Building a Team
Chapter 5
Building a Team
Thanks to some help from the guard posted at the lobby, Twilight Sparkle knew exactly where to go to meet with Celestia. At one of the middle floors, she and Spike stepped through the doorway into a massive room with a very high ceiling. One side consisted of a few massive windows that overlooked the city below, while the opposite side lacked any windows — explaining the large middle area they had seen from the outside. There were a few open doorways that lead to other sections of this floor, including along some platforms and walkways up above. Twilight was completely in awe at the sheer scale of all this. If there was one part of this LEGO Team building that reminded her of Canterlot Castle, this was it.
This particular section was dominated by a massive display screen on the wall on one side. Directly beneath that was a large console that consisted of various controls, switches, and buttons. That console was placed on a platform that stood at a height of six bricks above the floor. Also standing on that platform, resting her hands against the surrounding railing, was Celestia Playwell herself.
“Welcome back, Twilight Sparkle and Spike,” greeted Celestia, “though I wish it would have been under better circumstances. I have already called for all of your requested team members, and they have each agreed to meet us here. They should arrive at any moment.”
“Thank you very much, Celestia,” said Twilight.
Celestia added, “Though I cannot deny that I find your choices to be rather… odd.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Twilight in confusion.
“None of them are members of the LEGO Team, and most have never even been outside of Canterlot City,” answered Celestia.
Twilight was somewhat surprised to hear this, but felt it would not be a significant issue. “Still, I have a feeling we’ll get along just fine.”
At the other side of the room, a set of elevator doors opened and out stepped Applejack. “Well Ah’ll be,” she said as she walked up to Twilight. “Ah never would’ve guessed you were here on a treasure hunt against Sunset Shimmer. Ah’m even more surprised you’re askin’ me to help ya out. Ah’m just an apple farmer from the outskirts of Canterlot City. What makes ya think Ah got what it takes to stop the biggest baddie in the world?”
“There’s actually a lot of things you’re good at, Applejack,” replied Twilight. “Your strengths are not the same as my own, and the same applies for everyone else I’ve chosen for this team. As long as we can work together, I don’t see anything that can stop us.”
“Really?” asked Applejack. “Who else do ya have in mind?”
Before Twilight could reply, the two girls turned to the sound of panting coming from a nearby stairway from the lower floors. The person running up the stairs finally arrived on their floor, revealing herself to be Rainbow Dash.
Applejack smirked and said, “What took ya so long? Ah thought ya said the stairs would be faster than the elevator.”
Rainbow Dash stopped to catch her breath before replying, “Okay, I may have been wrong, but at least I got some exercise out of it.”
“I bet you wish you had wings, huh?” remarked Spike.
“Yeah, that would be awesome,” admitted Rainbow. “But it’s not like I’m going to just magically grow a pair of wings anytime soon.”
Another set of elevator doors opened, but the occupant was slow to exit. Soon, she worked up the courage to step out and meet the other team members.
“Fluttershy?” asked Rainbow Dash in confusion. “Why are we bringing her along? I thought we were going on a dangerous mission, not some nature hike.”
“I know, she may seem like an unlikely choice,” replied Twilight. “But there are some things that even she is very good at. We all have strengths that we can contribute to this team.”
The noise of a dull thud caused everyone to quickly turn their attention to the window. They saw Pinkie Pie with a hang glider, and she had apparently slammed into the window. She and her hang glider made a faint squeaking noise as she slowly slid down the side.
Celestia sighed before pressing a button on the console. That activated some whirring machinery, which was soon revealed to be a large claw that lowered down the outside of the building, grabbed Pinkie and her glider, then raised back up. Following a few more whirring noises, Pinkie and her glider were simply dropped in the middle of the room.
The glider had fallen to pieces, but Pinkie simply jumped to her feet and excitedly said, “Here I am!”
“Even her?” Rainbow Dash quietly asked.
“Yes, even Pinkie Pie,” replied Twilight.
“Well, is that all of us?” asked Applejack.
“Not quite,” replied Twilight. “We’re still waiting for one more.”
A steady beeping noise made everyone turn to see Rarity arrive. Following close behind her was a forklift that was hauling dozens of luggage containers. “Just packing a few necessities,” she said as the forklift came to a stop and lowered the luggage to the floor.
