Chapter 2
Construction Chaos
Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity disembarked from the ferry that had just brought them to Bricklyn. The plane ride from Canterlot City had taken all morning, and after the trip across the city of Manehattan to the ferry to cross the river, it was now the middle of the afternoon. Although it was hard to deny any feelings of nervousness for entering the unknown, the team of five friends was still confident they could figure out what was going on in this city.
As soon as the entire team was on the dock, the captain of the ferry immediately turned the boat around and began heading back to Manehattan. Even though the top speed of a ferry wasn’t all that fast, the captain’s sense of urgency was still very hard to miss.
“Wow, he seems to be in a hurry,” remarked Rainbow Dash.
“Probably doesn’t wanna end up like everyone else that came over here, lately,” speculated Applejack.
“If that’s true, I don’t blame him,” muttered Fluttershy.
Rarity picked up the pair of handbags she had brought with her and slung one over each of her shoulders. “In any case, now that we’re here, I suppose we’d better get started with our little investigation,” she stated as she turned her attention to the city in front of them.
“Into the unknown we go!” declared Pinkie Pie cheerfully.
“I-I don’t think we should get too excited about that,” Fluttershy pointed out. “We don’t know what kind of… dangers might be waiting in there.”
“I agree,” said Rarity with a nod. “Stay close to each other,” she advised her friends, “and try not to draw too much attention to yourselves.”
A loud belch suddenly caught everyone’s attention. They turned to the source of the obnoxious noise and saw that it was Applejack.
“Pardon,” apologized Applejack. “Had the burrito platter for lunch. Extra garlic and onions.” She then let out another loud belch, after which she added, “Pardon, again.”
It didn’t take long for the stench to reach the rest of the team. Everyone reacted with exclaims of disgust and by waving a hand around or placing it over the middle of their face.
“Jeez!” shouted Pinkie Pie as she rapidly waved her hand in front of her face. “Who cut the cheese?!”
Rarity quickly pulled a can of air freshener out of one of her handbags and immediately began spraying it around in just about every direction. Once she was sure that she had effectively removed that foul odor, she put away that can and remarked, “It is a good thing I always carry air freshener.”
“Along with everything else,” muttered Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, please, darling!” countered Rarity. “If it weren’t for my packing habits, you would all still be wallowing in the stench of garlic and onions.”
“Can we just get a move on, already!” exclaimed Applejack impatiently. “We ain’t got all day!”
“She’s right,” said Pinkie as she pointed at her wristwatch. “It’s already three in the afternoon.”
“So what do we do?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Just walk around town and look for anything weird?”
“I suppose that may be our best option,” replied Rarity. She then began to walk down the dock towards the nearest street. “Come along, everyone.”
Now that they had a plan, the rest of the team followed Rarity into the city of Bricklyn. It was time to get to the bottom of this mystery.
As the five friends walked along the streets of Bricklyn, they noticed that things didn’t really seem out of the ordinary. Vehicles on the road obeyed all traffic laws, people worked at their appropriate jobs, and just about every part of typical life in the city proceeded as normal. In fact, as the team observed their surroundings, everything seemed to be too ordinary.
The first odd sign was how none of the citizens spoke to each other, not even muttering a peep. It was quite eerie to see all the bustling in a city without any sort of liveliness on its citizens.
Pinkie Pie ran up to a random pedestrian and cheerfully exclaimed, “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”
The pedestrian just continued to walk by, without even giving so much as a glance towards Pinkie.
Pinkie decided to try again on another passerby. “Hey! Can you help us? We’re looking for something weird. Have you noticed anything weird?” That person also completely ignored Pinkie and just kept walking. “Huh… that was weird.”
Pinkie then noticed another pedestrian standing on a street corner. She zoomed over to stand right in front of him and warned, “Don’t make me use the Face. Nobody can resist the Face.” She then got down on her knees in a begging pose and spun her head around a few times. When her head stopped spinning, her face now had huge watery eyes and a frown with a quivering lower lip.
