//------------------------------// // The Shadowbolt Agents // Story: LEGO Equestria Girls 3 // by Chronicler06 //------------------------------// Chapter 3 The Shadowbolt Agents The following morning, Sunset Shimmer and her friends had gathered in Canterlot City’s LEGO Headquarters, located at the top of a tall mountain just outside the main city. They all stood in the middle of the briefing section of the main room, where the wall facing the city below consisted entirely of large windows. Against another wall of this massive room was a platform about six bricks above the floor and held a large console of various switches and buttons, above which was a massive display screen. At this moment, the Playwell sisters, Celestia and Luna, stood on the platform and gazed down at the gathered team of six friends. Everyone was looking at Sunset Shimmer with looks of shock and confusion on their faces. Sunset had just explained to them everything that had happened the previous night, from the loss of the interdimensional portal to Equestria, to the unexplainable loss of her Master Builder talents, and, of course, the shocking discovery of Twilight Sparkle being that mystery astronaut and her escape though a vanishing doorway. “Are you really sure that was Twilight?” asked Rainbow Dash. Sunset sighed sadly and replied, “Even though she was wearing glasses and had her hair piece in a different shape, everything else about her, as far as I could see, was exactly just like Twilight.” “But how can that be possible?” asked Rarity. “I think a better answer to Rainbow’s question is both yes and no,” stated Luna. As the team of friends turned their attention to Luna, Fluttershy asked, “What do you mean by that?” “What I mean is that it likely was Twilight Sparkle, but not the one we are all familiar with,” explained Luna. “For those of you who may not recall — or simply weren’t there at the time — back when you had just saved the Wonderbolts Lunar Headquarters from Lightning Dust and I assigned you your next mission in the Castle Region, I had mentioned that one of the rulers of that region, Prince Shining Armor, had a sister who had been missing for many years. Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria later revealed to us that she almost immediately realized that this ‘missing sister’ had to be our world’s Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight chose to take on a false identity while in the Castle Region to avoid any confusion, but it became unnecessary on her second visit once word had gotten out that she was from an alternate world and was not the missing Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World.” Celestia stepped forward and added, “But it seems that, as of last night, our world’s Twilight Sparkle might finally have been found.” “That’s a good thing, right?” asked Pinkie Pie with a smile. “I mean, she’s been missing for years and years and now we finally found her so we should all be very excited about it. Shouldn’t we?” She glanced around at everyone, only to notice no one else had a smile on their faces. “I fear this particular discovery may not be worthy of celebration,” stated Luna as she turned to the console and tapped a few buttons. Up on the display screen, a few images came up that showed fleeting glimpses of someone wearing an astronaut suit in various places, from multiple City Regions to the Old West Region to the Pirate Region and even the secret flying city of Cloudsdale. As these images came up one by one, Luna continued, “As Rarity had suggested yesterday, I have compiled all reported sightings of an unidentified individual in an astronaut suit and the pattern I’ve discovered is quite startling, to say the least. If this stranger really was our world’s Twilight Sparkle all along…” The final image came up, which was a photo of the six friends together in a cheerful pose with the astronaut’s head far away in the background, noticeable only due to a red circle around it that had been added to the image. “… then it seems she has been watching you girls for quite some time.” Silence fell across the entire team. All six friends could hardly believe that someone seemingly so similar to one of their best friends had apparently been stalking them for a long time. And that only led to a whole new range of questions. “But why us?” asked Applejack. “Why would she be so interested in followin’ us?” “And more importantly, what has she been up to this whole time?” asked Sunset. Her tone steadily grew louder and more aggressive as she continued, “What did she do to remove the interdimensional portal? Why has she been so desperate to keep her identity hidden? And just where did she go?!” Sunset suddenly stopped once she saw all the concerned looks everyone was giving her. She quickly relaxed and let out a sigh before she more calmly said, “I’m sorry. I just get so frustrated when I find myself with a lot of questions and hardly any answers. I’m still not even sure if this Twilight had anything to do with me suddenly losing all of my Master Builder talents.” “Then perhaps we should get to the bottom of this mystery as soon as possible,” suggested Celestia. “Sounds good to me,” said Rainbow Dash with a smile. “Where do we start?” “I would recommend that you go to the Castle Region and speak with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor,” replied Luna. “If there’s anyone in the Lego World who would be more willing than anyone else to help you out on such a case, it’s them. Chances are that you’ll find them at Princess Cadance’s residence, the Crystal Castle.” “And how shall we make the journey there?” asked Rarity. “Another charter flight?” “Not anymore!” At that cheerful boyish voice, the team quickly turned back to see a certain familiar face from the Engineering Department had been passing by on a small forklift, which he had just stopped. With a cheerful grin, Rusty Wrench gestured upwards and explained, “I’ve finally finished rebuilding that spaceship you girls used on your first mission. Even better, I decided to add in a few upgrades, such as an Ion-Burst Relativity Jump Drive to permit instantaneous travel to any location. The one I've installed isn't rated for intergalactic travel, but I’m pretty sure you won’t need to go anywhere that far anytime soon.” As Rusty spoke, everyone gazed up at the newly rebuilt spaceship docked close to the high ceiling of the main room. For the five girls who had been on the original team, it looked just like they had remembered it. And with the promise of some nice improvements, they