The Offer
Applejack had parked her pickup truck on the small dirt lot in front of the main entryway into Camp Everfree, located within the Everfree Forest just outside of Canterlot City. Carrying that folder from the LEGO Team under her arm, she climbed out of her truck and walked through the entryway into the campgrounds. As she walked through that entryway, she couldn’t help but think that the last time she had passed through there, she had been a child finishing another summer of fun activities at Camp Everfree. She couldn’t help but smile as nostalgic memories rushed through her thoughts. Back in those carefree days, she had done everything from hiking to canoeing to arts and crafts and many more things she couldn’t immediately recall. But although she certainly remembered seeing Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash were also there at the same time she was, that was back when they never really considered the idea of being friends with each other. The five of them were so different from each other, and they each had their own friends who could better relate to them, so none of them — except perhaps Pinkie — ever saw any reason to get better acquainted with each other. It wasn’t until Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria came along and brought them together as a team to stop Sunset Shimmer that they finally started seeing each other as true friends.
As Applejack walked through the campgrounds, she was pleased to see activity among all the attending children was just as active as it was back when she was a child visiting this place. What especially warmed her heart was seeing her younger sister Apple Bloom was among these kids, along with her two best friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Those three girls were always up to all kinds of crazy shenanigans — it wouldn’t surprise her if they had already gotten in trouble for something they did — but the fact that they were able to enjoy a summer full of fun at this camp left Applejack with a feeling of satisfaction. After all, this place had been at risk of being closed down due to mounting debts, and it was thanks the efforts of her and her friends — as well as some assistance from the Crystal Girls — that future campers would be able to continue enjoying this place for many years to come.
As Applejack approached the main cabin where the camp’s caretakers lived, she noticed a certain guy with medium nougat skin and green hair under a dark grey beanie hat was busy chopping firewood on a stump close to the cabin. She immediately recognized him as Timber Spruce, younger brother of the person she was here to see.
Timber placed another small log upright on the stump, but before he could lift his ax, he noticed Applejack approaching, so he smiled and waved at her as he greeted, “Hey, Applejack! Nice seeing you, again.”
“Good to see ya too, Timber,” Applejack greeted back.
“So what brings you here to Camp Everfree?” asked Timber as he lifted his ax to rest it on his shoulder.
“Ah’m here to deliver a lil’ somethin’ to Gloriosa, courtesy of the LEGO Team,” replied Applejack as she held up the folder in her hand. “All good news, Ah can assure ya.”
“I’m sure she’ll be very happy to hear about that,” remarked Timber contently. “Don’t get me wrong, she loves spending time with the kids here at camp, but as much as she tries to hide it from everyone, I’ve noticed signs of depression in her ever since she was suspended from the LEGO Team.”
“Understandable,” noted Applejack with a nod. “She’s done a lotta good things for the LEGO Team. Ah can only imagine how hard it must be for her to be kept out for so long. Thankfully, what Ah’ve got here might be just the thing she needs to cheer up.”
“In that case, Gloriosa’s in her office right now, so feel free to head on inside,” responded Timber as he pointed his ax at the main cabin right behind him. “By the way,” he added with a little hesitation in his voice, “do you know if Twilight is available today? I’d, uh, kinda like to ask if she would be interested in hanging out sometime.”
“Can’t say for sure,” replied Applejack with a shrug. “She an’ Sunset were given a ‘special assignment’ that none of the rest of us are allowed to know much about.” She then smiled and slyly added, “But if it makes ya feel better, lover boy, Ah’ll promise to let Twilight know next time Ah see her that you’d like to ‘hang out’ with her whenever she’s next available.”
“Awesome! You’re the best!” thanked Timber with a grin. “Well, better get back to work. This firewood isn’t gonna chop itself.” He then raised the ax on his shoulder and swung it down onto the upright log, splitting it in half.
Applejack shook her head with a playful smile on her face as she walked past Timber and up the steps to the front door of the cabin. She then knocked on the door three times.
“Come in!” called a cheerful voice inside.
Applejack opened the door and stepped inside. Sure enough, she saw Gloriosa Daisy sitting behind her desk at the opposite end of the main room.
“Applejack!” greeted Gloriosa with a big smile on her face as she stood up. “This is a pleasant surprise! How are you?”
“Things are goin’ great for me,” responded Applejack as she walked across the room and shook Gloriosa’s hand. “Same goes for the rest of mah friends, all things considered.”
“It’s been so long since I last saw any of you girls,” remarked Gloriosa pleasantly. “Thanks again very much for helping to raise enough money to save Camp Everfree. So what brings you here today?”
Applejack held up the folder she was carrying as she explained, “Celestia’s interested in startin’ up a new project, an’ you’re one of the candidates she wants to be part of it.” She then set the folder down on Gloriosa’s desk.
Gloriosa was momentarily stunned by the new information. She stared down at the folder, glanced up at Applejack, then turned her gaze back down to the folder with her portrait paperclipped to the front. She found it rather odd that she was being requested for some kind of LEGO Team activity, despite the fact that her suspension was still in effect. After a moment of awkward silence, she overcame her hesitation and sat down before she opened the folder. “She’s calling this ‘The Redeemables’?” she asked in confusion as she read the title atop the first page.
“It’s a workin’ title,” replied Applejack with a shrug. “You’re more than welcome to offer any better ideas.”
As Gloriosa glanced over the first page, she asked, “If I’m to be part of this project, will it have any effect on my suspension?”
“Celestia told us that these folders should have all the info y’all need, so Ah reckon you’ll find your answer somewhere in those pages,” answered Applejack. “More important are the pages about all the other candidates, who’ll probably end up becomin’ your new teammates.”
Gloriosa flipped through a few pages and found the section on one candidate. “Juniper Montage… I guess I can see a good reason to have her involved,” she noted to herself, then flipped through some more pages to another candidate. “Wallflower Blush… I can imagine the two of us getting along quite well.” She flipped through some more pages until she reached the next candidate. “Vignette Valencia? Ugh…” She glanced up at Applejack. “Just between me and you, I’ve always considered her a bad influence on kids these days.” She turned her gaze back down to the folder. “That incident at Equestria Land just made the truth obvious to everyone. Still, I suppose getting her involved in this project could be just what she needs to become a much better person.” She flipped through a few more pages until she found the last listed candidate. “Trixie? Wow… Never thought I’d see the day where we end up on the same team. I doubt she’ll offer much, but I guess that’s what this project is for…” She closed the folder. “Bringing out the best in us, after everyone has already seen the worst in us.”
“Now that sounds like a perfect slogan for the Redeemables,” remarked Applejack with a smile. “Ah reckon you’re already provin’ yourself to be just the right kind of person this project needs. So what do ya say? You in?”
Gloriosa took a moment to gather her thoughts. She opened the folder again to glance at the first page, then closed the folder. “The reason Timber and I went on so many goodwill missions for the LEGO Team is because helping others has always been one of my passions,” she explained. “I never imagined I would ever find myself working with a number of people who have done terrible things in the past, but if the ultimate goal of this project is to help all of us become better people, then I see no reason for me to not be involved.” She smiled at Applejack and stated, “You can count me in!”
“Good to have ya on board, Gloriosa,” said Applejack with satisfaction as she shook hands with Gloriosa. “Well, looks like mah work here is done, so Ah’ll head on home an’ leave ya to it.” She turned around and headed for the door outside.
“Thank you very much for this opportunity,” said Gloriosa contently. “Have a nice day!”
As Applejack opened the door, she turned back to wave at Gloriosa, then stepped outside and shut the door.
Now alone in her office, Gloriosa opened the folder again and began to take the time to read through all the contents inside. Not long into her reading, she idly twirled her hand around, but after a few seconds of doing this, she suddenly noticed at the edge of her vision that a nearby potted plant was beginning to sprout some thin vines that were gradually creeping towards her at a perceptible pace. As she turned her gaze towards that growing plant, it suddenly brought back some rather traumatic memories, so she immediately attempted to suppress it all by thrusting her hand out towards the plant. Astonishingly, that silent command caused the vines to swiftly retreat back into the plant they had sprouted from.
Gloriosa sat frozen in shock for a moment, then glanced down at her hands in confusion. As those awful memories threatened to resurface, she brought her hands close to her chest and took a deep breath. She slowly exhaled, then turned her attention back to the folder on her desk as she said to herself, “No worries… I got this!”
Rarity had remained in contact with Vignette Valencia ever since opening day of Equestria Land, which was quite fortunate considering the fallout Vignette had been faced with as a result of the terrible events of that day. Although she had managed to purchase a new phone just a couple days later — right after her trial had concluded — all it did was reveal what a horrible living nightmare she was now forced to endure. Not only was she shocked to discover she had lost more than half of her three million followers on SnapGab, but virtually all the comments she was receiving recently were little more than blatant hate mail, so she reluctantly decided to lock her account and hope that the storm would eventually pass, despite how tortuous it would feel for one who had built her livelihood around internet fame. On top of that, she also had to find a new job to provide essential income, and with Filthy Rich blacklisting her from any employment under his enterprise, that left her with surprisingly very few options. Even worse, her old SnapGab posts had made it easy for some people to figure out where she lived, and with rotten eggs and tomatoes piling up in front of her door, she realized that for her own safety, she had to move out of her luxury apartment and move to one in another building that had a much more affordable rent.