The pedestrian made no reaction at all, and once the traffic signal at the intersection changed, he simply stepped around Pinkie and proceeded across the street.
Pinkie Pie quickly dropped the act, her irresistible begging face now replaced by one of shock. “Wow… nobody’s ever resisted the Face like that, before,” she said in confusion. “It’s like I didn’t even exist to him.” She suddenly gasped and shouted to her friends, “Do I even exist?!”
Rarity walked up to Pinkie and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Of course you do, darling,” she assured her friend. “We can all see you just fine.” She then looked up at the surrounding citizens and added, “It’s just that everyone around us seems to act like they don’t.”
Applejack placed her hands on her hips as she looked around and said with determination, “If we’re gonna get anywhere with this, we gotta get a reaction outta these guys.”
Pinkie immediately jumped to her feet and excitedly shouted, “Oh! Oh! I know how to do that!” She quickly jumped in front of another random pedestrian and tooted a party favor right in his face.
That person didn’t even slightly flinch at the noise and confetti right in front of him. What he did do was shove Pinkie aside and continued walking straight ahead like nothing had even happened.
Pinkie remained lying in the street on her back as she turned to her friends with a nervous smile and said, “Well, I got a reaction out of him. Not the kind I was hoping for, but at least it was a reaction.”
As Pinkie jumped to her feet and rejoined her friends, Rainbow Dash turned her attention to one random citizen who was standing at a nearby bus stop and reading a newspaper. She ran over to this person and asked, “Ya mind telling us what’s going on around here?”
This citizen ignored Rainbow and simply continued to read whatever was printed on the white 2x2 tile in his hands.
Rainbow Dash was not amused by the lack of reaction at all. Rapidly losing her patience, she snatched the newspaper out of his hands and tossed it away as she exclaimed, “Didn’t ya hear what I said?!”
Now that the focus of his attention was taken away, the citizen was forced to react. Without saying a word, he walked out into the middle of the road, straight towards the discarded newspaper.
“Hey!” shouted Rainbow as she chased after the citizen. “I’m talking to you, buster! You can’t just keep ignoring me like this!” As the citizen retrieved his newspaper and began walking back to the bus stop, Rainbow walked backwards to make sure she stayed in this guy’s face as she continued shouting furiously. “There’s no way that piece of paper can be more important than— Whoa!” She slipped on a puddle and hit the ground on her back.
The citizen was focused on nothing more than walking back to the bus stop and reading his newspaper. As a result, he didn’t even acknowledge the fact that he stepped right across Rainbow’s body along the way.
“Ow! Hey! Oof!” exclaimed Rainbow as he stepped on her leg, her chest, and her face.
After unknowingly trampling over Rainbow Dash, the random citizen finally returned to the exact same spot he had been standing at and resumed reading his newspaper. He had even returned to the exact same stance he had been in at the very start.
“And people call me a doormat,” muttered Fluttershy in disbelief.
Rainbow Dash growled furiously and jumped to her feet. “That’s it!” she shouted. “We gotta find the source of all this weirdness!”
Applejack tapped her chin thoughtfully as she said, “Celestia said that all the strange silence started happenin’ at this city’s LEGO Team Headquarters. Maybe we oughta start there.”
“Sounds like a plan,” agreed Rarity. She then pulled a map out from one of her handbags and unfolded it. As she studied the map, she said, “Now let’s see… We’ll need to head south on this street for three blocks, then take a left on Knudstorp Avenue. From there, it should be straight ahead of us. Of course, we’ll need to take a little detour around that construction zone.”
“If it’s straight ahead, why don’t we just cut right through the construction zone?” suggested Rainbow Dash.
“I’m not sure about that,” said Fluttershy uneasily.
“That’s not a bad idea at all!” responded Pinkie Pie to Rainbow’s suggestion. “If everyone in this city is acting like mindless robots, then that must make this, like, the safest construction zone in the whole Lego World!”
