//------------------------------// // What is Lego? // Story: LEGO Equestria Girls // by Chronicler06 //------------------------------// Chapter 3 What is Lego? As Twilight and Spike stepped inside the building, they noticed many similarities to Canterlot Castle in Equestria, such as large open spaces and tall columns holding up the ceiling. There were differences as well, such as the absence of stained glass windows and no separate towers at all. Perhaps the most notable difference was what this building was made of. Just like every other building in the city, this one was built out of more of these large plastic bricks that seemed to stick together almost magically. Of course, this building was no castle. The first room they had entered was clearly the lobby. What lay ahead on the upper floors, Twilight had no idea. At the moment, the only other occupant in this lobby was a guard sitting behind a desk. He didn’t wear armor like the Royal Guard in Equestria, but rather wore a blue police uniform that left only his head and hands exposed. He also seemed to be busy looking at a flat square piece in his hands. Twilight knew she had to talk to this world’s Celestia, but had no idea where to find her. She figured this guard might be willing to help. She walked up to him and asked, “Excuse me? Do you know where I could find Celestia? I need to speak with her right away.” The guard looked over at Twilight and asked, “Do you have an appointment with her? If not, you’d better make one.” He turned his attention back to the part in his hands. Twilight was taken aback slightly by this. The Celestia she knew was often busy with royal duties, so it shouldn’t be so surprising to expect this Celestia to be just as busy, despite not technically being royalty in this world. Still, this was the fate of Equestria and possibly even this “Lego World” as well that was at stake. Knowing there was no time to waste, she pleaded, “I’m afraid I can’t wait for that. This is important.” “How important?” asked the guard, not even taking his eyes off the item he held. Twilight paused for a moment to think. She had to somehow get the guard’s attention and make him realize just how important this was, without being so blunt about her coming from another world. Her recent conversation with minifig Fluttershy reminded her that maybe there was a way. “Sunset Shimmer was involved,” Twilight simply replied. The guard quickly looked over at Twilight and lowered the piece in his hands, revealing a lot of printed words on the smooth surface he had been staring at. He wasn’t looking at some random part; he was actually reading a newspaper! “Are you sure?” asked the surprised guard. “Positive,” answered Twilight with a nod. After letting the revelation sink in, the guard leaned over to a sloped part resting on the desk. He pressed a small red button printed on it and said, “Ms. Playwell? Someone here wishes to speak with you right away. She says Sunset Shimmer was involved.” After a few seconds of silence, a voice — which sounded a lot like that of Princess Celestia — came from the part and said, “Send her up right now. I’ll just postpone my next appointment.” Twilight was very surprised to hear this. True, she had been hoping to speak with Celestia as soon as possible. But to be important enough to postpone whatever business she was dealing with right now? Twilight had no idea what Sunset Shimmer may have done in this world, but it was starting to worry her. The guard turned back to Twilight and said, “Take this door to my left. The elevators should be on your right. Her office is on the top floor.” He then picked up his “newspaper” and continued reading. Twilight thanked the guard and asked Spike to follow her. They walked through the nearby door and saw two sets of elevator doors just a few steps away. Back in Equestria, there actually was such a thing as an elevator, but they only existed in places with tall buildings, like Manehattan. Being as book-smart as she was, this meant she knew how to operate an elevator, despite having almost never actually used one in her whole life. The thing that did confuse Twilight was how the controls seemed to be little more than a sticker on the wall. Not sure whether to expect anything, she pressed her hand against the up arrow button. The doors on the right almost immediately opened. Surprisingly, any buttons or switches on stickers or directly-printed decals actually worked. This kind of logic completely defied Twilight’s expectations. Perhaps there really were some subtle forms of magic in this world, after all. Twilight and Spike stepped into the elevator. Remembering how elevators worked, Twilight pressed the button with the largest number, which would take them up to the top floor of the building. The doors closed and the elevator began to rise. Less than half a minute later, the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Twilight and Spike stepped out to find themselves in a short hallway with