The one positive aspect Vignette could count on these days was the fact that she and Rarity had shared each other’s phone numbers, so she was able to call her former employee whenever she needed some real world advice or just simply needed to hear a friendly voice on particularly rough days. It was thanks to these phone calls that Rarity was able to help Vignette find new employment as an accountant, claiming that her obsession with studying statistics would make her excellently suited for such a position, despite how bland and humble it would seem to the former internet celebrity. In fact, the bond of trust between them was so great that Rarity was the only one — aside from her landlord and close neighbors — who Vignette had shared the location of her new apartment.
It was thanks to that level of trust that Rarity knew exactly where to go to fulfill her part in this delivery mission for the LEGO Team. With the folder in hand, she arrived at the apartment and knocked on the door. She waited for almost a full minute before she heard two locks unlatching, followed by the door opening to reveal a smiling Vignette Valencia.
“Rare!” greeted Vignette cheerfully. “What a nice surprise! Please, come in and I’ll show you around, though I’m sure you’ve already seen all the pics I sent you.”
“Yes, I have indeed seen those pictures,” acknowledged Rarity as she stepped into the apartment, “but believe me, it’s just not quite the same as seeing it for yourself.”
The interior of the apartment was rather basic, with the main room having a small kitchen on one side and living room on the other side, with two doors on the opposite wall that presumably led to the bedroom and the bathroom. The living room space had a single sofa on one side, short table in the middle, and a television mounted on the wall opposite from the sofa. There were also a few side tables and shelves that displayed all kinds of novelties and knick-knacks that Vignette had collected throughout her life.
Vignette shut the door and latched the two locks on the door, in addition to the standard door lock.
“I see you’ve taken extra precautions, as of late,” noted Rarity with a hint of concern in her voice.
“After the amount of harassment I suffered at my old apartment, I’m not taking any chances,” replied Vignette shamefully. “Seems that old saying has proven true: the bigger they are, the harder they fall. If this is what your friend Sunset had to go through after her magical incident, than I’ve gotta give her a lot of respect for putting up with it.”
“I wouldn’t necessarily call that an accurate assessment, seeing as she was never even popular to begin with, prior to that incident in question,” Rarity pointed out.
“Lucky for her,” grumbled Vignette enviously. Quickly realizing how such a remark might not be well received by her only true friend, she quickly changed the subject and asked, “So anyway, what brings you here? I mean, normally we just call each other to talk about something, not that there’s anything wrong with meeting each other in person.”
“Much as I do appreciate a good conversation with you for the sake of spending some quality time with a dear friend of mine, I suppose you are right to suspect this is more than just a friendly visit,” admitted Rarity as she sat down on one end of the sofa. She set down the folder she was carrying onto the table in front of her and gestured at it as she explained, “Celestia Playwell has expressed interest in starting up a new project for the LEGO Team, and you happen to be one of the candidates she has considered to potentially become part of it.”
Vignette walked around the table and sat down on the other end of the sofa. She opened the folder and glanced at what was shown on the first page inside. “The Redeemables?” she asked in confusion. “No offense, Rare, but that has to be one of the most pathetic project titles I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s a working title, or so I’ve been told, so don’t expect it to remain permanent,” replied Rarity. “That name is meant to reflect how this project is to consist of former villains who wish to seek a better way moving forward. You will find information on the other possible candidates among those pages.”
Vignette quickly flipped through a few pages briefly, pausing only at each of the candidates as she passed their respective pages. As she flipped through those pages, she muttered, “Gloriosa Daisy, not much surprise there… Juniper Montage, a little young, but I can see the reasoning there… Wallflower Blush, kind of an odd choice, but I guess it makes sense… Trixie? How could she be of any use to anyone?”
“I understand these people may not be the easiest for you to get along with,” explained Rarity, “but you all have shared somewhat similar experiences of making poor mistakes in the past, and it is because of those previous… mishaps that Celestia believes would make you excellent candidates for the intended goal of this project.”
Vignette closed the folder with her portrait paperclipped to the front and took a moment to consider the implications of this offer being provided to her. She had never considered the idea of joining the LEGO Team, let alone joining such a specialized team as the one she had apparently been selected for. She was certainly eager for a chance to get back into the spotlight, but was unsure if this was the way she really wanted to achieve that. She turned to Rarity and asked, “Is this mandatory?”
“Not at all,” assured Rarity. “It is entirely your choice on whether or not you become involved in this project. So tell me, Vignette… are you willing to partake in such a groundbreaking project as this?”
Vignette stared down at the folder again for a moment. She sighed and muttered to herself, “Well… no guts, no glory, I suppose…” She turned to Rarity and smiled as she declared, “Count me in!”
“Marvelous!” cheered Rarity as she shook hands with Vignette. “I look forward to seeing what accomplishments you’ll achieve under this project.”
“As do I,” agreed Vignette. “Truth be told, that job you got me at the accounting firm has been nothing but dull beyond belief. And with all my attempts to liven things up at the office getting nothing but disapproval, it’s probably only a matter of time before they get rid of me and I’ll have to find a new job. Maybe once I get a chance to meet these other candidates, they might have a few ideas to help out.”
“I cannot say for sure when or where such a meeting would likely take place,” admitted Rarity, “but I’ve been informed that all the potential answers you seek shall be provided within the contents of that folder.”
“I think this calls for a celebration!” declared Vignette cheerfully as she grabbed her new phone which had been resting on the table not far from the folder. “I’m going to unlock my SnapGab account and make my first post since that Equestria Land fiasco.” She held out her phone with her right hand, the grabbed the folder with her left hand and held it up next to her face, then made sure to include Rarity’s face in the picture as well before she took the photo. She set down the folder and began tapping away on her phone as she spoke, “New hope, question mark. Hashtag, LEGO Team. And… posted!” She smiled as she saw that new post go up on her SnapGab account, but that smile quickly fell as a thought suddenly occurred to her. She glanced back at Rarity and asked, “Uh, this wasn’t supposed to be top secret, was it?”
“Not as far as I know,” replied Rarity. “Celestia did say she was giving Twilight and Sunset a ‘special assignment’ that the rest of us are not allowed to know much about, but other than that, I never got any impression that this project was to be kept secret.”
“That’s a relief!” remarked Vignette with a sigh. “I’d hate to have made a dumb mistake only seconds after agreeing to join the team.”
“Perhaps I should offer you a bit of helpful advice,” noted Rarity. “Now that you’re going to be part of a team, it’s not always going to be about just you. You must learn to look out for each other, provide assistance when it is asked for, and perhaps most importantly for you, accept that it is okay to step back and allow one of your teammates to strike the final blow, so to speak.”
“Duly noted,” responded Vignette contently. “Now that your official business here is taken care of, shall we go over the latest trends?”
Rarity was about to respond when she suddenly felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled out her phone and her face fell as she read the text she had just received. “Oh dear, it seems I’m needed back at my shop at once,” she said sadly. “A rather picky customer can’t find what she’s looking for, and the cashier I left in charge apparently never bothered to study my system to be of much use.”
“Go ahead and deal with your business issues,” assured Vignette. “We can always talk later over the phone.”
“Thank you for understanding my priorities, Vignette,” said Rarity with a smile as she put her phone away and stood up from the sofa. “Regardless, I appreciate your willingness to partake in the Redeemables project.” She made her way to the door out of the apartment, unlocked the latches on it, and opened it. As she took one step out, she turned back and teasingly added, “B.Y.B.B.! Rare, out!” She then walked out and shut the door.
Vignette couldn’t help but giggle at that. Now alone in her apartment, she relaxed into the sofa and closed her eyes. After weeks of feeling like her life had been completely ruined with no chance of ever enjoying the fame she once took for granted, her new best friend had provided her with an opportunity for a new beginning. As she had indicated in her recent SnapGab post, the possibility of a new hope for a better life had just been presented to her, courtesy of the LEGO Team. As she relaxed, she couldn’t help but imagine herself standing alongside those four other potential teammates, standing together like heroes, ready to do their best to keep the city safe.
When Vignette opened her eyes, she was surprised to see her television screen was displaying five rather familiar minifigs. In the middle was herself with one hand on her hip and the other holding up a cellphone; to the left was Gloriosa Daisy with her arms folded and a confident smile on her face; on the far left was Trixie with both hands on her hips and her head held high with pride; to the right was Wallflower Blush slightly hunched over in shyness and slowly waving her hand; and on the far right was Juniper Montage jumping and waving her arms around.
“That’s weird…” muttered Vignette in confusion. “I don’t remember turning on the TV…” She looked around and soon found the remote on another side table, so she got up and walked over to that remote, picked it up, and pointed it at the TV as she hit the power button. But instead of completely shutting off the display as she had expected, the TV actually turned on, now showing a broadcast of the local weather forecast instead of those five minifigs on a black background. Now even more confused, she stood practically petrified as she glanced back and forth between the remote and the television.
Eventually, Vignette just shrugged and said, “Eh, I’m sure it was nothing…” She decided to sit back down on the sofa and flip through the channels to see if there was anything interesting to watch.
Fluttershy didn’t realize at first just how difficult it would actually be to find Wallflower Blush. The self-employed gardener and landscaper turned out to be highly reclusive, with very few people even aware that she had a home address, let alone knew what it was. In fact, the only reliable lead Fluttershy had to go by was the number to Wallflower’s landscaping business listed in the phonebook. Despite her hesitation to call anyone over the phone, Fluttershy knew she had a mission to complete, so she used the business number to get in contact with Wallflower. The conversation between two shy girls over the phone was awkward to say the least, but with Fluttershy promising that she would arrive alone, Wallflower agreed to share the location of where she would be working today.