“A few,” said Applejack with a deadpan expression. “Right.”
Rainbow Dash showed no courtesy as she dug through the luggage pile and pulled out a faceless bust on which sat a hair piece exactly like the one already on Rarity’s head. “You mean like extra hair?” she asked skeptically.
“A girl must always come prepared,” Rarity simply said.
Rainbow Dash carelessly tossed the bust back into the luggage pile and said, “You know, there is such a thing as being over-prepared. I’m probably more likely to lose my hair than you, and you don’t see me carrying around a spare.”
Pinkie Pie hopped over to Rainbow Dash and said, “That’s okay, you can have my spare.” She then tossed a tire into Rainbow’s arms.
“Spare hair, darling,” Rarity clarified. “Not a spare tire.”
Unamused, Rainbow tossed the tire away, which hit the forklift operator in the head and knocked him unconscious.
No one was looking at Celestia as she shook her head in disappointment. This was not the kind of team she had in mind. However, Twilight Sparkle had insisted they would be the best choice, so there would be no point in arguing otherwise. Not when she was about to send them off on an important mission. They were just going to have to work past their differences and prove themselves.
Twilight smiled nervously and said, “Okay, now that we’re all here, how about we focus on the reason we’ve all been brought here?”
“I believe you are quite right,” Celestia spoke up, grabbing everyone’s attention. “You have all been called in to assist Twilight Sparkle here in recovering an artifact that was stolen from her.”
“That’s it?” asked a perplexed Pinkie Pie.
“If only it were that easy,” said Celestia. “You may have already heard that there was an attack at the local police station just hours ago. It was during that incident that the artifact — a crown with magic abilities — was stolen.” She turned to the console and started tapping some keys, causing various images to appear on the display screen. “And I’m afraid this isn’t the act of some common criminals, but rather the top three of LEGO’s Most Wanted.”
“The top three?” asked Twilight, very surprised to hear this. “You mean those two who help Sunset steal my crown are also numbers two and three on LEGO’s Most Wanted?”
“According to the report filed by rookie officer Flash Sentry, there is simply no one else who would fit the descriptions he provided,” answered Celestia solemnly.
Celestia tapped one final key and the image of a rotating minifig came up on the display screen. It was the aqua-skinned girl who wore a blue and yellow flight suit. In one hand, she held a part that looked just like the bomb she had used to destroy the police station.
“Number three: Lightning Dust,” began Celestia. “A former recruit of the Wonderbolts Space Fleet. She was kicked out of flight camp after only a week due to reckless behavior. After numerous failed attempts to get back in, she turned rogue, attacking Wonderbolts bases and hijacking just about any spaceship she could get her hands on. Among her most recent prizes was a cargo ship loaded with hundreds of destructa-bricks, including the one she had used to destroy the police station. This has made her far more dangerous than ever before.”
Celestia tapped another key, switching the display to another minifig. It was the blue-skinned girl who wore a violet cape and pointed hat. In her hand was that magic staff with a blue five-pointed star on the end of it.
“Number two: Trixie,” continued Celestia. “Self-proclaimed, ‘The Great and Powerful’. She has made it no secret that she wishes to take over all territory within the Castle Region, and from there possibly even the rest of the Lego World. She has been very difficult to track down, but when she does appear, she does not hold back on using her magic powers, which are channeled through that staff she always carries with her. Very few have the power to even stand a chance against her, making her a very formidable foe indeed.”
Celestia tapped one more key, switching the display to Sunset Shimmer.
“And finally, number one: Sunset Shimmer. No one knows where she came from, but soon after she suddenly appeared five years ago, she began breaking just about every law you can think of: bank robberies, grand theft auto, destruction of property, and countless others. Canterlot City has seen most of her activity, but she has also extended her to reach to all of the other city regions, from the twin cities of Manehattan and Bricklyn, all the way to Lego City itself. Despite the best attempts by every police force in the world, she has always been able to evade capture every single time.”
Celestia turned back to face the assembled team and concluded, “The good news is that rookie officer Flash Sentry was able to place the magic crown inside a deactivation chamber before Sunset could steal it. We do not know what she plans to do with it, but we can rest assured that her plans are now on hold until the effects wear off. We have less than forty-eight hours to act, so time is of the essence. Can I count on you to get the job done?”