a few seats on either side and ended in a single door. Printed in the middle of that door was the name “Celestia Playwell”. Twilight was confused by the “Playwell” part of the name. Princess Celestia had never gone by such a name. Perhaps it was a different kind of title for this world’s Celestia? Regardless, Twilight didn’t hesitate to walk up to the door and knock on it. “Come in,” said someone on the other side — presumably Celestia. Twilight reached for the door handle, but hesitated. In Equestria, Princess Celestia was royalty, and that often required bowing before them upon entry. She had no idea if the same applied to this Celestia. What if that was not how to greet others in this world? She didn’t want to keep Celestia waiting, so she decided she could just apologize if she unintentionally greeted her the wrong way. Twilight opened the door, took a few steps forward and bowed forward in respect. To her surprise, she heard the voice of Celestia giggle lightly and say, “There is no need to bow before me. This isn’t the Castle Region.” Twilight immediately stood upright and quickly apologized with a nervous smile on her face. Meanwhile, Spike walked into the room and closed the door on his way in. Twilight was now able to see the Celestia of the Lego World, who was currently standing in front of her desk. Like everyone else here, she was also a minifig. Her white/pale pink skin was visible on her head and hands. Her eyes were just like those on her pony counterpart, and her mouth had visible lips. The hair on her head consisted of the same range of bright colors as the Solar Princess of Equestria, but was just as motionless as ordinary hair. Her legs were violet, and her arms and most of the torso were a golden yellow. Based on the appearance on the front, she was apparently wearing a closed jacket of that color. On the left collar of that jacket was a sun-like symbol that looked just like Princess Celestia’s Cutie Mark. A few seconds of silence passed before Celestia spoke up. “You said you had important information regarding Sunset Shimmer, correct?” Twilight had momentarily forgotten what she was here for. She just as quickly remembered, thanks to Celestia getting her attention. Realizing she had been asked a question, Twilight replied, “Uh, actually, it’s not about Sunset Shimmer herself, but rather something she had stolen from me.” “Is that so?” asked Celestia. She then walked behind her desk, tore a sheet of paper from a notebook, and picked up a pencil. Apparently, not quite everything in this world was made of plastic parts. “First of all, what is your name?” “I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she answered. “This is actually the first time I’ve ever been in this, um, region. The only reason I’m here is because I chased after Sunset Shimmer, which ultimately led me to this city.” Celestia took note of that on the sheet of paper before asking, “And what exactly did she steal from you? Knowing her, it must have been a valuable item.” “It’s a crown, made mostly of gold, except for the gemstone on the front, which is shaped like a six-pointed star.” Spike added, “It also has magical abilities like—” Twilight quickly covered Spike’s mouth before he could say more. She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to talk about magic objects in a place that seemed to lack magic — for the most part, at least. Once again, she smiled nervously at Celestia. Celestia took note of everything and sighed. “It was only a matter of time before she would start stealing magical artifacts. I always knew it was too much to hope her crimes wouldn’t reach beyond the City Regions.” “Crimes?” asked a very surprised Twilight. “She’s been doing bad things here?” “For a long time, unfortunately,” replied Celestia. “Ever since she first appeared about five years ago, she has been responsible for all kinds of mayhem. Robbing banks, stealing vehicles, and frustrating the police at every step, it is no wonder she is number one on LEGO’s Most Wanted list.” This information was shocking to Twilight. If the natives of this world had been struggling to catch Sunset Shimmer for five years now, then there was little hope of stopping whatever plans she may have. However, thanks to some earlier thoughts, Twilight saw a way around this problem. “Actually, she may not even have that crown in her possession at this time,” explained Twilight. “When I was chasing her into this region, I was able to at least make her drop it. Neither of us saw where it landed, unfortunately, but I’m pretty sure she has yet to find it. That is why I came here. I was hoping that you could help me retrieve that crown, before Sunset Shimmer takes it again.” Celestia added this information to her note. Once she was finished, she rolled up the paper and said, “Thank you for telling me this. I’d better send this to the police station right away.” She picked up a cylindrical part and inserted the paper through the hollow bottom of