With the meetup agreed upon, Fluttershy walked down the sidewalk along the streets of Canterlot City surrounding City Park. Although it was doubtful Wallflower was even aware that the interdimensional portal to Equestria was located within this park, it gave Fluttershy some relief that their agreed meeting location was at virtually the opposite side of the park from the structure that held the hidden portal. Even so, there was little guarantee that Wallflower would actually agree to join such an ambitious project, so Fluttershy spent her entire walk mentally preparing herself for every possible way Wallflower might react to the information she was about to share with her.
Before long, Fluttershy found herself walking up to a green and white van with the side panels labeled with a decal of a rather basic graphic that read “Wallflower’s Landscaping”. Once she had reached that van, she looked towards the park and saw Wallflower down on her knees as she planted the last of a row of yellow flowers along the pathway into the park. Figuring that it wouldn’t be long before Wallflower would be finished there, Fluttershy decided to simply wait by the van, if only to buy herself just a few more minutes to reconsider what she would say.
Of course, it wasn’t long before Wallflower got up and walked back to her van, where she saw Fluttershy standing while holding a folder under her arms. “Hello, Fluttershy,” she greeted with very little enthusiasm.
“Hi, Wallflower,” greeted Fluttershy with a smile and a small wave of her hand.
Wallflower made no response as she carried her gardening supplies past Fluttershy towards the back of her van.
Hoping to get a friendly conversation going, Fluttershy noted, “I see you got your van fixed up.”
“I actually have two identical vans,” Wallflower pointed out as she opened the rear doors of her van. “This is the one I use in Canterlot City. The other one that I used in Lego City is the one that got totaled. I’m still waiting on my insurance to get a replacement.”
“That’s unfortunate…” muttered Fluttershy.
Wallflower grabbed a shovel out from the back of her van and shut the doors. She sighed in frustration and grumbled, “Look, Fluttershy, if there’s something you wanna talk to me about, just say it. My work here at the park counts towards my community service, and I’d like to just get it over with, so this had better be important.”
“Oh! Right! Um…” Fluttershy responded hesitantly. She struggled to find the right words before she eventually decided to just hold the folder out to Wallflower. “Celestia Playwell is starting up a new project, and she wishes to invite you as a candidate for it.”
Wallflower stared at the folder with her portrait paperclipped to the front, her eyebrow raised in confusion. She hesitated for a moment before she rested her shovel against the side of the van and grabbed the folder. “No offense, but I would’ve expected Sunset Shimmer to be the one giving me something like this,” she muttered under her breath.
“I’m sure she would have,” replied Fluttershy, “but she and Twilight were given a ‘special assignment’ that the rest of us aren’t allowed to know much about, so the rest of my friends and I are delivering these folders to all the candidates.”
“I see…” mumbled Wallflower as she opened the folder. Upon looking at the first page, she turned her gaze back up to Fluttershy and asked in confusion, “This project’s gonna be called the Redeemables?”
“We were told that it’s a working title,” acknowledged Fluttershy.
Wallflower turned her attention back down to the folder and started flipping through the pages. “So it looks like I’ll be expected to work with others…” she muttered. She rolled her eyes as she sourly grumbled, “Yay for me.”
“Celestia believes that your shared experiences will help you improve each other, as well as help other people who might be going through similar struggles,” explained Fluttershy.
Wallflower flipped through the pages of each of the listed candidates as she muttered, “Hmm… I wouldn’t mind working with Gloriosa Daisy… Juniper Montage, I’m not so sure… Vignette Valencia? A big name like that on this team? Seems like a little too much… And of course you’ve got Trixie, who will definitely be too much.”
“You don’t have to join this project if you don’t want to,” assured Fluttershy. “It’s entirely your choice to decide whether or not you’d like to be part of the Redeemables.”
Wallflower hummed indecisively as she flipped through a few more pages in the folder. On one hand, she wasn’t exactly confident with her teamwork skills, especially considering who her potential teammates would be. On the other hand, she still didn’t like the feeling of being completely ignored by everyone around her, and this rather ambitious project could be just the opportunity for a social life she had always desired.
Still unsure, Wallflower turned her attention back to Fluttershy and asked, “Will I be allowed to leave this team if things don’t work out?”
“We’re not Shadowbolt agents, Wallflower,” replied Fluttershy calmly. “You’ll always be free to leave at any time for whatever reason. Even if some might not agree with your reasons for leaving, we would never force you to stay.”
Wallflower stared down at the contents of the folder once again. She was still very unsure about participating in something so groundbreaking, but the promise that she wouldn’t have to be stuck with it if things didn’t turn out well helped to ease most of her anxieties. Finally, she closed the folder and hesitantly declared, “All right… I’ll give it a try.”
“Trust me, you’re going to love being part of the LEGO Team,” assured Fluttershy as she shook hands with Wallflower.
“Yeah, here’s hoping I won’t regret it…” muttered Wallflower quietly.
Fluttershy chose to ignore Wallflower’s pessimistic remark. “Well, since that’s all I really needed to talk to you about,” Flutterhsy calmly stated, “I guess I’ll just leave you to your work. Have a nice day, Wallflower.”
“You too, Fluttershy,” responded Wallflower with a small smile as they waved at each other.
As Fluttershy walked away, Wallflower looked down at the folder in her hand, and with that faint smile still on her face, she opened the passenger door on her van and placed that folder inside the storage compartment. She shut the door and then retrieved her shovel to resume her landscaping work at the park.
On her way to the site of her next task, Wallflower noticed a random pedestrian walk by and carelessly toss a food wrapper onto the sidewalk, despite the fact that there was a trashcan just a few more steps ahead of him. Upset by such a senseless act, she furiously called out, “Hey! You there!”
The pedestrian immediately stopped and turned around to face Wallflower with a look of confusion on his face.
Wallflower pointed at the discarded wrapper and then at the trashcan as she scolded, “Pick that up and put it in the trash, where it belongs!”
The pedestrian momentarily remained perfectly still with a blank expression, then he walked back to the discarded wrapper as he responded almost flatly, “I will pick this up…” He picked up the discarded wrapper, then turned around and began walking towards the trashcan. “…and I will put it in the trash, where it belongs.” He tossed the wrapper into the trashcan, then continued on his way as if nothing had just happened.
Wallflower stared at the departing pedestrian as she raised an eyebrow and scratched the back of her head. As much as she appreciated that guy doing the right thing, his actions seemed a little too forced, as if he had somehow been compelled to obey that one simple request she had given. It just made no sense to her.
Wallflower eventually just shrugged and turned back to her landscaping work. That guy seemed fine, and a good deed had been done, so as far as Wallflower could tell, it was nothing she should worry about too much. After all, she knew she had anxiety issues, and she did not need a seemingly minor incident to further weigh her down.
Pinkie Pie hummed a cheerful tune as she entered the Flixiplex Cinema along Canterlot City’s Sunshine Plaza. As far as she knew, Juniper Montage had not lost her job at this place following her magical incident, so Pinkie was confident that was where she would find the intended recipient of the folder she was carrying. As she walked through the lobby, she looked towards the main counter up ahead and, sure enough, saw the girl she was looking for behind the counter.
Juniper was double checking the amount of money inside the cash register. With the theater currently in the middle of showing a movie, there wasn’t much activity going on in the lobby, so she had decided to take this opportunity to make sure everything was in order. With every dollar and every cent accounted for, she shut the cash register, then looked up and saw Pinkie Pie waving at her with a huge smile on her face.
“Hi, Juniper!” greeted Pinkie cheerfully.
“Oh! Hey there, Pinkie,” Juniper greeted back contently with a friendly smile. “Nice to see you again.”
“I’ll say!” agreed Pinkie as she rushed over to the counter so they could be right next to each other as they talked. “I know we all promised to be friends with you and help out, but with all the other crazy stuff that keeps happening like getting our memories wiped and being kidnapped by a magical phone, it’s been hard to keep up with all the new friends we’ve been making lately. Fortunately, Celestia just came up with a convenient solution that should work for all of us.” She slapped the folder down onto the counter in front of Juniper. “Go ahead and take a look inside!”
Juniper picked up the folder with her portrait paperclipped to the front of it. She opened it and looked at the first page. “The Redeemables?” she asked.
“It’s a working title,” said Pinkie with a shrug.
“Eh, not the worst title I’ve ever heard,” admitted Juniper. “You wouldn’t believe how many cheap movies have gone through my uncle’s film lot.”
“Cheap movies are the best!” declared Pinkie cheerfully. “I love just how silly they always turn out!”
Juniper stared at Pinkie in bewilderment for a moment, then shook her head as she began reading through the pages in that folder.
As Juniper was reading, Pinkie couldn’t resist taking the theater employee’s headband off Juniper’s head and placing it on her own head.
“Oh, I see what you meant,” Juniper spoke up. “I’m being invited to join a new team that’ll be made up of people who once did bad things with Equestrian magic. It’ll be great to work with others who would totally get what I’ve been through. Well, maybe not exactly the same thing, but close enough that we’d get each other.” She glanced up at Pinkie and asked, “Do you know who I’ll be working with?”
“Just flip through those pages,” replied Pinkie as she gestured at the folder. “They’re all listed right there in the folder.”
