The City in the Sky
Chapter 9
The City in the Sky
It was late in the afternoon as the plane carrying Twilight Sparkle and her Lego friends continued flying towards the city of Cloudsdale. After flying over nothing but open ocean for nearly an hour, the plane entered a large mass of clouds that were so thick that it was a wonder the pilot even knew which way to go. They eventually reached a break in the cloud cover, allowing everyone to get their spectacular first glimpse of a large cloud-like city hovering high up in the sky.
As Daring Do brought the plane around to find a landing strip, Twilight was able to get a good view of the flying city. She had once visited the Cloudsdale of Equestria, so it didn’t take her long spot the similarities and differences with this one. The Lego World’s Cloudsdale had mostly the same architectural style as the one in Equestria, with structures that were mostly white. Unlike Equestria’s Cloudsdale, this one also had a few skyscrapers rising high up from the middle of the city, with various kinds of motorized vehicles moving about on the streets and in the air.
It wasn’t long until Daring Do was able to find the airport and began to bring the plane down for a landing. As the plane touched down, Twilight noticed there were all kinds of aircraft and even spaceships that were already parked throughout the airport. Her previous visit to the Lego World had given her the impression that regional boundaries were rarely crossed, so seeing such a wide variety of vehicles in one place seemed rather exceptional to her. Perhaps many of the Lego people who were going to attend this meeting had already arrived.
Once the plane came to a stop, Daring Do shut off the engines, then left the cockpit and opened the door on the right side. All eight passengers removed their seatbelts and followed Daring outside. As she began to place wedges around the wheels to prevent the plane from rolling away, Daring said, “The meeting will take place in the Cloudiseum. A shuttle bus should arrive soon to take us there.”
Twilight turned to look up at the city skyline. “Wow,” she said with awe. “This place is amazing.”
“I’ll say,” remarked Spike as he glanced around. “Just about everything in this city seems to be made out of Lego.” He glanced down at the white tiles of various sizes beneath his feet and added, “Even the ground we’re walking on.”
“Well yeah,” said Rainbow Dash in a tone that sounded like she was stating the obvious. “You can’t exactly build a city on a real cloud. It would just fall right through.”
I guess this means that pegasus magic is virtually nonexistent in this world, thought Twilight. But if that’s true, then how do the people of the Lego World control their weather? Twilight’s eyes widened as a troubling thought occurred to her. Is it possible that they simply can’t control the weather at all and they just… let it happen on its own? Although she was already well aware that this world lacked magic as it was known in Equestria, she still had a hard time wrapping her mind around the reality that the Lego World was getting by just fine without certain things that ponies in Equestria took for granted.
Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted when Daring Do spoke up, “Let’s go, everyone. Shuttle bus is here.”
Twilight turned to see the approaching vehicle that Daring was pointing out. It was a roofless white vehicle with a dozen seats behind the driver, arranged in six rows of two. As the shuttle bus came to a stop, everyone climbed in and took a seat. Once everyone was comfortably seated, the driver turned the bus around and began taking the group to their destination.
As the shuttle bus left the airport, Rainbow Dash had a big smile on her face as she glanced around at the surrounding cityscape. “Still just as awesome as I remember it,” she said fondly.
“You’ve been here before?” asked Sunset Shimmer.
“I practically spent my whole childhood here!” replied Rainbow Dash with pride. When she glanced over at one of her friends, she quickly added, “Oh, and, uh, so did Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy responded by hunching down with a sheepish smile on her face as she slowly waved her hand at the others.
“Ah always wondered where ya got your obsession with the Wonderbolts Space Fleet,” remarked Applejack.
“Yeah, a lot of them tend to come from Cloudsdale, so I figured I’d be no different,” explained Rainbow Dash. “Turns out it’s not as easy as signing a few papers and going into space. You gotta have some experience before they can accept any applications, so I decided to spend my high school years in Canterlot City, working at the airport.”
“But our high school graduation was years ago,” Rarity pointed out. “Why do you still reside in Canterlot City to this day?”
“It’s actually pretty hard to get back to Cloudsdale, once you leave,” admitted Rainbow Dash. “A flying city like this is able to move around, so its exact location at any time is always kept a secret from most people.”
“I guess that explains why the emergency meeting is being held here,” said Twilight. “If the Dazzlings really are trying to follow us, then it would definitely be a good idea to meet at a secret location they know little — if anything — about.”
“Exactly,” said Sunset with a nod. “This is actually my very first visit to Cloudsdale.” She spoke more shamefully as she continued, “The old me knew that simply finding this city is so difficult that it would’ve been impractical to even bother trying to get here, let alone cause trouble.”
Twilight smiled as she placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder and assured her, “And right now, that’s good for us. If even the old you — number one on LEGO’s Most Wanted — knew how hard it is to get here, then the sirens will definitely not be able to find us.”
Not for the first time, Sunset smiled at Twilight’s assurances.
Spike turned to Fluttershy and asked, “So what about you? Why did you move to Canterlot City?”
Fluttershy quietly answered, “Um, I just feel much safer on solid ground.”
Spike shrugged and said, “Can’t argue with that.”
Pinkie Pie suddenly pointed ahead and exclaimed, “Oh, look! We’re here!”
Everyone in the shuttle bus looked forward and saw they were now getting close to a large white stadium. From a distance, Twilight noticed that it looked practically identical to its counterpart in Equestria, but she knew the differences would be in the details.
The shuttle bus came to stop next to a few others, where all kinds of minifigs were already making their way into the Cloudiseum. As soon as the bus came to a stop, Daring Do immediately hopped out and made her way into the stadium, walking not far behind a group of what appeared to be ninjas.
As she and her friends also disembarked from the shuttle bus, Twilight gazed up at the Cloudiseum and looked closely at how the structure was put together with white Lego bricks of various shapes and sizes. She had to admit that even the small details here were remarkably similar to what she was familiar with back in Equestria.
“Hey, look!” Spike suddenly pointed out. “There’s Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor!”