couldn’t be happier to finally use it again. “In that case, I agree it would be good to start your investigation by speaking with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor,” said Celestia, drawing the team’s attention while Rusty continued away on his forklift. “Luna and I shall send a notice to them right away so they’ll know to expect you soon.” “Thank you,” said Sunset with a nod. “In the meantime,” Luna spoke up as she tapped a few more buttons on the console, “we shall still take Kjeld’s warning about increased Shadowbolt activity seriously, so while you girls are away, I shall call upon the reserve team to keep an eye out here in Canterlot City.” The group glanced up at the display screen as it now showed portraits of the six members of Canterlot City’s reserve LEGO Team: Flash Sentry, Micro Chips, Sandalwood, Lyra Heartstrings, Bon Bon, and Derpy. That last one made Rainbow Dash raise an eyebrow and ask, “How did she end up on the team?” As Celestia turned to Luna with an equally curious look, the younger Playwell sister simply replied, “Let’s just say she has some… special talents.” “Regardless,” stated Rarity, “it is assuring that our home city will be in good hands in our absence.” “Agreed,” said Sunset. “Oh! And before I forget…” Sunset pulled out her magic journal and tossed it up to Celestia. Once that book was in the hands of the Playwell sisters, Sunset explained, “If Princess Twilight ever replies, then I want you to write her a message, letting her know what’s been going on and if she can offer any advice. With the interdimensional portal gone, that book may now be our only hope of maintaining any contact with her.” Celestia nodded and said, “Consider it done.” “Great!” said Rainbow Dash enthusiastically. “Now let’s get going! We need to figure out what our world’s Twilight is up to.” After everyone voiced their agreement, Celestia and Luna emailed their notice to Princess Cadance, while Sunset and her friends headed for the elevator that would take them up to their newly rebuilt spaceship. As soon as everyone was in the elevator, Pinkie Pie suddenly asked, “Hey, Sunset, you’re from Equestria too, right? If there’s another Twilight Sparkle from this world, then shouldn’t there also be another Sunset Shimmer from this world, too?” As the elevator started going up, Sunset replied, “To be honest, that’s actually a very good question. Ever since I found out this world has its own Celestia, I decided to start searching for where the other me might be. Of course, back then, the old me had nefarious plans on how to take advantage of that, such as identity theft. But somehow, I was never able to find anything. Even to this day, I still can’t find any evidence that there ever was a minifig in the Lego World named Sunset Shimmer. At least, not before I first set foot in this world.” “Oh my,” said Fluttershy in a surprised tone as the elevator reached the top walkway. “Any idea why that might be?” As everyone proceeded along the walkway towards the spaceship, Sunset simply shrugged and replied, “Well, I’ve since come to accept the possibility that not everyone is going to have counterparts between these two worlds. I certainly don’t recall ever hearing about a pony in Equestria named Johnny Thunder, for example.” The team passed through the spaceship’s airlock and once it was closed, they then got up onto the upper deck and entered the control room at the front. The seating arrangement was now back to the original three rows of two with a single pilot’s seat at the front. Fluttershy sat alone in the back row, Rarity and Pinkie Pie seated themselves in the middle row, and Sunset Shimmer and Applejack took the front row, leaving Rainbow Dash — the self-proclaimed “team pilot” — to take the pilot’s seat. As Rainbow Dash powered up the spaceship, she couldn’t help but chuckle and remark, “Y’know, even though this was our team’s very first spaceship, this is actually the first time I’ll get to fly it. Princess Twilight was the one who flew it, only because she insisted on following the User’s Manual.” As everyone attached their seatbelts, the large retractable door atop the far wall of the main room opened up. Once the spaceship was fully powered up into hover mode, the four arms holding up the spaceship detached and pulled away. “But I like to pilot vehicles like a true Master Builder,” continued Rainbow Dash with a smirk. “Why follow the instructions?” And with that, Rainbow pushed the flight controls forward, causing the spaceship to launch out of the massive building. As the spaceship flew over Canterlot City, Rainbow tapped some buttons on the control panel as she announced, “Okay, setting coordinates for the Crystal Castle…” Once the small display screen confirmed she had input the correct destination, she announced, “And now to engage the… um…” “Ion-Burst Relativity Jump Drive?” reminded Sunset. “Yeah! That thing!” finished Rainbow Dash, before pressing the large green button. To the outside observer, the spaceship stretched forward for a brief fraction of a second before suddenly vanishing with a faint boom. Back at her secret base, Twilight Sparkle sat at the desk in her research lab while wearing her favorite white lab coat over a blue shirt. The new device she had been carrying during the previous night’s field expedition was now resting on the desk while she held a scanning gadget over it. The gadget emitted a blue light and warbled faintly for a few seconds before Twilight pulled it away to glance at the display screen on top. Unfortunately, all it showed was a completely scrambled mess of letters and numbers. Twilight frowned as she resumed scanning and grumbled, “C’mon. Gimme some real data.” It wasn’t even more than a single second before a faint sizzling noise came from inside the gadget and smoke began to flow out of it. Twilight immediately pulled the gadget away, only to realize that it was now completely ruined. She sighed in frustration and tossed the destroyed gadget over her shoulder, which landed in a rapidly growing pile of other ruined pieces of electronics. Twilight picked up her new device and stared thoughtfully at it as she muttered, “I’ve successfully collected a sample of one of the most incredible forms of energy ever known to the Lego World and I can’t find a way to make any sense of it.” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “How am I going to understand this substance?” Twilight’s focus was broken by the noise of the door opening. She glanced back and saw Spike enter the room, holding a certain astronaut helmet with a completely fractured golden visor. Spike held up the damaged helmet and said, “I’ve been told that agent Suri Polomare found this in Canterlot’s City Park last night. Some of the other agents are concerned, Twilight, and we both know why that’s not a good thing.” Twilight adjusted her glasses and irritably explained, “Look, Spike, I know things didn’t go so well last night, but they still could’ve been much worse. As far as I know, the only thing that’s been exposed was my presence in the park that evening. Nobody is aware of where my current base of operations is located, or even the fact that I’m a Shadowbolt agent. Heck, I’m actually very lucky that I didn’t suffer a concussion from that impact!” Taking another look at how extensive the damage to the visor piece really was, Spike couldn’t help but wince and mutter, “Yeah, I agree with you on that one.” Twilight turned back to her desk and continued with optimism, “As long as I stay put and not go out on any field expeditions for the next few weeks, I’m sure everyone will eventually forget about that very minor incident and move with their lives, at which point I’ll be free to continue my research project.” Spike rolled his eyes and grumbled, “Why do I get the feeling that’s totally not gonna happen?” He then glanced away and right at the moment his eyes fell on the nearby small display screen, the “Incoming Call” message came up with the portrait of Abacus Cinch. His eyes widened before he quickly turned back to Twilight and hesitantly said, “Uh, Twilight… y-you’ve now got a call from Miss Cinch.” Twilight let out a loud sigh of frustration and then pounded the desk. She then practically threw herself out of her seat and marched out of the room as she grumbled, “Why must she always call at the worst possible times?” Twilight entered the communication room and slammed the door shut. Once she sat down in the seat, she practiced the calm breathing technique her sister-in-law had once taught her many years ago. She waited until she was mostly relaxed before finally hitting the “accept” button. As soon as the image on the screen switched to a live video of Cinch sitting at her desk, the leader of the Shadowbolts adjusted her glasses and stated, “Greetings, Twilight Sparkle. Now, I was recently informed that you had a little… mishap the previous evening.” She clasped her hands together and rested her arms on the desk. “Care to elaborate?” Twilight sighed and responded, “I had a bit of a run-in with Sunset Shimmer. She was able to remove my helmet, but I managed to get away. As far as I can tell, she only knows that I was in Canterlot’s City Park that evening. She has no knowledge of where I went, what I was doing, or even that I’m associated with the Shadowbolts in any way.” Cinch stared silently ahead for a moment before speaking. “As much as I appreciate your successful efforts to minimize the magnitude of this setback, it is still a setback, nonetheless. Now that Sunset Shimmer is aware of your existence, she and the rest of the LEGO Team will undoubtedly begin to dig deeper into who you are and where you’ve been. It will only be a matter of time before they discover more of your secrets, including your status as a Shadowbolt agent.” “Which is why I’ve decided to lay low for the time being,” responded Twilight. “As long as I take no further risks out in the field and the other agents make efforts to deny any connections, then I’m sure this will all just blow over eventually.” “I’m afraid time will not be on our side in this case,” rebuked Cinch. “If we cannot achieve our ultimate goal of world domination within the next few weeks, I’m afraid it’ll be years before another big-budget region is created to provide a similar opportunity as what we have now.” Cinch paused to take a deep breath before continuing. “For you, Twilight, consider last night’s incident a long overdue wakeup call. I am now issuing you some mandatory orders, the first of which is to meet me in my personal base for further discussion. Understood?” On the inside, Twilight felt very conflicted over what this new turn of events would mean for her and her latest research project. However, she knew she wasn’t in a position to argue, so she kept a neutral expression on her face as she reluctantly replied, “Yes, Miss Cinch.” “Good,” said Cinch with a nod. “Then I expect to see you here in one minute. Farewell.” Cinch then shut off the connection. Twilight just stared blankly at the now dark screen for a moment before finally letting out a sigh. She got up out of the seat and left the room. “Spike!” she called out as she walked down the hallway. “I’m gonna be out for a few minutes. Cinch wants me to meet her at her base.” “Okay, Twilight!” Spike shouted back from within his bedroom. “I’ll be waiting right here.” Twilight reached the end of the hallway — the opposite end from the door to her research lab — and entered what was by far the largest room of her base. There was enough clear space inside this room to build a large vehicle if necessary for going out on missions, but there was no doorway to the outside world — at least, not the kind most would expect. Dominating one wall of the room — between the door to the hallway and the doors to the changing rooms — was the rectangular frame of a large doorway with its massive solid doors currently shut. Twilight walked up to the small touchscreen on the wall just to the right of the frame and scrolled through a series of place names. Once she found and selected the name “Shadowbolt Base (Abacus Cinch)”, she hit the green “Enter” button. The structure made a low whooshing noise for a few seconds, then the doors parted to the sides, revealing a large dimly lit room where Cinch herself stood patiently. Of all the inventions Twilight Sparkle had provided to the Shadowbolts over the years, by far the most significant one of all was the Jump-Gate. The Jump-Gate allowed someone to literally open a temporary doorway to any desired location in the universe. A wrist-mounted portable version — which she always carried around with her — allowed her to open up a preexisting Jump-Gate to any location she aimed the portable version at, allowing for quick escapes directly back to home base. Needless to say, a lot of Shadowbolt activity — not to mention her research projects — would be virtually impossible without the use of the Jump-Gate. Twilight walked through the open doorway — which then automatically closed behind her and dematerialized from the destination side — and stopped in front of Cinch. The leader