Juniper followed Pinkie’s advice and flipped through the pages until she reached the first one describing a fellow candidate. “Gloriosa Daisy,” she noted. “Yeah, she’s pretty responsible with things, so it makes sense she’d be part of this team.” She flipped through a few more pages until she found the next candidate. “Wallflower Blush. Eh, I guess she’s okay. At least I’ve heard that she’s good with plants.” She flipped through some more pages until she reached the next candidate. “Vignette Valencia? The Vignette Valencia?! Then again, I probably shouldn’t be so surprised to see her in here after what happened at Equestria Land.” She flipped through a few more pages and found the last of the listed candidates. “Trixie? Seriously? What good could she possibly bring to this team?”
“Trust me, she’s really not that bad, once you get to know her,” assured Pinkie. “Sunset can personally vouch for her, but she and Twilight had to go on a ‘special assignment’ that the rest of us aren’t allowed to know much about, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. So anyway, what do ya think? Do ya wanna be one of the Redeemables? It’s completely up to you to make that choice.”
Juniper glanced down at the folder, then smiled as she turned her gaze up to Pinkie and replied, “As much as I’ve grown to accept working here, I still have dreams of becoming famous, and though I’ll admit it might realistically be a bit of a long shot, there’s a chance that this new project could give me that big break I’ve been hoping to get for years.” She closed the folder and held out her hand. “Sign me up!”
“No need to sign anything,” remarked Pinkie as she shook hands with Juniper. “Just a simple handshake is all we need.”
“I am so looking forward to this!” said Juniper excitedly. “Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity!”
“That’s what we do on the LEGO Team,” said Pinkie cheerfully. “We do whatever we can to help bad people turn good and help good people become better. Let’s go out and celebrate!”
“Not right now,” Juniper pointed out. “I’m still working.”
“How about after work?” asked Pinkie.
Juniper shook her head and replied, “Community service. I’m supposed to clean up litter along the plaza.”
“How about I help you with that?” asked Pinkie. “No one seemed to mind Starlight Glimmer helping you out on your first day of community service.”
“If you’re sure it’s not much trouble for you, then I guess I wouldn’t mind a little extra help,” replied Juniper with a smile.
“Gladly!” declared Pinkie cheerfully. “I’ll wait outside!”
“Don’t bother,” stated Juniper. “My shift won’t end for another three hours.”
“Then I’ll just go do other things and come back here in three hours,” remarked Pinkie. “Anyway, looks like my official work here is done. See ya later!” She turned away and began walking across the lobby towards the exit.
“Hey! I’m gonna need that back!” Juniper called out.
Pinkie stopped and turned back to Juniper, then suddenly realized she was still wearing the film reel headband that was part of Juniper’s work uniform. “Oh, right! Silly me!” giggled Pinkie as she removed the headband and tossed it back to Juniper.
Juniper caught her headband and put it back on, then watched as Pinkie left the cinema. She then turned her gaze back down to the folder sitting on the counter. It was true, she still had that desire deep within her to one day become famous and be adored by everyone around her. The only difference now was that she knew better than to seek that goal at the expense of others. In fact, now that she thought about it, she realized that some of the most famous people in the world were known to get along quite well with others. It now made sense to her that, if she really did still wish to become famous, then joining this new team could actually prove to be one of the easier paths to accomplishing that, not to mention how it would prove to everyone that she really was a good person worthy of such fame.
“Juniper!” called out the manager from the side of the lobby. “That popcorn machine needs to be refilled!”
Juniper glanced back at the popcorn machine behind her and, sure enough, discovered it was almost completely empty. “Oh, whoops. Sorry about that!” Juniper called back. “I’ll get that taken care of!”
Juniper rushed over to the storage room close to where the manager was standing. She quickly found the massive bags of popcorn and almost effortlessly lifted one of them over her shoulder, then she easily carried the massive bag back around behind the counter. With one hand easily holding that massive bag on her shoulder, she used her other hand to open the popcorn machine. She then hefted the bag over the opening, tore open one end of that bag, and poured the kernels into the machine. Once the bag was completely emptied, she closed the machine and powered it on to start popping the popcorn.
“Wow… Have you been working out lately?” asked the manager in shock.
“Not really,” admitted Juniper.
The manager scratched his head in confusion, then simply shrugged and walked off to take care of other things.
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” muttered Juniper as she looked at the empty bag in her hands while the popcorn machine behind her continued working. “I mean, this thing only weighs… Whoa…”
Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!
When Juniper saw the weight that was marked on the massive bag, she was completely astonished by just how much it actually was. That full bag had weighed almost half as much as she did! Yet, she had hauled that thing around so easily, it might as well have been empty.
Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!
Slightly unnerved by that shocking discovery, Juniper glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then crumpled up the bag and tossed it into the nearest trashcan as she muttered to herself, “Best not to tell anyone about this.”
Rainbow Dash was still bitter that she ended up picking last, and predictably had ended up with Trixie as a result. Although Trixie was no longer evil and was now trying to reintegrate herself back into city life after spending years in the Castle Region, her attitude was still rather off-putting for most people. Regardless, somebody had to complete this part of the mission, and since Rainbow was stuck with it, she was going to put aside her personal feelings on the matter and do her best to accomplish the goal of the mission.
Of course, the first problem Rainbow Dash had to solve was where she could even find Trixie. Although her magical super speed allowed her to cover a lot of ground very quickly, it still took quite some time and a bit of asking around before she finally got word that Trixie had been spending most of her time lately doing street magic performances. With that in mind, Rainbow thought of a few likely places where Trixie might hope to draw in a large crowd, then sped off to search those places. It wasn’t long before she found Trixie at the northern end of Sunshine Plaza.
Trixie had chosen this location as a preferred site for her street magic performances because she hoped that the intersection where the plaza met the regular streets would serve as a focal point where many people would frequently pass through, and thus would provide a greater chance that these people would notice her acts and stay to watch. At this moment, only about a half dozen people had gathered around and she was about to demonstrate a simple card trick to them.
“Now pick a card! Any card!” declared Trixie as she spread out a stack of cards and held them face-down. As one of the random civilians reached out to grab a card, Trixie suddenly pulled the cards back and insisted, “No no, not that card. Trust me, you won’t want that one.”
The civilian rolled his eyes before grabbing another card and pulling it from the deck.
“Excellent choice,” stated Trixie. “Now look at that card, show it to your friends, but do not show it to Trixie, then just stick it back anywhere in the deck.”
The civilian did as he was told before replacing the card back into the deck.
Trixie began to swiftly shuffle the cards as she explained, “For this trick, Trixie is going to fling the entire deck up into the air and blindly grab just one card at random as they fall.” She finished shuffling the deck and held it up over her head. “Now behold as Trixie shall find your card on the very first try!” She flicked the entire stack of cards straight upwards and immediately closed her eyes. As the falling cards fluttered all around her, she reached her arms out and soon managed to grasp one of those cards. She then opened her eyes and grinned as she showed the card to the civilian.
The civilian simply shook his head with a look of disinterest on his face.
“Darn it!” grumbled Trixie as she flung that incorrect card down onto the ground with the other cards scattered around. “Seems Trixie is still out of practice after all these years in the Castle Region.”
The small crowd walked away in dissatisfaction as Trixie reached down to begin picking up all the scattered cards on the ground.
“You know, just because you think you’re awesome doesn’t mean you have to do stupidly tricky stuff to show off,” Rainbow Dash spoke up as she approached Trixie. “Trust me, I know.”
Unwilling to be seen in an unflattering stance in front of someone she knew reasonably well, Trixie quickly dropped what few cards she had grabbed as she stood up straight and confidently boasted, “Trixie is a stage magician. She must do the tricky stuff to captivate her audience!” She then slumped and sighed before she shamefully added, “Or at least I will be, once I can get my head back in the game.”
“So why are you out here?” asked Rainbow Dash.
Trixie glanced around warily before she leaned close to Rainbow and quietly answered, “Just between us, it is much less humiliating to fail on a crowded street where people pass you by than to fail on a stage where everyone is watching you.” She then took a step back and boastfully added, “Once Trixie has perfected her tricks on the streets, she will finally make her long-awaited comeback to the performance stage!”
Although she refused to show it, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but find herself sympathizing with Trixie’s struggles, for she also knew what it was like to try and fail many times in order to achieve her own level of awesomeness. Even so, Rainbow didn’t have the patience to put up with Trixie’s attitude for long, so she decided to just hold out the folder she was carrying to Trixie.
Trixie raised an eyebrow as she looked down at the folder with her portrait paperclipped to the front. “What’s this?” asked Trixie.
“The LEGO Team is starting up a new kind of project that’s never been done before,” explained Rainbow Dash, “and Celestia herself has selected the candidates to participate in it… and you’re one of them.”
“Is that so?” asked Trixie with a smile as she took the offered folder. “I knew it was only a matter of time before the Playwell family would recognize Trixie’s talents.” She opened the folder and looked at the first page, which quickly made her frown. “The Redeemables? Seriously? Sounds like something I’d expect to see in a supermarket.”
“It’s a working title,” Rainbow pointed out. “There’s a chance it’ll change to something better.” She glared at Trixie as she added, “And no, I don’t think they’ll accept anything that has the name Trixie in it.”
“Real subtle, Rainbow Dash,” grumbled Trixie. “At least Sunset Shimmer made an effort to respect Trixie.”
“Trust me, I’d much rather have Sunset do this instead of me,” noted Rainbow, “but she and Twilight were given a ‘special assignment’ that we’re not allowed to know much about.”
