//------------------------------// // Among Friends // Story: LEGO Equestria Girls: Short Stories // by Chronicler06 //------------------------------// Among Friends Many weeks had passed since Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria returned home with her magic crown. For the most part, life in Canterlot City had long since returned to normal. Many people would say that the only significant change was that Sunset Shimmer was now in prison for her crimes, and while that may be true, a certain group of girls were beginning to realize there was more that had changed than that. These five girls — Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity — had decided to meet up at the local pizzeria. While Pinkie was busy ordering a pizza for them to share, the rest of the group decided to sit down at an empty table so they could begin talking about certain recent events. “Well… here we are,” began Applejack uncertainly, once they were all seated. “Yes, it’s nice that all five of us could get together like this,” added Rarity as she looked around at the others, including Pinkie Pie at the counter not far away. “So what’s been going on?” asked Rainbow Dash, hoping to break the awkward feelings. “I don’t think we’ve all been in the same place since we saw Twilight leave.” “She did bring us all together as a team,” stated Fluttershy. “I guess there just hasn’t been much going on since then to bring us all back together.” “Ah’m honestly surprised that she even saw how we could make a good team,” admitted Applejack. “Ah mean, there really ain’t much we have in common. This team’s got a farmer, an athlete, a fashionista, a nature girl, and a party animal.” “Speaking of whom…” remarked Rarity as she noticed Pinkie Pie arrive at the table with a pizza in her hand. “Pizza’s ready!” announced Pinkie cheerfully as she tossed the pizza onto the table and took her seat at the table. As everyone grabbed a slice of pizza, Rainbow Dash commented, “Anyway, I agree with Fluttershy. Ever since we kicked Sunset’s butt and sent her to jail, there’s just not been a whole lot to talk about.” “I would beg to differ, Rainbow,” said Rarity as she grabbed a fork and knife for her preferred way to eat pizza. “Do you recall that remarkable transformation we went through on the night we defeated Sunset Shimmer?” “The one where we turned into half-ponies? How could any of us forget that?” remarked Applejack before taking her first bite from her slice of pizza. As she quickly finished it, she looked down thoughtfully for a moment. She then brought her gaze back up and said, “Y’know, now that ya mention it, Ah suppose there has been somethin’ odd goin’ on lately.” “Do tell, darling,” said an intrigued Rarity. Applejack explained, “Well, there was this incident where mah sister and her friends accidentally destroyed that old barn. For some reason, Scootaloo thought it’d be a good idea to attach some rockets to her scooter.” Rainbow Dash immediately spat out her mouthful of pizza and sputtered, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. How did she get her hands on some rockets?!” “Beats me,” replied Applejack with a shrug. “Anyway, thanks to that incident, the old barn was reduced to nothin’ but a pile of pieces, which meant Ah had to rebuild the whole thing. Normally, Ah’d use the instruction sheet to rebuild the barn, but even though Apple Bloom offered to fetch it for me, Ah chose not to use it.” “Oh! Lemme guess,” Pinkie Pie spoke up. “You wanted to make some custom improvements that weren’t included with the instructions?” “Ya hit the nail right on the head,” confirmed Applejack. She leaned in towards the middle of the table as she continued, “Now here’s where things get strange. As Ah was puttin’ all the pieces together faster than a jackrabbit, Ah actually turned into that half-pony thing y’all saw that other night. Ah’m talkin’ the whole ears an' tail-like extension on mah hair piece.” That detail quickly caught everyone’s attention. “Whoa. Seriously?” asked Rainbow Dash. Applejack simply nodded in response “How long did it last?” asked Fluttershy with concern. Applejack shrugged before replying, “Went away just seconds after Ah finished buildin’ the whole thing. Kinda strange that it happened right then an’ there, if ya ask me.” “I somehow doubt the timing of that experience was a mere coincidence,” stated Rarity. “I, too, have had a similar experience of temporarily receiving my magic pony appearance while hastily working on a large construct. Though in my particular case, I had volunteered to contribute to the repairs to the museum.” “Didn’t that project get delayed for weeks ‘cause the architects couldn’t agree on anything?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Unfortunately, yes,” replied Rarity bitterly. “It was due to that indecisiveness that I was compelled to build a much more pleasing facade for the structure. Seriously, a featureless grey wall, an entryway does not make.” “Wow, that’s really impressive!” remarked Pinkie Pie cheerfully. “All I had to do to turn back into a half-pony was to pick up all the pieces after literally crashing my own party for the twins’ first builtday and build them into a mini merry-go-round. Best First Builtday Party ever!” “You think that’s impressive?” boasted Rainbow Dash. “You should’ve seen me rebuild that damaged airplane while it was still flying!” “Yeah right,” said Applejack in disbelief. “No, seriously!” continued Rainbow excitedly. “I built myself a jetpack to carry all the pieces up to the plane in trouble. When it turned out I didn’t bring enough pieces, I decided to put those wings I gained to