of the Shadowbolts was dressed in her standard uniform — reddish purple on her legs, medium blue on her arms and torso with a lighter blue shirt visible around the neck, and a dark blue skirt around her upper legs — and had an expression on her face that reflected serious professionalism. The two minifigs silently regarded each other for a brief moment before Cinch turned away and simply stated, “Come with me, Twilight. The subjects of your next mandatory order are waiting in the next room.” Twilight followed without a word. Although she remained silent, her mind was buzzing with activity as she couldn’t stop wondering what Cinch had in store for her. Once they arrived at the door into the next room, Cinch turned back to Twilight and said, “I’ll be honest with you, Twilight. I have lost count of how many times I’ve tried to emphasize to you the importance of working with other agents, and seeing as your consistent reluctance has now led to the exposure of your identity, you have now forced me to cast my hand.” Twilight nervously glanced to the side, not liking where this conversation was going. “You next mandatory order, Twilight Sparkle, is to work with a team of fellow Shadowbolt agents on a series of missions that I shall be assigning to all of you over the next few days.” Twilight tried to argue, “But Miss Cinch—” “Don’t bother repeating your old catchphrase, Twilight, for I will simply ignore it from now on,” rebuffed Cinch. “It is now a mandatory order from me personally that you must not ‘work alone’ anymore.” Twilight turned her gaze downward in disappointment. Having emphasized her point, Cinch opened the door and beckoned Twilight to follow. “Allow me to introduce you to your new team. I have selected five of the best agents I could call up on such short notice.” Twilight followed Cinch inside and glanced across the five girls who were lined up in the middle of the room. All of them were wearing a solid black hooded jumpsuit that was among the standard outfits given to all Shadowbolt agents. That left only heads and faces to tell them apart, and Twilight could easily see a lot of differences between each of them. The first agent Cinch gestured toward was the girl on the farthest right. This girl had turquoise skin, had a shoulder-length hair piece that was two shades of light violet, and had magenta eyes. “Sunny Flare,” stated Cinch. “Acrobatic, good with words, and highly perceptive. Above all else, I can always count on her to carry out my orders, so as long as you’re not being too unreasonable, she will make an excellent member of your team.” “A pleasure to meet you, Miss Sparkle,” greeted Sunny with a handshake. “I may seem nice, but when duty calls, everyone will learn not to underestimate me.” Once she finished returning the handshake, Twilight uneasily replied, “Uh, y-yeah, sure. N-nice to meet you, too.” Cinch moved left to the next girl in line. This girl had light nougat skin, had a short messy hair piece in three shades of blue, had orange eyes, and wore a pair of round goggles on her forehead. “Indigo Zap,” stated Cinch. “Highly athletic and fearsome with weaponry. Her enthusiasm for success can be a challenge to control, but when assigned appropriate tasks, she is practically unstoppable.” With a wicked grin on her face, Indigo beat her fist into her palm and proudly boasted, “Just show me where the fight is and I’ll take care of the rest!” “R-right, of course,” remarked Twilight with uncertainty. “I mean, every team needs to have a little muscle, right?” Cinch moved over to the next girl in line. This girl had pale yellow skin, had a hair piece with a single long ponytail that was rose with a few aqua streaks, and had purple eyes. “Sour Sweet,” stated Cinch. “Highly skilled in personal combat and quite intelligent as well. A fine agent who always gets the job done, despite her…” She quietly cleared her throat. “…preexisting condition.” Twilight glanced at Cinch and asked, “What kind of condition?” Cinch leaned close to Twilight and whispered, “Two-Face Syndrome.” “Hi, Twilight,” Sour Sweet greeted sweetly with a smile and a wave. “It sure is gonna be nice to work with you.” Her head then suddenly spun around to reveal the face on the opposite side of her head with a more grumpy frown who then sourly grumbled, “As long as you try not to mess up any of our missions!” Her head then swiftly spun around to expose her sweet face again, who just giggled and pleasantly remarked, “Don’t mind her. She’s always like that.” Twilight just stared blankly at Sour Sweet for a moment before eventually managing to slowly say, “Uh… okay…” Cinch moved on to the next girl in line. This girl had pale violet skin, had a hair piece with two long pigtails that was white and very light blue, had violet eyes, and wore a pair of red-rimmed glasses. “Sugarcoat,” stated Cinch. “Very intelligent and fairly capable of holding her ground when necessary. You can always count on her to outwit any puzzles or riddles that might get in your way, though her habit of telling things as they are has been known to get on people’s nerves.” Sugarcoat had her arms folded and a bored frown on her face as she bluntly stated, “I have a lot of serious doubts this team is ever gonna work out, but I’ll do what I can.” Twilight glanced over at Cinch and smiled uneasily as she said, “Well, at least we know for sure that she’ll never lie, right?” Cinch moved left to the last girl in the lineup. This girl had pink skin, a long messy hair piece in shades of bright green and yellow, had yellow eyes, and wore a pair of magenta headphones. “And finally, Lemon Zest,” stated Cinch. “Highly talented in operating any vehicle imaginable, and with enough mechanical skills to keep them running. She will never hesitate to complete any task you assign her.” Her tone became more scolding as she added, “If only she wasn’t so frequently distracted by her loud music.” Lemon Zest, who had been bobbing her head back and forth the entire time with her eyes closed, finally stopped and shouted, “Yes, this is real music!” She then swiftly removed her headphones and placed them over Twilight’s head. “Check it out!” Twilight immediately flinched and groaned in discomfort as she was suddenly exposed to insanely loud heavy metal dubstep music at full blast. She barely tolerated only a few seconds of that ear torture before quickly removing the headphones and handing them back to Lemon. “S-sorry,” she weakly said. “Too much too soon.” “Eh, your loss,” said Lemon dismissively as she put her noisy headphones back on. “You don’t