Nobody responded immediately. It sounded like a crazy idea, but after seeing how weird the whole city had become, it actually made a surprisingly good amount of sense. It was Applejack who finally shrugged and said, “Can’t argue with that.”
“Very well then,” said Rarity as she folded up the map and put it back in her handbag. “Let us proceed, shall we?”
With everyone in agreement, the team began their walk to Bricklyn’s LEGO Team Headquarters.
By the time the team of five friends arrived at the construction zone, it was already late in the afternoon. The sun was starting to set, turning the sky into brilliant shades of yellow and orange. Despite the late hour, the gates into the worksite were still open.
As everyone entered the construction zone, Fluttershy stopped near the gate and picked up a red hardhat that was just lying around. She quickly glanced over it and then carefully placed it on her head. Once she was satisfied that it was on comfortably, she smiled and continued walking, only to notice her friends staring at her with questioning looks. “What?” she asked in confusion. “Hardhats are required in this area.” She gestured toward a nearby sign that listed some of the safety rules.
“Good idea!” remarked Pinkie Pie before picking up another hardhat and tossing it onto her head. “Safety first!” She grabbed three more hardhats and plopped them on the heads of her remaining friends.
Rarity quickly removed her hardhat and smoothed out her hair before gently putting the hardhat back on. “Too bad I don’t have any outfits that come in official safety orange,” she said. “Perhaps I should add that to my list of personal projects.”
Applejack rolled her eyes and muttered, “Whatever. Let’s quit stallin’ an’ just keep goin’.” She and Rainbow Dash immediately continued walking straight ahead, followed by the rest of the team.
They didn’t get far through the construction zone before they saw some construction workers who were busy assembling the frame of a new building. Just like everyone else in the city, these minifigs never spoke a word and remained entirely focused on doing their jobs.
A loud whistle suddenly sounded throughout the construction zone, startling the five girls. Every construction worker immediately dropped what they were doing and began to walk away from the build-site.
As Rainbow Dash and her friends watched the workers leave, she remarked, “Well, if there’s one part of this city that can’t stay weird forever, it’s this place. I mean, eventually, they’re gonna finish building that thing. Then what?”
The answer came a moment later when the construction workers gathered in front of an equipment shed, where each of them hefted a jackhammer onto their backs. They then carried their pneumatic tools back to the incomplete structure and surrounded it. Once everyone was in position, they moved as one, flipping their jackhammers over their heads and pointing them right onto the frame. Finally, they started hammering away, causing the whole framework to shake and shutter, even sending a few pieces flying off. Eventually, the entire structure collapsed like a house of cards, raising a huge cloud of dust. When the dust settled, all that remained in front of the construction workers was a large pile of Lego pieces.
The team just stared at the demolished structure in stunned silence. As the construction workers returned to the equipment shed to put away the jackhammers, Applejack said, “If this is what they do at the end of every workday, then maybe they can do this forever.”
Pinkie Pie frowned as she announced, “Okay, it’s official. Everything in this city has become weird, and believe me, I know weird.”
“But that still begs the question,” stated Rarity. “Who or what could be behind all of this?”
It wasn’t long until a new sound could be faintly heard echoing throughout the construction zone. It was the vocalizing of a series of feminine voices, singing in a rather soothing tone.
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and said to her friends, “I’m pretty sure that’s not something you’d normally hear at a construction site.”
As a pair of voices continued the vocalizing, a third voice began singing. It was right at the start of the first lyric that the team began to see the source of the strange music. There was a vehicle slowly moving along one of many dusty paths through the construction zone, but it was not the kind one would expect to see in such an area. It was a convertible car, built out of smooth and curved Lego parts for a streamlined appearance. Most of these parts were yellow and orange, with a little bit of blue and purple in some places. The decal on the hood consisted of three symbols: a jagged blue musical symbol over a heart, a purple star over a different musical symbol, and an orange gem over another different musical symbol. In addition, there was a series of megaphones placed around the car, though which the singing was amplified.
