt path in the middle of a dense forest where very little direct sunlight made it through the canopy.
Pinkie Pie cheerfully remarked, “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing something as super-cool as that!”
“Yeah,” agreed Rainbow Dash. “As much as I love flying the team’s spaceship, opening an instant doorway to anywhere is just as awesome.”
“Shall we proceed?” suggested Rarity.
The team of minifigs all walked through the gateway into the woodland. After all eight of them had passed through, the Jump-Gate’s doors automatically closed. Some of the team members glanced back and watched those doors close, immediately followed by the gateway completely vanishing from existence.
“Don’t think Ah’ll ever get used to seein’ that,” muttered Applejack.
Spike looked around at the surrounding forest and asked, “So, uh… where to?”
“Celestia said that the coordinates I just entered should have brought us very close to where Gloriosa and Timber have pitched their camp,” answered Twilight as she also glanced around. “I don’t see any sign of them right now, but I’m sure they can’t be too far from here.”
“I guess we’ll just follow the trail and see where it takes us,” suggested Sunset.
Everyone silently agreed and followed Sunset as she began walking down the dirt path through the woods. The team was now on a mission, and the first step was to obtain whatever assistance they could find here in the Dark Forest.
As far as the team of girls from Canterlot City could see at the moment, the Dark Forest was a region of almost pure wilderness. Along the dirt path, all they could see around them were countless large trees that seemed to go on forever, and the canopy above was so think that it was difficult to tell where the sun was. The only sounds to be heard were the rustling of leaves in the cool breeze and the occasional chirping of songbirds.
After a few minutes, Rainbow Dash decided to speak up. “Are you sure we’re going the right way?” she asked.
“Not really,” admitted Sunset Shimmer. “But I am sure that we arrived somewhere close to where we need to go. If it’s not this way, we’ll just turn around and try the other way.”
“What if it’s not somewhere along the trail?” asked Fluttershy.
“Then we’ll just have to search through the woods,” replied Sunset. “Either way, it shouldn’t take too long for us to find Gloriosa and Timber.”
Some rustling in the nearby bushes caused everyone to suddenly stop and glance around. “Not unless somethin’ finds us, first,” cautioned Applejack.
Everyone continued to look around to try and find the source of that noise. Since none of them had any idea of what else could be lurking in this dense forest, they were all tense and on high alert.
Eventually, right behind the group of friends, someone jumped out of the bushes and gave a hearty laughter of, “Ha-ha!”
Everyone flinched and spun around at the sudden unexpected arrival. Spike was so startled that he actually yelped and leaped right into Fluttershy’s arms.
“Oh! Goodness…” mumbled Fluttershy as she caught Spike in her arms.
It didn’t take much more than a second for Spike to realized what he had just done, so he turned to Fluttershy as he chuckled nervously and muttered, “Uh, s-sorry about that.”
“It’s, um… it’s okay…” Fluttershy quietly acknowledged as she gently let Spike down out her arms.
That brief encounter did not escape Rarity’s attention. Once the shy girl and the young boy parted, Rarity looked away with an irritable expression on her face.
The team looked to the stranger and saw that he had a brown torso with a black belt around the waist and another over the right shoulder, green legs, a green forestman’s hat on his head with a red feather in it, had black facial hair in the shape of a goatee with a curled mustache, and had the standard yellow skin of most minifigs. The stranger simply gave another hearty laugh and said, “My apologies for startling the lot of thee. We do not get many visitors here. I welcome thee to the Dark Forest! I am Rob N. Hood!” He removed his hat and held it up as he introduced himself.
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and asked, “Robin Hood?”
Rob gave another hearty laugh as he put his hat back on his head and replied, “No, no, that is my father’s name. I am Rob N. Hood!”
“Sounds kinda the same to me,” Applejack pointed out in confusion.
“No, I am Rob N. Hood,” stated Rob. “First name Rob, middle initial N, last name Hood.”
Pinkie Pie smiled and remarked, “Ohhhhh, Rob N. Hood. I get it!”
“Hey, I remember that name,” remarked Twilight. “You’re one of the most prominent residents of the Dark Forest.”
“True that!” acknowledged Rob proudly with his hand on his hips. “Spent my entire life in these here woods and have memorized every rock and tree to the point where I can safely navigate the land in even the darkest of nights!”
“Maybe you can help us,” Sunset spoke up. “We’re members of the LEGO Team sent here on an important mission, and we were told that we could find fellow team members Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce nearby to help us out. Do you think you could take us to them?”
“I most certainly can!” answered Rob cheerfully. “They have been encamped along with many of my fellow Forestmen at the old hemlock outpost not far from here. Follow me and I shall take thee right to thy companions!” Rob then quickly headed back through the bushes into the forest.
Sunset turned back to her friends and shrugged as she said with a smile, “Well, you heard him. Let’s go after him.” She then pushed her way through the bushes after Rob.
Rainbow Dash quickly followed after Sunset, followed by Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Twilight hesitated for a brief moment, but soon also followed through the bushes, with Spike and Fluttershy right behind her. Rarity was highly unsure about whether it was really necessary to take such a rugged direction as going right through those bushes, but once she suddenly found herself all alone, she sighed and reluctantly followed after everyone else.
After making it through the bushes, the team continued to follow Rob between the large trees of a relatively dense part of the forest. Within a few minutes, they soon arrived at a small clearing in the woods. Within this clearing were a few tree-like structures built out of brown and green Lego bricks, some of which appeared to have a door at the base of the trunk and a few small windows higher up along the trunk.
“Not so surprising, when you consider that this region was established about twenty years ago,” explained Twilight. “Back then, there weren’t as many multi-purpose specialized parts as we have today, so builders in those days had to create whatever they could with a rather limited range of simple bricks and pieces. And since this region stopped receiving public support after only a year, it has remained virtually unchanged since those days, almost like a time capsule.”
As the team entered the clearing, the door at the base of one of the brick-built trees opened and out stepped a minifig with pink skin, yellow on her torso and shoulders, a green band across the top and middle of the torso, light blue on her upper legs, brown around her feet, and a face and hair piece that the team immediately recognized from the portrait they had recently seen of Gloriosa Daisy. She also had a small piece around her neck joint in the shape of a necklace with five tiny gemstones that were colored, from left to right, yellow, white, orange, blue, and pink.
As Gloriosa walked out of the brick-built tree, she quickly noticed the team and her pleasant smile turned to a confused frown. “What’s going on here?” she asked.
“Greetings, Miss Daisy,” said Rob as he walked over to Gloriosa. “These fair ladies claim to be members of the LEGO Team, sent to this very region on a mission of great importance. They are in need of assistance from thou and thy brother, so I have brought them here.”
Gloriosa turned to the team and asked, “You girls are from the LEGO Team? What branch are you part of?”
“Canterlot City,” answered Rarity.
“Canterlot City?” muttered Gloriosa. She then immediately smiled and remarked, “Oh, you must be the team that saved the Lego World on three separate occasions!”
“Yup! That would be us!” boasted Rainbow Dash.
“Well, I must say, it’s a real pleasure to meet you girls,” said Gloriosa. “I’m Gloriosa Daisy, director of Camp Everfree just outside of Cantrlot City, and a trusted fellow member of the LEGO Team.”
“Nice to meet ya too, Gloriosa,” greeted Applejack as she shook Gloriosa’s hand. “Ah remember goin’ to Camp Everfree when Ah was a kid. Good times.”
“I remember going to Camp Everfree, too,” added Fluttershy. “I just loved going on all those wonderful nature walks.”
“I went to Camp Everfree when I was a kid, too!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly. “Best summer ever!”
Sunset turned to her teammates and asked, “Wait, are you saying some of you actually met her before?”
“Probably not,” admitted Gloriosa. “I became camp director only a few years ago, so I’m sure it was my late parents who had welcomed them to Camp Everfree back then.”
“Yeah, they were awesome,” remarked Rainbow Dash. “It was really cool how they let us do whatever activities we wanted to do.”
“Though I still can’t believe they wouldn’t let me do a fashion show for ‘impracticality’ reasons,” grumbled Rarity. “I mean, how difficult can it really be to acquire rolls of fabric, sewing machines, mannequins, and a customized runway?”
The four other girls who had once been to Camp Everfree just frowned and silently shook their heads.
Twilight sighed and mumbled, “I wish I could’ve been there. I certainly would’ve loved it much more than staying in the Castle Region.”
Sunset had heard Twilight, but chose to ignore that comment for now as she turned to Gloriosa and remarked, “I’m actually impressed that you can handle both running a summer camp and going on missions for the LEGO Team.”
“To be honest, I didn’t really plan on things turning out like this,” admitted Gloriosa. “My brother and I both joined the LEGO Team to gain some experience that we could later pass on to future campers, but it was only a few weeks later that I suddenly found myself in charge of our family’s camp. It’s been quite a struggle at times, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. Like I always say, I’ve got this.”
“Speaking of your brother, where’s Timber Spruce?” asked Twilight.
“He’s out gathering firewood right now,” answered Gloriosa, “but I’m sure he’ll be back any minute.”
“In that case, I guess we’ll wait for him to come back before we explain why we’ve been sent here,” said Sunset.
“Or maybe we won’t have to wait at all,” said Pinkie as she pointed to the other side of the clearing. “Look!”
Everyone turned to where Pinkie was pointing and they saw a small wagon loaded with chopped logs being hauled into the encampment by a minifig with medium nougat skin, red on his torso and shoulders, olive green on his upper legs, brown on his feet and in a band around his wrists, a symbol printed on the front of his torso of a mountain and a lake under a sunny sky, and a face and hair piece that the team immediately recognized from the portrait they had recently seen of Timber Spruce.
Timber brought the wagon over to another one of the brick-built trees, then grabbed the ax he had stuck onto a clamp on the side of the wagon and made his way towards the middle of the encampment. As soon as he noticed his sister and the team of girls nearby, he stopped walking and turned to them. He raised an eyebrow and asked, “Uh… what’s going on, Gloriosa? I thought we were supposed to be the only ones on this goodwill mission.”
“Well, it looks like something else has come up recently,” replied Gloriosa. She turned to Sunset and asked, “Care to explain?”
Sunset nodded and explained, “Just over an hour ago, Celestia informed us that the evil sorceress, the Great and Powerful Trixie, is once again on the move, along with her army of skeleton warriors. She was last seen heading towards this part of the Castle Region, claiming that she’s after some new kind of powerful magic. We don’t know what she’s really after, nor are we absolutely sure that she’s actually targeting the Dark Forest or just passing through, but we do know that we need to stop her here before she gets any further.”
“Oh my,” muttered Gloriosa as she held her hand near her mouth in shock. “That does sound like some serious trouble.”
“And Celestia Playwell thinks we can help you?” asked Timber.
“You happen to be in the area right now,” replied Sunset. “And since you’re here on a goodwill mission, we figured that you could convince the locals to help us, too.”
Rob N. Hood — who was still with the gathered group — gave another hearty laugh and proclaimed, “Say no more, fair lady. I shall spread the word to my fellow Forestmen and we shall scout these woods for any sign of the evil sorceress and her army.”
Applejack simply shrugged and remarked, “Works for me.”
“Yeah,” agreed Rainbow Dash. “With your help, we’ll catch that arrogant brat in no time!”
“But first,” Gloriosa spoke up, “perhaps you could ask the Forestmen to help build some shelters for our new guests here. It’ll be getting dark soon, and I would hate for these girls to be forced to sleep outside.”
“What do you mean it’ll be dark soon?” asked Rarity in confusion. “I’m fairly sure that it is still rather early in the afternoon.”
“The Castle Region lies a few time zones ahead of the City Regions,” explained Twilight. “Due to our instantaneous travel via the Jump-Gate, we see from our perspective that we’ve jumped ahead a few hours so that it’s now almost evening.”
“Jump-Gate?” asked Timber. “What’s a Jump-Gate?”
Twilight replied, “It’s a means of literally instantaneous travel, once used exclusively by Shadowbolt agents, and now being adopted for use by the LEGO Team. To sum it up in a single simple sentence, it’s basically an instant doorway to anywhere you wanna go.”
“Sounds pretty neat,” remarked Timber. “Any idea where I can get one?”
Twilight folded her arms and smugly smiled as she replied, “Well, it just so happens that you’re speaking with the inventor of the Jump-Gate.”
“Oh, so you’re an inventor?” noted Timber. “That’s pretty cool. I wonder what else you’ve invented.”
“Oh, much more than I can recall off the top of my head, that’s for sure,” remarked Twilight. “You should see my personal laboratory. I often have more than one project going on at a time.”
Sunset cleared her throat and spoke up, “Uh, as much as I’m sure you two would love to talk about random stuff, we should probably get to work on building those shelters.”
“Consider it done!” declared Rob. He then turned to the surrounding trees and cupped his hands around his mouth as he called out, “Fellow Forestmen!”
Within seconds, numerous minifigs began to pop out of their hiding places from either behind trees, within bushes, and even up in the treetops. These minifigs all wore woodland uniforms in various arrangements of green and brown, with some also having bits of red, yellow, or blue. They wore on their heads either a brown hood or a green Forestman’s hat with a feather in it, and some of them even had a quiver on their back, attached around the neck joint. The Forestmen quickly emerged from their various hideouts and gathered around Rob.
“Forestmen,” began Rob, “we are in need of more shelters to house our new guests here. The way I see things here, I’m afraid we may not have enough parts to construct one for each of them, but if we presume they shall not mind sharing, I believe four tent-like shelters should suffice.” He turned back to the team and asked, “Shall that be acceptable to thee?”
“I think we’re good with that,” replied Sunset.
“Very well, then.” Rob turned back to the gathered Forestmen and declared, “Forestmen, let’s get building!”
The gathered Forestmen all nodded and quickly leaped into action, gathering around two of the brick-built trees. Some of the Forestmen climbed up to the top of those two trees, then started taking them apart, piece by piece, and passing each part down to the Forestmen on the ground below. Those on the ground divided themselves into two distinct groups. The first group stayed at the base of the trees and caught the parts as they fell, then passed them on to the other group, who then began assembling those parts into something new. With everyone moving like clockwork, it didn’t take long before four brick-built tent-like structures began to take shape.
“Wow, these guys are good,” remarked Pinkie Pie.
“Behold,” Timber proudly said, “building with Lego bricks, old school style.”
“It’s almost like going back in time,” muttered Spike in awe.
Despite moving at a pace that would be considered relatively average, the fact that the Forestmen all worked together allowed them to make surprisingly quick progress. And as the tents continued to take shape, it was clear they all possessed some amazing creative talent, especially considering the rather limited range of parts they had to work with. They may not have been Master Builders, but they certainly didn’t need any instructions.
After only a matter of minutes, the four brick-built tents were completed. They were built mostly out of brown bricks, with a few special green parts atop the roof. Instead of an actual door, they had a small wall section on hinges. And with no transparent parts, all the small windows in the tents were simply gaps in the walls. Most importantly, all four structures seemed large enough to each house two minifigs, just as the team was promised.
“Not bad,” remarked Applejack with a smile. “Not bad at all.”
“Yes, I suppose these shelters should suffice, given the surrounding environment,” acknowledged Rarity with her arms folded.
“Job well done, fellow Forestmen!” declared Rob. “Now that the matter of shelter for our guests has been settled, we now have a new task at hand. It is rumored that the evil sorceress, the Great and Powerful Trixie, is on her way into this very forest as we speak. Therefore, we must establish patrols to be on the lookout for any sign of Trixie or her army of skeleton warriors. Should any of us discover Trixie’s presence in these woods, we are to swiftly alert the LEGO Team encamped here, so that they may take action to deal with the threat. So let us not waste another moment, lads. Grab thy swords, ready thy bows, and may the Dark Forest protect thee!”
All of the gathered Forestmen nodded in acknowledgement and began to quickly spread out through the surrounding woodland.
“So, um… what now?” asked Fluttershy.
“With Rob and the Forestmen on the lookout for Trixie, I guess all we can do now is wait until they find her,” replied Sunset with a shrug.
“Agreed,” stated Twilight. “Until we know for sure where Trixie is, we won’t be able to devise an effective strategy on how we can possibly deal with her.”
“In the meantime,” said Gloriosa with a smile, “you girls should relax here and enjoy the peace for however long it’ll last.”
“Are you sure we won’t be too much of a burden for you and your brother, Miss Daisy?” asked Rarity.
Gloriosa simply giggled and replied, “Oh, don’t worry about me. If I can handle running Camp Everfree for half the year and going on goodwill missions for the other half, I can definitely handle a mash-up of the two. I’ve got this!” She then turned around and walked back into the brick-built tree she had been residing in.
Timber rested his ax over his shoulder as he said, “While you girls figure out who’s gonna sleep in which tent, I’ll go get the campfire started.” He then turned around and headed back to his wagon full of firewood.
Sunset turned to her teammates and said, “Well, you heard him. Since we’re all gonna have to share a tent with someone, we should decide who we would be most comfortable with.”
Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack and simply asked, “Roommate?”
Applejack nodded and simply replied, “Roommate.” She and Rainbow then headed towards one of the brick-built tents.
“Boy, that was an easy choice,” quipped Spike.
“Hey, Spike?” asked Sunset. “Is it okay with you if I share a tent with Twilight?”
Spike shrugged and replied, “Eh, fine by me. I know you care about her as much as I do, so I’m okay with it.”
“What about you, Twilight?” asked Sunset. “Is that okay with you?”
“Uh, sure, I guess,” replied Twilight with a shrug. “I mean, Spike’s right. I do trust you a lot, Sunset Shimmer, so I’m actually kinda glad you’d want to share one of these tents with me.”
“I suppose I know who will be volunteering to stay with me,” remarked Rarity. She turned to Spike and asked, “Care to assist me with my luggage?”
Spike hesitantly glanced away as he replied, “Actually, I was thinking of staying with Fluttershy.” He glanced at Rarity and quickly added, “No hard feelings, right?”
Before Rarity had a chance to respond, Spike quickly turned away and walked over to one of the brick-built tents. Fluttershy didn’t say anything and simply shrugged with a frown before following after Spike.
Rarity let out a sigh of disappointment.
Pinkie Pie immediately wrapped her arms around Rarity and gave her a big hug as she remarked, “Looks like that just leaves me and you. Yay! We get to be tent buddies!”
Straining against the tight hug, Rarity turned to Sunset and Twilight and quietly whimpered, “Please help me.”
Both Sunset and Twilight couldn’t resist giggling at Rarity’s misfortune.
Later that evening, after the sun had set and darkness fell over the Dark Forest, the Canterlot City LEGO Team, along with Timber Spruce, had gathered around a campfire in the middle of the clearing. All nine minifigs were sitting on three simple benches, each built out of a few 2x2 bricks and a 2x12 plate. Timber sat in the middle of one bench with Twilight to his left and Applejack to his right. On the bench next to Twilight, Fluttershy sat in the middle with Sunset Shimmer to the right and Spike to the left. And on the bench next to Applejack, Pinkie Pie sat in the middle with Rarity to the right and Rainbow Dash to the left.
As everyone stared into the campfire, Rarity sighed and asked, “How long do you suppose we will be encamped in this area?”
“As long as it takes for Rob and the Forestmen to find Trixie,” answered Sunset. “Once we know where she is, then we can begin our mission to stop her, and only when we’re finished with that will be when we can return home.”
“I really hope we can do that as soon as possible,” muttered Fluttershy. “Even after the last two times we’ve met Trixie, she still scares me.”
“I’m sure she can’t be that terrifying,” remarked Timber. “I’ve heard of a lot of other scary things that lurk in forests like this one.”
“Really?” asked Applejack as she raised an eyebrow. “Well if you’ve got a scary story for us, Ah’d be happy to hear it.”
“Are you girls really sure you wanna hear this story?” asked Timber.
“After everything we’ve been through, I’m sure we can handle an old campfire story,” replied Rainbow Dash dismissively.
“Alright, if you insist,” said Timber. He then leaned forward and began his story. “Everyone, gather close and listen, as I tell you about the legend… of Gaia Everfree.
“Many years ago, back when Ole Playwell himself oversaw the establishment of the Lego World, my great-grandparents were among the first generation of minifigures. While most people at the time were content with founding all the Town Regions that would later become cities, my great-grandparents were more interested in exploring new lands and sharing their discoveries others. When they reached the area that would later be known as the Castle Region, they knew that this was a special place, and began surveying the land to aid any future explorers and settlers who would almost certainly follow.
“But when they reached the Dark Forest, strange things started to happen. It began with small things, like their surveying equipment falling over on its own, or the campfire suddenly going out. But as they went deeper into the Dark Forest, they began to see incidents caused by roots and vines suddenly sprouting out of the ground and entangling themselves around anything they could grasp.
“Finally, one dark and windy night, my great-grandparents heard a loud crash, so they rushed out of their tent, just before a massive tree toppled over and fell right on top of it! Before they even had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief from that narrow escape, they turned around and saw a large creature rising from the earth. She had wild hair like the roots of a tree, her mouth had jagged rock teeth, and her eyes were pools of black tar, but her aura shimmered like diamonds. Anywhere she went, she left a trail of gem dust in her wake.
“Trembling in fear, my great-grandparents asked who she was and what she wanted. In a deep and hollow voice, she told them that her name was Gaia Everfree, an ancient spirit who held domain over the forests of the world, and that they were trespassing on one of her favorite lands. My great-grandparents got down on their knees and begged her to let them leave unharmed, promising that they would do whatever they could to persuade others to not bring harm to this land. Gaia Everfree finally agreed, but warned them that should their promise ever be broken, she would return to wreak havoc on those who would dare to disturb her domain.
“When my great-grandparents later returned to the town of Canterlot, they bought all the land of the forest not far from town to ensure that no one else would be allowed to try and develop that land for any selfish reason. They named it the Everfree Forest, as a reminder of the promise they made, and built a summer camp there so that others would be able to see for themselves the beautiful land they were trying to preserve.
“To this day, my family continues to hold that promise my great-grandparents made all those years ago. But although we warn everyone we can, we know that won’t guarantee that these forests remain undisturbed. So if any of you ever see a trail of gem dust, you’ll know that it’s a warning from… Gaia Everfree!”
As soon as Timber finished his story, a dark figure suddenly appeared behind him and approached the gathered group, causing most of them to scream in terror. Spike also leaped into Fluttershy’s arms.
The figure stepped forward and the light from the campfire revealed it to be Gloriosa Daisy. “Hey, everyone!” she greeted with a smile. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Where were you, anyway?” asked Sunset.
Gloriosa hesitated for a second as she replied, “I was… speaking with Rob about the ongoing search for Trixie. No sign of her yet, but the Forestmen will keep looking.”
The teammates glanced at one another with unsure looks.
Gloriosa ignored the looks of uncertainty and said, “Well, it’s getting pretty late now, so you girls better start getting ready for bed. See you in the morning!” With a smile and a wave, she then turned around and returned to the brick-built tree where she was staying in the encampment.
After watching his sister leave, Timber turned back to the others and asked, “Are you sure you won’t have too much trouble getting some sleep tonight? You did say you skipped over a few time zones to get here.”
“We actually woke up pretty early today so we could make it to the LEGO News Show on time,” explained Sunset. “I’m sure we’ll adjust soon enough.”
Timber nodded and said, “In that case, I’m gonna hit the sack. I’ll leave the fire going for the night watch.” He then got up off the bench and began walking over to another one of the brick-built trees.
Timber’s mention of the night watch made Twilight glance around at the surrounding forest. She couldn’t see them, but she knew that some of the friendly Forestmen had volunteered to keep watch throughout the night. With the threat of Trixie out there and not a clue as to where she and her army might be, they were not taking any chances.
“Um, Spike?” Fluttershy quietly spoke up. “You can let go now.”
Spike suddenly realized that he had leaped into Fluttershy’s arms and held his arms around her neck. With a nervous chuckle, he let go of her and stepped back onto the ground.
Rarity said nothing as she narrowed her eyes at that display, which did not go unnoticed by Pinkie Pie.
“Don’t be so nervous, Spike,” assured Applejack. “Ah’m sure that story can’t be real.”
“I don’t know…” said Rainbow Dash uneasily. “Gaia Everfree could be some creature that got booted from Equestria and ended up in this world. That’s what happened with the sirens.”
“True that,” admitted Applejack. “But for now, let’s try not to worry ‘bout that too much. We’ve got enough on our plate with Trixie on the loose. The last thing we need is Equestrian magic to further complicate things.”
“Yes, I suppose that would be a legitimate concern,” noted Rarity. “After dealing with three incidents involving powerful magic from Equestia, I am most certainly not looking forward to the possibility of yet another one.” When she noticed Twilight’s downcast expression, Rarity nervously chuckled and added, “Uh, no offense, darling.”
Twilight refused to say anything as she got up from her bench and began walking over to her tent.
Sunset Shimmer sighed as she got up from her seat on the bench and said to her teammates, “We should probably be more careful about what we say around Twilight. She’s obviously still going through a lot.” She then followed Twilight back to their tent.
Everyone else silently agreed with Sunset as they all got up from the benches and walked over to their respective tents for the night.
Sunset entered her brick-built tent and pulled the hinged wall segment closed behind her. She glanced over at Twilight’s side of the tent and saw her friend already laying out the sheets on the makeshift bed she would be sleeping on. As Sunset unpacked her bedsheets and began laying them out on the other bed, she glanced back at Twilight and asked, “Hey, uh, are you okay? You seem to have been a little out of sorts all day.”
Twilight finished setting up her bed as she irritably responded, “I’m fine.” Surprised by her sharp tone, she quickly turned around and smiled and she sat down on her bed and added, “I mean, what do I have to complain about? Ever since I joined the LEGO Team, everyone has been so nice and accepting.” She then frowned and turned her gaze downward as she mumbled, “Especially considering that Midnight Sparkle incident…”
Sunset had just finished setting up her bed, so she turned back to Twilight and said, “That wasn’t your fault.” She glanced aside and uneasily muttered, “Well, not entirely, at least.” She sat down next to Twilight and continued, “Look, Twilight, I know you made some mistakes in the past — believe me, I know what that’s like — but that’s only because you didn’t have anyone to show you the right path. Abacus Cinch gave you the idea of unleashing that stolen magic, and then forced you into a situation where you thought that magic would be your only escape. You weren’t ready to handle that kind of power, but it’s over now, and if there’s any group that’s gonna forgive you for something that happened in the past, trust me, it’s this one.”
Twilight turned to Sunset and smiled. Sunset returned the smile, then got up and began to walk over to her bed, only to suddenly trip over Twilight’s backpack and spill some of its contents across the floor. Sunset stumbled a little and cursed under her breath.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” assured Twilight as she stood up and began to reach for one of her items on the floor. But just before she was about to grab her water flask, the object suddenly became surrounded in a purple glow and began to levitate off the floor. Twilight immediately froze, then glanced over to some of the other items on the floor and saw the same thing starting to happen to them as well, followed by the backpacks and then even the beds. Both Twilight and Sunset stared silently as practically every loose object inside the tent was now hovering in the air.
Sunset slowly turned to Twilight and asked, “Did you…? How is this possible?”
“I can’t believe this, it’s…” muttered Twilight. She paused for a second, then finished her thought right at the exact same time as Sunset made her own conclusion to that thought.
“Amazing!” exclaimed Sunset.
“Terrible!” exclaimed Twilight simultaneously.
As soon as those words were spoken, the purple glow surrounding all the floating objects suddenly vanished, and all the objects quickly dropped back to the floor.
Sunset smiled at Twilight and cheerfully exclaimed, “Are you kidding? This is great! I mean, we’ve all ponied up before, gotten the whole ears and wings and tail thing, shot magical rainbow lasers, but nothing like this has ever happened! How did you do it?”
“I don’t know!” exclaimed Twilight, almost on the verge of panic. She turned away and mumbled, “Maybe I didn’t… Maybe it’s her…”
“Her who?” asked Sunset, having overheard Twilight.
“Nothing! Never mind!” Twilight quickly replied nervously. “Can we just not talk about it? And could you please not bring this whole levitating thing up to the others?”
“Why not?” asked Sunset in confusion.
“You heard Applejack,” replied Twilight as she climbed into her bed. “It’s bad enough that we’re here to deal with Trixie the evil sorceress. I don’t want everyone worrying about me bringing some crazy new kind of magic into the picture.”
Sunset sat down on her bed and said, “If you really don’t want me to, I won’t say anything.”
Twilight removed her glasses and pulled her bedsheets over herself before she mumbled, “I really don’t.”
“Okay, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” insisted Sunset.
Twilight lightly growled in response and rolled over in her bed so that she was facing away from Sunset.
At a loss for words, Sunset glanced down at the objects still scattered across the floor. As her eyes fell on Twilight’s water flask, she couldn’t help but think, I wonder if I could do the same… As a former unicorn from Equestria, the temptation was too great to pass up. She held her hand out and grunted as she tried to will the flask to rise. She sighed when nothing happened. She tried again with as much mental power as she could, but still got the same result.
“Just pick it all up,” grumbled Twilight. “I’d do it myself, but… well, you saw what happened.”
Sunset moaned in disappointment, then stood up and began gathering all of the loose items and putting them all back into Twilight’s backpack. Once the floor of the tent was cleared, she then returned to her bed and pulled the sheets over herself. With a sad frown, she glanced over at Twilight, then switched off the nearby lantern and lied down in her bed.
Twilight Sparkle sat in front of the campfire at night, alone with only her thoughts to keep her occupied. Suddenly, she began to hear a creepy and all too familiar voice.
“Here I am…”
Twilight immediately started glancing around, trying to find the source of that voice.
“Over here…”
Twilight stood up and continued to quickly look around. That voice sent a chill up her spine, and the fact that she had no idea where it was coming from only made her feel even more terrified. As she momentarily faced away from the campfire, the orange flames turned violet. As soon as she glanced back at the fire, Midnight Sparkle suddenly jumped out of the flames.
“I’M ALWAYS HERE!!”
“No!” shouted Twilight as she suddenly sat up in bed.
At the other side of the tent, that shout caused Sunset Shimmer to reflexively jump out of bed and quickly stand in a fighting pose. “Wha— What happened?” she muttered, still half asleep.
Twilight took a second to catch her breath before she shamefully replied, “Nothing. Sorry, Sunset.”
Sunset relaxed and rubbed her eyes. Now that she was fully awake and could actually see, she quickly noticed something rather unusual. “Uh, Twilight,” she pointed out, “I think something happened.”
Twilight opened her eyes and was suddenly alarmed to see that all the objects inside the tent — including the bed she was sitting on — were once again floating in the air while surrounded by some strange purple glow. She immediately screamed in panic, then the glow faded and all of the objects fell back to the floor.
After taking a moment to get over the shock of what she had just witnessed, Sunset showed a more serious expression as she folded her arms and said, “Twilight, we really have to talk about this.”
“No!” snapped Twilight irritably as she curled up. “We don’t!”
Twilight and Sunset stared at each other tensely for a moment before the tent’s hinged doorway suddenly opened. Spike and Fluttershy peeked their heads inside with worried expressions on their faces.
“Is everything okay in here?” asked Fluttershy. “We heard some screaming.”
“Everything’s fine,” grumbled Twilight.
Spike and Fluttershy glanced to Sunset, who responded silently with a shrug. Spike turned back to Twilight and asked, “Let me guess… you had another one of those nightmares?”
Twilight refused to say anything and simply turned her head away.
Spike glanced at Fluttershy and quietly said, “Silence usually means yes.”
Fluttershy walked into the tent and sat down on Twilight’s bed. “Oh, I feel so sorry for you,” she said quietly as she pulled Twilight into a calming hug. “It’s going to be okay, Twilight. We’ll always be here for you.”
Twilight let out a sigh as she began to relax, but still refused to say anything.
Sunset glanced outside the tent and noticed that it was currently dawn. “I guess we’d better start getting ready for the day,” she remarked.
“One of the Forestmen told me there’s a river and waterfall not far from here,” explained Spike. “We’re just waiting for the others to wake up before we head on over there.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Sunset as she reached for her backpack. She glanced over at Twilight and added, “What do you say, Twilight? I’m sure a little swim will help you take your mind off things.”
Twilight sighed again and reluctantly replied, “Might as well. Not like I’m doing anything else today…”
As Twilight got out of bed and got her things ready, Spike and Fluttershy left the tent so they could get ready to go as well.
Later that morning, all eight members of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team were gathered at the small river and waterfall that was only a short hike away from the hemlock outpost where they had been encamped. Most of the girls had changed into their swimsuits and were relaxing in the water not far from the base of the waterfall. Spike had decided to bathe behind the waterfall, mostly to make sure he couldn’t see them and they couldn’t see him to respect everyone’s privacy.
“This is quite a lovely place,” remarked Fluttershy.
“Indeed, darling,” agreed Rarity. “The beauty of the natural world is quite the wonder to behold.” Her expression slightly fell as she added, “Though I certainly would appreciate a few modern amenities to provide me with the proper care I demand.”
“No one ever said roughin’ it in the woods was gonna be easy,” argued Applejack. “Besides, we’ll be outta here after we deal with Trixie, so ya might as well start hopin’ that we’ll find her real soon.”
Pinkie Pie had climbed out of the water a moment ago, and decided to reenter it as only someone like her would. “Cannonball!” she shouted excitedly as she jumped off the shore and held in her legs. She hit the water and created a huge splash that drenched the other girls in the water.
Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but chuckle and remarked, “I guess that’s one way to take a bath in the wild.”
Meanwhile, Twilight and Sunset were finished in the water, and had already dried off and changed back into the clothes they were wearing for this area. There was an uneasy silence between them as they grabbed their backpacks and began walking away from the river. Once they left the river and entered the forest, Sunset turned to Twilight and carefully said, “Hey, I know you don’t want to, but I really think we need to figure out what’s going on with your magic. If you could learn to control it—”
“But that’s just it!” exclaimed Twilight fearfully. “I’ll never be able to control it!”
“Don’t be so sure about that, Twilight,” argued Sunset calmly. “I mean, take me for example. There was a time when I was convinced that I would never be able to build anything without instruction pages, despite my friends frequently telling me otherwise. And look at how far I’ve come since then. I’m now regarded as one of the best Master Builders in the whole Lego World.”
“Easy for you to say,” grumbled Twilight. “Creative talents and otherworldly magic are two very different things.”
“The subjects may be different, but the lesson remains the same,” stated Sunset. “Maybe it’ll take a lot of practice, or maybe it will all suddenly occur to you and you’ll instantly become an expert. Either way, don’t be so quick to dismiss what you’re truly capable of.”
Twilight quietly mumbled under her breath, “I already know what I’m really capable of… and I’d rather not even think about it…”
“What was that?” asked Sunset.
Twilight immediately stopped walking and turned to Sunset and quickly exclaimed, “Oh! Uh, nothing! I mean…” She sighed and more calmly continued, “Sorry… I just have a lot on my mind right now.”
Sunset stood silently beside Twilight for a moment for carefully asking, “Do you wanna talk about it?”
Twilight sighed and turned away as she muttered, “I’d rather be alone with my thoughts right now.” As she began to walk away, she added, “Let the others know I’ll meet them back at the hemlock outpost.”
As Twilight walked away deeper into the forest, Sunset sighed and muttered, “If you say so…” She then turned around and headed back to the river to inform their friends.
Just over an hour later, Twilight continued walking alone through the forest. Although she was watching where she was going, she kept her head down most of the time as she remained occupied with her thoughts. Keep it together, Twilight, she thought to herself. Deep breaths, Twilight. You are not a monster. You’ve overcome Midnight Sparkle once before, and you can do it again if you must. She let out another sigh. I just hope that whatever’s causing this magic isn’t permanent. The last thing I need are any additional lingering effects to what I’ve already been dealing with.
As she finished that thought, she suddenly bumped into something. She glanced up and realized that it was actually someone she had lightly bumped into. “Timber Spruce?” she asked. “What are you doing out here?”
Timber briefly hesitated and glanced away before he smiled and smugly replied, “Looking for you, of course.”
Twilight uneasily replied, “Oh, I, uh, went on a little walk to clear my thoughts and, well, I guess I just lost track of time.” She glanced around at the surrounding forest and added, “And I guess I’m a little lost in the geographical sense, too.”
“Don’t worry,” assured Timber. “I’ll show you the way back to camp.”
“Oh, thanks,” said Twilight with a smile. She gestured ahead and awkwardly added, “Uh, lead the way, I guess.”
“Sure thing,” acknowledged Timber as he turned around and began walking, with Twilight following close behind. After only a few seconds, he decided to strike up a conversation. “So I heard that you recently joined the LEGO Team.”
“Yeah,” confirmed Twilight. “This is actually the very first mission I’ve been on with the team. I don’t yet know how well I’m gonna fit in with the others, but I’m really glad I’ve been given this opportunity.” She then shamefully added, “Especially considering a certain incident I was involved in…”
“You mean Midnight Sparkle?” asked Timber.
Twilight turned to Timber and nervously asked, “Y-you heard of it?”
“My sister and I live not far from Canterlot City,” reminded Timber. “With how far that incident reached, of course we heard about it.”
Twilight shamefully lowered her gaze and mumbled, “So that means you actually saw…”
“Actually, no,” Timber clarified. “Gloriosa and I were away on another goodwill mission at the time, so we didn’t actually witness any of what happened that night.”
Twilight relaxed and uneasily remarked, “Oh, uh, I guess a bit of a relief.” After a brief pause, she asked, “So, uh, where were you at that time?”
“We were in the Tribal Island Region,” answered Timber. He chuckled ad remarked, “Y’know, the funny thing is that, before that mission, the only thing I really knew about King Kahuka was that famous taunt he once made prior to one of the races during the old LEGO Racers competition. ‘Me, King Kahuka, beat you like tribal drum. And do victory dance! Ook, ah, ah, ook!’” As he quoted King Kahuka, he spoke in a deeper voice and even did a bit of a tribal dance.
Twilight couldn’t resist giggling at Timber’s King Kahuka impression.
Timber chuckled and added, “Although come to think of it, it seems like virtually all of the goodwill missions I’ve been on lately have been to old regions that much of the Lego World hasn’t even heard from since that racing competition over fifteen years ago. Sure wish I could’ve gone to one of those races.”
By this point, Twilight had relaxed enough that she felt comfortable with continuing the conversation with Timber. “Now that you mention it,” she said, “I did in fact actually attend one of the races of that competition.”
“Oh really?” asked Timber with a smile. “Which track did you go to?”
“Royal Knights Raceway,” answered Twilight. “It was the closest track to where I lived.”
“Oh, so you’re actually from the Castle Region?” asked Timber.
“Spent my entire childhood there,” confirmed Twilight with a nod. “The old LEGO Racers competition was actually my very first exposure to what the world beyond the Castle Region was really like.”
“Probably because they don’t exactly build racecars in the Castle Region,” noted Timber.
“Exactly,” said Twilight with a smile and a nod. “I must’ve been only five or six at the time, but as soon as I had heard about it, I knew it was something new and different, so I really wanted to go see that race. Unfortunately, my parents refused to take me there.”
“Why not?” asked Timber, slightly surprised. “I thought everyone was excited for that racing competition back then.”
“Not my parents,” replied Twilight with a bit of sadness and disappointment. “Let’s just say they were some serious traditionalists, firm believers that all the differently themed regions should always remain separate to avoid issues like ‘cultural contamination’.”
“Kinda reminds me of President Business,” muttered Timber. Suddenly realizing that he might have just insulted Twilight’s parents, he quickly added, “Uh, no offence to your folks.”
“None taken,” assured Twilight. “In all honesty, I personally thought the same thing of them, myself, even though that was years before anyone had even heard of that guy.”
“So if your parents didn’t take you to that race, then how did you get to see it?” asked Timber.
“I convinced my brother Shining Armor to take me there without letting our parents know about it,” replied Twilight with a smug smile. “For that and other favors he’s done for me over the years, he’s one of the very few things I actually miss about the Castle Region.” She quickly got over that little sad reminder and continued, “Anyway, when I got to the track, it was arguably one of the most incredible, eye-opening experiences of my entire life. Just getting there and seeing minifigs from all the other regions who were also there to watch the race was astonishing enough for first impressions. Then I got to see the racers and their cars. Even though some of them were from the Castle Region — including Rob N. Hood, if I remember correctly — I had never seen anything like those cars. I remember being particularly fond of the cars and racers from the Space Region. I thought just seeing them standing there was amazing, but then came the race itself and I was really blown away. Seeing those things going around the track at remarkable speeds under their own power, I had previously never even imagined anything like that!”
“Sounds to me like that was quite a life-changing experience for you,” remarked Timber.
“I’ll say!” acknowledged Twilight with a grin. “When I returned home after the race, I immediately wanted to build a racecar of my own. Of course, I had no idea at the time that without a Power Brick, the best I could ever do was build a fancy cart that could only roll downhill.”
“But you were able to figure that out, right?” asked Timber.
“Eventually, yes,” replied Twilight. Her enthusiasm gradually fell as she continued, “But I was forced to cancel that project when my parents found out. Not only that, but they also refused to provide me with any means of learning more about the outside world. With my parents trying to hold me back and my brother too busy with his duties as a soldier and later as a knight, I became convinced that if I was ever going to accomplish anything I wanted, I would have to work alone… a mentality I consistently held right up until I joined the LEGO Team.”
An uneasy silence fell between the two minifigs as they continued walking through the woods. After a moment, Timber turned to Twilight and asked, “So, uh… How did you leave the Castle Region and learn so much about everything?”
Twilight sighed before she shamefully replied, “I used to think that what I did from that point on was totally worth it, but now… I’m not exactly proud of what I did. Just over a year after I saw that race, I encountered a group of smugglers and convinced them to start covertly sending me books from the City Regions, allowing me to finally learn all that I wanted to learn everything about without any restrictions. But of course, they demanded payment for their services, so I had to regularly steal a few coins from my family’s treasure vault to pay them off.
“Thankfully, no one ever found out about the missing gold or that I had a steadily growing secret library, but I knew I couldn’t keep doing that forever. Then, just after my brother’s wedding a few years ago, one of the smugglers revealed to me that he was a Shadowbolt agent. They were looking for new recruits, and he believed that I would make an excellent agent. When I realized what that could mean for me, I took the offer without even a second thought. So one night, with assistance from some other Shadowbolt agents, I packed up my entire secret library, snuck out of my bedchamber in the castle, and fled the Castle Region. Since then, I have not once even set foot in any part of the Castle Region — at least, not until just yesterday.
“When I initially joined the Shadowbolts, it was like a dream come true for me. Not only was I now free to learn about anything I wanted, I was also given whatever resources I needed to make new discoveries, to develop new inventions, to make accomplishments that most people could only imagine. But just like with the book smuggling, all of this came at a price. As a Shadowbolt agent, I was expected to complete whatever missions I was assigned, no questions asked. Not only that, but I knew my family back in the Castle Region would be looking for me, so whenever I got even the slightest hunch that someone would find me, I immediately packed up everything and moved to a new hideout, which would typically happen about once every few months, and always to an entirely different region.”
“Wow,” remarked Timber, almost speechless. “You sure sacrificed a lot.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and dryly stated, “Yeah, and look at how I got rewarded for all that effort; a monster named Midnight Sparkle.”
“Hey, relax, Twilight,” assured Timber as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “That’s all in the past now. You’re much better off now. Not only are you part of the LEGO Team, one of the greatest organizations in the world, but also all that you’ve ever done is forgiven, thanks to Kjeld Playwell giving a full pardon to all former Shadowbolt agents, which I’m sure includes you.”
“True,” admitted Twilight with a sad nod.
“Look, Twilight,” continued Timber, “my point is that you’re now finally free to pursue your dreams without having to do anything questionable in exchange. Stop dwelling on the past, and start looking ahead to the future. You’ve just been given a second chance to completely rebuild your life, so make sure you make it a good one.”
Twilight slowly smiled, then turned to Timber and said, “Thanks, Timber… Thank you for listening. I actually feel a little better, now that I’ve opened up to someone about my past.” She then frowned and nervously added, “Um, could you please promise not to tell anyone else about all this? I don’t feel quite ready to let just anyone know about all the shady things I once did.”
Timber moved his hand over his mouth in the gesture of zipping his lip, then mumbled something while keeping his lips closed.
Twilight raised an eyebrow and asked, “What?”
Timber moved his hand back across his mouth to “unzip his lip” and smugly said, “I said, my lips are sealed.”
Twilight couldn’t help but giggle and remarked, “You sure can be quite a goofball at times.”
“What can I say?” responded Timber with a shrug and a smile. “It’s who I am. And it’s like they say, ‘always be yourself’.”
“There you are!”
Twilight and Timber both quickly turned to the side and soon saw Gloriosa Daisy, Sunset Shimmer, and Spike approach them from the surrounding woods.
“Have you been out here this whole time, Twilight?” asked Sunset. “Our friends are getting worried about you.”
“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to,” replied Twilight uneasily with guilt. “Like I said, I just had a lot on my mind. Good thing Timber found me. Not only did he help me find the way back, but it was also nice to talk to him along the way.”
“Glad I could help,” remarked Timber. “I mean, it’s not like I had some other reason for wandering around the middle of the woods by myself.”
Gloriosa stared at her brother and raised an eyebrow.
Timber lightly punched his sister’s shoulder and dismissively added, “Eh, I’m just messing with ya.”
Gloriosa smiled and rolled her eyes before she said, “Well, now that we’re all together, we should get back to camp right away.”
“Yeah, that sounds good to me,” agreed Twilight.
Just as everyone turned and began to walk back towards the hemlock outpost, all five of them suddenly stopped as they heard a strange noise off in the distance. It sounded like a series of beeps in a slow and constant pace, followed by a quick hiss as if a pressure release valve had just been opened.
“What was that?” asked Sunset.
“Sounded like a truck backing up,” Spike speculated.
“But we’re in the middle of a forest,” Twilight pointed out. “In the middle of the Castle Region. There shouldn’t be any trucks here at all!”
The next noise the group heard was a faint mechanical whirring. As Gloriosa turned to face the general direction of where those odd sounds seemed to be coming from, she furrowed her brow and clenched her fists. “That better not be who I think it is,” she grumbled under her breath, then began to march forward toward the source of the noise. The rest of the group looked at each other for a moment before silently deciding to follow after her.
As the group approached the mystery location, they began to hear some other odd sounds, such as the banging of a hammer, the whirring of a power drill, and the rumbling of a diesel engine. It wasn’t much longer until they finally arrived at a small clearing with something quite unexpected. Two mobile cranes were parked on opposite ends of the clearing, a series of tall metal poles with some kind of technical equipment atop each of them were held upright on the far side of the clearing, workers in bright orange vests were inspecting all the equipment or discussing what they were going to do, and most unusual of all was a black limousine parked nearby with a certain minifig standing close to it while looking over the surrounding field work. This guy had light brown skin, a smooth black hair piece, and wore a blue business suit with a red tie that had a golden dollar symbol on it.
Gloriosa immediately locked in on the businessman and marched right up to him. Since he was focused on the field work in the clearing, he had his back turned to the new arrivals and had no idea he was about to have some unexpected guests.
“Filthy Rich,” spat Gloriosa.
Filthy Rich immediately turned around and his confused expression lasted only a brief moment before it was quickly replaced with a smug smile. “Well, Gloriosa Daisy,” he greeted with a sneer. “What brings you out here to this fine land?”
As the rest of the group approached from behind her, Gloriosa sourly grumbled, “For your information, I happen to be assigned here on a goodwill mission by the LEGO Team,” She then narrowed her eyes. “A mission being made much more difficult just by your very presence. What are you doing here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Filthy Rich rhetorically as he gestured out across the field. He smugly explained, “I’ve hired these surveyors to get me an accurate lay of the land. After all… if I intend to purchase this region, it’s important to know what I’ll be getting so I can determine what would be a fair price to pay for it.”
“Seriously?” asked Timber as he folded his arms and frowned. “I find it hard to see any real benefit for you to try taking control of the Dark Forest.”
Filthy Rich chuckled and replied, “Believe me, this is hardly the only obsolete region I’m eyeing for acquisition.”
“Purchasing entire regions?” asked Sunset. “Isn’t that what President Business did a few years ago?”
“Please, that fool wanted total control over every aspect of everyone’s lives,” replied Filthy Rich dismissively. “I, on the other hand, am more interested in building a highly profitable business empire, and it all starts by purchasing some cheap land, a vast majority of which happen to be old obsolete regions that are doing nothing more than taking up space. For example, the Fabuland Region has been completely abandoned for decades. Once I can close a deal on that, I plan to clear away all those ruins and build the largest amusement part in the entire Lego World.”
“That particular example makes sense, but why do you also want some of the older Castle subregions, like the Dark Forest?” asked Twilight. “What are planning to do here?”
“I haven’t thought quite that far ahead, in all honesty,” admitted Filthy Rich with a shrug. He then smugly continued, “But if I can be sure that land like this would cost me very little, there is no way I’m going to pass up such a good opportunity. I’m sure I’ll think some way I can profit off of just about any region in the Lego World, once I own these lands.”
“Whoa! Look out!”
That shout from one of the numerous workers caused the group to turn to their attention to the commotion and immediately saw one of the tall surveying poles fall over and collided into another one, which then fell over and collided into another one, then another, and another, like a series of dominoes. When the last pole on the chain reaction fell over, it landed on a massive generator that one of the cranes was holding aloft. The weight of those fallen poles may not have been much, but with the generator alone close to the crane’s limit, it was enough to overwhelm the counterweight. The crane groaned as it slowly toppled forward, the generator smashed to pieces as it crashed to the ground, and the top of the crane’s tower slammed right onto the limousine and completely destroyed the rear half of it.
“My limo!” exclaimed Filthy Rich. He growled in anger as he then rushed over to the workers gathered around the toppled surveyor poles. “Which one of you brick-heads is responsible for this?!” he fiercely demanded.
“I swear, none of us did anything!” answered one of the workers fearfully. “Everything just… fell over on its own.”
“Don’t play dumb with me!” shouted Filthy Rich accusingly. “This level of negligence is completely unacceptable! I’m holding you nincompoops responsible for destroying my limo, that generator, the crane, and over a dozen sets of advanced surveying equipment, and none of above come cheap! Unless you nitwits can put all the pieces back together, these damages are gonna come straight out of your paychecks, so get to it! And start with the limo!”
“Yes, sir! Yes, sir!” exclaimed all of the workers as they all began to frantically collect all of the loose Lego parts and tried to reassemble all of the damaged or destroyed objects. One of the workers tripped over a wheel and fell flat on his face. Another one of the workers pulled out a loose piece from the limo, only to have part of the crane tower collapse right on top of him. Two more workers managed to grab the same Lego part at the same time and immediately tugged on it against each other until they both suddenly lost their grip on it, sending the part flinging into the air and hitting yet another worker in the head and knocking him out.
Filthy Rich sighed in frustration and facepalmed. “I ask for employees and I end up with stooges,” he grumbled.
Sunset walked over to Filthy Rich and remarked, “Well, whatever just happened, you might as well take it as a warning sign.”
Filthy Rich glared at Sunset and firmly asked, “Are you trying to threaten my enterprise?”
“No, but I do know someone who would,” answered Sunset as she placed her hands on her hips. “The Great and Powerful Trixie — the evil sorceress at the top of LEGO’s Most Wanted — is believed to be heading right for this region, so unless you wish to lose your own Creation Spark, you would be wise to get outta here right away.”
Filthy Rich stared firmly at Sunset for a moment, then glanced around at all of the equipment and vehicles in the clearing. He glanced down at his wristwatch before he turned back to Sunset and grumbled, “Fine.” He turned to the workers who were busy rebuilding the limo and shouted, “As soon as you’re done with the repairs, pack everything up! This region’s under an evacuation order!”
The workers quickly acknowledged Filthy Rich’s orders and immediately went back to work.
As the rest of the group of five gathered near Sunset, Filthy Rich smirked as he turned his attention back to them and smugly stated, “Don’t think I’m through with this region just yet. Once you LEGO Team members eliminate the threat of Trixie — which I have no doubt you will accomplish — my employees and I will return and resume right where we left off.”
“Limo’s fixed!” announced one of the workers.
“Thank you,” muttered Filthy Rich as he turned away from the group and walked back to the now completely rebuilt limo. “That leaves me with one less headache to worry about.” He opened the door and climbed into the backseat. As soon as he closed the door, the driver started up the vehicle and drove off.
The group of five silently stared at the limo as it drove off down the trail into the woods. As soon as the black vehicle was out of sight, Sunset glanced over at Gloriosa and saw that she still had a rather infuriated look on her face, so Sunset decided to place an assuring hand on her shoulder.
—that no-good arrogant—
Sunset quickly removed her hand when she suddenly heard that voice, which then faded just as suddenly. Confused, she asked, “Did you say something?”
Gloriosa visibly relaxed as she turned back to Sunset and raised an eyebrow in confusion. “No, I didn’t say anything,” she replied. She looked around at all the workers cleaning up the mess, then smiled and said in her typically cheerful voice, “Well, now that that issue has been taken care of, I should head back to camp to let the others know you’re all okay. You just stick with Timber and he’ll take you back to camp.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay going by yourself?” asked Spike.
“Oh, no need to worry about me,” assured Gloriosa. “I’m practically a natural at navigating forests like this one. I’ve got this!” She then turned around and began walking back to the hemlock outpost.
As the rest of the group watched Gloriosa head off into the woods, Spike couldn’t help but ask, “Did anyone else see the look in her eyes when she saw that Filthy Rich guy?”
“Unfortunately, you’re right,” Timber sadly replied. “Gloriosa’s had a bit of a grudge against Filthy Rich ever since he started asking to purchase Camp Everfree a few years ago.”
“Well I’m sure you and Gloriosa turned down whatever offer he made, so why does she make such a big deal out of it?” asked Twilight.
“It’s because he just won’t take no for an answer,” replied Timber bitterly. “He continues to make offers, even though we keep telling him that no amount of money will ever convince us to sell our family’s summer camp. On his most recent attempt, I literally had to build a wall just to keep the bulldozers out.”
“Hey, anyone else see that?” one of the workers suddenly called out. Everyone in the area turned to see him pointing at a trail of glittering gem dust on the ground, close to where the first surveyor pole had fallen over.
“What the heck is that?” asked another worker.
“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t there before,” said another worker as he scratched his head.
“Hey, Timber?” asked Spike. “Didn’t you say that creature from your story last night leaves behind gem dust?”
“Sure did,” confirmed Timber with a nod. He then elbowed Sunset and remarked, “I guess you were right, in a way. Looks like Gaia Everfree decided to send a warning to Filthy Rich.”
Sunset rolled her eyes and retorted with a smile, “Please, things always have a tendency to fall over every now and then. And I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for why there’s gem dust spilled on the ground.”
“Don’t be so sure about that,” Timber playfully cautioned. “You would be wise to not try tempting fate with… Gaia Everfree.” He spoke the creature’s name in a spooky voice and wiggled his hands around.
“Let’s just go back to the encampment already,” said Sunset impatiently. “I think we’re done here, anyway.”
“Yeah, good idea,” agreed Spike. He turned away and began walking into the forest. “C’mon, Twilight.”
Timber led the way into the forest, followed by Spike and Sunset. Twilight hesitated for a moment as she took one more uneasy look at the mess of damaged equipment in the clearing before she turned away and followed after the others.
Could I have been the cause of that? thought Twilight with uncertainty. I’ve already caused objects to float in the air, so I suppose it wouldn’t be out of the question that I might have nudged that thing just enough to set off that chain reaction. Twilight kept her head down as she walked, but at least she made sure to stay close to the group to avoid getting lost again. Whatever’s going on here, I need to make sure I can avoid magic as much as possible. It’s just not safe having any of it around.