know what you’re missin’ out on!” She then resumed bobbing her head violently to the loud music. With the introductions complete, Cinch took a step back and turned to Twilight as she said, “Anyway, that is your team, Twilight Sparkle, and I fully expect all of you to cooperate.” Twilight glanced back and forth between the five agents now assigned to her. She turned to Cinch and hesitantly remarked, “Well, you’ve certainly got a wide range of talents covered, I’ll give you that.” “And since I expect you to fully cooperate with them,” continued Cinch, “they shall be lodging with you. They are to follow you back to your home base and take up residence with you there whenever the six you are not away on missions. That won’t be an issue, will it?” Twilight wanted to protest that arrangement right away, but one glance at Cinch’s critical gaze was all it took to make her think twice. Rather than argue, she instead politely said, “Well, as long as they’re careful not to disturb certain rooms… I think I can accommodate them.” “Excellent,” stated Cinch. She then walked over to the middle of the room and addressed the entire team. “I shall permit you girls one hour to get settled under these new arrangements before I expect you to begin your first mission. Since this will be your first time working together, it shall be a rather simple supply run for Power Crystals.” “What for?” asked Indigo Zap. “Jump-Gates derive their energy from Power Crystals,” explained Twilight. “Without a steady supply of these crystals, all Shadowbolt agents would be deprived of one of their biggest advantages.” “Thank you, Twilight,” said Cinch contently. She turned to the other agents and said, “As you can see, she has certainly done her homework, and I expect nothing less from the rest of you.” “Not to worry, Miss Cinch,” assured Sunny Flare. “We’re all Shadowbolt agents here, and we will not disappoint you.” The other agents silently nodded in agreement. “Then that will be all,” concluded Cinch. “Dismissed.” Twilight turned to her new teammates. Uncertain of what to say at first, she hesitated for a brief moment before she eventually suggested, “Well… I guess you girls better grab your things and follow me, please.” She then headed out of the room and walked back to the first room she had entered. The five girls picked up their respective pieces of luggage from within another nearby room and followed Twilight out to the first room. Once the new team of Shadowbolt agents was ready, Twilight entered a code into the gadget on her right wrist — the code for her home base’s Jump-Gate — then pointed her right arm at the large empty wall and hit the “Enter” button. Over the surface of that wall, the familiar doorway of her Jump-Gate materialized and the doors parted open, revealing the large gateway room of her base on the other side. The six girls proceeded through the gateway and arrived at Twilight’s secret base. Once everyone had gone through, the Jump-Gate automatically closed the doors and switched off. “Well, girls,” stated Twilight, doing her best effort to sound optimistic. “Welcome to my home base. Allow me to give you a quick tour before we head out on our mission.” As everyone dropped off their luggage by the hallway door, Lemon Zest glanced around and smiled. “Not too shabby,” she remarked. “How long have ya been here?” “About a few months now,” answered Twilight as she opened the door. “That doesn’t surprise me at all,” commented Sugarcoat. “You’ve been known to always move to a new base multiple times per year, far more frequently than most Shadowbolt agents.” “That’s because I’m more adamant about avoiding any detection than most agents,” explained Twilight. “As soon as the odds that somebody will find me becomes anywhere greater than zero percent, I immediately pack up everything and move to a new site.” “Seems to me like all that hassle would be more effort than it’s worth,” said Sunny Flare. “Eh, I guess I’m just used to it,” said Twilight with a shrug. She then entered the hallway and gestured to the doors along each side. “For this base, I’ve decided to keep things small and simple. To the left, we have the basic amenities: kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. To the right, we have a storage room for Lego parts, the communication room for contacting other agents, and an empty room in case if I need some extra space for one of my various research projects. Since the bedroom has only two beds — one for me and one for my assistant — I’ll let you all have the empty room to yourselves. I only request that you not make too much noise.” “Awww, no fair!” moaned Lemon Zest. Sunny Flare suddenly raised an eyebrow and asked, “Wait, you have an assistant?” “He always stays behind to keep an eye on things while I’m away,” replied Twilight. “I’d better introduce you to him.” She walked up to the third door on the left and knocked on it. “Spike! I’m back! And I’ve got some company!” A few seconds later, Spike opened the bedroom door, holding a comic book in one hand. “Let me guess: Cinch’s orders?” he asked. “Yeah, pretty much,” muttered Twilight in response. She turned back to her teammates and spoke up again. “Everyone, this is my trusty assistant, Spike. He has always been by my side ever since the day we met, when I suffered from that laser beam incident, and I can always count on his help whenever I need it.” “Hey, everyone,” greeted Spike with a smile and a wave. “So I guess you’re all gonna be staying here with us, right?” “You know it, little dude!” replied Lemon Zest excitedly. “Now let’s see if I can recognize your faces,” muttered Spike. One by one, he pointed at each of the girls and said their names. “Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, and Sour Sweet.” “Wow, he’s good!” remarked Sour Sweet. Her head swiftly spun around to expose her sour face and asked, “How did you know all that, bub?” “A while back, Miss Cinch provided me with a list of every Shadowbolt agent with some basic information about each of them,” answered Spike. “She said she was hoping that I could use that knowledge to convince Twilight to work with other agents without needing to give out any mandatory orders.” “Yeah, fat load of good that turned out to be,” Sour Sweet remarked sourly. She switched back to her sweet face and added, “But still, I guess it’s nice that you’re already familiar with us.” “Hey, what’s in here?” asked Indigo Zap as she moved to begin opening the door at the end of the hallway. Twilight immediately jumped in front of the door and firmly replied, “That’s my