Twilight and her friends turned to look in the direction Spike was pointing and, sure enough, they saw those two familiar minifigs arriving, along with various knights and other nobles from the Castle Region.
Right after Spike’s exclamation, Princess Cadance stopped and noticed the team from Canterlot City. She motioned for her husband to stop by her side, then pointed at the team and said, “Hey, look who’s here.”
Prince Shining Armor looked over at the team. It had been a while since he and his loving wife had seen them, but there was one minifig in particular that he was especially surprised to see. “Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria,” he greeted pleasantly as he walked over to the team, followed closely by Cadance. “It is a real honor to have you here with us.”
“It’s good to see you again, too,” greeted Twilight. She had to admit that it still felt rather awkward to encounter the alternate version of her older brother, but what really made her smile nervously was the fact behind her next statement. “I take it that someone has told you my real name.”
Shining Armor nodded and said, “Word of your exploits in Canterlot City and your true identity had spread pretty quickly throughout the Lego World. I wouldn’t even be surprised if just about everyone at this meeting could immediately recognize you.”
“Truthfully, we completely understand why you went by a fake name when we first met,” explained Cadance. “In fact, the messenger who informed us about what happened in Canterlot City had wisely told us about your interdimensional origins before revealing your true name.”
“That’s good,” said Twilight with a nod. “At least now I don’t have to worry about keeping my identity a secret from anyone. Speaking of my name, how’s the search going?”
Shining Armor’s expression saddened as he glanced down and answered, “Nothing new since you left.” He turned his attention back up to Twilight and smiled again as he added, “But I still remain optimistic that she’ll be found one day.”
“As awkward as it is to talk about another me,” admitted Twilight, “I’m glad that you haven’t given up on your sister.”
Cadance looked uneasy as she said, “Though I can’t help but feel concerned about the one thing that makes her different from you, Princess Twilight.”
“Ah, yes,” said Shining Armor with a nod of understanding. “Despite our efforts, she always wanted to work alone, right up until the day she vanished. I would even go so far as to say that may be why no one has ever heard from her after so many years.”
“I’m sure that whatever she’s been up to this whole time, it won’t cause any trouble for the Lego World,” assured Twilight.
Shining Armor smiled. He glanced over at some pirates that were now walking into the Cloudiseum, then turned his attention back to Twilight’s team and said, “In any case, it’s nice to see you again. All of you.” When his gaze fell on Sunset Shimmer, he furrowed his brow and scornfully added, “Except you.”
Sunset rolled her eyes as she sighed and muttered, “Figures.”
Shining Armor’s expression softened again as he addressed the rest of the group, “Perhaps we shall talk more after this meeting is over.” He turned away and began walking into the stadium, followed closely by Cadance.
“I still can’t believe that you came up with such a silly fake name,” remarked Rainbow Dash.
“To be honest, I don’t even remember what that name was,” admitted Twilight sheepishly with a shrug. “I’m sure it doesn’t even matter, anyway. Not like it’s coincidentally similar to someone or somepony that I’ll encounter anytime soon.”
“Howdy, ladies.”
The group of friends turned to face the minifig who had just spoken to them. He had light brown skin and wore a blue vest, dark brown chaps, a black cowboy hat, and a silver sheriff’s badge on his left chest. In addition, his thick black mustache was not simply printed on his head like the rest of his face, but rather was a separate piece that was attached around the neck.
“Sheriff Silverstar from Appleloosa,” he greeted them. “Mah apologies for not catchin’ those no-good varmints before they made ya high-tail it outta town, though Ah reckon that lil’ incident at the Taco Tuesday fiesta shoulda raised some red flags.”
“No need to worry,” assured Applejack with a wave of the hand. “Those three managed to catch all of us off-guard. We don’t know how they pulled it off, but Celestia suspects that somebody must’ve told ‘em we’d be in town.”
“Ah reckon it may be a possibility,” said Sheriff Silverstar. He then glanced over at Sunset Shimmer and narrowed his eyes. The handcuffs on her wrists did little to ease his tense feelings for her as he firmly told her, “Ah’ve still got mah eye on you.”
Sunset glanced down at the brick-built ground and let out a sad sigh.
Sheriff Silverstar took a step back and slightly relaxed as he said to the group, “Once all is said an’ done ‘round here, Ah hope it won’t be long ‘till those slippery rattlesnakes are finally brought to justice.” He turned away and headed into the Cloudiseum.
Twilight glanced up at the large stadium one more time before she turned to her friends and said, “Well, let’s get going.” She started forward and led the group through the large entrance into the Cloudiseum. They and many other just-arriving minifigs proceeded along a hallway under the stands that surrounded the stadium. At the end of this hallway stood a police officer who was directing people around to help them reach their seats. As the group walked, Twilight continued to look around in wonder at the surrounding structure, so she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going until she bumped into that police officer just as he turned to face her.
Twilight and the police officer both fell to their rears as a few of their parts came off from the impact. Twilight had lost her left leg, right arm, and her hair piece, while the officer had lost his left leg, left arm, and his police hat. With the absence of the officer’s hat, Twilight could see his messy blue hair and immediately recognized who she had just bumped into.
“Twilight?” asked officer Flash Sentry.
Twilight had definitely not expected to encounter this particular police officer in Cloudsdale, so she stuttered as she mumbled in response, “Eh, bumped, into, always, doing?”
Flash quickly reattached his leg and arm, then stood up as he put his hat back on and said, “I certainly wasn’t expecting to see you back so soon. No wonder Kjeld called for this meeting on such short notice.”
If there was one thing about the Lego World that Twilight felt she would never get used to, it was having a body that was made of detachable parts. With a little bit of hesitation, she grabbed her lost arm and attached it back where it belonged, then reached for her missing leg and reattached that as well.
“Here, let me get that for you,” said Flash as he picked up Twilight’s hair piece.
As Twilight stood back up, she noticed that Flash kept turning her hair piece around in his hands. She assumed that he was just having a little difficulty figuring out which way it was supposed to go.