“As long as the rest of my team is ready,” replied Twilight. She turned to her teammates and asked, “Are you in?”
“No need to ask me,” replied Spike. “I’m always here to help.”
“I’ve always wanted to go on a dangerous mission to save to world,” said Rainbow Dash. “Count me in!”
“Ah don’t know about this,” said Applejack uneasily, “but if you think we got what it takes, then Ah guess Ah’m in, too.”
“I never turn down an invitation!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie cheerfully. “I’m in!”
“Well, I fail to see how someone like me can assist in going after three of the most wanted criminals in the world,” said Rarity. “But, if you genuinely think we’re the ones to do it, then I’ll do my best.”
Fluttershy remained silent until everyone turned to her, waiting for an answer. She was hesitant, but also didn’t want to disappoint everyone. She gulped and finally said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Great!” said Twilight in approval. She turned to Celestia and said with determination, “We’re ready, Celestia. Where do we begin?”
Celestia began with the bad news. “I am afraid Sunset Shimmer’s current whereabouts are unknown,” she explained. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has also vanished since the attack at the police station. But not Lightning Dust.” She turned back to the console and started tapping a few more keys. “The Wonderbolts Space Fleet has numerous bases located on the Moon. One of them serves as their Lunar Headquarters, where the LEGO Team has a branch. My sister, Luna, is the head of that branch. Unfortunately, it seems that almost immediately after today’s attack, Lightning Dust managed to infiltrate the Lunar Headquarters.”
“Wait,” interrupted Spike, “how did she get there so quickly?”
“We have been keeping a record of every spaceship she has been able to hijack, and many of them utilize an FTL Warp Drive.”
“FTL— what now?” asked a very confused Applejack.
“‘Faster Than Light’,” explained Rainbow Dash. “It can warp space itself around the spacecraft, allowing it to travel faster than the speed of light.”
Everyone quickly gave Rainbow confused looks, not expecting someone like her to give such a detailed answer to such a subject.
As she noticed all the confused looks directed at her, Rainbow Dash became just as confused. “What?” she added. “Anybody who wants to join the Wonderbolts has gotta know these things.”
“Anyway,” continued Celestia, “Lightning Dust has been known for quick and sudden attacks, and this attack on the lunar base has been no different. Just moments before your arrival, I received this urgent distress call from Luna.”
Celestia tapped one more key before a grainy video came up on the display screen. Taking up much of the screen was the face of a blue-skinned minifig with two-toned, wavy blue hair. “This is a dire emergency!” exclaimed the minifig, her voice garbled by the poor quality of the video. “This is by far the boldest attack we have ever seen by Lightning Dust! The base is already being evacuated as we speak, but you must send help! Please hurry!” An explosion suddenly rocked the room the minifig was in, and the video turned completely to static.
Despite the distorted sound, Twilight knew that the minifig in the video was Princess Luna — or rather, Luna Playwell, as she was probably known in this world.
“Since then, I have been unable to reestablish contact with the base,” said Celestia as she shut off the video. She sighed and quietly added, “I fear for my sister’s safety.” She turned back to the team and continued, “Your first mission is to enter the Lunar Headquarters, subdue Lightning Dust, and take her in for questioning. She may be able to provide us a clue on where to find Sunset Shimmer, which is what we’re ultimately after. Are you up to the task?”
Twilight turned to the other members of her team. They seemed uncertain, but one by one, they all nodded in agreement. “We’re ready,” she answered.
“Yeah, except for one little problem,” Spike pointed out. “How are we supposed to get all the way to the Moon?!”
As Celestia walked down the steps from the platform, she answered, “Our top engineer, Rusty Wrench, should have a spaceship available for you.”
As Celestia began to walk out of the room, Twilight and Spike looked at each other in confusion. “A spaceship?” asked Twilight.
“SPACESHIP!” exclaimed Pinkie enthusiastically, jumping in between Twilight and Spike.
Startled, Spike yelped and leaped into Rarity’s arms. It took him a few seconds to realize just whose arms he had actually leapt into. Once he turned to face Rarity, he blushed and gave a rather goofy grin.
