Skirmish at Sea
Chapter 5
Skirmish at Sea
Once again, Twilight had placed her research project’s primary device on the desk of her research lab and prepared to make sense of the sample she had just collected. Or at least, try to. As she picked up a new scanning gadget, she muttered, “This scanner is more than twice as robust as the ones I used last time, so if this doesn’t work, then nothing will.”
She held the scanner over her device and began recording data. The gadget warbled lightly and emitted a soft blue light as it scanned the device. Twilight smiled, convinced that she would now finally have the answers she was seeking. Unfortunately, within only a few seconds, the gadget began to spark and sizzle, and as soon as she realized something was wrong, the gadget suddenly ignited.
Twilight yelped and immediately tossed the flaming gadget to the floor. She then rushed over to grab the nearby fire extinguisher and used it to put out the small fire. Once she was sure the fire was gone, she stared down at the charred remnants of that scanner, then glanced over at her device. That reaction was even more violent than my previous attempts, and this scanner was supposed to be tough enough to avoid that kind of failure, thought Twilight in confusion. It could be the result of now having two samples instead of one. If that’s the case, then whatever kind of energy I’ve got stored inside this thing must be having some sort of exponential effect with increased quantity.
Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door open and saw Spike standing in the doorway with a worried look on his face. “Are you okay, Twilight?” he asked. “I heard you yell.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and sarcastically replied, “Oh, just proving once again why a fire extinguisher is such an essential tool to keep within easy reach in a research lab.” She set down the fire extinguisher and turned back to her device as she more seriously continued, “I just don’t understand it, Spike. I’ve successfully collected a second sample, but it seems to have made it even harder for me to try recording any data.” She paused for a moment. “Well, on a more positive note, the samples contained within the device seem to be stable. At least, for now.”
It was right at that moment when the familiar “Incoming Call” alert from Cinch appeared on the small display screen near the door. Twilight sighed and shook her head. As she placed her device back inside the desk drawer, she muttered, “I’d better take this call before the others start asking.” As she left the room, she added, “After all, this is my home base, so taking these calls should be my responsibility.” She walked down the hallway, entered the communication room, switched on the soundproof feature she had built into the walls of this room, then sat down in her seat and tapped the “Accept” button.
“Greetings, Twilight Sparkle,” greeted Cinch on the video screen. “Nicely done on another successful mission with those Power Crystals. However, it seems that you and the others have had a few issues amongst yourselves.”
“My team has been together for only a few hours now, Miss Cinch,” explained Twilight. “I think it’s excusable that we’re not yet familiar enough with each other to make the smartest of decisions.”
“Such as trying to complete the mission without any of your fellow teammates?” questioned Cinch.
Twilight’s eyes widened a little. “I didn’t specify that in my report,” she muttered.
“All involved agents are required to submit a report following the end of a mission, including your young assistant,” answered Cinch.
Twilight grumbled something under her breath, then spoke up, “Look, Miss Cinch, I know you don’t agree with some of my preferences, but the fact remains that this mission was a success.”
“You may have been successful this time,” responded Cinch, “but if you don’t solve these issues soon, they will eventually escalate to the point where your missions will start ending in failure. And if there’s one thing I will not tolerate, it’s failure of a mission.”
Twilight sighed and rubbed her eyes. She readjusted her glasses and said, “I can’t make any promises, but I will try my best to make things work on future missions.”
Cinch rested her arms on her desk and said, “Then I suppose that, for now, I have no choice but to trust your word, Twilight. I can only hope that you will not disappoint me.” She leaned back in her chair and continued, “Now then, I will say that I was rather surprised by just how quickly the LEGO Team’s Canterlot branch was able to respond to your activity in the Mining Region.”
“Believe me, so was I,” said Twilight with a nod of agreement. “Even though they knew I existed, I thought for sure they would’ve focused on searching for me in Canterlot City or even the Castle Region. The fact that they found us in that specific cavern, let alone that we were working in the Mining Region, is just mind-boggling.”
“Not unless someone specifically told them where you and your team were operating,” Cinch pointed out.
Twilight sat up and raised an eyebrow. She slowly asked, “Miss Cinch… are you implying there might be a traitor on my team?”
“It is a possibility we cannot ignore,” replied Cinch with a small shrug. “And to prove whether or not that’s true, I’ve got a new mission for you and your team. You are to travel to the sunken region of Atlantis and recover the treasure that the Aqua Raiders had failed to retrieve many years ago. Obviously, you are going to need a ship to get there, and a submarine to descend to those depths. You are to tell your teammates that one of our fellow agents will search for a suitable vessel in the coastal City Region of Baltimare and arrange to have it head out to the site of Atlantis, at which point you will board the ship through the Jump-Gate. However, what will actually happen — and what you must not tell anyone under any circumstances — is that this agent will instead be on the lookout for the Canterlot City LEGO Team. If those girls are not only seen in the area but also try to board a vessel bound for the Atlantis Region, then we will know with absolute certainty that someone on your team is providing information to our enemy. If that turns out to be the case, then you must proceed with the mission to avoid alerting the traitor that we’re on to her, despite the fact that your team will inevitably have to confront that particular LEGO Team for a second time today.”
Cinch paused for a moment before continuing. “I personally hope that my hunch is wrong, but if it does turn out to be true, then I want you keep a close eye on your teammates and be very careful of what information you share with them. Until we can determine which one of them is the traitor, then you must assume that it is any of your new teammates. It will be quite a shame if I have to deal with one of my finest agents, but such treachery will not go unpunished.” She pounded her desk as she firmly spoke that final statement.
Twilight nodded and said, “Understood, Miss Cinch. I will do as you’ve requested.”
“Good,” responded Cinch with a nod and a smile. “Then I wish you the best of luck on your mission. Farewell.” Cinch then ended the call and shut off the connection.
Once the call was over, Twilight took a moment to gather her thoughts. Cinch had certainly placed a lot of trust in those five agents to have them work with her as a team, so it was hard to believe that one of them could be a traitor. Still, she had to admit that Cinch was right, and they first needed to confirm if there really was a traitor on the team before any further action could be taken.
