//------------------------------// // Jailbreak! // Story: LEGO Equestria Girls 2 // by Chronicler06 //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Jailbreak! For the most part, the Lego World was a peaceful and carefree place. But like many other worlds, it had its fair share of crooks and villains. Whenever such bad people were caught, they needed a place to be locked away so they could never again cause any harm. And in this world, that place was LEGO Maximum Security Prison. Under the darkness of a cloudy night, lights were on all across the perimeter of the building to ensure that any would-be escapees would never get away undetected. Guards posted on watchtowers remained vigilant for any suspicious activity. No prisoner had ever escaped this place since the day it was built, and there seemed to be no sign that would change tonight. Inside the prison, one inmate was being escorted down a hallway. Some prisoners wore a simple black and white striped prison shirt, while others — like this inmate — wore an orange jumpsuit that covered all but the head and hands. This prisoner’s wrists were bound by a pair of handcuffs, which the guard held onto as he led this person through the hallways. The prisoner was eventually brought to the interrogation room and instructed to sit down in the chair on one side of the table in the middle of the room. The inmate obeyed without any resistance, and began waiting for the upcoming session of questioning. Just moments later, a police officer carrying a file folder arrived at the door to the interrogation room. The guard posted at the door turned to him and said, “She’s all yours, Sentry.” Flash Sentry nodded before he opened the door, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him. He showed no emotion as he saw the familiar face sitting patiently at the table. This inmate had pale orange skin, aqua eyes, and a large hair piece that consisted of red and yellow streaks. “Sunset Shimmer,” stated Flash Sentry as he placed the vanilla folder on the table in front of the empty seat on the opposite side from the inmate. Sunset barely acknowledged the police officer’s arrival. She did little more than quietly sit still and gaze sadly down at the table. Flash grabbed a red mug and walked over to a water dispenser in the corner of the room. Once he had filled the mug, he brought it over to the table and slid it over to Sunset. “Here, how about a drink?” he calmly offered. Sunset simply stared down at the mug of water for a moment, then silently glanced up at Flash. In an effort to break the tension, Flash smiled and said, “Relax, Shimmer. It’s just water. I’m not like one of those bad cops who likes to kick chairs around.” Sunset couldn’t help but show a slight smile as she snickered lightly and muttered, “What a stereotype.” She reached both hands up to grasp the mug and took a sip. After swallowing a mouthful of that cool refreshing drink, she finally spoke up. “By the way, congratulations on the promotion, chief.” Flash responded with a smile. Chief Keystone had just recently retired, and due to Flash’s actions during Sunset’s failed attempt to take over Canterlot City, he was named as the city’s new Chief of Police. It was remarkable that he was able to go from rookie officer to chief so quickly, but he was willing to accept the responsibilities of his new title. Flash sat down in the empty chair and opened the folder he had brought with him. After Sunset was arrested, he had insisted on handling all of the questioning himself. Not only was it a big deal that he was the one who had arrested such a high-profile criminal, but also he was simply curious about why she did what she did and how she was able to get away with it for five years. “Okay,” began Flash as he looked through the contents of the folder. “Over our previous sessions, we discussed your intellectual skills, your reasoning behind the allies you chose, and even your past life as a magical unicorn in the alternate world of Equestria. Oh, and of course you once mentioned that all of your personal possessions are hidden in scatted locations throughout the Lego World. Are you sure you still wish to not share more information with me on that?” “Absolutely,” replied Sunset. “The last thing I want is any vigilantes to destroy the few remaining connections I have to Equestria.” “Understandable,” responded Flash with a nod. He then took out a blank sheet of paper from the folder and grabbed a pen from his pocket. “Alright,” he said. “For this session, we’re going to talk about your creative talents.” Sunset glanced down sadly and gave no response. Flash prepared to start writing as he asked, “Ever since the day you first set foot in the Lego World, how many custom creations have you built?” Sunset didn’t immediately respond. She eventually managed to glance up at the police officer and ask, “You want the honest truth?” “Yes, I do,” replied Flash with a firm stare at the inmate. Sunset looked down at her feet and