Rarity was not amused by this, so she simply dropped Spike on the floor and stepped around him as she and the others followed Celestia out of the room.
Over at the Engineering Department, on the same floor, a minifig named Rusty Wrench was busy tinkering with a small mechanism on one of his many workbenches. He had tan skin and brown eyes. On top of his head was messy brown hair that stuck upwards at the front, possibly due to the goggles resting on his forehead. His legs were light blue, with various stains all over them. On his torso was a brown vest over a white T-shirt, which was also just as stained. On one of the many pockets on his vest was a symbol of an adjustable wrench.
“Hmm…” he mumbled to himself as he carefully observed the mechanism in front of him, which consisted mostly of gears and axles of various sizes and lengths. He picked up an additional gear and slid it down an axle until it was lined up with one of the many gears on the mechanism. He turned the crank a few times to observe the rate at which the new part rotated. “Mmhmm…” He picked up a pencil and took note of his observations on a nearby sheet of paper.
As he was about to turn back to the small mechanism, Rusty glanced up and noticed Celestia arriving, along with six girls and a young boy. “Oh! Celestia Playwell,” he quickly said as he got out of his seat and walked around to the end of the workbench. “W-what brings you here? And why are they with you?”
Twilight noticed that his voice was relatively high — almost child-like — but he was clearly an adult like the other minifigs she had met. He also seemed to be in a near-constant state of nervousness, evidenced by the grin on his face and the slight stuttering in his speech. Twilight wasn’t sure if this guy had a pony counterpart in Equestria, but if there was, she probably had not even met him yet.
“I am about to send them on an important mission,” answered Celestia, “and I believe you have a spaceship ready for them to use.”
Rusty stepped back to his set of workbenches and quickly said, “O-oh yeah, yeah, sure! Let me just grab it real quick. I know I left it around here somewhere. Let’s see…” He quickly started opening cabinets and drawers everywhere as he searched for something, muttering various things like, “Not there… Not here… Not in there… Not there, either… Ooh, definitely not here… Not in here, either… Hmm, maybe it’s in here…” He walked over to a nearby closet and opened the door.
The closet was packed floor to ceiling with all kinds of parts. Rusty had only enough time to scream before the parts fell out of the closet and buried him underneath a pile. “Ouchy,” he said, his voice muffled under the pile of parts.
“Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Fluttershy in worry before running over to the pile of parts. “Are you okay?”
After a brief silence, something suddenly burst out of the pile, causing Fluttershy to yelp and leap backwards. What had just come out of the pile was a small model of a spaceship, held up by a tan hand.
“Found it!” Rusty happily announced. He then proceeded to shove aside all of the parts that had piled up on top on him. Eventually, he managed to pull himself up and climb out of the pile. As he stepped away from the pile, he noticed one part was stuck to the bottom of his left foot. He shook his leg a few times until the stubborn part finally came loose and was flung back into the pile.
Now that he was out of that mess, Rusty proudly held up the model in his hand, took a deep breath and quickly said, “Final assembly was completed just this morning! It’s a medium sized shuttle craft with enough seating and bed space for up to seven passengers. It is aerodynamically shaped to fly through any atmosphere with ease, as well as survive reentry at high speeds. The air-lock is located on the lower deck, which isolates it from the rest of the interior. The engines utilize a lightweight, but very powerful propellant, providing a top velocity of 25,000 miles per hour. Unfortunately, it lacks an FTL Warp Drive, but as long as you don’t plan on going any further than the Moon, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. And, uh, I believe that’s it!” He set the model down on the nearest workbench and held his hands behind his back. “So… any questions?”
“Yeah, Ah got one,” replied Applejack as she stepped forward. She picked up the model and eyed it suspiciously. “This tiny little thing right here is our spaceship?”
“No, that is your spaceship,” answered Rusty, pointing upwards.
Everyone turned their attention in the same direction and finally saw the full-scale spaceship, resting high above them. It had the same basic shape as the model, but the much larger size provided more details in the design. It was currently held up by four massive arms — two on each side — that extended horizontally from the walls. There was also a walkway that stretched from the underside of the spaceship over to an elevator that was against the wall. Finally, the wall in front of the spaceship consisted of a large retractable door, which could open up to allow the spaceship to leave the building when it was ready to fly. It was all truly a sight to behold.