As the harmonizing voices had indicated, there were three occupants in this car. In the back left seat was a girl with light blue skin and hair in a single ponytail that was blue with darker steaks. In the back right seat was a girl with light violet skin and hair in two ponytails that was purple with green streaks. And in the single front seat, driving the car, was a girl with yellow skin and massive curly hair that was orange with yellow streaks.
“Look at the construction workers!” Fluttershy suddenly pointed out.
The rest of the team turned their attention to the workers and saw that not only had they stopped their labor, but also were now devoting their complete attention to the song coming from the convertible. At the same time, the driver of this car sang about maintaining order without interruption, with the other two providing backup at certain points.
After listening to a few more of the lyrics, Rarity finally stated, “I believe we may have found the source of the problem.”
“Then let’s stop ‘em while we got the chance!” declared Rainbow Dash firmly as she held up a clenched fist.
Applejack began looking around for something that could stop the car without causing any serious damage. It didn’t take her long to notice a stack of pipes on a platform that was suspended high above the ground by a single cable. She followed the cable over a pulley and down to a winch atop some nearby scaffolding. She smiled and told her friends, “Ah got this.”
Applejack ran over to the scaffolding and quickly climbed a ladder up to the top. Atop the scaffolding, she was lucky enough to find a large wrench just lying around. She picked up the wrench and quickly stuck it onto the winch, then started watching the car. As it continued to drive slowly around, she was pleased to see that it was now on a path that would take it directly underneath the suspended platform. Without any hesitation, she pulled back on the wrench, twisting the winch loose and causing the platform to drop straight down.
The driver — Adagio — was now singing about an upcoming call to action, and that all who answer must obey. As she finished the final lyric, the platform of pipes suddenly crashed to the ground right in front of the car, forcing her to abruptly end the song and slam on the breaks. The convertible lurched to a stop just inches away from the clattering pipes, nearly throwing Aria and Sonata out of their seats.
“Whoa!” exclaimed Sonata as she readjusted her hair piece. “That thing almost hit us!”
“Stupid construction workers,” grumbled Aria. “Can’t keep this place from falling to pieces.”
Adagio carefully eyed the fallen pile of pipes. “I don’t think this was an accident,” she stated.
“Huh?” asked Sonata and Aria simultaneously as Adagio stood up and climbed out of the car. Without further question, they soon followed her out and around to the front.
These three minifigs now had a completely different wardrobe compared to the basic hoodie and pants they had started out with, months ago. Adagio’s torso, upper legs, and feet were dark violet; her lower legs, shoulders, and hands were lavender; and she had a band of gold around the waist on her hip joint. Aria’s torso was white under an open green jacket with torn sleeves; her legs were magenta; her feet and some bands around her lower arms were violet; and she had a star-shaped belt buckle over a violet band around the waist of her hip joint. Sonata’s torso and shoulders were violet; her feet and a band around her wrists were magenta; she had a pink skirt wrapped around her upper legs; and she had some blue buckles printed on the front of her torso. Despite their different appearances, there was one thing on these girls that remained the same: the ruby red gemstones on their pendants, which were separate pieces that fitted around the neck joint between the head and torso.
With Aria standing to her right and Sonata standing to her left, Adagio stood in front of the convertible and called out, “Who dares to stand in our way?!”
Within seconds, the team of five girls from Canterlot City climbed up onto the pile of pipes. “We dare!” declared Rainbow Dash proudly with a smug grin as she crossed her arms.
Adagio raised an eyebrow and asked, “And just who are you girls supposed to be?”
“We happen to be members of the LEGO Team,” explained Rarity, “sent over from Canterlot City to investigate why this city of Bricklyn has fallen silent to the rest of the world.”
“An’ based on all we’ve seen…” added Applejack. She pointed at the trio and finished, “You three are suspect number one!”
“The LEGO Team?” asked Sonata with a raised eyebrow. She turned to her companions and asked, “Didn’t we already stop them from getting in the way?”