It was around the middle of the day by the time Timber brought Twilight, Sunset, and Spike back to the team’s encampment at the hemlock outpost. As they arrived, they saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack were in the middle of a sparring match, both armed with a sword and a shield. Not far away, they also saw Rarity talking with a few Forestmen near one of the brick-built trees. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were nowhere to be found, but they were sure that those two couldn’t be too far away.
Now that they were back at camp, Timber turned to the group he had guided through the woods and said, “I’d better go find Gloriosa and see if she needs anything. See ya later.” He then waved goodbye as he walked off around the edge of the encampment.
Twilight couldn’t help but smile as she watched Timber walking away.
Meanwhile, Applejack and Rainbow Dash continued to clash their swords together as they sparred. They soon swung forward at the same time, resulting in them using their sword to hold back the opponent’s sword in a brief stalemate.
Sunset and Spike decided to approach the duo and watch their sparring match, with Twilight following not far behind. “So what are you guys up to?” asked Spike.
“What does it look like we’re doing?” asked Rainbow Dash rhetorically. She swung her sword around in a circle to free it from the mutual lock with her opponent’s sword and then took a step back. “We’re practicing our combat skills!”
Applejack also took a step back as she added, “Seein’ as we’re sure to find ourselves goin’ up against Trixie’s skeleton army, we figured we might as well train ourselves to be ready for anythin’ they might throw at us.” She then raised her sword and charged at Rainbow, who raised her shield to block the strike and then smacked the sword away with her own.
Spike turned to Sunset and remarked, “I bet Applejack will win this one. She’s one of the strongest girls I know, so if she can find the right opening and take advantage of it, she can beat Dash in only one hit.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Sunset playfully retorted. “Rainbow Dash has some incredibly fast reflexes. She can dodge and block anything that comes her way, and if she times her moves just right, she can take down Applejack before she even realizes it.”
Spike grinned as he pulled out a green 1x2 tile with a $1 symbol printed on its smooth top surface. “Wanna bet money on that?” he quipped.
Sunset smirked as she pulled out an identical object and replied, “You’re on!”
With a bet going, they continued to watch the spar between Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Occasionally, Spike would cheer for Applejack, while Sunset would cheer for Rainbow Dash. As all of this was going on, Twilight just silently watched the whole thing. After all the worries she was having lately regarding magic, it was nice to see something that involved practically none of it.
After a few minutes, the dueling pair were once again locked in a brief stalemate with their swords clashed and pushing against each other. This time, Applejack made the next move by kicking Rainbow Dash in the abdomen, sending her stumbling backwards until she regained her footing and stopped in front of one of the brick-built trees. They both took a moment to catch their breath, then Applejack held her shield out ahead and let loose a battle cry as she charged forward.
What happened over the next few seconds would seem to most people like an impossible set of events, and yet it actually happened. First, Rainbow Dash tried to jump out of the way and ended up zooming away so quickly that she took on the appearance of a rainbow motion blur that trailed off deep into the forest and quickly vanished. With Rainbow Dash gone, Applejack ended up charging into the brick-built tree, but rather than slamming into a solid structure, she plowed right through the base of the trunk like it was made of paper, sending pieces from the trunk flying away in all directions and the remaining intact structure above hurtling through the air, right towards where Rarity stood. The group of Forestmen gathered near Rarity saw the incoming tree and pointed towards it as they screamed in terror. Rarity looked back and immediately shrieked and reflexively held up her hands as she saw the falling tree now just a split second away from crashing right on top of her, but right at the last second, a large diamond-like barrier suddenly materialized right in front of her, shielding her from the falling tree which completely shattered to pieces as it slammed into the barrier.
Once that unbelievable chain of events was over, everyone who had witnessed everything just stared silently with wide eyes and gaping jaws. Eventually, as the diamond barrier quickly vanished, Applejack stood up from where she had fallen and slowly glanced around in absolute confusion. She slowly asked, “What… the brick… just happened?”
“I’m… I’m not sure…” responded a completely baffled Rarity.
Spike kept staring at the pile of Lego parts that used to be a tree and asked, “Uh… did everyone see what I think we just saw?”
“Rainbow Dash zooming away, Applejack smashing right through a tree, and Rarity summoning some kind of diamond shield?” stated Sunset flatly. “Yeah, I’m sure we all saw that.”
“So I guess the real question now is how all of that just happened,” said Spike.
Twilight shamefully turned away and quietly mumbled under her breath, “Maybe it’s because of me…” She then began to walk away.
Sunset noticed Twilight leaving and quickly caught up to her, soon followed by Spike. “Where are you going, Twilight?” asked Sunset. “Do you have any idea what this means?”
Twilight stopped and stared down at the ground. Fearing the worst, she couldn’t bear to look Sunset in the eye.
“It means you’re not the only one with a new kind of magic!” continued Sunset with an excited smile on her face. “This is great!”
“No, it’s not!” snapped Twilight, hardly believing that Sunset could have such a positive reaction. “They could’ve really hurt each other out there! Why is this happening?! I don’t—”
Boom!
“Argh! My eyes!”
Twilight, Sunset, and Spike glanced at each other in confusion. “What was that?” asked Spike.
“It sounded like it came from over there,” noted Sunset as she pointed ahead deeper into the forest. Without another word, she ran off in that direction, with Twilight and Spike following close behind. It wasn’t long until they found a hooded Forestman down on the ground with his face covered in frosting, while a very worried Pinkie Pie was kneeling beside him.
“I’m really really really sorry!” Pinkie apologized profusely. “I had no idea that was even possible!”
“What just happened?” asked Sunset.
“I don’t know!” exclaimed Pinkie, almost on the verge of panic. “All I did was toss a cupcake to this guy, thinking he might like it, but then all of a sudden, BOOM! It exploded right in his face!”
“An exploding cupcake?” asked Spike as he scratched the back of his head. “Was it some new ingredient?”
Pinkie suddenly showed a very serious expression as she immediately shoved her face right in front of Spike’s and firmly stated, “I’ve been making cupcakes the same way ever since I was old enough to use the oven! There should’ve been nothing to make that cupcake different from all the others I’ve made over the years!”
“Well, if it wasn’t the cupcake itself, then maybe it might have more to do with the way you handled it,” Sunset speculated.
Pinkie raised an eyebrow and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“I can’t say for sure,” replied Sunset, “but just to be on the safe side, I’d suggest you try to be more careful about handling things from now on.”
“Um, girls?” Twilight spoke up while looking over the fallen Forestman. “Shouldn’t we be helping this guy?”
As a red songbird chirped and flew right over everyone’s heads, Sunset nodded and replied, “Right. We should take him back to camp.” As she and Twilight helped the unfortunate Forestman up to his feet, she turned to Pinkie and asked, “Do you know where Fluttershy is? I think she would know how to treat this guy.”
“She said she wanted to go on a nature walk before she left,” replied Pinkie.
Sunset sighed and grumbled, “There’s no way we’ll be able to find her soon enough. I guess we’ll just have to try our best.”
The group slowly made their way through the woods and soon returned to the encampment. As Twilight and Sunset helped the Forestman gently down to sit at the base of one of the brick-built trees, Rarity and Applejack arrived.
Rarity lightly gasped and said, “Oh my! What in Ole’s name happened to him?”
“A cupcake exploded in his face,” Sunset replied flatly.
“A cupcake?” asked Applejack, raising an eyebrow. “How does a cupcake explode?”
“I really don’t know,” replied Pinkie with a shrug. “All I did was toss it to him, and then all of a sudden, it glowed pink and went BOOM!”
Applejack folded her arms and remarked, “Huh… an’ Ah thought what Ah just experienced was weird. Ya see, Rainbow an’ Ah were havin’ a lil’ mock battle, then when Ah charged right at one of these here Lego trees, Ah smashed right through the whole thing like it was nothin’! It was like Ah had way more strength then Ah usually do.”
“And not only that,” added Rarity, “but I made a diamondy thing appear out of nowhere, which normally I’d be excited about. I mean, the facets were just perfect, and the—”
“Rarity!” Applejack sharply interrupted.
“Oh, sorry,” apologized Rarity before she finished explaining. “Anyway, it shielded myself and some other Forestmen from being crushed by that tree that Applejack knocked over, and then it just disappeared.”
Applejack rubbed her chin and muttered, “Speakin’ of disappearin’, did anyone see where Rainbow Dash ran off to? She just zoomed away in a flash, right in the middle of our fight!”
Before anyone could react, a rainbow motion blur suddenly slammed right into Sunset Shimmer, smashing her to pieces and sending those parts flying all over the place. That impact also caused the rainbow motion blur to vanish and among the scattered minifig parts were not only those of Sunset Shimmer but also those of Rainbow Dash.
“Ow!” groaned Rainbow Dash as her head rolled to a stop. She glanced over at Sunset’s head not far away and mumbled, “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” assured Sunset. She glanced over at the rest of her friends and asked, “Uh, you girls mind helping us out here?”
Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle quickly picked up all of the scattered parts and put Sunset and Rainbow back together. As she placed Rainbow’s head back on her torso, Applejack asked, “How’d ya do that?”
After taking a moment to regain her balance from being quickly reassembled, Rainbow Dash replied, “I don’t know. I only meant to take a few steps to the side to avoid your charge, and the next thing I knew, I was out in the middle of nowhere!”
“But if you had some sort of super speed, why were you gone for so long?” asked Rarity.
“Duh! We’re in the middle of a huge forest!” replied Rainbow Dash. “If it wasn’t for my super speed, I’d probably be lost out there for days!”
As she checked to make sure all of her parts were properly reattached, Sunset asked, “So you just ran around all over the place until you eventually stumbled back into camp?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” replied Rainbow with a shrug.
“I wonder what could be causing these strange occurrences…” muttered Rarity.
“Do you think we can worry about all of that later?” asked Spike, standing beside the Forestman who still had frosting splattered all over his face. “We still need to find Fluttershy so she can help this guy.”
Before anyone could respond, Fluttershy suddenly rushed out of the woods and ran over to the fallen Forestman. “I came over as quickly as I could!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “Spike! Go get my first aid kit!”
“I’m on it!” acknowledged Spike as he immediately ran over to the tent that he and Fluttershy had occupied.
Fluttershy looked closely at the mess on the Forestman’s face and mumbled, “I still can’t believe an exploding cupcake of all things could do this…”
“Wait… how did ya know all of this was goin’ on?” asked Applejack.
Fluttershy turned back to look at the others with a look of uncertainty. She glanced up at a chirping songbird in the branches above, then turned her gaze back to her friends and uneasily replied, “Um… you’re going to think it sounds crazy…”
“You’re treatin’ a guy who just had a cupcake explode in his face,” Applejack pointed out. “Ah’d say we’re already in crazy town.”
Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before she finally explained, “Well… I was out on my nature walk when that bird up there flew right up to me and… well, actually talked to me. He told about someone getting hurt by an exploding cupcake and that you needed my help right away, so I ran back to camp as quickly as I could.”
Everyone glanced up at the red songbird up in the branch above. After listening to it chirp a few more times, Rainbow Dash stated, “All I’m hearing is a bunch of chirps.”
“But I’m hearing him say that he’s proud of me for telling all of you the truth,” Fluttershy pointed out. “Even if you don’t believe me…”
Applejack smiled and said, “If you’re sayin’ that you can understand what that critter is tellin’ ya, then Ah believe ya.”
“As do I, darling,” agreed Rarity.
Fluttershy smiled at the assurances from her friends. Then as Spike returned with the first aid kit, she quietly thanked him and quickly got to work treating the unfortunate Forestman.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash glanced over at the large pile of brown and green bricks that used to be a tree and asked, “So, uh… could someone tell me what’s been going on here?”
“Simple. We’ve all got new magical abilities!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly.
“Not all of us,” Sunset pointed out. “I don’t have any, but Twilight—”
As Sunset glanced over at her, Twilight immediately shook her head with a frown and furrowed brow.
Sunset reluctantly finished, “…doesn’t either.”
Applejack sighed and grumbled, “So much for mah wishful thinkin’ that we wouldn’t have to worry ‘bout any new magic business for once.”
“All of this started after we got here,” noted Sunset, “so there must be something about this place that’s making this happen.”
Pinkie gasped and asked, “Could it be that Gaia Everfree spirit?”
Twilight looked away and sadly mumbled under her breath, “Or maybe it’s because of me…”
“Whatever is responsible for this,” stated Rarity, “as least solving this mystery gives us something to do while we await word on Trixie’s whereabouts.”
“Not only that,” remarked Rainbow Dash with a grin, “but maybe we could even use our new magic powers to help us beat Trixie!”
“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves,” said Applejack. “We just nearly hurt each other with our new powers, so maybe we oughtta come up with a strategy that doesn’t involve this new magic. At least, for now.”
By this point, Fluttershy had finished cleaning and treating the affected Forestman and allowed him to leave on his own. As she packed up her first aid kit, she stated, “It’s probably for the best. Until we know for sure what we’re really capable of, we should try to be very careful about what we do.”
“So I guess that means for me, no more throwing stuff,” remarked Pinkie Pie.
“Definitely a good idea,” agreed Applejack.
“What about Gloriosa and Timber?” asked Rarity. “Would it be wise to inform them of this latest development?”
“I’m not sure, to be quite honest,” admitted Sunset. “I mean, some of the Forestmen already saw some of it for themselves, so it’s likely only a matter of time before Rob finds out.”
“I say we should just tell them,” said Rainbow Dash. “If they’re gonna find out eventually, then we might as well make sure it doesn’t happen at a bad time, like when we’re in the middle of kicking Trixie’s butt.”
“But there’s no tellin’ what they might think of us,” argued Applejack.
“Have you forgotten that they are already aware of how we had previously saved the Lego World on three occasions?” Rarity pointed out. “With that kind of awareness, I am sure they will understand our… abnormalities.”
“What do you think, Twilight?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“W-what?! Me?!” asked Twilight, startled to suddenly have the attention of her friends and teammates on her.
“You sure have been awful quite this whole time,” noted Spike. “Are you okay?”
“O-of course I’m fine!” Twilight hastily replied. “Just great, actually! Never better!” She nervously giggled.
Once again, Twilight’s unconvincing excuse caused her friends giving her questioning looks.
Twilight glanced around nervously, then suddenly pointed behind the group and said, “Oh, look! Timber and Gloriosa are back! And so is Rob!”
Everyone turned around and saw Gloriosa, Timber, and Rob were all approaching the group of friends. “Good day to thee, fair team of friends,” greeted Rob. “I have come to share with thee the findings my fellow Forestmen have made this past day.”
“Any luck findin’ Trixie?” asked Applejack.
“Not as yet,” replied Rob. “However, some patrols have yet to return when they should have done so hours ago. ‘Tis only a hunch of mine, but perhaps they might have been captured by Trixie’s forces to ensure that we not find them.”
“What part of the forest were they searching?” asked Sunset. “That might give us a clue as to where Trixie might be.”
“My thoughts exactly,” remarked Timber as he pulled out a map and unrolled it. He set the large map on the ground while Rarity and Fluttershy set down some rocks on the corners to keep it open.
“This is where we are,” stated Gloriosa as she pointed at a marked location near the center of the map. “The patrols that went missing were supposed to be searching in this area.” She waved her hand over the western edge of the map, on the other side of a large river from their current location.
“So it seems that if we wish to confront Trixie,” noted Rarity, “we will need to find a way across that river.”
“The only safe way across we know of is over that troll-toll bridge,” said Timber as he pointed at the only bridge across that river on the map.
“The what bridge?” asked Rainbow Dash in confusion.
“It’s one of a system of bridges throughout the Castle Region,” explained Gloriosa. “At each of these bridges, a big troll will refuse to let anyone across unless they pay the toll, which is typically one gold coin per minifig per crossing.”
“I remember Princess Cadance considered such a system years ago,” remarked Twilight. “I guess she finally managed to arrange it at some time in the last few years, after I had left.”
“So y’all are sayin’ that if Trixie’s on the other side of that there river, we’ll have to pay a troll to let us across?” asked Applejack.
“It’s much better than letting him pillage a village,” quipped Timber.
Gloriosa just shook her head with a smile as she remarked, “As cheesy as that statement was, he’s right. The troll-toll system was put in place to ensure these trolls would not be tempted to satisfy their greed through destructive means.”
“If Trixie’s on the other side, can’t we just wait for her to come across and let her pay the troll?” asked Spike.
“Yeah, like that’s gonna happen,” replied Rainbow Dash as she rolled her eyes. “This is Trixie we’re talking about here! I bet she would just zap that troll out of her way if she wanted to cross that bridge.”
“And besides,” added Sunset, “if whatever Trixie’s after happens to be on this side of the river, then we should try to take her out before she crosses the river.”
“Agreed,” stated Rarity with a nod. “However, we should keep in mind that, at this time, this is all just speculation based little more than some missing patrols. I suggest that we wait for some true confirmation that Trixie is just across that river before we take action.”
“Ah’m with ya on that one,” agreed Applejack. “Ah’d hate to see us end up on a wild goose chase that lets Trixie slip away and reach whatever the heck she’s after.”
“Very well then,” said Rob. “I shall ask some of my fellow Forestmen to search that area across the river and proceed with caution. If any are to return with word that Trixie and her army are in fact in that area, then we shall make arrangements tomorrow morning to prepare thee for the journey there.”
“And once we’re there, we’ll handle the rest,” Rainbow confidently stated.
“Looks like it’s settled then,” said Gloriosa and she removed the rocks from the map and rolled it back up. “If all goes as we hope, then the threat of Trixie could be dealt with as soon as tomorrow.”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” cautioned Sunset. “Believe me, I know from experience that things don’t always go according to plan.”
“Regardless, I have complete confidence that you girls have what it takes to stop that evil sorceress,” responded Gloriosa. “After all, Celestia would not have sent you here if she didn’t think you were up to the task.”
“Anyway, you girls just relax for the rest of the day,” said Timber. “Right now, we need to tell the Forestmen to start looking for Trixie across the river. See ya later.” Rob, Gloriosa, and Timber all turned away and began walking over to the edge of the encampment where some of the Forestmen had already gathered.
After those three had left, Pinkie turned to Sunset and asked, “So when are we gonna tell them about our new magic?”
“I don’t wanna wait too long, but I also don’t think we should tell them right away,” answered Sunset. “At the very least, we should try to get a better understanding of this new magic before we tell just anyone about it.”
“Fair enough,” said Applejack. “Personally, Ah’d rather not spend the rest of mah life tryin’ to handle stuff as if it was made of glass or paper, so if there’s any way Ah could learn to control mah super strength, Ah’d be more than happy to.”
“Same here with my super speed,” agreed Rainbow Dash excitedly. “If I can figure out how to go anywhere in a flash without having to worry about running into anything, it would be the most awesome thing ever!”
“I suppose I could find some ways to utilize my diamond shields,” noted Rarity. “If there truly is a way for me to fully understand how to properly work my new magic, then it would be quite a versatile ability.”
“I have always wondered what it would be like to talk to animals,” admitted Fluttershy with a smile. “For me, this is almost like a dream come true.”
“And if we ever need to blow something up, I’d be more than happy to do so!” Pinkie Pie cheerfully added.
Sunset chuckled and remarked, “Okay, I guess you girls are happy with your new magic. I don’t know if I can properly teach you how to control them, but I’ll do my best.”
While the rest of the team was excited to get started on practicing their new magical abilities, Twilight quietly turned away and walked back to the brick-built tent that she was sharing with Sunset. Spike noticed her leaving, so he ran over to her and quietly asked, “Where are you going?”
“I don’t think I should be near the rest of the team right now,” Twilight quietly replied.
“Why not?” asked Spike.
Twilight stopped walking and turned back to Spike as she quietly replied, “You heard what Sunset said earlier. There’s something about this place that’s causing all of us to get new magic.” She leaned close to Spike and whispered, “I think it’s Midnight Sparkle. She’s still part of me. I can feel it. And I think her magic is infecting my friends.”
Spike glanced back at the rest of the team, then returned his attention to Twilight and asked, “So what are you gonna do about it?”
Twilight turned away and resumed walking to her tent as she dejectedly replied, “I don’t know what I can do…”
Spike was at a loss for words as he watched Twilight enter her tent and close the hinged wall section behind her. With everything that had been troubling her recently, the addition of new magic was clearly being even harder on her already troubled mind. He eventually decided to give Twilight some space for now and watch the rest of the team try to practice their new abilities.
Meanwhile, Twilight sighed as she sat down in her bed. Why is this happening to me? she thought miserably. First I get new magic, then my friends do, and it’s probably only a matter of time before Sunset is next, and maybe even everyone else! How can this be possible?
Twilight let out another sigh as she continued moping. I knew it was a bad idea for me to return to the Castle Region… As that thought lingered in her mind for a while, she began to form connections that gradually led her to believe there was only one thing she really could do. It’s not safe for me to be here… I need to leave the Castle Region right away, not just for my sake, but also for the sake of my friends.
With her mind made up, she decided to start packing up her supplies. She wouldn’t leave right away, as it was still the middle of the day and everyone would easily see her trying to leave. She didn’t want anyone to know she was planning to leave because, as far as she was concerned, her presence in the Castle Region was causing this magic, and she did not want the team try to tell her otherwise. No, she would have to make her escape in the middle of the night. I really didn’t want things to have to come to this, she thought with resignation, but it’s for the best…
Later that night, Sunset Shimmer was asleep in her bed inside the brick-built shelter she was sharing with Twilight. The noise of a faint squeak caused her to slightly stir, pulling her out of whatever dream she might have been having, but she kept her eyes closed and tried to go back to sleep. When that squeak repeated just a few seconds later, Sunset finally opened her eyes, albeit still very tired. She glanced over at the hinged wall section where she thought the noise came from, but saw that the makeshift door was closed. She was about to try to go back to sleep when she glanced over at Twilight’s bed and as soon as she noticed that it was empty, her eyes snapped completely open and she sat up in bed.
“Twilight?” asked Sunset in confusion. She quickly glanced around the shelter, but saw no sign of her friend. She got out of bed and walked over to the hinged wall section. She opened the doorway and looked outside, just in time to see a minifig quickly leave the encampment and run off into the woods. The darkness of night made it difficult to see most details, but the distinctive shape of that minifig’s hair piece was all she needed to know that this was Twilight Sparkle who was running away.
“Twilight!” Sunset quietly exclaimed as she immediately rushed out of the tent-like shelter and ran after Twilight. Having slept in her daytime clothes like she and most of the others did the previous night, she didn’t have to worry about losing any time with getting changed. As she ran after Twilight, she was sure that the Forestmen on night watch duty would have noticed them flee the encampment, but she ignored that thought for now. She had to follow Twilight and find out what her friend was up to.
After a few minutes, Sunset had lost any sign of where Twilight had gone. She continued straight ahead, but slowed down a bit to make sure she wouldn’t miss anything that could help her find Twilight. Just as she was wishing that she had brought a flashlight with her, she noticed a faint glow suddenly appear not far up ahead. She immediately rushed over to the strange white glow and quickly reached a small clearing where Twilight stood with her attention focused on her wrist — the source of the glow.
“Twilight!” Sunset called out.
Twilight yelped and quickly turned around to see Sunset, then immediately hid her glowing right wrist behind her back.
Sunset walked over to Twilight and asked, “What are you doing out here?”
“Oh, uh, nothing!” Twilight responded nervously. “I-I was just, uh…”
“You’re leaving without us?” asked Sunset in an accusing tone.
“N-no! No, of course not!” Twilight quickly responded with a nervous smile while waving both hands in front of her. “Why— why would you think that?”
Sunset frowned and narrowed her eyes as she asked, “Do I even have to point it out?”
Twilight noticed Sunset’s gaze briefly turned to her right wrist, upon which was her Jump-Gate return device with its glowing display screen currently on. Upon realizing she had accidentally revealed that to her friend, she nervously explained, “Oh, this? I-I was just, uh… testing to see if it still works! Y-yeah, what with this being an— an isolated area, and such, I wanted to make sure that, um, that, uh…”
Sunset said nothing and simply folded her arms and raised an eyebrow as she continued to frown.
Realizing that Sunset wasn’t buying it, Twilight slumped as she sighed and muttered, “I’m really bad at cover-ups.” She turned her gaze back to Sunset and shamefully admitted, “Okay, yes, I am trying to leave this place.”
“But why?” asked Sunset, softening her expression.
Twilight turned away and sadly replied, “You wouldn’t understand…”
“Twilight, you can’t just leave us like this,” pleaded Sunset as she reached over to grab Twilight’s hand. As soon as they made contact, Sunset’s body suddenly stiffened and her eyes glowed completely white.
From Sunset’s point of view, she suddenly found herself observing key moments of the most recent day from Twilight’s perspective. First, she heard Twilight sharing her rather dark past with Timber Spruce, revealing the series of circumstances that ultimately led to Twilight fleeing the Castle Region and joining the Shdowbolts without any hesitation. Then she saw in the aftermath of the destruction of Filthy Rich’s surveying efforts that while Timber claimed Gaia Everfree was responsible and Sunset believed that it was just a simple accident, Twilight was convinced that her new magic might have been the cause of it, but was far too ashamed to admit it to anyone.
Next, Sunset saw while she and her friends were questioning where their new magic powers came from, Twilight was again convinced that she was the source, and was once again too ashamed to admit it to anyone. Finally, she saw Spike approach Twilight and question why she was staying away from the rest of their friends, and it was then when Twilight confessed that she was completely convinced that Midnight Sparkle was to blame for all of the strange events that had been occurring in the Dark Forest, and was afraid that she would be powerless to stop the return of that demon.
As soon as the series of visions was over, Sunset’s body relaxed and her eyes returned to normal. She let go of Twilight’s hand and immediately said calmly, “Twilight, there’s no Midnight Sparkle. There’s only you.”
Twilight immediately stared at Sunset in shock and asked, “How did you know what I was thinking?”
Sunset was just as surprised as Twilight, so she briefly paused to consider how to best explain it before she replied, “When I touched your hand, I could see things. I could understand why you were so desperate to leave.” Her eyes widened and she began to grin excitedly. “My new magic…” she said to herself in awe. “This is my new magic! This is incredible!”
“No, it’s not!” exclaimed Twilight fearfully. “I’m infecting you now!”
Sunset’s smile fell as she turned her attention back to Twilight said, “Twilight, you have to stop looking at this as a bad thing.”
“Easy for you to say!” snapped Twilight. “Magic turned you into something beautiful. The last time I tried to use it, it turned me into a monster!” Twilight sighed and shamefully added, “I’m just so afraid it’s gonna happen again.”
“Yes, last time, I turned into something amazing,” acknowledged Sunset. “But I’ve let magic turn me into a monster, too. So if anyone understands what you’re going through, it’s me.”
“How could you possibly understand?” asked Twilight skeptically. “You don’t know what I’ve been through.”
“Actually, in a way… I kind of do,” admitted Sunset.
“But how?” asked Twilight doubtfully. As she considered Sunset’s new magic, she quickly came to a realization and hesitantly asked, “Did… did your magic let you see me tell Timber about my past, earlier today?”
“Well, yes,” confessed Sunset. “Sorry about that. But that’s only part of it.”
“Then what’s the other part?” asked Twilight.
Sunset sighed and explained, “As you might already know from those Shadowbolt reports, I was sent to prison after the old me was defeated. What you probably didn’t know is that, when the sirens tried to take over the Lego World, I didn’t want to get directly involved in any way. My original intention was to just send that message to Princess Twilight of Equestria, then once she had returned to deal with them, I would go straight back to jail… and I completely accepted that, despite the girls thinking that I deserved a second chance. But despite my desire to simply go right back to prison, one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I found myself a key asset in defeating the sirens, and I was rewarded for my efforts by being given a full pardon. So like you right now, there was a time when I thought the team would be much better off without me.”
“But that’s now,” argued Twilight. “I fled the Castle Region — the place that had been my home for my entire life up to that point — because I felt that it was too inadequate. How could you possibly understand what that was like?”
“More than you could imagine…” muttered Sunset shamefully. When Twilight looked at her with a confused expression, Sunset sighed and explained, “Over five years ago, I was the proud personal protégé of the ruler of all of Equestria, and I threw it all away and fled to this world, all because I was so overly ambitious to believe that I deserved to be equal to or even superior to her right then and there. It wasn’t until after magic turned me into a monster that I realized just how wrong I really was.”
Twilight was at a complete loss for how to respond to a confession like that. It seemed that whatever hardships she had been through, Sunset had been through hardships of her own that provided her with a remarkably similar experience. So why had Sunset become a worldwide hero, while Twilight remained so traumatized that she was willing to abandon her friends?
As Sunset thought over everything she and Twilight had just talked about, she suddenly had an epiphany on how she might be able to help Twilight. “Twilight… I think I might know what your real problem is,” she said carefully.
Twilight said nothing as she turned her gaze up to Sunset.
“It’s not with the Castle Region, not with the Shadowbolts, not even with Midnight Sparkle,” continued Sunset. “Your biggest problem, Twilight… is that you’re always running away from all of your problems.”
Twilight was initially confused by that sort of conclusion, but nevertheless continued listening to Sunset.
Sunset explained, “You were dissatisfied with the life you had in the Castle Region, so you ran away as soon as you got an opportunity to do so, and that opportunity happened to be in the form of joining the Shadowbolts. Then as a Shadowbolt agent, you never stayed in the same hideout for more than a few months before you suddenly ran away to an entirely new secret location. And for what reason? Some paranoia that some random person would even possibly find your hideout. Finally, when you held that device containing all of our Equestrian magic, you had the option of either staying with the Shadowbolts and following Cinch’s orders, or switching to our side and helping us get our magic back. But instead, you chose a third option. Rather than face the issue of choosing one side over the other, you decided to go it alone and study that magic yourself, regardless of the consequences. And those consequences… came in the form of Midnight Sparkle.”
Twilight said nothing and just shamefully stared down at the ground around her feet. It had never occurred to her that she had a habit of running away, but now that Sunset had made the connections and explained everything to her… it made her especially ashamed to think that she had been just about to run away from her problems, once again.
Sunset placed an assuring hand on Twilight’s shoulder and calmly said, “Please, Twilight… no more running away. It’s time to start facing your fears rather than fleeing from them. I can help you, Twilight, and the rest of our friends can be there for you, too. But not if you keep running away.”
Twilight took a moment to consider Sunset’s words. Eventually, she sighed and shut off her Jump-Gate return device. “Okay… I’ll stay,” she quietly replied. “But I still think I should stay away from the others as much as possible. At least until we know for sure where all this new magic is coming from. And I especially still don’t want anyone else to know about my new magic, either.”
“Understood,” agreed Sunset with a smile and a nod. “Now let’s get back to camp before anyone realizes we’re missing.”
Twilight nodded in agreement. They began walking together, but after only a few steps, they suddenly heard some rustling nearby and immediately stopped.
“What was what?” whispered Sunset.
Sunset and Twilight nervously glanced around as they heard some more rustling. Not knowing who could be nearby, they stayed as close together as possible.
“Not to worry,” Twilight spoke up as she pulled out her cases of special spectacles. “If we’re being stalked, my infrared specs will allow me to easily find them.” She quickly swapped her regular glasses for her infrared specs, which had lenses that were specially tinted to allow only infrared radiation to pass through. As soon as those glasses were on, the first thing she saw was the large heat signature of Sunset Shimmer standing right in front of her. She then began to slowly turn her head around, looking between all the relatively cooler plants and trees of the surrounding forest for any other heat signatures.
After about a minute staying still and silent, Sunset quietly asked, “Do you see anything?”
Twilight turned back to Sunset and whispered, “I see four individuals over there.” She pointed to her right.
“Then we should go the other way,” Sunset quietly responded.
“Agreed,” whispered Twilight. She and Sunset turned away from the direction Twilight had pointed and began to walk quickly through the woods.
However, after traveling only a short distance for just a few seconds, a large net suddenly wrapped around the two girls and hoisted them up. Both of them screamed as they were yanked upwards and then left suspended from a tree branch. As the entrapped girls swayed back and forth inside that net, four individuals emerged from the woods and began growling and snarling triumphantly.
Twilight tried to look at them, but while she could easily see their heat signatures, she was unable to see any significant details. “What are they, Sunset?” asked Twilight desperately. “I can’t identify them! I’m still wearing my infrared specs!”
Sunset grunted as she shifted around inside the cramped net to get a better look. She turned her gaze downwards and saw the four individuals were about the size of minifigs, had dark green skin, sharp fangs on their faces, and wore dark grey armor over their torsos and heads. “Troll soldiers,” stated Sunset grimly. “No doubt, part of Trixie’s army.”
As they watched the trolls continue celebrating their capture, Twilight helplessly asked, “So what do we do?”
Sunset took a moment to consider their options before she muttered, “Well, I doubt either of us has an effective way of cutting out of this net, and even if we did, those trolls would make sure we don’t get out of here…” She paused, then sighed and reluctantly said, “We’ll let them take us prisoners. As soon as we’re brought to their encampment, then we’ll think of a way to escape.”
Twilight sighed and grumbled, “I sure hope you’re making the right decision.”
“Me too, Twilight,” mumbled Sunset. “Me too.”
Twilight and Sunset now found themselves locked inside a large cage on wheels, which was being pulled by a pair of skeleton horses as they galloped quickly along the trail in the middle of the night. About an hour after their initial capture, the two girls had finally arrived at a large clearing. The countless points of light from torches and fire pits illuminated the numerous tents that had been set up, along with dozens of troll soldiers standing guard throughout the encampment.
Once the cage wagon rolled to a stop at the edge of the encampment, the four trolls riding along hopped off, unhitched the skeleton horses, and then walked those horses back into the encampment. Even though the captors were now gone, there were still a few other trolls nearby who were on patrol to watch for any suspicious activity.
Twilight, who had long since swapped out her infrared specs for her regular glasses, turned back to Sunset and quietly asked, “Well… we’re in the trolls’ camp. Now what?”
Sunset peered through the bars to examine the lock on the cage’s door, which fortunately happened to be on the side of the cage that was facing away from the encampment. After a moment, she turned back to Twilight and quietly replied, “I can pick this lock, but I’m gonna need a diversion.”
“Like what?” asked Twilight.
“It doesn’t matter,” responded Sunset quietly as she pulled two wires out of her jacket pocket. “All I need is something to keep the attention of the trolls away from me until I can get this door open.”
“Okay, so, um…” muttered Twilight uncertainly. “What do you suggest I do?”
Sunset sighed in exasperation and sharply whispered, “I don’t know! Just do something, anything! Do whatever it takes to get the trolls’ attention!” She then turned to the cage door, but didn’t do anything and kept the wires hidden within her hands. She had to wait until the diversion was in motion before she could even begin to try picking the lock.
At the opposite side of the cage, Twilight looked out towards the encampment and grasped the bars. She hesitated for a moment before she finally called out, “Hey! Trolls! Over here!” The few trolls standing guard nearby turned their attention to her, with some even walking a little ways towards the cage. “Nice night, isn’t it?” continued Twilight. “I mean, hardly any clouds in the sky, sure is a beautiful night, here in the Castle Region, the land of castles and knights.”
Now that the trolls had their attention on Twilight, Sunset reached over to the door’s lock, stuck the wires inside, and began to carefully work them around.
“Speaking of knights,” continued Twilight, “Have you ever heard of a certain knight who wears armor as dark as a dungeon? He’s also known for striking his enemies with the power of thunder, swinging his sword around as fast as lightning. In fact, one could even say that he was… a dark and stormy knight!” When the trolls made no response at all, Twilight added, “Get it? Knight? Night? Two words that sound the same, but have different meanings and spellings? It’s supposed to be a pun!”
Sunset briefly paused to shut her eyes and groan internally. The sooner I can get this open, the better, she thought irritably as she resumed her lock picking.
After an awkward silence, Twilight nervously said, “Well, uh… I guess that one went right over your heads. Kind of like neutrinos! Those subatomic particles just pass right by all of us all the time and we never even notice their presence! I mean, what’s the deal with that? If they’re going to be fundamental building blocks of the universe, then they should at least acknowledge their existence every now and then.”
Sunset briefly paused and let out a sigh of displeasure before resuming her lock picking.
After another awkward silence, Twilight glanced around at the troll guards and hesitantly said, “I guess that one’s a little too advanced for you trolls, huh? Well then…” After a little bit of thinking, Twilight’s expression brightened and she continued, “Oh, here’s a good one! What do you get when you combine calcium with iron? You end up with a café!” When none of the trolls showed any reaction, she nervously explained “Get it? They’re elements on the Periodic Table, their symbols are Ca for calcium and Fe for iron, put the two pairs of letters together and you spell the word café!”
Sunset briefly paused as she rolled her eyes and shook her head at that terrible joke before resuming her lock picking.
Another awkward silence passed before Twilight shamefully added, “I guess you don’t get that one either…” Then she suddenly smiled again and excitedly said, “Oh! How about a riddle? I mean, you’re trolls, and trolls are known for asking riddles, so, uh… Riddle me this! What ultimately destroys everything, but can never be stopped or reasoned with?”
The gathered trolls glanced at one another as they all shrugged and scratched their heads.
Twilight excitedly finished, “The answer is… the second law of thermodynamics!”
Sunset briefly paused and banged her head against the bars in anguish. This is what I get for giving unspecific instructions, she thought miserably before taking a deep breath and resuming her lock picking, once again.
The silence that followed was perhaps the most awkward one of all. Some of the trolls yawned, while others simply walked away while grumbling to themselves. “Wow… tough crowd,” muttered a crestfallen Twilight. Hoping that Sunset would be almost finished with picking that lock, Twilight decided to go for broke. She pointed straight ahead and shouted, “Oh, look! A distraction!”
The trolls that were still paying attention suddenly turned around. They grunted in confusion, then began to walk over towards the “distraction”.
Twilight’s jaw dropped at what she had just witnessed. “I can’t believe that actually worked…” she muttered in disbelief. She then banged her head against the bars as she sighed in frustration and grumbled, “I should’ve just done that in the first place…”
Clink!
With the lock finally open, Sunset immediately threw the cage door open and jumped outside. Of course, this did not escape the attention of the nearby trolls, and once they saw one of the prisoners had just escaped, they immediately roared and raised their weapons as they charged at her.
As she noticed the incoming troll guards, Sunset simply smirked and muttered, “Bring it on, trolls.”
When the first troll charged at her, Sunset leaped into the air, flipped forward, and then grasped and removed the troll’s helmet as she somersaulted over his head. Once she landed, she immediately flung the helmet back towards the troll, smacking him on the head and knocking him out as he fell to the ground on his back. The next troll charged forward and swung his sword across, but Sunset ducked down to not only dodge the attack but also allow her to grasp the troll’s legs. She swiftly flipped the troll over her back, sending him slamming to the ground hard on his back.
Another troll swung his sword down as he charged forward, but Sunset sidestepped to avoid the attack and then grasped the troll’s wrist. She then yanked him off his feet and quickly spun around a few times before letting go of him, flinging him into two other trolls and sending all three of them to the ground. She turned around just in time to see another troll trying to run her through with a pike, so she dove to the ground on her back to avoid getting stabbed, then she kicked with both legs right on the troll’s groin.
Ding!
The troll hollered in pain as both of his legs and his hip joint were flung away in different directions and the rest of his body hit the ground on his face. Sunset then backflipped and landed on her feet, then picked up a mace one of the fallen trolls had dropped and spun around to face two more trolls charging at her. She hurled the mace at one of the trolls, hitting him in the head and knocking him out. That mace had bounced off the first troll’s head and then came down right on the head of the other troll, knocking him out as well.
Finally, about a dozen trolls charged forward in a tight formation with their weapons raised high. Sunset grabbed one of the fallen trolls by the leg and spun around a few times before letting go, flinging the troll into the formation and knocking them all over like a set of bowling pins — complete with the appropriate sound effect.
With seemingly no more trolls coming at her, Sunset smirked as she smiled and dusted off her hands. “That was too easy,” she remarked confidently.
Sunset was unaware that one of the fallen trolls had already recovered and now stood behind her. He raised his sword, but before he could strike her down, he was suddenly jolted by a massive electrical shock. Sunset quickly spun around to face the troll who twitched and stuttered uncontrollably as the massive electrical surge coursed through his body. After a few seconds, the electrical shock ceased, and the troll groaned and fell to the ground.
Behind the fallen troll stood a smiling Twilight Sparkle, holding in her hand a long and narrow rod with two short prongs on the end of it. She squeezed the trigger and made a bright blue arc of electricity jump between the prongs, then shut it off again. “Pocket-sized stun rod,” stated Twilight as she pushed down on the pronged end of the rod, compressing the length until it was small enough to hide within her hand. “Another one of my inventions.”
As Twilight put away her compressed stun rod, Sunset walked over to the cage wagon and removed one of the torches attached to the side of it. “C’mon, Twilight,” said Sunset with a sense of urgency as she began walking towards the surrounding woods. “We gotta get outta here before the rest of the trolls in camp come after us.”
Twilight quickly followed after Sunset and exclaimed, “Sunset, wait!” Sunset didn’t stop walking, so Twilight urgently continued, “We can’t use the torch! The trolls will be able to see where we are! We can’t let them follow us!”
Sunset stopped and turned back to face Twilight and asked, “How else are we supposed to find our way through that forest in the middle of the night?”
Twilight smiled as she once again pulled out her cases of special spectacles and swapped one of them with her glasses, this time for a pair with green tinted lenses. “Night vision specs,” Twilight simply stated.
Sunset stared at Twilight for a moment, then shrugged and said, “Works for me.” She tossed aside the torch and then stood behind Twilight and grasped her shoulders. “Lead the way, Twilight. I’ll hold onto you so we don’t lose each other.”
“Good idea,” acknowledged Twilight as she started ahead into the surrounding forest, with Sunset staying right behind her.
As the two girls fled the troll’s encampment, both of them were unaware that the discarded torch had landed right beside one of the tents, and the flames were already beginning to spread along the canvas.
Twilight and Sunset had no idea how long they had been walking or how far they had traveled, but they knew they had to keep going. With Twilight using her night vision specs, she was able to follow the trail they had been taken along after their capture. From there, it was a little more difficult retracing their steps back to the hemlock outpost, but at least she was able to see where she was going and alert Sunset to any roots or rocks on the ground that could have tripped her.
After a while, Sunset noticed a glow of light between the trees, not far away. “Hey, Twilight. Over there,” Sunset pointed out while pointing at the glow.
Twilight stopped walking and turned to the strange light as well. Although her night vision specs couldn’t show her the color of that light, she did notice that it was a rather bright and steady light source, rather than something dim and flickering. “I don’t think that’s a torch,” she noted.
Sunset silently agreed with Twilight and began to head directly towards the light in the distance. After about a minute of walking, they soon encountered someone carrying a flashlight, and quickly recognized who it was.
“Timber!” exclaimed Twilight in astonishment.
“Twilight! Sunset! Thank goodness you’re okay!” exclaimed Timber in relief. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”
“You were?” asked Twilight.
“One of the Forestmen on night watch duty told me he saw you two running off into the forest,” explained Timber. His expression turned serious as he asked, “What are you girls doing out here so late at night?”
Twilight hesitated to say anything in response. She had left their camp because she had been trying to run away from her problems. She couldn’t imagine how Timber Spruce would react to such a thing.
Fortunately for Twilight, Sunset decided to speak up. “Oh, uh, Twilight wanted to test one of her inventions,” Sunset lied. “I guess we were so excited to see it in action that we rushed out without telling anyone.”
Twilight quickly smiled and nodded in agreement.
“So why were you gone for so long?” asked Timber.
“We, uh, got captured by troll soldiers on our way back after testing,” explained Twilight, figuring there would be no shame in being truthful about that part. “They brought us to their encampment, but we managed to escape and made our way back here.”
Timber paused as he seemed to be looking off in the distance behind the two girls. “That troll encampment… would it happen to be in the direction of that orange glow I’m seeing on the horizon?” he asked.
Sunset and Twilight turned around to face the direction they had come from. Sure enough, they could both see a faint glow in the distance, but due to Twilight’s night vision specs, only Sunset could confirm that the distant glow really was orange.
It took a moment for Sunset to realize what that orange glow in the direction of the troll camp could be indicating. “Whoops…” she muttered uneasily. “I guess I was a little careless about throwing away that torch.”
“You made it all the way back here without a torch or a flashlight?” asked Timber in astonishment. “How were you able to see where you were going?”
“Night vision specs!” Twilight proudly answered as she briefly removed her green tinted special specs.
“Huh…neat,” remarked Timber. “Was that the invention you were testing before the trolls caught you?”
Twilight and Sunset turned to each other for a moment, then they both turned to Timber and grinned. “Y-yes!” exclaimed Twilight hesitantly. “That is exactly what we were doing before we encountered those trolls!”
“Obviously,” added Sunset as she rolled her eyes. “I mean, you can’t exactly test night vision during the day, right?”
“True that,” acknowledged Timber with a nod. He then turned away and glanced back at the two girls as he said, “C’mon. Let’s head back to our encampment at the hemlock outpost. I’ll show you the way.”
“Thanks, Timber,” said Twilight contently as she and Sunset began to follow Timber through the forest. “I’m just glad we’re finally out of that mess.”
“Same here,” agreed Sunset. “Though my advice, Twilight, don’t try any more comedy anytime soon.”
“Why not?” asked Timber as he glanced back at the girls. “I’m sure it wasn’t all the bad.”
“Believe me, all of it was horrible,” grumbled Sunset as she rolled her eyes. “That so called ‘riddle’ was especially bad. It didn’t even rhyme!”
“Okay, I get it! I’m terrible at coming up with jokes on the fly!” exclaimed Twilight in exasperation. “Next time you need a diversion, ask Pinkie Pie to do it.”
“Duly noted,” said Sunset with a smile. She then placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder.
Twilight glanced over at Sunset and responded with a smile. Despite whatever reservations and concerns she still had about herself, she was glad to be on a team that consisted of such forgiving and understanding friends like Sunset Shimmer.
Whatever tomorrow would bring, at least the team would still be together.
The next morning, all eight members of the LEGO Team of Canterlot City had gathered together in the middle of the hemlock outpost, along with Gloriosa and Timber. Sunset and Twilight told everyone a brief description of what had happened to them the previous night, although neither of them mentioned the real reason why they had left the outpost in the first place. Once everyone was caught up on those events, Gloriosa and Timber once again brought out their large map of the Dark Forest region and everyone gathered around it.
“I found you two just northwest of this outpost,” noted Timber as he pointed to the marked location on the middle of the map. “And if that really was the trolls’ encampment that was on fire after you had escaped, then it was somewhere to the west.”
“That’s the direction of the troll-toll bridge across the river,” noted Gloriosa. “There also happens to be a clearing in the woods not far from there, so it would not surprise me if part of Trixie’s army really was encamped there last night.”
“And since I accidentally set their camp on fire,” added Sunset, “they would almost certainly have returned to Trixie to let her know that Twilight and I are here, and she will definitely know that means the rest of us are here too.”
“So what does this mean for our plan of attack?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“It means that she’ll be expecting us, so a sneak attack is no longer an option,” replied Sunset. “Not to mention, all the Forestmen that tried scouting the area have vanished, which leaves us with very little information on what to expect. The way I see it, the only way we’re going to stop her is for us to confront her head-on.”
“But Trixie is a powerful magical sorceress,” Timber pointed out. “How can we possibly stand up to something like that?”
Sunset had a confident smile on her face as she replied, “She may have magic on her side… but so do we.”
“Are you referring to your talents as Master Builders?” asked Gloriosa. “To be quite honest, I’m not so sure if that’ll be of much use, seeing as there’s not a whole lot parts to go around in this region.”
“While it’s true that we have special Master Builder talents, that’s not the kind of magic I had in mind,” explained Sunset. “Yesterday, through a series of accidents, we discovered that we have somehow just gained new magical abilities.” She gave a brief knowing glance to Twilight as she added, “Well, most of us at least.”
Twilight smiled and nodded in appreciation.
“What kind of new magic are we talking about here?” asked Timber.
“Well, to put it simply,” explained Sunset, “Applejack has super strength, Rainbow Dash has super speed, Rarity can materialize shields and barriers made of pure diamond, Fluttershy can talk to animals, and Pinkie Pie… well, I’m not exactly sure, but we do know that she can make cupcakes explode just by throwing them.” Sunset chose not to mention Twilight’s magic to respect her wishes, and also chose not to reveal her own newly discovered magic as she felt that it wouldn’t exactly be of any use at this time.
“Interesting… Where did you girls get this new magic?” asked Timber.
“We honestly don’t know,” replied Sunset with a shrug. “The only thing we know for sure is that it didn’t start until after we had arrived for our mission, so it must have something to do with being here in the Dark Forest region. Come to think of it, it’s possible this might also be that new kind of magic that has apparently brought Trixie to this region.”
That comment caused Gloriosa subconsciously rub her hand over the front of her necklace.
“Well, now that we are all on the same page, what do you propose should be our first course of action?” asked Rarity.
“There are two things we should get started on right away,” replied Sunset. “First, we should build a horse-drawn wagon to get us to our destination as quickly as possible. We should also bring with us enough gold to get us across that bridge, if we have to.”
“We can asked Rob and the Forestmen to help out with all of that,” stated Gloriosa while Timber nodded in agreement. “They’ll be more than happy to lend us a hand if it means stopping Trixie.”
“Sounds good to me,” agreed Sunset with a smile.
“So what’s the other thing we need to do?” asked Spike.
“If we’re going to face off against Trixie, we’ll need to use our new magic to give us any advantage we can get, so the other task will be for Fluttershy,” answered Sunset.
As the rest of the group turned to look at her, Fluttershy suddenly glanced around at everyone and nervously asked, “Oh! Um, me?”
“Yes, Fluttershy,” replied Sunset. “I want you to talk to any birds you can find. Ask them to search the area across the river for any sign of Trixie and her army, then report anything they find to you. Think you can do that?”
Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before she replied, “Um… sure. I can do that.” She gave everyone a nod and a smile as she answered, then she left to group to search for any birds who would be willing to help out.
“Huh… that’s some good thinkin’ there, Sunset,” remarked Applejack.
“Yeah!” agreed Rainbow Dash with a smile. “No one would ever suspect a bunch of birds to be spying for us!”
“And if they do manage to return with some valuable information, we could be better prepared for whatever Trixie might have in store for us,” added Rarity.
“Then what are we waiting for?! Let’s go beat another bad guy!” Pinkie Pie cheerfully exclaimed.
As Timber rolled up the map, Gloriosa stated, “I’ll make sure Rob and the Forestmen get started on that wagon right away. I’ve got this!”
“In the meantime,” said Sunset as she began walking back to her brick-built tent, “I’ll give Celestia a call to let her know what’s been going on here.”
As Twilight watched everyone prepare for the upcoming confrontation with Trixie, she couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. While it was nice that they now had some kind of plan, she still had her concerns regarding the new magical abilities she and her friends now possessed. Despite possible alternative theories, she was still convinced that Midnight Sparkle was somehow to blame, and if this was the kind of magic that Trixie wanted… Twilight didn’t want to even imagine what that could lead to. For now, her only hope was that her team of friends would be able to defeat Trixie once and for all.
Just over an hour later, the team and their two allies were riding in the horse-drawn open wagon along the trail through the woods that led west towards the bridge. After some time, they eventually arrived at a large clearing with a bunch of scorched debris scattered all over the place.
“This must be what’s left of that troll encampment,” noted Rarity.
Sunset sighed and muttered, “I still can’t believe I was so careless with that torch.”
“Don’t feel so bad about yourself,” assured Gloriosa. “The important thing is that you and Twilight were able to escape unharmed.” As she glanced around at what remained in the clearing, she added, “I suppose you should also be very glad that the flames didn’t spread to the surrounding forest. A fire in a forest this dense would be almost impossible to contain.”
“That’s not the worst of it,” muttered Sunset. “I don’t see any sign of any trolls in this area. Not even the ones I had beaten senseless. If they weren’t lost in the fire, then they certainly ran away to warn Trixie about us.”
“No point in dwellin’ on the past,” said Applejack. “Let’s just deal with what we got an’ hope for the best.”
As the wagon left the clearing and headed back into the woods, Timber — who was holding the reigns on the horses pulling the wagon — stated, “We should be getting close to that troll-toll bridge.”
“Are you sure we have enough to pay the toll?” asked Spike.
“Ten gold coins, one for each of us,” responded Twilight as she patted the treasure chest sitting next to her. “Counted it and double checked it myself.”
“Let’s just hope that this troll doesn’t give us too much trouble,” grumbled Rainbow Dash.
After a few minutes, they began to hear the sound of lightly rushing water, and it wasn’t much longer until they arrived at the river. Just up ahead along the trail, they saw a bridge made of grey Lego bricks that spanned the width of the river and was nearly twice as wide as the wagon.
“I wonder where that troll is,” Pinkie Pie suddenly spoke up.
Almost right away, a big, green-skinned, hunched-back troll armed with a large club emerged from under the bridge and walked around to stand in front of the end of it, blocking any passage across the river.
Timber pulled the reigns to bring the horses and the wagon to a stop. He then turned back to the others and said, “Just bring the chest over to him and he should let us pass.”
Twilight pushed the treasure chest back to the end of the wagon as Applejack and Rainbow Dash both hopped out of the wagon. Once the chest was within their reach, Applejack and Rainbow Dash each grabbed one end of the chest and then carried it over to the troll guarding the bridge, then set it down right in front of him.
The troll held his club over his shoulder as he open the chest and inspected the contents. Everyone watched silently, waiting to see if the payment would be acceptable. Finally, the troll closed the chest and grabbed it under his left arm, then stepped aside used his right arm to point his club out towards the bridge. The team was now cleared to pass.
Once Applejack and Rainbow Dash got back into the wagon, Timber whipped the reigns and guided the horses onto the bridge. As the wagon reached the other side, the troll then left his post and returned to under the bridge.
The wagon continued along the trail for only a minute before a small yellow songbird landed on the edge of the wagon close to where Fluttershy was seated and began chirping.
Fluttershy listened closely and nodded a few times. Once the bird stopped chirping, Fluttershy turned to everyone and explained, “He says that we’re on the right path. Trixie and her army are in an open field up ahead. And according to what this bird described, it sounds like they’re breaking camp and preparing to march.”
“Looks like you made the right call, Sunset,” remarked Rainbow. “If we had left any later, chances are that Trixie would’ve crossed the river and come to us before we were ready.”
“But still,” Gloriosa pointed out, “Trixie has an entire army of trolls and skeleton warriors. Even with your new magic powers, I’m not so sure the odds are in our favor.”
“I’m sure we’ll think of something,” assured Sunset. “This isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with Trixie, after all.”
As the wagon continued down the trail, Twilight realized that, for the very first time on this mission, they knew that Trixie’s presence in the Dark Forest was a fact, rather than simply an educated guess based on evidence. But even with that confirmation, she couldn’t help but get the feeling that the upcoming battle would not be easy.
A few more minutes later, the wagon began to approach the edge of the open field. Timber stopped the wagon and guided the horses into turning it around. “Don’t worry, everyone,” he assured the others in the wagon. “I’m just gonna park this wagon facing away, in case if we need to make a quick escape.”
“Good idea,” agreed Twilight with a nod.
Once the wagon was brought to a stop, everyone climbed out and walked the remaining short distance of the trail towards the open field. As they reached the edge of the forest, they stopped and huddled near some of the trees to try and keep themselves hidden while they observed what was out on the field. Up ahead, practically hundreds of skeleton warriors and troll soldiers were standing in formation, ready to march onward. Front and center of the formation was a tall mobile throne, atop which sat the Great and Powerful Trixie herself, with her magical staff — which had a blue five-pointed star on the end of it — held in her right hand.