“Of course she did,” muttered Trixie as she rolled her eyes. “She’s one of the best they’ve got, so it’s no wonder she gets to have all the good secrets.” She glanced down at the folder in her hands and asked, “So what’s the purpose of this project?”
“Basically, it’s to team up a bunch of former bad guys so you can prove to everyone that you’re all good guys now,” explained Rainbow Dash. “You’ll find some info on the other candidate inside that folder.”
“Let’s see who we’ve got here,” muttered Trixie as she started flipping through the pages. “Gloriosa Daisy, responsible and boring, but totally understandable. Juniper Montage, never heard of her. Wallflower Blush, totally expected to see that loser. And Vignette Valencia, who can’t seem to function without a working phone in her hand.”
“I’m pretty sure Celestia went through a lot of work to make this happen,” scolded Rainbow Dash. “The least you could do is not insult the people who could end up being your new teammates.”
“If they can respect Trixie, then Trixie shall respect them back,” stated Trixie.
“Well, now that you know what it’s about and who you’re gonna team up with, do ya wanna join the Redeemables?” asked Rainbow Dash, her impatience noticeable in her tone.
Trixie considered her decision for a moment as she continued skimming through the contents of the folder. Eventually, she shut the folder and smiled as she replied, “Trixie is intrigued by this proposal. If the offer stands as presented here, then Trixie shall agree to these terms. What must Trixie do to make it official?”
“Just keep that folder and shake my hand,” answered Rainbow Dash. “That’s all we need.”
“In that case, Trixie shall accept,” responded Trixie as she shook hands with Rainbow Dash. However, Trixie’s smile fell when a gust of wind scattered her cards around, reminding her that she had neglected to retrieve any of them.
“Allow me,” offered Rainbow Dash before she zoomed off as a rainbow motion blur, which quickly whirled around in numerous twists and turns all over the street and avoiding the traffic. Within seconds, Rainbow stopped in front of Trixie with all of those lost cards now stacked into a full deck in her right hand. Rainbow then flicked the entire deck into an arc over her head to restack in her left hand, which she then held out to Trixie.
“Show off,” grumbled Trixie as she took back her deck of cards.
“Looks who’s talking?” quipped Rainbow Dash.
As she pocketed her deck of cards, Trixie sighed and acknowledged, “It seems there shall always be a clash of egos whenever the two of us are together, Rainbow Dash.”
“At least from now on, we won’t be fighting on opposite sides,” Rainbow pointed out with a friendly smile.
“True that,” agreed Trixie with a smile.
“Well, looks like my work here is done,” declared Rainbow Dash. “Catch ya later!” She then zoomed off as a rainbow motion blur, as was typical of her.
Now on her own at the busy plaza, Trixie looked once again down at the folder in her hand. She couldn’t help but imagine how this unique new project would open new opportunities for her. “Perhaps Trixie can once again rise to become Great and Powerful,” she wondered aloud. “Only this time, it shall be as a force for good. And who knows, with enough good deeds, perhaps Trixie might even be rewarded one day by being given back her magical staff.” With growing confidence, Trixie spoke louder. “Beware, evildoers!” She then pretended to use her beloved magical staff as she waved her arm around. “Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap!”
BZZZT!
A neon sign that Trixie pretended to strike suddenly burst into a shower of sparks as it was catastrophically disabled. That sudden display certainly caused everyone walking nearby to suddenly stop and stare at Trixie.
Trixie was initially frozen in shock and confusion at what just happened, but as soon as she noticed everyone around was staring at her, she awkwardly responded, “Uh… probably just the fuse on that thing blowing out with impeccable timing. Nothing magical going on here! Carry on!”
The surrounding pedestrians were confused, but quickly accepted Trixie’s explanation and continued on with their ordinary lives.
With the unwanted attention now off her, Trixie stared up at the damaged neon sign, wondering just what might have caused its sudden destruction. She had always relied upon that magical staff to utilize her powers, but now that it was permanently confiscated, she had been unable to access any of those old powers she used to enjoy. But if that was true, then what caused that neon sign to suddenly explode? Eventually, she just shrugged and decided to accept the excuse she had come up with for the crowds. With that minor incident behind her, she began to casually walk away down the plaza.
This is nuts, thought Sunset for not the first time today. I can’t believe Twilight and I actually agreed to this.
After the two girls had accepted the special assignment given to them by Celestia Playwell, their first task was to get to Albatross Prison, just off the coast of Lego City. Twilight and Sunset had a brief discussion and agreed to use the Jump-Gate from the LEGO Team Headquarters building in Canterlot City to take them to the Lego City police station. From there, with permission from the police, they boarded the ferry to the small island where that prison was located. They then consulted with the prison guard posted at the dock and he gave them both visitor passes so they could proceed with their assignment. Now, the two girls stood in front of the main gate into the prison, waiting for the guards to clear the immediate vicinity so they could open the gate without the risk of any inmates making an attempt to escape.
Noticing the look of discomfort on Sunset’s face, Twilight asked, “Are you sure you’re alright with this? It’s not too late for us to back out.”
Sunset sighed and responded, “We already accepted the assignment and made it this far. If we back out now, we’d look like complete cowards, and that’s not something I want everyone to think of either of us.”
“I’m just trying to be a good friend,” assured Twilight. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been a little tense ever since we left our private meeting with Celestia, so I wasn’t sure if you felt okay with this mission.”
“Just because I accept a mission doesn’t mean I’m always gonna be completely on board with it,” Sunset pointed out. “I wanna continue doing good things for the Lego Team. It’s just… I can’t help but feel like maybe this isn’t the best idea.”
“I know, the belief that we could invite the Dazzlings to join our side does seem a little difficult to imagine, but I trust Celestia’s judgement,” said Twilight. “After all, as we just heard from the guards, Celestia had instructed them to release each of those three only if they presented these folders and expressed interest in joining the team. And besides, since virtually no one has even bothered talking to them ever since they were arrested, we don’t really know for sure whether or not they wish to change their ways, let alone if they’ll be interested in joining this project.”
“You’re right,” admitted Sunset with a smile. “Better to try and fail than to not try at all, I guess.”
BZZZZZZ!
With the sound of that buzzer, the barred doors of the main gate swung open. The two girls watched the gate open, then turned to each other. They shared a nod of agreement before they walked forward through the gateway. Once they had passed through the gateway, the doors swung closed and locked shut.
Sunset and Twilight now stood in the main prison yard. In front of them on the opposite side of the yard was the main prison cellblock, which was five floors tall. Behind them were the walls with guard towers at each corner and midpoint, atop which some prison guards stood watch over the entire area. To their left was a basketball court encircled by a chain-link fence. To their right was an open space with weightlifting benches, punching bags, and picnic tables scattered around.
One of the nearby prison guards walked over to the two girls and asked, “Are you sure you don’t need an escort? Some of these inmates aren’t afraid to push people around whenever they feel like it.”
“We’ll be fine,” assured Sunset. “We’ve taken down much worse than a bunch of pathetic thugs.”
The prison guard nodded in acceptance and walked away.
Twilight looked around the prison yard and building as she asked, “Where do we begin? This looks like an awfully big place to search for three people supposedly held in distant corners.”
“We should start by looking for a guy named Blue Whittaker,” suggested Sunset. “He’s known to be the so-called fixer of this place, managing to smuggle in all kinds of contraband for his fellow inmates. If anyone here knows where to find each of the Dazzlings, it’s him.”
Twilight started looking around the prison yard and noticed a few inmates who were standing and wandering around. Some of them wore simple hats or had rough hairstyles such as a flat-top or a mohawk, but all of them wore this prison’s mandatory uniform of dark blue pants and shirts with white and light blue vertical stripes.
Twilight turned to Sunset and asked uneasily, “So, uh, do we just ask around, or…?”
“Don’t bother,” assured Sunset. “Back when I used to be a criminal mastermind, Blue was one of my numerous trustworthy contacts, so I’ve actually met him a few times before. Trust me, I’ll know him when I see him.”
Twilight nodded in agreement and followed Sunset across the prison yard. Although she didn’t speak up about it, Twilight was relieved that they wouldn’t have to deal with any of the random inmates just yet. Some of those inmates were already becoming aware of the presence of the two visiting girls and were giving them various looks of either contempt, wariness, or naughty interest. Needless to say, it made Twilight feel very uncomfortable.
It wasn’t long before Sunset led Twilight towards the basketball court. The gate was unlocked, so they were able to simply open it and walk inside. There were a few inmates currently playing a half-court game at the far half of the court, but Sunset payed them no attention. Instead, she was focused on one inmate who was sitting alone on the bleachers. In addition to the standard prison uniform, he also wore tan suspenders over his shirt, a dark blue beret on his head, had grey facial hair in the form of a goatee, and had the yellow skin typical of most minifigs.
Twilight leaned close to Sunset and whispered, “Is that—?”
Sunset suddenly held Twilight back and quietly insisted, “Wait here. I’ll handle this.”
Twilight was confused, but trusted Sunset’s past experience in dealing with criminals, so she nodded in acceptance and stood beside the currently unused basketball hoop, clutching the three folders for their mission under her crossed arms.
Sunset casually walked towards the bleachers, climbed up onto the same bench that the lone inmate sat on, and sat down right beside him. Both of them stared straight forward, neither of them ever glancing towards each other as the silence persisted for a few seconds.