“That was only the local members,” replied Aria as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. She then glared at Adagio. “Clearly, the other branches aren’t happy about that.”
“True,” admitted Adagio, “but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”
“You’d better watch where you step,” warned Rainbow Dash. “You’re messing with Master Builders, now!”
“Yeah! Watch me build a party bus!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie with an excited grin on her face. As soon as she leapt from the pile of pipes, her magical pony ears and tail suddenly flashed into existence. Next, she appeared to literally be in many places at once as she zoomed around, gathering random Lego pieces and quickly putting them together.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Click. Clack. Whoosh! Click. Clack. Whoosh! Click. Clack. Click. Clack.
The three singers were initially stunned to see such an unusual transformation. However, it didn’t take long for Adagio to grin wickedly as she continued to watch.
Pinkie Pie wasn’t even halfway finished with her creation when Applejack ran over to her and shouted, “Whoa, there, Pinkie!”
Pinkie immediately screeched to a halt. With a yellow 1x4 brick in her hand, she turned to face her friend.
“We ain’t here to throw a party,” scolded Applejack. “We’re here to beat the bad guys.”
Pinkie stared silently at Applejack for a few seconds, not responding at all until after her magical pony parts suddenly vanished. “Oh, snickerdoodles!” she cried out in frustration as she tossed away the brick in her hand and gave one solid kick to the side of her incomplete creation. After a delayed reaction of about one second, the model fell completely apart, as if all of the pieces had suddenly lost their clutch power.
“Don’t worry, girls,” said Rainbow Dash with a smirk as her own magical pony ears, tail, and wings appeared. “I know how to deal with this.” She started flapping her wings and took to the air as she turned to the three singers and said, “Can’t do anything when you’re in pieces, and the best way to make that happen is with a cannon.” She then started quickly flying around — appearing as a rainbow-colored motion blur — to gather and assemble the pieces she would need.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Click. Whoosh! Clack. Whoosh! Click. Whoosh! Clack. Whoosh!
Before Rainbow had finished her creation, Rarity — her own magical pony parts now visible — began to take away some pieces from it. As a result, when Rainbow rushed back with another piece, she didn’t have something to attach it to, and ended up just shooting by before tumbling uncontrollably across the ground.
Once Rainbow finally came to a stop, she slowly rubbed her head in pain as her pony parts disappeared. She turned back to look at her incomplete creation, then glared when she saw that it was Rarity who was responsible for her crash. “Hey!” she shouted. “What was that for?!”
“My apologies, dear,” responded Rarity as she continued grabbing various Lego parts, “but I believe it’s best that we settle with simplicity, for this one. To be more precise, I shall create a few basic cages to imprison these villains, and that shall be the end of the matter.” By now, she was not only gathering the pieces she needed, but also quickly tossing them through the air. When these pieces came down, each of them landed precisely into their proper places to build Rarity’s creation.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Click. Clack. Click. Click. Clack. Clack. Click. Clack.
However, Rarity’s progress was halted by Applejack, who started punching away the pieces as they came down, preventing them from falling into place. It was very hard to ignore the noise of those impacts, so Rarity turned back to see the source of the commotion and was shocked by what she discovered. “Applejack!” she exclaimed in anger, while her pony ears, tail, and horn vanished. “What is the meaning of this?!”
“That fancy little build of yours ain’t gonna help us one bit,” answered Applejack, whose own pony ears and tail had now appeared. “We gotta take a direct approach, an’ Ah think a catapult should get the job done.” She then quickly started the assembling said catapult in three chunks: the left supports, the right supports, and the throw arm.
Whoosh! Click. Clack. Click. Slam! Whoosh! Click. Clack. Click. Slam! Whoosh! Click. Clack.
As Applejack was busy working on the final chunk, Rainbow Dash removed some of the parts holding together the other two chunks. When Applejack then tried to slam the final chunk into place, the lack of support caused the whole thing to just smash to pieces. She glanced down at the mess in disbelief, then up at Rainbow Dash, who smugly held up the pieces she had removed. “Hey!” shouted Applejack furiously. “That was uncalled for!”