It took him a few seconds, but Flash eventually managed to turn Twilight’s hair around to its proper orientation and placed it back on her head. With that little diversion taken care of, he returned to his proper stance and told the group, “Your seats are in Row 1 of Section E.”
“Thanks, officer,” Rainbow Dash spoke up. “I’ll show my friends which way to go.” She gestured to everyone as she began walking away.
The group had just barely turned to follow when Flash suddenly said firmly, “Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunset immediately realized why she was being addressed by the police officer, so she turned to him and stated, “Don’t worry, sir. I plan on turning myself in after this meeting is over.”
Flash nodded in acceptance and simply said, “Very well.”
As everyone began to follow Rainbow Dash, Twilight couldn’t help but pause and glance back at Flash Sentry with a smile on her face.
Flash responded briefly with a smile of his own before turning his attention to some other newcomers and resuming his current duties.
Her pleasant smile never left her face as Twilight turned away and followed after her friends.
“You like him, don’t ya?” teased Applejack.
“W-what? No I don’t!” Twilight quickly replied as she scratched a minor itch on the top of her head. “I’m just… happy to see another familiar face.”
“Deny it all you want, darling,” said Rarity playfully, “but the signs are quite obvious to all of us.”
“You know,” added Sunset slyly, “I heard that he recently got promoted to Canterlot City’s Chief of Police.”
“Nice,” remarked Spike. He elbowed Twilight and smugly said, “Sounds like both of you have moved up since you last met.”
“Can we please move on to something else?!” exclaimed Twilight desperately as the group climbed up a flight of stairs and reached the stands of the stadium.
The rest of the group couldn’t help but chuckle at Twilight’s expense as they walked along the stands and soon sat down at their designated seats in the front row. Rainbow Dash sat at one end of the row and sitting to her left were Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike, Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, and finally Applejack at the other end of the row.
With nothing left to do until the meeting would officially begin, Twilight decided to pass the time by looking around at all of the other minifigs who were attending. She was completely astonished by the huge variety of Lego people she saw in the Cloudiseum. She saw firefighters, police officers, racecar drivers, clowns, scuba divers, chefs, and construction workers. And that was only the ones that would’ve been seen in a City Region! On one side of the stadium, she saw cowboys, and on the other side, she saw strange green creatures that could best be described as aliens. There were also ninjas, pirates, zombies, and robots. She also noticed medieval knights in full armor — along with Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance — and members of the Wonderbolts Space Fleet. In short, Twilight’s mind was completely blown away by the huge range of Lego minifigs in a single location.
Twilight scratched her head again as she noticed a certain balcony that was directly across the stadium from where she and her friends were sitting. In the Cloudiseum of Equestria, this was the princess balcony, where Princess Celestia herself would observe the events that would take place in the stadium. In this Lego version, there was a podium set up in the middle, though there was currently no one standing behind it. But what really caught Twilight’s attention was the two familiar minifigs sitting on either side of that podium: Celestia on the left and Luna on the right. She had always looked up to their counterparts in Equestria, and it seemed that these minifigs were regarded just as highly in this world. Yet, she still found it hard to believe that there was one Lego person who was ranked even higher than Celestia and Luna.
Speaking of whom, a certain minifig finally reached the balcony and walked up to stand behind the podium. He wore a red necktie under a dark grey business suit with an ID tag on the left chest. He had grey hair around the back of his head and a grey beard, all printed directly on his head. His face had a mouth and pair of eyes — like any other minifig — plus the beard and a few lines along his forehead. Twilight had seen portraits of him before, but this was the very first time she personally saw Kjeld Playwell, leader of the entire Lego World.
Kjeld picked up a gavel and lightly tapped it against the podium a few times. The various murmurings of the audience quickly quieted down as everyone in the stadium turned their faithful attention to the man who had called for this emergency meeting.
“Greetings and welcome to all regional leaders and high-ranking Master Builders,” greeted Kjeld as he set down the gavel. “Including, but not limited to: President Business, Clutch Powers, Chase McCain, the Infomaniac, Lord Vampyre, King Kahuka, Captain Redbeard, Johnny Thunder, Sensei Wu, Laval of the Lion Tribe, Cheese Sandwich, Prince Shining Armor with Princess Cadance, and, of course, my ever loyal nieces, Celestia and Luna.” He smiled and glanced at his two nieces as he spoke their respective names. He turned his attention back out to the stadium as he continued, “I have called for this meeting in light of recent events regarding what has been happing in the city of Bricklyn these last few months and was witnessed in Appleloosa just earlier today. It appears that a certain trio has begun what is now their third attempt to take over the Lego World, and I’m sure many of you know exactly who I’m talking about. The Dazzlings.”
With that announcement, the gathered audience immediately began voicing their displeasure.
“I knew it was only a matter of time!” exclaimed Prince Shining Armor.
A pirate stood up and shouted, “Yarr! Those scoundrels be worse than scurvy!”
“Why must those girls always cause trouble?!” exclaimed a mustachioed chef as he waved a frying pan around.
Kjeld tapped the gavel against the podium again until silence returned to the stadium. Once all was quiet again, he continued, “Yes, I am afraid it’s true. However, there is reason for hope this time. For you see, there is now someone among us who has knowledge of these mysterious girls, where they came from, and what strange magical powers they possess.” He focused his attention straight across the stadium towards the Canterlot City Master Builders. “Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, could you please stand and explain to us all that you know about the Dazzlings?”
Twilight was briefly startled to be called out so suddenly. She hesitated for a moment as the eyes of everyone in the stadium soon fell on her. It certainly wasn’t the first time she found herself in such a big spotlight — that was to be expected of a princess in Equestria. However, this was still a world that she was very unfamiliar with, and there was no telling how this audience of so many different minifigs would react.