Twilight leaned close to Sunset and whispered, “So how do we approach her?”
Before Sunset could respond, Trixie suddenly shouted, “Don’t bother hiding in the shadows! Trixie can see you!” She was pointing her staff directly at where the group of ten minifigs stood, making it very clear she was referring to them.
Sunset sighed and muttered, “Well, so much for stealth. Looks like we’ll just have to take the direct approach, after all.” She stepped away from the tree she had been hiding near and began walking out into the field. The rest of the group slowly followed after her, some more reluctantly than others. With everyone following her lead, Sunset decided to stop halfway between the edge of the forest and the front line of Trixie’s army. They were close enough that they could all easily see the smug smile on Trixie’s face.
“Well, well, this is quite a surprise,” remarked Trixie with a sneer. “Then again, Trixie has met many of you before, so it should probably be expected that your team in particular would try to stop Trixie, once more.”
“Enough small talk,” responded Sunset impatiently. “What are you doing here, Trixie?”
Trixie giggled and replied, “How interesting of you to ask such a question. Trixie is always on the lookout for new ways of obtaining great and powerful magic, and there just so happens to be a truly incredible source in this forest. Trixie can feel it.” Her grin widened as her attention focused on Gloriosa. “And it would seem that most of this new magic has come directly to Trixie.”
With the group relatively close together, they didn’t know that Trixie’s attention was on any one of them in particular, although Gloriosa did subconsciously clutch the gemstones on her necklace within her hand.
“So you think you’ve got what it takes to defeat the Great and Powerful Trixie, do you?” asked Trixie smugly. She stood up from her throne and continued, “Then let’s make this a fair fight. I shall hold back my entire army. It’ll be just Trixie alone against all of you.”
“Ten against one?” asked Spike in confusion. “Don’t you think that’s giving too much advantage to your opponent?”
“Not at all,” responded Trixie with a sneer. “If anything, I’m the one who still has the huge advantage. After all…” She proudly held up her staff and shouted, “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! Feel my power!” She then swung her staff forward, unleashing a blast of magical energy directly at the group of heroes.
“Look out!” shouted Timber as everyone jumped out of the way.
The blast ended up striking nothing but empty ground, but Trixie wasn’t stopping there. She swung her staff around more, unleashing blast after powerful blast at her opponents. Although every shot kept missing, she couldn’t resist giggling as she watched her scattered foes running around in panic as they tried to dodge her attacks. “This is highly entertaining!” she quipped. She pointed her free left arm down towards one of the nearby skeleton warriors and commanded, “You there! Bring Trixie some popcorn! Extra salt and butter!”
The skeleton warrior immediately saluted and ran off to fulfill the order.
Meanwhile, the group of ten minifigs continued running around, desperate to avoid being blasted to pieces.
After losing count of how many blasts she had avoided, Rainbow Dash eventually managed to take shelter behind a large boulder. She sighed and grumbled, “Sure would be nice if I had some laser pistols with me…”
It wasn’t much longer before Twilight and Timber managed to reach the edge of the forest on one side of the field and took shelter behind one of the trees. On the other side of the field, Sunset and Gloriosa also managed to take shelter behind a tree at the edge of the field.
As Trixie sat on her throne and happily munched on her tub full of popcorn, she continue swinging her staff around and flinging magic blasts at the ones who were still running around out in the open.
Eventually, Spike, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all managed to take shelter behind some boulders, leaving Rarity as the only one exposed out in the open. She momentarily paused to look around and realized that not only was everyone else already hidden, but her nearest potential shelter was quite a distance away from where she stood. With a horrified look on her face, she slowly turned her gaze towards Trixie.
“Trixie sees you,” sang Trixie tauntingly. Then she swung her staff forward and unleashed a magic blast directly at Rarity. “ZAP!!”
Acting purely on instinct, Rarity held her hands out on front of herself. This movement caused her to summon one of her diamond shields, just in time to block the magic blast. The blast reflected right off the diamond, producing a loud sharp noise similar to a ricocheting bullet, and flew directly right back at Trixie.
Trixie only had enough time to widen her eyes in shock before she was suddenly stuck by her own magic blast, briefly jolting and scorching her upon impact.
On all sides of the field, everyone stared silently at what had just occurred. Trixie’s army was stunned from seeing such a defensive power from Rarity, and the team peeked out from their hiding places and just stared in disbelief that Rarity’s diamond shield was able to block and even reflect an attack like that. Rarity kept her shield up, but her gaping jaw showed that she was just as stunned as all of her friends were.
Trixie groaned and shook her head as she recovered from taking a direct hit from her own blast. She slowly looked around and suddenly gasped when she noticed that the tub of popcorn in her lap had now been reduced to a blackened cup full of ashes. “Hey!” she shouted furiously. “You burned Trixie’s popcorn!” She immediately stood up — dumping the charred popcorn onto the head of one of the nearby skeleton warriors. “Prepare to suffer the consequences!” She swung her staff forward and fired another magic blast at Rarity.
Rarity gasped and quickly held her diamond shield up to block the next blast. The blast hit the shield with that sharp twang again and deflected back towards the source, this time striking some of the skeleton warriors and sending skeletons and skeleton parts flying into the air.
Trixie growled in frustration and began swinging her staff around madly, sending blast after blast in rapid succession at Rarity. With incredible reflexes, Rarity managed to block and deflect each and every one of those blasts, decimating more and more of Trixie’s army in the process.
Eventually, Trixie ceased her onslaught, panting as she took a moment to catch her breath, though her furious expression remained unchanged. Meanwhile, Rarity had summoned more diamond shields and had interlocked them together to form half a dome to completely protect herself from any further attacks.
Taking advantage in the momentary pause, Rarity removed one of the shields from the dome and tauntingly shouted, “I could do this all day, darling! Although I cannot say the same for your army.” She then moved the shield back into its place in the dome.
Trixie glared at the shielded white minifig, then glanced back at her scattered army as they tried to piece themselves back together. She turned her gaze out to the field again and as she noticed the rest of her opponents peeking out from their hiding places, her look of enraged fury quickly returned to a smug smile. “Trixie acknowledges your status as an indestructible target,” she stated calmly. Then she grinned and added, “But the same cannot be said for the rest of your comrades!” She then swung her staff forward and hurled a magic blast at one of the boulders.
Applejack ran away from the boulder before the blast struck, but Pinkie Pie didn’t react quickly enough and was thrown onto her back as the blast completely shattered the boulder. Pinkie sat up and rubbed her head as she exclaimed, “Hey! That wasn’t very nice!”
Trixie responded by hurling another magic blast at Pinkie, this time striking the ground right beside her and sending her hurtling through the air and hitting the ground on her face.
Pinkie groaned and lifted her face off the ground and muttered, “That was even less nice…”
As Trixie hurled another blast at another boulder, Rainbow Dash tackled Fluttershy to get them both out of the way as that boulder was also completely shattered. Next, Trixie fired magic blasts at the trees where the rest of her opponents were hiding. Spike, Sunset, and Gloriosa were sent running back out into the open.
Timber and Twilight also tried to run out into the open as one of the blasts struck the tree they had been hiding behind, but Twilight tripped and fell. Timber glanced back and was alarmed to see the tree was now falling over right where Twilight laid. “Twilight!” shouted Timber.
Twilight glanced up and let out a terrified scream as she saw her impending doom. Timber jumped onto her in a hopeless attempt to protect her with his own body. They knew they were about to face a sudden crushing impact, but as the seconds ticked by, it never came. Nervously, they both open their eyes and looked up, and saw the tree was apparently hovering right over them. Their gaze then followed the trunk of the fallen tree and, incredibly, they saw that Applejack was holding it up.
Applejack carried the tree away from her fallen friends, then rolled it around over her head — tearing off all the branches against the ground and effectively turning the tree into a log. As she then moved the log aside so that she was holding it up by the middle rather than the end, she smiled and remarked, “Time to roll out the barrel!” With a mighty heave, she hurled the log right at the army to the left of Trixie’s throne.
The huge log soared through the air, hit the ground right in front of the skeleton warriors, then rolled right over all of them, quickly crushing most of them and flinging many others high into the air. In a matter of seconds, nearly half of Trixie’s army had quite literally gone completely to pieces.
As Applejack dusted her hands off from a job well done, Rainbow Dash suddenly zoomed over to her and remarked, “Nice shot, AJ! I’ll deal with the other half.”
Rainbow Dash immediately zoomed off in a rainbow motion blur towards the army to the right of Trixie’s throne. She zoomed back and forth from one skeleton warrior to another, slamming into each of them so quickly that their pieces were sent flying all over the place.
After taking out a few dozen in only a few seconds, Rainbow suddenly stopped in front of two skeleton warriors and quickly asked, “Wanna see the fastest punch in the world?” She instantly rushed into one of the skeletons and smashed him to pieces, then rushed back to where she had just stood, all within less than even a single second. “Wanna see it again?” She immediately repeated the process for the other skeleton.
Just seconds later, Rainbow found herself standing in front of a big troll armed with a club. As she looked up at the troll, she simply smiled and quickly remarked, “Hey, big guy! How’s the weather up there?”
The big troll snarled and swung his club down at Rainbow, but she zoomed off before he could hit her and the club simply banged against the ground. The troll grunted and looked around in confusion.
“Yeah, you’re right, it does stink up here.”
The troll glanced upwards and saw that Rainbow was now sitting right on his head. As she glanced down and simply smiled and waved, the troll growled as he gripped his club with both hands and swung up to strike the girl on his head. But again, Rainbow zoomed off before she could be hit, and the troll ended up clubbing himself on the head. The troll groaned and wobbled around for a few second before he finally passed out and hit the ground with an audible crash.
Trixie was rapidly losing her patience and immediately started hurling magic blasts at Rainbow Dash, but the projectiles were simply not fast enough to even intercept the speedy girl.
“Ha-ha! Too fast for you!” taunted Rainbow Dash. She zoomed around again, taking out more skeletons and dodging more magic blasts. “Can’t catch me!” she taunted again, before resuming her rapid destruction of Trixie’s army.
After dodging some more magic blasts, Rainbow stopped and announced, “Watch closely! I call this one the Pinball Wizard!” She then once again zoomed around with the appearance of a rainbow motion blur, slamming and smacking into all of the remaining warriors in Trixie’s army, with each impact accompanied by the ringing and dinging noises of a pinball machine. Finally, once the right army was just as decimated as the left army, Rainbow zoomed by Trixie’s throne, leaving behind a small gadget stuck to the side that displayed a blinking red light with the word “TILT” on it.
“Trixie does not approve of such an accessory to her throne!” exclaimed Trixie in frustration. She aimed her staff at the blinking light and fired a magic blast, obliterating the device.
Rainbow Dash zoomed back to where her friends had gathered. “Good work, Rainbow,” praised Applejack as she gave her speedy friend a high five.
Sunset turned to Trixie and tauntingly exclaimed, “Still think ten against one are good odds?!”
Before Trixie could respond, Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted, “Ooh! Ooh! My turn!” She immediately ran over to Trixie and stopped just a short distance in front of her throne.
Trixie raised an eyebrow and asked, “And just how do you intended to try to beat Trixie?”
Pinkie narrowed her eyes as she grinned and smugly replied, “Simple. I’m gonna throw everything I’ve got at you.”
Trixie narrowed her eyes and responded just as smugly, “Trixie would love to see you try.”
“Gladly…” responded Pinkie. The pink party girl and the blue evil sorceress silently glared at each other, with Pinkie clenching and unclenching her fists as if preparing for a wild west shootout. Adding to that effect, a tumbleweed from out of nowhere rolled by between the two opponents.
Finally, Pinkie Pie made her move. She pulled a red apple out from behind her back and tossed it towards the base of Trixie’s throne. She then threw a green apple, immediately followed by a carrot, a croissant, a waffle, a pizza, a spatula, a kitchen knife, a spoon, a fork, a spork, a frying pan, a fish, and a bone. “Hey, what gives?!” shouted Pinkie in frustration as she next tossed a sausage at Trixie’s throne. “I’m throwing everything I’ve got…” She tossed an empty mug. “…but none of it is exploding!” She continued rapidly tossing various items, such as a hammer, a wrench, a steering wheel, a spare tire, a chair, a toilet, a kitchen sink, and a rubber chicken.
Trixie simply yawned as the various items continued to pile up at the base of her throne.
While the rest of the team simply watched Pinkie’s antics, Spike asked, “Where’s she getting all that stuff from, anyway?”
“It’s Pinkie Pie,” replied Fluttershy. “Best not to question it.”
“C’mon!” shouted Pinkie as she tossed a chicken leg. “Go boom!” She next tossed a banana. She glanced down at the next random item she pulled out and noticed that it was a cupcake, complete with frosting and sprinkles on top. Pinkie took a stance similar to a baseball pitcher, then gave the cupcake a bit of a wind-up as she shouted, “Pinkie wants big boom!” She then threw the cupcake like a baseball right at the base of Trixie’s throne.
The cupcake exploded on impact, obliterating the front base of the throne. The explosion caused Trixie to drop her staff, then as the part of her throne she stood on leaned forward, she screamed as she fell off and landed right into the nearby pile of junk.
“There we go! Finally!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie in exasperation.
“Strange…” muttered Twilight as she thoughtfully rubbed her chin. “Why did the cupcake explode, but not any of the other items she tossed?”
“The only difference I can think of is that the cupcake had sugar in it,” suggested Sunset. “Maybe that’s the key ingredient for Pinkie Pie explosives.”
Pinkie Pie heard the speculation as she returned to the group. “Huh… That actually makes a whole lotta sense,” she remarked.
Trixie pulled herself out from within the pile of random items. The toilet had ended up over her head, so she pulled her head out of it, then let out a disgusted groan as she reached into the toilet and pulled her hat out of it. The hat had been smooshed flat, so she whipped it once to pop it back into its pointy shape, then placed the hat back on her head.
As Trixie retrieved her staff, she glanced back at her army and noticed that nearly all of the skeleton warriors had already pieced themselves together and were once again ready for action. She turned back to the gathered team and, once again, her expression of frustration was replaced with a smug smile. “You have proven yourselves worthy opponents,” she said in a mocking tone. “But why must Trixie do everything herself when she has an army?” She turned back to her reassembled army and shouted, “Everyone! Get them!”
All at once, hundreds of skeleton warriors and troll soldiers raised their weapons and let out a loud collective battle cry as they charged forward directly at the ten teammates.
“Run!” shouted Timber. All ten minifigs immediately turned and fled back into the woods and towards where their wagon was parked. They all quickly hopped into the wagon, then Timber whipped the reigns and the horses immediately began to gallop quickly down the trail.
“How long until we lose them?” asked Spike.
“Hopefully before we get to the bridge,” replied Timber as he kept his eyes ahead on the trail. “We can’t let them follow us across!”
“As long as these horses can keep going at full speed, it should only be a matter of time before they lose sight of us,” assured Gloriosa.
Only a few seconds later, the wagon hit a bump on the trail, and due to the speed they were going, the impact was enough to cause the right front wheel to come off.
“Oh no! Runaway wheel!” exclaimed Pinkie before she reached over the side of the wagon towards the loose wheel.
“Pinkie! No!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she yanked Pinkie back into the wagon, just in time to avoid getting hit by a barrage of arrows around the rolling wheel, with one final arrow pinning that wheel to a tree.
With the front right corner of the wagon now dragging along the ground, the resulting reduction in speed allowed the chasing army to gradually catch up to them.
“Rarity! Cover me!” shouted Applejack before she hopped out of the wagon and began running alongside it as she picked up the dragging axle.
Another barrage of arrows descended, but just as Applejack had requested, Rarity was able to summon a diamond shield to protect the farmer girl as she continued to run while easily holding the wagon level.
However, some of the arrows were a little off target, and as one of them suddenly struck right in the middle of the wagon — though thankfully not hitting anyone — Twilight yelped and exclaimed, “What about the rest of us?!”
Rarity quickly apologized and immediately summoned more diamond shields to protect everyone else inside the wagon.
Although the lack of a wheel wasn’t stopping them, they were notably a little slower, just enough for the charging army to keep pace with them. The pursuit through the forest seemed to be evenly matched… until a large boulder suddenly fell out of the sky and slammed into the ground a few feet behind the speeding wagon.
Sunset glanced up into the sky and saw another boulder come down and then hit the ground just to the left of the wagon. “Heads up!” she exclaimed. “We’re being bombarded!”
On the higher ground not far from the trail, a group of trolls were operating a series of catapults and trebuchets to fling huge boulders onto the trail that the team was using as their escape route.
As the pursuit down the forest trail continued, more boulders rained down around the wagon. Some boulders landed too far ahead, some were a little too far to one side or the other and crashed into the surrounding trees, and some landed too far behind — some of which even ended up hitting the charging army and sending skeleton parts flying around.
Finally, there was one lucky shot as a boulder crashed down right onto the hitch between the wagon and the horses. The horses were broken free and continued ahead down the trail, while the wagon was violently flung forward, sending all ten occupants hurtling through the air and hitting the ground ahead, while the wagon was smashed to pieces as it hit the ground right behind them.
All ten minifigs on the ground began to get back up, but froze in shock as they saw the hundreds of skeleton warriors hollering and charging right at them with their wickedly sharp weapons held high. The team had been brought to a stop, the army was not stopping, and it seemed the outcome would be all but inevitable.
But then suddenly — all at the exact same time — every single skeleton warrior tripped and fell forward flat on their faces. The impact of so many troops hitting the ground all at once was enough to create a brief but noticeable shake through the ground.
“Ha! What a bunch of klutzes!” mocked Rainbow Dash.
“N-no time for gloating!” exclaimed Gloriosa as she helped Rainbow up to her feet. “Keep running!”
Everyone in the group followed Gloriosa’s advice and quickly got up and began running down the trail — with Spike picking up a spear that happened to be lying on the ground. Twilight stumbled after a few steps, but Timber managed to hold onto her to prevent her from falling as he said, “I got ya!”
As she kept running, Sunset glanced back to make sure that Twilight was okay. She also noticed a trail of gem dust spread across the width of the forest trail over the scattered parts that used to be their wagon.
It didn’t take long for the skeleton warriors to get back on their feet and resume the chase. Some of them were so eager to catch their enemies that they ended up trampling over each other, but a large number of them were still able to keep up the pursuit.
For the next few minutes, the group of ten minifigs ran for their lives down the trail as dozens of skeleton warriors chased after them. Just as they were starting to become exhausted, they began to hear the lightly rushing noise of water, signaling that they were close to the river.
“Look! There’s the bridge up ahead!” exclaimed Pinkie as she pointed ahead.
As the group reached the edge of the woods, they saw the grey bridge that spanned the river… along with the big troll guarding the path onto the bridge.
“And the troll!” added Rainbow Dash worriedly.
The big troll stood his ground and held up his club as he growled furiously at the oncoming group. Regardless of the circumstances, he was not going to allow anyone across the bridge without paying the toll.
The group began to slow down — knowing they were now caught between a rock and a hard place — but Applejack just kept running straight towards the troll.
“Applejack!” Fluttershy called out.
Applejack ignored her friends’ protests as she charged right at the troll and exclaimed, “Sorry, big guy, but this here’s a dire emergency!”
Before the troll could react, Applejack quickly grabbed one of his legs, spun him around, and effortlessly flung him high into the air. The troll roared as he was suddenly sent flying far away from the bridge. After being airborne for many seconds, he eventually splashed down into the river, far upstream.
Without wasting another moment, Applejack rushed across the bridge as she shouted back, “C’mon, y’all! Let’s move!”
With the skeleton army quickly closing in behind, the others immediately followed Applejack across the bridge. Once they were all on the other side, they stopped and turned to look back at the side they had just escaped from. They saw countless skeleton warriors rush out of the forest, but rather strangely, none of the dared to go across the bridge.
“W-why aren’t they following us?” asked Fluttershy.
As the skeletons eventually stopped pouring out of the woods, Trixie suddenly arrived. She was sitting on a remnant of her throne, which she was levitating along the trail until she set it down right in front of the bridge.
“There’s your answer,” replied Sunset. “They’re waiting for their leader.”
As Trixie got up out of her throne and began walking towards the bridge, Spike tightly grasped the spear in his hands and suddenly charged back onto the bridge.
“Spike! What are you doing?!” shouted Twilight in panic.
Spike ran onto the bridge and stopped right in the middle of the span. He then raised the spear high over his head and hollered at the top of his lungs, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!” He then slammed the end of the spear down onto the bridge right in front of his feet.
For a few seconds, everyone just stared silently at Spike’s either courageous or foolhardy display. But then suddenly, the grey bricks that made up the bridge began to fall apart and tumble into the river below. Spike heard the clacking and clattering of Lego bricks start behind him, so he glanced back in confusion. He had no time to react as the cascading failure spread over to the part of the bridge he stood on, causing him to fall backwards into the river.
As the last portions of the bridge fell apart and collapsed into the river, Spike resurfaced and spat some water out. As the current began to carry him away, he mumbled, “Not exactly what I had in mind…”
Before Spike could be completely swept away, Applejack pulled out her lasso and hurled the loop towards him, then she quickly pulled him back to shore. Fluttershy helped Spike out of the water and gave him a towel to dry himself off with.
On the other side of the river, Trixie giggled and remarked, “Nice try, twerp, but the Great and Powerful Trixie can build her own bridge.” With a wave of her magical staff, she levitated all of the grey Lego bricks out of the water and rapidly reassembled them in the air into another bridge. Once the bridge was completely rebuilt, Trixie slammed it into its original place. Finally, with a scornful smile on her face, Trixie began to walk across the bridge.
“She’s crossing the bridge!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie in panic. “What do we do?! What do we do?!”
“Any ideas, Sunset?” asked Twilight as she turned to her friend.
As she watched Trixie slowly approach, Sunset considered any possible ideas. She had already seen demonstrations of Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie using their new magic powers to take on Trixie. That left only Twilight and herself, and with Twilight still way too hesitant to even consider using her magic, that meant it was time for Sunset to step up. Initially, she wasn’t sure how her mind-reading powers could be of any use, but then a thought occurred to her and she realized that maybe there was a way she could stop Trixie.
Sunset sighed and replied, “I think there might be a way to stop her. It’s gonna be highly risky, very crazy, and probably really stupid… but it just might work.”
“So what’s the plan?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Simple,” replied Sunset as she began walking towards the bridge. “I’m gonna use my new magical ability.”
Everyone just silently watched as Sunset made her way onto the bridge and began walking across to meet face-to-face with Trixie. With the exception of Twilight, none of them had any idea Sunset even had new magical powers, so they couldn’t help but feel a little curious about what she would be able to do to stop Trixie.
Eventually, Sunset and Trixie met at the middle of the bridge and stopped just a step away from each other. On both sides of the river, everyone carefully watched their respective leaders. This confrontation between good and evil was about to be determined between those two girls standing on the middle of the bridge.
“Sunset Shimmer,” greeted Trixie with a sneer. “It’s been a long time since we fought on the same side, hasn’t it?”
“That is a past I’d rather not revisit ever again,” grumbled Sunset.
“Quite a shame, really,” muttered Trixie. “And here, Trixie actually thought for a moment that you might have considered coming back to the way things were just a year ago.”
“Forget it, Trixie!” snapped Sunset. “I’ll never return to the dark side. Now that I’ve experienced what it’s like on both sides, I know which one is better than the other… and I’d rather stay with my friends.”
“So pathetic…” said Trixie as she shook her head in disappointment. “You used to be so much more to Trixie’s liking. Trixie even once saw you as a potentially valuable partner who could always get things done.”
“Then it’s a good thing that idea never came to pass,” responded Sunset. “I’m much better off now.”
“So you say,” remarked Trixie smugly. “How can you be so sure of that?”
“Oh, I can list a few examples to prove it,” replied Sunset with a confident grin. “Ever since I proved myself a good guy following the defeat of the sirens, everyone stopped scorning me and began to welcome my presence. I’ve had kids ask for my autograph, I’ve had some of my old useless possessions sell at auction for a small fortune, and I’ve even had a film studio request permission to make a movie about my life story in spite of how dark most of it is.”
As Sunset spoke, Trixie’s expression grew increasingly bitter until she finally snapped, “If your goal is to make Trixie jealous, then you’re succeeding by miles!”
“I’m just saying that maybe you don’t have to be a bad guy to be considered great and powerful,” insisted Sunset. “Perhaps I could use my new magic to show you that there’s a better way.”
Trixie laughed mockingly and exclaimed, “Don’t make Trixie laugh! There is nothing you can do to convince Trixie to put an end to her quest for total domination!”
Sunset smiled and quipped, “You wanna bet?” Without giving Trixie a chance to respond, Sunset quickly grasped her hand. Just like with Twilight the previous night, her body stiffened and her eyes glowed white as she began to look into Trixie’s memories…
“Come one! Come all! Behold and witness the awesome magical talents of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie proudly announced from the stage of a large indoor theater.
As Sunset began to observe Trixie’s memories, she was astonished to see the minifig who would one day become an evil sorceress was once a simple magic show performer in what appeared to be a City Region. She watched some of Trixie’s acts and, she had to admit, some of them were rather impressive. As the show came to an end, Sunset was quite pleased with what she saw, and felt that Trixie was perfectly talented for a career as an illusionist to entertain the masses.
Unfortunately, the audience on this particular night didn’t quite share that sentiment. More than half of the seats were empty, many of those in attendance were either asleep or distracted by their phones, and of the remaining few who even bothered to watch, less than half of those people had even bothered to clap at all.
A little later, Sunset saw Trixie backstage with a look of disappointment on her face. Trixie sighed and muttered, “This isn’t going the way I thought it would. Just months ago, I was able to draw a real crowd and keep most of them on the edge of their seats and wondering ‘How did she do that?’, but now it seems they grow bored of my performances. What am I going to do to bring back my audiences?”
Trixie picked up a pile of posters from her more recent performances and as she flipped through all of them, she began to notice a pattern; they all featured the exact same acts, all in the very same theater in the City Region of Las Pegasus. As this realization dawned on her, she knew what she had to do next.
“So be it!” declared Trixie. “Not only should I mix up my acts, but I should also begin performing in other places. I shall take my show on the road and perform at all the Cities — no, more than that! I shall perform at all the Regions in the entire Lego World! Before this year is out, all shall know the name of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
And so Trixie set out on her worldwide tour. Sunset saw highlights of Trixie’s many shows throughout the Lego World. There were good moments, like the huge enthusiastic crowds she got in Canterlot City, Bricksburg, Manehatten, and Lego City. There were bad moments, like the smaller than hoped for crowds in Vanhoover and Baltimare, or acts gone horribly wrong in Bricklyn and Fillydelphia. And there were ugly moments, like almost being shot at by gunslingers in the Old West Region, being chased by angry pirates in the Pirate Region, and being chased by hungry dinosaurs on Dinosaur Island.
Finally, Trixie drove her car and trailer along the dirt roads of the Castle Region on her way to the next stop on her tour. She hadn’t seen much success since her last stop in a City Region, but she remained confident that she was succeeding in getting her name out there, at the very least.
Along the way, Trixie was forced to stop due to a fallen tree blocking the road. As she got out of her car to inspect the roadblock, she grumbled, “Is it really too much to ask these people to keep their roads clear?”
Suddenly, she felt herself seized from behind and violently thrown to the ground. She tried to get back up, but was quickly kicked and stomped upon. They eventually relented enough to allow Trixie to sit up and turn back to see what was going on. To her absolute horror, she saw a group of highway robbers wearing brown hoods and masks were in the process of unhitching the trailer from her car.
“Hey! What are you doing?!” she shouted. “All of my possessions are in there!”
“Not anymore!” taunted one of the robbers before he punched Trixie right in the face.
By the time Trixie recovered, she was absolutely crushed by what she saw. The trailer was gone, the car had been stripped to the point of being completely undrivable, and whatever items she had inside the car were also all gone.
“No… no, no, no, no no NO NO NO!!” hollered Trixie as she broke down and wept inside what little remained of her car. And to make matters even worse, the sky had filled with dark clouds and a rumble of thunder signaled an oncoming storm.
A few days later, Trixie was shivering, tired, hungry, and completely miserable as she trudged her way through the wilderness of the Castle Region. The only thing she had for shelter was a tattered brown cloak and hood. As each day passed with no salvation in sight, she became increasingly resigned to the very real possibility that she would soon lose her Creation Spark alone in this unforgiving wilderness.
Suddenly, Trixie began to hear a distant noise. She followed the sound and was soon able to identify it as someone struggling. She feared that those highway robbers were now after a new victim, so she approached the scene as quietly and carefully as she could.
Trixie soon arrived at the edge of a steep drop-off, and down below she saw a large dark castle surrounded by a moat of solidified lava. The noises of struggling were coming from an angry wizard who was bound in golden chains and had the top of his hat sliced off. Some castle soldiers and four people who looked like they belonged in a City Region carried the captured wizard onto a cart and then rode away from the castle. Once she was sure that everyone was gone, Trixie carefully slid down the slope and made her way into the castle.
Trixie was feeling rather apprehensive as she made her way through the dark corridors of the castle, but she pressed on. It was by far the best shelter she had since the day she was robbed of everything, and after seeing that wizard get taken away, she figure this place was now completely abandoned.
Trixie eventually came across a room that looked like it had seen a battle, with empty suits of armor and bricks from the walls and ceiling scattered all over the place. Among the debris, she found a black staff with a pair of translucent blue lightning bolts on the end of it. Curious, she reached down and picked up the staff.
As soon as her hand touched that staff, she immediately felt a surge of power and energy course through her body, causing her to scream loudly. She had no idea how long it had lasted, but it felt like it would go on forever.
When it was finally over, Trixie took a moment to catch her breath. Amazingly, she no longer felt so weak, tired, and helpless. Now, she felt strong, powerful, and virtually invincible. She looked over herself and noticed that while her city clothes had remained practically the same, her ragged cloak and hood had now morphed into a perfect replica of the purple cape and pointed hat with stars on them that she had been particularly fond of during her performances. Finally, she noticed that the staff itself had changed, with the end of it now bearing a blue five-pointed star, identical to the wand depicted on her Creative Mark.
Feeling the incredible power now coursing through her body, Trixie decided to lightly thrust the staff forward, and ended up unleashing a magical blast that blew off some more bricks from the wall. She was momentarily stunned by her own display of power, but then she tried the same thing again and got the same result… and it felt great. It felt awesome. It felt powerful.
Trixie grinned as she began waving the staff — her staff — around in all directions, unleashing blast after blast of magical energy. Seeing such an awesome display of power coming from herself was absolutely thrilling. She had to see what else she could do!
Like a kid ready to open presents on Christmas morning, Trixie rushed through the castle until she reached a room that offered a large opening out to the barren field in front of the castle. She stopped in front of the opening, let the magical power surge through the staff, then slammed the end of it down against the floor. Right away, the solid moat liquefied into lava, and out in the barren field, dozens of skeletons rose up from the ground, each of them armed with round shields and curved swords. Once the skeletons had pulled themselves out of the ground, they all turned to Trixie and bowed down to her.
Trixie grinned wickedly at this display. After being ignored and derided on the performance stage too many times, she decided that if she wanted everyone to always remember her name for all of time… then she would just have to become evil. With the power to easily conquer entire regions if she so desired, she knew there was no doubting now that everyone would soon know her name, and never ever forget it.
With her newly loyal army gathered before her, Trixie raised her staff and proudly declared, “Kneel before your new mistress! For I am the Great and Powerful TRIXIE!!” With a boom of thunder and a flash of lightning in the dark clouds that covered the sky, it was a very appropriate setting to declare a new beginning in her life.
But of course, there was still one more magical power she had always wanted to try, and she decided that now would be the perfect time to go for it. She slammed the end of her staff down onto the floor and instantly vanished in a large puff of blue smoke.
Trixie has successfully teleported, but when she reappeared in an identical large puff of blue smoke, she found herself high in the air over a river. She screamed as she plummeted straight down and splashed into the river. She quickly resurfaced and spat out some water before she grumbled, “It seems Trixie will first need to learn to master her new powers.”
Sunset’s body relaxed and her eyes returned to normal as her glimpse into Trixie’s mind came to an end. She remained practically speechless as she let go of Trixie’s hand.
All around, everyone silently stared at the two girls on the bridge. From their perspectives, seemingly nothing had happed for the brief duration of when Sunset had grasped Trixie’s hand.
As the awkward silence dragged on, Trixie smirked and dismissively remarked, “That’s it? How pathetic. It seems your so-called ‘new magic’ has proven to be completely useless!”
“You’re not native to the Castle Region,” Sunset quickly stated.
Trixie suddenly frowned and hesitantly asked, “W-w-what?”
“You were originally from the City Region of Las Pegasus,” continued Sunset. “You once worked on a stage where you performed all kinds of magic tricks and illusions to entertain the crowds, but when your show started getting smaller audiences, you decided to go on a world tour in order to attract more people to your performances. But when you passed through the Castle Region, everything you had was taken away by some highway robbers. You later stumbled across the castle of the evil wizard, Mallock the Malign, practically seconds after he was captured and taken away by Clutch Powers and his team. You then snuck into the castle and found Mallock’s staff — the same staff you now hold — and when you touched it, it granted you all of Mallock’s dark magical powers, as well as command over his army of skeleton warriors and trolls.”
Once again, an awkward silence fell on both sides of the river. For many of those who had heard it all, they found it very hard to believe that Trixie could really have a past like that. But what if Sunset was really speaking the truth? How could she have possibly known all of that?
Trixie quietly sputtered for a few seconds before she finally hissed, “T-Trixie never shared any of this with you!”
“You didn’t have to,” replied Sunset with a smirk as she folded her arms, “because that’s what my new magic can do.” She held up the hand she had touched Trixie with and confidently explained, “With a single touch, I can look into your mind, see your memories, understand your feelings, and learn all about your deepest darkest secrets.”
Trixie took a step back as her eyes rapidly shifted all around. To Sunset and her teammates as they looked at Trixie’s face, the supposedly evil sorceress had apparently become a nervous wreck.
Sunset lowered her arms and frowned as she continued, “I know what your greatest desire is, Trixie. More than anything else, you want everyone to always remember your name for all of eternity. And ever since you gained Mallock’s magic, you became convinced that the only way to guarantee that was to simply conquer as much territory as you possibly could.”
Trixie finally snapped out of her apparent trance as she suddenly took a step forward and snapped, “Because it’s true! Very few will ever forget the name of vengeful tyrant, and if Trixie must become such a person, then so be it! When the name Trixie becomes synonymous with fear and terror, then Trixie will have succeeded!”
“You’re wrong, Trixie,” argued Sunset. “Tyranny is hardly the only path to everlasting fame. Not to make you further jealous of me, but I’m sure that my name has already been immortalized, not as the villain I once was, but as the hero that I am now.” Sunset sighed before she calmly continued, “You don’t have to be the bad guy, Trixie. There are a lot of ways you could use your powers for good. If you give up this dark path and earn redemption through good deeds, then perhaps you could actually make a better name for yourself.” Sunset smiled as she held out her hand. “What do you say, Trixie?”
Trixie stared down at Sunset’s hand for a moment. She glanced back at her gathered army, then glanced forward towards Sunset’s teammates. She stared at her staff for a moment, then turned back and slammed the end of her staff down onto the bridge, causing her entire army to instantly vanish in massive puff of smoke.
Sunset smiled and remarked, “I knew you would make the right choice.”
Trixie flashed a smug grin as she turned back to Sunset and asked, “Who said I was accepting your petty offer?”
Sunset’s smile quickly fell. “Huh?” she asked in confusion. “Then why did you just send your army away?”
“Don’t need them anymore,” Trixie replied casually. “I’m calling off this assault. It’s just not worth the effort. Trixie can always find new magic elsewhere.”
Sunset hesitated for only a brief moment before she asked, “Then would you at least consider my offer?”
Trixie shrugged and replied, “Who knows? Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t. I think I’ll keep you in suspense.” She smiled confidently once more as she added, “But I promise you this much: You have not heard the last of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” After that boastful declaration, she slammed the end of her staff down onto the bridge and she was instantly obscured by a large puff of smoke.
Sunset coughed from the smoke, which soon cleared to reveal that Trixie had completely vanished.
Pinkie gasped and exclaimed, “She’s gone!” She quickly glanced around, then stopped and pointed downstream along the river as she muttered, “Oh, wait, she’s way over there.”
Trixie had reappeared high in the air above the river, further downstream. She screamed as she inevitably fell and splashed into the river.
Back on the bridge, Sunset smirked and remarked, “Not the first time that’s happened to her.”
As Sunset began walking back to her friends, Spike asked in confusion, “So, uh… is that it? Does that mean we’re done here?”
“I guess so,” replied Twilight with a shrug. “Our mission was to stop Trixie from obtaining whatever she was after in this region, and in a way, I suppose we technically succeeded.”
“But she still got away,” Applejack pointed out. “It just don’t feel right to say that we won without catchin’ the bad guy.”
“Eh, we’ll get her next time,” said Rainbow Dash dismissively. “Thanks to our awesome new powers, we’re totally gonna catch her some day.”
“Speaking of our new abilities,” Rarity spoke up as she turned to Sunset, “is it true that your new magic allows you to read people’s minds?”
“That’s a rather simple way to describe it,” replied Sunset, “but yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
“Ooh, fancy!” remarked Pinkie Pie excitedly. “Try me! Try me!” She immediately rushed towards Sunset with her hands out ahead.
As Pinkie quickly approached, Sunset immediately ducked and rolled out of the way, then stood back up and slowly backed away from Pinkie. “No thanks. I’d rather keep my sanity,” said Sunset in a polite tone with a forced smile.
Gloriosa cleared her throat and said, “Well, in any case, I supposed this means you girls will be leaving now?”
“We’ll first need to retrieve our supplies back at the hemlock outpost,” replied Twilight. “Then we’ll return home through the Jump-Gate.” She proudly held up her right wrist to show the return device she always wore whenever she was out on a mission.
“In that case, we’d better get going,” stated Timber. “Without the wagon, it’ll take us a couple of hours to hike back to camp.”
As the group began to make their way back to camp along the trail, Fluttershy couldn’t help but sigh and remark, “Aside from the whole dealing with bad guys part, I actually like this place a lot. I sure am going to miss it…”
After spending a few days out in the middle of the Dark Forest, all eight members of Sunset’s team of friends were definitely looking forward to finally return home to Canterlot City.
A few hours later, the team of eight minfigs from Canterlot City were back at the hemlock outpost and were busy packing up their things and getting ready to return home. All of them were inside each of the brick-built shelters they had slept in over the previous two nights and gathered up all of the supplies they had brought with them. Those who packed lightly were the first to step outside and wait in the middle of the outpost, while those with more luggage simply piled up each bag or case outside before moving on to the next one.
Inside the shelter shared by Twilight and Sunset, both girls were busy folding up their bedsheets and spare change of clothes. “So, Twilight,” Sunset spoke up, “are you happy to leave this place?”
Twilight couldn’t help but smirk and remarked, “Do you even have to ask that question?”
“Point taken,” noted Sunset with a smile. As she packed her bedsheets into her bag, she added, “But still, aside from the added anxiety from our new magic, I have to say you did pretty well for your first visit to the Castle Region in years.”
Twilight sighed and muttered, “I still can’t believe I actually tried to run away from all of you like that.”
“It’s okay, Twilight,” assured Sunset. “The important thing is that we’re still together, our mission is over, and we can finally go home.”
Twilight smiled back at her friend and added, “And hopefully, this means we can leave behind all this crazy new magic.”
“About that…” began Sunset with a frown as she folded up the last of her shirts and packed them away. “I can’t get my mind off of what Trixie had told us, regarding the magic she was after. She said that much of it had come right to her, and if she was telling the truth… then does that mean our new magic will be following us from now on?”
“I sure hope not,” replied Twilight worriedly. “You already know what’s been troubling me, so I’m sure you know all too well what my biggest fear is, regarding that subject.”
“I still don’t think Midnight Sparkle has anything to do with this,” muttered Sunset. “I won’t completely eliminate the possibility, but I’m sure there has to be a better explanation for where this magic is coming from.”
“Either way,” said Twilight as she slung her backpack onto her back, “I’ll be feeling much better once we’re back in Canterlot City.”
“Agreed,” said Sunset with a smile as she also slung her backpack onto her back. With all of their supplies now fully packed, the two girls left the shelter to join the rest of their friends outside.
Once everyone was gathered together, they were soon joined by Gloriosa, Timber, and Rob. “I hope you girls enjoyed your time here,” said Gloriosa. “I certainly won’t be forgetting anytime soon about being part of your latest mission.”
“Indeed,” agreed Rob. “Thy company was a joy to have among us, and we would welcome having the lot of thee return some day.”
“And once Gloriosa and I are done with our goodwill mission here,” added Timber, “maybe you might be interested in visiting our summer camp.”
Twilight smiled and said, “Sounds like a good idea to me. I’ll keep that in mind.” She raised her right arm and switched on the Jump-Gate return device on her wrist. She was just about to start entering the return code for Canterlot City when everyone suddenly heard the ringing of a cell phone.
Sunset quickly realized the noise was coming from her pocket, so she pulled out her phone and took a look at the screen to see who was calling. “It’s Celestia,” stated Sunset. “I’ll put her on speaker.” She tapped her phone a few times, then held it out in front while everyone else gathered around. “Hi, Celestia,” greeted Sunset. “We’re all here, we’ve just finished our mission, and we’re about to return home.”
“That’s good to hear,” responded Celestia on the phone. “I take it Trixie is no longer a serious threat?”
“Not exactly,” replied Sunset uneasily. “Trixie remains at large, but we did manage to convince her to leave this region and stop looking for whatever she was after.”
Celestia sighed and responded, “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected a result any better than that, especially before your surprise discovery in that region.”
“Yeah, we still don’t know where our new magic powers come from,” acknowledged Sunset, “but it certainly helped us find and defeat Trixie.”
“On the subject of your new magic,” said Celestia, “I’m afraid you girls won’t be coming back to Canterlot City just yet.”
Everyone in the group glanced around at one another in confusion before Sunset turned her attention back to her phone and asked, “Why not?”
“After you informed me about the new magic your friends possessed,” explained Celestia, “I shared this information with Luna, and she is now requesting that you girls meet up with her at her lunar base. She just wants to conduct some tests and interviews to gain a better understanding of what you are now capable of. And since the Wonderbolts Lunar Headquarters just installed their Jump-Gate, I’m sure that you’ll be able to finish the tests and return to Canterlot City by supper.”
Sunset looked up to her friends and asked, “What do you girls think?”
Applejack simply shrugged.
“Sounds good to me,” replied Rainbow Dash. “I’d like to see how fast I can really run!”
“I suppose it would be worth the investigation,” admitted Rarity.
“Sure would be nice to find out what things I can or can’t blow up,” noted Pinkie Pie.
“I don’t see why not,” mumbled Fluttershy with a shrug.
“So I guess this means we’ll take a little detour before we return home,” acknowledged Twilight. “As long as it still means we don’t have to spend any more time in the Castle Region, I’m okay with it.”
Sunset turned back to her phone and said, “Looks like we’re in agreement here.”
“Thank you, girls,” responded Celestia. “By the way, are Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce with you right now?”
“Yes, Celestia, we’re here,” replied Gloriosa.
“I’m afraid your goodwill mission will have to be cut short. Luna wants to interview all potential witnesses to these new magical powers, but since she’s not allowed to request anyone who’s not a LEGO Team member to come to her base, that unfortunately means the two of you are the only available candidates.”
“Understandable,” replied Timber with resignation. “Give us a moment to get our things together and we’ll be ready to go.”
“Thank you,” responded Celestia. “I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience, but after the previous incidents involving Equestrian magic, my sister doesn’t want to take any chances.”
“Well, thanks for calling us,” Sunset spoke up. “Tell Luna we’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Thank you, Sunset,” responded Celestia. “I’ll look forward to seeing the results my sister can uncover.” Celestia then ended the call and Sunset put away her phone.
Gloriosa sighed as she turned to Rob and said, “I’m terribly sorry that we have to leave on such short notice.”
“Aye,” Rob sadly acknowledged with a nod. “‘Tis a shame, but ‘tis for a good cause. My fellow Forestmen and I have enjoyed thy stay here and would surely not mind having thee return some day.”
“Glad we could leave on good terms, at least,” said Timber with a smile. “And who knows? If we can get one of those Jump-Gates, we might be able to visit more often.”
Rob gave a hearty laugh and remarked, “Were I not so attached to my home realm, I would be tempted to request the use of such a contraption myself to visit thy home region from time to time!”
Gloriosa couldn’t resist a light giggle before she said, “You sure have been some pleasant company, Rob. But for now, Timber and I need to pack our things and be ready to leave with the Canterlot team.”
“Very well then,” acknowledged Rob. He then gave a bow to the gathered teammates and loudly proclaimed, “Farewell and salutations, team of noble heroes!” He then turn away and walked off to the other side of the outpost.
At the same time, Gloriosa and Timber both headed towards the brick-built tree they had been staying in. As Timber stepped inside, Gloriosa glanced back and said, “Don’t worry, this should only take a moment before we’re ready to leave with you. I’ve got this!” She then stepped inside and began gathering her supplies.
As they waited for their new companions to get ready, the eight teammates silently wondered to themselves what kind of tests would await them at the lunar base.
A few minutes later, inside the Wonderbolts Lunar Headquarters, the newly-built Jump-Gate suddenly made its distinctive low whooshing noise before the massive solid doors parted open. On the other side was the hemlock outpost where all eight members of the Canterlot City primary LEGO Team, along with fellow LEGO Team members Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce, stood. Once the Jump-Gate was open, everyone walked through and stepped into the space facility on the surface of the Moon.
As everyone walked into the room and the Jump-Gate closed behind them, they immediately saw Luna Playwell was already waiting for them. “Welcome to my lunar base, fellow LEGO Team members,” greeted Luna. “I am pleased that you were all willing to and capable of answering my request.”
“Oh, it’s no big deal,” assured Sunset. “We just finished dealing with Trixie, so we were about to go home when we got the call.”
Luna nodded and stated, “As pleased as I am to hear this, I presume your victory did not come without some complications regarding your new magical abilities.”
“I’ll say!” remarked Pinkie Pie. “Turns out that not everything I throw can explode! The others are guessing that only sugary stuff can go boom when I toss it.”
“Indeed,” said Luna as she quickly scribbled something on her notepad. “I’ll make sure to modify your test to account for this new information. Are there any other new developments since yesterday that I should be aware of?”
Sunset hesitated to reply about her new magic, uncertain about whether she should just tell Luna what the others already knew or if she would be better off keeping it secret.
Pinkie Pie cheerfully explained, “Sunset can read minds! Here, let me show you!” She immediately reached over and grasped Sunset’s hand and pressed it to her forehead.
“Pinkie!” shouted Sunset as she was suddenly put in contact against her will with the pink party girl. However, after only a matter of seconds, Sunset’s minor frustration quickly turned to confusion. “Wait… something’s not right…” she quietly mumbled.
“What is it?” asked Fluttershy.
Sunset pulled her hand out of Pinkie’s grip and quickly clasped hands with Twilight, then Spike, then Fluttershy, then Rainbow Dash, then Rarity, then Applejack, and finally Gloriosa. As Gloriosa irritably yanked herself out of Sunset’s grip, Sunset worriedly said, “I’m not getting anything… My magic’s not working. Why is my magic suddenly not working?!”
Sunset’s panicked statement certainly caused some concern among everyone in the room. If Sunset’s magic was suddenly no longer working, then was the same true for everyone else?
Rainbow Dash decided to find out for herself. She immediately rushed out the door into the hallway, vanishing instantly in a rainbow motion blur. She instantly returned seconds later, now holding a blue popsicle in her hand. “Still got my super speed!” said Rainbow proudly before taking a bite from her popsicle.
Rarity held out her hand and effortlessly summoned a small diamond shield. “I still have my ability to summon diamonds,” she noted.
“I’d try to see if I can still blow up stuff, but I just ran out of cupcakes,” Pinkie casually remarked.
“Don’t bother tryin’,” scolded Applejack. She turned to Luna and said, “Ah reckon most of us at least still have our new magic just fine. Not sure why it’s suddenly not workin’ for Sunset, so your guess is as good as mine.”
“Very well, then,” acknowledged Luna with a nod as she put away her notepad. “And with Twilight still lacking any new magic of her own, it seems we will have five tests to conduct. After that, I shall interview each of you one-on-one, and then you will all be free to go.”
“Sounds like a plan,” agreed Timber with a smile.
Luna pointed to the doorway out of the room and stated, “Go left down the hallway and take the third door on your right. I’ve provided a spare change of your standard city clothes. Once everyone has changed, the intern waiting outside will escort you to our first testing chamber. You can just leave your luggage here for when we are all done and you can return home.”
“Thank you, Luna,” said Gloriosa with a smile. “We’ll get started right away.” She then led the group of ten minifigs down the hallway to the changing room. As the group walked, many of them had feelings of anxiety for the upcoming tests and interviews, but they were sure they would at least get some answers on what they were now capable of doing.
A few minutes later, the eight minifigs from Canterlot City were now back to wearing their regular city clothes, while Gloriosa and Timber simply wore a clean change of the same outfits they had been wearing. Everyone was now gathered at one of the many various testing chambers in the facility, and the first one up for experimentation was Applejack.
“Uh, is this really necessary?” asked Applejack worriedly as she stared upwards.
Applejack stood in the center of a large round chamber. On the curved wall in front of her was a large window, behind which stood the rest of the group to watch what would happen inside the chamber. But what really had Applejack’s attention was the end of a massive metal cylinder suspended from the ceiling.
Luna leaned close to the nearby microphone and spoke into the chamber, “Not to worry, Applejack. This giant hydraulic press will descend very slowly, so if anything goes wrong, you’ll have plenty of time to escape.”
“Ain’t exactly makin’ me feel much better…” grumbled Applejack.
“I can assure you we have taken every precaution imaginable,” continued Luna. “That is why I have asked some interns to accompany you inside the chamber. Worst case scenario, they’ll jump into action and quickly pull you out.”
“Can we just get this over with!” shouted Applejack irritably.
“As you wish,” stated Luna. She stepped away from the microphone and tapped a few buttons on the nearby console. Soon, the giant press began its slow descent with a constant whirring noise.
Applejack took a deep breath and stretched her arms out. “Well… here goes nothin’…” she mumbled to herself as she raised her arms up, ready to meet the gradually incoming massive force.
In the observation room on the other side of the window, the rest of the team silently watched the hydraulic press make its slow descent. What they were about to witness gave them all varying feelings of anxiety, nervousness, and even excitement in some cases.
Finally, the giant press was low enough for Applejack’s outstretched hands to touch it. She immediately tried to hold up the descending press, but it wasn’t long before she was forced to bend her elbows and knees. Although the press initially continued dropping at its normal pace, it was only when Applejack widened her stance that the massive machine began to slow. By the time it was practically resting on her shoulders, the giant press came to a complete stop.
Applejack grunted and groaned as she struggled to stay standing up under the immense amount of force being pressed down against her. The massive machine was also starting to groan in certain places as parts of it were gradually becoming overwhelmed. Everyone watching practically held their breath, waiting to see what would be the first to break.
A sudden loud bang signaled that it was the machine the ultimately failed. One of the large hoses along the ceiling suddenly burst and hydraulic fluid began gushing out through the rupture at high pressure. Soon after, another hose full of hydraulic fluid suddenly burst, quickly followed by another, and then another. Before long, every single hose had ruptured, and with the pressure within the press quickly dropping, Applejack was soon able to heft the massive chunk of metal off her shoulders and high enough that her knees and elbows were once again straight.
Applejack let out a whoop of joy and exclaimed, “Boy, that sure was easy!” Her excitement quickly fell as she glanced around at the result of her triumph. Hydraulic fluid was now gushing all over the chamber, flooding the floor and even leaving one unfortunate intern completely drenched. She turned her attention towards the observation window and uneasily said, “Uh… sorry ‘bout the mess…”
Luna leaned close to the microphone and spoke, “Don’t concern yourself with any damages. I’ll make arrangements later to clean and repair this chamber. For now, just get cleaned up and meet us at the next testing chamber. Hopefully, one of my interns will be available to guide you.”
One of the interns inside the chamber stood next to the door out of the room and gestured for Applejack to follow.
As Applejack followed the intern out of the chamber, Sunset remarked, “Wow… that was really impressive.” She turned to Luna and asked, “How much force did it take to do that?”
“I cannot say for sure,” answered Luna as she studied the results on the small display screen next to the console. “But I do know that this press is capable of delivering thousands of tons of pressure, and if Applejack was able to overcome a force like that…”
Nobody bothered to say anything in response. Needless to say, Applejack had well and truly demonstrated an unbelievable amount of strength.
Luna scribbled something in her notepad, then put it away and spoke up, “Anyway, I believe we are done here, so let’s move on to the next testing chamber.”
At the second test chamber, Rarity stood alone inside a large, square, seemingly featureless room. High up along one wall of the chamber was the observation window, beyond which was everyone else to watch what would happen inside the chamber.
As Applejack finally joined the others in the observation room, Luna leaned close to the nearby microphone and spoke, “Are you ready to begin testing, Rarity?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose,” replied Rarity.
“Very well, then,” responded Luna as she tapped a few buttons on the nearby small display screen. “For the first part of this test, there will be a target inside the chamber with you.” A small panel on the floor slid open and up from within rose a watermelon on a pedestal. “I am going to deploy a series of increasingly powerful weapons to shoot at the target. Your goal is to use your shields to prevent the target from receiving any damage.”
“Sounds simple enough,” stated Rarity as she summoned one of her diamond shields and slowly moved her hands around to position the hovering shield to rest right in front of the watermelon. “You may proceed.”
Luna tapped a series of buttons. A panel in the wall of the chamber slid aside and the first weapon to deploy out was a slingshot that flung a pebble at the target, but the pebble harmlessly bounced off the shield. The slingshot quickly retracted and the next weapon, a bow and arrow, was just as quickly deployed in its place. The bow shot the arrow at the target, but the arrow harmlessly bounced off the shield. The next weapon was a crossbow, and the bolt fried from that was also easily blocked by the shield. The next weapon was a flintlock pistol which quickly fired a shot at the target, but the shield managed to block it. Quickly following that was an old west revolver, and its shot was also completely blocked. Next was a laser pistol, and despite its more effective projectile, it still wasn’t enough to penetrate the shield. Then followed a laser blaster, and the more powerful shot was still blocked by the shield. Following that was a small grenade hurled at the target, but the shield was able to block the blast. The next weapon was a pirate cannon that immediately fired at the target, but not even the cannonball was able to make it past the shield. Finally, a rocket launcher was deployed and quickly fired a missile that exploded on impact.
After every single attempt by the various weapons, the watermelon target remained completely unscathed. As a result of the rather explosive last few weapons, Rarity was brushing her hair as she brought the shield towards her to closely inspect its features. As she pocketed the hairbrush, she smiled and pleasantly remarked, “How magnificent! Not even a scratch!”
“Well done, Rarity,” stated Luna as she retracted the target back under the floor. “Now let’s test your reflexes.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow as she frowned and asked, “I beg your pardon?”
“Not to worry, these turrets won’t actually shoot at you,” assured Luna. “All you have to do is summon a shield between yourself and the turrets as soon as they deploy. Think of this test as a way to prepare yourself for any real world scenarios where you must protect yourself and your teammates from sudden hostile activity.”