“You want the direct approach?” responded Rainbow Dash as she carelessly tossed away the pieces in her hands. “Then I say we should build my cannon.”
“And potentially harm innocent bystanders?” scoffed Rarity as she crossed her arms. “I should say not! What we need is to isolate the problem, and my cages should suffice to do just that.”
“Yeah, an’ how are ya gonna get ‘em in the cages?” question Applejack in anger. “They’re not gonna be all friendly like an’ just walk right in. We gotta show ‘em we mean business, an’ mah catapult should get the job done.”
In the mist of all this building tension, Fluttershy was being completely ignored. “Um, I have an idea,” she quietly stated. She glanced down at her feet and shyly added, “If anyone is interested, that is.”
Alas, poor Fluttershy received no acknowledgement at all from her teammates.
“Cannon!” shouted Rainbow Dash.
“Cages!” shouted Rarity.
“Catapult!” shouted Applejack
“Party bus!” shouted Pinkie Pie excitedly as she suddenly jumped up in between the three arguing teammates.
“NO!!” shouted Pinkie’s friends — except Fluttershy — simultaneously.
As the team from Canterlot City continued arguing among themselves, the trio they were intending to capture had done nothing but just stand there and observe all of the unfolding chaos.
“This is the best they can do?” asked Aria in disbelief.
“But they didn’t even do anything,” responded Sonata. “They’re just fighting with each other.”
Aria rolled her eyes at hearing another of Sonata’s dim-witted remarks, but then her eyes widened as she suddenly realized something. She placed a hand under her pendant and stared at it for a few seconds. After watching nothing happen, she said, “Something’s not right. Why aren’t we absorbing their negative energy?”
The wicked grin had never left Adagio’s face since she witnessed the first demonstration of these Master Builders. “I think we may have found what we’re looking for,” stated Adagio. “Or rather, it found us.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Sonata with a shrug.
Adagio smacked herself in the face as she turned back to her companions and exclaimed, “Magic! Don’t you see?!” Without waiting for an answer, she turned to face the arguing Master Builders and smiled again as she calmly continued, “These girls aren’t your standard Master Builders. Their creative talents come with some… special powers. Plus, they didn’t fall under our spell when we were singing, just moments ago.”
“But that still doesn’t answer my question,” said Aria impatiently.
Adagio glanced down at her own pendant and replied, “It appears our powers are not yet strong enough to absorb Equestrian magic. We’ll first need to extend our reach beyond the limits of a single City Region.” She turned back to her two companions and announced, “Our practice run in Bricklyn is over. It’s time for Phase Two.”
Aria and Sonata turned to each other and grinned.
“Back in the Dazzlemobile,” Adagio swiftly ordered. “We’re outta here.” The three girls quickly returned to their respective seats in the convertible. Adagio then reversed the car, turned it around, and drove off down the same path they had arrived on.
Meanwhile, the Master Builders from Canterlot City continued to bicker without even noticing the departure of their opponents. All except for one, that is.
“Um, girls?” asked Fluttershy quietly. Once again, she received no acknowledgement from her friends. “Girls?” she asked again more loudly, though it was not by much. After getting no results at all for her efforts, she knew she had to try something different.
Fluttershy looked around until her eyes fell upon the whistle that had been used earlier to call the attention of the construction workers. With a sad sigh, she looked down and muttered, “Why me?” With her head hanging down, she slowly marched over to the whistle. She grabbed the string that hung from it, then turned back to face her friends in the futile hope that it was not too late to avoid taking such a drastic measure, but the scene of hostility had remained unchanged. Ashamed that she was left with no choice, she shut her eyes tightly and pulled the string.
The extremely loud toot of the whistle could be heard across the entire construction zone, but its close proximity to the four bickering minifigs made it so unbearable that they were forced to stop their pointless argument and cover the sides of their heads. It was only when her friends finally stopped fighting and reacted to the noise that Fluttershy finally released the string, shutting off the whistle.