Twilight scratched that certain itch on her head again as she stood up. She took a deep breath and began speaking. “Well… first of all, I can confirm that the Dazzlings are not native to the Lego World, but rather come from the alternate world of Equestria — that same world that I and Sunset Shimmer come from. But unlike the two of us, those three are not ponies. They are called ‘sirens’, and they have the power to charm and hypnotize ponies— er, people, with their singing voices, making the subjects do their bidding. But to fuel this dark magic, they need to feed on the negativity and distrust of others. Long ago, they almost succeeded in dividing and conquering all of Equestria, and I fear they’re now trying to do just that with the Lego World.”
“You said they almost succeeded,” spoke up Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts Space Fleet. “How did your world get rid of those pests?”
Twilight hesitated, as she feared the people of the Lego World might not like the answer. However, she knew they deserved to hear the full truth, so she answered, “A powerful unicorn wizard was able to banish them to an alternate world, and although he knew nothing of what kind of world existed on the other side of the magic mirror, he was convinced that it would lack the magic they needed to be strong.”
“No magic?!” exclaimed a magician in a tuxedo. “Preposterous!” He swiftly removed his top hat and tapped his magic wand against it, causing a small rabbit to fall out of the hat and then hop away.
Twilight scratched her head again as she nervously continued, “Uh, l-like I said, he had no idea what kind of world existed on this side of the interdimensional gateway. In fact, I’d like to apologize on behalf of all of Equestria for all the trouble the sirens may have caused since they first appeared in the Lego World, and I am more than willing to assist you in any way that I can to stop them.”
Despite her assurances, Twilight could see that a lot of harsh looks were now being directed at her. Not to mention a lot of these minifigs were muttering in displeasure.
At the other side of the Cloudiseum, Kjeld tapped his gavel a few more times and spoke up again. “Regardless of what happened in the past, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I think we can all appreciate the knowledge that you have shared with us.” He turned his attention to the rest of the stadium as he continued, “Now that we have a better idea of what we are truly up against, we can begin considering possible ideas on how to deal with this threat. It’s true that the last two times the Dazzlings attempted to take over, we had a powerful wizard of our own to banish them, albeit temporarily. Unfortunately, he no longer walks among us, so no matter how one looks at this, we must come up with a new plan. And this time, I think we can all agree that we are in need of a more permanent solution.”
“I got ye a permanent solution!” exclaimed one pirate as he stood up. He unsheathed his cutlass and held it up high as he shouted, “Off with their heads!!” The other pirates in that section of the stadium shouted out in agreement.
At the other side of the stadium, one of the ninjas stood up and argued, “No! We can’t just attack them head-on! If they have the power to enslave armies with just a song, then such an assault would be hopeless. If we’re going to strike them down, then we must not let them see it coming.”
“That’s not enough!” argued one of the Wonderbolts as he held up his laser pistol. “If anyone can be vulnerable to their power, then we need to be beyond the range of their voices. Striking them down from a distance is the only way to guarantee a success.”
As voices of discontent began rising throughout the stadium, Celestia turned to Kjeld and quietly said, “It appears that many of them are willing to go to extreme lengths to ensure a final end to this threat.”
On the other side of the podium, Luna also turned to Kjeld and quietly suggested, “We understand your stance on such a subject, uncle Kjeld, but perhaps you might be willing to consider an exception.”
“Never!” exclaimed Kjeld defiantly. “It would go against everything that my father and grandfather ever believed in, and I will not betray their legacy under any circumstances!”
It wasn’t long until the shouting of arguing people began echoing all over the Cloudiseum. The only ones not participating in the madness were the eight minifigs of Twilight’s team.
“What a revolting display of temperament,” grumbled Rarity as she crossed her arms and shook her head.
“I don’t understand,” muttered Twilight in confusion as she sat back down in her seat. “How can they just fight each other like this?”
“Look on the bright side, Twilight,” assured Sunset. “At least their anger is no longer directed at you.” She lowered her head and quietly added, “A feeling that I rarely get to enjoy.”
Twilight let out a sad sigh as she scratched her head again, which did not go unnoticed by many of her friends.
“Are you okay, Twilight?” asked Fluttershy. “You seem to be scratching your head a lot.”
“It’s just a little itch,” replied Twilight dismissively. “Nothing to worry about.”
“Maybe it’s something you’ve got inside your hair,” suggested Pinkie Pie. “I store things inside my hair all the time.” She removed her hair piece and shook it up and down until a cupcake with pink frosting fell out and landed on her outstretched hand. She then tossed the cupcake into her mouth and quickly ate the whole thing in one bite. “Mmm. Strawberry,” she commented as she put her hair back on.
After staring at yet another of Pinkie’s antics, Twilight flatly replied, “Yeeaaa— no. I’ve never used my mane— er, hair, for storage.”
“You won’t know until you take a look,” stated Pinkie as she hopped over to Twilight and swiftly removed her hair piece.
“Hey! Give that back!” protested Twilight as she tried to reach for her hair.
Spike glanced over at Twilight’s hairless head and noticed something odd on top of it. “Wait! Hold it, Twilight!” he exclaimed as he grabbed that weird object on Twilight’s head. “There was something under your hair.”
“Told ya so!” said Pinkie smugly in a sing-song voice.
With a look of frustration on her face, Twilight snatched her hair back from the pink party girl and put it back on her head.
Spike looked closely at the small silvery object and remarked, “It looks like some kind of key.”
Twilight looked over at the item in Spike’s hand and raised an eyebrow. “Huh? How did that get there?” she asked in confusion.
Sunset Shimmer leaned forward and when she looked closely at the item in Spike’s hand, her eyes suddenly widened in shock. “It’s not just any key,” she said in disbelief. “It’s the key to my handcuffs.”
Complete silence fell among the eight friends at this shocking revelation. None of them had a clue as to how a key — let alone the key to Sunset Shimmer’s handcuffs in particular — could have ended up under Twilight’s hair. Yet, they were the only ones aware of this, as everyone else in the stadium was still too busy bickering to notice.
“Maybe we should give this to the police,” suggested Spike.