personal research laboratory, and I would highly appreciate it if all of you stay out.” “Aww, come on! Not even a quick peek?” moaned Lemon Zest in disappointment. “You do realize the temptation of a forbidden room could be too much for us to resist,” Sunny Flare pointed out. “Some more than others,” she added as she gestured at Lemon Zest, who responded with a glare. Twilight glanced around at all the eager looks on the faces of her new teammates, then sighed and relented. “All right, but just this once.” She opened the door and allowed the others to follow her inside. As everyone began to get a good look at the contents of this room, Twilight explained, “This is where I like to spend most of my time. It is here that I conduct all kinds of scientific research and experiments to unlock any significant breakthroughs that could lead to new discoveries and useful inventions.” Sugarcoat gazed up at the board on the wall that displayed various bits and pieces of research regarding one particular group. “You’ve been keeping tabs on Canterlot City’s LEGO Team for a long time, haven’t you?” she asked. “Uh, why wouldn’t I?” Twilight nervously replied, her eyes shifting back and forth as she tried to come up with a legitimate excuse on the spot. “I mean, they’ve been one of the most successful teams on the LEGO Team, and we’re Shadowbolts, who, uh, fight against them, so we need to know how we can fight back, and if we can deal with the best team, then we can take on any LEGO Team, um, team.” She finished with a wide but awkward grin. Sugarcoat’s unamused expression remained unchanged. Sunny Flare raised an eyebrow as she noticed the strange small device that Twilight had left on the desk. She picked it up and asked, “What’s this?” Twilight immediately snatched the device out of her hand and shoved it into a drawer as she quickly replied, “Uh, nothing important.” Before Sunny could inquire any further, Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap had already gone over to the chemistry set resting on another desk. “Cool!” remarked Lemon excitedly as she looked closely at all the differently colored substances within the glass beakers and flasks. “You really are a mad scientist, aren’t ya?” “Please don’t touch any of my experiments,” Twilight cautioned urgently, unaware that Indigo had already picked up a random flask and started to shake it. “Some of them are highly unstable, and potentially explosive.” Boom! The flask Indigo Zap had held suddenly exploded, throwing her pieces across the room. Everyone turned their attention to her head, which had landed on the floor in the middle of the room. After an awkward silence, Twilight weakly added, “Such as that.” Lemon couldn’t resist giggling at Indigo’s misfortune, to which Indigo responded with a bitter glare. Somewhere in the Castle Region, there was a sparse forest with very little activity going on. With not a single person in sight and the only sound to be heard was the chirping of some woodland birds, it truly seemed like a very peaceful place. Suddenly, a spaceship appeared with a faint boom in the clear sky above. Riding inside this spaceship, the six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team glanced around out the windows, astonished to realize that a journey that had previously taken many hours had just been completed virtually within the blink of an eye. “Awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash excitedly. “That new upgrade just became my favorite feature ever!” “Hey, look! There’s the Crystal Castle!” Pinkie Pie spoke up as she pointed ahead. Not far off in the distance was a tall castle built mostly out of bricks with various slopes and angles that came in shades of blue and pink. There were tall spires atop each tower, with the central keep having the highest ones of all. And placed atop the main gatehouse was a large brick-built representation of the crystal heart from Princess Cadance’s creative mark. “Take us down just outside the main gate,” suggested Sunset. “Got it,” acknowledged Rainbow Dash with a nod. As they approached the castle, she slowed down the spaceship until it came to a hover over the open ground near the main gatehouse. She then deployed the landing gear and carefully descended the ship until it touched down on the ground. As she switched off the engines, she couldn’t help but chuckle and remark, “I’m getting good at this. No more random button-mashing with silly results!” Everyone unbuckled from their seats and headed out of the spaceship. Once everyone had disembarked from the spaceship, the main gate suddenly opened and a single castle guard wearing golden armor stepped out. The guard gave a salute to the team and stated, “Greetings, LEGO Team of Canterlot City. I am to escort you to Princess Cadance Playwell at once.” Without waiting for a response, he promptly turned back and began marching into the castle. As the girls followed the guard through the castle, they couldn’t help but gaze up and down at all the wonderful surroundings. “This is a most spectacular castle, indeed,” marveled Rarity. “Why, the architectural design of this palace is simply divine!” As Pinkie Pie glanced around in awe, she thought aloud, “I wonder why we didn’t come here on our first visit to the Castle Region.” “Probably ‘cause Prince Shining Armor’s castle was much closer to the threat we had to deal with at the time,” replied Applejack. “I just hope we don’t have to fight off any bad guys again, this time,” mumbled Fluttershy. “I think we can all agree on that,” stated Sunset. After a few minutes, the guard and the team arrived at a large door inside the main keep. The guard stepped up to the door and knocked the head of his pike against it a few times. “You may enter,” said a voice on the other side of the door. The guard stepped aside and gestured for the team to proceed through the doorway. The six girls glanced at one another before Sunset pushed the door open and entered the room, followed closely by the rest of her friends. The interior of this room consisted of items both expected and unexpected of a castle bedchamber. There was a large four-post bed with surrounding drapes, a large window that opened to a balcony outside, tapestries and suits of crystalline armor displayed on opposite sides of the room, bookshelves filled with all kinds of books, and a desk with parchment, quills, and ink resting on it. There was also a computer on that desk, a globe and a telescope near the window, a television screen on the wall opposite from the bed, and many other household items such