Rainbow Dash rubbed the sides of her head in pain for a few seconds before turning to the whistle — and Fluttershy. “What was that for?!” she shouted irritably.
Fluttershy looked down and lightly kicked the ground as she shamefully replied, “I’m really really sorry that I had to do that, but, um…” She looked back up at her friends. “They just left.”
“Huh?” asked everyone else in confusion. They quickly turned to where their opponents stood, but saw nothing but a pair of tire marks leading away along the dirt path.
Rainbow Dash growled in frustration and threw her hardhat on the ground. “Great,” she grumbled. “That’s just great.”
“How could they just slip away from us like that?” asked Applejack as she scratched the back of her head in disbelief.
“Duh! We were too busy fighting each other to pay attention to anything else,” replied Pinkie Pie as she rolled her eyes.
Rarity sighed sadly as she carefully removed her hardhat and said, “I can’t imagine what Miss Playwell will think of us when she finds out about this.”
Everyone immediately looked up in shock at the mention of Celestia Playwell. The team had very high expectations for this mission, and they had just failed to stop the villains.
“Who says she has to know?” asked Rainbow Dash as a nervous smile formed on her face. Before anyone could question her, she continued, “I mean, our mission was to figure out why this city went silent to the rest of the Lego World, and we actually succeeded on that. Everything else — like capturing those weird girls — would’ve just been a bonus.”
“I suppose that’s true,” said Rarity uneasily as she tapped her chin. “Though I doubt she’ll simply leave the matter alone as soon as we mention the source of Bricklyn’s plight.”
“We’ll think about it on the ride home,” said Applejack. “For now, let’s just cut our losses an’ get outta this here city. Since all the bridges leadin’ out have been blocked off, we’ll need some way to smash through one of those barriers.”
“Ooh! Ooh!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly as she hopped around, causing her hardhat to fall off her head. “I’ll grab some jackhammers from that equipment shed over there!” She then zoomed off towards the small building where the team had earlier seen the construction workers grab their jackhammers.
While they waited for Pinkie to return, an awkward silence hung over the rest of the team as they glanced uneasily at one another. It was a major embarrassment to let the bad guys get away due to a petty argument. No one was willing to accept responsibility for the failure, but they also knew better than to start openly accusing any of their fellow teammates. After all, that was what allowed the three singer girls to escape in the first place.
Pinkie Pie quickly returned, holding something behind her back. “Good news and bad news,” she announced. “The bad news is that I couldn’t find any jackhammers in there. Not even one!” She pulled her hands from behind her back, revealing each one to be holding a 1x2 tile with a rather familiar printing on their top surface. “The good news is that I found a couple of destructa-bricks in there.” She then casually tossed the pair of explosives over to Applejack.
Applejack caught the destructa-bricks and looked down at them for a moment. The printing on these 1x2 tiles consisted of a number pad and display for the timer, a slider for the blast intensity, and a red button to activate the explosive. With the only option presented to her, Applejack sighed and said, “Well, might as well make do with what we got.” As she began walking away, she tucked the pair of explosives under her arm as she removed her hardhat — which had been placed over her regular hat — and tossed it aside.
The rest of the team quickly followed after Applejack, except for Fluttershy. The shy yellow girl looked back at the equipment shed and slowly took off her hardhat as she thought, I wonder where all those jackhammers went. For that matter… She looked around and noticed that, aside from herself and her friends, the construction zone was now completely deserted. Where did all of the construction workers go?
“Fluttershy, let’s go!” shouted Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy was startled and dropped her hardhat. She glanced over at her friends and saw they were already leaving, so she set aside her thoughts and quickly went after them.
A team of five Master Builders from Canterlot City had arrived with high hopes of completing their next mission. Now, after failing to even properly confront the trio who had enslaved the city of Bricklyn, the humbled group of friends was heading home with only a partial success.