Eventually, Twilight got up out of the seat and left the communication room. The first step for this investigation was to tell her teammates about the next mission, but only the parts that Cinch wanted her to tell them. If her fears were true, then it would only be a matter of time before she would receive word from an agent in Baltimare.
“I must say, out of all the upgrades Mr. Wrench installed on this spaceship, by far my favorite would definitely have to be that shower with running hot water,” remarked Rarity contently as she wiped a small cloth over her detached hair piece. Once she was satisfied that her coiffure part had been thoroughly cleaned and dried, she carefully returned it back to its proper place atop her head.
After leaving the mine, the six girls of Canterlot’s LEGO Team had returned to the spaceship, washed off all the dust that had accumulated on them, and changed back to their regular clothes. Now they were all gathered in the control room of the ship’s upper deck and ready to discuss their next move.
“So where do we go from here?” asked Applejack.
“I think it’s pretty obvious,” replied Rainbow Dash. “We gotta keep going after Twilight and those other Shadowbolt agents, find out what their evil plan is, and put a stop to it!”
“But how?” asked Fluttershy. “All we know is that they needed a lot of those Power Crystals. We don’t even know where they went after they left the mine.”
Rainbow eyed her shy friend suspiciously. “Are you really sure you don’t know where they went?”
“Rainbow Dash!” scolded Rarity. “Whatever are you trying to imply?”
“When Pinkie and I returned to the cavern,” explained Rainbow, “we saw Fluttershy lying on top of the pile, while the rest of you were buried under it. That meant that whatever brought you guys down did not affect her. Something else happened to take her out.” She narrowed her eyes at Fluttershy and asked, “So what really happened in there?”
Fluttershy hesitated as everyone’s eyes soon turned towards her. She gulped and nervously replied, “W-w-well… I was standing far enough away to avoid getting hit when that scaffolding came down on top of everyone — both our side and theirs. I-I-I wasn’t sure what to do, but then Twilight came back into the cavern and started pulling her teammates out from under that pile.” Fluttershy paused. “I… I guess I just wanted to make sure no one was hurt, so I… I-I kind of helped her rescue the rest of her teammates.”
“What?!” exclaimed Applejack in disbelief. “Ya mean ya let ‘em get away?! An’ then ya didn’t even bother to pull us free?!”
“I was going to help you girls next,” continued Fluttershy. “But I just happened to pony up right after I had finished helping Twilight.”
Sunset’s eyes widened as she asked, “You just ponied up right then and there? Not with any creative ideas like Applejack did earlier?”
“Not at all,” replied Fluttershy. “All I did was make sure no one was hurt, regardless of whose side they were on.”
“Okay, so ya ponied up after helpin’ the bad guys get away,” grumbled Applejack. “What kept ya from helpin’ the rest of us?”
Fluttershy nervously continued, “Well… right after I ponied up, I was just about to start helping you. But then… something very strange happened.”
Pinkie raised an eyebrow and asked, “What kind of strange?”
“I don’t know how to describe it,” replied Fluttershy. “It… it kind of felt like my Equestrian magic was just… draining right out of me all of a sudden.”
All of the other girls, including the ones who hadn’t approved of what Fluttershy did, suddenly looked at her in astonishment.
“Not only did my, um, ‘pony up’ parts vanish,” continued Fluttershy, “but I also suddenly felt so weak that I just collapsed on top of the pile.”
Silence fell within the spaceship. Although some still felt upset that Fluttershy had helped the Shadowbolts escape, none of them could deny just how terrible Fluttershy’s unfortunate experience must have been like. Even worse, most of them had no idea how such a thing might have happened.
Sunset had a hunch she knew what might have caused that strange incident. “Was Twilight doing anything at the moment?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” replied Fluttershy with a sad shake of her head. “I was facing away from her at the moment it happened.”
Sunset placed a hand on her chin as a thought came to her. Just seconds later, she suddenly rushed back towards the crew quarters, grabbed three random assembled objects, and then smashed them all to pieces on the floor. Before anyone could question her, she quickly turned back to Fluttershy and requested, “Fluttershy, try to build something out of these pieces. I don’t care what you build, I just want you to get creative and try to pony up again.”
Fluttershy was very confused by Sunset’s abrupt and rather peculiar request, but she silently nodded in agreement and approached the piles of Lego parts. She picked up a few pieces and tried to visualize something she could build. However, no matter how much she stared at each of the pieces, nothing seemed to come to mind. As the seconds ticked by, each more tense and worrying than the last, she eventually just dropped the parts in her hands and practically whispered as she hesitantly confessed, “I… I can’t do it.”
As poor Fluttershy began to tear up, Sunset solemnly explained, “Just as I feared. Our Master Builder talents appear to share some kind of special link to our Equestrian magic. That means that if our magic were to be somehow taken away from us, our Master Builder talents would go with them, leaving us incapable of building anything without the aid of an instruction book.”
As Rarity and Pinkie tried to comfort a now sobbing Fluttershy, Applejack turned to Sunset and asked, “What makes ya so sure of that?”
Sunset explained, “I think that what happened to Fluttershy in the mine is just like what happened to me in the park last night. And both of those incidents share only one thing in common.” She clenched her fists and furrowed her brow. “This world’s Twilight Sparkle was standing nearby. I don’t know how she’s doing it or why, but she’s doing something to take away our Equestrian magic.”
Rainbow sighed and grumbled, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. That is definitely not Princess Twilight. The Twilight we all know and love would never try to hurt us in any way. This world’s Twilight, on the other hand, is clearly evil.”
“Whoa there, Rainbow,” said Applejack cautiously. “Let’s not jump to conclusions on a matter as serious as this.”
“She’s working for the Shadowbolts!” argued Rainbow. “I don’t know about you, but that automatically qualifies her as a bad guy in my book.”
“Regardless,” stated Rarity, “I believe that we should at least inform Celestia about this latest development.”