“Woah!” exclaimed Spike, having never seen anything like it before.
Finally impressed by what they were really given, Applejack turned to Rusty and asked, “Why didn’t you just say so in the first place?”
Rusty nervously tapped his hands together and said, “I, uh, kinda didn’t think I’d need to.” He gave a nervous chuckle.
Twilight was absolutely amazed by what she was seeing. Back in Equestria, space travel was considered to be nothing more than a fantasy. It was widely believed by many that a pony could never fly in space. And now, here she stood, looking up at the ship what would allow her and the minifig versions of her best friends to fly all the way to the Moon. While it was true that it was all part of her desperate mission to retrieve her crown, Twilight Sparkle couldn’t help but feel absolutely amazed by what she and her new team were about to experience.
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Hmm... yeah, I can see the similarities to Berix. Not much, but some.
Pretty good. Can't wait for the next chapter.
enjoy :)
Dude, how did you know the LEGO Movie was premiering tomorrow? My sister even asked me if I wanted to see it with her! I don't know how she plans to buy tickets for both of us, but still.
Also, I see you chose the OC route too. Hopefully you don't get hate for it. I know I sure did with my story. I'm planning to just have one of the characters mention him in the next chapter and that's it.
25.media.tumblr.com/2d750207a43135c40c0be97d9ada2ad5/tumblr_n0qeynKbO31tre0g4o1_500.gif
4006858 This is my jam!
Hope someone PMV's it some time this year. 
4006378 No, I doubt Sunset Shimmer is interested in the Constructopedia anyway.
Hmm, if my calculations are right, at the ships top speed it will take them about 10 hours to get to the Moon. Lightning dust would have taken about one second, as the Moon is about one light second away. Seems a bit silly to use an FTL Warp Drive to travel one light second but I suppose it beats ten hours. I would have thought with all of Celestia's resources getting an FTL capable ship wouldn't have been too hard, oh well.
Spaceship Spaceship SPACESHIP!
Kinda reminds me of that one scene from the Clutch Powers Movie.
frozen is coming dvd march
4006937 This makes so much sense after seeing the Lego Movie.
I forgot to mention in the Author's Note, as of the moment I had uploaded this chapter, I have completely caught up to my one-month head start. This unfortunately means that all future chapters may take twice as long to add on this site as previous updates. Good quality takes time, so have patience.
4006723 After many months of thinking over countless ideas, I've been able to make Rusty Wrench into a unique character that would fit in well in Equestia. The few similarities with Berix that do remain, as I had said, should be easy to see.
4006905 Even if that's the case (which doesn't seen to be, at the moment) I don't think I'll have to worry about that. Aside from a very brief mention in the early part of the next chapter, this will be his only appearance in the entire story. I just didn't want months of daydreaming to go to waste, so I decided to include him in just one short scene.
4009118 Well it was on short notice.
Let's just say FTL Warp Drives aren't all that common, and Lightning Dust happened to be very selective on which spaceships to hijack. Besides, ten hours is still way faster than the fours days it took the Apollo astronauts to make the same journey.
4006937 4010404
Yeah, my favorite character in The LEGO Movie was definitely Benny the 1980's Space Guy. When I saw the movie and heard his catchphrase, I knew I had to make a reference to it in this story. In fact, I plan on making that reference multiple times. SPACESHIP!
4011227 Are you referring to the whole chapter or one part of it in particular? Like I said, the vast majority of this story is inspired by that movie. Of course, this won't be a complete scene-by-scene copy of it. Most of the previous chapters were mostly from scratch, as will be most of the last few chapters. I'm also planning to have the time spent in the Space and Castle regions be more balanced out than what the Clutch Powers movie showed. This means I've had to come up with some additional things to happen in the Space Region, but that's okay because I like the space themes.
(P.S.: I had intended to post this eight hours ago, but issues with this site postponed that.
)
4016739 True, ten hours is pretty good, but and FTL drive can do it in one second, lucky Lightning Dust.
4016739 The part with Rusty Wrench in particular. That was a funny scene.
...Totes calin rite noaw Pinks is r 1980's SpaceMan. Totes.
Space Ship!!!!
4016739
P-PPP-P-Power MMMMMiners...?