“Ain’t you a sight for sore eyes…” greeted the inmate with a deep, almost grandfatherly voice.
“Been a long time, hasn’t it, Blue?” responded Sunset.
“You never paid me for that last favor,” Blue pointed out.
“How much do I owe you?” asked Sunset.
“Two hundred dollars,” reminded Blue. “Half of it’s from the accumulated interest after the last few years.”
“I’ll give you double in exchange for some new intel,” offered Sunset.
Blue turned to Sunset and asked, “What are you interested in?”
Sunset turned to Blue and replied, “I’ve been told the Dazzlings were recently transferred to this prison. My friend and I are here to have a little chat with them. Do you know where we can find them?”
Blue gave Sunset a hard stare for a moment, then reached into his pocket as he sighed and responded, “As soon as I got word the Dazzlings were being sent here, I knew it was only a matter of time before you or one of your teammates would arrive to try and find them.” He pulled out a crumpled napkin and unfolded it to reveal a crude sketch. “It took a bit of asking around to get confirmation from their neighbors, but I’ve been able to sketch this floor plan of the facility and identified the wing, floor, and cell where each of those three girls are being held.”
Sunset pulled out her phone and took a picture of that sketch. “Got it,” she confirmed upon seeing that picture on her phone.
“Don’t think this necessarily means you’ll find them at these particular cells right now,” cautioned Blue as he shoved the napkin sketch back into his pocket. “As you can see around us, the inmates here are allowed to roam around with some restrictions.”
“Any word on where we’ll be most likely to find them?” asked Sunset.
“I can tell you that Sonata Dusk has quickly become one of my most frequent customers,” replied Blue, “and it seems she’s decided to bring most of her purchases up onto the roof of the cellblock.” He pointed up to the top of the building in question, where a pink and purple umbrella was sticking up rather conspicuously. “Just tell her you’re friends with Blue and she’ll lower the ladder to let you up there.”
“That should be a good start,” stated Sunset. “Well, a deal’s a deal, so I guess I’d better give you your payment before I go.” She reached into her pocket, pulled out a stack of cash, and counted four hundred-dollar bills before handing them over to Blue while pocketing the remainder.
“Still using funds from your secret stashes, I see,” noted Blue as he took the cash.
“Only if I have to,” Sunset slyly admitted as she stood up and walked back to rejoin Twilight.
As Sunset arrived, Twilight quickly shoved something back into her pocket as she quietly explained, “Don’t bother telling me. I was able to listen in on the whole conversation, thanks to an old gadget I used back in my days as a Shadowbolt agent, which greatly enhances audio from distant locations in a specific direction.”
Sunset chuckled and quipped, “If I’m allowed to keep my secret stashes, then I’d say it’s okay for you to keep your secret spy gear.”
“So it looks like Sonata Dusk will be the first one we’ll converse with,” noted Twilight as she flipped the folders around so the one with Sonata’s portrait on it was now on top of the stack in her arms. “But if she’s all the way up on the roof, how are we supposed to get her attention from down here?”
“Like this…” stated Sunset as she shoved Twilight towards the gate out of the basketball court and then walked over to the other side where the inmates were still playing their game. When the ball fell out of possession, she quickly snatched it up.
“Hey! What gives?!” complained one of the inmates who was playing.
Without saying a word, Sunset pulled her arm back and chucked the ball over the fence and all the way up onto the roof of the cellblock. As she then ran across the court to stand beside Twilight at the gate, she heard the ball bounce once on the roof, followed by a soft thud.
“Ow!” cried a female voice up on the roof. A few seconds later, the blue former siren — wearing the same prison uniform as all the other inmates, but also with her hairstyle still in the single large ponytail she always had — peered over the edge of the roof, holding that basketball in her hands and with a grumpy look on her face. “Who threw this at me?!” she demanded.
“It was that guy,” Sunset quickly replied as she pointed at a random inmate to her left.
The inmate in question had his attention elsewhere, so he grunted in confusion as he turned around to face Sunset. Almost immediately, that basketball suddenly bounced off his head, hitting him with enough force to knock him out and send his unconscious body collapsing to the ground.
As that basketball bounced over the fence and back into the court, Sonata began to retreat back, but then peered over the edge again as she now focused her attention on Sunset. “Hey, I remember you!” she called out down to the yard below. “You’re the one who took away my magical signing voice!”
“Not like I had much choice,” responded Sunset, speaking up loudly enough for Sonata to hear her. “You were using dark magic to take over the world.”
“Well it still wasn’t very nice!” Sonata sharply shot back.
Hoping to ease the tension that was already rising, Twilight spoke up, “We just wanna talk to you about a few things. Do you think you could allow us up here?”
“Why should I?” asked Sonata skeptically.
“We’re friends with Blue,” replied Sunset. “I just paid him four hundred dollars for info on where to find you and the others.”
“Seriously?” questioned Sonata in shock as she raised an eyebrow. “He asked for that much?!”
“Actually, half of it was an old debt,” admitted Sunset, “and half of that was interest on the old debt. I just offered him double for the info.”
Sonata stared down at the two girls for a moment, then turned left and walked along the edge of the roof until she stopped and then flipped something over the ledge. That something turned out to be segments of a long ladder, which gravity quickly extended all the way down to the ground. “Come on up so we won’t have to shout loud enough for all the guards to hear us!” she called down.
Sunset and Twilight glanced at each other before they walked over to the bottom of that ladder and started climbing it. Sunset went up first, followed closely by Twilight, who was forced to climb with only one hand as she held the folders in her other arm. As they climbed, they couldn’t help but glance around at the guard towers, now that Sonata had brought attention to them. Although some guards were keeping an eye on them, they seemed to have limited interest in what they were doing, as if it was nothing to be too concerned about. Not to mention, some of those guards happened to be taking a nap at the moment.
Once the two girls both reached the top, Sonata flipped a nearby lever, starting up a winch that pulled a cable attached to the bottom ladder segment, retracting the ladder segment by segment back up to the roof. Now that they were on the roof of the main cellblock building with Sonata, Sunset and Twilight were astonished by what they saw. In addition to the pink and purple umbrella that was visible from the ground, there was also a lounge chair, a side table, a portable radio with cassette player, a mini-fridge, a toaster, and even a hot tub.
“Wow…” remarked Twilight. “This is… interesting.”
“It’s my private outdoor lounge,” said Sonata with a smile on her face. “Mister Blue smuggled in all this stuff I asked for and I brought it all up here where no one can bother me.” She then glared towards the prison yard below and grumbled, “Well, most of the time.”
“And even though this is in plain view of all the guards, they don’t even care about all this?” asked Sunset incredulously.
Sonata shrugged and replied, “I guess not.”
It was at this moment that the winch finished pulling up the ladder, which was then flipped back to rest flat against the roof.
Twilight glanced back at the retracted ladder, then turned to Sonata and asked, “How did you manage to haul all of this up that ladder?”
Sonata scoffed and answered, “Don’t be silly! There’s a door that goes down into the building.” She gestured at a shack-like structure with a closed door on one end of it. “It only locks from the inside, so anyone can walk inside from up here, but you’ll need a key to exit the building through that door.” She sat down on the lounge chair and leaned back with a grin on her face. “And I happen to have the only key that can open that door.”
“How did you get your hands on a key like that?” asked Sunset.
“Oh, some of the prisoners were planning a jailbreak from this roof,” replied Sonata as she rested her arms behind her head, “so part of their plan was to steal that key from one of the guards. They got it, but before they got a chance to try their plan, I convinced them to let me have it all to myself.”
“How did you do that?” asked Twilight.
Sonata smirked and replied, “I’m pretty much the first girl these guys have even seen in, like, years! How else do you think I convinced them to give me anything I asked for?”
“So much for sweet and innocent,” grumbled Sunset.
Twilight cleared her throat and spoke up, “Uh, listen, Sonata, Sunset and I have been sent here to provide you and your two companions with an offer from the LEGO Team.”
Sonata’s relaxed smile fell as she sat up and turned to Twilight. “What kind of offer?” she asked.
Twilight grabbed Sonata’s folder from the stack in her arms and held it out to the blue former siren. “There’s a proposal to create a specialized team consisting of former villains,” explained Twilight, “and Celestia has secretly invited you, Aria, and Adagio to possibly become members, if you’re interested.”
Sonata took the folder, then relaxed back in her lounge chair as she opened the folder. She hummed thoughtfully as she flipped through the pages within the folder. She never said anything as she continued quickly glancing over each page.
As Sonata near the end of the folder’s pages, Sunset asked, “So what do you think?”
Sonata closed the folder and set it down on the nearby side table as she replied, “It looks interesting, but… I’m not so sure. I mean, personally, I wouldn’t mind giving it a try, but… I just can’t do it if my sisters don’t wanna be involved.”
“Sisters?” asked Twilight. “You mean Adagio Dazzle and Aria Blaze? Are you saying that you three are sisters?”
“Of course we are!” replied Sonata. “It’s why we’ve stuck together for ages, no matter how much we hate each other at times. Wherever we go or whatever we do, we’ve always done it together, and we will continue to always do it together. It’s just who we are.”
Sunset tapped her chin in thought before she asked, “So you’re saying that if both Adagio and Aria were to agree to join this project, then you would also be willing to join?”
“Oh, absolutely!” confirmed Sonata cheerfully. “As much as I’ve enjoyed doing stuff with my sisters, I think it would be more fun to share our experiences with other people, especially since they would also understand what it’s like to get our butts kicked by good guys like you girls.”