“Rarity’s right,” said Sunset with a nod. She walked forward toward the front of the control room and stood in front of the video screen on the main dashboard. She tapped a nearby button, bringing up the faces of Celestia and Luna on the small screen.
“Ah, Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia greeted warmly from the other end of the live video link. “I was just about to contact you. How have things been in the Mining Region?”
As the rest of her friends gathered around, Sunset shook her head and sadly replied, “Not very good. The Shadowbolts got away with the Power Crystals. Even worse, we’ve just realized that Twilight is somehow able to take away our Equestrian magic, which in turn takes away our Master Builder talents as well. Only Fluttershy and I have been affected so far, but it’s very clear that we’re gonna have to be very careful around them, from now on.”
“That’s quite a shame,” acknowledged Celestia solemnly. “But still, some progress has been made, not only thanks to you, but also to our researchers.”
“Luna Playwell?” Pinkie Pie suddenly asked. “What are you still doing in Canterlot City?”
“I have decided to extend my stay, in order to better provide my assistance to you in your struggle,” replied Luna. “Speaking of which, my sister is right in that our researchers have already made some significant discoveries. Specifically in regards to those other Shadowbolt agents that are now working with Twilight.”
“Indeed,” said Celestia with a nod. “Thanks to those names so kindly provided to us by Princess Cadance, we have successfully dug up all existing records on those five girls and can now share with you information that might help you be better prepared on how to deal with each of them.”
Sunset smiled and responded, “That would be very great to hear. Right now, all we know about them is that they are all Master Builders and have been highly trained to be very excellent in certain ways.”
“Yeah, it would totally help us out to know who we’re really up against,” agreed Rainbow Dash.
“Not to mention it would certainly be nice to be able to identify each of them by a name other than just some Shadowbolt agent,” added Rarity.
“Very well then,” stated Luna as she tapped some buttons off-screen.
The first portrait that came up was of a girl with turquoise skin and a short light violet hair piece.
“Sunny Flare,” explained Celestia. “She was once a very charismatic politician. Not long after she graduated from university with high honors just a few years ago, she decided to run for mayor of her home City Region. She managed to become a very popular candidate and could easily have won and thus become the youngest mayor to ever serve in any City Region. However, just days before the election, a massive scandal broke out. Private recordings had been leaked, revealing that she didn’t really care at all about the citizens of that city, and had intended to fully abuse all of the privileges she would receive with the office. Needless to say, she lost that election in a landslide, and completely disappeared the following day.”
“And that was only a few years ago?” asked Sunset in confusion. “She told me she had ten years’ worth of training as a Shadowbolt Agent.”
“Interesting,” remarked Luna. “Either she took some very intensive training within a short period of time, or has had some connection to the Shadowbolts long before she officially disappeared.”
“Or maybe she was just lying to make herself seem like she’s better than she actually is,” speculated Rainbow Dash. “Let’s face it, politicians do that all the time.”
“But considering how astonishingly acrobatic she appeared to be, I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Rarity pointed out.
The next portrait on the video screen showed a girl with light nougat skin and a short blue hair piece with a pair of goggles resting on her forehead.
“Indigo Zap,” continued Celestia. “You are already familiar with her cousin, Lightning Dust, and she is just as reckless and fearsome, if not more so. While Lightning was accepted by the Wonderbolts Space Fleet before being kicked out soon after, Indigo’s application was completely rejected. More than once, in fact. Even though she claimed to be able to build a spaceship out of anything, she seemed to have no care about where she got those parts from, such as an office building with people still inside. Not to mention, her habit of always placing all kinds of destructive and often lethal weaponry on all of her spaceships was never acceptable to the Wonderbolts. She was officially declared missing a few years ago after her third application was rejected without even a second thought.”
“If she really is that reckless,” noted Sunset, “I’m surprised that she was actually made part of any team, let alone the Shadowbolts.”
“Though Ah guess that explains why she actually thought tearin’ down the whole scaffolding was even a good idea,” Applejack pointed out. “That girl may be though, but she sure ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed, if ya know what Ah mean.”
The next portrait was of a girl with light yellow skin and a rose hair piece that was tied back in a long ponytail.
“Sour Sweet,” continued Celestia. “Ever since the day she was created, she has had to live with a rare condition called Two-Face Syndrome. This preexisting condition gives her two faces on opposite sides of her head, each with polar opposite personalities, and control frequently switches back and forth between the two, depending on which one is facing forward. As her name implies, one face is perpetually sweet, while the other is perpetually sour. As a result of this condition, she was never able to hold a steady job or maintain a stable lifestyle, very rarely for more than a single month. The fact that she officially disappeared a few years ago suggests that working with the Shadowbolts may have finally given her that sense of stability she always wanted.”
“I’ve heard of that condition,” remarked Pinkie Pie, “though I never thought I’d actually get to meet someone with it.”
“I’m just glad it’s a very rare condition,” said Fluttershy. “I found her sour face to be really scary.”
The next portrait that came up on the video screen showed a girl with pale violet skin with a white and light blue hair piece that was tied back into two long pigtails and wore red-rimmed glasses.
“Sugarcoat,” continued Celestia. “She used to work as a rather brilliant detective in one of the City Regions, and as her name once implied, she used to have a habit of trying to say nice things to everyone she spoke with, even if it meant twisting the truth a bit. A few years ago, she tried to ease some tensions between two rival gangs, but it all spectacularly backfired. Creation Sparks were lost on both sides of the conflict, and Sugarcoat was forced to turn in her badge. She disappeared the following day, though based on the occasional sightings since then, it seems her habit has now made a complete reversal. Now, instead of speaking nicely to the point of lying, she instead speaks nothing but the absolute truth, regardless of whether or not people appreciate it.”
“How tragic,” muttered Rarity. “That unfortunate event must have completely traumatized her.”
“Ah reckon a good reason why she joined the Shadowbolts was ‘cause most people wouldn’t wanna put up with someone that blunt,” said Applejack. “Honesty may be mah specialty, be even Ah know when not to take it too far.”