let out a sad sigh. After an uneasy silence, she finally answered, “Zero.” Flash raised an eyebrow. “Zero?” he asked. “Zero,” Sunset sadly confirmed. Flash could only shake his head in disbelief as he wrote down the answer. “Well, in that case, you’re gonna have to explain how you obtained some of the vehicles you’ve been known to use.” He looked back up at Sunset and asked, “How about that high-performance racecar you’ve been seen in on many occasions?” Sunset turned her gaze back up to Flash and answered, “I stole that thing the way it was, and made no modifications at all.” “What about that pickup truck you often used for bank robberies?” “Also stolen as it was, and also unmodified.” “That airboat you used for getaways across rivers and swamps?” “Also stolen and unmodified.” “That small helicopter for your most daring escapes?” “Same thing.” “That armored van you gave to Rocky and Mugsy?” “Ditto.” “And what about that three-seat car you used to smash into the police station to steal Princess Twilight’s crown? That was not a registered vehicle, which means you had to have built it yourself.” “Only because I once broke into a warehouse and stole some instructions.” That final answer actually caused Flash to stare silently at Sunset in disbelief for a moment. “Instructions,” he simply stated. “You stole… instructions.” Sunset looked down sadly and silently nodded. Flash sighed as he turned his attention back to the paper and took notes on what was just spoken. Once he finished writing, he set down his pen and remarked, “Well, that’s certainly the first time I’ve ever heard of someone stealing instructions.” He looked back up at Sunset and asked, “So what about what happened right after you put on Twilight’s crown? You took apart Pinkie Pie’s car and turned it into a cage to imprison the whole team, all without any instructions.” “That wasn’t me who built that,” answered Sunset shamefully. “It was the raging she-demon. Plus, I guess you could say she cheated a little bit. She changed those pieces to suit her needs, rather than just work with what she had.” “Yeah, can’t argue with that,” said Flash as he began writing down another note. As he finished writing, he couldn’t help but sigh and mutter, “I’m honestly quite astonished that, as brilliant as you are, you seem to have no sense of creativity.” Sunset could only look down sadly as she responded, “I-I don’t know why that is. It just… doesn’t occur to me at all. I mean, everyone here acts like creativity should be second-nature to them, kinda like what magic is like, back in Equestria.” She shrugged as she added, “Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up in this world.” “I wouldn’t call that a valid excuse,” said Flash. “I personally witnessed Twilight build a very basic ATV that she used to break her teammates out of that cage. I heard that she then built a simple helicopter out of parts from a junkyard.” He rested his arms on the table and leaned forward. “Tell me, Shimmer. How is it that she took only three days to understand a concept that you still seem to struggle with after more than five years?” Sunset had no definitive answer for that question, and could only speculate on the possible reasons. If what Flash was saying was true, then Twilight truly was much better than her in a lot of ways. At this belief, her old self would’ve felt raging jealousy. But now, she felt very humbled, and was willing to simply accept whatever tragic fate would await her. Sunset slumped forward in her seat and sadly mumbled, “I guess it’s just like how I didn’t understand the magic of friendship.” She sighed. “Just another reason why she deserved to be an Alicorn Princess, and I didn’t.” After a moment of silence, Flash turned his attention back to the paper and took more notes. He had not been expecting this session to reveal something so insecure about Sunset Shimmer. In fact, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit of sympathy for her — something he had never imagined would be possible. Perhaps there was hope for her, after all. Once he had finished writing, he put his pen back in his pocket and said, “Well, I guess that covers everything for this session.” Sunset looked up at Flash in confusion. None of the previous interrogation sessions had taken such a short amount of time as this one. “No offense, but I had expected more from you on this subject,” explained Flash as he put all of the pages back inside the folder and closed it. He then got up out of his chair and, with a tip of the hat, said, “Goodnight, Shimmer.” Flash Sentry walked out of the interrogation room and gave a simple nod to the guard posted at the door. The guard nodded back and went inside to retrieve the inmate and escort her back to her cell. Sunset put up no resistance at all as the guard guided her through the hallways of this prison, the clacking of their footsteps echoing throughout the empty corridors. She knew very well that she had done some very terrible things — especially in Canterlot City — and that she now had to face the consequences for those actions. Although Princess Twilight had promised that she could join with her group of friends once she was free, she doubted the rest of the Lego World would forgive her so easily. Not even the possibility of being let out early for good behavior did much to improve her outlook for the future. After walking through the dimly-lit prison hallways, Sunset was soon brought back to her cell. The guard gently pushed her inside and shut the barred door. The shuttering clang of that door echoed throughout the building. As the guard walked away, Sunset sat down on the simple cot in her cell and stared down at the smooth floor. Aside from that and the surrounding stone-grey walls, there was not much at all to a Lego prison cell. Only the simplest of the absolute essentials — a bed, a sink, and a toilet — were provided. This was to prevent inmates from using their creativity to build something that could allow them to escape. High up on the wall that was opposite from the barred door was a tiny window — a single transparent brick — that covered an area that was just one brick high and two studs wide — a size that was regarded as being right on the limit for a hole that a determined minifig could fit through. Sunset Shimmer struggled to find any positive thoughts inside such a miserable living space, but what really got to her was not the inside of this cell, but rather what was immediately outside of it. “Hey, Mugsy! Look who just came back,” said one prisoner in the cell directly across the hall from Sunset’s cell, speaking with a gravelly gangster voice. “Hey, it’s that sissy again, Rocky!” said his cellmate cheerfully, speaking with a deeper dim-witted voice. “Yeah, she really is a sissy, ain’t she?” added the first inmate. “Thought she should take over the whole world, only to get crushed by a bunch of other sissies.” He then shouted across the hallway, “Ya hear that, sissy? You stink!” Sunset didn’t even turn her gaze away from the floor. After her fall from grace as number one on LEGO’s Most Wanted, the other inmates had no shortage of insults directed at her for ultimately being such a miserable failure. But the most hurtful comments of all came from her neighbors and former minions, the incompetent crooks named Rocky and Mugsy. Not only had they personally known her longer than anyone else in the Lego World, but they also just didn’t know when to shut their mouths. “Hey, uh, didn’t those same sissies put us in here, too?” asked Mugsy in confusion. “Heck no, you dummy!” retorted Rocky. “We could’ve totally beaten ‘em to pieces if it hadn’t been for that officer sneakin’ up behind us!” “Yeah, that guy always seems to be the one putting us back in jail, isn’t he?” “And why didn’t this sissy stop him like everyone else in the city when she had the chance? It would’ve saved us all a bunch of headaches.” “Yeah, my head was hurting for days after that head-bonk.” “My head was hurtin’ from when you smacked me with your crowbar!” “Hey, not my fault! That sissy just slipped away at the wrong time.” “Whatever. I’m just sayin’ this sissy should’ve known better than to let even a single cop get away like that.” “Yeah, she really is a sissy, isn’t she?” As much as Sunset tried to ignore the pathetic taunting from those two brick-heads, she just couldn’t hold back the tears that started to form in her eyes. She had once been a very promising student of Princess Celestia in Equestria, and she had foolishly thrown all of that away to satisfy her craving for more power. And now, that selfishness had lead her on a path down to rock bottom, and she saw no way she could ever possibly rise up from such a miserably low point. As Sunset wiped away her tears, she began to hear a faint rumbling. Her eyes widened in shock as the noise was quickly accompanied by subtle vibrations. The shaking and rumbling quickly grew in intensity. Before long, everyone inside the building began to notice the earthquake-like conditions, which was highly unusual since this place was not prone to earthquakes. “Hey! What’s happenin’!” exclaimed Rocky and he and Mugsy struggled against the now-violent shaking to stay on their feet. Of all the parts of the building, nothing was shaking and shuttering more intensely than the exterior walls. After what seemed like an eternity, but was really just a matter of seconds, the bricks that made up these exterior walls began to fall apart and crash to the ground around the building. Although the earthquake conditions continued, the intensity quickly dropped off once the outer walls had completely collapsed. With these walls gone, just about every cell in the prison was now wide open to the outside world. “Check it out, Rocky! We’re free!” exclaimed Mugsy cheerfully. “Me first! Me first!” shouted Rocky as he shoved Mugsy back and jumped outside to freedom. “Hey, wait for me!” shouted Mugsy as he quickly followed after his longtime partner in