it, then closed off the bottom with a small round part. She then walked over to the right side of the room and flipped a lever on the wall, which caused a large section of that wall to slide over and reveal at least a dozen transparent pipes, each with a different label on the small door on the side. She opened the one marked “Police Station” and inserted the round part containing her note. As soon as she closed the door, the cylinder quickly shot up through the pipe and out of sight. “That’s an interesting way to send a message,” remarked Twilight. “Indeed it is,” said Celestia. “Each one leads all the way across the city directly to its intended destination.” She flipped the lever again to slide the wall cover back over. “Much faster than hand delivery, and virtually no risk of interception.” Fascinating! thought Twilight. I wonder if it would be possible to build such a thing in Equestria. It certainly has great benefits. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” asked Celestia. Twilight took a moment to think about what else she could ask Celestia. With the message on its way to the police station, the local law enforcement would soon start searching the entire city for her crown. With any luck, she may have it back in only a matter of hours. Until then, maybe she could actually learn a few things about this strange world. “Well,” began Twilight, “I happen to come from a very different… region, and there’s a lot I don’t know about this place.” “Feel free to ask me anything you want,” assured Celestia. “I have plenty of time to answer your questions.” “In that case, I guess my first question is this: What is LEGO?” Celestia was quite surprised to hear anyone ask such a question. She wasn’t sure if Twilight was just testing her or genuinely had no idea. Either way, her question deserved a proper answer. Celestia smiled and replied, “To answer that as simple as possible, LEGO is what we call all of the various parts and pieces that everything and everyone in this world is made of. If you are interested, I can show you around some rooms to help explain some of the basics.” “I would like that very much,” said Twilight. As Celestia walked out of the office, Spike quietly said to Twilight. “I thought she would call you crazy to ask a question like that.” “I figured she would understand,” replied Twilight. “This is Celestia, after all.” She then followed Celestia out the door. Despite his confusion, Spike was quick to join up with them on their way to the elevator. On one of the many middle floors, the elevator doors opened. Celestia was the first to step out, soon followed by Twilight and Spike. “Where are you taking us?” asked Twilight. Looking around, she could see piles of various parts all over the room. There were a few bricks stacked together here and there, but there was apparently nothing definitive about what was being assembled here. It hardly seemed like the kind of place she would expect Celestia to take her. “I call this the Creativity Floor,” answered Celestia, “because it is here where one can experience the true purpose behind the concept of LEGO, and that is to encourage one’s imagination and creativity.” “How so?” “You would be amazed by what you can build with just a few simple parts,” replied Celestia with a smile on her face. She walked over to a nearby pile of parts and picked up a large red brick. She showed it to her guests and explained, “This is the most basic of Lego bricks. The first thing you will notice is that it has eight studs on top, arranged two-by-four. This arrangement gives this type of part its name: a standard eight-stud brick. But the studs are only half of how these bricks fit together.” She turned over the brick in her hands to show the bottom of it. “You will notice the interior is hollow, except for these three tubes. Tell me, where are these tubes located in relation to the studs on top?” Twilight gently took the brick from Celestia and studied it for a moment. After looking over both the top and the bottom, she finally answered, “Each tube is exactly in the middle of every two-by-two arrangement of the studs. There are three such arrangements on top of this particular brick, which is why there are three tubes on the bottom.” “Exactly,” confirmed Celestia. “This arrangement is vital to one of the key features of Lego bricks: clutch power.” She grabbed another standard eight-stud brick, but this one was colored blue. “When one brick is placed on top of another, the tubes provide a snug fit for the studs, regardless of where you decide to place it. The result…” She demonstrated by placing the blue brick directly on top of the red brick. She continued to hold just the blue brick as she picked it up again. This time, the red brick was lifted as well, stuck to the bottom of the blue brick. “The bricks stick together,” she finished. “Wow! That’s amazing!” exclaimed Spike, very impressed to see the two parts stick together almost magically. “That is quite