as coffee mugs, suitcases, and even a radio. And standing patiently in the middle of this room was Princess Cadance herself. But unlike during their previous encounters, Cadance was wearing a completely different outfit. She had dark turquoise on her arms and torso, a medium blue skirt around her upper legs, and gold around her feet. Her head didn’t have that gold crown on top, but the front of her torso showed a light blue shirt under her jacket with a gold necklace and her creative mark of a blue crystal heart printed on her left chest area. “Welcome, girls,” Cadance greeted warmly. “Normally, I would be hesitant to agree to a meeting on such short notice, but considering the subject we must discuss, I am more than willing to make an exception.” “And greetings to you too, Princess,” Rarity politely greeted with a respectful bow. As she stood up straight again, she added, “Though I am curious as to why you’ve taken on such a vastly different wardrobe. It just… doesn’t seem like something one would expect to see in the Castle Region.” “Yes, I do normally wear that dress you’ve seen before whenever I’m out in public,” explained Cadance. “But here in the privacy of my personal chambers, I prefer to take on a more… civilian appearance. Not to mention how much in comes in handy whenever I need to secretly go on a business trip to one of the City Regions.” Fluttershy hesitantly spoke up. “Um, pardon me for asking, but… where is Prince Shining Armor?” she quietly asked. “He is visiting Knighton along with several nobles from all the other Castle subregions,” answered Cadance. “They want to establish good relationships with the Nexo Knights to ensure that everyone’s respective homelands can count on these new heroes to keep the people safe.” Her voice took on a more somber tone as she continued. “Personally, though, I think it’s probably for the best that he’s not here with us right now. You see, I’ve known all along what really happened to our world’s Twilight.” “You have?!” exclaimed all six girls at once in shock. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” asked Rainbow Dash. “At the very least, I’d have expected ya to tell Shining Armor what ya knew ‘bout his lil’ sister,” added Applejack. Cadance carefully replied, “Let’s just say that if Shining Armor knew the truth… then his depression would have been much worse.” “What makes you so certain of that?” asked Rarity. Cadanced glanced down in sadness for a moment before she returned her gaze to the gathered team and slowly answered, “The truth is, our world’s Twilight Sparkle… is a Shadowbolt agent.” That revelation immediately caused all six girls to gasp loudly in shock. “Y-you mean… she’s one of the bad guys?!” asked Pinkie Pie as tears quickly formed in her eyes. “How do you know this?” asked Sunset. “I mean, I just find that so hard to believe. We all know how nice Princess Twilight is, so why would this other Twilight take a much darker path.” “I’m afraid I don’t know why this happened,” replied Cadance as she approached a chest next to the desk. “But I can show you how I was able to find out about what Twilight has been up to.” She pulled out a key and used it to unlock the chest. Once the chest was opened, she picked up the object inside and turned around to show it to everyone. The object was a white staff with a glowing blue crystal placed on the end of it. “This is the magical staff of Star Swirl the Bearded,” explained Cadance. “His final will and testament stated that it shall forever rightly belong only to the one who watches over the entire Castle Region — a position currently held by me. Among many of the magical spells it can perform, it allows me to observe the world through the senses of another, and ever since the day Twilight vanished, she has been the only subject I’ve ever used this spell on. It only permits real-time observation, and since I obviously can’t spend a lot of time with it, my knowledge is very limited. But those small bits and pieces of information over the years have been enough to tell me that not only is Twilight really a Shadowbolt agent, but also never seems to stay in the same place for long.” “Ah guess that explains why no one’s ever been able to find her,” remarked Applejack as she nervously scratched the back of her head. “At least, not ‘til now.” “We need to find out what Twilight is up to,” Sunset spoke up. She turned to Candance and asked, “Can you use that staff to tell us where she is right now?” Cadance nodded and replied, “Of course.” She pointed down at the floor and asked, “Could one of you remove that rug?” Everyone glanced down at the round rug lying in the middle of the room. Without a word, Rarity and Fluttershy grasped the edges of the rug and pulled it aside. The floor that was now exposed had a small hole in it, just large enough to fit the shaft of the staff. As Cadance approached the center of the room, she explained, “Keep in mind, when this spell is active, I will enter a trance-like state, so it is extremely vital that none of you girls disturb me in any way.” “If that’s what it takes to find Twilight, then you can count on us,” stated Sunset as she and her friends backed away to give Cadance some space. Cadance carried the staff with her and inserted the base of it into the hole in the floor. As the blue crystal on top began to glow brighter, Cadance closed her eyes and rested her forehead against it. The six girls remained perfectly still and silent as they waited for any information. For the most part, Cadance stayed just as motionless, though she did occasionally mutter a few observations. “It’s rather dark in here… Where are you, Twilight…?” “I see some rocks and some mining equipment… definitely must be some underground mine…” “Strange… There are other people with her… She always wants to work alone… Why would she suddenly be working with others…?” “Now they’re using that mining machinery… Awfully noisy… What are they after…?” Suddenly, Cadance gasped and exclaimed, “Power Crystals!” The staff’s crystal dimmed as she pulled herself out of her trance and removed the staff from its focus point. Cadance turned to the team and firmly stated, “I know exactly where she is!” The six friends turned and smiled at one another. Now they were finally getting somewhere! Cadance placed the staff back inside the chest and locked it up again. Then she grabbed a sheet of parchment on the desk, dipped one of the quills into the inkwell, and started writing down a quick note as she hastily explained, “You girls will need to travel to the Mining Region. These