Rarity sighed and muttered, “I suppose I must.” She turned her gaze up towards the ceiling and held her arms out. “You may proceed!” she called out.
Luna tapped a few more buttons. As soon as a small turret suddenly deployed from the ceiling, Rarity immediately summoned a diamond shield to block the line-of-sight between herself and the turret. The turret spun its laser blaster around a few times, then retracted back into the ceiling. Just seconds later, another small laser turret suddenly deployed from another part of the ceiling. Rarity quickly summoned another shield to block the turret, which swiveled around a bit and then retracted back into the ceiling. This sequence repeated about half a dozen times, and Rarity consistently reacted very quickly.
Soon, the rapidly deploying turrets began shooting their laser blasters, albeit while aimed away from Rarity. The additional realistic detail did little to slow Rarity’s reaction time. After successfully blocking herself from another half dozen of these turrets, she got an idea and decided to immediately put it to use.
When the next turret deployed, Rarity placed her diamond shield not between herself and the turret, but rather right in front of the turret’s blasters. As soon as the turret started firing, the laser bolts were reflected back and ended up destroying the turret in an explosion. When the next turret deployed, she also placed a shield in front of its blasters, and that turret was also quickly blown up by its own laser bolts. One by one, Rarity repeated the process, blowing up turret after turret in the same manner. Eventually, every panel in the ceiling now had a destroyed turret dangling inside the test chamber. With every single turret now eliminated, Rarity smile at her accomplishment.
“Destroying the turrets was not part of the test,” stated Luna through the microphone.
Rarity turned back and when she saw the disapproving look on Luna’s face, she giggled nervously and muttered, “S-sorry about that, darling.”
Through the observation window, some of the group looked at Rarity with awkward uncertainty, while others shook their heads in disapproval, and Pinkie Pie simply smiled and waved.
“So…” began Rarity awkwardly. She cleared her throat and asked with a nervous grin, “Shall we proceed to the next test chamber?”
Rainbow Dash found herself inside a test chamber that was similar to the previous one, except there was what appeared to be a common treadmill in the middle of the chamber. She glanced up at everyone on the other side of the observation window and asked, “That’s it?” she asked in mild disappointment. “You just want me to run on a treadmill?”
“This isn’t any ordinary treadmill you might find at the gym,” responded Luna through the microphone. “This particular treadmill has been specially modified to run at absurdly high speeds. All you have to do is run on it, and we’ll find out just how fast you can really run.”
Rainbow Dash grinned and boasted, “Then you’d better make sure you write that number down, ‘cause I’m about to break every land speed record in the book!” She then hopped onto the treadmill. “Let’s go!”
Luna tapped a few buttons on the nearby small display screen and the treadmill began to move. It started off slowly like all other treadmills, but it soon began to accelerate. Rainbow Dash easily kept pace with the treadmill as it continued to speed up. Before long, the treadmill exceeded the maximum speed of ordinary treadmills, and Rainbow Dash had yet to even break a sweat. As the treadmill continued to accelerate, the rapid thumping of each stride Rainbow made became more and more rapid until it eventually blurred into a single continuous noise. At the same time, the whirring noise of the treadmill’s motor had become so loud that it was like listening to a racecar engine.
“Her velocity has already reached triple digits,” noted Luna in astonishment as she stared at the numbers being displayed on the screen. “At this pace, she could outrun a racecar at top speed.”
“Do you think she could break the sound barrier?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“I’m afraid this treadmill’s not designed to go that fast,” Luna pointed out.
As Rainbow Dash continued her ever accelerating pace on the treadmill, the nearby machine powering its motor suddenly began to spark and zap. As she continued her absurdly rapid running, Rainbow glanced over at the machine, then turned to the observation window and worriedly asked, “Uh, should it be doing that?”
Just seconds later, the machine suddenly exploded and unleashed a huge shower of sparks all around. The sudden loss of power caused the treadmill to decelerate so rapidly that Rainbow Dash simply had no time to react and she ended up zooming forward off the treadmill and slammed right into ten layers of foam rubber that had been set up against the wall ahead, leaving a perfect minifig-shaped hole through at least the first layer. Just seconds later, the destroyed machine suddenly burst into flames.
In the observation room, Applejack immediately grabbed the nearest fire extinguisher and rushed out into the hallway, with Fluttershy and Sunset Shimmer following right behind. Everyone else staying inside the room simply stared in shock at what they had just witnessed.
“Ohhh, so that’s why you put ten foam mattresses up against that wall,” remarked Pinkie Pie.
Applejack burst into the test chamber and immediately used the fire extinguisher to put out the fire on the destroyed machine. Fluttershy and Sunset quickly rushed over to the hole in the foam layers on the wall. “Are you okay, Rainbow?!” called Fluttershy worriedly.
After a brief moment of silence, Rainbow Dash’s muffled voice responded, “I just have one word to say… Ow…”
Once Rainbow Dash was checked out of the infirmary with no serious injuries, the group gathered at the next test chamber. Now it was Pinkie Pie’s turn.
“So what do I do first?!” asked Pinkie Pie as she jumped around excitedly with a huge grin on her face.
“First, we are going to test the hypothesis your friends have made, regarding your new magic,” responded Luna through the microphone. She tapped a button and a large floor panel slid aside, allowing a table to rise up with two packs of gum on it. “There are two packs of gum in front of you; the one on the left is sugar-free. You are going to toss them, one before the other, at this target.” Luna tapped another button and a red and white bullseye target rose up from the floor at the other side of the chamber. “If the theory is correct, then only the one on the right should explode.”
“No problemo!” replied Pinkie Pie as she immediately grabbed the left pack of gum and tossed it at the target. The gum simply bounced off the target and tumbled to the floor. “Yup! Sugar-free’s a dud! Now for the sugary one!” She quickly grabbed the remaining pack of gum and tossed it at the target. When the second pack of gum hit the target, it exploded with a loud pop and left a black mark on the center of the target, almost like some kind of firecracker. “Yay! Explosion!” cheered Pinkie excitedly.
“Nicely done,” stated Luna as she tapped some more buttons, retracting the now empty table and allowing another one to rise up into the chamber. Resting upon this table was a huge variety of all kinds of sugary treats such as cookies, chocolate bars, lollipops, cans of sprinkles, marshmallows, glazed donuts, and of course, frosted cupcakes. “According to Twilight’s theory, objects with a higher quantity and concentration of sugar should allow you to create bigger explosions, so here is a wide selection for you to choose from. I’ll gather and evaluate the data, so you just need to focus on hitting the targets.” Luna tapped another button and nearly a dozen more targets quickly deployed around the same part of the chamber that the first one was.
Pinkie Pie squealed excitedly and shouted, “This is gonna be so much fun!” She immediately grabbed one of the cupcakes and tossed it at a random target. The explosion upon impact rattled the target, but it remained mostly intact. From that point, everything for Pinkie was a blur as she rapidly grabbed anything within reach and randomly tossed them at the targets. One explosion after another, some bigger than others, and Pinkie was absolutely thrilled with every second of it.
Eventually, Pinkie paused when she noticed that less than a quarter of the sugary objects were left. She wanted to end with the biggest bang possible, and when she found a large can under the table, she knew exactly how to do it. “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” she remarked as she removed the resealable lid from the can and began to quickly shove everything that was left into the can. She crammed the last of it into the can — punching it a few times to force it all down— and then stuck the lid back onto the can. She giggle mischievously as she carried the stuffed can over to the targets, then she hefted the huge can over her shoulder and chucked it at the nearest target.
BOOM!!!
The resulting explosion was so massive that it blew out the observation window, sending everyone inside the room backwards onto their backs. As everyone carefully sat up and brushed off shards of glass, Luna muttered in shock, “That glass was supposed to be bulletproof.”
With that note making it clear that the explosion was likely even worse than initially believed, Sunset immediately jumped to her feet and rushed over to the open frame where the window used to be. “Pinkie! Are you okay?!” she shouted desperately.
The floor of the test chamber was now covered in bricks and debris from all the surrounding walls and ceiling. After a few seconds of complete stillness and silence, a small pile of grey 2x4 bricks shifted and fell apart, exposing a very dazed Pinkie Pie as she slowly sat up with her large magenta hair piece resting askew atop her head.
“Maybe there is such a thing as too much of a good thing,” mumbled Pinkie deliriously.
Later, once Pinkie Pie — and everyone else — was checked out of the infirmary with no serious injuries, the group followed Luna down yet another hallway. “Only one more test left to complete,” stated Luna as they all walked. “And as I’m sure you can guess by now, this one will be for Fluttershy.”
“Does this mean we’re going to another test chamber?” asked Fluttershy uneasily.
“Not this time,” replied Luna as the group arrived at a large doorway with the massive wide door currently closed. “Thanks to some recent events, I’ve got something very special planned for you.”
Luna pulled out her ID card and stuck it into the nearby slot. With a faint beep and a small green light turning on, the door was unlocked. Luna pocketed her ID and swung the massive door open. The room inside appeared to be some kind of storage space for massive cargo. But what really caught everyone’s attention was the huge cage containing a massive beast that appeared to be some kind of weird fusion between a dragon, a rhino, and a scorpion. As soon as the beast became aware of the new arrivals, he immediately slammed against the surrounding cage and let out a mighty and terrifying roar.
ROOOAAARRR!!!
Everyone flinched in one way or another at the deafening roar unleashed by that beast. Spike yelped in shock and immediately leaped into Fluttershy’s arms.
Pinkie Pie leaned close toward Rarity and pointed towards Spike as she asked, “Hey, Rarity? Isn’t that usually your shtick?”
Rarity glared sideways at Pinkie and grumbled, “Yes, Miss Pie, thank you for reminding me of that.”
“You’re welcome!” Pinkie blissfully responded before she returned to where she had previously stood.
“Um, Spike?” Fluttershy quietly asked. “Could you, um… let go of me? I-if you don’t mind?”
Spike opened his eyes and let out a nervous chuckle as he carefully released his grasp on the shy yellow girl and stepped aside.
“What is that thing, anyway?” asked Sunset.
“We have no idea,” replied Luna. “According to Captain Spitfire, this beast was confiscated from a smuggler’s ship just a few days ago. We’ve never seen anything like this, and the smugglers refused to tell us where they found it. Normally, our protocol regarding smuggled creatures is to return them to their natural habitat, but without any information on where this beast came from, that just isn’t possible in this case.” Luna turned to Fluttershy. “That is where you come in, Fluttershy.”
“What?” asked Fluttershy in confusion. “Why me?”
“If you truly are capable of communicating with all kinds of animals, then this alien beast will be definitive proof of that,” explained Luna. “I would like for you to speak with the beast, specifically to ask for any clues about its home so that we may be able to figure out where it is and thus return the beast to where it belongs.”
ROOOAAARRR!!!
Everyone flinched as the beast slammed against the cage and unleashed another mighty roar. Fluttershy nervously asked, “Um… a-are you sure this is a good idea?”
“No need to be concerned for your personal safety,” assured Luna. “We have guards posted throughout the room, ready to take immediate action in case if anything goes wrong. Plus, we have researchers listening in to quickly gather and analyze whatever information you might uncover, so you won’t have to be near the beast any longer than you have to.”
ROOOAAARRR!!!
The beast once again slammed against the cage and unleashed a mighty roar.
Fluttershy gulped and hesitantly said, “Well, in that case… I-I guess I should do the right thing and, um… do my best to help.” She took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, then began carefully walking towards the caged alien monster.
ROOOAAARRR!!!
Fluttershy momentarily froze as the alien beast roared directly at her, but rather than run away, she stood her ground and held up her hands in a calming gesture. “Easy, there…” she spoke calmly and carefully. “I’m not going to hurt you… I just want to help… and so does everyone else in this place.”
The beast did start to relax a little as Fluttershy spoke, but the last phrase made the beast suddenly slam against the cage again and let out a series of loud roars.
“There’s no need to worry about the bad people,” assured Fluttershy as she spoke slowly. “They have already been dealt with. Here, you will find only good people… like me.”
The beast snorted and let out a low growl.
“The good people here would like to help you,” continued Fluttershy. “They want to take you back to your home… but they can’t do that right now because they just don’t know where your home is. If you can tell me about what your home is like… then maybe these good people can figure out where you came from so they can take you back there, where you belong.”
The alien beast glared silently at the shy yellow girl for a moment, then he made a series of growls and low roars.
Fluttershy nodded, then turned back to the rest of the group waiting outside the doorway and spoke up, “He says he’s from a place with two suns and two moons.”
Luna glanced upwards and asked, “Researchers, how much does that narrow the list of candidates?”
Everyone waited silently for a few seconds before a response came from the speakers in the ceiling. “Significantly,” responded one of the researchers. “But that leaves us with about forty candidates. I’m afraid we’ll need more clues.”
Fluttershy turned back to the alien beast and asked, “What else can you tell me about your home? What color is the sky? What color are the plants? Is there a lot of water where you live?”
The beast made another series of low roars and growls.
Fluttershy glanced back at the others and said, “His world has a yellow sky, red plants, and there’s not much water in the land he’s familiar with.”
Luna glanced up and asked, “How many candidates are left?”
After a few seconds, the researcher over the speakers responded, “Less than a dozen. I don’t know how much further we can narrow this list.”
“Ask about any constellations!” Twilight suddenly spoke up. “The arrangement of stars in the night sky are always unique to each star system, so any recognizable pattern in them should pinpoint where he’s from.”
Fluttershy turned back to the alien beast and asked, “Do you remember any patterns in the stars of the night sky?”
The beast gave a loud snort and growled a little.
“He says he’s a hunter and never pays any attention to such details,” stated Fluttershy dejectedly.
The alien beast then made a long growl, followed by a few low roars.
Fluttershy smiled and added, “But he did notice that on the night before he was captured, the darker of the two moons actually turned red.”
“A lunar eclipse,” concluded Luna. She glanced up at the speakers and asked, “Did any of the remaining candidate worlds recently witness a lunar eclipse, specifically the one with a lower albedo?”
Everyone waited anxiously for a response from the speakers. After a few seconds, the researcher excitedly announced, “We got it! One of the remaining candidates did in fact witness a lunar eclipse of its darker moon just two weeks ago. Taking that timeline into account and comparing it to the time and place of where the smugglers’ ship was caught, it’s a very close match! I would give it a ninety-five percent probability that this planet is the one that creature came from.”
“Those odds are good enough for me,” said Luna. “Inform Captain Spitfire of this information so that she can begin preparations to deliver the alien back to where it belongs.”
Fluttershy turned back to the alien beast and smiled as she said, “Did you hear that? They figured out where you came from, so now they can take you back there, where you belong. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a bit while they get ready, but I promise you that they will get you home soon.”
The beast made another series of growls and low roars.
Fluttershy furrowed her brow and scolded, “No, you’re not allowed to bite any heads off while you wait.”
The beast lowered its head and made a rather quiet growl.
“No, not even one,” insisted Fluttershy. “The better you behave yourself, the sooner these good people will be able to take you home. That’s the way it has to be.”
The massive alien beast gave no response as it turned away and lied down on the floor of the cage.
Smiling at her accomplishment, Fluttershy turned away and walked back to rejoin the group outside the room.
“Nice work, Fluttershy,” congratulated Sunset.
“Yeah, that was awesome!” praised Rainbow Dash as she patted Fluttershy on the back.
“That sure was somethin’,” agreed Applejack.
“And you completed the test without breaking anything!” added Pinkie Pie.
“Yes, thank you very much for your assistance, Fluttershy,” stated Luna. “Anyway, that concludes all of our testing. Follow me to the lounge closest to my office. I will have you called in one at a time for the interviews, then you will be free to go.” Luna swung the large door shut, then began walking down the hallway once more.
As everyone followed Luna, Sunset leaned close to Twilight and very quietly asked, “Are you sure you want me to still keep it a secret? Even from Luna?”
Twilight immediately nodded.
Sunset sighed and whispered, “I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do my best.”
About halfway through the interviews, Sunset was making her way down the hallway back to the lounge after finishing her interview with Luna. Although most of the questions were fairly easy to answer, she did struggle a little when it came to certain subjects regarding Twilight. She knew that as soon as she returned to the lounge, the first thing she would do was tell Twilight the truth and hope that she would be okay with it.
As Sunset walked past the restrooms, she suddenly heard a faint crash from inside the men’s room.
“Aw, shoot!” exclaimed Timber Spruce from within the restroom.
Sunset immediately stopped in her tracks. She looked around to make sure no one was watching, then walked over to the men’s room and carefully pushed the door open just enough to peek inside. Near the sinks, there was a large pile of gem dust on the floor, along with some glass fragments. Just a moment later, Timber walked into view while carrying a dustpan and a large brush.
“Stupid clumsy me,” grumbled Timber as he knelt down and began sweeping the pile of gem dust and glass fragments into the dustpan. Once the floor was finally cleared, he dumped the contents of the dustpan into the trashcan. Timber sighed and then muttered, “That only leaves me with a small pocketful. I’ll need to head into town and buy another jar. I just hope I don’t have to use any of what’s left until then.”
Sunset carefully stepped away from the door and resumed walking down the hallway, hoping that when Timber came out, he would not suspect that she had been eavesdropping on him. Why would he be carrying around so much gem dust? thought Sunset. At first, it didn’t make any sense to her, but then she suddenly remembered a certain detail from Timber’s campfire story about how Gaia Everfree would always leave behind a trail of gem dust wherever she caused strange occurrences. She also suddenly remembered that she had seen two trails of gem dust recently. The first was in the clearing with Filthy Rich’s surveying efforts, shortly after everything had suddenly come crashing down. The second was while she and her friends were running for their lives from Trixie’s army, right after the entire army had suddenly tripped and fallen over.
Putting the pieces together in her mind, Sunset thought, If he’s the one who’s been spreading that gem dust, then that means… he’s hiding something from us… She wasn’t sure what exactly Timber was trying to hide or why he was trying to hide it, but she made a mental note to keep a close eye on him from now on.
It wasn’t long until Sunset returned to the lounge. As she opened the door and stepped inside, she called out, “Gloriosa, you’re next.”
Gloriosa let out a quiet sigh as she stood up and walked past Sunset into the hallway and began heading towards Luna Playwell’s office for her interview.
Inside the lounge, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Spike were watching something on the television, Rarity and Fluttershy were reading magazines, Pinkie Pie hummed cheerfully to herself while fiddling with a peculiar piece of paper in her hands, and Twilight was reading a book in the corner of the room. Sunset walked over to Twilight and sat down in the chair next to her.
Twilight glanced up from her book and noticed Sunset had just returned, so she leaned over and quietly asked, “So, uh… did she find out?”
“Not exactly,” Sunset whispered back. “She figured out that you were hiding something, but I convinced her to not look further into it by citing that you’re still traumatized from that Midnight Sparkle incident and would probably be more open to sharing this information at a later time.”
Twilight sighed in relief and whispered, “Thank you.” She then returned to reading her book.
As Sunset stood up and began to look for something to do to pass the time, she couldn’t help but think about Twilight’s extreme reluctance about letting anyone find out about her new magical ability. Sooner or later, people are eventually going to find out about it, she thought worriedly. The longer you put this off, Twilight, the more trouble this could cause for all of us.
Spike was the last one to be interviewed, and as he returned to the lounge, Luna was right behind him. When Luna cleared her throat, everyone in the lounge dropped what they were doing and turned to her.
“Thank you very much for your cooperation, everyone,” stated Luna. “I shall assign some researchers to look into the data and information I have collected, and will inform you of any interesting discoveries we make. For now, you are all free to return home.”
“Thanks, Luna,” said Sunset with a smile. “Glad we could help out.”
“Absolutely,” agreed Gloriosa.
As everyone prepared to leave, Pinkie Pie suddenly spoke up, “Oh! Before we go, I wanted to show you all something I found on Luna’s desk.” She held up the piece of paper she had been holding onto since she had returned from her interview.
“What is it?” asked Fluttershy.
“It’s an invitation to a party!” Pinkie Pie excitedly exclaimed.
Spike turned to Luna and asked, “You got invited to a party?”
“More like a high-class formal affair that I have no interest in attending,” Luna clarified bitterly.
Rainbow Dash chuckled and remarked, “Yeah, I’m with ya on that one.”
“I personally would beg to differ,” noted Rarity with a scoff. She turned to Luna and asked, “So what’s the occasion?”
“It is a gala being held in honor of Thomas Playwell for the recent announced that he will officially be his father Kjeld’s successor as leader of the Lego World,” explained Luna. “The gala is being hosted by Filthy Rich in his new cultural center in downtown Lego City.”
“Filthy Rich?!” exclaimed Gloriosa in shock.
Twilight turned to Sunset and asked, “Wasn’t that the guy we met yesterday morning who said he was interested in buying out some regions?”
“Sure sounds like it,” replied Sunset. “If he really wants to be the next Lord Business, then this gala would be a good way for him to gain influence with the highest authorities.”
Timber quickly snatched the invitation out of Pinkie’s hands and glanced over it as he asked, “Who else was invited?”
“My sister also received an invitation,” replied Luna, “but like me, she has no interest in attending. However, she does have minor concerns regarding Mister Rich’s activities, so she requested a member of her branch’s reserve LEGO Team to attend in her place and secretly keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”
“Are you sure he really wants to be the next Lord Business?” asked Fluttershy uneasily.
“He never said it specifically,” replied Timber, “but with what he’s been up to lately, I would argue that’s very likely the case.”
“I’d argue that’s definitely the case,” grumbled Gloriosa under her breath.
“If Celestia thinks that Filthy Rich guy might be up to some funny business, then Ah say we should go there an’ find out for ourselves,” suggested Applejack.
“But how would we do that?” asked Rainbow Dash. “I’m pretty sure the security there won’t just let anyone walk through the front door.”
“Simple!” replied Pinkie Pie as she snatched the invitation back from Timber. “We’ll just show them this invitation and say that Luna asked us to go in her place, just like Celestia did with that reserve team member!”
“But that’s only one invitation,” Rarity pointed out. “There’s no way security would accept a single invitation for all ten of us.”
Sunset thought for a moment and soon got an idea. “Or maybe we don’t need that invitation at all.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“There are two ways to attend a party,” explained Sunset. “You could be invited and show up… or you could just sneak in and act like you were invited, even though you actually weren’t.”
“Sunset Shimmer,” asked Rarity cautiously, “are you suggesting that we…?”
Sunset has a mischievous grin on her face as she nodded and replied, “Yup. We’re gonna crash their party.”
“Normally, I would be opposed to such a thing,” Gloriosa spoke up, “but since this is Filthy Rich’s party, I would gladly partake in this.”
“Count me in, too,” added Timber.
“An’ seein’ as this is your idea, Sunset,” noted Applejack, “Ah guess this means the rest of us will be taggin’ along, too.”
The rest of the team nodded in agreement.
“So what have ya got in mind?” asked Rainbow Dash with a naughty grin.
Sunset rubbed her chin as she thought for a moment. Eventually, she smiled and replied, “Okay, here’s the plan…”
It was late afternoon in Lego City. While most of the citizens went about their typical lives on this clear day, a significant number of the more wealthy residents began to gather at the recently completed Rich Cultural Center near downtown. The owner of the new building, Filthy Rich, was hosting a gala in honor of Thomas Playwell for officially being chosen by his father Kjeld as his successor to one day become leader of the entire Lego World. In addition to Kjeld and Thomas, plenty of high class civilians were also invited. It was well and truly an exclusive gathering for the elite.
Understandably, there was also security posted around the building to ensure that only the invited guests would be permitted to enter. This included a guard shack beside the gate behind the building that was intended to allow trucks to deliver or pick up all kinds of cargo. Since there was a large event going on today, it was not unexpected when a large white truck slowly came up the street and gently came to a stop right in front of the gate.
The security guard inside the shack leaned out of the window, gave a hard look towards the truck driver, and firmly requested, “State your business.”
“Delivery!” responded the truck driver cheerfully with a nasally voice. He had medium nougat skin, wore a red shirt and a red baseball cap, and had glasses and a black mustache on his face.
“I’ll need to see some ID and paperwork,” stated the security guard.
The truck driver nodded, then turned away and gathered up the requested documents. He handed the paperwork over to the guard, then waited patiently as the guard carefully inspected every page of documentation.
After a few minutes, the guard finally handed the paperwork back to the driver and stated, “Everything looks good to me. You’re clear to enter.”
After retrieving and putting away the paperwork, the truck driver tipped his hat to the guard and contently said, “Thank you. Have a good evening.”
With the gate now opened, the driver pulled the truck into the backlot, turned it around, then backed it up towards one of the openings for the indoor loading dock. Once the truck was parked perfectly up against the loading dock, he shut off the engine, climbed out of the truck, and entered the building.
As the driver walked over to the part of the loading dock where his truck was parked, an employee was already standing in front of the truck’s rear door. “So what are ya haulin’ today?” asked the employee as he stared at the door.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” responded the truck driver, suddenly no longer speaking in such a nasally voice.
The employee raised an eyebrow in confusion and turned towards the driver, only to suddenly have a breathing mask pressed against his face. As soon as he took a single breath of the gases released by the attached canister, he instantly passed out and collapsed to the floor.
“Goodnight, buddy,” remarked the driver before he grasped the fallen employee and dragged him over to the nearest wall and left him sitting upright against that wall. With the only potential witness taken care of, the driver returned to his truck and opened the rear door.
Inside the truck were a random assortment of boxes and crates, and sitting amongst them were nine minifigs — Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike, and Gloriosa Daisy. As the members of the group stood up and walked out of the truck, the driver took off his hat to expose his messy green hair and removed the glasses and false mustache, revealing himself to be the missing member of this group — Timber Spruce.
As Spike retrieved his red baseball cap and put it back on his bald head, Timber held up the false glasses and mustache as he said, “I must admit, I didn’t think the guard would actually fall for such a paper-thin disguise.”
“You’d be surprised by how foolish some guards can be,” remarked Sunset with a sly grin.
Timber glanced over at the fallen employee, then turned to Twilight with a concerned frown and asked, “Are you sure that guy’s gonna be alright?”
“He may have a headache when he wakes up in a few hours, but other than that, he’ll be okay,” assured Twilight. “Believe me, I’ve used this method more than once during my time as a Shadowbolt agent.”
“Personally, I’m more impressed by the skills Sunset was able to provide,” remarked Gloriosa. “I mean, that forged paperwork even had me fooled when I first saw it.”
“What can I say? I’ve still got it,” said Sunset smugly as she smiled and folded her arms. “Although it probably helped that this truck was already due to make a delivery to this building anyway, so it was really only a matter of replacing the real driver with one of us.”
“Who’d’ve thought that some guys would do anythin’ ya told ‘em to if ya just gave ‘em a box of donuts?” quipped Applejack with a shrug.
“Yeah, that was pretty easy, wasn’t it?” agreed Pinkie Pie. She suddenly turned towards the truck and muttered, “I wonder what’s in those boxes, anyway.”
Rainbow Dash pulled Pinkie away from the truck and grumbled, “Focus, Pinkie! We’ve got more important things to worry about.”
“Indeed,” agreed Rarity. “Now that we are no longer cooped up inside that stuffy delivery truck, we can now get changed into some proper attire in order to more effectively blend in with the patrons of this gala.” She turned to Spike and politely asked, “Spike, if you please?”
Spike just stared at Rarity with a raised eyebrow for a few seconds before he eventually responded, “Uh… what?”
“Must I emphasize myself?” asked Rarity. “I am politely asking you to retrieve all the sets of formal attire I had packed.” She paused briefly, then asked with concern, “You did remember to bring them into the truck with us, did you not?”
Spike facepalmed as he grumbled, “Ugh, really? This again?” Spike furrowed his brow and folded his arms as he glared at Rarity and continued, “Just because my name is Spike, you just assume that I’m going to obey your every command as if I was your personal slave?”
Rarity nervously glanced around as she awkwardly replied, “Well, now, I, uh, certainly never intended to imply that—”
“Well guess what?!” snapped Spike. “Twilight’s not the only one here who’s different from her Equestrian counterpart! I dunno what the other Spike sees in you, but I’m sure not seeing it! And if you seriously thought that I would ever treat you the same way he does, then you just blew all your chances of that ever happening! At this point, you’d be lucky if I even had anything nice to say to you at all!” He then turned away and huffed in frustration as he walked a few steps away.
Rarity was practically frozen in shock by Spike’s words. It had simply never occurred to her that her behavior could have come across so negatively, especially for someone she had blindly placed so much trust in. She eventually turned her gaze downward shamefully and let out a sad sigh.
Meanwhile, everyone else was at a complete loss of words for what had just occurred between the two people they had thought were at least good friends. After a moment of awkward silence, Pinkie Pie finally spoke up and simply said, “Wow… I did not see that one coming.”
Sunset sighed in frustration and rubbed her eyes before she grumbled, “Yeah, I figured something was gonna go wrong.” She removed her hand from her face and spoke up, “Well, at least the lack of proper outfits isn’t gonna ruin the whole plan. It just means that we’ll need to rethink what we’re gonna do next.”
“So what do you suggest?” asked Gloriosa.
“We’ll first need to talk this over with the reserve team member sent here by Celestia, who should be here any minute now,” replied Sunset.
“As in right this very minute.”
Everyone quickly turned around and saw that standing nearby was Flash Sentry, Canterlot City’s chief of police and a member of the reserve team of the LEGO Team’s Canterlot City branch, who was currently wearing his police uniform.
“Flash Sentry?” asked Sunset in mild surprise. “You’re the one Celestia asked to take her place at this event?”
“Of course she chose me,” replied Flash. “She sure wasn’t gonna go with someone with less experience, like that new guy Bulk Biceps.”
“Ah still can’t believe he even made it onto the reserve team,” said Applejack. “Ya’d think a guy like that would be better at breakin’ stuff than buildin’ ‘em.”
Flash chuckled and remarked, “You’d be surprised by some of his hobbies.” He turned to Sunset and asked, “So what do you need my help for?”
“Well, I’m not gonna name names since some feelings have already been hurt, but since we failed to bring formal outfits with us, our original plan of blending in with the crowd will have to be abandoned. We need a new plan on how to get into the party and find out what Filthy Rich is up to without him getting suspicious.”
Flash nodded and said, “Understandable.” He glanced across the group for a moment before he continued, “Okay, here’s the first thing I would recommend. Gloriosa? Timber?”
The sister and brother duo focused their attention on Flash.
“You two must not be seen in public at any costs,” explained the police officer.
Gloriosa and Timber glanced at each other in shock and quickly returned their attention to Flash. “What? Why?” asked Gloriosa in confusion. “We’re here for a very personal reason!”
“I agree,” added Timber, though not quite as agitated as his sister. “What’s the point of us being here with the Canterlot City team if we can’t do anything to help out?”
“I’m not saying you have to stay entirely out of this,” clarified Flash. “What I’m trying to emphasize is that we simply can’t afford to let Filthy Rich ever be aware that either of you are here. If he does, he’ll know for sure that you and the other party crashers here are up to something. The rest of this group is already famous for saving the Lego World more than once, so knowledge of their presence here might come across as weird or unusual, but probably not anything to get too suspicious about.”
Timber nodded and said, “I see your point.” He turned to his sister and asked, “What do you think?”
Gloriosa sigh in frustration, then after a brief pause turned to Flash and asked, “Is there a way we can listen in on Filthy Rich without being seen?”
“It won’t be easy, but I think I can make it possible,” answered Flash.
Gloriosa folded her arms and mumbled, “Then I suppose that’ll have to do.”
Flash nodded in acknowledgement, then turned to the rest of the group and said, “My second recommendation would be to find Kjeld and let him know as soon as possible that you girls are here. That way, if anything goes wrong, he’ll be able to use his influence to help you avoid getting into too much trouble. I’m not saying this will give you the right to go crazy and do whatever you want, but at least you won’t have to worry about security dragging you out of here just for showing up uninvited.”
Sunset nodded, then turned to her friends and said, “Okay, so the first thing we should do is find Kjeld, then once he gives us the okay to stay, we’ll just relax, mingle with the other guests, and gather any important information we can.”
“Works for me,” agreed Applejack with a shrug.
“Sounds like a plan,” agreed Rainbow Dash with a smile.
“I suppose that would be the best course of action under the given circumstances,” stated Rarity in agreement.
“Let’s party!” shouted Pinkie Pie as she jumped in excitement.
“Please try to control yourself, Pinkie,” warned Flash. “First of all, this gathering is nothing like the kind of parties you’re familiar with. And second, it could be very risky if you draw too much attention to yourself, at least before I can get Kjeld’s approval of you girls being here.”
“So as soon as we enter,” muttered Twilight, “we try to stay hidden at first, then once we receive confirmation of Kjeld permitting our presence here, then we can begin to discreetly gather information wherever we can.” She smiled and spoke up, “I think we can work with that.”
“Looks like we’re all in agreement, then,” stated Sunset.
Flash nodded before he turned to Gloriosa and Timber and said, “You two will need to wait here for a little while. Once I’ve made sure the rest of the group is settled into the crowd, I’ll come back and we can begin covertly observing Mister Rich.”
“Works for me,” agreed Timber with a shrug.
“Very well,” said Gloriosa with a sigh.
Flash turned to the rest of the group and said, “Everyone else, follow me and I’ll take you right to Kjeld.”
As Flash turned away and began walking, everyone except for Gloriosa and Timber followed after him.
The gathering inside the cultural center was high class in practically every way imaginable. There were a number of people wearing all kinds of fancy suits and dresses, slowly walking around and conversing calmly while they sipped expensive drinks from small glasses or sampled some of the hors d’oeuvres set out on some tables, complete with large ice sculptures. Throughout the building, all kinds of priceless works of art were on display, and atop a short platform in the middle of it all, a small band was playing some classical music.
In an isolated corner of one lower wing of the building, the Canterlot City LEGO Team waited not far from the backroom door they had just entered through. While it was good that they were in an area that most of the party guests were unlikely to notice much, it also meant that Flash had to leave them so he could find Kjeld and let him know they were there. Needless to say, some of them were handling the boredom not quite as well as others.
“This stinks,” grumbled Rainbow Dash as she idly kicked the wall.
“Quit complain’, Rainbow,” responded Applejack as she rested her back against the other wall in the corner. “We all agreed on this new plan.”
“But we’re just standing here doing nothing!” argued Rainbow. “I’d rather see some action right away.”
“Then I’m afraid you’ll have to show some patience, darling,” stated Rarity as she kept an eye out for any of the party guests who might notice them. “We must await word from Mister Sentry before we can be permitted to mingle.”
“Well I certainly can’t wait until we get the a-okay,” remarked Pinkie Pie cheerfully. “I’ve always wondered what these parties for rich people were really like.”
“Can we all please just keep quiet?” insisted Twilight.
“Try to relax, everyone,” requested Sunset calmly. “It shouldn’t take long for Flash to do his part.”
“How can I relax?” asked Twilight nervously. “Most us aren’t doing a good job of remaining inconspicuous, and there’s no telling what the consequences of crashing a high society gala could mean for us. What if we get very bad publicity for this? What if we get kicked off the LEGO Team for this? What if this means we have to leave the city and find some new region to live?”
“Twilight, get a hold of yourself!” Spike quietly exclaimed as he suddenly grasped Twilight by both arms. “You’re getting yourself worked up over small things again.”
Twilight took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before she replied, “Thanks, Spike. I’m glad I can count on you to help me cease my pointless rambling.”
Fluttershy smiled and remarked, “Wow, Spike, you sure calmed her down pretty quickly.”
“What can I say? I’ve got lots of experience,” Spike smugly said as he leaned his back against a nearby statue. But as soon as he began to lean on it, the brick-built white statue — which depicted a large figure sitting down on a rock in a thinking pose — toppled over, smashing to pieces as it crashed to the floor.
That loud noise and obvious destruction certainly ended up quickly drawing a lot of attention from everyone in the area. The guests in the area looked to the destroyed statue, then to the group partially hiding in the corner and looking quite out of place in such a gathering.
The group remained completely still and silent once they realized that everyone was now looking towards them. To say that this was a really awkward moment would have been a huge understatement.
Spike nervously chuckled and mumbled, “Uh… my bad.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll have it fixed up in a jiffy!” assured Pinkie Pie before she rushed towards the pile of white Lego parts and began quickly reassembling them. In only a matter of seconds, all of the parts had been rapidly rebuilt into a statue. “Ta-da! Better than new!” Pinkie presented cheerfully.
“Young lady, that is not what that statue is supposed to look like,” a female guest pointed out irritably.
Pinkie glanced at the rebuilt statue — which now depicted a large figure standing on a rock and flexing his muscles — then turned back to all the guests staring at her and said, “Well it didn’t come with any instructions, so I decided to get creative.”
Before anyone could say anything in response, two familiar minifigs arrived on the scene. The first was Flash Sentry, and the second was Kjeld Playwell. As Kjeld discovered the source of the commotion, he sighed and muttered, “You girls just can’t seem to avoid trouble for very long, can you?”
Rarity giggled nervously and said apologetically, “Terribly sorry for the faux pas we have committed in a number of ways. We had no intentions of causing any mischief, I can assure you. We were simply curious about this event that Celestia and Luna had apparently been invited to and wished to see it for ourselves.”
“We couldn’t exactly share Luna’s single invitation among all of us,” explained Sunset, “so that pretty much left us with the only option of… crashing the party.”
“A-are we gonna get in trouble for this?” asked Twilight hesitantly.
“There are far worse offenses to commit than simply crashing a party,” Kjeld pointed out. He leaned close to the team and quietly added, “Especially a party I’m not particularly fond of at this point.”
“See?” Rainbow Dash suddenly spoke up. “I’m not the only one here who thinks this party—”
Applejack immediately slapped her hand over Rainbow’s mouth and scolded, “What your language, Dash.”
“Party time! Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie suddenly exclaimed as she quickly ran off.
Applejack facepalmed and grumbled, “Dagnabbit, Pinkie.” She sighed in frustration and spoke up, “Ah’d better go keep an eye on her.” She then followed after the pink party girl.
“Yeah, me too,” Rainbow Dash quickly added as she soon followed after Applejack.
Rarity turned to Fluttershy and Spike and simply asked, “Shall we?” She then turned away and began walking off in the same direction as the others.
Spike had an eyebrow raised as he glanced at Fluttershy. The shy yellow girl just shrugged and followed after Rarity. Spike shook his head, but decided to follow after them.
With all but Sunset and Twilight already wandering off, Flash turned to the two remaining party crashers and stated, “Well, I guess that settles everything here, so I’ll just leave you to it.” He tipped his hat to Kjeld and then walked away, but not before sparing a quick glance back at Twilight.
As most of the party guests returned to their previous activities, Twilight looked to Kjeld as she rubbed the back of her head and uneasily asked, “So, um… are you sure you don’t mind us showing up unannounced like this?”
Kjeld gave the two girls a knowing smirk and quietly replied, “Just between us, I actually welcome the chance to prove to these elites that the universe does not revolve around them.”
“Like it does for you?” quipped Sunset.
“I am a special exception,” Kjeld retaliated with a smile. “I know better than to let that kind of power go to my head. Above all else, I never let any petty desires interfere with caring for the people of the world.”
Twilight smiled and stated, “It’s good to have someone like you in charge.”
“Indeed,” said Kjeld with a nod of agreement. “Now then, if you wish to take your mind off things, Miss Sparkle, I would suggest that perhaps you might wish to speak with Professor Henrik Kowalski.”
Twilight’s eyes began to show giddiness as she asked, “Did you just say the Professor Henrik Kowalski is here?”
Kjeld nodded and replied, “I last saw him over in the west wing of the building. I imagine the two of you would love to share information regarding the inventions you have developed.”
“Absolutely!” acknowledged Twilight with an excited smile on her face. “Thank you, Mister Playwell.” She quickly turned away and began to walk, only to suddenly bump into someone and accidentally spilled his drink. “Sorry!” she quickly said before running off.
The offended guest simply turned away with an indignant huff.
Kjeld chuckled in amusement before he turned to Sunset and said, “If you don’t mind, Miss Shimmer, there is someone I would like you to meet.”
Sunset shrugged and said, “Eh, might as well.”
Kjeld nodded and began to walk away, with Sunset following right behind him.
Back at the loading dock, Gloriosa and Timber each sat on one of the random crates on the floor as they waited for their chance to contribute to the investigation. As frustrating as it was, they understood the sensitivity of their self-imposed mission. As they heard the nearby door open and then close, they both stood up and soon saw Flash Sentry arrive.
“So how did it go?” asked Gloriosa.
“Not quite as smoothly as I had hoped,” replied Flash, “but we should still be good to go.”
“Okay, then,” said Timber. “So how are we gonna get close to Filthy Rich?”
Flash began to walk beside the wall as he explained, “Since we can’t take any chances with letting him see you two, there’s really only one method available.” As he reached an opening into the air vents, he grabbed the grate and yanked it off. He glanced back at the duo and said, “I hope you don’t mind crawling through the vents. Just follow me and I’ll take you right to him.” He then crouched down and crawled into the opened air duct.
Timber turned to his sister as he raised an eyebrow and uneasily asked, “Are you sure this is worth it?”
Gloriosa replied, “If this is what it takes to put an end to Filthy Rich’s schemes, then so be it.” She then smiled and added, “Besides, if we really want to stay hidden, I can’t think of any better way. I’ve got this!” She then crouched down and crawled into the air duct right behind Flash.
Timber sighed and shook his head before he reluctantly followed his sister. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he mumbled to himself.
After a short walk, Kjeld stopped and gestured for someone to come over to him.
As Sunset came to a stop, she looked past Kjeld and saw another minifig was approaching them. He had standard yellow skin, wore a dark grey business suit similar to what Kjeld wore, a short auburn hair piece on his head, and a rather typical face with no distinctive features.
As the new minifig stopped beside them, Kjeld turned to Sunset and said, “Sunset Shimmer, I would like to introduce you to my son — Thomas Playwell.”
“Oh! Well, nice to meet you, Thomas,” greeted Sunset, initially startled, but quickly relaxed and held out her hand.
Thomas also reached his hand out and shook hands with Sunset. “A pleasure to meet you as well, Sunset Shimmer,” he greeted, speaking in a baritone voice with a Scandinavian accent.
As the handshake ended, Kjeld stated, “With the apparently increasing influence of Equestrian magic on this world, I figured it would be wise to have you two get acquainted as soon as possible.”
Sunset turned to Thomas and remarked, “Then I guess this means we might be seeing each other quite a bit.”
“Hopefully not too often under emergency circumstances,” stated Thomas. “I share your sentiment, Sunset, though I would not mind a friendly visit every now and then.”
Sunset smiled and remarked, “Neither would I.”
Not far away, Twilight had managed to find Professor Kowalski — a minifig with standard yellow skin, a messy grey hair piece, a grey mustache on his face, and wore a white lab coat — and the two brilliant minds were already in the middle of a conversation involving advanced scientific concepts.
“I have to say, Professor, your phased polarity exclusion field was a very brilliant invention,” Twilight complimented.
“Oh, most certainly, indeed,” agreed Kowalski, who spoke with a distinct accent. “It pleases me that I can finally talk to someone about it without having to refer to is as a ‘magic bubble’. Though it is quite a shame that it was initially developed to aid someone with villainous intent.”
“I could say the same for my Jump-Gate,” said Twilight. “I was given the resources to develop it, but only on the condition that it be used exclusively by Shadowbolt agents. But, thankfully, now that that underground organization has been completely disbanded, people all over the Lego World and the universe can now utilize such a highly efficient means of getting from place to place.”
“I am rather curious, though. How did you come up with the idea of inventing the Jump-Gate in the first place?” asked Kowalski.
“It’s a pretty interesting story, really,” explained Twilight. “Years ago, when one of my earlier missions as a Shadowbolt agent brought me to Lego City for the first time in my life, I came across some of these astronaut teleportation pads — where someone in an astronaut suit could step onto one pad and be teleported to another pad. I found that piece of technology to be very impressive, but I also quickly identified a major limitation. Each of these teleportation pads are linked exclusively with just one other particular pad, so you can only go back and forth between two fixed points. I thought it would be much better if I had a means of instant transportation where the destination point could be literally any location you could imagine.”
“I’ve read that manual you wrote for assembling and operating a Jump-Gate,” noted Kowalski. “You certainly used some highly advanced physics in order to make such technology feasible.”
Twilight continued, “I’m still trying to calculate the equations needed for an even more advanced version of this technology — specifically to determine what it would take to make both ends of the instant journey be any location. In essence, I want to be able to go from anywhere, to anywhere.”
“Most impressive!” said Kowalski in astonishment.
“Sunset tells me that unicorns in Equestria who are highly skilled in magic are actually capable of such limitless teleportation,” noted Twilight, “so I guess you could say that I’d like to get our world’s technology to one day match what Equestrian magic can do.”
Meanwhile, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie had gathered near one of the buffet tables. As Applejack sampled a few things and Pinkie simply piled anything she could grab onto her plate, Rarity was facing away from the table. The white fashionista’s attention was focused on Fluttershy and Spike, who were admiring some of the works of art not far away while sharing some friendly remarks with each other. Seeing the two of them getting along so well, Rarity couldn’t help but let out a sigh of sadness.
Applejack finished her last bite of a cucumber sandwich before she walked over to Rarity and asked, “You okay, sugarcube?”
“I have been fooling myself all along,” Rarity confessed. “It was no secret that the Spike from Equestria had expressed a lot of affection towards me, and I was naïve enough to believe that our world’s Spike would be no different. But as you can see, that is clearly not the case.” She gestured towards Spike and Fluttershy. “It appears that this Spike’s affection is directed at Fluttershy instead.”
“What?! No way!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie as she suddenly jumped in between Rarity and Applejack while holding a plate with an absurdly tall pile of various food items on it.
Rarity sighed again before she continued, “I just wish I had realized that before Spike was compelled to call me out for my admittedly poor manners.”
As Pinkie began shoveling handfuls of her food into her mouth, Applejack noted, “Yeah, that outburst of his sure sounded like he’d been pushed too far.” She paused to think before she turned to Rarity and asked, “So what are ya gonna do about it?”
“For now, it’s probably best that I keep my distance,” replied Rarity with a bit of remorse in her voice. “I’m sure I’ll find some way to make it up to him some day, but for the time being, I believe he would most appreciate that I simply avoid any involvement with him at all.”
“Fair enough,” stated Applejack.
Hoping to take her mind off the unfortunate situation, Rarity decided to glance around aimlessly. She suddenly froze when she noticed one particular face in the crowd on his way toward another one of the buffet tables. She smiled as she tapped Applejack’s shoulder and said, “Pardon me, dear, but I believe I have just spotted a certain VIP worthy of a friendly conversation.” Without waiting for a response, Rarity walked right past Applejack on her way towards the individual she was interested in.
As she watched Rarity walk away, Applejack chuckled and shook her head as she muttered, “Typical Rarity.”
Crash!
Applejack and Pinkie Pie quickly turned to the source of the sudden noise and saw one party guest covered in food from his plate as he was lying on the floor beside a table and in front of a chair… that had just been pulled back by Rainbow Dash.
With a naughty grin on her face, Rainbow snickered and tauntingly shouted, “Gotcha!” She then immediately ran off while laughing to herself.
“Rainbow!” shouted Applejack in frustration.
“Ooh, are we pulling pranks now?” asked Pinkie Pie excitedly. She carelessly tossed her plate full of food up into the air before she ran after her rainbow-haired friend. “Wait for me!”
Applejack moved quickly and barely managed to catch the overloaded plate before it could hit the floor and make a big mess. “Pinkie!” she shouted in frustration. She sighed as she carefully set the plate down on the nearest table, then chased after the naughty duo as she grumbled, “Ah’m surrounded by brick-heads.”
While those antics were taking place, Rarity made her way over to the individual she was interested in speaking with. This minifig had standard yellow skin, had a short beige hair piece on his head, wore a light blue shirt, dark blue pants, and a beige vest with a radio and a police badge on the front.
“Chase McCain, I presume?” asked Rarity as she stopped beside the minifig in question.
Chase was momentarily startled, but once he glanced to his right and saw who was speaking to him, he smiled and remarked, “Yeah, that’s me. I take it you’ve heard of me?”
“I may not be a resident of Lego City, but I have most certainly heard of your exploits,” replied Rarity.
“And I’ve heard just as much about those of you and your friends from Canterlot City, Rarity,” added Chase.
Rarity giggled and remarked, “I suppose we are both rather famous for our heroic deeds.” She cleared her throat and asked, “So, Mister McCain, what brings you to this gala?”
“Well, I got invited like everyone else here,” replied Chase, “but just between us, I’m also here to do a little investigative work.”
“Is that so?” asked Rarity in mild surprise. “May I ask what it is you are investigating?”
“It’s mostly just a hunch,” admitted Chase, “but I suspect that Filthy Rich might be up to no good.”
“Well isn’t that quite the coincidence,” remarked Rarity. “That happens to be the exact same reason why my friends and I decided to show up to this event.”
“Wait, are you saying you weren’t invited?” asked Chase.
Rarity giggled nervously and replied, “Well, we couldn’t exactly share Luna Playwell’s single invitation between all of us. Thankfully, Sunset Shimmer was able to use her expertise to help us get in here without causing too much of a ruckus.”
Chase chuckled and remarked, “Yeah, I remember what Sunset Shimmer was like back when she was a villain. She caused a bit of trouble here in Lego City a few times. Out of all the criminals I’ve ever gone after, she is still the only one who always managed to get away from me.” He smiled at Rarity and added, “Good thing she’s on our side now.”
“Oh absolutely, darling,” agreed Rarity with a nod. “Now then, back to the subject of Filthy Rich, may I ask what it is that got you suspicious of him?”
“It partially has to do with the very existence of this building around us,” replied Chase.
“The Rich Cultural Center?” asked Rarity as she glanced around. “Yes, I heard that this structure was completed and opened just a few weeks ago.”
“What’s also notable is that this building was built on the site of Blackwell Tower,” stated Chase.
Rarity lightly gasped and asked, “The skyscraper that turned out to be a giant rocket ship?”
“Exactly,” said Chase. “After Forest Blackwell fled the city following his failed vengeance against it for a certain scandal, nobody showed any interest in acquiring any of his property.”
“Yes, I suppose property with such a notorious previous owner would carry quite the stigma,” noted Rarity. “Let me guess — Filthy Rich is the one who finally agreed to acquire the property?”
“He bought out all of Blackwell’s former property in the city,” replied Chase. “Blackwell Mansion, the site of Blackwell Tower, and even that bridge that came to symbolize Blackwell’s scandal. And as soon as Rich got this piece of property, he quickly hired a construction crew to tear down what remained of the tower and build this cultural center in its place.”
Rarity took another glance at the surrounding building, this time with a more concerned expression on her face. “Hmm… I’m beginning to suspect that this may be just the start of Mister Rich’s ambitions,” she muttered.
“And what makes you so sure of that?” asked Chase.
“Just yesterday,” explained Rarity, “while my friends and I were on a mission, Sunset and Twilight said they had a run-in with Filthy Rich himself. It’s probably worth noting that we were in the Dark Forest portion of the Castle Region.”
“He wants to purchase the Dark Forest Subregion?” asked Chase in both shock and confusion.
“He’s been eyeing a lot of property for potential acquisition,” replied Rarity. “Once specific example he had mentioned was that he wanted to clear away the abandoned region of Fabuland and construct in its place what he claims would be the world’s largest amusement park. Some people aware of all of this have taken to calling him the so-called ‘next Lord Business’.”
“So it seems the rumors might be true,” noted Chase. “Kinda interesting that most of the greatest villains over the last few years have been former members of the old Board of Directors — Forest Blackwell, President Business, Abacus Cinch, and now possibly Filthy Rich.”
“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves,” cautioned Rarity. “After all, despite his rather… heartless behavior, I don’t think he has technically committed any criminal acts.”
“And that’s the real problem in dealing with Filthy Rich,” Chase pointed out. “He’s said to have practically an army of lawyers who are constantly advising him on what he can and can’t do. No matter what he does, he always stays within the limits of the law, but he’s always pushing that limit as much as possible.”
“And with such resources at his disposal, he might very well be convinced that he could get away with just about anything he desires,” concluded Rarity.
“Hey, you’re pretty good at this,” remarked Chase. “You should consider a career as a detective.”
“I’ve toyed with the idea from time to time,” admitted Rarity, “but I know where my passions lie, and my day job shall always be at my fashion boutique back in Canterlot City.”
After a few minutes of carefully crawling through the air ducts without making too much noise, Gloriosa and Timber had finally arrived at a grate through which they looked down from the ceiling and saw Filthy Rich himself. The wealthy businessman was on the upper floor of the north wing of the building, talking with some of the elite guests. While Flash Sentry left so his absence would not become suspicious, Gloriosa and Timber leaned close to the grate and listened carefully to the conversation going on right below them.
“So tell me, Mister Rich,” asked a male guest, “how far are you planning to expand your enterprise?”
“As far as physically possible,” replied Filthy with confidence. “The City Regions cover only a rather minor portion of the world. By thinking outside the box and looking for potential in all the other regions, I can expand my horizons in ways very few can ever dream of. President Business has already demonstrated that, for the right price, any region in the Lego World can be purchased. It is simply a matter of raising enough money to fund such acquisitions.”
“Purchasing even one region entirely must cost a fortune,” pointed out a female guest. “How could you possibly obtain enough wealth to cover such massive payments?”
“Just a matter of shrewd business, my dear,” answered Filthy. “To improve profits, one must consider both raising revenues and cutting costs. Revenue is improved by simply raising the prices on the goods and services provided, but also being careful not to jack them up so high that the customers simply refuse to pay up for them, so it’s a delicate balancing act of hitting that desirable sweet spot. Expenses, on the other hand, can be reduced in a number of ways, such as the cost of raw materials and wages for employees, so to minimize my costs as much as possible, I purchase the cheapest materials available and pay minimum wages with minimal benefits. With more money flowing into my pockets, I will be able to afford purchasing more territory more quickly, allowing me to expand my business ever more rapidly.”
“Are you certain that what you’re doing is even legal?” asked another male guest with concern.
Filthy smirked and replied, “That’s what my trusty lawyers are for. When I set an objective, I run it by them and let them do all the painstaking legal research, and once the homework is done, they give me a simple yes or no on whether I can proceed without any unmanageable risks. I pay them well for what they do, for I could never have made it this far without their advice. As long as I can keep pushing the limits without breaking them, it’s only a matter of time before I’ll have built a successful corporate empire that would rival even that of President Business himself.”
As Gloriosa and Timber listened to the increasingly distressing conversation, Timber ended up leaning more of his weight against the grate. Eventually, the grate broke loose and crashed to the floor behind Filthy Rich, and once that was gone, Timber lost his balance and slipped out of the duct and hit the floor on his head before coming to rest on his back.
With a worried expression on her face, Gloriosa stuck her head down through the opening and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Just a little bump on the head,” replied Timber dismissively with a smile. “I’ll be fine.”
“Well, well, look who decided to drop in unannounced.”
Gloriosa and Timber both turned back to see Filthy Rich was now staring at them with a smug smile on his face. Behind him, the elite guests he had been speaking with stared at them with mixed expressions of surprise, confusion, and disgust.
Gloriosa glared at Filthy for a moment before she pulled herself out of the duct, tumbled to the floor, and quickly stood up right in front of him. “I thought you were a bad man before,” grumbled Gloriosa sourly, “but after what I just heard, I find it hard to believe you care for anyone besides yourself.”
Filthy Rich chuckled and smugly said, “So you think you and your so-call righteousness will somehow triumph over a ridiculously wealthy businessman like myself? Well I’ve got news for you, missy — that isn’t how the real world works. It’s survival of the fittest, and if you want to come out on top, then that means taking down anyone who stands in your way. Compassion is a weakness, my dear. If you want to get anywhere in this world, it takes ambition — and tons of money — to do it. And let’s face it, I have it all, and you have none of it.”