Twilight gently took the key from Spike and stared at it. This particular key was so special that she needed to take a moment to consider her options. Spike was correct that this key should be given back to the proper authorities, but it was still the key for the one thing that clearly marked Sunset as a prisoner, despite being on parole. As she considered what she felt was most important of all, she eventually made her choice.
Twilight Sparkle reached over to grab Sunset Shimmer’s handcuffs and began using the key to unlock them. All around her, the eyes of all of her friends widened in shock, including Sunset.
“Twilight, what are you doing?” asked Sunset Shimmer in disbelief.
“You’ve done more than enough to earn your second chance,” explained Twilight as she removed the first half of the handcuffs. “It’s time for you to actually get that chance.” After a little fiddling with the second lock, she finished removing the handcuffs. She then carelessly tossed the handcuffs and its key to the floor. She smiled as she turned to the now completely free Sunset Shimmer and asked, “Feeling better?”
Sunset flexed her hands and arms around, getting used to the free range of movement she hadn’t felt in a long time. Yet, she never smiled. “Physically, yes,” she replied. “Emotionally… I’m not so sure.”
Meanwhile, the rest of the team continued to stare at Twilight with wide eyes and gaping jaws. “I can’t believe you just did that,” muttered Rainbow Dash.
“I sincerely hope you know what you’re doing, darling,” said Rarity with concern. “Such an action as that is sure to have repercussions.”
Twilight understood her friends’ concerns, but she remained convinced that she did the right thing. “Trust me, girls,” she assured them, “this is for the best.”
Hoping to take her mind off of the controversial action she had just witnessed, Applejack decided to glance around at everyone in the stadium and saw that they were all still bickering among themselves. She turned back to her friends and muttered, “Y’know, it’s kinda ironic that Twilight warned everyone the sirens feed on hatred, an’ yet here they all are, givin’ off exactly that.”
That statement made the eight minifigs suddenly pause in shock. As one, they immediately turned their attention to the rest of the stadium. Everyone was still arguing, but now something was different. A strange sickly green fog had now gathered around the feet of everyone who was involved in this massive stadium-wide argument.
“I’m no expert,” said Spike uneasily, “but I’m pretty sure that weird green mist is a bad sign.”
“It’s the physical manifestation of negative energy, just before it’s consumed by the sirens,” explained Twilight with a shocked look on her face.
“‘Just before’?” repeated Sunset. She quickly turned to Twilight and asked, “Are you suggesting that the Dazzlings are right here in Cloudsdale, right now?”
“I’m afraid so,” replied Twilight solemnly. “The evidence doesn’t lie.”
“But Cloudsdale’s location is always kept secret,” said Fluttershy. “How were they able to finds us this time?”
“I think a better question might be, how do we find them?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“It’s actually quite simple,” answered Twilight. “When that mist appears, it gets drawn towards the sirens so they can consume it. Follow the mist, and we’ll find the Dazzlings.”
Applejack crossed her arms as she let out a sigh of disappointment and muttered, “So much for tryin’ to break up this fight.”
The eight friends could do nothing but sit back and watch helplessly as the massive series of arguments raged on throughout the Cloudiseum. They watched carefully as the fog of negativity slowly flowed along the stands and began to pool on one side, close to a tall and narrow black structure that stood just outside the stadium. Soon, the fog began to climb the stands and, surprisingly, flowed right up toward the very top of the structure. The pinnacle of this structure began to give off a red glow as the fog touched it and continued to be drawn towards it.
“It’s going up into that broadcasting tower,” noted Sunset Shimmer in shock.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” thought Twilight aloud. “The Dazzlings can’t be all the way up there!”
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she watched the fog continue to be attracted towards that tower. “Not unless they’re using it as a tool,” she muttered. She quickly stood up and began leaving as she called back to her friends, “C’mon, let’s go!”
“Where are you going?” asked Fluttershy as she and the others also got up out of their seats and quickly followed Rainbow Dash.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the stands of the Cloudiseum, only one minifig had noticed the sudden departure of Twilight’s team. The eyes of police officer Flash Sentry briefly flashed a sickly green glow before he pulled out his phone, sent a quick text message, and then put it away.
As soon as Twilight’s team exited the Cloudiseum, They suddenly stopped in their tracks as the enchanting vocalizing of three familiar female voices began to play out all over the entire stadium.
Rarity gasped in shock and exclaimed, “It’s them! It’s the sirens!”
Rainbow Dash took off running again as she shouted, “C’mon! We gotta stop ‘em now!”
The rest of the team followed Rainbow Dash around the stadium until they arrived at the base of the broadcasting tower. There were a few small buildings nearby, but no sign of the Dazzlings anywhere.
“Where’d they go?” asked Pinkie Pie as she quickly looked around all over the place.
“They’ve gotta be close by,” stated Twilight. “That tower is still drawing in energy.” She gazed up at the tower and watched as the green fog of negativity continued to be adsorbed by the glowing red light at the very top of the antenna. “I don’t know how they’ve done it, but they’re somehow using this tower to expand their reach and absorb more energy than they normally could on their own.”
“Then let’s tear it down!” declared Rainbow Dash. “No tower, no power!”
“And how do you propose we do that, dear?” asked Rarity.
Rainbow Dash’s solution was simply to improvise, as only she could. She quickly noticed a coil of rope near a few crates, so she ran over and decided to start ripping open those crates for anything useful. She managed to get lucky with just the first crate, where she found a grappling hook. She smirked at this incredible find before she grabbed the rope and carried both items over to where her friends were gathered. As she quickly began tying one end of the rope to the grappling hook, she ordered, “Pinkie Pie, go get a car! Something with a lot of torque!”
“Like this one?” asked Pinkie before honking the horn twice.