The final portrait that came up was of a girl with pink skin with a long bright green and yellow hair piece and wore a pair of magenta headphones.
“Lemon Zest,” continued Celestia. “After failing numerous times to form her own rock band, she instead decided to organize rock concerts. She did manage some modest success at first, but when her big chance finally came with a popular battle of the bands just a few years ago, it was a complete disaster. A lot of poor planning left spectators and performers very frustrated, and when her poor choice of opening comments insulted practically everyone, a large riot broke out, forcing her to flee. It took local police hours to bring the crowds under control, and she was officially reported as missing the following day.”
“Yeah, that girl really doesn’t seem to think things through,” remarked Rainbow Dash.
“At least she still got to keep her obsession for loud music,” Pinkie Pie pointed out.
The video screen returned to showing Celestia and Luna. “Of course, much of this information applies to before they joined the Shadowbolts,” said Luna. “We do not have any knowledge regarding their current skills and talents, or what specific activities they may have done as Shadowbolt agents.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely not a whole lot to go on,” said Sunset. “I’m not even sure which one of them might be the Informant.”
“Ah, yes, the Informant,” said Celestia with a nod of understanding. “Princess Cadance told us about how she acquired those names, and I think we can all agree just how fortunate we are to have a member of the Shadowbolts secretly assisting us.”
“As we speak, our researchers are already discussing which of these five girls is most likely the Informant,” added Luna. “However, chances of getting any answers on that subject are very slim, as each of them all have legitimate reasons for why they may wish to help us.”
“Personally, I don’t care who it is,” said Sunset. “As long as the Informant continues to help us, then that’s good enough for me.” Sunset then headed back to the crew quarters as she added, “Speaking of which, I’d better check to see if she sent us any new messages.”
Sunset searched through a few things and retrieved the messaging tablet they had received back at the Crystal Castle. As she walked back to the front of the control room, she glanced down at the screen of that tablet and said, “Well, nothing new at the moment.” She was about to continue, but suddenly paused as something came up on the screen. “Oh, wait, we just got a new message right now.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?” asked Rainbow Dash eagerly. “Read it to us.”
Sunset opened the message and read it aloud to her teammates and to Celestia and Luna.
Greetings, LEGO Team of Canterlot City.
Twilight Sparkle has just told us about our next mission, assigned to us by Miss Cinch. We must go to the Atlantis Region to retrieve the treasure that the Aqua Raiders had failed to collect. Obviously, we will need a ship to get there and a submarine to dive down to the site, so another Shadowbolt agent is currently searching for a proper vessel in the city of Baltimare. Until then, there is nothing we can do but wait for confirmation from this agent, so this could be an opportunity for you to get ahead of us. Good luck to all of you.
From, The Informant.
“Ah guess we don’t need to ask what we’re doin’ next,” remarked Applejack.
“Agreed,” said Rarity with a nod. “The real question right now is simply how we are going to reach the Atlantis Region.”
“That shouldn’t be much of a problem,” said Celestia. “You will need to fly your spaceship over to Baltimare and—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow Dash suddenly argued. “We can’t go there! That’s where that other Shadowbolt agent is looking around! If we’re seen in the same city, then they’ll know that something is up.”
“I understand your concerns, Rainbow Dash,” replied Celestia, “but I’m afraid you girls have no choice but to take that risk. Baltimare is by far the closest City Region to the Atlantis Region. In addition, the ideal vessel to take you there happens to be currently docked in Baltimare.”
“Then we’d better hurry and board that vessel before the Shadowbolts do,” said Sunset as she quickly put away the messaging tablet and buckled herself into her seat.
“I can call the owners of that vessel and tell them to permit only the six of you aboard, as well as where they need to bring you,” said Luna. “That should guarantee you access to the Atlantis Region, while also denying the Shadowbolts of one of their best options.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Applejack as she also buckled herself into her seat, with the rest of the team soon following.
“We’ll call you back in a few minutes, once we can confirm that the vessel is ready to assist you,” stated Celestia.
“Thanks for helping us out,” said Rainbow Dash. “See ya soon!” She switched off the video screen, then began to power up the spaceship, ready to take another very short trip to another region of the Lego World.
Less than an hour after leaving the Mining Region, the six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team now found themselves walking along the docks of the coastal city of Baltimare. As soon as their spaceship had landed just outside the city, they packed up everything they would likely need, then — after receiving the confirmation call from Celestia — headed into the city. Now all they had to do was find their ship and board it before anyone found out they were there.
“Let’s try to be quick with this, girls,” reminded Sunset to her friends as they each hauled some luggage with them along the docks. “The sooner we’re out to sea, the better.”
“Eeyup,” agreed Applejack. “No doubt about it.”
Rarity paused to set down the one small suitcase she was carrying. As she took that short moment to rest, she smiled at Fluttershy and said, “Thank you for helping me carry some of my necessities, Fluttershy.”
“Oh, it’s no problem, Rarity,” replied Fluttershy with a shaky smile as she struggled to carry over half a dozen large and heavy suitcases in her arms. “Really, it isn’t.” It was right at that moment that her arms suddenly came off, allowing the stack of suitcases to crash to the ground and collapse into a pile. As everyone turned to the now armless Fluttershy, she blushed and quietly asked, “Um… a little help, please?”
As she walked over to help Fluttershy, Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes as she grumbled, “This is why we’re always tellin’ ya to never overpack. All it ever does is slow us down.”
Rarity turned her head away and folded her arms as she scoffed and rebuked, “You could make the same argument about Pinkie Pie, and I have not once ever heard anyone complain about her packing habits.”
“That’s because it’s Pinkie Pie,” rebuffed Rainbow Dash as she rolled her eyes. “Her bags are practically a bottomless pit.”
While everyone had stopped, Pinkie Pie had decided to double-check the contents of her single suitcase by pulling out and putting back in various items like a rubber chicken, a tub of strawberry ice cream, a kitchen oven, her favorite party cannon, and even an alligator — which she quickly tossed away into the water off the dock when it started chomping madly near her face.