Gloriosa gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she held her fiery stare on the antagonizing businessman.
“Easy, Gloriosa,” cautioned Timber as he slowly stood up. “Don’t let him get to ya.”
Filthy ignored Timber and continued, “If you think you stand any chance of knocking me off my very tall pedestal, then you are sorely mistaken. I have hundreds of highly educated lawyers who can inform me of every possible means I could use to destroy you without suffering any consequences. And what have you got? Just your pathetic words and a few low-class associates. Face it, Daisy, you’re at the bottom of the totem pole and I’m all the way at the very top, far beyond your reach.” He grinned and narrowed his eyes as he emphasized, “You can’t touch me.”
Smack!
Almost instantly after Gloriosa slapped Filthy Rich in the face, practically everyone inside the building suddenly fell silent and quickly turned their attention towards the site of the incident. For many of the elite citizens attending, it was unthinkable that a commoner would commit such an offense and not immediately face severe consequences. And among the few who could even sympathize with Gloriosa, they thought she was absolutely crazy to do such a thing.
As Filthy Rich rubbed the sore spot on his cheek, he frowned and gave Gloriosa a piercing glare as he growled, “You are going to regret that.”
Gloriosa responded with a scoff and grumbled, “By the time I’m through with you, you’re gonna wish that was the worst I could’ve done to you.” She then turned towards the nearest stairway and began to walk away.
Timber glanced back at Filthy Rich and didn’t say a word before he shook his head and followed after his sister.
As Filthy continued to rub his sore cheek, he glanced to the side and saw Flash Sentry arrive on the scene. He glared at the police officer and grumbled, “You’ve failed your duties, officer.”
“Hey, I’m just a guest here,” argued Flash. “This city doesn’t even fall within my jurisdiction. If you have security issues, then you can bring them up with Marion Dunby. He’s the Chief of Police here in Lego City.”
As Gloriosa and Timber descended the stairway, Sunset, Kjeld, and Thomas silently watched them in astonishment and confusion.
Kjeld turned to Sunset and frowned as he asked, “You brought Gloriosa Daisy with you?”
Sunset uneasily replied, “She and Timber happened to be in the room with us when we decided to crash this party, and they insisted on joining us.”
Kjeld watched Gloriosa and Timber reach the bottom of the stairs and head towards the nearest exit out of the building.
“You have to understand,” explained Sunset, “they’ve been particularly frustrated by Filthy Rich because—”
“Because he won’t stop harassing them into selling their family’s summer camp to him,” finished Kjeld. “Yes, I am well aware of that. Celestia informed me that it’s a reason why she sends them on so many goodwill missions, hoping that it would help them relax and take their minds off things.”
Sunset sighed and muttered, “Well, I guess that effort totally backfired this time. We encountered him yesterday morning while we were in the Dark Forest.”
Kjeld turned to Sunset and raised an eyebrow. “What was he doing in the Dark Forest?” he asked, completely baffled.
Sunset shrugged and replied, “Said he was surveying the area to determine a fair price for the region.”
Kjeld clenched his jaw as he turned his gaze up towards Filthy Rich on the upper floor of the north wing of the building. “I think it’s time I had a little chat with him,” he muttered before he began to walk towards the stairway.
Thomas turned to Sunset and suggested, “I would recommend you do the same for Gloriosa.” He then followed after his father up the stairs.
Sunset glanced over at the exit she had seen Gloriosa and Timber leave through. She figured that Thomas had provided some good advice, but felt that it wouldn’t be such a good idea to go alone. I’d better bring a friend, she thought to herself as she began looking around. When her gaze turned towards the west wing, she saw Twilight was still very deep into a conversation with Professor Kowalski.
Sunset was concerned that she wouldn’t have time to gather all of her friends together, so she decided that bringing just Twilight along would be good enough. She quickly walked over to Twilight and tapped her on the shoulder. As soon as Twilight turned to her, Sunset quickly said, “Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve got some big trouble.”
“What’s going on?” asked Twilight in confusion.
“I’ll explain on the way,” replied Sunset. “C’mon!” She immediately turned and headed towards the exit door.
Twilight glanced back at Professor Kowalski — who simply shrugged without saying a word — then sighed and followed after Sunset.
Not far away, Spike and Fluttershy were still looking at some of the various works of art on display. They were currently staring in confusion at a sculpture of what appeared to be a pile of red bricks melted together into a single mass.
“Is this art… or a mess?” asked Spike.
“Um… I’m not sure…” replied Fluttershy.
Spike glanced around, hoping to find something better to look at. His eyes widened when he suddenly noticed Sunset and Twilight were rushing towards the exit. He quickly turned to Fluttershy and said, “Keep an eye on the others. I’d better go see what Twilight and Sunset are up to.” With seemingly little time to lose, he didn’t bother waiting for a response and immediately began running after the two fleeing girls.
Fluttershy watched Spike run away after their friends. She wanted to go after them, but ultimately decided to follow Spike’s advice and stay behind to watch the rest of their friends. As she watched Sunset, Twilight, and Spike leave through the exit, she couldn’t help but sigh and mumbled, “I have a really bad feeling about this…”
As soon as Twilight and Sunset had left the building through a side exit, Twilight desperately asked, “Sunset Shimmer, could you please explain to me what’s going on?”
Sunset sighed and quickly explained, “Gloriosa and Timber somehow ended up in the same room as Filthy Rich, I’m not sure what happened next, but as soon as we all realized it, Gloriosa had slapped Filthy in the face, they both made threats to each other, and then Gloriosa walked out with Timber.”
Neither of the two girls had noticed the door open and then close behind them while Sunset was speaking, so they had no idea that Spike had joined them until he suddenly asked, “Gloriosa slapped somebody in the face?”
Twilight and Sunset both yelped and glanced back, but quickly relaxed when they realized it was just Spike. “Yeah,” replied Sunset. “It was Filthy Rich. I’m guessing he pushed her a little too far this time.”
“So why are we out here?” asked Twilight.
“We need to find Gloriosa and make sure she’s okay,” replied Sunset. “With the kind of stress she’s been under lately, I’m worried she might make some bad decisions.”
“So where is she?” asked Spike as he quickly glanced around.
“All I know is that she and Timber went out through this door,” replied Sunset. “They can’t be too far from here.”
“At least Timber’s with her,” noted Twilight. “I’m sure he’s doing his best to calm her down.”
“I hope you’re right,” muttered Sunset. She then began to walk away from the door and spoke up, “C’mon, we need to find them.”
Twilight and Spike followed Sunset and the three of them began looking around for any sign of Gloriosa or Timber in the area. Although they had no luck at first, they did encounter a security guard patrolling the outside of the building and armed with a laser rifle.
Sunset ran over to the guard and asked, “Excuse me, sir! We’re looking for two of our friends. Have you seen them? One of them is a girl with pink skin, pink hair, has a chain of daisies around her head.”
“The other is a guy with brown skin, green hair, and wearing a beanie on his head,” added Twilight.
The security guard nodded and said, “Yeah, I saw them just a minute ago. They were over in that alleyway across the street having some kind of argument. I heard one of them say something about getting to the monorail station, but that’s all I got.”
Sunset sighed and rubbed her hand across her face in frustration. She turned back to Twilight and Spike and said, “Okay, looks like we’d better get to the monorail station. I don’t know how much time we have, so we’d better move fast. Stay close to me and no matter what happens, do not question my actions.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why would we do that?”
“I said no questioning!” snapped Sunset before she suddenly snatched the laser rifle out of the guard’s hands and pointed it right at him.
“Hey!” shouted the guard, but did nothing else due to having his own weapon pointed at him.
“Sorry, buddy, but I need to borrow this,” said Sunset. She glanced at Twilight and Spike and exclaimed, “You two, c’mon!” She then turned away and began running down the street while holding the laser rifle aimed forward.
Spike glanced at Twilight and shrugged as he muttered, “Like we have a choice.” The two of them then quickly followed after Sunset.
The monorail station was only two blocks away, so it didn’t take long for the trio to arrive on foot. Unfortunately, it was currently rush hour, which meant there was a large crowd of people outside the entrance to the station. Without any hesitation, Sunset kept running as she fired a few laser bolts at the ground in front of her.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
“Outta my way!” shouted Sunset. The crowd immediately panicked and rushed to clear away from the entrance. Sunset quickly charged through the main entrance into the station with Twilight and Spike following right behind her.
The trio rushed up the stairway and onto the platform… just as the train began to pull out of the station and move down along the track over the streets. As soon as they reached the edge of the platform, the train was already on its way towards the next station.
Sunset growled in frustration and threw the laser rifle down onto the platform in front of her feet. “They got away,” she grumbled bitterly.
“I’m sure we can find a way to catch up to them,” assured Twilight as she arrived beside Sunset. “At the very least, maybe we can figure out where they’re going.”
Spike stopped in front of a map on the wall that showed the rail lines and stations throughout the city. He studied it for a moment before he turned back to the two girls and said, “Looks like there’s only one station in the direction that train was going… this city’s LEGO Team Headquarters.”
“Then we need to get there right away,” said Sunset with determination as she quickly picked up the laser rifle and rushed back out of the station, with Twilight and Spike having no choice but to follow after her.
Sunset was in such a desperate rush that rather than run down the stairway, she chose to jump onto the railing and slide down it to the bottom, then jumped off and continued running towards the station’s entrance. Behind her, Twilight and Spike both chose the safe alternative to simply go down those stairs the traditional way as quickly as they could.
Sunset charged out of the station and as she reached the street, she fired a few laser bolts onto the pavement, hoping to force any random vehicle on the street to stop.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
SCREEEEEECH!
The car that managed to stop right in front of Sunset was a rather sporty green car with a streamlined exterior shape and a large spoiler on the back.
Without any hesitation, Sunset rushed around to the driver side door and exclaimed, “I need to borrow your car! This is an emergency!” She quickly yanked the door open, grabbed the driver and tossed him out, then hopped into the driver’s seat and dropped the laser rifle between the two front seats as she shut the door. As Twilight and Spike arrived, Sunset called to them, “Get in!”
Spike quickly opened the passenger side door and jumped into the rear seat between the two front seats.
As Twilight climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door, she was on the verge of panic as she worriedly said, “Sunset, do you even realize that you’re committing grand theft auto?”
Once the two passengers were seated, Sunset didn’t even acknowledge Twilight’s question and simply said, “Hang on.” She then stomped on the accelerator.
SCREEEEEECH! VRRROOOOOOM!
Twilight and Spike screamed as they were thrown back into their seats by the sudden acceleration. “Seriously, this isn’t a video game!” shouted Twilight fearfully. “There are severe real world consequences for what you’re doing!”
“I’m well aware of that, Twilight, but this is an emergency situation!” exclaimed Sunset. “We have no idea what the heck those two are up to, so we need to catch up to them as soon as possible!” As the car approached an intersection, Sunset didn’t slow down as she turned left.
SCREEEEEECH!
Honk-honk!
Sunset ignored the honking horns from the other vehicles on the street as she continued speeding ahead. “Besides,” she added, “the old me used to do this kind of stuff all the time. I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you even know where you’re going?!” exclaimed Spike as he desperately held onto his seat.
“Simple, we just follow the monorail line,” replied Sunset as she gestured toward the row of supports along the road that held up the monorail track over the street. “Besides, the headquarters building of Lego City is on the end of a peninsula, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
VRRROOOOOOM!
Honk! Honk-honk!
As their “borrowed” car continued zooming down the street while dodging traffic at high speed, Twilight exclaimed, “I know you specifically told us not to question your actions, but I just can’t stand it! This is crazy! What are you thinking?!”
“You think you’re the only one in this car who’s still dealing with her inner demons?!” snapped Sunset as she continued driving. “I may have moved on from my old way of life, but that doesn’t mean I can completely abandon every part of who I once was! There have even been times when our friends would ask me to do things the old me used to do all the time! I’m always reluctant to use any tactics the old me used to use, but I always consider my friends’ advice and go through with it if it means achieving a greater good! And right now, using my old dirty tricks to do something good for everyone is exactly what I’m doing!”
Twilight and Spike both were left completely speechless by Sunset’s outburst. While she had already mentioned to them some time ago how she had an unfortunate tendency to lose her temper, it was still very scary to see it happen, especially when they were on the receiving end of it.
Sunset sighed and more calmly said, “Look, I’m sorry for yelling at you, but as you can see, I’m kinda in the middle of speeding through the streets of Lego City right now. We’ll talk about this later.”
After about a minute of reckless driving through the streets of Lego City, the green sports car reached the coastal part of the city and began to zoom down the single road along the middle of the peninsula that led to the city’s LEGO Team Headquarters building. By the time the building was within sight, the monorail train had already gone inside, so Sunset floored the accelerator for the final sprint to their destination.
VRRRROOOOOOOOM!!
Although there was no traffic on this road, that did little to ease Sunset’s desperation to get there right away.
As the speeding vehicle got closer and closer to the building, Twilight and Spike became increasingly concerned. “Uh, Sunset?” asked Twilight worriedly. “You might wanna consider slowing down right now.”
Sunset completely ignored Twilight and remained completely focused on going forward at full speed.
“Sunset, stop the car!” Spike cried out fearfully. “We’re gonna crash!” He and Twilight both began to scream in panic as the car continued speeding directly towards the building.
Finally, Sunset jerked the wheel to one side and stomped on the brake. The car began to slide sideways as it continued heading directly towards the main entrance into the building.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!
The car left behind a long trail of dark skid marks along the road as it continued sliding sideways towards the building. As the two passengers continued screaming for their lives, the car ended up smashing right through the glass doors of the main entrance and finally came to a complete stop in the middle of the lobby.
Without wasting a moment, Sunset grabbed the laser rifle, jumped out of the car, and ran over to the reception desk.
“Hey!” the receptionist called out. “You’re not supposed to be here!”
Sunset stopped in front of the desk and aimed the laser rifle at the receptionist as she threateningly asked, “You wanna say that again, buddy?”
The receptionist froze for a moment, then quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
Sunset rolled her eyes and exclaimed, “I’m not here to rob you! We’re chasing after some people we saw come into this building and we need to find them! NOW!!”
The receptionist quickly nodded and nervously said, “O-okay, okay! Just… gimme a moment…” He walked back to his computer and began quickly typing on the keyboard.
Sunset lowered the laser rifle while Twilight and Spike got out of the car and hesitantly walked over to her. As they stood next to each other, Spike turned to Sunset and quietly said, “You’re starting to scare me a little.”
The receptionist finished typing and stated, “Okay, I’m getting four unauthorized personnel inside this facility: you three right here, and one who is… on the upper walkways of the hangar… heading for the Space Police spaceship, by the looks of it.”
As soon as those words had been spoken, Sunset immediately took off and rushed further into the building. Once again, Twilight and Spike had no choice but to follow after her. As they began running, Spike sighed and grumbled, “Is all this pointless running ever gonna end?”
It took them only a couple of minutes to reach the hangar room, and as soon as they arrived, the sloped retractable roof had already opened, the black and white spaceship labeled “Space Police” already had its engines running, and the clamps holding it down had just been released, allowing the spaceship to start hovering away from its dock.
“Oh no you don’t,” muttered Sunset fiercely as she dropped the laser rifle and pulled out a handheld shooter. She aimed up at the departing spaceship and fired the shooter, launching a translucent red 1x1 round plate that hit and stuck itself onto the spacecraft. Immediately after that was done, the spaceship took off out of the hangar and in a matter of seconds, it suddenly vanished with a sonic boom as it entered warp speed.
After taking a moment to catch her breath, Twilight looked up at the empty sky and asked, “Where are they going?”
Sunset put away her shooter and pulled out a tablet as she replied, “Thanks to the tracking device I managed to get onto that spaceship, we’ll find out soon enough.”
Spike also took a moment to catch his breath, but then he froze as a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Wait… didn’t that guy say there was only one person trying to get away?” he asked.
Twilight gasped and said, “Hey, you’re right! If that’s true, then it can only mean that Gloriosa and Timber are not with each other. The security guard said they were arguing and one of them wanted to get to the monorail station — presumably to come here and steal that spaceship — so it would actually make sense that we’re probably chasing after just one of them.”
“So where’s the other one?” asked Spike.
“Possibly still back at that gala, for all we know,” replied Twilight with a shrug. “I just wish we knew which of the two we’ve been pursuing.”
Although Sunset had been staring at the display screen on her tablet, she had also been listening to the conversation between Twilight and Spike. The realization they made certainly made her a little concerned. I can’t say for certain which one of them it could be, she thought. Gloriosa sure seems like she would do anything to take down Filthy Rich, but Timber has been hiding something from us with that Gaia Everfree story and his jar full of gem dust. I guess we won’t know until we finally catch them…
Spike looked over at the tablet in Sunset’s hands and asked, “So, uh… where did that spaceship go?”
Sunset tapped the screen a few times, then once she got a definitive answer, her eyes widened. “They’ve gone back to the Dark Forest,” she answered in shock.
“Why would they want to suddenly go back there?” asked Twilight.
“I don’t know, and we certainly won’t get any answers just by staying here,” replied Sunset. She glanced around the room and smiled when she saw a Jump-Gate had been built inside the massive room, not far from where they currently stood. She ran over to the Jump-Gate and said, “I’ll enter the coordinates from the tracking device into the Jump-Gate. Still got that return device, Twilight?”
“Always,” replied Twilight with a smile as she held up her right wrist on which her Jump-Gate return device was attached.
As Sunset switched on the Jump-Gate’s control panel and entered the coordinates, she said, “This should put us right beside where they just parked the spaceship. With any luck, we’ll soon find out what Timber or Gloriosa is up to.”
“Wait, I’m suddenly a little confused,” said Spike. “Whoever we’re chasing, why did they steal that spaceship and not use this Jump-Gate?”
“The Jump-Gate has only just recently been introduced to groups and organizations outside of the former Shadowbolts,” explained Twilight. “I doubt that neither Gloriosa nor Timber would have any experience on how to properly use one.”
Once the coordinates were entered, Sunset hit the green “Open” button on the control panel. The Jump-Gate made its usual low whooshing noise for a few seconds before the massive solid doors parted open. On the other side of the gateway was a grassy field surrounded by a dense forest, with the exact location of the gateway opening being in the shade of the Space Police spaceship that been parked in the hangar just moments ago.
Sunset, Twilight, and Spike all walked through the gateway into the Dark Forest Subregion. As the doors closed behind them and the gateway vanished, Sunset said, “Let’s start looking around for anything suspicious. Whoever we’re after, I doubt he or she has gotten far in so little time.”
The three of them immediately began searching the area. As Spike walked around to the other side of the parked spaceship, he suddenly stopped and asked, “Uh, would a mysterious cave like that count as suspicious?”
Twilight and Sunset quickly walked over towards Spike and saw just a few steps away was a cave entrance with a few large boulders on either side of it.
Sunset replied, “To park a spaceship this close to a cave like this… yeah, I’d call that very suspicious.”
Twilight pulled out a flashlight and said, “So I guess we’d better head inside and investigate.”
Sunset led the way into the cave with Twilight and Spike following right behind. As they entered the cave, Twilight switched on her flashlight. At first, it seemed like any other dark cave, but as they walked further, they soon reached a large cavern that was illuminated by sunlight that came down through a hole in the ceiling and was scattered by a large mass of transparent crystals in the center of the cavern.
Twilight switched off and put away her flashlight as she began looking around the cave in awe. “Wow… this place is beautiful,” she quietly said.
Sunset wasn’t sharing in Twilight’s sense of wonder as they got closer to the center of the cavern. “There’s Equestrian magic here…” muttered Sunset cautiously. “I can… I can feel it…”
Spike raised an eyebrow and asked, “How are you so sure about that?”
“I was once a unicorn from Equestria,” Sunset pointed out. “I may not be able to freely use magic like I used to, but I can still recognize the sensation of being in close proximity to some powerful magic.”
“Would you say the source is somewhere among those crystals?” asked Twilight as she gestured towards the center of the cavern.
“Very likely,” replied Sunset as she began slowly walking towards the large cluster of crystals. As she got closer, she noticed that at the very center was a massive crystal that was wider than any other, but only reached a height of three bricks with a flat top, as if the upper portion had been cut down and removed. In addition, the flat top of this massive crystal had seven slots, five of which were empty, while the other two each had a colorful crystal shard in it; one that was red and one that was purple. As she continued to walk closer, Sunset began to reach her hand out towards the massive crystal.
“Don’t touch that!”
Sunset immediately stopped in her tracks and turned towards the source of that voice, while Twilight and Spike also immediately turned to face whoever had just spoken out.
From the shadows of an alcove to the side, a minifig stepped forward and revealed herself to be none other than Gloriosa Daisy. “They’re mine,” she added with a wicked grin on her face and a faint twitch in her eye.
“Gloriosa?!” asked Sunset in shock. She then narrowed her eyes as she next asked, “Why did you come here so suddenly?”
Gloriosa smirked and replied, “Oh, as if I would even bother telling you anything.”
Sunset frowned and furrowed her brow, but when a certain thought crossed her mind, she smiled smugly and retorted, “Actually, seeing as we’re now back in the Dark Forest… I don’t even need to bother asking questions. I can just get my answers directly from the source.”
Gloriosa momentarily paused to consider what Sunset was talking about. It took only a few seconds for Gloriosa to realize the implied fact, and once she understood it, she glared at Sunset and growled, “Don’t even think about it.”
“Oh, I’m already thinking about it,” Sunset smugly retorted. “In fact, I intend to actually do it.” She then charged directly towards Gloriosa.
Gloriosa quickly jumped out of the way. Sunset tried to charge at her again, but she managed to move out of the way again. Gloriosa knew that she had to avoid letting Sunset touch her by any means, so she had no choice but to keep evading her as much as possible.
As Sunset continued chasing Gloriosa around the cavern, Twilight and Spike did little more than just standing and watching. Spike turned to Twilight and asked, “Should we do something?”
Gloriosa dodged yet another charge from Sunset after more than a dozen already. Sunset momentarily paused and glared at her before making another charge. Gloriosa once again moved out of the way and now found herself just a few steps away from the central crystal. She glanced back and forth between her adversary and her target, trying to determine when would be the right moment to make her move.
Suddenly, Gloriosa felt a brief but very painful jolt of electricity on her back. She yelped from the sudden electric shock, then immediately turned around and saw Twilight holding out her extendable pocket-sized stun rod. “What was that for?!” asked Gloriosa irritably.
That minor diversion was all Sunset needed to finally reach forward and grasp Gloriosa by her wrist. “Got ya!” shouted Sunset triumphantly. Right at the instant after she said that, her body stiffened and her eyes glowed white as her new magical ability activated once more.
The first thing Sunset saw was the briefing area back at the LEGO Team Headquarters building in Canterlot City. Celestia stood at her usual place on the elevated platform in front of the large console and massive display screen, while down on the main floor stood Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce, neither of whom seemed to be in a pleasant mood.
“I can’t believe that Filthy Rich actually brought bulldozers with him this time!” exclaimed Gloriosa with barely contained rage.
“I’m just glad that wall I built was able to hold them back until the cops arrived,” added Timber with a frown as he kept his arms folded.
“I understand your frustrations,” assured Celestia. “Our legal department has already issued a fine to Mister Rich for his actions.”
“This is Filthy Rich we’re talking about here!” snapped Gloriosa. “Fines mean nothing to him!”
“Please try to relax, Gloriosa Daisy,” Celestia calmly said. “I know this isn’t what you’re normally like.”
“I’m sorry, Celestia, but our patience is getting very thin,” said Timber irritably. “If something isn’t done about this situation soon, there’s no telling what could happen.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” responded Celestia as she turned away and tapped a few buttons on the console. “In the meantime, I would like to send you two on another goodwill mission.” The image that came up on the massive display screen showed a map of the Castle Region with a small forested area being highlighted. “This time, you will be going to the Dark Forest, a small subregion of the Castle Region that has remained virtually unchanged since it was established about twenty years ago.”
Gloriosa spoke up, “But what about—?”
“Don’t worry about Camp Everfree,” assured Celestia as she turned back to face the duo. “I’ll have the police set up a secured perimeter around the property while you’re away. That should convince Mister Rich to not bother showing up while you’re out of town.”
“Are you sure this is for the best?” asked Timber skeptically.
“This isn’t just another goodwill mission for you to become friendly with the natives,” explained Celestia. “This is also a much needed chance for you to relax in an environment that I know you can appreciate. Not to mention, I seriously doubt that Filthy Rich will ever be of any concern out there.”
Timber shrugged and said, “Can’t argue with that.”
Gloriosa sighed and said, “Very well, then. We’ll do this.”
“The charter flight to take you there is waiting in the hangar,” finished Celestia. “Good luck.”
The next scene Sunset saw was out in the middle of the Dark Forest, where Gloriosa was walking alone down a trail with a rather depressed expression on her face. It had been only three days since she and Timber had arrived in the area, and while they had successfully become good friends with Rob N. Hood and the Forestmen, she still couldn’t get her mind off of the threat posed by Filthy Rich.
Gloriosa sighed as she looked up into the sky and muttered, “If only there was something I could do…”
As what appeared to be a small magenta cloud suddenly rushed by overhead, Gloriosa stopped and lightly gasped. She wasn’t sure what that was, but she certainly wanted to find out, so she left the trail and quickly followed after that rapidly-moving cloud of magic.
It was difficult to see much through the dense canopy of the forest, but the bright light given off by that trail of magic made it easy to follow. Eventually, as Gloriosa reached a small field, the mysterious glowing cloud suddenly slammed into the ground with a faint impact, and the eerie magenta glow could now be seen coming from the cave entrance just on the other side of the field.
Gloriosa glanced around and once she was sure that she was completely alone, she rushed over to the cave and then carefully walked inside. Once she reached the cavern, she was in complete awe by the incredible beauty of the large cluster of transparent crystals in the center. She walked closer to the crystals and soon noticed that the massive pedestal-like central crystal had seven small crystal shards embedded in it, each a different color; red, blue, orange, white, pink, yellow, and purple.
Curious, Gloriosa placed her hand on the pedestal, covering five of the seven shards. As soon as her hand touched those shards, a small burst of magic suddenly caused her hand to stick to them. She panicked and immediately tried to pull her hand away from them. After a brief struggle, her hand finally came free, but the force of the sudden release caused her to go flying backwards.
Gloriosa was about to hit the hard floor of the cave when a bunch of vines suddenly sprouted and formed a small bed that cushioned her fall. She looked down at the vines in confusion, then realized she felt something in her hand. She opened her hand and saw resting within her pink claw-shaped hand were the five shards she had touched, which were now glowing.
Next, Sunset saw Gloriosa and Timber inside the brick-built tree they resided in during their stay in the Dark Forest, and they were in the middle of a rather heated discussion.
“You don’t know what those things are!” argued Timber, gesturing towards the necklace that Gloriosa had made out of the five magical shards she had retrieved from that cave.
“But I know what they can do!” argued Gloriosa as she used her newfound magical power to make some vines reach in through the windows and pick up a few various items in the small room. “I’ve been practicing! I can control their power now!”
Timber remained skeptical as he argued, “You don’t know that for sure!” When Gloriosa gave no response, he just gave a dismissive wave of a hand as he turned around and headed for the door outside.
Before Timber could open the door, Gloriosa suddenly stopped him by grasping his arm. “We’re not the only ones being threatened by Filthy Rich!” she argued. “There are innocent people all over the Lego World whose livelihoods are being destroyed by his greedy ambitions! If no one is gonna stand up to him, then I’ll take matters into my own hands!”
Sunset next saw that run-in they had with Filthy Rich in the Dark Forest. This time, she saw that while she had been occupied speaking with Rich, Gloriosa glanced around at how all the surveying equipment had been set up, then discreetly placed one hand over the magical shards on her necklace and held out the other hand towards one of the tall surveying poles resting against the trees. Some vines sprouted from the ground around the pole at the right end of the row of them and lightly pushed it over towards the other poles.
“Whoa, look out!” shouted one of the workers as the poles began toppling over like a series of dominoes, ending in toppling over a crane that was lifting a generator and ended up crashing down right onto Filthy Rich’s limousine.
“My limo!” exclaimed Filthy Rich before rushing over to find out what had just happened.
While everyone else looked towards the wrecked limo in confusion — except for Gloriosa who looked on smugly — Timber quickly reached into his pocket and tossed out a handful of gem dust.
Sunset then saw the moment the wagon had been destroyed while they were fleeing from Trixie’s army. As Gloriosa landed face-down on the ground, the army of skeleton warriors and trolls let out a loud battle cry as they charged ahead. Gloriosa immediately clutched the magical shards on her necklace and pressed her other hand against the ground. All along the trail, thousands of thick roots suddenly lifted up from the ground, just enough to cause each and every single soldier in the charging army to suddenly trip and fall flat on their faces.
While Gloriosa immediately called for everyone to get up and keep running, Timber spared a brief moment to once again reach into his pocket and tossed a handful of gem dust across the ground, just before he reached over to help Twilight as she stumbled.
The final scene Sunset saw was in the alleyway where the guard had mentioned seeing Gloriosa and Timber. Sure enough, just as the guard had described, the brother and sister duo were arguing there.
“Where are you going?!” Timber called out as he finally caught up to Gloriosa.
“I’m heading to the monorail station!” Gloriosa sharply responded, her tension still high after her recent confrontation with Filthy Rich. “It’s the fastest way to LEGO Headquarters, where we can borrow a spaceship to take us back to the Dark Forest!”
“Why would you want to…?” Timber began to ask before he quickly realized what Gloriosa was up to. He furrowed his brow and firmly stated, “You don’t have to do this.”
“You heard what Filthy Rich is up to!” argued Gloriosa. “He needs to be stopped right away!”
“But you can’t just use this weird magic you’ve got!” argued Timber. “I’m having a hard enough time covering for you as it is!”
“Is that why you told the team that ridiculous story?!” asked Gloriosa furiously. “You didn’t want them to think I was behind any of this?!”
“Exactly!” exclaimed Timber. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re getting yourself into?! You’re the only family I’ve got left! I’m just trying to look out for you!”
“I don’t need your help!” argued Gloriosa. “I’m the older sibling anyway, so I can take care of myself!”
“That’s not the point!” argued Timber. “You’re pushing yourself too far! You have to let this go before it’s too late!”
“I said I was gonna take matters into my own hands,” Gloriosa shot back, “and after what we heard back there, it’s clear that I have no choice!”
Timber growled in frustration as he tightly grasped his beanie hat. “Fine!” he snapped. “If you wanna go through on this worthless vigilante crusade, then go ahead! But you can count me out! I don’t want any involvement in this madness!” He then spun around and began furiously marching back toward the building they had just left.
“Then good riddance!” Gloriosa furiously called out. “I don’t need you holding me back! As long as I’ve got this power, I can finally get rid of Filthy Rich! I’ll even save the whole Lego World from monsters like him!” She then spun around and furiously marched towards the monorail station.
Sunset’s body relaxed and her eyes returned to normal as the last of the visions from Gloriosa’s memories came to an end. Gloriosa immediately yanked her arm out of Sunset’s grasp, but after what they had seen with Trixie earlier that day, she knew it was already too late.
Once Sunset was thinking clearly again, she glared firmly at Gloriosa and said, “That necklace you’re wearing… they’re the missing geodes from that pedestal right behind you. And not only that, they’re magical! Just like I and the rest of my friends have new magical abilities, you suddenly gained the power to control plant life. You’ve been using your new magic to not only save lives, but also take down Filthy Rich at any opportunity.”
Sunset glanced back at Twilight for a moment, then returned her piercing stare to Gloriosa and continued, “I was only partially right about Timber. He was hiding something from us, but it wasn’t something he did, but rather the things you were doing. The Gaia Everfree story, the gem dust, he did all of that because he didn’t want you to get into any trouble. He cares for you, Gloriosa, because you’re the only family member he has left, and he doesn’t want to lose you.”
Sunset stepped forward towards Gloriosa as she continued, “But just moments ago, you had a big fight with him. He wanted you to give up that magic before you went too far with it, but you refused to listen to him. That’s why you were on your own when we chased after you… because he couldn’t stop you… and he didn’t want any involvement with what you’re about to do…”
At this point, Twilight stepped forward and pleaded, “Gloriosa, Timber wasn’t wrong. I really think you should stop using magic before you take this too far. It doesn’t matter how pure your intentions are. Trying to use too much magic can be extremely dangerous. Trust me, out of all the people in the Lego World, I know what that’s like.”
“Oh, I see no reason to worry,” said Gloriosa dismissively. “I’ve got this. And I’m going to use this magic to protect the world from greedy tyrants that would seek to take everything away from innocent people. I just need more power!” She immediately spun around and placed her hand on the two remaining crystal shards on the pedestal.
“No!” shouted Twilight and Sunset simultaneously, but it was already too late.
As soon as Gloriosa touched those remaining shards, the first thing she did was turn back to the three intruders and thrust her free hand out, unleashing her magical power. Dozens of vines suddenly sprouted from the ground and tightly wrapped themselves around Sunset, Twilight, and Spike, binding them right where they stood. Now that they had no way to stop her, she brought the two shards close to the five others she already possessed.
The necklace piece attached around her neck reshaped itself to include all seven magical geodes, then Gloriosa’s dark transformation began. Her skin changed from pink to light grey, her legs turned olive green with brown around the feet, her hands and lower arms turned dark brown, her torso turned olive green with burgundy leaves around the waist and chest, her hair turned into a wild mess of turquoise, the chain of daisies around her head turned into a vine with green thorns, and her eyes turned black with sickly green pupils.
With her magical transformation complete, Gloriosa smiled as she began to hover in the air. “Sorry, girls, but I know what I need to do,” she said confidently as she made her way past the entrapped trio towards the cave entrance. “But I feel like we’re not on the same page, so…”
“Gloriosa!” Twilight called out desperately. “Don’t do this!”
The magically enhanced Gloriosa suddenly stopped her movement and said, “Oh, I almost forgot…” She turned around and reached her hand out towards Twilight. The vines that entrapped her shifted around a little until they managed to remove the Jump-Gate return device from her wrist and held it out in the open. “If by some miracle you do manage to escape, then I can’t allow you to go very far.” She then clenched her outstretched hand into a fist, making the vines contract around the device until it was ultimately crushed with a sickening cracking noise and its jagged fragments fell to the ground.
After witnessing the loss of the only thing that could get them out of the Dark Forest, the entrapped trio could only watch as Gloriosa hovered out of the cave, then used her magic to make a dozen vines wrap around a pair of massive boulders and roll them together to block the entrance.
“NO!!” Sunset, Twilight, and Spike cried out helplessly.
With the cave sealed up and no hope of those three ever getting out of there, Gloriosa turned around and made her way back to the Space Police spaceship. After all, despite her immensely enhanced magical powers… it was still the fastest way back to Lego City.
Back at the gala in the Rich Cultural Center in Lego City, Kjeld Playwell — accompanied by his son Thomas — was confronting Filthy Rich over the recent revelation of the latter’s expansionist ambitions.
“Mister Rich,” Kjeld calmly stated, “it has come to my attention that you are intending to expand your business to well beyond the limits of the City Regions.”
Filthy raised an eyebrow and asked, “And you consider this to be an issue of concern?”
“I am the overseer of the entire Lego World,” stated Kjeld. “Anything that would negatively impact any group of people is most certainly an issue that would concern me.”
“It’s not my fault certain people chose to stand in the way of my enterprise,” said Filthy indignantly. “I’m just being a good businessman.”
“That is the same argument President Business once made to me,” Kjeld pointed out. “And at the time, I was foolish enough to believe him.”
“I can assure you, Mister Playwell, I have no intentions of deliberately wiping out entire populations like Mister Business once did,” Filthy firmly stated. “My ultimate objective is to simply become the richest person in the entire universe.”
“There are ways of achieving that without having to trample over innocent people,” argued Kjeld.
“True,” admitted Filthy, “but many of them are much too time-consuming for my preferences. I may have a daughter, but I am not going to press my personal dreams onto her. Not while there are still ways I can achieve it for myself. And besides, I have done nothing illegal. My lawyers have made sure of that, and will continue to ensure it stays that way.”
“Just because you have enough common sense to stay within the technical limits of the law doesn’t automatically make you immune to any controversy,” argued Kjeld. “Your actions thus far have already turned a lot of good people against you, and with good reason. You must understand that in many of the regions you’re looking to acquire, people actually live there, and for many of them, their home region’s way of life is the only life they have ever known. When you express interest in taking that away from them, they will start to see you as a bad guy. I doubt you will face a full-on rebellion like President Business did, but I guarantee that you will be facing a lot of resistance.”
“So I’ll just brush them all aside with a bunch of lawsuits,” said Filthy dismissively.
“And if you actually destroy enough livelihoods, I’ll have no choice but to put my foot down and do something about it,” warned Kjeld. “Do you honestly not care about the feelings of other people?”
Filthy frowned and furrowed his brow as he asked, “What about my livelihood? What about the livelihoods of all the promising entrepreneurs you fired from the Board of Directors? The last I heard from many of them, their hopes of a successful career were completely destroyed by how you publicly humiliated them. Blackwell, Business, and Cinch were simply the ones who had the tenacity to take a stand and seek vengeance. Everyone else has since fallen onto hard times, many of whom have become so depressed that they have become convinced they will never be successful at anything for the rest of their miserable lives. You should have known better than to make such a rash decision.”
Kjeld sighed and paused for a moment before he carefully replied, “I did not fire the old Board of Directors purely out of rage. The business-first decisions you and the others made were receiving some fearsome backlash from all over the universe, and I had to do something about it. I may not have been thinking clearly on the day I made the choice to fire you all, but I cannot deny that the Lego World has become a much better place in the aftermath of my decision.”
“And yet, you continue to ignore the plight of many of my former partners from that board,” retorted Filthy.
“No one ever bothered to bring it to my attention,” explained Kjeld. “I suppose that just shows how much the general public disapproved of your actions, at the time. Had I simply been informed that many of them had gotten worse off, I might have been able to do something about it, perhaps even prevented those big names you mentioned from becoming serious threats.”
“So it seems you are certainly prone to making a lot of mistakes, Mister Playwell,” noted Filthy with a smug smile.
“That may be true,” admitted Kjeld, “but as I had stated on the day Cinch was arrested, at least I am willing to admit that I’ve made mistakes, and I continue to do my best to make up for them.” He glanced over at Thomas for a moment, then turned his attention back to Filthy Rich and stated in a very serious tone, “I had failed to prevent the rise of Lord Business before it was too late. Do not force my hand against you to prevent a similar incident from happening again.”
Before Filthy Rich could say any kind of comeback, one of the security guards came running up the stairs and rushed over to them. After taking a brief moment to catch his breath, he stated, “Mister Playwell, we’ve got situation.”
Kjeld raised an eyebrow and asked, “Wouldn’t it have been more convenient to simply call your superior officer on your radio?”
“Battery’s worn out,” explained the guard as he pulled out his radio and repeatedly pressed the talk button to show that it was definitely not working.
“Of course,” muttered Kjeld as he shook his head. He turned his gaze back up to the guard and asked, “So what’s the problem?”
“Just a minute ago, Sunset and Twilight were looking for two people and I told them all I knew — that I saw them having an argument and one of them said something about getting to the monorail station. Next thing I know, Sunset steals my laser rifle and runs off towards the monorail station, and I’m pretty sure I heard a few shots being fired. Not to mention, Twilight and some boy with them followed after Sunset.”
“I always knew that Sunset couldn’t be trusted,” grumbled Filthy Rich.
“Why would Sunset do something like that?” asked Thomas.
“I trust Sunset’s judgement,” replied Kjeld as he took out his phone. “That kind of behavior may seem irrational, but I am sure she has a very good reason for such reckless urgency.” He checked something on his phone as he spoke, and just seconds later, he got the information he needed. “Just as I suspected. The train that left that station just minutes ago headed for LEGO Headquarters.” He put away his phone and turned to Thomas. “I want you to go back to headquarters immediately and assess the situation. Try to find Sunset and Twilight, ask them what they are doing, and then call me once you have some information on what’s going on.”
“Yes, father,” acknowledged Thomas with a nod, then turned away and began to quickly head down the stairs and out of the building.
Filthy Rich was momentarily speechless, then glared at Kjeld and protested, “You cannot ask him to leave! This gala is being held in his honor!”
“If a situation is dire enough, personal plans need to be put on hold until the emergency has been resolved,” emphasized Kjeld. “I understand that this particular situation may not be that much of an emergency, but keep in mind that my son is still learning, and this happens to be a good opportunity for him to learn that lesson.”
“Then why do you not go with him?” asked Filthy.
“As much as I personally would like to be there to guide him at every step, he needs to be permitted to make his own decisions,” replied Kjeld. “He needs real world experience so that he will truly be ready for when the time comes that I will no longer be there for him.” Kjeld then walked over to the railing along the balcony overlooking the lower floor of the building “And besides, I can see that the rest of Sunset’s team is still here. Someone needs to remain here to keep an eye on them. If something terrible really is going on, then they deserve to be informed right away.”
Filthy Rich simply shook his head and walked away.
As Kjeld kept watching the five girls from Canterlot City, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself, “I sure hope this isn’t the beginning of yet another major incident…”
Sunset, Twilight, and Spike remained bound by the vines. With the cave entrance sealed shut by some massive boulders, they could only listen helplessly as the Space Police spaceship parked outside powered up, lifted off the ground, and then flew away before vanishing into warp speed. Gloriosa Daisy — with her greatly enhanced magical powers — had now gotten away.
Sunset grunted as she tried to break herself free of the vines. “There’s gotta be a way to get out of this,” she muttered as she, Twilight, and Spike all struggled to break free.
After a few seconds of struggling, Spike slammed his back against the wall of the cavern behind him and rubbed his back against it. Within a few seconds, the vines around him snapped apart, and he was able to quickly brush off the now loosened vines.
“Good thinking, Spike!” praised Twilight with a smile.
“Actually, I just had an itch on my back,” admitted Spike. “Cutting those vines loose was just an unexpected bonus.”
“Do you think you can get us free?” asked Sunset.
“Yeah, no problem,” replied Spike as he walked over to the entrapped Sunset. As he stood behind Sunset, he pulled something out of his pocket and flipped a small blade from it, then used that blade to start cutting away at the vines. He needed to cut through only a few of them before Sunset was able to pull herself free and tossed the vines aside. Once Sunset was free, he walked over to Twilight and did the same thing for her.
Twilight smiled as she freed herself from the now cut vines, but then she frowned as she turned to Spike and asked, “You were carrying a pocket knife?”
Spike glanced at the pocket knife in his hand, then quickly hid it behind his back as he chuckled nervously.
Twilight furrowed her brow and muttered to Spike, “We’ll talk about this later.” Her expression softened as she turned away and walked over to the shattered remains of her Jump-Gate return device, where Sunset also stood.
“Do you think you can fix it?” asked Sunset.
Twilight sighed and sadly replied, “I’m afraid it’s beyond repair. Even if I had access to my laboratory — which I obviously don’t — it would be more efficient to simply build a new one from scratch, and that would take many days — time that we certainly don’t have.”
Sunset sighed and muttered, “Then we’ll just have to find another way out of this cave.” She walked over to the sealed entrance and tried to push against the boulders, but they certainly weren’t going to budge. She thought for a moment, then suddenly turned back to Twilight and asked, “Can you use your magic to move the boulders?”
Twilight suddenly took a step back and looked away. “I-I’d rather not…” she replied hesitantly.
“Twilight,” insisted Sunset, “we need to get out of here as soon as possible, and I don’t see any other way.”
“Hey, look!” Spike suddenly called out from the middle of the cavern. “There’s a rope hanging from the ceiling!”
Twilight immediately smiled and ran over to Spike. Sunset sighed and shook her head before she walked over to join them.
In the middle of the cavern, Spike was pointing up at a rope that was dangling from the hole in the ceiling through which came the sunlight that illuminated this cavern. Although the rope seemed to extend out towards somewhere outside the cave, the end that they saw was rather high up, far beyond their reach.
Sunset sighed and muttered, “There’s no way we can reach that.”
Twilight thought for a moment, then smiled as she got an idea. “Not if we do this!” she said excitedly as she pushed Sunset towards the spot directly under the rope.
Sunset yelped from the sudden shove, then grunted as Twilight next climbed up her back and stood on her shoulders.
“C’mon up, Spike!” Twilight called down from atop Sunset.
As Spike climbed up Sunset and Twilight, Sunset muttered, “I guess this could work.”
Once Spike stood on Twilight’s shoulders, he reached up towards the dangling rope, but it was still too high up. “I can’t reach it!” he called down.
“Well, so much for that,” grumbled Sunset.
“There’s gotta be another way,” mumbled Twilight as she once again began to think. After a moment, she suddenly grinned and excitedly exclaimed, “I know! We’ll use our heads! Like this!” She reached down and removed Sunset’s hair piece, then placed her right foot onto the exposed stud on top of her head and stood up straight on it.
“Ow!” grunted Sunset as she struggled to remained standing upright. “Is this really necessary?”
Twilight ignored her as she removed her own hair piece.
Spike placed his left foot onto the exposed stud on top of Twilight’s head and stood up straight. He reached up towards the dangling rope. His hand was able to just barely brush against the very end of that rope, but it was not quite close enough for him to get a firm grasp on it. “Oh come on!” he shouted in frustration. “If I had grown-up legs, I might be able to grab that rope!”
All three of them certainly felt frustrated that they were so incredibly close to escaping and were literally just one inch short, but they weren’t about to give up just yet. As they all struggled to keep their balance, they tried to think of what else they could do to close that final minuscule distance.
This time, it was Sunset who came up with a solution. “I think I’ve got an idea!” she called up to the others. “If we all crouch down, then jump up at the exact same time, it might give Spike enough of a boost to help him grab that rope.”
“It’s worth a try,” remarked Twilight.
“Let’s go for it!” declared Spike.
Despite a bit of struggling to keep their balance, all three of then soon managed to crouch down directly under the rope. “Okay, everyone, on the count of three,” said Sunset. “One… two… three!”
All three minifigs jumped up at the exact same time. Sunset, pushed herself off the ground, Twilight pushed herself off Sunset’s head, and Spike pushed himself off Twilight’s head. With the forces of all three jumps adding up together, Spike was hurled upwards high enough to grasp the rope not only with his hands but also between his legs.
“Got it!” exclaimed Spike excitedly.
Thud!
Spike glanced down and saw Sunset sitting on the cavern floor while rubbing her bald head, while a similarly bald Twilight was lying face-down on the floor of the cavern. “Are you okay?!” Spike called down to them while still hanging onto the rope.
Twilight slowly pushed herself off the ground and called back, “Don’t worry! We’re fine!”
“Now go!” shouted Sunset up to Spike. “Get help!”
“Right,” said Spike with a nod. He turned his gaze upwards and began to climb the rope.
Sunset retrieved her hair piece and put it back on her head, then retrieved Twilight’s hair piece and handed it back to her as she stood back up. After Twilight put her hair piece back on her head, she looked up and watched as Spike slowly made his way up and out of the cavern.
Now, there was nothing that Twilight and Sunset could do but wait and hope that Spike would come back with some help very soon.
“Let go of me!” shouted Timber Spruce as two security guards tried haul him out of the Rich Cultural Center. “I need to talk to Twilight!”
The commotion near the middle of the building was hard to ignore for most of the nearby people. Among the people on the main floor watching the struggle were the remaining members of the Canterlot City LEGO Team; Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Kjeld was watching from the upper floor balcony of the north wing, and once he recognized who the guards were struggling with, he called out to them, “Hold him right there!”
The guards maintained their firm grip on Timber, but now they kept him on the spot rather than trying to drag him out of the building.
Kjeld walked down the stairway and over to where Timber stood. Once he stopped in front of Timber, Kjeld calmly asked, “Would you care to explain what’s going on?”
Timber sighed and replied, “I’m worried that Gloriosa is about to make a bad choice. I need to talk to Twilight and see if she can do something about it.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible at this time,” explained Kjeld. “I’ve been told that she and Sunset fled the area trying to chase after you and Gloriosa.” Kjeld paused and tapped his chin in thought. “Hmm… I’m not sure if they’re even aware that you’re still here.”
“Then they followed after my sister,” concluded Timber with a resigned tone in his voice. He sighed and muttered, “I hope they can talk to her before she goes too far.”
“I have already sent my son Thomas to LEGO Headquarters, where I presume they went,” added Kjeld. “I am sure that he, along with Twilight and Sunset, can help Gloriosa see reason.” He paused for a moment as he considered Timber’s words, then asked, “What is it about your sister that concerns you so much?”
Timber hesitated for a moment, then sighed and reluctantly explained, “Something happened to her not long ago… Something that I’ve been trying my best to keep hidden away from everyone…”
Before Timber could continue, Pinkie Pie suddenly cried out as her head spun around a few times towards the left.
“Oh dear…” muttered Fluttershy worriedly. “The last time that happened, the sirens and their minions attacked Cloudsdale.”
Rainbow Dash quickly began looking around for any sign of some sudden and unexpected threat. As everyone began to hear a low rumbling noise coming from above, she looked up towards the skylight above the center of the building and what she saw through that massive window made her jaw drop and her eyes widen.
“INCOMING!!” hollered Rainbow Dash as she pointed up at the skylight. She then used her magical super speed to tackle into all four of her friends and shoved them all to one side.
Barely more than a second after the warning was shouted, a large black and white spaceship suddenly crashed through the skylight. The party guests immediately panicked and ran away screaming as the large spaceship smashed into the main floor of the building.
Kjeld and Timber had fallen to their backs from the impact, but they and the surrounding guards were relatively unscathed. As they stood back up, Kjeld saw the words “SPACE POLICE” on the side of the spaceship and immediately sighed and grumbled, “That’s the third time that thing’s been hijacked.”
Two of the guards carefully approached the front of the wrecked spaceship and pushed some debris aside to get a good look inside the cockpit. After they pushed aside the damaged canopy, one of the guards called out, “It’s empty! There’s no pilot inside!”
As most of the party guests began to mutter amongst themselves worriedly, Timber turned to Kjeld and asked, “Does that thing have an autopilot?”
Kjeld shook his head and replied, “It does, but it only works for interstellar travel at warp speed. And besides, any autopilot would be smart enough to avoid crashing into a building. Whoever was flying this thing must’ve jumped out before it crashed.” He turned to the nearby guards and ordered, “We need to figure out what’s going on here, so go outside and try to find the pilot.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Everyone froze as they heard that rather sinister voice, then turned their collective gaze towards the massive hole in the ceiling where they had heard it come from. They all watched in shock and horror as the magically corrupted Gloriosa Daisy slowly descended and stopped to hover in the middle of the building.
“It’s Gaia Everfree!” shrieked Pinkie Pie. “That spooky campfire story was true!”
As the party guests began to gasp and scream in panic, Timber just stared up in shock at Gloriosa and quietly muttered, “Gloriosa… what have you done?”
As the shouts of panic began to rise, Gloriosa proudly declared, “Calm down, everyone! There is no reason to fear me! I come before you as your new savior! With all the forces of nature now under my control, I shall swear to protect the good people of the Lego World from greedy tyrants who would seek to take everything away!” She turned her gaze towards Filthy Rich, who was so still and silent from shock that he didn’t notice the glass slip out of his hand and shatter on the floor. Gloriosa grinned wickedly and added, “Starting with you!”
It took a moment for Filthy Rich to realize that Gloriosa was pointing right at him, but once he did, he quickly turned around and began to run away without saying a word. However, he failed to see Gloriosa’s hands glow with green energy as she summoned a root through the floor to trip him, then unleashed a series of brambles that completely trapped him inside a small impenetrable enclosure. His scream of terror was heard for only a second before it was completely muffled by the brambles.
Gloriosa next turned her gaze towards some of the party guests who happened to have been standing close to Filthy Rich. “And just to be safe, I’d better deal with his associates, too!” she declared, before unleashing more dark and twisted brambles to entrap everyone else on the upper floor of the north wing.
“Gloriosa Daisy!” shouted Kjeld defiantly. “Stop this madness right now!”
Gloriosa suddenly turned to Kjeld down on the main floor and immediately glowered at him. “I thought you were supposed to be protecting everyone in the world!” she growled accusingly. “Are you suddenly siding with that jerk?!”
In spite of the danger he was in, Kjeld never dropped his face of bravery as he argued, “As deplorable as Filthy Rich might be, he has rights like any other citizen!”
“Heartless monsters like Rich don’t deserve any rights!” Gloriosa furiously shot back. “If this is why you always fail to stop evil forces before they grow too powerful, then perhaps I should start taking away those rights! I’M TAKING OVER!!” And with that, she unleashed another series of dark and twisted brambles to quickly entrap Kjeld Playwell.
With the leader of the entire Lego World now taken out of commission, the terrified crowd finally broke out into absolute pandemonium. Everyone screamed and cried as they all rushed for the exits. With everyone quickly vacating the building, Gloriosa decided to ascend back up through the massive hole in the ceiling.
In all the chaos, the five girls from Canterlot City were left confused with no idea where to go or what to do.
“Girls!” Rarity suddenly called out.
The four others turned to Rarity and saw she was standing beside legendary police officer Chase McCain.
“This way!” exclaimed Chase. “I know an emergency exit!”
With no other option, the five girls followed after Chase as he led them towards a basic door at the far corner of the east wing of the building. However, as they ran, chunks of the ceiling began to break away and crash to the floor, and just before they could reach the door, one chunk of debris landed right in front of that door, blocking the way out and forcing the six minifigs to stop in their tracks.
“Or at least it was an emergency exit,” noted Chase.
“Don’t worry!” assured Pinkie Pie. “I can clear it away!” She rushed over to the nearest buffet table and managed to find a tray full of cupcakes frosted in many different colors. She grabbed a cupcake with green frosting, shoved the rest of the cupcakes into her hair, then rushed back to the others and proudly held up the cupcake in her hand. “With this!”
“Uh, that’s a cupcake,” Chase pointed out in confusion.
“Exactly!” responded Pinkie Pie cheerfully as she faced the chunk of debris and began to back away from it.
Rarity held out her arm to gently push Chase away from the blocked door as she said, “I would suggest you stand back.”
As everyone else backed away from the blocking chunk of debris, Pinkie stood halfway across the room, then with the stance and movement of a professional baseball pitcher, she chucked the cupcake directly at the debris. The cupcake glowed pink as soon as it left her hand and exploded the moment it impacted the debris, blasting it into smaller bits of rubble and clearing the path to the door.
“Huh… I never knew cupcakes could be explosive,” remarked Chase in disbelief.
Fluttershy walked over to the door and tried to open it, but it didn’t even budge. She grunted as she struggled to open the door, but gave up after a few seconds and worriedly said, “Oh dear. It’s locked.”
“Move over,” said Applejack as she gently pushed Fluttershy away from the door. She grasped the handle and with one mighty yank, she ripped out not only the door but also the frame piece around that door. She then hurled the door and frame clear across the room and exclaimed, “C’mon, y’all, let’s move!”
Applejack was the first one into the emergency escape tunnel, followed by Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and finally a dumbfounded Chase McCain.
As he followed after the girls into the tunnel, Chase couldn’t help but speak up, “Okay, I’m just gonna come out and say it. You girls are some of the weirdest people I’ve ever met.”
As the six minifigs made their underground escape, more debris began to fall throughout the entire building. On the outside, the building was quickly overrun by countless vines that were prying apart the entire structure, all done through the magical powers of Gloriosa.