Rainbow turned around and saw Pinkie happily waving at her from the driver’s seat of a heavy-duty four-wheel drive vehicle with big wheels. Rainbow was momentarily shocked by just how quickly Pinkie was able to get a vehicle like that. “Sure, that’ll work,” she simply said before returning her attention to the grappling hook. Once the rope was tied to the grappling hook, she immediately handed it over to Applejack and said, “AJ, you’re good with a rope. Can you throw this grappling hook up to the top of the tower?”
Applejack glanced down at the grappling hook in her hand and replied, “It may not be a lasso, but Ah’ll do mah best.” As Rainbow quickly grabbed the other end of the rope and ran off, Applejack turned her attention up at the tower and exclaimed, “Stand back, y’all!” Everyone quickly backed away as she began swinging the grappling hook around over her head. It moved slowly at first, but then built up more speed as she put more muscle into it. In only a matter of seconds, the grappling hook was spinning fast enough to appear as a blur, whooshing though the air. Finally, she hurled the grappling hook up at the tower. The hook easily soared more than halfway up the tower, looped around one of the support struts, and with a satisfying clang, hooked onto it. “Got it!” Applejack called out triumphantly to the others.
Rainbow Dash finished tying the other end of the rope to the rear bumper of the vehicle that Pinkie Pie had borrowed. Rainbow turned back and was impressed to see just how high up on the tower they were hooked onto. “Awesome!” she said excitedly. She then beat her fist against the bumper two times and exclaimed, “Go for it, Pinkie!”
“Down with the tower!” declared Pinkie Pie excitedly as she stomped on the accelerator. With much of the rope already uncoiled by Applejack’s throw, the vehicle didn’t have to go far until the rope was pulled taut. However, the sudden tension on the rope simply yanked the bumper right off the vehicle as it continued speeding away. Pinkie had definitely felt that brief jolt, so she quickly brought the vehicle to a screeching halt, looked back out the side window and, with a smile on her face, asked, “Did I get it?”
The others simply stared in shock at what could best be described as an epic failure. “I think we’ll need to reinforce that bumper,” suggested Rarity.
“Ya think?!” shot back Rainbow Dash.
Pinkie Pie backed up the vehicle far enough to allow the others to reattach the bumper. Then they started adding on all kinds of Lego parts to ensure the bumper would stay firmly on the vehicle.
While everyone else was focused on preparing for round two, Sunset Shimmer turned her attention back to the tower and the enchanting music coming from it. By now, the Dazzlings were no longer just vocalizing, but also singing a full song. Sunset tried to make sense of some of the lyrics, things like meaning no harm, asking for assistance, and spreading the message — that last one in particular was being repeated quite a lot. Spread the message? thought Sunset with worry. What message? What are they trying to tell us?
“There!” said Applejack with satisfaction as she tapped the ridiculously reinforced bumper on the vehicle. “That should hold it!”
Not wasting any time, Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “Hit it, Pinkie!”
“Take two!” exclaimed Pinkie cheerfully before stomping on the accelerator again. The rope quickly pulled taught again, and this time the bumper remained firmly on the vehicle. However, the tower didn’t even budge, and the heavy-duty vehicle simply jerked to a sudden stop. Undeterred, Pinkie Pie continued to floor it. “C’moooooooooooon!” Eventually, the tires lost their traction and started spinning, squealing loudly and producing a lot of thick white smoke. She continued spinning the wheels until she eventually lost sight of her friends through the cloud of smoke. Once the roaring engine and squealing tires finally silenced, the noise that now dominated was the coughing and hacking of the seven unfortunate minifigs who were caught inside the cloud of smoke.
Once the smoke eventually cleared, Twilight coughed a few more times and conceded, “I don’t think this is gonna work.”
“Then what else can we do?” asked Spike desperately.
Rainbow Dash quickly ran back over to the crates and started ripping open some of them. When she tore off the lid of her third crate and saw its contents, she chuckled mischievously. She picked up the crate and carried it over to her friends as she said, “If we can’t tear it down, let’s blow it up!” She then dropped the crate down on the ground in the middle of the group, allowing everyone to see that it was filled with destructa-bricks. Almost on reflex, everyone then turned their attention to Applejack.
“Whoa, why’s everyone starin’ at me all of a sudden?” asked Applejack in confusion.
Fluttershy turned her hair piece to partially cover her face as she quietly replied, “Um… you are the only one of us who knows how to safely use these.”
Applejack facepalmed and dragged her hand down her face as she growled in frustration. She quickly snatched up two destructa-bricks and stormed off towards the tower as she grumbled, “The downsides of bein’ a do-it-yourselfer.” As she approached the tower, she set the timer and blast intensity on the two explosives. She placed them on the two vertical support beams on the side that was away from the stadium, one on each corner. “Y’all got thirty seconds,” she flatly stated. She tapped the detonate button on one, ran over to the other and hit the detonate button on that one, and then ran over to join her friends, who had decided to take shelter behind one of the nearby small buildings.
As the timers counted down, the beeping noise from the two destructa-bricks steadily became faster and faster until finally, one after the other, they both detonated. The pair of massive explosions completely obliterated the two support beams, causing the very tall tower to lean away from the stadium. The structure groaned as it slowly toppled over like a tree, and when it crashed to the ground, the impact was strong enough to be felt over the entire city of Cloudsdale.
Twilight’s team carefully emerged from their shelter behind the small building. Despite the near-deafening noise of the explosions, they quickly realized that there was no more singing. Little more could be heard than the light breeze that slowly carried away the residual smoke from the explosions. As they looked upon the twisted remains of the broadcasting tower, they couldn’t help but smile. The Dazzlings’ latest weapon was now completely destroyed.
Suddenly, the front door to the nearby small building opened and someone stepped outside as she asked, “What the heck is going on out here?”
The team turned to see who had just come out of the building and gasped. Standing in front of the doorway was Aria Blaze, one of the three sirens. She was quickly pushed aside as Adagio Dazzle stepped outside, while Sonata Dusk simply walked around to stand by Adagio’s side.
“There they are!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she pointed at the Dazzlings.