Rarity kept her head turned away as she reopened her eyes, which made her catch a glimpse of a face that was rather familiar to her. She unfolded her arms as she lightly gasped and muttered, “Is that who I think it is?”
Right next to where the team had stopped was a café along the dock, and sitting at one of the tables outside was someone holding a small drink. This minifig had light brown skin, a short blonde hair piece, wore an olive green sweater, navy blue pants, and had a pair of white-rimmed glasses on his face.
Rarity’s expression brightened as she gasped again and excitedly said, “It is! It’s Trenderhoof! The famous travel writer!”
Rarity’s excited exclamation caught Trenderhoof’s attention. He adjusted his glasses and remarked, “Well I’ll be. It’s the girls from Canterlot City’s branch of the LEGO Team.” He smiled. “I must say, it is quite the honor to finally meet the six of you in person. Word of your heroic deeds has spread far and wide across the Lego World and beyond.”
Rarity was practically starry eyed as she rushed over to Trenderhoof’s table and gushed, “But not as much of an honor it is to meet you in person!” She couldn’t resist letting out a faint squeal before she excitedly continued, “I’ve read all of your writings and tried all of your recommendations. Personally, I find it to be quite a shame that, aside from publishing your most recent works, you’ve been making yourself rather elusive.”
“Ah, yes, that little detail,” noted Trenderhoof. He closed his eyes as he casually explained, “Over the last few years, I have decided to take a more… undercover approach to my travels. You see, I have come to realize that it is simply impossible for me to enjoy the authentic atmosphere of any town or city when I have obsessive fangirls constantly breathing down my neck.”
His eyes suddenly snapped open as he felt a warm breeze on the back of his neck. Trenderhoof glanced back and saw Rarity apparently inhaling his scent before letting out a love-struck sigh. He furrowed his brow as he loudly cleared his throat.
Rarity finally snapped out of her daydream and blushed when she realized she was probably invading his personal space. With a wide guilty smile, she took one big step back without saying a word.
Meanwhile, Applejack had not only helped Fluttershy reattach her arms, but had also decided to carry all of the heavy luggage herself. “Alright, Ah got everythin’ ready!” she called over to Rarity. “Now let’s get a move on!”
Trenderhoof glanced over at the rest of the team and asked, “I take it you girls are here on another special mission for the LEGO Team, correct?”
“Why, most certainly indeed,” replied Rarity with a smile and a nod.
“And we really need to get going,” added Sunset irritably. “We have to reach the Atlantis Region before the Shadowbolts do!”
“Oh, so you’re here to stop some Shadowbolt agents,” noted Trenderhoof. He turned back to Rarity and asked, “Tell me, Miss Rarity, how does your team plan on reaching the sunken region of Atlantis?”
“Celestia Playwell was able to arrange access for us to an ideal vessel,” explained Rarity. “We will be heading out to sea aboard the Deep Sea Explorer, which includes two large submersibles located on the main deck.”
“C’mon, Rarity! We’re wasting time here!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she and the rest of the team began to continue walking along the docks.
Rarity turned back to Trenderhoof and apologetically said, “I’m terribly sorry that I can’t stay any longer and enjoy a good conversation with you. I sincerely wish that we could have more time together, but I must follow my obligation to the team.”
“I completely understand, Miss Rarity,” replied Trenderhoof. “Go ahead and do what you must do. I shall be sure to make a note of our brief meeting in one of my future writings.”
Rarity quietly squealed in giddiness at the promise of being mentioned in one of Trenderhoof’s future writings. As excited as she was, she still understood that she had to go with the team, so she retrieved her one remaining suitcase and followed her friends, but not without a wave goodbye to the travel writer she adored so much.
After a few more minutes of walking, the team finally arrived at the docked vessel Deep Sea Explorer. It was a rather large ship with two submarines resting on the main deck. These subs were big enough that just one of them could hold the entire team of six. As they climbed up the ramp onto the vessel, one of the crewmembers was there to greet them and guide them to where they could rest for the duration of the voyage.
“How long will it take for us to get there?” asked Sunset Shimmer as she watched some of the other crewmembers casting off the lines that tied the vessel to the dock.
“It should be approximately two hours,” replied their guide.
“Ah guess this means we now gotta wait a while,” muttered Applejack.
“What do you girls wanna do for the next two hours?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“Well, I did happen to design far more outfits for us than just those mining uniforms,” replied Rarity with a smile. “Since we never really know which regions we could be visiting on any of our missions, I had decided to make us plenty of options. And since I decided to bring many of them along with us, I think this would make an excellent opportunity for us to try them all on!”
As the team headed inside the vessel, Rainbow Dash reluctantly said, “As long as you’ve got some stuff for some of the cooler themes… I guess I might be okay with that.”
Meanwhile, back at the café, Trenderhoof silently watched as the Deep Sea Explorer pulled away from the dock and began its voyage out to sea. With a serious expression on his face, he finished the last of his drink before he pulled out his phone and began typing a text message.
Back at Twilight’s secret home base, Twilight was passing the time in her research lab by working on a new type of scanner for her research project. Although she had already received the message about the Canterlot girls heading out to the Atlantis Region, she had decided to withhold the news from her team until enough time had passed for the vessel to arrive at the site. Since they would be confronting the LEGO Team again, they would need to strike hard and fast to have any chance of retrieving the treasure.
Of course, Twilight was also well aware that the text from agent Trenderhoof meant more than just setting their next mission into motion. It also confirmed Cinch’s suspicion that one of Twilight’s new teammates was secretly supplying information to their enemies, the LEGO Team. This didn’t bother her personally as a team leader — she still preferred to work alone, anyway — but rather she was frustrated that she knew so little about any of her new teammates that she just couldn’t figure out which one of them was the possible traitor. But she did know that she couldn’t just start asking questions, because then the traitor would know that their actions were not going unnoticed and would then make efforts to make themself even harder to identify. Just like with her current research project, she would have to keep this information completely to herself.