“First Blackwell Tower, now this eyesore,” grumbled Gloriosa as she moved her glowing hands around, guiding the vines to bring down the building. “I think this square of evil would be better suited as a beautiful park.”
As the last parts of the structure came crashing down and the entire building was completely demolished, Gloriosa began to hear the wailing of approaching police sirens. She turned around and saw a dozen police cars had quickly gathered at the scene. At the front of it all was Lego City’s Chief of Police, Marion Dunby, who wore a standard black police uniform and had a thick black mustache on his face. He rode up on his segway, pulled out a megaphone and angrily called up to Gloriosa, “Alright, I don’t know who the heck you are, but I’m placing you under arrest!”
Gloriosa simply grinned and retorted, “You can’t arrest me! I’m above the law now!” Her hands glowed as she once again unleashed another tangle of brambles, this time entrapping Dunby along with his segway.
With their chief taken out, the rest of the police officers began to panic as they either ran away or jumped into various hiding places such as inside a dumpster, behind a lamppost, and even inside the trunk of one of the police cruisers.
“There’s a new sheriff in town!” declared an increasingly maddening Gloriosa Daisy to all the panicked and fearful civilians out on the streets. “I’m here to protect you all from anyone who would dare to oppress you! As long you remain under my care, you shall always be free forever! There is no reason for any of you to fear me! I’VE GOT THIS!!”
With that announcement, Gloriosa rushed downwards and slammed her glowing hands directly into the ground, unleashing a wave of dark magical energy through the ground in all directions. The immense surge in magic extended for a radius of about a mile, where a massive wall of thick and twisted dark brambles began to rise up out of the ground. A huge swath of Lego City was now being completely cut off from the rest of the outside world. The wall of brambles extended all the way around the city, causing traffic to slam into it on both sides along many streets and even at the middle of a large bridge. The final point to be cut off between the city and the outer reaches was the peninsula that connected LEGO Team Headquarters to the city, leaving that building outside the entrapped zone, but with its only land route completely blocked.
Further away from the epicenter but still within the wall of brambles, a hidden doorway leading to a secret passage was suddenly torn from its hinges and hurled away as Applejack kicked it open. She stepped outside, followed by Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and finally Chase McCain.
“I’m pretty sure that door wasn’t even locked on our side,” muttered Chase.
“We’re tryin’ to get away from danger,” argued Applejack. “Ah ain’t got time to check if it’s locked when we’re comin’ through anyway.”
“Not to mention, breaking the door open is a much cooler way to make an entrance,” remarked Rainbow Dash with a smirk.
Rarity cleared her throat and spoke up, “I believe we have a much bigger issue to deal with than the proper way to open a door.” She pointed upwards toward the right.
Everyone turned towards what Rarity was pointing at and they all gasped as they saw, just a short distance away, was a massive wall of dark and twisted brambles.
“Holy ravioli!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie in shock.
As soon as Rainbow Dash got over the shock of what they saw, she immediately zoomed off as a rainbow motion blur along the wall to the left. Just seconds later, the rainbow motion blur returned to the group from the right end of the wall. As soon as she stopped, she worriedly exclaimed, “It goes all the way around a huge part of the city!”
“Are you saying we’re trapped in here?!” asked Fluttershy fearfully.
“Not quite, darling,” noted Rarity. “Anything with flight capabilities can still easily get over this wall.” She focused her gaze at the top of wall and after a few seconds of observation, she realized the brambles that made up this wall were still growing. “But it is continuously rising,” she added with concern. “If this keeps up, it could very well be only a matter of time before we well and truly become entrapped inside a complete dome of these brambles.”
“We gotta find a way to get outta here!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
“No!” Applejack shot back fiercely. “Not when there are thousands of innocent civilians trapped in here, too!”
“She’s right, Pinkie,” stated Chase firmly. “We can’t run away! Not when the citizens of Lego City are in danger!”
Fluttershy sighed and sadly muttered, “Why do these kinds of things always happen to us?”
“So what are we going to do?” asked Rarity with concern as she looked around at the others.
“What we always do! Save the day!” responded Rainbow Dash proudly as she stepped forward and held out her hand.
Applejack glanced down at Rainbow’s outstretched hand, then smiled as she stepped forward and placed her own hand over it. Her action was repeated by Pinkie Pie, then by Rarity, and finally by Fluttershy. Once their outstretched hands were together, all five girls raised them up and let out a loud cheer.
“Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie as she jumped around excitedly. “This is gonna be so much fun! I only wish we had superhero outfits to wear.”
“That’s actually not a bad idea,” remarked Rarity. “When this is over, I may consider designing such uniforms for each of us.” She momentarily paused before she added, “Come to think of it, in retrospect, I’m actually relieved that Spike forgot to bring our formal attire for the gala. There is simply no way I would be willing to do any fighting in such a lovely dress.”
“Enough about our wardrobe!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash in exasperation. “We’ve gotta stop Gloriosa from trapping everybody in here!”
Applejack nodded and said, “Right, but first we need to actually find her. Odds are she’s probably still somewhere downtown, an’ seein’ as we’re this far out, we might as well borrow a vehicle to get us there fast.”
“What about that truck over there?” asked Pinkie as she pointed at a blue pickup truck parked alongside a nearby street. “Would that work?”
“Good enough for me,” replied Applejack as she quickly headed towards the truck.
As Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy followed after Applejack, Rarity turned to Chase and asked, “Mister McCain, could you do us a favor and try to find Twilight and Sunset? We could really use their assistance.”
Chase nodded with a smiled as he replied, “I’ll do the best I can.”
“Thank you, dear,” acknowledged Rarity. “Much appreciated.” She then turned away and quickly went over to the truck.
As Rarity hopped into the truck’s bed with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, Applejack was in the driver’s seat and soon managed to get the vehicle started. Once everyone was in the truck, Applejack drove it onto the street and began heading towards the epicenter of the magical mayhem in downtown Lego City.
As Chase watched that truck drive away, he suddenly heard a tone come from his police communicator, so he pulled it out and answered the call.
“Chase? Do ya have any idea what’s goin’ on out there?” asked a female voice with a southern accent on the communicator.
“I’m afraid we’ve got a Code Rainbow situation going on, Ellie,” responded Chase. “The Canterlot team is already on their way to deal with the threat, but since much of the city is now enclosed within a wall of brambles, you’ll need to tell every officer inside the barrier that they need to get everyone off the streets.”
“Sounds to me like there’s about to be another big magical fight,” noted Ellie on the communicator. “Ah’ll be sure to spread the word as quickly as possible.”
“Thanks, Ellie,” responded Chase. “Oh, and could you let me know if you get any leads on where to find Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle? Their friends asked me to find them so they can help out.”
“Well, Ah don’t have anythin’ definite,” replied Ellie, “but Ah was just informed they were last seen headin’ towards LEGO Team Headquarters. Unfortunately this bramble barrier cuts right across the peninsula, an’ the buildin’ is on the outside of the barrier.”
“In that case, I’d better head on over to that area, just in case they happen to be inside the barrier,” responded Chase. “If they turn out to be stuck on the outside of the barrier, could you let them know they need to get in here right away?”
“Sure thing, Chase,” replied Ellie. “Good luck out there.”
As the call ended, Chase put away his communicator tablet and began to look around as he muttered to himself, “Now I just need to find a police car I can use…”
Downtown Lego City had now descended into complete chaos. The spread of Gloriosa’s dark magic had not only made a massive impenetrable barrier begin to rise up around much of the city, but also caused plant life within the barrier to start sprouting and growing like crazy all over the place. The streets, sidewalks, and even the sides of buildings were quickly becoming overgrown in only a matter of minutes. All traffic within the barrier had quickly ground to a complete halt, and many civilians were now running around aimlessly while screaming in absolute terror. While many of them tried to seek shelter wherever they could, a few others were brave or foolish enough to try to take down Gloriosa on their own, typically by simply throwing whatever random objects they had at her. Those attempts were largely ineffective and pathetic, and Gloriosa swiftly responded by entrapping them in yet more bramble cocoons.
As all of this was going on, a certain pair of incompetent crooks were watching the madness from a hidden alleyway.
“Hey, Rocky, look at this,” said Mugsy as he gestured out at the overgrown street with panicked civilians running around screaming.
Rocky stepped out of the alleyway and glanced around. When he noticed the corrupted Gloriosa hovering not far away with a green magical glow around her hands, he groaned and grumbled, “Why do we always end up caught in the middle of these crazy magic events?”
“Yeah, it does seem weird, doesn’t it?” muttered Mugsy in agreement.
After a brief pause, Rocky suddenly grinned as he turned to his partner in crime and asked, “Wanna take advantage of the madness and do some looting?”
“Do I ever!” responded Mugsy excitedly.
The two crooks chuckled mischievously as they made their way out onto the street, but then suddenly yelped as they were forced to jump out of the way of a blue pickup truck that zoomed right by. As the truck swerved to avoid them, it quickly lost traction on the overgrown street and began to slide around uncontrollably until it eventually crashed into a traffic light post at the corner of an intersection.
Applejack threw the door open as she jumped out of the truck’s driver’s seat and furiously exclaimed, “Dagnabbit! Why are those two brick-heads always gettin’ in the way?!”
The four other girls carefully climbed out of the bed of the truck. Thankfully, all of them were completely unharmed from that crash.
As Applejack walked over to the others, Rainbow Dash looked around and soon spotted Gloriosa just over one city block away. “Well, at least we found Gloriosa,” noted Rainbow Dash. She gestured for everyone to follow as she began running forward and urgently said, “C’mon, let’s go!”
Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all followed after Rainbow Dash as they all ran the remaining short distance down the street to confront Gloriosa.
Gloriosa kept her eyes peeled for any more ignorant fools who would dare to try and stop her, so it wasn’t long until she noticed the arrival of the five girls from Canterlot City. As they all stopped before her, she smiled wickedly and said with disdain, “I was wondering where you girls ran off to. Are you here to help me make the Lego World a much safer place?”
“A safer place?” asked Rainbow Dash incredulously as she raised an eyebrow. “What you’re doing is the exact opposite of that!”
“I concur,” agreed Rarity. “Now don’t get me wrong, Filthy Rich is hardly an example of a model citizen, but what you’re trying to accomplish is simply going too far.”
“What are you talking about?!” retorted Gloriosa furiously. “I’m doing this for the common people! I’m giving them the protection that no one else has been brave and powerful enough to offer them!”
“But you’re trappin’ ‘em in here against their will!” Applejack shot back. “Ah don’t know what makes ya think this is somehow a good thing, but these innocent people sure don’t think so!”
“This is for their own good!” insisted Gloriosa. “I’m just doing what’s best for anyone who cares! You must be completely delusional to think that I don’t care about them!”
“No, I’m pretty sure you’re the one who’s gone delusional here,” argued Pinkie Pie. “And believe me, I know a thing or two about crazy.”
“Fine!” snapped Gloriosa. “If you insist on working against me, then I’ll just have to get rid of you!”
“Oh yeah?!” taunted Rainbow Dash. “You and what army?!”
Gloriosa smirked and simply responded, “This army!” She spread her arms out and her hands crackled with more glowing green energy. Next, about a dozen large plant stalks sprouted up out of the ground and after growing about six bricks high in only a matter of seconds, the exterior peeled away. Within each of these large stalks was something in the shape and size of a standard minifig, but every part of their bodies consisted of nothing but pure wood, and they lacked any surface features with the exception of the texture of wood grain that was never identical between any two of them.
“Are those minifigs… made of wood?” asked Applejack as she and her friends stood together with their backs to each other as the wooden minifigs surrounded them.
“They sure are!” replied Gloriosa proudly. “In case if you failed history class, let me remind you that back when Ole Playwell first established the Lego World, there was no such thing as plastic — everything was made of wood! So in a way, I’m bringing the world back to its roots, if you’ll pardon the pun.”
“So you’re army’s made of walking sticks, huh?” quipped Rainbow Dash with a smirk. “No problem! We can totally take ‘em down!”
“Um, I’m not sure we’re the only ones who have to worry about these woodfigs,” said Fluttershy as she pointed down the street. The five girls glanced in the direction Fluttershy was gesturing and they saw two of the woodfigs were chasing after a pair of civilians who were screaming for their lives as they ran away.
“Not if I have any say in the matter,” declared Rarity as she used her magic to conjure a large diamond shield — which also caused her to suddenly “pony up” by magically gaining pony ears, a unicorn horn on her forehead, and a longer hair piece to give the impression of a tail. She paid no attention to her transformation as she immediately sent forth her diamond shield and, with remarkable timing, slammed it upright into the sidewalk right in the middle of the pursuit, allowing the civilians to continue fleeing while the woodfigs slammed into the shield and fell to pieces, their wooden parts clattering on the solid ground.
As soon at that was taken care of, the five girls heard more screaming civilians coming from down the street in the other direction, so they turned around and saw a few more woodfigs were holding a trio of panicked civilians over their heads.
Rainbow Dash didn’t hesitate and immediately used her magic to zoom right at the woodfigs, tackling right through them and sending their parts flying away. As the panicked civilians hit the ground relatively unscathed, Rainbow Dash also suddenly ponied up — magically gaining pony ears, feathered wings on her back, and longer hair. Without acknowledging her transformation, she quickly told the rescued civilians, “Get outta here! We’ll deal with these things!” She then zoomed off in a rainbow motion blur to deal with more of the woodfigs.
Meanwhile, as some of the woodfigs closed in on the rest of the team, Rarity summoned a ring of diamond shields around the group and then flung them outwards, knocking the woodfigs back.
Applejack took advantage of the opening and ran towards the nearest streetlight. As a dozen more woodfigs began to surround her, she grasped the base of the lamppost and as she also ponied up — magically gaining pony ears and longer hair — she effortlessly ripped the streetlight off its fixture to the ground. She turned around and held the lamppost sideways, then smirked and shouted, “Batter up!” She then swung the lamppost around in a huge arc, slamming across all those nearby woodfigs and sending their parts flying away.
As Applejack and Rarity continued down the street in one direction to deal with more of the advancing woodfigs, Pinkie Pie looked down the street in the other direction, where Rainbow Dash was busy speed-slamming into any woodfig she came across. Pinkie was about to go join her speedy friend when a bunch more woodfigs suddenly stood in her way.
Despite the initial surprise, Pinkie simply smiled in determination and tauntingly shouted, “Alright, stickfigs! I’m here to blow stuff up and serve muffins!” She then pulled a cupcake out of her hair and added, “But I don’t have any muffins with me, so you’ll have to settle for cupcakes instead! KABOOM!!” She then tossed the cupcake, instantly causing her to pony up — magically gaining pony ears and longer hair. The cupcake glowed pink as it flew towards the blocking woodfigs and then exploded on impact, blasting the woodfigs to pieces and sending their parts clattering all over the street. Pinkie pulled another cupcake out of her hair and giggled as she ran off towards Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy now found herself standing alone in the middle of the overgrown street. She glanced up toward Gloriosa, but saw the magically corrupted foe had flown off to personally witness the ongoing battle. Fluttershy sighed and mumbled to herself, “I wish there was something I could do to help.”
Yipe! Yipe!
Fluttershy immediately turned around and saw a little puppy was barking at her. However, thanks to her magic, she was able to clearly understand what he was trying to say to her. “What is it, little one?” she asked as she knelt down close to the little puppy. The puppy kept barking, and as Fluttershy continued to listen, she also ponied up — magically gaining pony ears, feathered wings on her back, and longer hair. “Uh-huh…” muttered Fluttershy as she kept listening. “Oh really? You think that’ll work?” The puppy barked a few more times in response. “Well, I guess it’s worth a try.” She stood back up and with renewed determination, she said, “Okay, lead the way.” The puppy quickly scurried away and Fluttershy followed right behind.
Meanwhile, Rainbow continued speed-smashing through woodfigs while Pinkie kept tossing explosive cupcakes at the same attacking group. However, after taking out a few dozen of them, many more woodfigs charged out onto the street, many of them moving around to isolate the duo from the others.
As soon as Pinkie noticed this, she gasped and exclaimed, “Dash! We’re being cut-off!”
Rainbow stopped beside Pinkie, then smirked and remarked, “Then I’ll cut them off!” She then instantly tackled through the entire line of woodfigs blocking the way back to the others, then continued zooming around to the clear the rest of the way down the street.
Pinkie followed after Rainbow as quickly as possible while tossing cupcakes at any of the surrounding woodfigs that tried to get in the way. “Here, have a cupcake,” she said at one point as she casually tossed a cupcake into the hands of a woodfig she ran by. The woodfig stood still, as if confused by the cupcake in its hands, but then after a delayed reaction, the cupcake detonated, sending pieces of that woodfig flying away in all directions.
Further down the street, Applejack let loose a battle cry as she charged on ahead, swinging that lamppost around to effortlessly swat away any woodfigs that stood in her way. Rarity, on the other hand, chose to hold her ground and used her diamond shields to shove away any woodfigs that dared to get close.
Suddenly, the familiar rainbow motion blur zoomed by and very quickly took out most of the woodfigs surrounding Rarity before continuing on towards Applejack.
“Rarity! Heads up!”
Rarity spun around and saw a glowing pink cupcake hurtling towards her. Acting purely on instinct, she quickly conjured a diamond shield right in front of her head just in time to block the projectile. The cupcake exploded on impact and the blast was deflected right at the last few woodfigs that were still standing nearby, taking them all out.
“We make a pretty good team, don’t we?” remarked Pinkie Pie.
“Occasional mishaps aside, I find myself in agreement,” replied Rarity.
It was at that moment when Gloriosa reminded them of her presence by lowering close to the ground as she let out a roar of fury and shouted, “Why must you be so difficult?!”
Ruff-ruff-ruff-ruff-ruff-ruff-ruff-ruff!
The noise of countless barking dogs interrupted Gloriosa’s thoughts, so she turned to the source of the rising commotion and was stunned to see over a dozen dogs suddenly come charging out of a nearby alleyway and then jumped all over her body. “Ah! Get them off! Get them off of me!” she shrieked as she tried desperately to brush off all the dogs as they tried to bite and claw at any part of her they could reach.
Rarity and Pinkie Pie watched the mass dog attack in stunned disbelief. “Whoa,” remarked Pinkie. “Who let the dogs out?”
“Um, that would be me.”
Rarity and Pinkie turned to the alleyway the dogs had come from and they saw a smiling Fluttershy calmly walking over to them.
After a few seconds of agony, Gloriosa managed to unleash a repulsive burst of magical energy around herself, throwing off all of the attacking dogs. Once the dogs hit the ground, they all slowly got back up and collectively whimpered as they all retreated back into the alleyway.
As Rainbow Dash suddenly zoomed over to rejoin the three stunned girls, Gloriosa rose above them and furiously shouted, “You girls are really beginning to annoy me! I just want you to stay out of my way! I’ve got this!”
“Says you!” Rainbow Dash shot back. “We’re here to put a stop to your madness, and we’re not going anywhere until we win!” She glanced down the street, then turned back to Gloriosa with a smile and casually added, “By the way, you’ve got a bus to catch.”
Gloriosa stared at Rainbow and raised an eyebrow. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, an airborne bus suddenly slammed right into Gloriosa. The bus was flying sideways, so when it finally hit the ground, it tumbled around a few times before the remaining wreckage finally landed upside down on its roof.
From the other direction of the street behind the four girls, Applejack walked over to them as she dusted her hands off and chuckled. “Good one, Rainbow,” she remarked before she and Rainbow gave each other a high five.
Not long after the bus had rolled to a stop, a bunch of large vines suddenly sprouted beside the wrecked vehicle, reached over to grip onto the edge of it, and then tugged to roll the massive vehicle back onto it wheels. Once the bus was upright again, the main door opened and Gloriosa casually stepped outside, as if she was a common passenger getting off at her stop.
Gloriosa calmly brushed off the dust from her outfit, then grinned wickedly at the Canterlot City team. “Now then…” she said as she began to rise up from the ground again and her body once again glowed with sickly green magical energy. “Let’s try this again, shall we?”
As the five girls braced themselves for the next round of the battle, Fluttershy couldn’t help but mutter, “Oh, I wish Twilight and Sunset were here with us. We could really use their help right now.”
Sunset and Twilight sat beside each other with their backs against the cavern wall. They had lost track of how long it had been since Spike had escaped to find help, and they had no way to know how much longer it would take for the young boy to return. With the main entrance blocked by massive boulders, there was apparently no other way out of the cavern, so the two girls had no choice but to just sit and wait.
The two girls had been silent for quite some time now. There was simply nothing for them to do while they waited for the faint hope that rescue would be on its way. As time passed and no sign that their boredom would come to an end any time soon, it was inevitable that tensions would soon start to rise.
Eventually, Sunset sighed, then turned to Twilight sitting beside her to her right and said, “I still think you should try to use your magic to move those boulders out of the way.”
Twilight sighed and sadly responded, “I really don’t wanna do that.”
“Twilight, we’ve been over this before,” said Sunset irritably. “I’m pretty sure your new magic has nothing to do with your previous experience.”
“I-I-I just can’t take that chance,” Twilight hesitantly replied. “It’s just too risky.”
“You won’t know for sure until you try,” insisted Sunset.
“Sunset, you don’t understand what I’ve been through,” Twilight firmly responded.
Sunset sighed and rolled her eyes before she irritably responded, “Do we have to go over this again? I told you, I’ve once let magic turn me into a monster too. I know very well what it’s like to go through such a traumatic experience.”
“No you don’t!” insisted Twilight as she stood up. “You were once a unicorn from Equestria, so you practically grew up with magic all around you! But for me, that incident was my very first exposure to that kind of magic! Of course my initial preconceived notions regarding Equestrian magic are going to be so negative!”
Sunset stood up and argued, “You can’t let just one bad experience ruin everything for you!”
“It was much more than just ‘one bad experience’!” Twilight shot back. “I almost completely destroyed both of our worlds!”
“And I almost tried to conquer Equestria by brainwashing the entire population of Canterlot City!” Sunset shot back. “My incident was just as bad as yours, but I’ve moved on! You should really consider doing the same.”
“It’s not so easy when I keep getting nightmares!” argued Twilight. “No matter how much I’d like to, I just can’t let it go!”
“Well at least you’re not questioning your very existence!” snapped Sunset.
Twilight paused and her expression suddenly softened as Sunset’s latest statement caught her completely by surprise. “What?” she quietly asked in confusion.
Sunset sighed as she turned away from her friend and rubbed her hand over her face.
“Sunset?” asked Twilight slowly and carefully. “Is… is there something you’re not telling me?”
Sunset let out another sigh as she removed her hand from her face. She turned around to face Twilight and hesitantly replied, “Do you recall that… one of the things I did to stop Midnight Sparkle… was to go into the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness?”
“Yes, to retrieve my device that had fallen through,” answered Twilight. “The next day, I had asked about what you saw there, but your only response was that I was better off not knowing.”
“And I still insist on not telling you about what I saw there,” emphasized Sunset, “nor will I ever tell any of our friends, nor will I ever tell Celestia or even Kjeld.”
Twilight was stunned to hear that whatever Sunset saw on the other side, it was apparently so traumatically mind-blowing that she thought it was best to never tell anyone about it — not even those who likely kept some of the biggest secrets in the entire Lego World. She took a moment to carefully consider her words before she slowly asked, “Sunset… what happened to you over there?”
Sunset slowly turned away and hesitated for a moment before she replied, “I still won’t tell you what I saw… but I will say that, what I saw over there… it just completely changed my whole grasp on the very concept of reality itself. It’s made me ask questions that I previously would have thought were simply not worth asking, and I still can’t think of any convincing answers for any of them.” After a brief pause, she turned back to Twilight and added, “This is something I also cannot share with anypony in Equestria — not even any of the princesses — because as far as I could tell… that world’s reality is just as questionable as that of the Lego World.”
Twilight was at a complete loss for words. Although she lacked the context necessary to fully understand what her friend was talking about, she wasn’t so sure if she even wanted the complete picture.
“But perhaps the most startling thing of all,” added Sunset, “is that based on my actions during my brief time there… I may have even made the other side question reality as well…”
“Sunset…” mumbled Twilight in shock. “I-I had no idea…”
“How could you know?” asked Sunset bitterly as she turned away again. “I never intended on telling anyone about any of this. I certainly didn’t want to start a mass panic by making everyone question everything in existence — or even question existence itself.”
Twilight couldn’t think of a proper response, for she knew that Sunset did have a valid point.
Sunset chuckled and dryly remarked, “I guess it’s probably a good thing that my new magic happens to be the ability to read minds. It means the only one in the entire universe whose deepest darkest secrets I can never expose… is me.”
“That does make sense, now that I think about it,” noted Twilight.
Sunset turned around to face her friend again and said, “Believe me, Twilight, this is a very heavy burden I’ve been forced to carry, and I would never wish it upon anyone — not even our worst enemies. If you thought Midnight Sparkle was traumatizing, then my limited experience on the other side of the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness is unimaginably worse.”
Sunset’s confession certainly left Twilight with a lot to think about. It was no secret by now that Twilight was still struggling to overcome the mental trauma she had suffered from the Midnight Sparkle incident, but this was apparently the very first time Sunset had shared even a hint of the kind of trauma she had suffered on that very same day. It sure did put things into perspective. But perhaps most astonishing was that while Twilight had clearly been struggling with her issues, Sunset had never shown any sign that she had been going through perhaps one of the worst cases of an existential crisis ever known to occur. Twilight decided that she would have to ask Sunset for advice on how to put up with such anguish, once they got home. Assuming, of course, if they would ever get out of that cavern.
“Twilight! Sunset!”
The two girls immediately recognized that voice belonging to Spike, and it apparently came from the same hole in the cavern ceiling he had escaped through. They both turned towards that hole just in time to see another rope quickly lower down all the way to the cavern floor.
“Hasten! Climb the rope!” called another familiar voice.
Twilight and Sunset glanced at each other and smiled before they both walked over to the rope. Sunset was the first to grasp the rope and begin climbing up, followed closely by Twilight. It was a long climb up to the ceiling and then along a short upwardly sloped tunnel towards the surface, but they put all the effort they had into it. In only a matter of minutes, they had reached the surface, and were both pulled out of the hole with the assistance of a small group of Forestmen who had gathered around. Once they were both out in the open on a rocky hilltop, they saw that among the rescue group was not only Spike, but also a familiar resident of the Dark Forest.
“Robert Nathaniel Hood, I am so glad to see you again,” remarked Twilight with a smile.
Rob N. Hood tipped his hat to the two girls and cheerfully remarked, “I am quite the chivalrous man, if I do say so myself. The moment young Spike informed us of thy plight, I resolved to have both of thee rescued at once.”
“Thanks for helping us out,” said Sunset. “Unfortunately, that only gets us out of the cave. We’ve still got a lot of other problems to deal with right away.”
“I’m afraid she’s right,” said Twilight to Rob. “My Jump-Gate return device got destroyed, and without it, we can’t make an instant return to the city. Conventional means of transportation from this particular region could take many days, and we simply don’t have that much time to spare.”
Rob gave a hearty laugh and cheerfully responded, “Worry not, fair lady, for I come bearing a special gift!”
Twilight and Sunset looked at each other in confusion, then turned to Spike.
Spike simply smiled and remarked, “Trust me, you’re gonna love this.”
Two Forestmen hauled a chest over to the two girls and set it down on the ground right in front of them. Then one of the Forestmen pulled open the lid to reveal what was inside. Twilight and Sunset looked inside the chest and gasped.
“No way…” muttered Sunset in disbelief.
“Is that…?” asked Twilight.
“A Jump-Gate return device?” responded Rob with a smile. “It most certainly is!”
“Yeah, even I couldn’t believe it!” remarked Spike.
Sunset looked to Rob and asked, “How did you even get one of these?”
“‘Twas a gift delivered to me just hours ago,” answered Rob, “courtesy of the LEGO Team as compensation for the goodwill mission being cut short. However, it seems thou are in desperate need of one, and since I have no desire to set foot outside this forest anytime soon, I have decided to bestow this gift upon thee.”
Twilight took the device out of the chest and attached it to her right wrist. She switched it on, quickly checked through all the systems, and smiled. “All features on this device seem to be working perfectly,” she noted contently. She turned to Rob and said, “Thank you so much!”
“Happy to have been of assistance!” responded Rob with a smile and a tip of the hat. “Now then, if what Spike has told me is true, then it seems thou must depart with great haste, so my fellow Forestmen and I shall return home at once. I bid thee farewell, and wish good luck to thee and thy friends!”
As Rob and the Forestmen began to walk away, Twilight entered a return code into the new device.
“So where are we going?” asked Spike.
“Our ultimate objective is to go after Gloriosa,” explained Sunset, “but we have no idea where she went. Instead, we should first go back to Lego City. We need to regroup with our friends and tell them what happened, then we can begin to figure out where Gloriosa went so we can go after her and stop her madness.”
“My thoughts exactly,” stated Twilight. “The nearest Jump-Gate to our friends is the one we had just used at LEGO Team Headquarters, so that’s where we’ll start.” She held out her arm and hit the green “Open” button. A set of Jump-Gate doors materialized on the hilltop, then parted open to reveal the massive multipurpose hangar room at the LEGO Team Headquarters building in Lego City.
Without a word, Twilight, Sunset, and Spike all rushed through the gateway. Once they were through, the gateway doors closed behind them.
When they had left, this room had been largely calm and empty. But now, LEGO Team Headquarters had erupted into a mass scene of hectic chaos. Personnel were running back and forth all over the place, sometimes bumping into each other and sending papers flying around. Almost every computer console in the room had someone urgently typing away on their keyboards and control panels while countless images flashed across their screens. And overseeing everything from the main platform in front of the giant display screen on the wall was Thomas Playwell.
“What the heck is going on here?” asked Sunset.
“Uh, girls?” Spike spoke up as he pointed at one of the glass walls on one side of the hangar. “I think we might know where Gloriosa went.”
Twilight and Sunset turned around to look outside the massive window and their eyes widened in shock. This side of the building should have provided a view towards Lego City, but instead all they saw was a massive wall of dark and twisted brambles, with seemingly no way to get through.
“Did Gloriosa really do all of that?” asked Twilight in shock.
“Well, who else could be able to do this?” remarked Sunset.
“Look! The monorail!” exclaimed Spike as he suddenly pointed left towards where the barrier cut across the peninsula.
The three minifigs watched as the monorail train rode along the track down the peninsula, heading for a direct collision course with the barrier. Just seconds later, the train slammed into the brambles, but rather than smashing through them, it simply bounced right off. The train was violently thrown off the track and collapsed to the ground beside the road under the track.
“Shoot!” shouted Thomas in frustration as he witnessed the crash on the big display screen. He took a deep breath and then calmly told one of the nearby assistants, “Send out the ambulance and the firetruck. Make sure the engineer in that train is okay.”
“Yes, sir,” acknowledged the assistant with a nod before he walked away to send out the order.
Thomas lowered his head and sighed. After taking a moment to calm his nerves, he began to glance around the room, then immediately froze once his eyes fell on the three minifigs he had been told to find here. “Where have you three been?” he asked irritably.
Sunset stepped forward and explained, “Gloriosa left us stranded in the Dark Forest part of the Castle Region. You have no idea how lucky we are to have made it back here at all, let alone this quickly.”
“What’s going on here?” asked Twilight. “Is Gloriosa behind all this?”
“I’m afraid so,” answered Thomas solemnly. “As soon as I got here to search for you, the spaceship she had hijacked was seen crashing into the Rich Cultural Center, where the gala we attended was taking place. Moments later, a wave of magical energy was unleashed that created this massive barrier of brambles around much of the city. We’ve been unable to break through, and we can’t establish any communications with anyone on the inside.” He rested his hands against the railing around the platform and let out another sigh before he muttered, “My father and your friends are among the people trapped inside, and I am not sure if there is any way we can help them.”
“Sir!” one of the workers at the numerous computer consoles suddenly called out. “There’s a pirate ship in the harbor!”
“On-screen,” requested Thomas as he turned back to the big display screen.
The live video image immediately came up on the display screen, showing that there really was a pirate ship sailing along outside of the part of the bramble barrier that went through the harbor.
“Is that Brickbeard’s ship?” asked Spike.
“Can any of you confirm it?” requested Thomas to the workers busy at the computers.
After a few seconds of rapid typing on the keyboard, one of the workers responded, “Yes, sir, that is definitely Brickbeard’s ship.”
Out on the pirate ship, Captain Brickbeard — who had a wooden peg in place of his right leg, a hook in place of his left hand, an eyepatch over his left eye, a large brown beard piece attached around his neck, and wore a red captain’s uniform with white epaulets on his shoulders and a black hat on his head with a pirate’s skull and crossbones printed on it — looked out across the wall of brambles beside his ship and growled, “I shan’t be lettin’ an overgrown hedge stand in my way…” He raised his jagged cutlass and shouted, “Fire the port side cannons! All of ‘em!”
The pirates aboard the ship quickly followed their captain’s command and within the time span of just one second, every single cannon on the side of the ship facing the wall of brambles fired. With so many cannonballs being fired all at once at a single location, they were able to smash a huge hole through the barrier.
All of the pirates let out a loud cheer of triumph, but that lasted only for a few seconds before they saw the countless brambles swiftly regrow to completely seal up that massive hole. The crew groaned in disappointment, but then they suddenly started to cry out in terror as more brambles quickly rose up out of the water all around the ship and began to grasp onto the floating structure.
Captain Brickbeard swiftly grabbed onto the nearest mast and tried to scurry his way up as he shouted in panic, “Arr! It be a kraken! I know it!”
Once the vines and brambles had grown over every part of the ship, they started prying the entire structure apart. The ship creaked and groaned for a few seconds before it finally shattered to pieces that then splashed into the water. The vines and brambles then retreated back into the sea, leaving the pirates and the debris from their ship floating on the surface.
Back inside the LEGO Team Headquarters building, everyone had watched the swift destruction of that pirate ship on the main display screen.
“Well, so much for that,” muttered Spike.
Thomas turned to one of the nearby assistants and requested, “Send out the patrol boat and have them arrest the pirates.”
“Yes, sir,” acknowledged the assistant before he walked off to send out the order.
Thomas sighed and shook his head. “At least that puts an end to Brickbeard’s rampage,” he muttered. “Darn shame we cannot celebrate due to a much more serious ongoing crisis.” He let out another sad sigh. “I do not know if I am ready to handle this kind of responsibility…”
“Don’t worry, Thomas,” assured Sunset. “We’ll do everything we can to save the city, our friends, and your father.” She turned her attention out the window again and added, “First, we need to find a way to get through that barrier.”
Sunset, Twilight, and Spike all silently stared out the massive window at the barrier as they tried to think of any possible ideas. It wasn’t long before Twilight began to slowly smile. “Or maybe we can just bypass the barrier,” she remarked with enthusiasm.
Spike raised an eyebrow and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“The Jump-Gate!” exclaimed Twilight excitedly as she pointed at the Jump-Gate close to where they stood. “We can use it to take us directly into the city without having to worry about the barrier!”
“That’s a great idea!” exclaimed Sunset with a smile. “We can also use the Jump-Gate to take us directly back to the cultural center, so we can jump into action right away.”
“I agree, but I would also advise caution,” stated Thomas. “If Gloriosa notices a Jump-Gate opening within the barrier, she may try to block it off, leaving us right back where we started.”
“Then maybe we should open it somewhere further away, where Gloriosa won’t see us,” suggested Spike.
“Okay, with all these factors in mind,” stated Twilight, “we should open the Jump-Gate far enough from the epicenter where our arrival would go unnoticed, but we should also try to be close enough that we won’t have to spend a lot of time simply walking the rest of the way there.” She turned to Thomas and asked, “Can you show us a map of the city?”
Thomas tapped a few buttons on the nearby console and an image came up on the display screen showing a map of Lego City.
“Could you also highlight the site of the cultural center and the full extent of the barrier?” added Twilight.
Thomas tapped a few more buttons on the console and the map gained a red “X” over a location somewhere downtown and a large red circle that was almost perfectly centered over the “X”.
“Now all we have to do is pick a destination,” stated Twilight.
Sunset glanced at the map for a moment, then looked to Thomas and asked, “What would you recommend?”
Thomas studied the map for a few seconds before he eventually replied, “I would suggest the street in front of the fire station. It’s close to downtown, and its location should provide enough cover to permit such a sudden entrance without attracting much attention.”
“Got it,” said Twilight with a nod of agreement. “Specify the coordinates and I’ll enter them into the Jump-Gate right away.” Twilight then rushed over to the Jump-Gate. As Thomas spoke the coordinates, Twilight entered them into the control panel beside the Jump-Gate. Once the coordinates had been entered, she turned back to her teammates and asked, “Ready?”
“Ready as always!” confirmed Spike as he stood in front of the Jump-Gate doors in a stance that showed he was prepared to start running.
Sunset was mysteriously absent at that moment, but she quickly returned to stand beside Spike. Quite notably, she was now carrying a large laser blaster in her hands.
Twilight glanced at the big weapon in Sunset’s arms, then raised an eyebrow and asked, “Don’t you think that’s a bit excessive?”
Sunset rolled her eyes and readied her weapon as she replied, “As much as I’d like to hope for the best… I’d rather be prepared for the worst.”
“Fair enough,” muttered Twilight. She hit the green “Open” button and then rushed over to join her two friends and teammates as the Jump-Gate made its usual low whooshing noise. Once the noise stopped, the doors parted open, revealing a slightly overgrown street in Lego City.
“Hey, it worked!” remarked Spike excitedly. But as soon as he said that, a bunch of dark and twisted brambles suddenly sprouted from the ground just beyond the gateway and quickly grew to completely block the opening. “Or… maybe not,” he added dejectedly.
Sunset sighed and shook her head, then she raised the laser blaster in her hands and shouted, “Stand back!” Once everyone nearby had taken a few steps back, she began to rapidly fire the blaster at the wall of brambles that blocked the gateway.
All those laser bolts quickly shredded through a large majority of the brambles, almost effortlessly clearing the gateway. Once Sunset finally stopped firing, she lowered the blaster as she smiled and smugly declared, “There! Problem solved.”
Unfortunately, those shredded brambles quickly grew back to once again completely block the gateway.
“Oh come on!” shouted Sunset furiously as she threw the laser blaster down onto the floor.
“So how are we gonna get through?” asked Spike.
“I wish I knew…” muttered Twilight.
Sunset glanced over at Twilight and after only a few seconds, she smiled and said, “Twilight! You can use your magic to pry the brambles apart. It should provide us with enough of a gap that we can slip right through.”
Twilight looked away and hesitantly responded, “B-but I don’t wanna use too much magic. Midnight Sparkle might take over.”
Sunset grasped both of Twilight’s hands and desperately begged, “Twilight, our friends are out there! They need our help!” After that display of empathy, Sunset suddenly ponied up — gaining pony ears, longer hair to resemble a tail, and a unicorn horn on her forehead — which certainly caught the attention of the dozens of people busy working in the room.
Twilight continued to hesitate, but after a few seconds, she took a deep breath and softly responded, “Okay…” She faced the gateway and held both of her hands out towards it. She began to focus her magical energy and her hands started to glow. The same purple glow also covered the brambles as they started to shift. She poured out more magical energy, causing her hair to start flapping in a nonexistent breeze as a point of magic began to shimmer on her forehead. Finally, with enough effort, the brambles were pushed apart, creating a gap just wide enough for a single minifig to pass through.
“That’s it! That’s good enough!” exclaimed Spike excitedly. Without any hesitation, he ran towards the gateway and dove through the gap between the brambles.
Sunset picked up her laser blaster from the floor and ran towards the gateway, then jumped through the gap. Once she was through, she called back, “You’re doing great, Twilight! Come on over!”
Twilight began to groan against the strain of keeping up her magical output. She was terrified of what could happen if she kept it up any longer, but she knew it would soon be over. All she had to do now was step through the gap herself. She walked slowly at first, but as she got closer, she began to reduce her magical output, giving her more energy to move faster but also risking the brambles collapsing before she made it through. Finally, as she reached the threshold of the gateway, she cut off her magic and dove through the gap.
Twilight tumbled to the ground, but Sunset was there to help her up. As Twilight panted from exhaustion, Sunset smiled and contently said, “You did great, Twilight.”
Twilight smiled back, then glanced back at the gateway just in time to see the Jump-Gate doors behind the brambles close. As soon as the doorway vanished, the blocking wall of brambles suddenly collapsed into a messy pile.
“Whoa…” remarked Spike in astonishment as he looked around at their surroundings. “This place looks like the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse.”
Twilight and Sunset also began to look around and they saw that virtually every street and building all around them were covered in all kinds of overgrowth. In addition, there was seemingly no sign of any civilians out on the streets, and whatever vehicles there were out on the streets had been completely deserted. With the addition of the orange sky above caused by the setting sun, it was well and truly a very eerie sight to behold.
“What has Gloriosa done to this city?” Twilight softly asked in shock.
“I don’t know,” replied Sunset with firm determination as she tightened her grip on her laser blaster, “but we’re gonna find her and put a stop to this madness.”
“Uh, girls?” Spike spoke up as he pointed down the street to the right of the fire station. “I think we’ve got company.”
Twilight and Sunset looked over in the direction Spike was pointing and they quickly saw about a dozen minifigs about two city blocks away. However, even from that distance, they could tell that these minifigs were very unusual because they were of various shades of brown and the only surface features on their bodies were unique patterns of wood grain.
“Are those minifigs made of wood?” asked Twilight in disbelief.
“That actually doesn’t surprise me,” remarked Sunset. When Twilight and Spike gave her confused looks, she turned to them and explained, “If I was Gloriosa right now, I would want a bunch of minions to maintain complete control over the city, and with the kind of power she now possesses, I can’t think of a more efficient way to obtain these minions than to simply grow them like trees.”
As Sunset was talking, Spike saw the dozen woodfigs suddenly turn toward the recently arrived trio and then began to advance towards them. Twilight opened her mouth to say something to Sunset when Spike suddenly spoke up fearfully, “Uh oh, they’re heading this way!”
As Spike quickly ran off towards the fire station, Twilight and Sunset looked over at the woodfigs again and saw that the faceless minions were indeed charging right at them.
Sunset immediately raised her laser blaster and prepared to fire, but then Twilight placed her head on the weapon and gently lowered it down. Sunset glanced at her friend in confusion, especially when she saw a smile on Twilight’s face.
“Allow me,” Twilight said confidently as she turned to face the approaching woodfigs. “I believe this would be an excellent opportunity for me to field test one of my latest inventions.” She reached behind her back and pulled out a silver cylindrical object that was just barely big enough to be grasped with two hands, although she currently held it in only her right hand.
“What is it?” asked Sunset.
Twilight glanced back at Sunset and grinned as she replied, “I call it…”
FWISH!
A bright beam of light that glowed a lavender color suddenly extended from the upper end of the object, reaching a complete length of just over half of a minifig’s height. “The plasma blade,” finished Twilight. She then swung the blade around in an arc, which generated a low humming noise as it moved through the air.
Vrrr.
By now, the charging woodfigs were less than one city block away, so it was only a matter of seconds before the two sides would clash. But rather than wait for them to arrive, Twilight decided to raise her plasma blade, grasping it with both hands, and charged right at the wooden opponents.
When the two sides finally met, the woodfigs never stood a chance. Twilight swiftly swung her plasma blade around, effortlessly slicing through each and every woodfig that tried to get close to her. The glowing blade hummed as it flew around through the air and sizzled as it sliced through the wooden torsos and limbs of the faceless minions.
It wasn’t long before Twilight found herself standing alone surrounding by singed and scorched wooden minifig parts. With a smile of satisfaction, she twirled the plasma blade once and remarked, “I’m loving this thing already!”
Pew!
Twilight yelped and ducked as a laser bolt suddenly flew right by her. When she heard the clattering of wooden parts behind her, she glanced up and saw among the woodfig parts was a head with a clean hole right through the middle. She then glanced over at Sunset, who had her laser blaster raised.
Sunset smiled as she lowered her blaster and playfully remarked, “You missed one.”
Twilight silently responded with a sly smile. She then turned to face the street ahead and stated, “If these woodfigs came down this street, then we’ll likely find Gloriosa in that direction.”
Sunset walked over to Twilight and added, “And knowing that our friends would definitely not just sit idle while all this magical madness is going on, we’ll mostly likely find them confronting her as we speak.”
“My thoughts exactly,” agreed Twilight with a nod. She turned back to the fire station and called out, “C’mon, Spike! Let’s go!”
Back at the fire station, Spike pulled an ax off of one of the parked firetrucks and swung it around a few times. He smiled and quipped, “Ready to chop some firewood!” He then ran out of the fire station and over to where Twilight and Sunset stood. As soon as he arrived, his smile fell when he saw the plasma blade in Twilight’s hand, in addition to the laser blaster Sunset was holding. “Aw, no fair!” he grumbled. “You girls get all the fancy space laser weapons, and I’m stuck with an ax!”
Twilight giggled and remarked, “Don’t take it too personally. We’re just using whatever weapons we could grab.”
“You snooze, you lose,” teased Sunset.
Spike sighed and muttered, “Well, as least I’ve got something to fight with.”
“Okay, enough fooling around,” Sunset spoke up. “We need to find our friends and stop Gloriosa.” She began to walk forward down the overgrown street as she continued, “We’ll definitely be facing some resistance along the way, but I’m sure we’ve got what it takes to make it through.”
Twilight kept her plasma blade active as she walked beside Sunset, while Spike followed behind them as he tightened his grip on his ax. The three friends and teammates were now on a mission, and they were not going to let anything stop them from reaching their destination.
Pinkie Pie giggled as she tossed another cupcake at yet another oncoming group of woodfigs. The cupcake exploded on impact and blasted the woodfigs to pieces. Nearby, Fluttershy fearfully crouched down behind Rarity, who kept on conjuring diamond shields and repelling them, shoving away any woodfigs that tried to get close to them.
“These faceless brutes just keep coming!” exclaimed Rarity in exasperation and she shoved another half dozen woodfigs away with yet another diamond shield.
Pinkie Pie reached into her hair, but after a few seconds of feeling around, she froze and her eyes widened. “Oh no!” she exclaimed. “I just ran out of cupcakes!”
On one side of the group, Rainbow Dash zoomed around and smashed through over a dozen woodfigs, but the street didn’t remain clear for long before even more woodfigs charged onto the scene. On the other side, Applejack picked up the nearest woodfig and chucked it right at the rest of the charging group, knocking them all over and making them fall to pieces. But just as those wooden minifig parts settled on the street, more woodfigs arrived onto the street.
“This ain’t workin’!” exclaimed Applejack. “Gloriosa’s magic is too strong!”
Rainbow Dash stopped beside Applejack and responded, “Then we’ll just have to try our other special magic: Master Building!” She glanced back at the rest of her friends and called out, “Everyone, start breaking stuff! If we’re gonna get creative, then we’ll need all the parts we can get!”
The five girls all nodded in agreement and quickly went to work on complete destruction. Rainbow Dash made sure to keep rapidly destroying all of the oncoming woodfigs, but not without intentionally breaking a few other things along the way. Rarity hurled her diamond shields along the sides of all the surrounding buildings to knock down various awnings, signs, and billboards. Fluttershy encountered some stray dogs and asked them to fetch and retrieve anything they could carry out of the nearby alleyways.
Pinkie Pie looked around desperately as she ran around aimlessly. She felt that, without any explosive ammunition, there was no way she could help her friends with their wanton destruction of city property, so her first task was to find a new supply of sugary substances for her to toss around. She rarely even bothered to watch where she was going, so when she suddenly bumped into a random woodfig, she suddenly shrieked and jumped backwards, flailing her limbs around as she smashed through a large window into a building. She quickly got up from the floor and glanced around to see that she had landed inside a shop that had nothing but all kinds of donuts available inside the display cases and behind the counter. It didn’t take long for her to realize what this meant for her, and a very huge grin quickly formed on her face.
Meanwhile, as more woodfigs began to close in, Applejack ran over to a nearby small blue car and almost effortlessly picked up the vehicle by its front bumper. “Blue punch buggy!” she shouted tauntingly before she started swinging the car around, smacking away any woodfigs that got close to her. Once the nearby opponents had been cleared away, she turned to yet another approaching group of woodfigs. “No punch back!” she taunted again as she then hurled the car at those woodfigs, smashing them to pieces and also completely destroying that car in the process.
As Rarity knocked down yet another large sign from the side of a building, her eyes fell on the pile of parts from that destroyed car. She quickly glanced around at some of the other loose Lego parts she and her friends had scattered around, and finally glanced up at Gloriosa still hovering in the air above. She turned her attention back to the largest pile where that car was and smiled. “Idea!” she announced in that sing-song tone she always used for that remark. She ran over to Fluttershy and asked, “Do you think you could provide a diversion around Gloriosa?”
Before Fluttershy could respond, she heard a seagull squawk as it flew towards her, so she held out her arm to let it perch there. Once the seagull had landed, it squawked a few more times. Fluttershy listened and nodded, then turned to Rarity and replied, “That can be arranged.”
“Excellent!” responded Rarity excitedly. “I’ll need it done as soon as possible for my brilliant idea to work.” She then immediately ran over to the largest pile of scattered Lego parts on the street.
Fluttershy turned to the seagull on her arm and said, “You heard her. Get to it.”
The seagull nodded and then flew off.
Rarity quickly went to work and started tossing Lego parts through the air. As was typical for when she got creative as a Master Builder, her magic allowed every single piece she tossed to land precisely where they needed to fit, so for her it was only a matter of tossing the right parts in the right order.
In only a matter seconds, Rarity’s creation was fully assembled. It was a large slingshot type of launching machine that some might identify as a ballista, and it was built on a rotating base with a series of spinning levers to adjust the machine’s aim.
As Rarity began winding up the launching mechanism, she called out, “Applejack! Could you please provide me with some ammunition?”
Right at that moment, Applejack had just thrown a dumpster at another group of charging woodfigs. She had managed to knock down all but one of them. Once she heard the request, she glance back at Rarity, then turned back to the one remaining woodfig. She simply shrugged, grabbed the woodfig as it tried to tackle her, and held it over her head as she ran over to the launcher. As she arrived, she unceremoniously shoved the woodfig headfirst into the launching basket.
After she finished winding up the launcher, Rarity momentarily stared at the loaded woodfig as it helplessly wiggled its legs around, then muttered, “I suppose that should suffice.” She then turned her gaze upwards towards Gloriosa. Just as Fluttershy had promised, a diversion had been successfully provided in the form of a flock of seagulls that squawked and pecked relentlessly at Gloriosa.
“Beat it you flying rats! SHOO!!” shouted Gloriosa furiously as she tried to swat away the seagulls that surrounded her up in the air.
With little time to lose, Rarity quickly spun the series of levers around on her launcher. Once it was properly aimed, she pulled the large lever, firing the machine and flinging the woodfig directly at Gloriosa.
The seagulls scattered right before the moment of impact. The woodfig was smashed to pieces as it slammed into Gloriosa and sent her tumbling downward. However, Gloriosa regained control of her flight before she even came close to the ground. She then immediately unleashed her power on the launcher by making dozens of vines quickly sprout all around it and began prying it apart, forcing Rarity to flee before she could get caught in those vines.
“You’ll have to do better than that!” taunted Gloriosa.
As the vines retreated from the now destroyed launcher, Rainbow Dash zoomed over to stand beside Rarity and retorted to Gloriosa, “Challenge accepted!”
“In that case, Ah’ll buy ya some time,” remarked Applejack as she ran by while carrying a white limousine over her head. She continued ahead and once she got close to Gloriosa, she started swinging the long vehicle around in a futile attempt to swat her opponent out of the air. “C’mon! Let’s have at it!” she called out in determination.
With that diversion under way, Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash and asked, “Do you have a creative idea worth attempting?”
Rainbow Dash smirked and responded, “Simple. What’s the quickest way to get rid of all this plant material?”
Rarity glanced around at all the overgrowth that covered much of the city within the bramble barrier, then silently shrugged and shook her head.
Rainbow Dash grinned and added, “Burn it all away!” She then immediately started zooming around as a rainbow motion blur as she quickly assembled the parts from the destroyed launcher and a few other loose parts lying around.
In only a matter of seconds, Rainbow Dash was finished with her creation. She had built what appeared to be a treadmill with a few gears linking it to some wooden parts from defeated woodfigs, some of which were on a wheel of some kind with the others on a fixed rig in contact with that wheel.
“Step one: start the fire,” stated Rainbow Dash as she hopped onto the treadmill. She then started running on the treadmill, which turned the gears to make the mounted wheel start spinning, causing the two sets of wooden parts to start rubbing against each other. Thanks to her super speed, she was quickly able to get the treadmill running at a ridiculously high speed, generating a lot of friction between the two wooden components. It didn’t take long for some smoke to start forming, and after just a few more seconds, the wooden components suddenly burst into flames.
Once she saw the flames, Rainbow Dash stopped running and hopped off the treadmill. She grinned at the flames and remarked, “If we can spread this fire far enough, not even an overpowered Gloriosa can stop it!”
However, as Rainbow spoke, she was unaware of a vine wrapping itself around a nearby fire hydrant. The vine tightened around the valve that was pointed directly at the flaming contraption until it eventually burst open, unleashing a huge jet of water. Rainbow didn’t even have enough time to look back before she was suddenly and completely drenched, the contraption was blasted to pieces from the pressurized torrent, and the fire she had started was swiftly extinguished.
Rarity and Fluttershy — who had just returned to the scene — looked up to Gloriosa and, sure enough, she had her arm extended towards the burst fire hydrant. “Nice try,” she taunted.
Applejack — having lost that limo after failing to distract Gloriosa — ran over to the burst fire hydrant and, thanks to her super strength, grasped it and began to twist it around until its gushing torrent was now aimed directly at Gloriosa.
Gloriosa certainly heard the creaking and groaning of the fire hydrant being twisted around, but she was so stunned by that display of super strength that she failed to react in time. The ceaseless torrent of highly pressurized water pushed her backwards into the building behind her, smashing through a third-story window.
Applejack chuckled and quipped, “Looks like you’re all washed up now!”
As a completely soaked Rainbow Dash stood up and walked away from the wrecked contraption, Fluttershy asked, “Should I get you a towel?”
“Don’t bother,” replied Rainbow. She then ran around in a circle fast enough to again appear as a rainbow motion blur. She stopped after a few seconds, revealing that she was now back to being as dry as she was prior to the bursting of that fire hydrant. “See?” she remarked confidently. “No problem!”
Immediately after that, Gloriosa suddenly burst upwards through the roof of the building. She glared down at the four girls and furiously shouted, “You ignorant brats! Let’s see how you deal with this!”
All across both ends of the street around the girls, dozens of giant stalks quickly sprouted and released yet more woodfigs to attack. As the countless woodfigs began their charge, the four girls stayed close together as they prepared to defend themselves.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosion from seemingly out of nowhere suddenly destroyed half of the oncoming charge from one side, sending woodfig parts flying through the air. Immediately after the last of those explosions, Pinkie Pie rushed out onto the street with a large sack on her back that was stuffed full of donuts.
Pinkie giggled and excitedly remarked, “Exploding donuts! That’s sure to go viral across the internet!” She rushed past her gathered friends and swiftly tossed some more donuts at the oncoming charge from the other direction, unleashing just as much destruction as she did to the first group.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
With renewed determination, Rainbow Dash shouted, “C’mon, girls! Let’s take ‘em all down!” She then zoomed off once again to smash some more woodfigs.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Sunset fired her laser blaster at the woodfigs up ahead. Once the laser bolts had cleared them away, she continued moving onwards. Not far away by her side, Twilight swung her plasma blade around to slash through any woodfigs that tried to attack from the sides. Despite their relentless attempts, those woodfigs never stood a chance against such an incredibly powerful pair of weapons.