“Everyone, now’s our chance!” Twilight quickly exclaimed as she ran over to stand in the middle of her group. With a determined smile on her face, she quickly grasped Rainbow Dash’s hand to her right and Applejack’s hand to her left. As everyone also gave a similar smile of determination, Applejack then grasped Fluttershy’s hand to her left, while Rainbow Dash grasped Rarity’s to her right, and Rarity grasped Pinkie Pie’s hand to her right. Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer and Spike stood back and smiled with excitement.
Finally, the six friends closed their eyes as Twilight proudly shouted, “Friendship is magic!”
Everyone waited for something to happen… and waited… and waited… and waited. The smile on Sunset’s face fell as the Dazzlings looked on with bored expressions.
Rainbow Dash was the first to open her eyes and see that nothing had happened. Confused, she turned to Twilight and quietly asked, “Uh, weren’t there rainbows and lasers and stuff last time?”
As the rest of the girls opened their eyes and lost their smiles, Twilight glanced around at her friends and uneasily replied, “I don’t understand. We’re all together again. Why isn’t this working?”
As another uneasy silence fell across the group, the Dazzlings couldn’t help but smile smugly at the lack of action they were witnessing.
Spike quickly walked up to stand behind Twilight and whispered, “You uh… really need to go ahead and do that whole ‘magic of friendship’ thing now.”
“I’m trying, Spike,” Twilight whispered back. “I thought the six of us standing together against the sirens would bring out the magic we needed to defeat them. That’s what happened before.”
After a few more seconds of silence, the awkward standoff was finally ended by some laughter from Adagio. “This is the best you can do?” she asked mockingly. “How pathetic. When we heard that the Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria was going to join you, we were expecting more of a challenge. But if that’s all you got, then maybe you’re nothing more than a mere nuisance, after all.” As she turned her gaze over to Sunset Shimmer, she grinned and added, “And what do we have here? Looks like somebody has finally broken her bonds.”
Sunset subconsciously glanced down at her now-free wrists before turning her worried gaze back up to the Dazzlings.
“We’ve heard about your past, Sunset Shimmer,” continued Adagio. “Everyone knows who you are. Quite a shame that you fell so spectacularly and ended up in prison. But now that you’re free, perhaps you would like to reclaim what you’ve lost.” With a sinister grin on her face, Adagio held out her hand to Sunset and offered, “We can help you succeed where you failed on your own. Join us, Sunset Shimmer, and you can have all the power you ever wanted.”
Twilight and her friends turned to Sunset and waited anxiously to see how she would react.
Sunset took a moment to comprehend what the Dazzlings had just told her. It was a tempting offer… for the old Sunset Shimmer. Her old self would have gladly taken such an offer to gain more power. However, the new Sunset Shimmer saw things in a different light and followed a better set of values. With all of that in mind, it didn’t take long for her to make up her mind. She furrowed her brow and firmly answered, “Forget it, sirens! I would much rather be back in jail! I would much rather lose my Creation Spark! I fight for the good guys now, and if you wanna stop these girls beside me, then you’ll have to do it over my lifeless pieces!”
The seven minifigs beside Sunset were pleasantly astonished by such a bold statement. This was definitely not the old Sunset Shimmer they had defeated six months ago. She was willing to give everything she had to assist them and their rightful cause. Any lingering doubts that any of them still had about her were now completely gone.
Adagio’s smug expression briefly fell before she shrugged and said, “Fine. Your loss.” She quickly regained her confidence as she turned to Twilight’s team and suggested, “You girls better get out of here, for your own good. A big demolition project like this is sure to raise a few questions.”
The team glanced back at the destroyed broadcasting tower that Adagio was gesturing at. Twilight suddenly grew very worried as she realized that Adagio was right. “We gotta get back to the meeting,” she quickly said with a hint of panic in her voice. “Even if everyone’s still fighting, they at least deserve to know what just happened.”
“But the bad guys are right here!” protested Rainbow Dash. “We gotta stop ‘em!”
“We already tried,” replied Twilight. She let out a sigh of defeat before adding, “And failed.”
“Then let’s try something else!” argued Rainbow. “We can’t just run away!”
Rarity leaned close to Rainbow and whispered, “Have you forgotten why this emergency meeting was called for in the first place? If we tell them the Dazzlings are right here right now, they will surely act without any hesitation to speak of.”
Rainbow briefly considered Rarity’s insight, then let out a defeated sigh and muttered, “Let’s go.”
After giving one last worried glance back at the Dazzlings, the team turned away and quickly headed back to the entrance into the Cloudiseum.
Once Twilight’s team was out of sight, a confused Sonata turned to Adagio and asked, “I don’t get it. Why did Sunset not fall under our spell? She doesn’t have Equestrian magic like the others do. Right?”
“I certainly hadn’t anticipated her to be so… defiant,” admitted Adagio. With a dismissive wave of a hand, she confidently continued, “Fortunately, she was never crucial to the plan. It just means that she’ll be an obstacle, rather than an asset. What’s important is that phase three is now complete, and once the meeting is over and everyone returns to their home regions, we can begin with phase four.”
“I got a better idea,” said Aria as she grinned and pulled out a radio. “Why wait for everyone to leave when we can just kick them out?”
Adagio glanced down at the radio in Aria’s hand, then grinned wickedly as she took the radio and said, “I like your thinking, Aria.”
With no time to lose, Twilight’s team didn’t bother trying to return to their seats and instead ran straight ahead onto the central field. As soon as they ran out onto the field, Twilight exclaimed, “Everyone! Listen up! The Dazzlings are right here in Cloudsdale!”
“And just what do you think you’re doing?”
The team turned back and saw a very displeased Flash Sentry standing over by their seats, but what really made their jaws fall in shock was the pair of handcuffs he held up.
“Sunset Shimmer has violated her parole!” announced Flash Sentry to everyone in the stadium. He then furiously threw the handcuffs, which landed at Sunset’s feet. “And I personally witnessed that she didn’t do it alone! She got assistance from Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria!”