good use by taking apart the jetpack and using those pieces to finish the job.” “Goodness!” said Fluttershy in shock. “How did you get down from all the way up there?” It was a question that was on everyone’s minds, considering what could have happened if Rainbow Dash had changed back to normal while she was still airborne. “I just hitched a ride on the plane before my wings went away,” replied Rainbow like it was no big deal. “My, that must have been quite the experience for you, Rainbow Dash,” said an impressed Rarity. She then turned her attention to Fluttershy and asked, “What about you, Fluttershy? Did you recently have an experience of obtaining your magic pony appearance while constructing something of significance?” Fluttershy hesitated momentarily upon suddenly receiving the attention of everyone. She eventually answered, “Well… I-I was on my way back from a little walk through the woods when I saw a poor puppy had fallen into a creek. Even though I quickly found some pieces nearby, it wasn’t enough to help me. But then I got the idea to take some pieces from my cart and build a… rescue rig, I guess you could call it. A-anyway, I used it to rescue that puppy, and it wasn’t until after that puppy was safe that I realized I had turned into that half-pony form.” “Wow… even I’m impressed,” remarked Rainbow Dash. “See? We all have awesome creative talents!” added Pinkie Pie. “There’s just one thing Ah don’t understand,” said Applejack in confusion. “Right after Ah’d finished rebuildin’ that barn, Apple Bloom mentioned that she had never seen me do any buildin’ like that before. If mah own family is tellin’ me that the way Ah build stuff has changed, then Ah know that somethin’ else has happened.” “You do bring up a good point, Applejack,” said Rarity thoughtfully. “Before the occurrence of my incident, I had never even considered attempting any kind of architectural work. It’s like my creative horizon has significantly expanded.” “I hear ya on that,” remarked Rainbow Dash. “Sure, I’ve done repairs on planes before, but never while one of them was still in flight. Even I know that takes a lot of talent to pull it off without any mistakes.” “It’s like those pony forms have turned us into better builders than ever before,” added Pinkie Pie after quickly finishing her second slice of pizza. “Does this mean we’re now… Master Builders?” asked Fluttershy. The five girls looked at one another uncertainly. It was definitely a legitimate question to ask themselves. There was a major difference between simply having creative talents and being a Master Builder. Every person in the Lego World had their own unique creative talents — symbolized by a mental image known as a creative mark — but not a lot of people were talented enough to earn the title of Master Builder. While most people tended to specialize in a certain range of building abilities, Master Builders could cover a much wider range of creativity. A popular description was that a true Master Builder knew how to take everything and turn it into anything. “Well, I must say…” began Rarity uncertainly. “The possibility certainly does put things in a whole new perspective.” “You got that right,” added Rainbow Dash. “Sure, I’ve heard of Master Builders and how awesome they are, but never in a million years did I think I could become one of them.” “Ah honestly didn’t think it was even possible for ordinary folk like us to just turn into Master Builders,” admitted Applejack. “There just ain’t a whole lotta them out there in the world.” “But that’s what makes the whole thing so special,” argued Pinkie Pie. “We’ve become special.” “Yeah, you’re right,” agreed Rainbow, getting more excited. “And I bet that when Celestia hears about this, we’ll suddenly become her go-to team for whatever trouble heads our way.” “Does that mean we will have to keep saving the world again?” asked a very nervous Fluttershy. “Hopefully not,” replied Rarity. “I am sure there are many more capable Master Builders out there who can do such a thing on a more frequent basis.” “Besides, we did bring all top three of Lego’s Most Wanted to justice,” added Applejack with a hint of pride. “Ah’m pretty sure any new bad guys will think twice about messin’ with us.” “If only Twilight Sparkle was here to see this,” added Pinkie Pie, slightly saddened. Rarity placed her hand on Pinkie’s shoulder and stated, “I am sure that she would be very proud of us, darling. I daresay that this recent development may even be a sign that she was right to bring us all together as a team.” “Not to mention that we all became such good friends because of it,” added Fluttershy. As soon as everyone had finished their share of the pizza, Rainbow Dash stood up and excitedly said, “C’mon! Let’s head over to LEGO Team Headquarters and tell Celestia about all of this!” “Yes, I’m sure Miss Playwell would be very interested to hear about our newfound creative abilities,” agreed Rarity as she and the others followed Rainbow out of the pizzeria. “Hoo-wee, what a day this has turned out to be,” remarked Applejack as they all stepped out the door. “This is the best team ever!” declared Pinkie Pie enthusiastically. As the five friends walked down the street, they were unaware that they were being watched. Not far away in a dark alleyway stood an individual who was dressed up in a standard astronaut suit. Such a suit was obviously not necessary for survival in a place like this, but it did hide this person’s identity — the golden visor on the helmet prevented anyone from seeing this person’s face. Whoever this strange individual was, he or she just stood there, watching and observing…