Right behind the two girls, Spike guarded the rear. As one woodfig tried to sneak up behind the trio, Spike let loose a battle cry as he raised his ax and swung it down right onto the woodfig’s head. He tried to remove the ax, but it remained firmly embedded within the woodfig’s head. He gave it a strong yank, but that only resulted in the head being removed from the body, which collapsed and fell apart. He next tried wildly swinging the ax around, but the wooden head still remained stuck on the blade. Finally, he simply slammed the wooden head onto the ground, splitting it half and freeing the ax. He paused as he stared at the split wooden head and then mumbled, “If that guy wasn’t made of wood, that could’ve been a gruesome sight.”
Twilight sliced through another woodfig with her plasma blade before she responded, “And that is precisely why you’re not allowed to watch any R-rated movies.” She slashed through yet another woodfig that tried to attack. “Or play any M-rated video games.”
Pew! Pew! Pew!
“Less talking, more clearing these things away!” shouted Sunset as she continued firing at the relentless waves of woodfigs up ahead. “I can barely keep up on my own!”
Pew! Pew! Pew!
As Twilight slashed yet another woodfig, she failed to notice some vines wriggling near her feet. As soon as she got too close to them, the vines suddenly wrapped around her ankles and swiftly grew much taller, flipping her upside down and lifting her off the ground. Twilight yelped as she was suddenly trapped and left suspended, dropping her plasma blade in the process. The glowing part of the blade retracted the moment it left her hand, so it was reduced to just the solid handle as it hit the ground.
“Twilight!” Spike cried out, only to have another bunch of vines suddenly wrap around his torso and lift him off the ground. Thankfully, he was able to remain holding onto that ax in his hand. As he and Twilight struggled to pull themselves free, he cried out, “Sunset! Help us!”
Sunset glanced back to see the predicament her two friends and teammates had suddenly ended up in, but was forced to return her attention back to the seemingly endless waves of oncoming woodfigs. “I’m a little busy right now, so you’ll have to cut yourselves loose!” she called back before she resumed firing her laser blaster.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Spike rolled his eyes and sourly responded, “Oh yeah, sure, like I’m gonna swing a razor sharp ax right at my own stomach! I do have common sense, y’know!”
Meanwhile, Twilight stretched her arms out as far as she could, but her plasma blade on the ground was beyond her reach. “I can’t reach my plasma blade!” she exclaimed desperately.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
Sunset spared another brief moment to glance over at Twilight to better understand her friend’s predicament. Once she noticed Twilight straining to reach for the dropped plasma blade handle, she didn’t hesitate to respond, “Use your magic to pick it up!” She didn’t bother waiting for a response before she resumed firing at the countless woodfigs.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
Twilight wanted to argue, but she could clearly see that Sunset was too busy keeping the woodfigs away. She let out a sigh of resignation, then focused her attention on the plasma blade handle and reached out with her magical power. Her right hand began to glow with purple energy, and that same magical glow soon enveloped the plasma blade handle before it started it shift around a little bit on its own. Nothing much else happened for a few seconds before the handle suddenly lifted off the ground and flew up into Twilight’s hand. Once her plasma blade handle was back in her grasp, she cut off her magic and smiled.
VWISH!
As soon as she had reactivated her plasma blade, she swiftly sliced through the vines that held her up and tumbled to the ground. She quickly stood up and slashed through the vines that held Spike. Now that they were both free, they rushed over to join Sunset. “Hopefully, I won’t have to use that kind of force ever again,” muttered Twilight.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
“Considering what we’re up against,” responded Sunset as she kept firing at the oncoming woodfigs, “I seriously doubt that.”
Pew! Pew! Pew!
“Where are all these things coming from, anyway?” asked Spike.
As Sunset finished clearing the closest wave of woodfigs, she exclaimed in exasperation, “If this keeps up, it’ll be dark before we get even close to reaching our friends!” As the next dozen woodfigs came charging down the street from across the intersection up ahead, she raised her laser blaster and took aim.
Before Sunset was able to fire even a single shot, a vehicle suddenly slammed into the woodfigs as it skidded to a stop in the intersection. The entire group of woodfigs was swiftly knocked over like a set of bowling pins, with the noise of the wooden clattering of their parts simply adding to the effect. The vehicle that had suddenly arrived had large wheels on a high base and was white with blue stripes and labeled with the word “POLICE”.
A familiar face stuck his head out of the driver side window and remarked, “Now that’s what I call a strike.”
“Whoa!” exclaimed Spike in astonishment. “Is that Chase McCain?!”
Chase didn’t bother acknowledging Spike’s question as he faced the trio and exclaimed, “Where have you been?! Your friends need your help! Get in!”
Twilight and Sunset looked to each other and silently nodded before they ran over to the police vehicle, with Spike following right behind. Twilight retracted her plasma blade and pocketed the handle before she opened the right rear door and hopped into the backseat, while Spike opened the left rear door and hopped into the backseat beside her. At the same time, Sunset opened the right front door, tossed her laser blaster into the empty space between to two front seats, and then hopped into the front passenger seat.
Once everyone was inside the vehicle, Chase hit the accelerator and began driving rapidly down the overgrown street. “Good thing I decided to take the off-road model,” he remarked. “With all this crazy plant overgrowth all over the place, I’ll need all the traction I can get.”
“So where are we going?” asked Spike.
“I don’t know exactly where your friends are,” replied Chase as he made a hard right turn, “but I’m very sure they’re trying their best to stop Gloriosa, who will probably still be somewhere downtown.”
“What about Timber Spruce?” asked Twilight.
“Last I saw, he was back at the cultural center with the other party guests,” replied Chase.
“We need to go get him before we can find our friends!” Twilight firmly stated.
“And why is that?” asked Chase as he made a hard left turn.
“Is it because you really care about him a whole lot?” teased Spike.
“No!” Twilight swiftly responded. She then quickly added, “Well, yes, but that’s only a secondary reason. I believe he might be our best chance of stopping Gloriosa.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Sunset as the car made another sharp left turn.
Twilight sighed and reluctantly replied, “During the Midnight Sparkle incident, I was on the verge of destroying you when Spike suddenly caught my attention, reminding me that I wasn’t being myself in that moment. It wasn’t much, but it was just enough to help you free me from that dark magic. I’m hoping that Timber can help us do the same for Gloriosa.”
“Can’t argue with that logic,” stated Sunset. “I do know that Gloriosa and Timber see each other as the only family they have left, so if anyone can get through to Gloriosa the same way Spike got through to you, then it’s definitely Timber.”
“In that case, I’d better take you back to the cultural center right away,” said Chase as he made yet another sharp left turn, so that now he was driving the other way on the same street he had been on when he had reached the three friends and teammates. “With any luck, we’ll find Timber hiding out somewhere nearby among the other terrified citizens.”
Sunset looked out the window and stared at the top of the surrounding bramble barrier. It was only now that she realized it was continuing to slowly rise. “Whatever happens, we need to move fast,” she warned. “Not only are we running out of daylight, but it’s likely we’ll soon end up completely cut off from the outside world with possibly no hope of escape.”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Pinkie tossed some more donuts from the sack on her back, swiftly destroying some more incoming woodfigs. At the same time, Rarity continued shoving away woodfigs with her diamond shields, Rainbow Dash continued slamming into woodfigs with her super speed, and Applejack had torn loose another streetlight and began swinging it around like a giant club to smack away any woodfigs that got close.
It wasn’t long before Gloriosa decided to start unleashing her other magical abilities once more. Just as Pinkie prepared to toss some more donuts, a bunch of vines suddenly sprouted from the ground, wrapped around her body, and lifted her up into the air.
Rainbow heard Pinkie let out a scream and turned to see what had just happened to her. “Hang on, Pinkie! I’ll get ya outta there!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash before she zoomed towards Pinkie… only to get tripped by another vine along the way, allowing some more vines to wrap around her and lift her into the air as well. It wasn’t long before Rarity suddenly found herself trapped in a similar manner, though she did manage to keep her arms away from her torso as the vines wrapped around her.
Applejack glanced back at her trapped friends, then turned her attention forward again towards the ceaselessly oncoming waves of woodfigs. “Sorry, y’all, but we got more incommin’!” she called back before she charged ahead down the street and continued swinging that lamppost around.
“Oh great,” grumbled Rainbow Dash. “How are we gonna get ourselves outta this?”
Pinkie continued struggling for a few seconds, then froze and her eyes widened as a realization suddenly occurred to her. “Rarity!” she called out. “Remember what Maud said about using diamond-tipped saws on her mining equipment?”
Rarity glanced down at the vines holding her in place, then summoned one of her diamond shields. She took a moment to note the diamond’s perfect hexagonal shape, and with a gentle flick of a wrist, she sent it rapidly spinning like a disc. With a few movements of her hands, she sent the spinning diamond to slice right through the vines holding them up. Due to the shape of the diamond and the way it was rapidly spinning, it behaved like a circular saw as it cleanly cut right through those vines.
Bzzzzzz!
As Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity landed back on the street, Rainbow Dash smiled and remarked, “Good thinking!”
“Oh my!” said Rarity in astonishment. “That was remarkably effective!” She grinned and added, “I may never again have to hire a gardener for any pruning.”
While Applejack was holding her own against the woodfigs at one end of the street, the other end was left unguarded and thus dozens of woodfigs were quickly advancing. It didn’t take Rainbow Dash more than a second to come up with the perfect solution. “Hey, Rarity!” she called out. “Try using that on the woodfigs!”
Rarity resummoned the diamond shield and set it spinning again. She gazed out at the incoming ranks of woodfigs and then sent the spinning diamond out at them. With just a few passes, she had swiftly cut down all those woodfigs, sending sawdust flying everywhere.
Bzzzzzz! Bzzzzzz! Bzzzzzz!
With that end of the street completely cleared of all adversaries, Rarity decided to assist Applejack and repeated the process to the woodfigs at the other end of the street.
Bzzzzzz! Bzzzzzz!
Applejack was momentarily stunned to see all those woodfigs getting literally cut down so swiftly, but once she saw the large spinning diamond responsible for it, she smiled. She rested the lamppost over her shoulder as she turned back to Rarity and quipped, “Not bad. You should consider takin’ up woodworkin’.”
Before Rarity could make some kind of comeback, Rainbow Dash suddenly glanced around in concern and asked, “Wait… where’d Fluttershy run off to?”
Applejack rubbed the back of her head and replied, “Knowin’ her, Ah reckon she’s searchin’ for reinforcements, if ya know what Ah mean.”
“I can only hope she is successful,” said Rarity. “We’ve thrown everything we’ve got at Gloriosa, and she still remains as unbelievably powerful as ever.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say we’ve thrown everything just yet,” stated Pinkie Pie as she clenched her fists and a look of grim determination formed on her face. “It’s time for me to overdo it.” She turned to Rarity and ordered, “Try to push Gloriosa to the street in front of that really tall building over there. When I give the signal from the top of that building, shield yourself and the others.” Before any of her friends could question her plan, she quickly ran off to begin preparing.
Rarity was momentarily speechless before she sighed and muttered, “Why am I getting a foreboding sense that something truly cataclysmic is about to unfold?”
Chase McCain brought the police vehicle to a stop on the street in front of the Rich Cultural Center… or at least the site of where it should be. Now, all that was left of the building was a pile of rubble covered in a lot of overgrowth.
As Chase, Spike, Twilight, and Sunset all climbed out of the vehicle, Spike asked, “What happened to the building?”
“Looks like Gloriosa decided to demolish the place,” concluded Chase. He quietly added, “I hope everyone inside is still okay…”
The streets around the site were in just as much devastation as the building. In addition to all the overgrowth, there were also numerous vehicles stopped in scattered locations, many of which happened to be police cruisers. But perhaps most startling of all were the dozens of small dome structures made of dark and twisted brambles, similar to the ones that made up the barrier surrounding the city.
Sunset approached one of the bramble domes and asked, “What are these things?”
“They’re like cocoons,” replied Chase grimly. “Inside each and every one you see around us, there’s a helpless civilian trapped inside.”
Spike gasped and exclaimed, “There are people trapped inside these things?! We gotta help them!”
“We don’t have for that!” argued Sunset. “We can come back and help them after we’ve defeated Gloriosa. Right now, we just need to find Timber so we can take him with us while we resume finding our friends.”
“But what if he’s trapped inside one of these cocoons?” asked Spike. “How will we know where he is?!”
“Don’t worry,” assured Chase as he pulled out his police communicator tablet. “I’ve got a scanner on this thing that’ll help me identify anyone in the area, regardless of any barriers in the way.”
Chase held up his tablet and began slowly moving it around in front of him. On the screen, he could see the shapes of every person within the field-of-view of the scanner, and when the center point of the screen panned over someone, that person’s name came up. He continued searching, despite how distressing it was to see the names of every innocent civilian trapped inside these bramble cocoons — many of whom turned out to be fellow police officers he knew, including Chief Dunby. Eventually, as he scanned over some cocoons at the street corner on the left side of the demolished cultural center, he saw the name “Timber Spruce” come up, so he zoomed in the scanner’s lens to accurately identify which specific bramble cocoon that Timber was trapped inside.
“Found him!” announced both Chase and Twilight at the exact same time.
Chase and Twilight glanced at each other in confusion. “How did you…?” asked Chase.
Twilight removed her glasses — which had grey tinted lenses rather than the usual clear ones — and simply replied, “X-ray specs!” As she put away that pair of special specs and put her regular glasses back on, she firmly added, “And no, they do not provide me with that kind of X-ray vision.”
As Twilight ran off towards where Timber was trapped, Chase stared at her for a moment, then just shrugged and muttered, “Fair enough, I suppose.”
Twilight soon reached the bramble cocoon that she had seen Timber inside. She pounded on the exterior a few times and shouted, “Timber! Are you in there?!”
“Twilight?!” came a muffled response inside. “Is that you?!”
“Yes, Timber!” responded Twilight. “Now stay away from this side! I’m gonna get you outta there!” Without waiting for a response, she quickly pulled out her plasma blade and activated it.
FWISH!
Twilight swung the plasma blade around horizontally back and forth, slashing through those brambles and scorching them enough to inhibit regrowth. Once a large enough hole had been torn into the cocoon, she swiftly reached inside and yanked Timber out. Just a split second later, the brambles began to regrow into place, but by then the prisoner had already escaped.
As Twilight helped him up to his feet, Timber said gratefully, “Thanks for getting me outta that thing.” When he noticed the glowing purple blade in Twilight’s hand, he smiled and remarked, “That’s pretty cool.”
Twilight giggled and smugly responded, “You like my new toy?” She twirled the blade around her hand to demonstrate the humming sound it made while passing through the air.
Vrrr.
“Save the small talk for later!” shouted Sunset to both Twilight and Timber. “Right now, we’ve got an entire city to save!”
Twilight and Timber glanced back at each other and silently nodded in agreement. Twilight retracted her plasma blade and pocketed the handle, then she and Timber ran over to the police vehicle where Sunset, Spike, and Chase were waiting for them.
Applejack lifted a yellow SUV over her head, turned to face Gloriosa, and threw it at her. However, Gloriosa easily saw the large vehicle getting hurled at her, so she effortlessly dodged it by simply hovering over to one side. The vehicle sailed right by her and then crashed to street below, setting off its car alarm.
“This ain’t workin’!” exclaimed Applejack desperately. “She’s dodgin’ everythin’ Ah can throw at her!”
“I doubt utilizing my diamond shields in a similar manner would yield a different result,” stated Rarity not far behind as she focused her efforts on keeping away the endless waves of woodfigs.
The familiar rainbow motion blur took out a few more woodfigs in the other direction beneath Gloriosa, then zoomed back towards the two girls. As Rainbow Dash came to a stop beside them, she added, “I don’t think she’s falling for any of my distractions anymore. We need a new plan!”
“Well Ah’m fresh outta ideas,” replied Applejack with a shrug.
“We must come up with something soon,” stated Rarity as she sent forth another diamond shield to shove away yet another wave of woodfigs. “Pinkie Pie is counting on us fulfilling our part for her plan to succeed, and I am almost certain that she would rather not wait on us once she’s ready.”
“C’mon, girls! There’s gotta be something we can do to push back Gloriosa!” demanded Rainbow Dash desperately.
“Just give up already!” taunted Gloriosa. “You know you can’t stop me! I’ll always be one step ahead of you!”
Before Gloriosa could gloat any further, she was suddenly smacked in the back of her head by a large bird as it dived down at her. She recovered quickly, but that completely unexpected attack caused her to immediately start looking around. Just seconds later, she started hearing some aggressive hooting and hollering from a nearby building, so she glanced over to it and saw a group of angry monkeys jumping around on the rooftop as they began to toss various food scraps at her. She backed away from the sudden bombardment, only to suddenly get pounced on by a tiger as it jumped from another nearby rooftop. As they both hit the street below, Gloriosa quickly threw the tiger off and got back up, but the tiger landed on its feet and growled fiercely at her.
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity were watching the animal attacks in stunned disbelief when they suddenly felt ground beneath their feet start to rumble. They turned around and saw an elephant charging down the street — thankfully not directly at them — and riding on its back high above was their friend Fluttershy with a smile on her face.
“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Fluttershy called down to her friends. “Took me a while to find the zoo!”
As the elephant charged right past them, the three girls down on the street began to smile. “Awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash excitedly. “We got zoo animals on our side!” She turned and pointed at Gloriosa and taunted, “How’s that for using the forces of nature?!”
At this point, Gloriosa stood atop a tower of brambles to escape the tiger, but that tiger was already climbing its way up, forcing her to take to the air to get away from all the animal attacks.
Meanwhile, Rarity turned to Applejack and said, “I should probably inform Fluttershy of Pinkie’s plan.” She grinned slyly as she asked, “Applejack, if you don’t mind?”
Applejack responded with a smile and placed her hands close together near her waist as she slightly crouched down. Rarity placed one foot on Applejack’s hands and, with a mighty heave, the apple farmer flung the fashionista high into the air.
Rarity gracefully did a backwards somersault and made a perfect landing right on the elephant’s back behind Fluttershy. After taking a moment to readjust her hair piece, Rarity turned to the shy yellow girl and said, “Fluttershy, dear, I believe you should be aware that, as we speak, Pinkie Pie is preparing some sort of plan to hopefully put a stop to Gloriosa. Please inform our animal allies that we must push Gloriosa to the street in front of the tallest building in the district, just up ahead, then when Pinkie gives the signal from atop that building, all of these beasts and critters must flee the area at once.”
“Consider it done,” responded Fluttershy with a nod and a smile. She let loose a sharp whistle and some small birds quickly flocked towards her.
As Fluttershy gave the message to those birds so they could spread word of it to the other zoo animals, Applejack turned Rainbow Dash and asked, “So what can we do to help out?”
Rainbow heard the clattering footsteps of yet more woodfigs advancing behind them, so with a smile of determination, she turned around to face them and replied, “We’ll just keep these stick figures from getting in the way.”
“Fine by me,” remarked Applejack with a grin as she beat her fist into her palm. “Let’s make some splinters fly!”
With the Canterlot City girls putting their plan into action, Gloriosa found herself on the defensive as the angry monkeys on the rooftops continued trying to pelt her with various food scraps. When she got splattered in the face by an over-ripened banana, she growled in frustration and shouted, “That does it! No more monkey business!” She unleashed her magical power along the buildings around her and made the overgrowth spread up towards the rooftops, forcing the hooting and howling monkeys to scatter.
With Gloriosa’s attention on those monkeys, she failed to notice a giraffe had walked up behind her and, thanks to its high reach due to its long neck, grasped her out of the air with its mouth and swiftly flung her down the street towards the tall building.
Gloriosa landed in an intersection and quickly got back on her feet, only to have a rhinoceros charge right at her and, once she was caught around its horn, flung further down that street. She was quick to get back up, but was again tackled from behind, this time by a roaring gorilla that suddenly grasped her by her ankles and started savagely beating her repeatedly against the pavement like a ragdoll. After about half a dozen violent impacts, the gorilla then threw her even further down the street.
Gloriosa once again got back up, but the constant abuse she had been given was starting to take its toll on her as she struggled to stand still and focus her attention on anything. She was partially broken out of her dazed state when she noticed the elephant charging right at her with Fluttershy and Rarity riding on its back. With a growl of frustration, Gloriosa swiftly raised a wall of thick brambles to block the stampeding elephant, but the massive animal simply smashed right through the wall like it was nothing. Before she could react, the elephant grasped her with its trunk and then flung her further more down the street.
Now in front of the tallest building in the district, Gloriosa stood back up one more. She glanced around and saw all kinds of zoo animals slowly closing in around her from all sides.
As the elephant slowly approached, Fluttershy desperately called out, “You can’t win, Gloriosa! Please stop this before someone gets seriously hurt!”
“Oh, like you’re one to talk,” grumbled Gloriosa before she cracked her neck and shrugged off the pain she had just been subjected to.
“Please forgive us for taking such drastic actions, darling, but you are leaving us with little choice!” Rarity called out, “If you stop this madness right away, I can promise you there will be no more fighting between us!”
“Then why are you even fighting me in the first place?!” shouted Gloriosa furiously. “I’ve told you all before, I’m doing this to keep everyone safe!”
“Holding an entire city hostage against their will is hardly a righteous thing to do,” Rarity pointed out.
While the confrontation was going on down on the street below, Pinkie Pie had finally reached the roof of the tall building above. She opened the door and exited the stairwell slowly as she dragged behind her a street-side concession cart that served slush drinks. The elevator didn’t quite reach the roof, so she had been forced to haul the wheeled cart up the last couple of floors via the stairs. Once she finally made it up the final step, she quickly wheeled the cart over to the front side of the building. She peered over the edge and, sure enough, she saw Gloriosa cornered on the street directly below. It was time to put her plan into action.
She turned back to the slush drink cart and removed the syrup tank, handling it carefully to not spill any of its contents. As far as she knew, this tank contained one of the most densely concentrated sugary substances that existed, and it was in such a massive quantity that she could barely lift it onto her shoulder. With those two factors in mind, she was convinced that she was about to unleash the absolute peak of her magical power.
Pinkie hefted the heavy tank onto her right shoulder and carefully carried it over to the edge of the building. As she stepped onto the ledge, she held the tank in place with her right arm as she stretched her left arm out as far as possible and waved it widely around a few times. She then cupped her left hand around her mouth and hollered down, “BOMBS AWAY!!” Then, with both arms, she hurled the heavy tank over the edge. As soon as she saw the descending tank start to glow pink, she immediately rushed back inside the building to take cover.
Down on the street below, with some of the animals keeping a constant watch on the roof of the tall building, they immediately alerted all the other gathered creatures that Pinkie had just given the signal. With no time to lose, every single animal instantly turned around and fled the scene as quickly as possible. The elephant was fleeing in the direction where Applejack and Rainbow Dash were still busy fighting woodfigs, so Rarity and Fluttershy simply had to hop off the elephant’s back as it passed by them. Once all four girls were together again, Rarity wasted no time in quickly summoning a series of diamond constructs in the form of a solid dome around all four of them.
Gloriosa watched in confusion as every single animal suddenly ran away in a massive stampede. Even more confusing to her was when her adversaries suddenly huddled together under a dome of diamonds. She then began to hear a long whistling sound from above, so she glanced up and saw some strange glowing object was rapidly falling right onto the area where she stood. “What the brick?” she muttered.
Sunset, Twilight, Spike, Chase, and Timber all climbed into the off-road police cruiser. Chase sat in the driver’s seat, Sunset was in the front passenger seat with her laser blaster resting between the two seats, Twilight sat on the right side of the backseat behind Sunset, Timber sat on the left side of the backseat behind Chase, and Spike sat in the middle of the backseat.
“Okay, now that we’ve got Timber with us, where to next?” asked Spike.
“Now we just need to find our friends so we can put a stop to this madness,” answered Sunset. She turned to Chase and asked, “So where are they?”
“That’s what I’m about to find out,” replied Chase as he pulled out his police communicator tablet and began searching through its features.
Only a few seconds later, everyone noticed a very bright flash come from the left side of the vehicle. By the time they all turned their heads to see what it was, a massive shockwave suddenly slammed into the side of the vehicle, instantly sending it rolling around a few times until it eventually came to rest on its roof.
As the loud rumbling of the shockwave continued to echo around, the five minifigs inside the cruiser slowly crawled out of the upside down vehicle. Once Twilight had pulled herself free and stood up, she asked, “Is everyone okay?”
Spike grunted as Timber helped him out. “A little shaken up,” replied Spike, “but I think we’re fine.”
By this point, both Sunset and Chase had also pulled themselves out of the overturned vehicle seemingly unscathed. Now that they knew everyone was alright, Timber asked the next question on everyone’s minds. “What the heck was that?”
Sunset stared off in the direction the flash and shockwave had come from and replied, “If I had to guess, I’d say Pinkie Pie decided to overdo it.”
The others followed Sunset’s gaze and they were all left completely speechless by what they saw. A massive pink mushroom cloud was slowly rising over downtown Lego City, marking the epicenter of the immense blast that had almost certainly been unleashed by their friend with explosive powers.
Everyone continued to stare in stunned silence at the mushroom cloud for a few moments before Chase finally spoke up. “Well, good news is we now know where to find your friends. Bad news is the off-road cruiser’s destroyed, so we’ll have to get there on foot.”
Twilight glanced back at the overturned vehicle, then turned her attention back towards the blast site. She sighed and stated, “Then we’d better get going.” As she started walking, she pulled out her plasma blade and activated it.
FWISH!
Sunset reached down and pulled her laser blaster out of the wrecked vehicle, then turned around and followed after Twilight. Chase was the next to follow after them, followed by Spike after he had retrieved his ax from the cruiser, and finally Timber followed right behind them all. None of them had any idea what they might find once they arrived, but at least now they had a very good idea of where they had to go.
The large cloud released by the massive explosion had cleared away by the time Pinkie Pie reached the ground floor of the tall building. She walked out onto the street and saw all around her that windows had been blown out, objects had been knocked over away from the blast center, and vehicles had been tossed around as if they were small toys. She glanced around and saw no sign of anyone out in the open. To her right was a large pile of vines and brambles where Gloriosa was last seen, and to her left was the diamond dome beneath which her friends had taken shelter.
As Pinkie ran over towards the diamond dome, she couldn’t help but think, Wow… guess I don’t know my own strength. As she arrived at the dome, she knocked on it a few times and called out, “All clear! You can come out now!”
The dome of diamonds was quickly dispersed, and the four girls inside — Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash — were finally able to see the surrounding devastation for themselves.
Applejack let out a long whistle and remarked, “Ah gotta say, that sure was somethin’.”
“If this isn’t overdoing it, I don’t know what is,” added Rainbow Dash.
“We should probably check on Gloriosa to see how she fared,” suggested Rarity.
As the five girls began walking towards the large pile of plant material in the street up ahead, Fluttershy worriedly muttered, “I hope she isn’t too badly hurt. We’re only trying to stop her, not destroy her.”
“Somethin’ tells me we ain’t gonna find much left,” said Applejack skeptically.
The five girls were only a few steps away from the pile when all the vines and brambles it consisted of started to shift. They stopped and watched as all that plant material began to twist around, and then up from the center of it all rose Gloriosa, now with an enraged expression on her face and her hands glowing brightly with green magical energy.
“You have got to be kidding me,” muttered Rainbow Dash in disbelief.
“Playtime is over!” shouted Gloriosa as the vines and brambles under her feet began to rise upwards into a column. “I’m gonna get rid of you once and for all!”
All around the five girls, countless more large stalks sprouted from the ground and quickly peeled away, unleashing dozens more woodfigs. The girls huddled close together with their backs to each other, bracing themselves to fight off the large army that completely surrounded them.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
The five girls were startled to see some of the woodfigs suddenly get blasted to pieces by a series of laser bolts. They turned their attention towards where those bolts came from and they saw another unexpected sight in the form of a glowing lavender blade swinging around, humming as it moved around and sizzling as it sliced through every single woodfig that stood in its way. As the last woodfig between the girls and the newcomers was sliced vertically in half, the halves fell away to reveal that the glowing blade was wielded by a panting Twilight Sparkle, and right behind her was Sunset Shimmer armed with a laser blaster.
“Twilight!” exclaimed Rarity cheerfully.
“Sunset!” exclaimed Applejack cheerfully.
“You’re okay!” added Rainbow Dash just as excitedly.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
After blasting away a few more woodfigs that tried getting in the way, Sunset smiled smugly and remarked, “Sorry we’re late. There was an army in our way.”
“Yeah, we noticed,” Rainbow noted dryly.
Not far behind Twilight and Sunset stood the rest of their group — Spike, Chase McCain, and Timber Spruce. As they walked towards the scene of devastation, Timber asked, “So why exactly do you guys want me here with you?”
“Gloriosa Daisy has been corrupted by what we believe to be Equestrian magic,” explained Chase. “It’s consumed her and turned her into the psychotic, raging, plant-controlling monster you see up ahead. As her only living relative, we believe you stand the best chance of trying to talk her out of this madness. I seriously doubt you’ll be totally successful, but it’s possible you might get through to her just enough to allow the others to find some way to save your sister.”
“Well, whatever we’re gonna say and do, we’d better hurry,” warned Spike worriedly as he pointed upwards. “I don’t think we have much time left!”
Chase and Timber glanced upwards and saw that the thick barrier of brambles that completely surrounded the city had now grown so tall that its ultimate dome shape was now becoming very obvious, and the large round opening that remained directly above was steadily shrinking with each passing minute.
Timber gulped, but continued walking forward as Chase and Spike stopped just a few steps away from the seven girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team. He continued past the now reunited team, his eyes focused upwards at Gloriosa, and his hands noticeably shaking.
As Timber walked by, Twilight gently patted him on the shoulder and assured him, “Don’t worry. If anything goes wrong, we’ve got your back.” She emphasized her point by holding up the plasma blade in her hand.
Timber paused and smiled at Twilight for a moment, then returned his gaze forward and resumed walking. He stopped only a few steps away from the base of the column of brambles as Gloriosa turned her attention downward upon noticing his presence. Finally, he took a deep breath and stated, “Gloriosa, this isn’t the way.”
“I appreciate your concern, Timber,” responded Gloriosa irritably, “but I’ve got this!” As the column continued rising beneath her feet, she unleashed more of her magical power, not only summoning more woodfigs, but also making some of the vines extend from the base of the column and grasp onto Timber.
Twilight immediately tried to rush towards Timber, but some woodfigs quickly got in the way. Even though she was able to swiftly cut them down with her plasma blade, there were enough to prevent her from getting much closer to Timber. And with many more woodfigs closing in from all directions, the rest of the team was too busy keeping them all away to be able to help Twilight.
As Timber struggled to pull himself free, he began to panic as he desperately exclaimed, “No, you don’t! Please, Gloriosa! What you’re doing is crazy! You have to listen to me!”
Pew! Pew! Pew!
After shooting a few more woodfigs with her laser blaster, Sunset paused just long enough to call back to Timber, “I don’t think this is working! There may not be much left of the old Gloriosa that hasn’t been consumed by that magic!”
Pew! Pew! Pew!
Tears began to form in Timber’s eyes as he desperately continued, “Whoever you’ve become, you have to let my sister go! Please, Gloriosa, come back! I need you! You’re all I have left!”
Gloriosa stared down at Timber for a few moments. She didn’t say anything and her expression didn’t change at all. The rest of the group — despite most of them being busy fighting off woodfigs — noticed Gloriosa’s lack of reaction and, for a moment, began to hope that maybe they would actually be able to finally put a stop to all of this.
After almost half a minute of tense silence, Gloriosa simply scoffed and shot back, “As if!” She unleashed more of her magic, sending forth more brambles from the column to completely entrap Timber.
The rest of the group gasped in shock. “Well, there goes that plan,” said Chase dejectedly. “Anybody got a Plan B?” Before anyone got a chance to answer him, a bunch of brambles suddenly sprouted from the ground and quickly wrapped around to entrap him within a small dome similar to the ones they had seen earlier.
Standing right beside the now entrapped Chase, Spike immediately raised his ax, but as he swung forward to try to free Chase, his hands suddenly ended up completely empty. He briefly looked at his empty hands in confusion, then glanced back and saw some nearby vines had snatched the ax right out of his grasp. He quickly grabbed the ax and tried to get it back, but the vines were too strong. Even worse, that diversion left him vulnerable to another bunch of brambles that quickly sprouted all around him and swiftly entrapped him in a similar way to Chase. Spike only had enough time to let out a brief yelp before his voice became muffled by the enclosure.
“Spike!” Twilight cried out.
The seven girls — now the only resistance left standing — momentarily stopped fighting back against the surrounding woodfigs and began to slowly back up against each other.
“We’re not gonna give up that easily!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed defiantly, despite the fact that even she was secretly starting to doubt their chances of success by this point.
“Why must you fools be so persistent?!” Gloriosa shouted furiously. “Face it, girls! It’s over! You’ll never stop me now!”
It was right at that moment when the ground began to shake. As the girls glanced around in confusion, Twilight asked, “What’s going on? I’m pretty sure Lego City isn’t located near any fault lines.”
“This isn’t an earthquake…” noted Sunset as she looked down the street behind the team. “It’s a stampede!”
Everyone turned back and saw a herd of bulls charging down the street. Their eyes widened in shock once they quickly realized that the bull stampede was heading right towards them!
The team braced themselves, but it turned out to be unnecessary as the bulls simply bypassed them by going either left or right of them, and then merging back together right at the column of brambles atop which Gloriosa stood.
Many of the charging bulls bumped into the column as they passed by, throwing off Gloriosa’s balance enough that she had to focus most of her attention on simply staying upright. She decided to quickly solve the problem by extending the growth around her legs, locking her firmly into place.
Applejack smirked and remarked, “Looks like nature’s cavalry just arrived.”
Once the last of the charging bulls had passed by, Gloriosa growled in frustration and muttered, “This is just a minor setback.” She unleashed yet more of her magical power, summoning even more large stalks that released woodfigs all around the team.
Once again, the seven girls stood in a tight circle with their backs to each other as they prepared for the next wave of attacks. On one side of the circle, Fluttershy held out her arm to allow an eagle to perch itself close to her, ready to send out commands to the other animals in the area. To her right, Applejack raised her fists, ready to smash some woodfigs with her bare hands if she had to. To her right, Rarity summoned a diamond shield and held it out in front of her. To her right, Twilight — the only one in the group not currently in a ponied up state — grasped her active plasma blade with both hands and held it up defensively. To her right, Sunset raised her laser blaster and prepared to take aim at any of the surrounding woodfigs. To her right, Pinkie Pie giggled as she grabbed a couple of donuts from the full sack she was still carrying on her back. And completing the circle between Pinkie and Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash was quickly jumping from one foot to the other, ready to sprint off at a moment’s notice.
“Oh boy, oh boy!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to see us do a superhero pose!”
“Enough stallin’!” argued Applejack. “Let’s go get ‘em!”
“Gladly,” agreed Rainbow Dash, right before she immediately zoomed off as a rainbow motion blur that slammed right through the woodfigs directly in front of her.
The rest of the team immediately jumped into action. Sunset fired a few laser bolts at the woodfigs in front of her before charging ahead. Applejack rushed forward and punched one woodfig in the torso so hard that it was sent flying backwards and collected three others before they all smashed to pieces against the side of a building. Twilight did not hesitate to charge ahead and start slashing through any woodfig in her way with her plasma blade. Pinkie tossed the donuts in her hands, clearing a path through the crowd of woodfigs for her to rush through. Rarity flung her large diamond shield forward, knocking over enough woodfigs to allow her to reach some open ground further ahead. And the eagle perched on Fluttershy’s arm took to the air, and Fluttershy followed right behind him on the ground.
As Applejack simply marched down the street with a look on her face of solid determination, she effortlessly swatted away any woodfigs that attempted to charge at her, sending them flying into buildings to the left and to the right. She then grabbed one and flung it high into the air behind her back, far out of sight. She then grabbed another, flipped it upside down, and slammed its head into the pavement so hard that it practically exploded into splinters. Finally, as she reached an intersection, she kicked another woodfig in the torso, sending it flying backwards and collected half a dozen others behind it.
Those last few woodfigs were still airborne when a rainbow motion blur slammed right through all of them, sending splinters flying everywhere. But right after delivering that blow, Rainbow Dash quickly stopped and let out a cry of pain as she clutched her right hand, which she had used to punch those now shattered woodfigs. “Darn splinters,” she grumbled as she shook her hand around a little, but quickly shrugged off the pain and zoomed off to deal with more of the wooden opponents.
Rarity had now summoned a second large flat diamond, and as she used one of them to block any woodfig from getting close to her, she sent the other one rapidly spinning to swiftly cut down the woodfigs standing in the path ahead of her. However, she failed to watch her back and let out a startled yelp when she suddenly felt two woodfigs grab her from behind.
Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!
Just seconds later, the woodfigs holding Rarity let go of her and collapsed. She turned around and saw that a group of beavers had rapidly gnawed away at the legs of those woodfigs. She glanced further down the street and smiled when she saw Fluttershy smiling and waving at her.
Meanwhile, Sunset was shooting her laser blaster at some more oncoming woodfigs, while Twilight was not much further ahead as she used her plasma blade to swiftly cut them down. As she sliced through yet another woodfig, Twilight noticed some scaffolding set up along the side of a nearby building. As Sunset fired a few more laser bolts, Twilight suddenly charged right towards the path of those bolts and used her plasma blade to deflect one of them right at one of the base supports for the scaffolding. The laser bolt easily destroyed the support, causing the scaffolding to topple away from the building and crash onto the street, landing right on top of over a dozen woodfigs and crushing them all underneath the wreckage.
“Nice teamwork,” remarked Sunset.
Twilight giggled and quipped, “Who needs magic when you’ve got a plasma blade?”
Not much further away, Pinkie Pie was tossing donuts left and right, unleashing explosion after explosion upon any woodfig she could reach.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Pinkie was about to toss yet another donut when she suddenly stopped and cheerfully remarked, “Ooh! This one’s got chocolate sprinkles!” She then happily took a large bite out of that donut, savored it for a few seconds, then casually tossed the rest of it at yet another nearby woodfig.
Boom!
As all of this was going on, everyone on the team had failed to notice the final opening at the top of the massive bramble dome that surrounded the city was rapidly closing. The final battle had lasted only a few minutes before the opening finally closed. Once that was done, sparks of sickly green magical energy danced across the entire surface of the massive dome, illuminating the now dark interior of the massive dome. The sight of this caused all seven girls to quickly stop what they were doing, look around in confusion, then turn toward Gloriosa in the center of the action.
“I think this has gone on long enough,” grumbled Gloriosa as her body also crackled with green dark magical energy. The brambles that surrounded her legs now extended further up along her body and continued upwards. As some of the brambles and vines slowly wrapped completely around a madly grinning Gloriosa, many others rapidly grew higher and higher until they eventually grasped onto the very top of the dome. Once she was connected with all that magical energy, her powers amplified dramatically.
Now, large vines and brambles began sprouting all over the place, and the team had nowhere to hide. Sunset tried firing her laser blaster at some of those bundles of brambles, but a vine unexpectedly reached over from the side, swiftly wrapped around the weapon, and yanked it right out of her grasp. As that vine then tightened its grip and crushed the weapon, a pair of woodfigs suddenly grabbed Sunset by both arms and tossed her back towards the clearing in front of the bramble column.
Twilight managed to slice through every vine and bramble she could with her plasma blade, but a well-placed vine by her feet caused her to trip and fall forward, also causing the plasma blade to fall out of her grasp and deactivate. She immediately tried to pick it up again, but a bunch of thick brambles swiftly grew over it before she could even reach it. As she made a desperate but futile attempt to pull those brambles apart with her hands, a pair of woodfigs grabbed her by both arms and tossed her back towards the clearing on the street, landing right beside Sunset.
Pinkie Pie tried to toss some more donuts, but as she reached back to grab one, she realized the sack was gone, so she turned around to see that one of the brambles had snatched it right off her back. Before she even had a chance to reach for it, a vine suddenly wrapped around her torso and then tossed her back towards the clearing.
Rainbow Dash kept zooming around in various directions to avoid getting caught by any vines or woodfigs, but she failed to watch where she was stepping and ended up tripping over a bramble on the ground, sending her tumbling towards the clearing.
Rarity was so stunned by all the madness going on that she failed to notice a large vine rise out of the ground behind her before it swiftly wrapped around her torso and tossed her into the clearing.
Fluttershy glanced back and when she saw yet another giant vine had sprouted and prepared to reach for her, she let out a terrified scream and ran straight towards the clearing to join with the rest of the team.
Applejack attempted to uproot the vine that had tried to grab her, but not even her magically enhanced super strength was enough to do anything to it. The end of the vine wrapped around her torso and lifted her up, causing her to flip upside down since she was holding onto the base of that vine. She quickly grabbed her hat as it fell off her head, but then the vine tossed her into the clearing and she tumbled to the street right beside all six of her friends and teammates.
As Applejack stood up and put her hat back on, she and the others watched as over two dozen woodfigs surrounded them, then as they clasped hands in a circle around the team, countless brambles sprouted from them and tangled around each other to start forming a dome to completely entrap the team.
“Rarity!” Applejack called out.
Without a word, Rarity immediately summed a series of large diamond constructs to form a dome protecting them. Right away, the surrounding brambles compressed downwards, exerting a strong force against the diamond dome. Rarity held her hands out to hold her magical dome in place, but while it held steady, she was already starting to strain from the immense outside forces. “I can’t keep this up forever!” she cried out desperately.
“If only I hadn’t dropped my plasma blade,” muttered Twilight. “I could’ve used it to easily cut through all this overgrowth.”
“You won’t need it, Twilight,” stated Sunset. “You can use your magic to pull the brambles apart, just like how we got through the Jump-Gate.”
“No, there’s too many of them,” Twilight worriedly replied. “It would take too much magic. I can’t!”
“It’s the only way!” Sunset desperately exclaimed. “You have to embrace the magic inside you!”
“But what if she takes over?” Twilight fearfully asked. “What if instead of saving everyone, I turn into Midnight Sparkle and only make things even worse?”
“That won’t happen!” assured Sunset. “We won’t let it.” She smiled at Twilight, as did the rest of their friends behind her.
Twilight stared silently at her friends. Their trust in her and their conviction that she would not fail was astonishing enough to bring tears to her eyes.
Cr-crack!
Twilight suddenly glanced upwards and saw that cracks were starting to form in the surrounding diamond dome. They were quickly running out of time, and her friends were convinced she was the only one who could save them now. With newly found determination, Twilight clenched her fists and began focusing her magical power. As her fists glowed magenta and a point of light formed on her forehead, she reached her magical energy out towards the surrounding brambles. She managed to grasp those brambles in her magic for a brief moment, but then hesitated and lost her hold on them.
The force of those brambles coming back down onto the dome caused Rarity to exert so much of her own magical power that, after barely managing to keep the dome in place, she let out a faint gasp and nearly passed out from exhaustion. Thankfully, Applejack managed to catch her before she fell to the ground.
“Come on, Twilight!” begged Sunset. “You have to be stronger than she is!”
Twilight was reluctant, but knew she had to try again. She once again focused her magical energy, trying to build up as much as she felt was necessary. Eventually, she was able to concentrate so much magic that the point of light on her forehead expanded into a horn shape, and her glasses became covered in an all too familiar ring of flaming blue energy. With quick thinking, Sunset grabbed Twilight’s arms.
Within Twilight’s mind, Twilight found herself floating in the middle of the vast starry emptiness of space, not much different from what she had seen in most of her recent nightmares. Suddenly, she heard an all too familiar evil laughter, and spun around to find herself staring at the face of a giant ghostly image of Midnight Sparkle.
“You will never control me!” declared Midnight with a wicked smile on her face. “I will always be a part of you!” Her ghostly image than turned into pure magical energy that was bluish green in color, then flowed directly into Twilight’s body.
Twilight immediately felt the dark magic taking hold of her. She gained Midnight’s dark raven wings on her back, her glasses turned into Midnight’s flaming magical rings, and a glowing razor sharp horn formed on her forehead. She desperately tried to resist these parts of transformation with a defiant scream, but each attempt was futile, and she was terrified that she was about to completely lose control.
“Twilight!”
Twilight opened her eyes — which were now glowing the same bluish green glow of her horn and flaming goggles — and saw floating in front of her was a ghostly image of her friend Sunset Shimmer.
“Listen to me!” Sunset called out firmly. “You are in charge!”
Twilight slowly looked around and saw ghostly images of the rest of her friends had also suddenly appeared, forming a circle all around her.
“You are a light, darling!” Rarity called out. “A force for good!”
“Yeah! You can kick the darkness’s butt!” cheered Rainbow Dash.
“We’re here for you, Twilight!” cheered Pinkie Pie.
“And we’ll be here, no matter what!” assured Applejack.
“We believe in you!” assured Fluttershy.
Twilight looked all around at her surrounding friends, their words of inspiration reaching out to her in ways she never imagined. Finally, she turned her gaze toward the ghostly image of Sunset Shimmer.
“You… are not… Midnight Sparkle!” Sunset firmly stated.
Twilight tightly closed her eyes as the two vastly different sides of her mind battle each other. Finally, one side prevailed, and when she opened her eyes, they had returned to their regular violet color.
“No!” Twilight firmly declared as the flaming goggles around her eyes reverted back into her regular glasses. “I… am… Twilight Sparkle! And the magic I carry inside me is… the Magic of Friendship!” As she fully embraced the magic within her, the last physical traces of Midnight Sparkle quickly crumbled away. For the first time since that incident back in Canterlot City, Twilight Sparkle was back in full control of her mind.
With a massive burst of magenta magical energy, the compressing dome of brambles was completely torn to shreds, exposing the seven girls inside — with Twilight now ponied up like the rest of her friends. She had pony ears on top of her hair piece, a longer extension to the back of her hair to give the illusion of a tail, a unicorn horn over her forehead attached by her hair piece, and a pair of broad feathered wings on her back attached by a piece around her neck.
Without wasting a single moment, Twilight flew straight up towards the center of the column of brambles and used her magic to pull it apart, exposing the magically corrupted Gloriosa Daisy within.
“No! Stop!” Gloriosa cried out with fierce resistance. She desperately tried to pull her brambles back together, but it was no use.
Twilight next used her magic to tear apart the necklace around Gloriosa’s neck, setting free the seven magical geodes that were attached to it. “I’ll take those,” she casually remarked as she levitated those geodes away from Gloriosa and towards her friends.
As the seven geodes were brought to the rest of the team, Twilight released her magical hold on them, but they continued hovering in the air. In fact, as the geodes began spinning around on their own, they each hovered straight towards a particular member of the team. The yellow geode went to Fluttershy, the orange geode went to Applejack, the blue geode went to Rainbow Dash, the pink geode went to Pinkie Pie, the white geode went to Rarity, the red geode went to Sunset Shimmer, and the purple geode went back up towards Twilight Sparkle.
As the geodes arrived into their possession, the seven girls suddenly went through a remarkable transformation, altering both their wardrobes and their ponied up features. Rainbow Dash now had red on her torso with a vertical medium blue stipe down the middle of the front, light blue on her upper legs, orange on her feet, gold on her lower arms, a red skirt with gold lightning bolts on the sides, gold epaulets on her shoulders, her hair piece had returned to its normal length and was tied back in a standard ponytail, and the feathered wings on her back turned to blue crystals. Applejack now had turquoise on her torso with a gold border along the neck and waist, yellow on her legs, brown on her hands, a turquoise skirt, and a few more hair ties along the length of her hair piece. Fluttershy now had pale green on her torso with some pale blue around the neck, white on her upper legs, magenta on her lower legs, purple on her lower arms, a pale green skirt with pale blue on the front, purple epaulets on her shoulders, and the feathered wings on her back turned to green crystals. Pinkie Pie now had magenta on her torso with some pale yellow down the middle of the front, magenta on her upper legs and feet, pale yellow on her arms, magenta on her hands, a magenta skirt with pale yellow on the front, magenta epaulets on her shoulders, and her hair piece was reshaped into a pair of short pigtails on the back. Rarity now had medium blue on her torso with some pale blue down the middle of the front and back, dark blue on her upper legs, purple on her lower legs and lower arms, a pale blue skirt with a pair of medium blue stripes on the front and back, and her hair piece was reshaped completely tied back into a very long ponytail. Sunset Shimmer now had red on her torso with a horizontal stipe of yellow flames across the front and a golden sun on the front of the waist, black on her upper legs, orange on her lower legs with a gold band along the top, orange on her lower arms, a red skirt with a border of yellow flames along the bottom, gold epaulets on her shoulders, and her hair piece was reshaped completely tied back into a very long ponytail with a crown of half a golden sun on top of her head. And finally, Twilight Sparkle now had light blue on her torso with a white long V-shape over the front, medium blue on her upper legs, light blue on her lower legs with a magenta six-pointed star over the knees, light blue on her upper arms, magenta on her hands, the feathered wings on her back turned to light blue crystals, and her glasses were replaced with a translucent pink visor.
With their new magical transformation complete, the seven girls smiled as they all hovered into the air and began to glow with the colors of their respective geodes. The seven glowing colors then extended upwards into a large beam of bright light that struck the top of the citywide bramble dome, and those very bright lights then quickly extended across all of Lego City. The brilliant magical energy touched every single piece of plant material that had been unleashed, turned them all to crystal, and finally shattered it all into dust that began to gently fall like snow. Lego City was finally free.
All across Lego City, citizens began to emerge from their hiding places and looked around. They were initially confused as they watched the crystal dust slowly falling all around, but then they also noticed the absence of overgrowth, woodfigs, and especially the massive barrier. As many of them looked towards the sun setting on the horizon, the people of Lego City began to smile and mutter words of excitement now that they realized the threat was finally over.
Back on the street where the final moments of the battle had taken place, the now free Timber Spruce slowly stood up and looked around in confusion. His gaze soon fell on the seemingly motionless form of Gloriosa Daisy — now completely stripped of all that dark magic and finally back to normal — lying down on the street. He quickly ran over to her, then knelt down beside her and quietly asked, “Gloriosa?”
Gloriosa gradually began to stir. She slowly opened her eyes and gazed up at her brother, who was now smiling down at her. “What… what happened?” she asked shakily, her voice expressing just how traumatized she felt at this moment.
Timber embraced his sister and calmly assured her, “It’s okay… It’s gonna be okay…”
Neither of the two siblings said a word to each other as they continued to hug. At one point, Timber glanced upwards and smiled at Twilight, who was still hovering in the air with the rest of her friends.
Twilight silently returned the smile, then she and her friends all clasped hands and slowly descended back down to the street.
As soon as the seven girls from Canterlot City touched down, various civilians began to crowd around and cheered excitedly for the team that had once again saved their city and possibly the whole world too. Some enthusiastic civilians were even taking pictures of the group and their new crystal style outfits.
“Wow, we sure seem pretty popular,” remarked Twilight.
“That shouldn’t be so surprising,” stated Chase McCain as he suddenly stepped out from within the crowd. “This is now the fourth time you’ve defeated a monster powered by Equestrian magic and saved countless innocent lives. It’s no wonder everyone sees you as a team of heroes, especially with those superpowers and those costumes.”
Right at that moment, Spike had managed to push his way through the gathered crowd and ran towards Twilight as he excitedly shouted, “Yeah! You girls did it!” He and Twilight hugged each other for a moment, then he stepped back once he noticed something around Twilight’s neck and remarked, “Whoa, nice bling.”
Twilight and all six of her friends looked down and noticed that the magical geodes they had just obtained had now turned into necklace pieces around their necks, with the front part being a small round pendant with a symbol printed on it. Twilight’s was purple with a magenta six-pointed star, Sunset’s was red with an orange sun, Rarity’s was white with a blue diamond, Applejack’s was orange with three red apples, Pinkie’s was pink with three magenta balloons, Fluttershy’s was yellow with three pink butterflies, and Rainbow’s was blue with a dark blue cloud and lightning bolt.
Applejack grasped her pendant and held it up. “What are these?” she asked as she looked closely at it.
“I’m not sure,” replied Sunset as she and the others also looked at their respective pendants. “But clearly we have some kind of connection to them.”
“I almost don’t care what they are,” remarked an awestruck Rarity as she stared at her pendant with a smile. “They are gorgeous! And they perfectly complement these special outfits we were just granted.” She suddenly gasped and looked to her friends as she asked, “Are these magical outfits temporary? I sincerely hope not, because I would love for us to be able to wear them again on special occasions.”
“With all the pictures these people are taking of us,” remarked Rainbow Dash as she gestured at the surrounding crowd that was still cheering and taking pictures, “I’m sure you can easily recreate these outfits if you have to.”
Chase walked up to Twilight and handed something to her as he said, “I believe this is yours. Found it lying on the street.”
Twilight glanced at the object in her hand and quickly realized that it was the handle of her plasma blade. She smiled at the police officer and replied, “Thanks, Chase.” She moved to put the handle away as she had previously, then paused, glanced over herself, and muttered with embarrassment, “I just realized this outfit has no pockets.”
“Here, I’ll hold it for you,” offered Spike as he held his hand out.
Twilight said nothing as she smiled and rolled her eyes before handing her plasma blade over to her trusty assistant.
After Spike took the blade handle and stuffed it into his back pants pocket, he remarked, “Cool visor, by the way.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion, then reached up to remove her glasses and finally noticed that she was actually now wearing that visor instead. “Oh, I guess that explains why everything suddenly had a weird pinkish tint,” she muttered in amusement. Her smile quickly turned to a frown when she noticed how blurry her vision had become with that visor removed. She put her visor back on and her vision was suddenly back to the same clarity she was used to with her normal glasses. She sighed and grumbled, “I finally embraced the good side of Equestrian magic, and it still can’t repair my damaged eyesight. I guess it really is a scar I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life.”
Pinkie Pie suddenly stood next to Twilight and remarked, “But on the bright side, at least you got that really cool visor.”
Twilight smiled and said, “Yeah, I guess that’s true. And since I’ve got some spare pairs of glasses back home that are identical to the original, I can set this aside for special occasions — assuming these outfits aren’t temporary, of course.” She suddenly gasped and excitedly added, “I could even use this visor as a template to design an upgraded version of my special spectacles!”
The surrounding crowd suddenly started to quiet down and looked over in a certain direction. The team turned back and saw Timber Spruce and Gloriosa Daisy were slowly walking towards them. Gloriosa was apparently so weakened that she held an arm around her brother’s shoulders for support.
When they stopped right in front of the team, Gloriosa — with a remorseful look on her face as she stared down at her feet — hesitated before she shamefully said, “I am so sorry. I just… I just wanted to help people in desperate need. I wanted to do what I could to protect them from heartless monsters, but instead… I became one myself.” Tears began to fall down her cheeks and her voiced started to break. “I… I-I probably don’t deserve any forgiveness for what I’ve done.”
Sunset stepped forward and smiled as she calmly said, “Actually, I would beg to differ.”
Gloriosa continued quietly sobbing as she turned her gaze up and stared at Sunset in confusion.
“In case you haven’t heard by now,” continued Sunset, “Twilight and I have both been through similar experiences. If both of us could be forgiven for what we’ve done… them I’m sure the same can be said for you, as well.”
The tears continued to fall as Gloriosa wiped them away, but at least now she was able to smile for the first time in quite a while. It seemed in that moment that Timber was right — everything was going to be okay.
“There you are!”