coordinates should take you to the nearest mine entrance to where you’ll most likely find Twilight. I would also recommend that you seek some help from the Power Miners, if you can find them. They’ll know their way through those tunnels.” Once she finished the note, she set the quill back in the inkwell and handed the parchment over to the team. Rainbow Dash took the parchment with their destination coordinates and confidently stated, “No problem! With our new spaceship, we’ll be there in no time. Literally!” “Then please hurry,” said Cadance worriedly. “I don’t know what they need those Power Crystals for, but if the Shadowbolts are involved, then it can’t be anything good.” “Hey, what’s that?” Pinkie Pie suddenly spoke up while pointing out the window. Everyone quickly turned to the window and some strange object hovering over the balcony outside. Cadance opened the window and stepped out onto the balcony, followed by the Canterlot City team. The object they were gazing up at was small, held aloft by four small propellers, and had a brown box attached to the bottom of it. “I believe that is some sort of drone,” noted Rarity. “What’s a drone doin’ here in the Castle Region?” asked Applejack. “I agree that it seems odd,” stated Cadance. “I would not be surprised to see something like this in Knighton, but this castle does not fall within that subregion.” Before anyone could ask any further, the drone slowly descended over Sunset Shimmer, released its package, and then began to fly away. Sunset caught the package, which was about the same size and shape as a 2x2 tile. After quickly looking over the entire surface, she made a startling discovery. “It’s addressed to all of us,” she said in astonishment. Everyone glanced up at the rapidly departing drone, then back down at the package. Right away, Sunset tore off the wrapping and revealed the package to be little more than some kind of display screen. As everyone began to glance over her shoulders, Sunset tapped the power button, activating the strange device and revealing a single piece of text: “1 new message” Sunset glanced around at all of her friends, who all gazed back with curious looks on their faces. Without a word, she tapped the screen and the full message appeared. She then started reading that message aloud to everyone. Greetings, LEGO Team of Canterlot City. I cannot tell you who I am, but I will say that I wish to help you. As you may already know by now, one of you has recently had an encounter with Twilight Sparkle of the Lego World. What you might not have figured out by now is that she has been working for the Shadowbolts ever since the day she supposedly disappeared. But due to that recent encounter, our leader, Miss Abacus Cinch, has just assigned Twilight a team of other Shadowbolt Agents. Their names are Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, Sunny Flare, and Sour Sweet. I am one of these girls, but I cannot reveal which one, or why I have decided to help you. Regardless, this is the first time Twilight has ever worked with a team, and if it were not a mandatory order from Miss Cinch, she would have absolutely refused to do so. By the time you will likely receive this private communicator, we will already be working on our first mission, which is to collect a large supply of Power Crystals from deep underground in the Mining Region. I have provided two sets of coordinates. The first is the exact location of our operation, and the second is for the mine entrance that is by far the closest to where we are working. Sunset skipped over the coordinates and continued through the rest of the message. Do not hesitate to ask me for further help at any time, for I understand that the greater good is being done by you, and not the Shadowbolts. Good luck to all of you. From, The Informant. Sunset and her friends all shared shocked expressions as she glanced around at each of them. Rainbow Dash pulled out the parchment that Cadance had given her and compared the note on it to the coordinates on the message. “Her mine entrance coordinates are exactly the same as what we’ve got!” she noted. She simply stood still with her mouth gaping for a moment, then she suddenly grinned and cheerfully exclaimed, “Awesome! We’ve got ourselves a source of inside information!” She pulled out a pencil and quickly wrote down the other set of coordinates onto the parchment. Sunset noticed the “Send Reply” button at the bottom of the screen, then shrugged and muttered, “Well, I guess I’d better let The Informant know that we got her message.” She tapped that button, and a digital keyboard appeared on the lower part of the screen. She quickly typed out her message, than hit the “Send” button. “Interesting…” she remarked. “It’s like a computerized version of my magic journal to Equestria.” Princess Cadance finished writing down the names of Twilight’s new teammates on a small notecard with a ballpoint pen. She quickly tucked away those items and said, “While you girls go after Twilight, I’ll send Celestia and Luna the names of these other Shadowbolt agents. Hopefully, they can do some research that might reveal some useful information about these agents and how we can best deal with them.” “That’s definitely a good idea,” agreed Sunset with a nod as she safely tucked away the messaging device on her person. “For now, let’s just focus on getting to the Mining Region right away.” Sunset’s friends all said various words of agreement. As they all then began to leave, Cadance waved goodbye to them and said, “Good luck to all of you!” Moments later, as the team walked through the castle’s main gatehouse on their way back to the spaceship, some of the girls couldn’t resist voicing their inner thoughts. “I simply can’t believe that our world’s Twilight is a Shadowbolt!” grumbled Rarity in displeasure. “I really do wonder what would drive her to join such an awful group full of meanies,” Fluttershy said quietly. “I don’t know, but it just makes me feel really sad,” added Pinkie Pie. “An’ now she’s got a bunch of other agents workin’ by her side,” added Applejack. “If we’re gonna have to deal with all of ‘em, then we’ll really need to step it up.” “Which is fine by me, because I always bring my A-game,” boasted Rainbow Dash. As everyone began to board the spaceship, she urgently exclaimed, “C’mon, everyone! Let’s go!” Rainbow Dash led the way inside, followed by Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and finally Sunset Shimmer. “Oh, Twilight…” Sunset mumbled sadly. “Why must you and I fight on opposite sides again?”