crime. Scenes like this were repeated all around the prison as crooks, robbers, and other kinds of bad guys jumped out of their opened cells. All of them had huge grins on their faces as they took immediate advantage of this incredible chance to escape. The noise of the alarm bells and the bright search lights coming down from the watch towers did little to deter the inmates’ excitement. With so many prisoners breaking out at the same time, everyone knew that at least some of them were guaranteed to get away. Inside the prison, guards and police officers were scrambling around in desperation. One officer, chief Flash Sentry, ran up to a couple of guards and exclaimed, “What’s going on?!” “We don’t know!” shouted one of the guards over the deafening noise of the alarm bells. “All the outer walls just collapsed! Every cell is busted open!” “Darn darn darn darny darn!” exclaimed Flash as he began charging down the hallway, quickly followed by the two guards. “If every cell is now wide open, then that means every single prisoner is escaping! Including—” He skidded to a stop in front of the barred door of one particular cell and gasped in shock. What really surprised the new chief of police was not that a certain prisoner had escaped, but rather that this particular prisoner had not escaped. Although the exterior wall was completely gone, the inmate simply sat on the cot and stared down at the middle of the floor with a depressed look on her face. “Sunset Shimmer?” asked a very baffled Flash Sentry. “You’re not trying to escape?” Sunset glanced over at the missing wall, then turned back to the floor and sighed. “What’s the point?” she said sadly. “You guys will just catch me again and throw me back in jail. Might as well save you the effort and not even bother trying.” Flash could only stare silently at Sunset in disbelief. She had just been presented with a perfect opportunity to escape, and yet she was just outright refusing to go for it. Whoever this girl was, she was not a criminal mastermind — at least, not anymore. Regardless, Flash was not going to take any chances. He turned to one of the accompanying guards and ordered, “You. Stay here and keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn’t escape.” After that guard nodded in acknowledgement, he turned to the other guard and ordered, “And you. Get all the other guards together. We gotta figure out what the heck is going on out there.” He didn’t even wait for a nod of agreement before immediately running off. Just moments later, Flash Sentry and about a dozen prison guards were running around the outside of the building. They could faintly hear the rumbling that had accompanied the initial collapse of the exterior walls. Flash realized that whatever had caused the walls to fall apart was still going on, and he was determined to find out what it was. The stone-grey bricks that once made up these walls were now in piles around the building. Flash quickly climbed up onto one of these piles to get a better view. He could now see that the walls had not been completely destroyed instantaneously, as he had initially thought. Instead, the destruction was still ongoing further along the side of the building, with dozens of bricks rattling loose before finally coming apart and tumbling to the ground. In addition, he now noticed that the rumbling noise actually sounded like some kind of rapid hammering. Flash stumbled down from atop the pile and ran around the other piles, with the guards following close behind. Once they finally came around the final pile to the current site of the ongoing demolition, they saw what was arguably one of the strangest sights they had ever seen. About half a dozen construction workers were using jackhammers to tear down the walls of LEGO Maximum Security Prison. Without any hesitation, Flash sprinted towards the construction workers and furiously shouted, “HEY!! What do you think you’re doing?!” As one, the construction workers stopped their jackhammers and turned their heads to face the approaching police officer. Still moving in perfect unison, the workers quickly pointed their jackhammers straight down at the ground and resumed the hammering, creating a miniature earthquake. The artificial earthquake covered only a small area, but it was still powerful enough to throw Flash Sentry off his feet and onto his rear, causing his police hat to fall off. He attempted to stand back up, but only ended up falling flat on his face, then on his back, and then back and forth between those two positions. With the jackhammers still pounding away at the ground, the construction workers then began to practically ride them like pogo sticks, carrying them away from the damaged prison and towards a nearby forest. Once they arrived at the edge of the woods, they stopped their jackhammers, flipped them over their heads to carry them on their backs, and then ran off into the night. With the artificial earthquake over, Flash finally stopped bouncing around