And that pleasant moment was quickly ruined as Filthy Rich suddenly barged his way out of the crowd and marched right over to Gloriosa. Once he stopped, he stared firmly at Gloriosa with a look of pure rage as he growled, “You, young missy, are in so much trouble for what you’ve done!” He snapped his attention towards Chase McCain and shouted, “Officer! I demand that you arrest her immediately and have her sent off to LEGO Maximum Security Prison for the rest of her life!”
Everyone turned to Chase. He hesitated for a moment before he casually replied, “Yeeeaaahhh— No.”
“What?!” exclaimed Filthy Rich in shock.
Chase simply folded his arms as he explained, “First of all, I don’t care how rich you are — I don’t take orders from you. That’s Chief Dunby’s job, okay? And second, Gloriosa just expressed how terribly sorry she is for causing this mess, and if I’m not mistaken, that’s pretty much exactly how Twilight Sparkle here reacted after the Midnight Sparkle incident over in Canterlot City. So why should I arrest Gloriosa when Twilight was not arrested under virtually identical circumstances?”
“She explicitly threatened me prior to her magical corruption!” argued Filthy Rich.
“And Twilight did exactly the same thing to Abacus Cinch,” Chase pointed out.
“That doesn’t count!” Filthy Rich shot back. “That old lady was trying to overthrow the Lego World’s leadership. I’m just trying to run a legitimate business!”
“That’s far enough, Mister Rich!”
Everyone gathered the in area turned back and saw the crowd had parted to allow Kjeld Playwell to step onto the scene.
“Finally, some real authority!” exclaimed Filthy Rich in exasperation. “Mister Playwell, I must ask that you order the immediate arrest of Gloriosa Daisy for the unprecedented devastation she unleashed upon this city!”
Kjeld glanced over at Gloriosa, who hung her head and looked away shamefully, then turned back to Filthy Rich and stated, “I don’t think that will be necessary.”
Filthy Rich was absolutely flabbergasted that his seemingly sensible demand was once again completely rejected. He was practically on the verge of losing his mind as he argued, “Y-y-you cannot be serious?! We’ve just suffered yet another magical monster who threated the Lego World. These incidents always end with somebody going to prison!”
Kjeld raised an eyebrow and asked, “Would you rather that somebody be yourself? Because as far as I’m aware, it was your actions that pushed Gloriosa to the point where she felt that stealing Equestrian magic would be her only way out.”
Filthy Rich stuttered as he struggled to come up with a quick response, but for once, he was at a complete loss for words.
“Didn’t think so,” muttered Kjeld.
“I’d argue that Filthy Rich deserves to go to prison more than Gloriosa,” stated Sunset, “but I get the feeling that, unlike Cinch, Rich hasn’t done enough bad things to justify placing him under arrest.”
“I agree,” said Kjeld with a nod. “Mister Rich may be a real pain in the rear who just pushed someone to their breaking point, but that’s not quite a legitimate excuse to have him arrested right here right now.”
“So what are we going to do about all of this?” asked Twilight.
Kjeld sighed loudly and rubbed his hand over his face as he grumbled, “There’s no doubt about it… this is a very complicated situation…” After a few seconds, he removed his hand from his face and took a deep breath. Finally, he answered, “I shall arrange a meeting tomorrow afternoon. We are all going to sit down at a table and have a little discussion about what went wrong, who is truly to blame, and what steps we can take to prevent any similar incidents from ever happening again.”
Everyone remained silent after that announcement. None of them had any reason to argue against it, nor could any of them come up with any better solutions. It was extremely difficult to believe that complicated problems could ever have a simple solution, and in a very complex situation like this, talking it out seemed to be the most logical solution.
Kjeld noticed the Jump-Gate return device that was still attached to Twilight’s arm, so he added, “I can see you still have Jump-Gate access, so I would suggest that we all go home and get some rest. Trust me, you’re going to need it.” He then turned away and began walking away from the gathering in the street.
As the surrounding crowd slowly dispersed, no words were exchanged between anyone. Filthy Rich stormed off without any comment on the matter, Timber silently comforted his traumatized sister, and the seven girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team simply glanced at one another in uncertainty.
They had won the battle tonight, but tomorrow, they would have to deal with the aftermath.
The next day, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle found themselves standing beside each other in front of a large wooden door. After defeating the magically corrupted Gloriosa Daisy the previous evening, they and their friends returned to their homes in Canterlot City, put away their new magical crystal uniforms, and got a good night’s rest, as Kjeld had suggested. They spent the morning getting ready in any way they could for the upcoming meeting, and before they knew it, the scheduled starting time in the afternoon had arrived. Now it was simply a matter of going to the location where the meeting would take place, which wasn’t made official until just hours prior to the meeting. Needless to say, there was a lot of anxiety for what was about to take place.
Sunset turned to Twilight and asked, “You ready?”
Twilight lowered her head as she sighed and muttered, “I don’t know…”
Sunset placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder and said, “I know you’re not exactly thrilled with the choice of location, but I’m afraid it’s too late to do anything about that. Everyone else is either on their way or already here, so we’ll just have to put up with it.”
Twilight and Sunset were standing in one of the many hallways of the Crystal Castle, which served as the main LEGO Team Headquarters Building for the Castle Region. It was also home to Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor, the leaders of the Castle Region, and close relatives to Twilight, who had not seen her since she originally left the Castle Region to join the Shadowbolts.
Twilight let out another sigh and grumbled, “I bet Cadance volunteered to host the meeting the instant she heard about it, just so she could make sure that I would be forced to see her and my brother for the first time in years.”
Sunset rolled her eyes and smiled as she responded, “I’m pretty sure she had plenty of other reasons than that.” She paused briefly before she added, “Though I guess it wouldn’t surprise me if she had that thought in mind.”
Twilight didn’t even glance over at Sunset as she shook her head in disapproval. After a brief pause, she sadly muttered, “Too bad we can’t let the rest of our friends join us in the meeting.”
“Yeah, especially considering they did just as much as we did to save Lego City,” agreed Sunset. “But I can also see why it probably wouldn’t be such a good idea to have some of them attend such a very important meeting like this.” She then smiled and jokingly added, “I bet they probably just didn’t have enough chairs for all of us.”
Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “A petty reason, if there ever was one,” she remarked.
“By the way,” added Sunset, “are you sure it was a good idea to leave Spike alone at your apartment back in Canterlot City?”
“Don’t worry,” assured Twilight. “He may be a juvenile, but he’s responsible enough to take care of himself. After all, back when I was a Shadowbolt agent, I would always leave him alone back at my home base while I went out on missions.”
“Right, I forgot about that,” noted Sunset.
“Besides,” added Twilight, “he usually spends his time either reading comic books or playing video games, so as long as my parental surveillance system remains functional, I have little reason to be concerned about him.”
Sunset heard a faint tone come from her phone. She pulled it out and saw the notification with the current time displayed. It was now officially time for the meeting to begin. She put away her phone, then turned to Twilight and asked, “Ready?”
Twilight sighed one more time and reluctantly replied, “Not like I have much choice, I suppose…”
Sunset grabbed the door handle, pushed the door open, and stepped into the conference room. Twilight hesitated for a moment, then followed Sunset into the room and closed the door behind her.
Remarkably, there were only two other people in the conference room at the moment — Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor. Shining Armor was wearing his typical golden medieval armor and white cape, while Cadance was wearing her dark turquoise civilian outfit instead of her lavender princess dress. Once they both turned to see who had just entered the room, they froze as their eyes fell on Twilight.
At first, no one said anything. After a moment of absolute silence, Shining Armor slowly walked over to Twilight and, with a smile on his face, embraced her in a hug.
Twilight was initially hesitant, but once her brother embraced her, she quickly returned the hug. Right away, the rare good memories she had while growing up in the Castle Region started flooding back to her. As a child, she could always rely on her older brother to assure her that, no matter how bad things might get at times, everything would be okay.
“It’s been so long, Twily,” whispered Shining Armor.
Right away, Twilight also began to feel immense remorse for the past few years. They had started growing distant in the months leading up to the night she left the Castle Region, and once she did finally leave, she was ashamed to recall that she had cared little about him at that time. She had certainly heard about how desperately her brother had tried to find her — to the point where he practically neglected all of his other duties for a while — and while she did feel a little guilty about it, it was only now that she fully comprehended the emotional distress she had carelessly placed upon him for years. As tears began to fall from her eyes, she whispered, “I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done to you.”
“It’s okay, Twilight,” assured Cadance as she approached the reunited siblings. “We understand that you’ve been through a lot. The important thing is that we forgive you, and that we finally got this chance to see each other again.”
After over a minute, Twilight and Shining finally separated from their heartwarming hug. “I see you’re wearing glasses now,” noted Shining Armor.
Suddenly reminded that she didn’t need glasses before she joined the Shadowbolts, Twilight dropped her gaze and shamefully replied, “Let’s just say it’s because of a scar from my dark past.”
Cadance nodded in understanding. “Regardless of your past,” she assured her sister-in-law, “I’m just proud that you were able to move past all of that and build a better life for yourself.”
“Cadance and I talked about this,” added Shining Armor. “As much as we’d like to see you again more often, we’ve agreed that if you really do feel happier staying in Canterlot City instead of coming back here… then we’d be completely okay with it.”
Twilight quickly turned her gaze back up and smiled as she said, “Wow… Thank you so much for being so understanding! You’re right, I do feel much happier living in Canterlot City with my new friends. It’s almost like I was meant to be there, all along.” As a thought occurred to her, her smile fell and she hesitantly asked, “Um… do my parents know about…?”
“No, not yet at least,” confessed Shining Armor. “I just haven’t had the heart to tell them what you’ve been up to since you left. As far as they know, you’re still missing without a trace.” He paused and let out a sigh of sadness. “They’ve been living in relative isolation for years now. They actually blame themselves considerably for what happened to you. I just don’t want to even imagine how they might react if I told them about Midnight Sparkle…”
Twilight silently nodded in understanding. She had to admit that she still held some resentment against her parents for how she felt they kept holding her back while she was growing up. The fact that they actually blamed themselves for her supposed disappearance actually gave her a faint glimmer of hope that, one day, perhaps she might be able to see them again.
The door suddenly creaked open and in stepped Gloriosa Daisy. She was only halfway into the conference room when she suddenly stopped upon seeing who was in the room and said with embarrassment, “Oh! Sorry. Am I interrupting?”
“No, not at all,” assured Sunset. “We’re just a little early, that’s all.”
As Gloriosa walked into the room and closed the door, Cadance gestured towards the conference table and said, “Go ahead and have a seat. I imagine the rest of this meeting’s attendees will be here soon.”
The conference table in the middle of the room was a long rectangle. At one end of the table were two large chairs with the Creative Marks of Cadance and Shining Armor printed on them, and the long sides of the table had three unmarked chairs along each of them. While Cadance and Shining Armor took their designated seats at the end of the table, the three girls present decided to sit together along the side of the table that was beside the windows, opposite from the side that was beside the door. Twilight sat on the left end so that she could be close to her brother and sister-in-law, Sunset sat in the middle, and that left Gloriosa to sit on the right end.
As soon as all five of them were seated, the door suddenly opened and in walked Filthy Rich. “Let’s just get this over with,” he grumbled as he shut the door. “I have a lot of important business to deal with.” His bitterness of simply being here was made more evident when he decided to seat himself in the chair that was closest to the door. However, this left him sitting directly across the table from Gloriosa, and while he did not hesitate to immediately glare at her, she looked down and away from him, refusing to look him in the eye.
“So I guess this means we’re just waiting on Kjeld now,” noted Sunset.
“Actually, there’s one more person we invited to attend this meeting,” Shining Armor pointed out.
“Who did you invite?” asked Twilight.
Before either of the meeting’s co-hosts could answer, the door opened and in walked a guy with standard yellow skin, wore a dark grey business suit with a red tie, and had an orange hair piece that was in a rather blocky shape. With a smile on his face and a red coffee mug in his hand, he cheerfully greeted, “Hey! Hi there! How’s it going? Nice to see you all. Let’s get down to business, shall we?” He set down his mug on the table and seated himself in the middle chair, directly across from Sunset.
Gloriosa stared at the new guest with her jaw gaping. “President Business?!” she asked in shock. She frowned as she turned to the meeting’s co-hosts and asked accusingly, “You invited President Business to this meeting?!”
“I understand he may seem like an unorthodox choice,” replied Cadance, “but considering his past, we believe he can provide us with a unique perspective that would benefit all parties involved in this meeting.”
“Fine by me,” said Filthy Rich. “It’ll be nice to have someone on my side here.”
“Hey, I’m not here to take sides with anyone, okay?” emphasized President Business. “They just told me to provide any insight I can whenever it’s needed.” He took a sip from his mug of coffee, then asked, “So when can we get started?”
“As soon as Kjeld gets here, we can begin this meeting,” replied Cadance.
Everyone seated at the conference table waited in silence. Nobody said anything as the seconds ticked by. Sunset crossed her legs to get more comfortable, Cadance tapped her hand against the table a few times, Twilight took a moment to clean her glasses, Gloriosa scratched the back of her head, Shining Armor coughed once into his elbow, and President Business took another sip from his mug.
After over a minute of waiting, Filthy Rich checked his wristwatch, then sighed and grumbled, “What’s taking him so long? I would’ve expected the leader of the entire Lego World to be more punctual than this.”
Finally, the door opened and everyone turned their attention towards it. However, the minifig that stepped through was not Kjeld Playwell, but rather his son Thomas.
“I apologize on my father’s behalf,” stated Thomas as he shut the door and walked over to the last remaining seat. “I’m afraid he will be unable to attend this meeting, as he is too busy overseeing clean-up efforts in Lego City. Instead he has requested that I attend in his place.” Once he was seated between President Buisiness and Cadance, he glanced around at everyone else in the room, then added, “Seeing as everyone else is already accounted for, I believe we may now proceed with this conference.”
“Agreed,” said Shining Armor with a nod.
Cadance took a deep breath and began, “Okay, let’s start by discussing what exactly happened that brought about this latest magical incident.”
“I think we can all agree it’s quite simple,” stated Filthy Rich. “Gloriosa somehow got her hands on some Equestrian magic and it turned her into an evil monster that threatened to destroy the world.”
“I’m afraid you’re missing a lot of key details, Mister Rich,” argued Sunset. “Yes, the Equestrian magic she got did turn her into a monster, but even with that corruption, she did not seek to destroy the world. Instead, she was intending to protect innocent people. Obviously, she went about it in totally all the wrong ways, but the point is that chaos and destruction were never her original intents.”
“How exactly did Gloriosa even obtain this magic in the first place?” asked Shining Armor.
Gloriosa took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and then explained, “About a week into my recent goodwill mission to the Dark Forest subregion, I came across a cave, and within that cave were seven glowing tiny crystals. In a moment of careless curiosity, I ended up with five of them under my control. Those magical geodes gave me the power to grow and manipulate plant material, and I spent the following weeks secretly practicing my new powers, hoping that I could somehow use them to protect poor and helpless people from those who would threaten their livelihoods.” She narrowed her eyes at Filthy Rich as she spoke that last sentence.
Filthy Rich responded by folding his arms and returning a similar glare.
Gloriosa relaxed as she turned back to Cadance and Shining Armor and shamefully finished, “It was only yesterday when I went back to grab the two remaining geodes that I turned into the monster you all saw.”
“And why did you go back to grab those two remaining magical geodes?” asked Cadance. “What made you believe that obtaining more of that power was somehow such a preferable option?”
Gloriosa sighed and answered, “I’ll admit that I wasn’t thinking too clearly at that particular moment. Only minutes earlier, I had gotten into a rather heated argument with Filthy Rich. He bragged so much about how he could just take any property he wanted and get away with it, and considering how little the higher authorities had done anything about it, I became convinced that the only way to stop such a heartless brute… was for me to take matters into my own hands… regardless of the consequences.”
“I find it hard to believe that such vicious hatred could develop overnight,” said Shining Armor doubtfully.
“And you’re absolutely correct,” acknowledged Gloriosa. “My brother and I own a summer camp in the Everfree Forest that’s been in our family for generations. Mister Rich has repeatedly asked to purchase the property, but we always keep telling him no. After his latest attempt got especially annoying, I felt that the goodwill mission to the Dark Forest would help me to relax, but instead I found him attempting to survey the region in hopes of purchasing that land, too. And once I overheard him discussing his full plans for his business, well… that slap in the face I gave him pretty much showed that I had hit a point of no return. I was so convinced that those magical geodes were my only option that not even my brother could talk me out of it.”
Shining Armor leaned back in his seat and sighed. It really hit him that this girl’s brother had apparently tried his best to keep his sister out of serious trouble. In a way, it was not hard for him to imagine that, at a certain time, he and his own sister could’ve easily ended up in a similar situation.
Cadance leaned forward and said, “Then it seems to me that you’ve put up with this… harassment for so long, that the recent events simply pushed you to your breaking point.” She turned to Filthy Rich and asked, “Mister Rich, has it ever occurred to you that your actions were having such a negative psychological impact on people like Gloriosa, and would potentially lead to some severe consequences?”
“I never anticipated that she would have any impact on my enterprise, so I never really saw any reason to care,” replied Filthy Rich with a shrug. “And let’s face it, how could anyone have expected that she would somehow obtain such powerful magic?”
“Just because you don’t see someone as a threat doesn’t mean you can just trample all over them and expect them to do nothing,” argued Sunset. “Believe me, I made that mistake when Princess Twilight of Equestria first came to the Lego World.”
“Same here,” agreed President Business. “The old me was so confident in my absolute total control over everything that I thought taking out a little resistance would be child’s play. Boy, did I get proven wrong when the entire city of Bricksburg decided to rise up into an all-out rebellion.”
“These are all just extreme cases,” said Filthy Rich dismissively.
“I think you’re really missing the point here, Mister Rich,” Twilight spoke up. “On your latest attempt to acquire the Camp Everfree property, Timber Spruce told me that he had to, and I quote, ‘literally build a wall, just to keep the bulldozers out.’”
“You threatened the property owners with bulldozers?!” snapped Shining Armor.
“No, of course not!” Filthy Rich defended himself. “I know very well that destruction of any property that isn’t mine is highly illegal. I simply had them on standby for once it became mine, because I was so sure that I could finally convince them to sell by offering them more than double the property value.”
President Business suddenly did a spit-take onto the table, then exclaimed in shock, “What?! Are you serious?!”
Filthy Rich responded, “I know that sounds like a ridiculous amount to spend, but I can assure you—”
“No, that’s not what’s ridiculous about it!” argued President Business. “What is ridiculous is that you were persistent enough to offer them that much, and they still refused the offer! That to me is a big red flag that says, ‘Not for sale! Go away and never bug us again, or we’ll sue your pants off!’” He took another sip from his mug of coffee, then turned to Gloriosa and added, “Seriously, I’m surprised you haven’t tried filing a lawsuit against this guy by now.”
“Oh, Timber and I certainly considered it,” replied Gloriosa, “but due to Filthy Rich’s reputation for having an army of lawyers, we agreed that it was simply not a practical solution.”
“Then perhaps my father and I should do something about that,” Thomas spoke up. “We could impose a restriction on the number of lawyers any individual is permitted to hire, regardless of their wealth.” He turned to his left to face Rich and Business and firmly stated, “Money should never triumph over justice.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” agreed Sunset. “Also, if refusing to sell should really be seen as a ‘big red flag’, then I’d also like to suggest something that could emphasize that. Maybe we could set up some kind of registry, where all property and items that are listed will send a very clear message to all potentially interested buyers that they shouldn’t even bother.”
“A Not-For-Sale Registry? Brilliant idea!” agreed President Business excitedly. He turned to Thomas and added, “If you’re able to set up such a registry, I’d like to put the Octan Tower on it first. That place is like my personal castle, and I wouldn’t give it up for all the money in the universe.”
Thomas nodded and replied, “I believe my father and I can make that possible.”
“I fail to see why any of this is necessary,” complained Filthy Rich. “As far as I’m concerned, everything is for sale, for the right price. That’s my favorite philosophy in life.”
“Oh really?” asked Sunset slyly with a raised eyebrow. “Then what would be your asking price for, say… your daughter?”
Filthy Rich’s eyes widened in shock at that question.
“I believe her name is Diamond Tiara, correct?” continued Sunset. “Anyway, what would you take for her? A hundred thousand? A million? Ten million?”
“My daughter is not for sale!” snapped Filthy Rich as he aggressively pounded the table.
“But I thought you said everything is for sale,” responded Sunset playfully with a smile. “Are you now suddenly saying that your favorite philosophy in life is completely and totally wrong?”
Filthy Rich tried to respond, but he stuttered as he struggled to find the right words.
President Business burst out laughing loudly, then pointed at Rich and tauntingly exclaimed, “Oh, burn! She got you good with that one!”
Filthy Rich leaned back in his chair and folded his arm as he growled in frustration. After taking a breath to at least somewhat relax himself, he turned to Thomas and asked, “If this registry goes into effect, what would be the penalty for attempting to purchase something listed on it?”
“I believe a standard system of fines should suffice,” replied Thomas.
“Fine by me,” muttered Rich in agreement.
“Actually, Thomas,” Twilight spoke up, “I don’t think that would be enough.”
“What do you mean?” asked Cadance.
Twilight looked towards Filthy Rich as she replied, “People like Filthy Rich are so wealthy that they believe they can get away with minor violations because they can easily pay off any fines without even putting a dent into their finances. I’d like to discourage this practice by proposing a radical new system of fines.”
“What new system are you proposing?” asked Thomas.
“Rather than having all offenders pay a fine of a specific value for every offense,” explained Twilight, “this new system would force them to pay fines that vary on the basis of a percentage, and repeat offenders will need to pay increasingly higher percentages. For a first offense, the offender will need to pay one percent of their entire personal net worth. Second offense, the offender must pay two percent of their personal net worth. Third offense, three percent. Fourth offense, four percent, and so on.”
“Are you implying that for their one hundredth offense, the offender must spend their entire personal net worth on just one fine?” asked Shining Armor.
“In theory, yes,” replied Twilight. “But in practice, I doubt that even the dumbest people in the universe would even reach fifty offenses before they learn their lesson and make sure to never commit such illegal activity ever again.”
“A fair point, indeed,” said Thomas with a nod of agreement.
“Are you really taking this seriously?!” asked Filthy Rich accusingly. “This is pure madness!”
“I understand that this is a highly radical proposal,” assured Thomas. “I have serious doubts about its effectiveness as well, but you know what they say: nothing ventured, nothing gained. I will consult with my father and see if he will agree to try this system for when we establish the Not-For-Sale Registry. All existing fines for other offenses will remain unaltered for the time being.”
“By the way, Mister Rich,” Shining Armor spoke up, “did I hear correctly that you were planning to purchase the Dark Forest subregion?”
Before Filthy Rich could respond, Gloriosa replied, “Along with countless other regions all over the Lego World, just like what President Business once did.” When everyone in the room gave her questioning looks, she simply shrugged and added, “I did say I had overheard him bragging about his full plans for his business.”
When everyone turned to Filthy Rich, he casually said, “I don’t see what the big deal is. President Business was allowed to keep all of the land he acquired, so why can’t I be permitted to build a worldwide enterprise of my own?”
“According to my father,” explained Thomas, “there was some severe oversight when President Business was acquiring his territory. By the time his offenses had been confirmed, he had already learned his lessons the hard way and showed willingness to reform, so he was given the benefit of doubt and permitted to remain as owner of these regions. He has so far done well to prove himself worthy of fair and just leadership over these regions.”
Thomas looked hard at Filthy Rich as he continued, “You, on the other hand, have not yet proven yourself trustworthy enough of such responsibilities. Ruling over a region is not the same as running a business. And considering the struggles these regions had to initially endure under President Business, it shouldn’t be so surprising that many other regions would prefer to not risk going through a similar experience.”
“Take the Castle Region, for example,” continued Shining Armor. “As co-rulers over the entire region, Cadance and I are the ones who ultimately claim ownership to these lands. Back when President Business purchased Middle Zealand, I was in the middle of a desperate search for my sister, and I’ll concede that I was so desperate to find her that I just didn’t care what happened to that subregion, so long as I got the money to continue financing my search. These days, not only is that distraction obviously gone…” He nodded at Twilight sitting to his right. “…but also I’m now completely committed to protecting the entire region from any outside threats.”
“And if I was interested in purchasing certain portions of the Castle Region, what would be your answer?” asked Filthy Rich. He knew he was pushing his luck, but he felt that it would be his best opportunity to get an honest answer on the matter.
“Absolutely not!” Shining Armor sharply responded as he pounded the table. “All territory under my protection will be placed on the Not-For-Sale Registry, once it goes into effect. And if I ever receive word that you’re making surveying efforts anywhere in the Castle Region, I will send in an army to have your workers removed by force. Do you really want your reputation to be blemished by a military intervention?”
“Just try to stick with the City Regions, Mister Rich,” added Cadance calmly. “Trust me, you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches.”
Filthy Rich let out a frustrated sigh and grumbled, “Very well.”
President Business took another sip of coffee from his mug before he asked, “So does that cover all the important things for this meeting?”
Shining Armor pulled out a sheet of parchment and glanced over what was written on it. “We have already discussed what caused the incident in Lego City yesterday, and have made some agreements on how we can prevent a similar incident from ever happening again, so now that just leaves us with determining where the blame lies and how the guilty parties should be punished.”
Filthy Rich leaned back in his chair and let out an exasperated sigh before he grumbled with sarcasm, “And here we go with the witch hunt…”
Thomas turned to Filthy Rich and said, “Although you are correct to acknowledge that some of the blame does go to you, I think that everything we’ve already discussed here would serve as punishment enough for you.”
Filthy Rich immediately sat up and looked towards Thomas. “Are you serious?” he asked in astonishment.
“It would be a disservice to my family’s pacifist values if I did not show mercy every now and then,” replied Thomas. “All these policy changes we have proposed here are obviously going to work against your personal interests, so I see no reason to take any further action against you for what you have done.”
Filthy Rich relaxed in his seat and let out a sigh of relief. “Thank Ole I never have to fear retribution from a vindictive ruler,” he muttered in satisfaction.
Thomas glanced across everyone at the table as he stated, “And as I’m sure you may have anticipated, that just leaves Gloriosa Daisy.”
As everyone turned to her, Gloriosa sighed sadly and said, “I am very sorry for everything I did. Whatever punishment awaits me, I will accept it without any resistance. I can only hope that everyone will forgive me one day.”
“That is good to hear,” said Thomas with a smile and a nod. “Your willingness to seek forgiveness shows that you are very unlikely to repeat your mistakes, and therefore you do not deserve to be sent to prison.”
Filthy Rich leaned back in his seat and noted, “So it seems this truly is the first time that none of the guilty people will be sent to prison for a major magical incident.” He smiled as he looked towards Twilight and added, “And here I once thought that the Playwell family simply showed favoritism to certain individuals like you.”
Twilight was initially confused, but then Sunset confidently spoke up, “Oh, it’s actually quite simple how Twilight avoided being sent to prison. You see, after Abacus Cinch was arrested and the Shadowbolts were disbanded, Kjeld wanted to prevent any of those former agents from following Cinch’s example, so in order to encourage these former agents to seek better lives and forget any thoughts about vengeance, he granted a full pardon to all former Shadowbolt agents who confessed to all crimes they had committed while serving in that underground organization. Naturally, this pardon also extended to Twilight, and since she was still technically a Shadowbolt agent for the duration of that Midnight Sparkle incident, that meant the only reason she avoided being sent to prison for the incident was because she submitted a full written confession of all the crimes she had committed — including her actions during the Midnight Sparkle incident.” Sunset then smiled and folded her arms as she leaned back in her seat.
“Wow,” remarked President Business in astonishment. “That’s pretty impressive.”
“I always had the feeling I got off way too easy…” mumbled Twilight.
“Technicalities aside,” said Thomas to Twilight, “You and Sunset are real examples of how much more beneficial it is to forgive those who truly regret their crimes than to simply incarcerate them.”
“So what does this mean for me?” asked Gloriosa.
Thomas turned to Gloriosa and replied, “As I said, you will not be going to prison, thanks to how much you now regret those terrible actions you took.” He then frowned. “However, you could have very well chosen not to take those magical geodes that ultimately corrupted you, but you chose to do it anyway, and it is only fair that you face the consequences of your poor decision. I have already consulted with my father and we have come to an agreement.”
Thomas clasped his hands together and rested his arms on the table as he leaned forward and looked firmly at Gloriosa. “Gloriosa Daisy,” he stated, “you are hereby suspended from the LEGO Team for a full year. You will not be sent on any missions, nor will you be permitted access into any LEGO Team facilities for the duration of your suspension.”
Gloriosa kept her gaze downward as she nodded her head and sadly said, “I understand.”
“Look on the bright side,” assured Sunset. “You could use this year off as an opportunity to return to Camp Everfree full-time. I’m sure it would be a great way for you to relax and take your mind off things.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” said Filthy Rich dismissively.
“Why?” asked Sunset in an accusing tone. “You still plan on finding a way to take it away from her?”
“Oh, I’m not the one who will ultimately take Camp Everfree away from her,” Filthy Rich clarified.
“What do you mean by that?” asked Twilight in confusion.
As Filthy Rich looked around the room and saw everyone give him questioning looks — except for Gloriosa, who simply looked downwards in shame — he smirked and said, “You haven’t heard by now? Camp Everfree is practically drowning in debt. In fact, that’s the whole reason why I wanted to purchase the property and turn it into a much more profitable spa resort. I figured Gloriosa would eventually become so desperate to pay off those debts, she would ultimately give in and sell it to me. I wasn’t being evil. I was just simply trying to take advantage of what looked to me like an excellent opportunity.”
Cadance looked to Gloriosa and asked, “Is this true?”
Gloriosa hesitated for a moment before she finally admitted, “Yes…”
“How bad is it?” asked Twilight.
Gloriosa shamefully answered, “I’m barely able to make minimum payments, but that covers little more than just interest.”
“Well, maybe we can help,” offered Sunset.
Gloriosa looked up at Sunset in confusion.
“All of my friends said they once visited your camp when they were younger,” continued Sunset. “I’m sure that once they find out the real threat to it, they’ll do everything they can to raise enough money to cover all of those debts.”
“You would really do that for me?” asked Gloriosa as tears formed in her eyes.
“You’ve already been through a lot,” replied Twilight with a smile. “It’s the least we could do.”
Gloriosa smiled as she sniffed back her tears and said, “Thank you… Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“Just doing what we can to help out,” assured Sunset.
Gloriosa then frowned and worriedly said, “I’m afraid you girls will have your work cut out for you. I’ve got a lot of big overdue payments that need to be made in no more than two months, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to afford it this time.”
“Don’t worry, Gloriosa,” assured Twilight. “We’ll figure things out and get to work on fundraising as soon as possible.”
“In other words,” added Sunset with a playful smirk, “we’ve got this.”
Gloriosa couldn’t help but giggle lightly at that use of her catchphrase.
Shining Armor looked over his sheet of parchment again and said, “I believe that covers just about all the important subjects for this meeting.” He looked up at everyone and asked, “Does anyone here wish to discuss anything else?”
Everyone glanced around at one another, but nobody spoke up.
“Then I suppose we can now call this meeting adjourned,” concluded Cadance. She and Shining Armor stood up and she stated, “Dismissed.”
Filthy Rich was the first one out of his chair. As he made his way to the door, he pulled out his phone and began dialing as he grumbled, “Better inform my lawyers that I’ll be giving them an immediate employee evaluation. Once these new laws go into effect, I’ll need these guys properly ranked so I’ll know who to let go.”
As Filthy Rich left the room, President Business finished the last of his coffee, then stood up and contently said, “Well, this has been great. Glad I could help you guys out. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my office.” He then turned away and left the room.
While Thomas began speaking with Cadance and Shining Armor, Gloriosa, Sunset, and Twilight all headed out the door and into the hallway. “I think we’d better meet up with the others and wait with them until we’re all ready to get going,” suggested Twilight.
“Sounds good to me,” agreed Gloriosa with a nod as she and Twilight began heading down the hallway to the right.
“You two go on ahead,” said Sunset as she turned to the left to go down the opposite end of the hallway. “I’m just gonna go for a little walk. All the things we just talked about in that conference room… it’s just a lot to take in, you know?”
“I understand,” agreed Twilight. “I kinda wanna talk to our friends about it, anyway.”
“You’ll know where to find us,” added Gloriosa. “Just try not to get lost in these hallways.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll catch up in a bit,” assured Sunset as she turned away and began walking. Twilight and Gloriosa turned away and began walking down the other end of the hallway.
A short time later, Sunset Shimmer was standing outside on a balcony that overlooked much of the Crystal Castle. She was leaning forward and resting her folded arms on the railing as she gazed out across the spectacular castle landscape and towards the forested hills on the horizon. She was feeling quite relaxed under the clear late afternoon sky and with a light cooling breeze at her face. It almost reminded her of her earlier life back in Equestria.
Creak.
Sunset glanced back and saw the door back into the castle had just been opened, and soon saw that it was Thomas Playwell stepping outside. Sunset smiled, then returned her gaze out towards the amazing view.
Thomas gently shut the door behind him, then walked forward to stand beside Sunset at the balcony’s railing. With his hands clasped behind his back, he didn’t say a word as he also gazed out across the spectacular landscape and smiled.
“Nice day, isn’t it?” remarked Sunset.
“Sure is,” replied Thomas.
“It’s really nice to just relax like this,” said Sunset. “Especially after yet another crazy adventure.”
“You and your team sure have been seeing a lot of action recently, haven’t you?” remarked Thomas.
“I guess you could say it’s becoming a way of life by now,” quipped Sunset.
Sunset and Thomas both chuckled.
As Thomas rested his hands on the railing, Sunset sighed and muttered, “It’s all my fault, really.”
Thomas turned to Sunset and raised an eyebrow. “What is?” he asked.
“All these magical incidents…” explained Sunset shamefully. “None of them would have ever happened if it wasn’t for me. I mean, sure, I was directly responsible for the very first one. But for the three others that followed?” Sunset paused and sighed. “All of them were consequences of my actions during the first incident. I was the one who brought Princess Twilight’s crown — which contained the Magic Element of Harmony — into this world, and since then, Equestrian magic has been spreading throughout the Lego World… a world that was never meant to have such magic…”
As Sunset kept her gaze downward, Thomas took a moment to consider his thoughts as he gazed out across the landscape. He knew that what he had in mind was a sensitive subject, but he felt that it had to be addressed as soon as possible. “Sunset?” he finally spoke up.
Sunset looked over towards Thomas with a questioning look.
“I understand how difficult it must be to live with such guilt,” said Thomas carefully. “I have seen it very clearly with my father for over a decade now.”
Sunset nodded and simply noted, “The old Board of Directors.” When Thomas gave her a confused look, she added, “Kjeld secretly told me about the… less favorable parts of his past.”
Thomas nodded in understanding and turned his attention back out to the landscape. “My father has done his best to move on from all of that,” continued Thomas, “but there are still times when he must face the consequences of his past mistakes. Forest Blackwell and President Business are but the most prominent examples, prior to the introduction of Equestrian magic.”
“And then along comes me to make things even worse,” Sunset dryly remarked.
“Perhaps,” admitted Thomas with a shrug. “But despite his regrets, my father has made a great effort to learn from his past mistakes to ensure they will never be repeated. Part of that effort has been to teach me about all of his mistakes, so that I will know not to make them myself, once it is time for me to take over.”
“A smart decision,” admitted Sunset. “Information like that will really come in handy for any future incidents.”
“Indeed,” agreed Thomas with a nod.
Sunset and Thomas both stared out at the landscape in silence for a moment. Sunset glanced over at Thomas and noticed subtle signs that he was probably feeling a little tense at the moment. “Something’s troubling you, isn’t there?” she asked.
Thomas sighed and lowered his gaze. “I… have a confession to make,” he muttered hesitantly.
Sunset stood up straight, but kept her hands on the railing.
He continued to stare out across the landscape with an uneasy look on his face. “I lied about my father being unable to attend today’s meeting,” he confessed. “He was fully capable of doing so, but I convinced him to instead let me take his place at the meeting.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why would you want something like that?”
“I could simply tell you,” replied Thomas, “but considering the kind of power you now possess…” He slid his left hand along the railing so that it was closer to Sunset.
Sunset glanced down at Thomas’s hand and quickly realized what he was implying. She looked back up at his face and asked, “Would you really be okay with that?”
“My father has already shared with you the secrets of the Dimensions Box,” Thomas pointed out. “I see no reason why I should keep any lesser secrets from you.”
“I guess that’s a fair point,” admitted Sunset.
“And besides,” added Thomas, “if there’s a real possibility for more incidents involving Equestrian magic, chances are we’ll end up collaborating on missions for quite some time. In which case, we’ll need to learn to trust each other very much.” He glanced down at his outstretched hand, then back up to Sunset’s face. “This is my way of showing you that I would like to start building that kind of trust between us.”
Sunset stared down at Thomas’s hand as she considered everything he said. To willing offer himself to have his thoughts and memories exposed by her magical power was certainly a very clear way to express his trust for her. And as much as she didn’t want to think about it, there was a very real possibility there would be more incidents involving Equestrian magic in the future, and chances were probable that the leadership of the Lego World would need to be involved with the aftermath of each incident. She and her team were already on good terms with Kjeld, but there was no denying that due to their generational gap, that relationship wouldn’t last forever. Thomas, on the other hand, was almost the same age as herself and her friends, so if there was anyone in the Playwell family who was worth forging a strong bond of trust with, it was definitely him.
Finally, Sunset simply shrugged and said, “Well, if you insist.” She placed her right hand over Thomas’s left hand, and her body stiffened and her eyes glowed white as she began to witness his memories.
Sunset saw Thomas and Kjeld were in the cafeteria of the LEGO Team Headquarters building of Lego City, most likely sometime earlier in the morning prior to the recent meeting. As Kjeld waited in front of a coffee machine for his cup of coffee, Thomas stood beside him.
“I wish to attend this meeting, father,” requested Thomas.
“I’m afraid I can’t allow that,” responded Kjeld. “The outcome of this meeting could have a lasting impact on laws and policies throughout the Lego World for years to come, and I do not wish to place such a huge responsibility on someone as inexperienced as yourself.”
“I would hardly consider myself inexperienced by any means,” argued Thomas. “You gave me the best education anyone in the world could ever ask for, I have extensively studied every rulebook on how to properly run every aspect of leadership over every region, and you have even taught me about your past mistakes to ensure I would never make them.”
“Yes, all of that effort was well spent to ensure you would be prepared for the future responsibilities that await you,” acknowledged Kjeld. “But you are still quite young and lacking real world experience.”
“I fail to see how that could even be a legitimate excuse anymore,” argued Thomas. “Have the people who work here not told you about how I was able to step up and take command for the duration of yesterday’s crisis?”
“And you did a very commendable job of that,” acknowledged Kjeld. “But that was an emergency situation, where there was no other alternative. What we’re talking about here is a meeting that I personally had arranged, with the unspoken understanding that I would be the one to make all the final decisions.” After pausing to check the coffee machine, he added, “Besides, someone needs to stay here and oversee rebuilding efforts in the city.”
Thomas turned away and frowned without saying a word.
After be brief moment of silence, Kjeld asked, “Tell me, my son… why are you so adamant to attend this meeting?”
Thomas was initially caught off-guard by such a direct question, but after a brief moment to consider his answer, he sighed and replied, “I am concerned about how I will ultimately be remembered.”
Kjeld gave his son a look of confusion, but said nothing and allowed him to proceed.
Thomas continued, “Your grandfather created this world, your father introduced the Lego brick design still in use to this day, and you not only established all of the differently themed regions but also founded the LEGO Team. But with the Lego World so well established these days, I worry there may not be a lot of ways for me to do anything even nearly as memorable as the great things all of you have done before me.”
“In other words, you wish to leave behind some kind of legacy that future generations will remember you for,” concluded Kjeld.
“Indeed,” confirmed Thomas with a nod.
Kjeld was silent for a moment before he asked, “How do you believe that today’s meeting will allow you to achieve that?”
“Because this will be one of the first such meetings to seriously discuss the consequences of Equestrian magic,” answered Thomas.
Kjeld stared at Thomas and asked, “You find Equestrian magic to be of particular interest?”
“Not for any nefarious purposes, I can assure you,” replied Thomas. “But here’s the thing… This otherworldly magic was only recently introduced into the Lego World, and as far as I can tell, it’s highly unlikely to ever go away. Like it or not, Equestrian magic is becoming as much a part of this world as the Lego brick itself, which means we will need to start getting serious about how we will handle its usage in the future.”
“I believe that team of girls from Canterlot City are already doing a fine job of keeping Equestrian magic under control,” noted Kjeld. “At least, much better than any other group of minifigs could hope to accomplish.”
“Yes, but after each incident, they will still need a higher authority to report to,” Thomas pointed out. “They may have Celestia and sometimes Luna to send them on new assignments, but the final say on the really serious matters must lie with either you or me, and since I happen to be close to the same age as those girls…”
“I see…” muttered Kjeld. He turned back to the coffee machine and saw that his cup of coffee was ready. He took his mug out of the machine and took a sip from his freshly brewed coffee. After a moment of thought, he gestured to one of the nearby tables and said, “Come… sit with me. There is much I have to discuss with you.”
“About what?” asked Thomas.
Kjeld smiled and replied, “The subjects that will be discussed at the meeting.”
Thomas smiled and remarked, “I take it this means I shall accompany you to the meeting?”
“More than that,” explained Kjeld. “I did say one of us had to stay here to oversee rebuilding efforts in the city, and if you really wish to attend this meeting… well, I suppose I’d be content to accept the lesser responsibility, after what I’ve been through.”
Thomas was so delighted that he was momentarily speechless. He eventually managed to gratefully say, “Thank you, father… Thank you for this remarkable opportunity.”
They began walking towards the tables as Kjeld stated, “You still need more real world experience, and since you are very enthusiastic about this meeting in particular, then I suppose this would be an excellent opportunity to prove yourself as a worthy successor.” As they both sat down at a table, Kjeld continued, “But enough with these pleasantries. I’ll need to get you up to speed on all the important points to be discussed at the meeting.”
Thomas nodded in agreement. If he wanted to make a good impression at his first major conference on his own, then he would need to learn as much as he could about the subjects that would be discussed, later that afternoon.
As the vision came to an end, Sunset’s body relaxed and her eyes returned to normal while she kept her attention on Thomas. She took a moment to think about what she had just seen before she finally said, “So that’s what you really want most of all. You wish to do something significant that everyone will remember you for.”
Thomas looked out at the landscape as he explained, “It has been my greatest dream ever since I was a child. My father, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather have all done wonderful things that have made the Lego World a much better place, so it was only natural that I would wish to also do something of great benefit to the world.”
“And you believe the presence of Equestrian magic can allow you to achieve that?” asked Sunset.
“I certainly never anticipated the introduction of such power to the Lego World,” continued Thomas. “But I think we can both agree that, at this point, this Equestrian magic is here to stay. And if it is to become such an integral part of this universe, then we will have much work ahead of us.”
“To tell you the truth… I don’t really know much about Equestrian magic in the Lego World,” admitted Sunset. “It just doesn’t behave under the same laws as it does back in Equestria.”
“Then it seems that should be one of our major objectives; learning as much as we can about how this magic works in this new environment,” concluded Thomas. “Once we have a better understanding of Equestrian magic in the Lego World, perhaps we could find ways to safely harness it, and then utilize it in ways that would be of great benefit to societies throughout our universe.”
Sunset countered, “But I think our most important task regarding Equestrian magic should be to try keeping it under control, in order to prevent any future incidents from getting too far out of hand.”
Thomas nodded and replied with mild embarrassment, “Yes, I supposed you are right. Perhaps I am getting a little too ambitious for where we currently stand on the issue.”
“One step at a time, Junior,” Sunset playfully remarked. “One step at a time.”
Sunset and Thomas both stared out at the castle landscape in silence. After about a minute, Thomas spoke up, “There is one thing about your new magic that I’m struggling to comprehend.”
Sunset turned to Thomas and asked, “What is it?”
Thomas turned to Sunset and explained, “According to the official report after the first magical incident, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria had mentioned there were six of these so-called ‘Elements of Harmony’. She had identified them as Honesty for Applejack, Loyalty for Rainbow Dash, Laughter for Pinkie Pie, Generosity of Rarity, Kindness for Fluttershy, and Magic for herself. She had implied that she and her friends back in Equestria possessed these elements, and it seems that their counterparts here in the Lego World also possess traits that represent their respective elements. In addition, based on what I’ve heard about on the latest incident yesterday, it would seem that our world’s Twilight Sparkle has also embraced the same element as her counterpart in Equestria.” Thomas paused. “But this new magic your team now possesses is shared among seven girls. All six of your friends are already confirmed to be associated with a particular Element, and in fact, it has even been noted that they tend to… ‘pony up’ whenever they express a fine example of the Element they represent. These traits they all share with each other, you also share them, yet I have not once heard of there being a seventh Element of Harmony to permit such a phenomenon.”
Sunset gazed out at the landscape as she replied, “Well, there has been speculation over the centuries, but virtually all of them have been disregarded as complete nonsense. However, if your theory is right in that our new magic is at least partially thanks to our connection to the Elements of Harmony, then it would actually make sense that there’s no such thing as a seventh Element — at least, not in certain universes. You see, I don’t seem to have a counterpart in the Lego World at all, but since I have chosen to live here instead of go back to Equestria, that would theoretically allow a seventh Element to exist only in this world. As for what this hypothetical Element of Harmony might represent…” Sunset paused as she thought back to her recent experiences for any clues. “If my friends can pony up whenever they demonstrate their Element, then the same would apply to me.”
“Come to think of it,” Thomas spoke up, “I actually witnessed that happen yesterday, at the moment you begged Twilight to use her magic to help get through the Jump-Gate.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” confirmed Sunset. “At that moment, I was very worried, not only for my friends trapped inside the city, but also for Twilight. I knew that she had to use her magic, but I also understood why she was so reluctant to go through with it.” Sunset suddenly paused, then began to smile. “I think I’ve got it figured out. My new magic doesn’t just let me see into people’s minds and uncover their secrets. It also helps me to understand how they’re feeling. If I had an Element of Harmony, I think it would be called… Empathy.”
Thomas smiled and remarked, “Perhaps you might want to share this with Princess Twilight in Equestria. I have a feeling she might find this very fascinating.”
Sunset smiled and nodded as she replied, “I’ll definitely consider it.”
As Sunset looked out at the landscape again, Thomas pulled out his phone and checked the time. He then put away his phone and said, “I’d better get going now.” He smiled at Sunset. “It was nice talking with you.”
“Likewise,” responded Sunset with a smile.
Thomas turned away and headed back to the door into the castle.
Sunset watched Thomas depart, then once the door was closed, she returned her gaze once more out towards the beautiful castle landscape. She had no idea what the future would hold for her and her friends, but she was sure of one thing: they would face every challenge together as true friends.
She decided she would head back inside the castle soon to regroup with her friends, but for now, she just wanted to relax and enjoy the view.
Sunset Shimmer entered the castle’s lounge, where all of her friends were waiting. As she stepped into the room, she noticed Gloriosa Daisy was speaking with all of her friends except for Twilight Sparkle. She walked over to them and soon realized that Gloriosa was explaining to them about Camp Everfree’s financial troubles and how Twilight and Sunset had offered to help. Naturally, the rest of their friends were in agreement, and were already coming up with ideas on how they would raise the necessary funds to pay off all those debts.
Meanwhile, Twilight was sitting in one of the many chairs not far away, mostly because she simply wanted to be alone with her thoughts for a moment. As she watched the conversation between her friends and Gloriosa, she smiled at the knowledge that she had such good friends to help out someone in need.
It wasn’t long before Timber Spruce walked over to where Twilight sat and he remarked, “I have to say, it looks like a lot of good things are gonna come out from the C-C-C.”
Twilight looked up at Timber and raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“The Crystal Castle Conference,” clarified Timber with a smirk. “I came up with it myself.”
Twilight folded her arms and smiled as she quipped, “Not exactly the most creative acronym, isn’t it?”
“Hey, I tried my best,” replied Timber with a shrug. “For all we know, you just helped make history at that meeting. I’m just doing my part to contribute.”
Twilight couldn’t help but giggle lightly. “I’m really glad I met you,” she remarked.
Timber suddenly looked away awkwardly and mumbled, “Uh oh…”
With a concerned expression, Twilight got up out of her seat and asked, “What?”
“That sounds like a goodbye,” replied Timber with a little playful tone in his voice. “And here I was hoping we’d still be able to hang out.” He smiled and slyly asked, “Maybe get dinner and catch a movie?”
Twilight blushed, then gave a small smile and quietly replied, “Y-yeah… I’d… really like that.”
“Oh, good!” said Timber in feigned relief. “I wasn’t sure if you’d mind seeing me show up in town every now and then.”
“Oh, not at all,” assured Twilight.
Twilight and Timber stared into each other’s eyes and continued to smile. Neither of them said a word as their faces slowly drew closer together. Once they were close enough, their eyes closed and…
Timber suddenly yelped and jumped back when he felt something touch his shoulder. He and Twilight both opened their eyes and soon noticed that Gloriosa was standing right beside them.
“Oh, uh, sorry,” said Gloriosa with a nervous chuckle as she took her hand off Timber’s shoulder. “I just got word from the castle’s Jump-Gate operator. He’s set the coordinates to take us directly back to Camp Everfree, so we can leave whenever you’re ready.”
“Oh, right. Cool,” responded Timber with an awkward smile. “Uh, you go on ahead. I’ll be right behind ya.”
Gloriosa smiled and rolled her eyes before she turned away and started walking out of the lounge.
Timber turned back to Twilight and asked, “How about we meet at Canterlot City Park tomorrow at five? We can make a plan from there.”
“Sure,” replied Twilight with a smile. “Sounds good to me.”
“Cool,” said Timber. As he began to walk out of the lounge to follow his sister, he glanced back at Twilight and added, “I’ll see ya around.”
Twilight simply nodded in agreement as she watched Timber leave the room. Even once he was already outside, she continued to stare at the doorway as if she was in a trance. She finally snapped out of it once she heard some giggling coming from all of her friends, standing not far away from her. “What?” she asked in confusion.
“Oh, nothin’,” lied Applejack with a smirk.
“Aww, that was so adorable,” Rarity practically squealed in giddiness.
“He does seem like a pretty cool guy,” Sunset playfully remarked.
“You know what else is cool?” asked Rainbow Dash smugly. She excitedly continued, “Our awesome new superpowers! While you were busy at that meeting…” She suddenly zoomed to one end of the large room. “…I did, like, a hundred laps around the entire castle…” She suddenly zoomed to the opposite end of the room. “…went all the way to the Dark Forest to give Rob N. Hood a thank-you gift from Rarity…” She then zoomed over to a ping-pong table where Pinkie Pie was already set to play. “…and still had plenty of time left over to play a few rounds of ping-pong with Pinkie Pie!”
Pinkie served and they quickly smacked the ping-pong ball back and forth a few times before Rainbow smacked it clear over her head.
Rainbow Dash tossed her paddle away and excitedly squealed, “I love my super-speed!”
“About that,” Sunset spoke up as she held up her pendant. “I think these magical crystals are the source of the superpowers. That would explain why I lost my powers and you kept yours when we were at the lunar base, because Gloriosa had been carrying yours with her, but mine was still in that cave back in the Dark Forest.”
“You’re not going to ask us to give these up, are you?” asked Fluttershy with concern.
“No,” replied Sunset. “In fact, I think maybe we were meant to have them all along.”
“Me too,” agreed Twilight.
The rest of the girls all muttered various words in agreement.
“Hooray!” cheered Pinkie Pie with an excited jump. “We all get to be superheroes!”
Applejack chuckled in amusement and said, “Well, now that that’s settled…” She turned to Twilight and subtly tapped her wrist. “…ya mind?”
“Oh! Right,” said Twilight with realization as she began entering a code into the Jump-Gate return device on her wrist. “I guess now would be a good time for us to return home.” Once the code was entered, she aimed her device at the nearby empty wall and hit the open button.
The large solid doors of a Jump-Gate materialized on the wall, then parted open. The seven girls all walked through the gateway and found themselves inside the massive multi-purpose room in Canterlot City’s LEGO Team Headquarters. As the Jump-Gate doors closed behind them, they looked over towards the briefing area and saw Celestia Playwell was standing on the large platform overlooking the main floor and in front of the massive display screen.
“Welcome back, girls,” greeted Celestia. “How did the meeting go?”
“There’s gonna be a few minor changes,” replied Sunset, “but I’m sure everything will turn out alright.”
“That’s good to hear,” said Celestia with a nod. She then gestured at the Jump-Gate and offered, “Now then, if you’d like to…”
Twilight removed her return device and said, “Actually, we’ll just take the train back into town. After everything we’ve been though, it’ll be nice to use some traditional transportation.”
Celestia nodded in understanding and said, “Very well. Have a nice day, girls.”
The seven girls said various words of departure and left the room. As they began walking down the hallway, Rarity spoke up, “You know, it has suddenly occurred to me that our little group apparently lacks an official name.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Fluttershy.
“Whenever anyone refers to us as a group,” explained Rarity, “they use rather basic and informal identification, such as ‘that LEGO Team from Canterlot City’, or ‘the team of girls from Canterlot City’. Many of them tend to be quite the mouthful, so I was wondering if we could come up with an official team name, for the sake of convenience.”
“Hey, great idea!” agreed Pinkie Pie excitedly. “Now that we’re superheroes, we’re totally gonna need a catchy name. How about the Wondergirls? No, wait! How about the Spectacular Seven? Oh! Oh! How about the Magical Master Builders?”
“We need a name that accurately reflects who we are and what we’re capable of,” explained Twilight. “We’re a team of girls, and our new magical powers originate from Equestria, so one possible team name I have in mind would be… Equestria Girls.”
“I actually like that name,” remarked Sunset. “It fits us so well, and is short and easy to remember.”
“Then it’s settled,” declared Applejack contently. “Next time we get mentioned in the news, we’ll be sure to tell the reporters to call us by our new team name: The Equestria Girls.”
“Best team name ever!” cheered Pinkie Pie.
The rest of the group — now officially the Equestria Girls — all shared words of agreement as they continued to make their way towards the train station in the building’s basement.
A little later, the Equestria Girls were riding the train that would take them back into downtown Canterlot City. Once they arrived at the station, they would all bid each other farewell and return to their homes, with the hope that they would be able to relax and enjoy everyday life for a while.
Halfway through the train ride, everyone was sitting in silence inside the train car when Sunset suddenly spoke up, “There’s one thing I’m still wondering about…”
“What’s that?” asked Twilight.
“The magic in these geodes we now possess definitely came from Equestria, and Gloriosa had found them inside a cave in the Dark Forest, but there’s a missing link in all of that… How did this magic from Equestria end up inside that cave in the first place?”
Twilight turned to look out the window at the passing landscape as she replied with uncertainty, “Hmm… That’s a very good question…”
Later that night, there were almost no civilians walking around near Canterlot City Park. Inside this park was a pedestal that once held up a statue of a horse rearing on its hind legs — recently knocked off by a crashing spaceship and so far not yet replaced.
What was very special about this pedestal is that one of its sides served as the interdimensional portal to Equestria.
However, little did anyone know, the tiles that made up the top surface of this brick-built structure were no longer perfectly aligned. The impact that had knocked the statue off had also warped the internal structure, allowing gaps to open up between the tile parts that covered the top surface.
Suddenly, a strange glow appeared between these gaps, then a series of trails of various forms of magical energy began to escape and dispersed to virtually every corner of the Lego World…