“So I guess we’ll just have to see what Adagio and Aria have to say in order to get a definitive answer from you,” concluded Twilight. “Do you know where they might be?”
“No idea where to find Adagio,” replied Sonata. “I haven’t seen her or heard from her ever since we were transferred. As for Aria, well, let’s just say that if you ever come across a crowd of prisoners chanting ‘fight, fight, fight,’ then you’ll likely find her in the middle of it all while kicking some dummy’s butt. And believe me, she’s really good at it. I mean, where else do you think I got the money to pay Mister Blue to give me all this stuff?”
“Actually, Blue is his first name,” stated Twilight as she adjusted her glasses. “The proper way to refer to him would be either Mister Whittaker or just Blue.”
“I never heard him complain about it, so I don’t think he really cares,” Sonata pointed out. “Either way, it’s really nice to have a guy like him around. If I knew he could make prison life this luxurious, I would’ve asked for this transfer months ago!” She rested her arms behind her head as she further relaxed into her lounge chair. “Yup, life is good. Well, as good as it can be for a girl in jail.”
Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Beep-beep!
Sonata glanced at a digital watch — also provided to her by Blue — on her wrist, then suddenly gasped and exclaimed, “Oh my gosh! One hour until mealtime!” She swiftly jumped out of the lounge chair. “I gotta get to the mess hall! It’s Taco Tuesday, and I wanna make sure I’m at the front of the line!” She then ran off towards the door into the building.
“Wait!” Twilight cried out. “Don’t forget your folder!”
Sonata stopped and muttered, “Oh, right!” She quickly rushed back and swiped that folder off the side table she had left it on. “I’ll just drop this off at my cell and read it later.” With the folder in hand, she threw open the door and then slammed it shut as she rushed inside.
“So I guess this means Aria Blaze will be the next one we should speak with, right?” asked Twilight as she adjusted the two remaining folders in her arms so that the one with Aria’s portrait was on top of the other one.
“Looks like it,” concluded Sunset reluctantly as she pulled out her phone. She checked the picture she took of Blue’s napkin sketch for a few seconds, then put away her phone. “Alright, I think I know where to go. Follow me.”
Twilight followed Sunset through the doorway down into the building. They climbed down a few flights of stairs, then proceeded down a hallway along some rows of cells, many of which were currently opened — presumably because those inmates were currently out in the main yard. As they began to approach a large room, the two girls began to hear quite a commotion going on. As they stepped into what appeared to be a rec room filled with pool tables, ping pong tables, weightlifting benches, and vending machines, they saw a crowd of inmates had huddled close together with their attention directed at the middle of the crowd.
“Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!” chanted the gathered crowd of prisoners.
Curious to see was what going on, Sunset climbed up onto the nearest pool table to look over the heads of everyone in the crowd. “I guess Sonata wasn’t kidding about Aria,” remarked Sunset.
Unlike Sunset, Twilight had no interest in witnessing whatever violence was occurring within the crowd of inmates, so she was fine with just staying on the floor for the duration of that brawl.
In the middle of the crowd, two inmates were really going at it. On one side was a guy with a red mohawk hairstyle and grey skin. On the other side was the violet former siren — wearing the same prison uniform as all the other inmates, but also with her hairstyle still in the double long ponytails she always had. As they stared each other down, the mohawk guy had a confident grin on his face, while Aria had a vicious scowl on her face.
Mohawk guy charged forward and threw a swift punch, but Aria easily dodged it and countered with a jab to the leg. Mohawk guy stumbled back a bit, but stayed on his feet and turned around to face his opponent again. Aria charged at him, but while he tried to stop her by raising his foot and attempting to stomp on her chest, she dodged the kick, grabbed his outstretched leg, and flung him across the fight area. Mohawk guy tumbled, but quickly staggered back up on his feet and glared at Aria. The two opponents then charged at the same time, and while Aria aimed low, mohawk guy side-stepped and reached over from up high, snatching away Aria’s hair piece as they rushed past each other. Once the two opponents stopped at opposite sides of the fight area and turned back to face each other, Aria gasped as she realized the absence of hair on her head by feeling her hands up over it, while mohawk guy dangled the purple hair piece around teasingly as he snickered triumphantly.
Now Aria was really furious. Gritting her teeth, she leaped into the air and tackled mohawk guy. He attempted to throw her off as he swiftly stood back up, but she managed to grasp onto him from behind and hook her left arm around his neck in a chokehold. Since mohawk guy stubbornly continued to hold Aria’s hair piece out of her reach, he could only use one hand to try to pry her off, but it wasn’t enough. He then swung around back and forth to shake her off, but while it did throw her off her feet, her grip was strong enough that her chokehold held firm as her legs were flung around. This momentum soon gave Aria an opportunity to knee mohawk guy in the back, causing him to fall forward onto his hands and knees. With only a brief moment of opportunity to follow up on that, she released her chokehold so she could leap into the air and come back down with a hard body slam onto his back. Mohawk guy completely collapsed face-down, but Aria wasn’t done yet. She gripped his head and then slammed it down onto the hard concrete floor. With her opponent now definitely subdued, she retrieved her hair piece from his loosened grip and placed it back on her head.
One of the inmates in the surrounding crowd got down on his knees and slapped his hand against the floor as he counted, “One! Two! Three! That’s it!”
While some inmates in the crowd cheered as Aria raised her fists in victory, many more others groaned and grumbled in disappointment.
“Aw, man! Again?!” groaned one inmate as he reluctantly pulled a few dollars out of his pocket.
“This stinks,” grumbled another inmate as he also unwillingly took a few dollars out of his pocket. “Is she ever gonna lose, for once?”
One of the more cheerful inmates in the crowd began collecting some of the money as he chuckled and quipped, “That’s what you dummies get for always betting against a girl. You’re too ignorant to ever consider they might actually be good at something.”
Aria scoffed and remarked, “Nice to know that some guys around here show me a little respect. Just don’t forget to give me my cut after you’re done collecting.”
The inmates who lost their wagers payed up before walking away, a couple of whom also grabbed the unconscious fighter who had lost and dragged him away. As the crowd began to clear up, it wasn’t long before Aria noticed across the room there were two girls whose presence quickly soured her mood. “Oh, it’s you,” she grumbled as she crossed her arms and frowned. “What are you two doing here?”
With Aria’s attention now directed at them, Sunset climbed down from atop the pool table while Twilight cleared her throat and replied, “We’re here on official business from the LEGO Team. We’ve been sent here to deliver an offer to you and your sisters.”
Aria continued to glare at the two girls for a moment, then turned back to the few inmates who were collecting their winnings and said, “As soon as you’re done counting your money, gimme my cut and scram. Looks like I got some visitors who wanna talk…”
The inmates with their winnings mumbled in agreement as they finished counting up their latest illegal income. Once that was done, they each separated a small portion of their cash and pocketed the rest, then handed over their small portions to Aria and walked off after the other inmates had already left.
Once all of the inmates had cleared away and moved on, Aria shoved her earnings into her pockets and walked over to where Sunset and Twilight stood. “Whatever offer you’re here for, it better be a good one,” stated Aria in a grumpy tone.
Twilight grabbed Aria’s folder from the stack in her arms and held it out to the violet former siren. “It involves a new team that’s being created, consisting entirely of former villains,” explained Twilight. “You and your sisters have been secretly invited by Celestia to join this groundbreaking project, should you agree to accept the offer.”
Aria grabbed the folder and opened it. As she began reading, she scoffed and grumbled, “Looks pretty dumb, already.”
“I have to say, that was some pretty good fighting you did back there,” complimented Sunset in an effort to improve Aria’s mood. “I mean, I’m pretty skilled myself, but what I saw over there was really impressive.”
“Eh, the guy had it coming to him,” said Aria dismissively. “He was just another creep who thought he could have his way with me.” She shrugged as she added, “Besides, with everyone always wagering on every fight that breaks out, how could I resist kicking his butt if it means I get to make some money for proving myself?”
“You should consider a career in professional wrestling,” remarked Sunset.
“Well, I’d be lying if I said the thought hasn’t occurred to me lately,” admitted Aria. “Not that it’ll matter if I’m gonna be stuck in this dump for the rest of my life.”
“Perhaps that could be another incentive to accept this offer from the LEGO Team,” suggested Twilight.
Aria raised an eyebrow and asked, “Let me guess, if I agree to join this stupid team of misfits and outcasts, I’ll be allowed to leave prison and go anywhere in the world, right?”
“When you say it that way, that’s pretty much all there is to it, I suppose,” replied Sunset. “Though realistically, you might be given probation for a few years, just to be on the safe side.”
“We’ve already spoken with Sonata about this,” Twilight pointed out. “She said she would accept only if you and Adagio also accepted.”
“No surprise there,” stated Aria. “She may be the worst, and I might hate Adagio even more at times, but we’re still a family. Dysfunctional, but still family. If we’re gonna do something totally different, then we’re doing it together.”
“So what would your choice be?” asked Sunset. “Would you be interested in joining this team?”
Aria looked down at the folder in her hands and quickly flipped through a few pages. “I still think it’s totally lame,” she grumbled. She sighed, then closed the folder and added, “But I guess it can’t be any worse than being stuck in here forever. I’ll accept, but only if Adagio and Sonata are gonna be there, too.”
“So it looks like the three of you are gonna be a package deal,” concluded Sunset. “All we need now is to ask Adagio if she’s interested.”