along the ground, leaving him only panting from exhaustion. Once he was certain that the worst was over, he groaned as he slowly sat up and rubbed his head. “What… the brick… just happened?” he muttered. As the other guards gathered around with confused expressions, another guard ran over to the fallen officer from the other direction that he and the others had come from. “Excuse me, sir,” he said urgently. “I was posted up in that watchtower over there.” He pointed up at the now-empty watchtower that overlooked this part of the prison grounds. “Sorry I couldn’t contact you guys earlier. Radio’s busted.” A horrible screeching noise of audio feedback suddenly came from the radio he was holding, making everyone in the area cringe. He quickly shut it off and grumbled, “Oh, great, now it’s working.” He tossed the radio away as he turned back to Flash and continued his urgent report. “I saw those construction workers come out of the woods and just stroll right up to the building. They didn’t even react to the floodlights being pointed right at them! And then they started using those jackhammers to bring down the walls, as if it was just part of their job!” Flash grabbed his fallen hat as he stood back up. “Why the heck would they think it’s okay to tear down an active prison?!” he exclaimed. As Flash dusted off his hat before putting it back on, the watchtower guard stated, “The good news is that all of the escaped prisoners went in the same direction: right into those woods.” He gestured at the same forest that the strange construction workers had just escaped into. Flash eyed the nearby dark woods for a moment, then quickly turned to the other guards and urgently ordered, “Grab any vehicle you can get your hands on and move out! We gotta cover a large search area as quickly as possible.” The guards nodded and muttered in agreement as they quickly left to begin searching for all of those escaped prisoners. It had taken little more than an hour for police and prison guards to spread out across much of the forest and begin searching for escaped convicts. In the air, helicopters hovered over the treetops as their searchlights scanned the covered ground in a futile attempt to find any fugitives. The vehicles on the ground weren’t faring much better. This forest covered a very large area, and offered plenty of places to hide — especially on such a dark night as this. Despite the staggering odds, police chief Flash Sentry refused to give up. He was riding in a police ATV with the headlights on at the highest setting. He drove the off-road vehicle as quickly as he could through the rough terrain as he kept his eyes open for anything. If he couldn’t catch these crooks tonight, then he would at least let them know that he would stop at nothing to find them. He suddenly saw someone in the distance rush past the headlights. That person moved so quickly that he could only identify a black and white striped prison shirt, but that was all he needed to know. “I’ve got you now, crook,” he muttered as he immediately switched on the red and blue police lights and took off down the trail after the fleeing prisoner. The ATV’s motor buzzed loudly as it zoomed down the bumpy trail. The partially illuminated landscape quickly rushed by as Flash focused entirely on catching up with the fugitive. He would occasionally see the striped prison shirt briefly appear up ahead in the lights, telling him that he was still hot on the trail. “You won’t get away from me, crook!” he shouted. Just one minute into the pursuit, the ATV came to an immediate halt as the front suddenly dropped down, flinging Flash out of his seat and sending him tumbling head-over-heels along the dirt trail. Wincing in pain, he quickly stood back up to determine what had just happened. The first thing he noticed was that the fleeing convict was now gone. He then turned to his ATV and saw that he had just drove it straight into a ditch. “Gosh darn it to heck!” shouted Flash furiously as he stomped the ground with each near-curse he spoke. He snatched his hat and put it back on his head as he ran back to the ATV and tried desperately to push it out of the ditch. Despite the additional adrenaline from the recent chase and the frustration of losing the crook, he could barely even budge the heavy vehicle. Flash growled in frustration and prepared to try again. However, a new noise suddenly caught his attention. He immediately stopped moving and quieted his rapid breathing so he could try to identify this new sound. It was definitely a series of voices. They sounded female, and it sounded like they were… vocalizing? Flash Sentry shook his head before he quickly grabbed a flashlight and switched it on. As far as he was concerned, anyone in this forest was likely an escaped prisoner, and he was going to find and arrest them all. “You crooks are going down,” he muttered with determination as he marched his way through the woods towards the source of the strange but soothing vocalizing.