impressive,” remarked Twilight. “You said this works no matter how you put them together?” “Of course,” answered Celestia. She proved this by separating the two bricks, turning one of them around, and putting them back together. Now, instead of covering all eight studs, only the four middle studs of the bottom brick were covered by the brick on top. “There are literally dozens of different ways of attaching just these two bricks.” She smiled as she added, “One of my favorite fun facts is the total number of possible ways to put together just six of these standard bricks: 915,103,765.” “Whoa!” exclaimed Twilight, completely blown away by that statistic. “That many from just six bricks?” “And that’s assuming they are all exactly the same,” continued Celestia. “Once you add in different colors, that number goes much higher.” “And that’s just factoring in only the standard bricks,” added Twilight, catching on to the true scale of LEGO. “I can see here there are many different kinds of parts, each with their own unique ways of fitting together with others. I don’t know whether to be thrilled or overwhelmed by all of this.” “As you can see, with so many possibilities, the imagination is the limit.” “I’ll definitely need to do some research on this when I get to that library,” Twilight quietly said to herself. She then spoke up, “I guess that answers all but two of my questions: Why is there a LEGO Team? And where does the name ‘Playwell’ come from?” “I suppose a little history lesson may be necessary to answer those questions,” replied Celestia. “Follow me, please.” She began walking to a nearby door out of the room. Twilight was about to follow, but noticed that Spike was now occupied with looking at the different kinds of pieces, obviously curious about what kinds of things he could build with them. As much as she would love to do the same, there would be time for that later. “Let’s go, Spike!” she called to him as she followed Celestia. “Okay,” sighed Spike in disappointment before dropping the parts in his hands and following Twilight. After some walking around, Celestia, Twilight, and Spike now stood in a hallway, looking at three portraits on the wall. “Who are these minifigs?” asked Twilight. “Actually, the full name for a Lego person is ‘minifigure’,” replied Celestia. “But as you may have already heard, most people prefer to shorten it to just ‘minifig’. Either way is correct. Anyway, to answer your question, these are the three generations of the Playwell family.” The portrait on the left was clearly the earliest, since it was the only one not in color. This minifig had dark hair, wore glasses, and had a moustache. “The first was Ole Playwell,” explained Celestia. “He was the one who created the Lego World as we know it. It was he who created the first Lego bricks, and he always made sure they were made at the highest quality possible. ‘Only the best is good enough,’ he would often say. Even the very name of LEGO was created by him. It is derived from two words in his native language: leg godt, which means ‘play well’, hence the family name. Coincidentally, the word Lego also means something else in a more ancient language: ‘I build’ or ‘I create’. It is widely believed that this is what inspired Ole to make the first Lego bricks. Sadly, he did not stay with us for very long, and his work was incomplete when he left us. It was left to his son, Godtfred, to finish what he had started.” The portrait in the middle showed a minifig that had dark hair that had receded a little, wore glasses, and had no facial hair. “Godtfred Playwell, the second generation, was quick to realize two major problems left in his father’s absence and quickly went to work solving them,” continued Celestia. “His first great achievement was to organize everything into a system. In Ole’s time, everything went together in only one way, but Godtfred saw the full potential of the Lego brick. As you already know, there are many ways to assemble these bricks, and by allowing everyone to embrace such endless possibilities, creativity was able to flourish all over the Lego World. But there was another problem. At the time, Lego bricks were completely hollow, and had only the studs on top to hold them together. As a result, if you didn’t build something correctly, it would simply fall apart. How do you think he ultimately solved this problem?” “By adding those tubes on the inside,” answered Twilight. “That’s right. By making the bricks capable of sticking together, the possibilities had truly become endless. Later on, Godtfred improved the system by creating different themes and assigning them to different regions: City, Space, Castle, and dozens more in the years since. While it is nice to be able to build anything you want, sometimes an appropriate setting can provide just the kind of inspiration you may need for your best creations.” This final portrait was of a minifig that had no hair on top of his head, but instead appeared to have short