With that accusation, virtually everyone in the stands started jeering at Twilight and her team.
“Outrageous!” shouted one person.
“How could you do such a thing?!” shouted another.
“No! Wait!” pleaded Twilight desperately. “We just saw the Dazzlings right outside the stadium! Now’s our chance to stop them!”
“And why should we trust you?!” shouted Flash scornfully. “Not only have you freed the most wanted criminal in history, but you’ve also let her join your team without any authorization!”
“We should brand all of them as crooks!” shouted one person in the stands.
“You’re a huge disappointment!” exclaimed another as the crowd started throwing objects at Twilight’s team. “Get out of our sight!”
Twilight was rapidly losing hope as she begged, “Look, I’m sorry if I upset all of you, but we’ve got a bigger priority to worry about!” She yelped and ducked as a mug was suddenly thrown at her.
“This is stupid!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she dodged a book. She desperately shouted out, “The Dazzlings are the bad guys, not us! We just tore down a broadcasting tower they were trying to use!”
“Now they’re admitting to destruction of property,” remarked Clutch Powers to the people sitting next to him. “Can’t say that about the Dazzlings.”
“See, what’d I tell ya?” stated President Business to everyone around him. “Nobody from an alternate world can be trusted. Nobody!” He quickly finished the last of his coffee before throwing his mug at Twilight’s team.
“I think we can call this meeting adjourned,” said the Infomaniac as he walked along the stands and then sat down in a chair behind a desk — the front of which was marked by a large white circle with a red lowercase “i” inside it. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my office.” He pressed a button on his desk, activating the set of rockets underneath that sent him and his desk flying up and away from the Cloudiseum.
“Wait!” Twilight cried out desperately. “You can’t just leave!” She couldn’t get another word out before she was forced to dodge yet another mug. All around her, her friends were also forced to duck and dodge various objects the angry crowd was throwing at them. Pinkie Pie jumped to avoid getting hit by a rubber chicken, while poor Fluttershy was brought to tears by all the ridicule directed at them.
“Nice goin’, Twilight,” grumbled Applejack.
“I warned you about the repercussions of such drastic actions,” added Rarity before narrowly dodging a shovel.
“I… I don’t understand,” Twilight faintly muttered as she stared in shock up at the podium, where even Celestia, Luna, and Kjeld were glowering at them. “I just wanted to do what was right.”
“Sometimes, doing the right thing might be considered wrong by everyone else,” explained Sunset as she stared sadly down at the ground. “I was just fine with turning myself in, but now… I’ll likely be spending the rest of my life in prison.”
Pinkie Pie suddenly cried out as her head spun around a few times.
“What was that all about?” asked Spike in confusion.
“It’s my Pinkie Sense,” replied Pinkie Pie.
Sunset raised an eyebrow and asked, “Pinkie Sense?”
“It’s best not to question it,” replied Twilight. She leaned in close to Sunset and quietly added, “Trust me, I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.” She backed off as she turned to Pinkie Pie and asked, “What’s your Pinkie Sense trying to tell you?”
“A spinny head means we’re about to get a big surprise,” explained Pinkie. “If it spins to the right, it’ll be a good surprise, but if it spins to the left, it’ll be a bad surprise.” She then cried out as her head suddenly spun around more rapidly than before, stopping after about a dozen revolutions. “Whoa! That was a real doozy!” she remarked.
“And that was spinning to the left!” noted Fluttershy, her eyes already widened in shock.
“You mean things are about to get even worse?!” exclaimed Twilight. She gestured toward the hateful audience and furiously added, “How can things possibly get any worse than this?!”
BOOM!!
A very loud clap of thunder instantly silenced everyone in the Cloudiseum. Everyone turned their attention towards a very big and dark thundercloud that was now floating just outside the stadium. As a strong breeze began to kick up, a lone minifig could be seen standing atop that cloud. She had light blue skin, wore a violet pointed hat and cape over her dark blue dress — complete with a 2x2x2 sloped brick in place of her legs — and held a staff with a large five-pointed star on the end of it.
The Great and Powerful Trixie grinned as she arrived on the scene.
“Sorry I asked,” whimpered Twilight.
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Spotted a few errors.
thick
place
longer
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taut
And yet no one on the team is suspecting how convenient it was for Flash Sentry to just up and find the handcuffs?
I would have hoped at least Chase freakn' McCane would belived them.
6018037 Thank you so much for pointing all of these out for me.
I already made the corrections just hours after you posted that comment. Normally, I read entirely through each chapter more than twice to spot any such errors before finally publishing the chapter. For this one in particular, I guess I was just in a bit of a rush to get this one up on time of my self-imposed schedule (normally, I try to go for mid-afternoon, but you may have noticed that I didn't get this chapter published until early in the evening). I suppose that could be blamed on this being the longest chapter I've ever written so far. (According to the Word Document on which I typed this, I spent a total of over 1500 minutes on it (over 25 hours!), which I did over a two-week period.) I'd like to avoid such a problem again, so I'll just have to remind myself to get an earlier start on longer chapters, when it's time to publish them. I'm really glad there are people like you out there who are willing to help me catch any errors I might have missed, though I would prefer to catch them all before I publish the chapter.
6018738 To be completely honest, I know almost nothing about Chase McCain, nor have I ever played LEGO City: Undercover (I just don't have the gaming system for it).
The only reason I included his name in the list was because I've heard it being mentioned by lots of other Lego fans, which gave me the impression that he's a rather popular character, so I gave him that cameo with many others. As for why nobody at all was willing to believe Twilight's team, let's just say that if you haven't figured out the clues here, it'll be explained more clearly in future chapters.
6032851
No worries, man. I only point out errors in the comments of stories I really like.
Hm, no offense but it was a little weak when the Dazzlings asked Suset to join them and refused, but you totally made up for it with the revealance of Sunset being free!
Garmadon needs to appear
6018738 Don't forget, the only people their not under the sirens spell were Twilight's team, even the playwell's had fallen under the spell.