As Twilight reached a good stopping point on her work, she glanced over at a digital timer she had set up and saw that it was now only a few seconds away from zero. Once the timer hit zero and started flashing on and off, Twilight rolled her swivel chair over to a nearby computer. On the screen was a live image from a GPS satellite showing that the Deep Sea Explorer was now very close to the site of Atlantis, but was still moving toward it, making this the ideal moment for her team to board that vessel.
Not one to pass up any opportunities, Twilight made sure to bring her sample collecting device with her before she left her research lab and headed down the hallway and into the gateway room, where her teammates were waiting.
In the gateway room, Sunny Flare was reading something on one of her wrist-mounted tablets, Indigo Zap was working out on a punching bag, Lemon Zest was listening to some music on her headphones — as usual — and Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet were playing a game of chess.
Sugarcoat moved one of her pieces and said, “Checkmate.”
Sour Sweet’s head spun around to expose her sour face before she furiously threw the table aside and scattered the pieces all over the floor. “I hate this game,” she grumbled.
“Okay, everyone!” Twilight called out to all of her teammates. “I just got the message from our agent in Baltimare. Our vessel will be the Deep Sea Explorer, and he has already arranged to have it sent out to sea and should be arriving on the site of Atlantis right about now, so let’s get ready to move out.”
“Finally,” grumbled Sour Sweet as she and the others stopped what they were doing and gathered around the Jump-Gate.
While the rest of the team were wearing their standard solid black hooded jumpsuits, Twilight was still in her research lab outfit, so as she walked over to the changing rooms, she added, “I’ve taken the liberty to pack up everything we might need for this mission, so feel free to take a look at what we’ll have while I go change into something more appropriate for the mission.”
As Twilight entered one of the changing rooms, the five other Shadowbolt agents started looking inside some of the boxes that had been left near the Jump-Gate. Many of them contained scuba gear and other parts for underwater exploration, which made sense for a trip to the Atlantis Region. However, there was one box that contained something rather unexpected, and when Indigo Zap peeked inside, she couldn’t help but smile and remark, “Nice!”
Sugarcoat glanced over Indigo’s shoulder and raised an eyebrow. She turned to the changing rooms and asked, “There’s something you’re not telling us, is there?”
Even though Twilight didn’t see what they had found, she had a good feeling she knew what they were referring to. She also knew that she had to word her response carefully to avoid tipping off the traitor that she was aware of their actions. “Let’s just call it insurance,” she replied. “We all saw how quickly the LEGO Team was able to find us in the mine, and there’s a good possibility they may do that again.”
The rest of the team paused and glanced at each other. It seemed a little preposterous to them that the LEGO Team could find them on a vessel out in the middle of the ocean, but after how terribly things had went in the mine earlier that day, they silently agreed that it was probably better to not take any chances.
Meanwhile, on board the Deep Sea Explorer, the six girls of Canterlot City’s LEGO Team had gathered in one of the empty rooms within the vessel, where Rarity had pulled out racks holding dozens and dozens of vastly different outfits.
For the last two hours, Rarity had been excitedly rushing back and forth between each of her friends and helping them into yet another random outfit. Right now, Rainbow Dash was wearing an imperial navy costume complete with epaulets and an admiral’s hat, Pinkie Pie was wearing a chicken suit, Fluttershy was fully dressed up in a ninja costume, Sunset Shimmer was wearing a firefighter’s uniform and helmet, and Applejack was dressed up as a baseball player with a bat and glove in each hand and a cap on her head.
As Rarity picked a surgeon’s outfit and an old western cavalry uniform off another rack, Applejack turned to her and asked, “Uh, Rarity, these outfits are great, but why would ya put so much time an’ effort into clothes we might not even wear? You’re just gonna exhaust yourself.”
Rarity just scoffed as she put those outfits back on the rack and enthusiastically replied, “Don’t be silly, darling! Putting effort into clothes is what I live for, and spending time on my friends fills me with energy!” With that excited statement, Rarity suddenly began to glow and levitated off the floor as she ponied up. She gained pony ears on her head, a tail-like extension to the back of her head, and a unicorn horn on her forehead.
The other girls in the room all gasped and awed — except for Pinkie Pie who excitedly clucked like a chicken — as they witnessed Rarity’s sudden and rather unexpected pony up.
“And magic, too, I guess,” muttered Sunset before she flipped down the visor on her helmet.
For a moment, Rarity just remained levitating in the middle of the room with a smile on her face. But that smile soon faded as she suddenly felt herself begin to weaken. As she slowly dropped back to the ground and her pony parts faded away, she said with exhaustion, “Actually, Applejack, now that you mention it, I suppose I could use a tiny break.” She then slumped forward and landed on her hands and knees.
“See? Ah told ya,” said a concerned Applejack as she knelt down to help Rarity.
While the others looked worriedly at the fallen Rarity, Sunset suddenly noticed a wisp of purple energy — the same color as the glow that had briefly surrounded Rarity — float out of the room through the slightly opened doorway. She wasn’t exactly sure what that was, but she had a hunch.
“I’m not so sure if you’re correct, Applejack,” said Sunset. “It just all seemed to happen way too suddenly to be blamed on simple exhaustion.” She then focused on Rarity and asked, “Did you feel a sensation like your magic was being drained right out of you?”
As she leaned on Applejack’s shoulder for support, Rarity weakly replied, “Come to think of it… I suppose that does accurately describe what I felt not long after I ponied up.” She turned her gaze up to Sunset and asked, “Why do you ask?”
Sunset narrowed her eyes. “I think I know exactly what just happened,” she said with determination before she threw off the firefighter outfit.
Not far away in a hallway, the last of Rarity’s Equestrian magic swirled into Twilight’s opened device. “Ugh! This is not how I intended to start this mission!” grumbled Twilight as she struggled to force her device closed.
Twilight had almost closed her device when a spark of energy suddenly jumped out and struck the wall in front of her. She ignored her still opened device and gazed at the impact point on the wall. The spark swirled around for a brief moment before it suddenly started to expand, opening up a large hole in the wall. But this hole didn’t expose the room on the other side of the wall, but instead actually opened up to some kind of dark forest.