grey hair around the back as well as the beard. Unlike the other two, he did not wear glasses. “Eventually, Godtfred, too, had left us,” continued Celestia. “His son, Kjeld Playwell, the third generation, continues to oversee the Lego World to this day. He soon came to realize that it was not something he could do alone, and that is why he created the LEGO Team. At first, there was only one site located within his home region of Lego City, but he knew it wasn’t enough. Before long, each region had its own branch, where local master builders would come together and offer their expertise.” “Is that all there is to the LEGO Team?” asked Twilight. “An easier way for the Playwell family to look after everyone?” “Not exactly,” replied Celestia. “This organization represents many ideas: helping others, fighting the good fight, engineering better solutions, and many more. All of them are made possible by one simple message: We build on each other.” “Oh, I get it now,” said Twilight, smiling in realization. “You’re saying that it is only by working together as a good team that the greatest of achievements can be accomplished. Just like the magic of friendship!” “That’s one way to look at it, I suppose,” replied Celestia, slightly unsure what Twilight meant by that last phrase. Realizing she had slipped up again, Twilight decided to change the subject. “There’s just one thing I still don’t understand. You have the Playwell name. Where do you fit in among all of this?” “Kjeld happens to be my uncle,” answered Celestia. “Oh. Does this mean you’re the fourth generation?” “You could say that.” After a few seconds of silence, Celestia added, “Is there anything else you would like to ask me?” “No, I think that’ll be enough,” replied Twilight. “I’ll just do some further research at the library.” She began to walk away, but stopped when she realized something. “Oh! I do have one more question. Is there another way back into Canterlot City without having to go down that scary mountain road?” “Just take the elevator down to the basement level,” replied Celestia. “There’s a train station there, and the train runs between here and downtown every two hours.” “Thank you, Celestia. As long as you’re sure the police will do everything they can to find my crown, I’ll be just fine.” “I included a brief description of you in that note I sent to the police station, so if they do find it, they’ll know who to look for,” assured Celestia. Twilight thanked Celestia again before turning back to the elevator not far down the hallway, with Spike following close behind. Once again, they entered an available elevator. This time, Twilight pressed the button that would take them to the basement level. As the elevator doors opened near the underground train station, Spike asked, “So… what do we do now?” As they walked away from the elevator, Twilight replied, “For now, there’s not much we can do about my crown, unfortunately. We don’t know our way around this city. Instead, we’ll just have to hope the local police received Celestia’s message and will lets us know when they find the missing crown.” “If they find it,” corrected Spike. “Just because they know the city like the back of their hoof— I mean hand — doesn’t mean they are sure to find it. And three days isn’t really a lot of time to search an entire city.” “Still, if anyone can find it, it’s them. As far as I can tell, everyone here is just as friendly as the ponies we know back in Equestria. I’m actually optimistic we’ll be home with time to spare.” By now, the two of them had arrived at the underground train platform, where the train was already waiting. It had a much sleeker shape than the kind seen in Equestria. Most notably was the distinct lack of a smokestack on the engine. “Now boarding for Canterlot City. Now boarding,” said a voice that echoed across the station. Twilight and Spike had no idea where it came from, but they understood the message. Seeing the doors were open on all of the cars, they walked inside one and took their seats. “Until then,” continued Twilight, “I think it would be a good idea to do further research at that library. We’ll have to ask for directions, of course.” A simple tone rang out across the train before the doors slid closed. Just seconds later, the train began to roll out of the station. It didn’t take long for them to notice that this train was much faster than the ones they had ridden before in Equestria. Despite the higher speeds, the ride still felt just as comfortable, if not more so. It wasn’t long before the train left the tunnel as it continued to speed along the tracks across the landscape and toward the city. “Wow!” exclaimed Twilight in awe as she watched the scenery rush by. “At this rate, we’ll be there in no time! That’ll give us even more time to study!” Spike simply rolled his eyes. Twilight had always loved studying, and with so much to learn about this Lego World, he was sure they were about to spend a lot of time in that library.