Aria scoffed and remarked, “Good luck with that. If what I’ve heard is true, she’s refused to even set foot outside of her cell ever since we were transferred here.” She then held out her folder to Twilight.
“That’s yours to keep,” stated Twilight. “It’ll help to have that information handy in case if you do end up joining the team.”
Aria shrugged and brought her folder back to herself as she said, “Well, at least that gives me something to read before lights-out.” Without another word, she turned around and walked away.
“I guess this means the final decision lies entirely with Adagio Dazzle,” noted Twilight as she glanced down at the final remaining folder in her arms with Adagio’s portrait on it.
“And if she supposedly stays in her cell at all times,” added Sunset as she pulled out her phone, “then it shouldn’t be too difficult to find her.” She brought up the picture she had taken of Blue’s napkin sketch, studied it for a moment, then put her phone away. “This way,” she said as she walked away, with Twilight following right behind her.
The two girls had to walk all the way to the other end of the main cell block and up some stairs to the third of five floors. Each cell was marked with a number, so Sunset silently counted the numbers until they finally reached the one that was specified on the napkin sketch.
Inside the closed cell identified as number 316, Adagio Dazzle — wearing the same prison uniform as all the other inmates, but also with her hairstyle tied back in that large curly mass she always had — was lying on her cot while reading a magazine. Looking into the cell, the cot was on the right with a side table beside it, and on the left was a toilet in the corner and a sink beside it.
With Adagio practically burying her face into that magazine, Sunset decided to simply tap the bars on the cell door to get her attention.
The yellow former siren lowered her magazine and gazed up at the two girls standing right on the other side of her cell door. With a look of indifference on her face, she flatly greeted, “Shimmer. Native Sparkle.” She then lifted her magazine back up to obscure her face.
“Native Sparkle?” asked Twilight in confusion.
“You’re obviously not the same Twilight from Equestria who helped bring me down,” explained Adagio from behind her magazine, “and I’ve been well aware of your existence only because that hag Abacus Cinch would never stop complaining about you.”
“So she did end up in a cell neighboring yours,” remarked Sunset cheerfully. “I knew it!”
“Unless you came here just to taunt me, you’re not doing yourself any favors, Shimmer,” grumbled Adagio as she kept her gaze glued to the magazine.
“She’s right,” Twilight pointed out. “If we’re gonna have any chance of success here, then we have to treat her with some respect.”
“Easy for you to say,” grumbled Sunset under her breath.
Twilight cleared her throat and spoke up, “So, Adagio, um… how have you been?”
“As best as one can while living just one stage above a vegetable,” Adagio bitterly responded.
“I’m sure it can’t be that terrible,” assured Twilight. “This place isn’t like LEGO Maximum Security Prison, where you’re confined to your cells at all times. At certain hours, you’re free to wander around the yard outside and mingle with the other inmates.”
“Which I have zero interest in partaking,” Adagio shot back as she slapped her magazine against her lap and glared at Twilight. “Truth be told, the only thing I don’t miss about that other place is listening to the delusional ramblings of that hag Cinch. Here, I’m forced to endure endless mockery from numerous cretins and misogynists in the nearby cells.”
“Hey, cheese puff!” shouted one inmate in a cell on the other side of the hallway. “What’s with bacon-head and sparkle-butt hangin’ around?!” He and a bunch of other inmates in the surrounding cells all burst out laughing.
That taunt caused the two girls outside the cell to blush, Twilight in humiliation, and Sunset in anger.
Adagio rolled her eyes and grumbled, “See what I mean?” She then lifted the magazine back up to obscure her face again.
Twilight took a deep breath to calm her nerves, the spoke up, “You may not have to put up with that any longer. Sunset and I are here on behalf of the LEGO Team to provide you with an offer.”
“Not interested,” responded Adagio without hesitation and keeping her face down at her magazine.
“But you didn’t give me a chance to explain it!” protested Twilight. She held up the folder in her hand as she explained, “It’s for a specialized team consisting of former villains, and you’ve been secretly invited as a potential candidate to join them.”
“Still not interested,” repeated Adagio with her gaze still focused on her magazine.
“We already shared this with your sisters, Aria and Sonata,” noted Twilight desperately. “They both expressed interest, but they won’t join unless all three of you agree to do so, so now it’s entirely up to you to decide whether or not the three of you will join this project.”
Adagio glared over the top of her magazine at Twilight and grumbled, “Didn’t you hear me? I am not… interested.” She then returned her gaze down to the magazine.
Twilight let out a sigh of exasperation and asked, “Have you even spoken to either of your sisters ever since your transfer? They’ve already found ways to make the most of their lives here. They’re interested in this project because they recognize what a better alternative it can offer them, and right now, you’re the only thing that’s holding them back from that opportunity. Do you really want to deny them the second chance they now seek? Do you not even care about them?!”
“Of course I care about them!” snapped Adagio as she threw her magazine to the floor and sat up on her cot. “They can be such buffoons at times, but they’re all I have left as a reminder of the good times we once enjoyed back home. The three of us swore a long time ago that we would always stick together, no matter how rough things might get. And to this day, that has never changed.”
“Then why deny them a chance at happiness?” asked Twilight desperately. “Why deny yourself a chance at happiness? We’re offering you an opportunity to not spend the rest of your lives wasting away in prison, and you’re going to just throw it all away?! After what I saw in your sisters, I had high hopes for you, Adagio!”
“Then your hopes were naïve and misplaced,” argued Adagio as she stood up and clenched her fists. “I shall never submit myself to your morals of so-called goodness and heroism. The Magic of Friendship does not show mercy to everyone, and the absence of my natural magic is living proof of that.”
“Alright, that does it!” snapped Sunset as she snatched the folder out of Twilight’s hand. “We tried doing this the nice way, so now we’re gonna try it my way!”
“Oh, really?” asked Adagio incredulously as she put her hands on her hips. “What makes you think you can accomplish something where your friend failed?”
“Twilight made her argument for the sake of completing the mission,” argued Sunset, “but I’m gonna make my argument based on what I think. Specifically, what I really think about this whole ‘Redeemables’ project, and I’m not just talking about its terrible name.”
Adagio raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
“The five other candidates that were shared with the rest of my friends, they make sense,” continued Sunset. “They were sorry for everything they did to us, so they deserve the second chance that this project is intended to offer to former villains. But then Celestia decides to pull me and Twilight into a ‘special assignment’ to secretly extend the offer to you three, all without even consulting her sister or her uncle, who happens to be the ruler of the entire Lego World. And no wonder, because unlike the other candidates, you three were not sorry for what you did! You never apologized, you never expressed remorse, and you kept on fighting even after we took away your magic! But somehow, the oh-so-merciful Celestia Playwell believed that just because we don’t know much about the three of you, we should also try extending a hand of friendship out to you three, even if your choice is to slap it away! Your sisters may have turned out to be at least open to the idea, but it is you, Adagio Dazzle, who’s proven to me that I was right to question Celestia’s judgement, because I think that this is a very stupid idea!” She slapped the folder against the barred door as she spat that emphasized word. “If you three get involved, it’ll never work!”
Practically the entire prison hallway had fallen silent by the time Sunset finished her furious rant. Twilight was left absolutely stunned with her jaw gaping as she stared at Sunset in shock. Adagio had remained standing with her hands on her hips, but the look of hostility on her face had now become one of curiosity.
Sunset let out a sigh of frustration and rubbed her eyes. She took a deep breath to calm herself, then stuck the folder between the bars into Adagio’s cell and held it out. “You don’t have to accept this offer,” declared Sunset. “All I want is for you to take this folder out of my hand and forget about it. Celestia insisted that the worst that could happen is you say no and nothing else will come of it, but while I question her judgement on that too, I’m gonna let this play out the way she asked us to do it. If what I fear turns out to be true, then she can take the blame for not foreseeing the consequences of pushing her luck too far.”
Twilight wanted to protest, but deep down, she couldn’t help but feel that perhaps Sunset might be on to something after all.
Adagio stared at the folder being offered to her, then turned her attention to Sunset’s face, then her gaze shifted back and forth between the two. The tense silence lingered for almost a full minute before Adagio stepped forward and grasped the folder sticking through the bars of her cell door. “I’ll consider… your proposition,” she stated firmly.
Sunset released the folder and allowed Adagio to pull it into her cell. “That’s all I ask of you,” responded Sunset. She then turned and began walking away. “C’mon, Twilight. We’re done here.”
Twilight watched Sunset walk away, took one last uncertain glance towards Adagio inside the prison cell, then followed after Sunset.
As the two LEGO Team girls walked away, Adagio walked to the back of her cell and dropped the folder onto the side table. She picked up her magazine that was still on the floor, then lied down on her cot and resumed reading the magazine. Almost right away, she felt bored. She was reading an outdated gossip magazine, since the prison refused to allow the inmates any reading material that had been around for less than a year. After the rather intense confrontation she had just experienced with those two girls, such dull reading material had quickly lost its appeal.
Her gaze soon drifted to her right, towards the side table with that folder resting on it. Now there was some potentially interesting reading material that had just been generously donated to her. It was certainly very tempting. Her gaze shifted to the magazine in her hands, then back to the folder. Finally, she let out a sigh as she closed the magazine and tossed it aside, then grabbed the folder off the side table.
“Know thy enemy,” she muttered to herself as she opened the folder and began reading its contents. “I would be a fool to not take advantage of such valuable information.”