Twilight gasped in shock. Somehow, the samples she had collected so far were now able to open up some kind of dimensional rift. Realizing that connection, and not wanting to draw any unwanted attention, she immediately closed up her device. Once that was done, the rift quickly shrank until it had completely vanished.
As her device powered down on its own, Twilight glanced down at it and scratched the back of her head as she thought, Okay, that was new. I’m gonna have to look further into this later. She then tucked away her device and continued on her way down the hallway alone. Since she was currently wearing her black hooded jumpsuit with the hood up, all she had to do was be careful to not let anyone on the ship see her face.
“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!”
Twilight gasped and flinched, causing her hood to drop and expose her entire head. She glanced back and saw a very furious Sunset Shimmer standing at the end of the hallway. “H-h-how did you know it was me?” she shakily asked.
Sunset said nothing and simply raised an eyebrow.
Twilight glanced downward and realized that emblazoned on the back of her jumpsuit was a magenta six-pointed star surrounded by five smaller white stars — her Creative Mark. As she turned her gaze back over to Sunset, she chuckled nervously and uneasily said, “Yeah, you see, the funny thing is, I never really anticipated that I would ever wear this thing out on a mission, so, uh…” Finding herself at a loss for words, Twilight did the only thing she could always rely on to deal with a confrontation: run away as quickly as she could.
Sunset shook her head as she sighed and grumbled, “Why does she always have to run away?” She immediately chased after the fleeing Shadowbolt agent and shouted, “Get back here!”
Sunset chased after Twilight through the corridors of the vessel, following her around each corner she tried to disappear behind. After a full minute of running around, Sunset followed Twilight around another corner, but was quickly forced to stop as she suddenly encountered something much more dangerous.
“Don’t move,” said Sugarcoat as she swiftly raised a laser blaster.
Sunset stood perfectly still and held her hands up a little bit. There was no sign of where Twilight had run off to, and with that powerful rifle pointed right at her head, she had little choice but to comply with that demand. When the rest of her friends — all of whom were now back in their usual clothes — inevitably followed, they were also forced to stop in their tracks.
“If any one of you takes one more step closer, then there will be severe consequences,” warned Sugarcoat, tightening her grip on the laser blaster.
Not one to be intimidated so easily, Rainbow Dash quipped, “Oh yeah? Like what?” She then boldly took just a single step forward.
Sugarcoat remained silent for a second before she replied, “Then let’s hope for your sake you know how to dance.” She aimed the blaster at Rainbow’s feet and quickly fired off a few shots.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Rainbow Dash yelped as she was forced to jump around in place to avoid getting hit. Once the shots ceased, she exclaimed in panic, “Let’s get outta here!” She immediately turned away from the armed Shadowbolt and fled down the corridor, soon followed by the rest of her panicked teammates. They made their way around one corner, only to suddenly encounter another Shadowbolt agent armed with a laser blaster.
“Hasta la vista, losers!” shouted Indigo Zap excitedly before she aimed her blaster above everyone’s heads and fired off a few shots, taking out one of the lights with the last laser bolt.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
The team was forced to turn back and go down another corridor. “This way!” shouted Pinkie Pie as she gestured ahead. They soon went around another corner, only to find an armed Shadowbolt in the way.
“Wrong way,” stated Sugarcoat.
Again, the team had no choice but to turn back and take a different path. They went around yet another corner, only to once again find their escape route blocked by an armed Shadowbolt.
“You’re going down, LEGO Team!” shouted Indigo with a wicked grin on her face.
Before long, the team found themselves in a three-way intersection with both of the opposite paths blocked by each of the two armed Shadowbolt agents, leaving the only option of escape down the third hallway to the side. They quickly ran down that corridor and decided to go left at the three-way intersection at the opposite end.
Indigo Zap was the first to arrive at the corridor. She let loose some mad laughter and shouted, “You want some of this? Then have some more!” She quickly fired off a few more shots down that corridor with her laser blaster.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
As soon as Sugarcoat arrived, she pushed down Indigo’s blaster and gave her a disapproving frown as she scolded, “Take it easy. Our job is to keep them off the deck. There’s no need to turn them into swiss cheese.”
At the same time, the Canterlot girls quickly reached the end of the corridor and found only two doors on opposite sides. Rainbow Dash tried to open the door to the right, but found it to be locked.
“How the brick did the Shadowbolts even get on this boat?!” asked Sunset Shimmer in disbelief. “There’s no way they could’ve done it without being seen!”
“Forget about askin’ questions!” argued Applejack. “We gotta find a way to get those two off our backs!”
It was at that moment that Fluttershy decided to try opening the left door, only to suddenly find the contents of that closet topple all over her.
“Great idea, Fluttershy!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly as she picked up one of the objects that had fallen to the floor. “We’ll hit ‘em with anything we can get our hands on!”
Rarity pointed at the object in Pinkie’s hand and said, “Um, Pinkie, dear… that’s a banana.”
Pinkie’s grin didn’t falter as she pointed the yellow fruit at her friend and said with determination, “Exactly!” She then rushed back to the intersection and tossed the banana down the corridor as she shouted, “Take this!”
The banana flew down the corridor and bounced along the floor a few times before landing harmlessly near Indigo’s feet. Both Shadowbolts gazed down at the piece of fruit in confusion, then turned to each other.
Indigo Zap scoffed and muttered, “Pathetic.” She took a few steps forward, only to suddenly slip on that banana and hit the floor on her face.
“I could say the exact same thing about you right now,” remarked Sugarcoat.
Indigo merely growled in response.
Meanwhile, the Canterlot girls searched desperately though all the items in the closet, but were unable to find anything that could aid them in such a moment. “C’mon, there’s gotta be somethin’ in here we can use,” grumbled Applejack.
Fluttershy soon managed to find a rather modestly sized box. Curious about what could be inside, she lifted open the lid on that box.
Rainbow Dash glanced over Fluttershy’s shoulder and immediately grinned when she saw the contents of that box. “BOOYAH!” she shouted, startling Fluttershy and making her drop the box. Rainbow reached into that box and pulled out the twin items that had her so excited. “Laser pistols! Now we’re talking!”
Back at the other end of the central corridor, once Indigo was finally back on her feet, she and Sugarcoat began to make their way down the hallway. However, they only made it a few steps before Rainbow Dash suddenly leaped through the air at the other end of the corridor and fired a few laser bolts at them.
Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew!
Both of the Shadowbolt agents yelped and immediately rushed back to hide behind either of the corners at their end of the corridor. Neither of them had been hit, but that sudden move had certainly startled them. After a few seconds of silence passed, they both peered around their respective corners — Indigo turning to her left and Sugarcoat turning to her right. They saw nothing at first, but then Rainbow Dash suddenly peeked out from the corner she had jumped towards and began firing some more shots.
Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew!
Both Shadowbolts quickly hid behind their corners again. “She’s got laser pistols!” exclaimed Sugarcoat worriedly. “She’s shooting back at us!”
“Thank you, Captain Obvious!” Indigo shouted back derisively before she raised her laser blaster and peered around the corner to fire a few shots back at Rainbow, forcing her to take shelter behind her corner.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
“I take offense to that,” responded Sugarcoat irritably. “Captain Obvious is my father’s name.”
Indigo stopped firing her blaster and gazed back at her teammate while raising an eyebrow in confusion.
Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew!
A few shots from Rainbow Dash made Indigo snap back to the issue at hand and duck behind her corner again. It was only a second later when she peered around the corner again and responded with a few more laser shots of her own.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Rainbow Dash ducked behind her corner again. As the laser bolts whizzed by, she glanced back at her teammates and waved her arm forward as she shouted, “Go! Get outta here! I’ll hold them off!” She then peered around the corner again and fired a few more shots with her two laser pistols.
Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew!
“You heard her y’all!” exclaimed Applejack in determination. “Let’s move out!” She then shoulder-rammed the locked door, breaking it off its hinges and opening an escape route for the team. The five girls quickly rushed through the opened doorway and soon found themselves in some kind of service corridor with a very high ceiling.
“There’s no telling how long Rainbow Dash will be able to keep those Shadowbolts occupied,” stated Rarity, “so whatever our next course of action shall be, we must make haste.”
“I overheard one of those Shadowbolts say they’re trying to keep us off the deck,” noted Sunset. “There’s definitely something going on up there that we need to stop. We just have to find some way to get there.”
“How about up there?” asked Pinkie Pie as she pointed up at a walkway above them that led to a door.
As everyone turned their gaze up at the high walkway, Rarity replied, “Yes, I suppose that could suffice.” She then irritably added, “If only there was a way we could actually get up there.”
“Y’all leave that to me!” said Applejack with pride as she pulled out her lasso and began twirling it around. Within a few seconds, she hurled the hooped end of the rope up towards the walkway and pulled it taut once it was hooked onto the railing. “There!” she said with satisfaction. “Now all we gotta do is climb on up.” Without wasting another second, she immediately began climbing the rope.
As Sunset Shimmer quickly went up next, Fluttershy nervously mumbled, “Oh dear. I was never any good at the rope climb in gym class.”
As Pinkie Pie rushed up the rope, Rarity turned to her nervous friend and calmly said, “There’s no need to worry, darling. If you can’t pull yourself up, then perhaps you could just hold onto the rope while the rest of us pull you up. Would you be okay with that?”
Fluttershy lightly brushed her foot across the floor as she uneasily replied, “Well… I… I guess so.”
Rarity smiled before she turned to the rope and began to make her way up. It took quite a bit of effort, but she was able to reach the walkway at the top in a reasonable amount of time.
Down on the floor, Fluttershy hesitantly approached the dangling rope. She turned her gaze up and felt very nervous about just how high up she would have to go, but the smiling faces of her friends assured her they would not let anything bad happen to her. She nervously gulped, then quickly grasped the rope tightly with both arms and both legs. Once she was on that rope, the others immediately began to pull her up. Fluttershy kept her eyes shut and whimpered in fear as she rose further and further away from the floor.
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” assured Applejack as she reached down to grab her friend. “We got ya.”
It had taken only a few seconds to reach the top, but Fluttershy was still very relieved when she felt the hands of her friends grab her and pull her the last few inches over the railing and onto the walkway.
As Applejack put away her lasso, Sunset turned to the nearby door and said, “Now let’s find out what’s happening on the deck.”
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew-Pew!
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew-Pew!
The fierce exchange of laserfire continued between Indigo Zap and Rainbow Dash. Neither of them ever relented in the intensity of their fight, while also taking cover swiftly enough to never take any hits.
As Indigo Zap took cover behind her corner again and some laser bolts from Rainbow Dash whizzed by, she glance over at Sugarcoat to see that her fellow Shadowbolt agent had remained standing still with her back against the wall and her laser blaster lowered. At this sight, Indigo irritably exclaimed, “Y’know, you could do something more useful than just stand there like an idiot!”
“We’ve been at this for five minutes and nothing has changed,” Sugarcoat pointed out.
“Your point?” questioned Indigo before she turned back and fired a few more shots at her opponent.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew! Pew-Pew! Pew! Pew!
Rainbow Dash quickly returned fire, forcing Indigo to hide behind her corner again. She glanced over at Sugarcoat again and saw that not only was her laser blaster now leaning against the wall, but also she was now holding a small canister that was labeled “Tear Gas”.
“We need to try a different tactic,” replied Sugarcoat before she pulled the pin and tossed the canister down the corridor towards Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash saw the canister bounce along the floor with a few clanks before it soon rolled to a stop just a few studs away. “What the?” she mumbled in confusion.
The canister suddenly made a loud hiss as it began to quickly unleash the toxic gas contained inside.
“Whoa! Not good!” exclaimed Rainbow fearfully as she quickly turned away from the canister and rushed down the corridor. Although there were a few doors on either side, she was only interested in reaching the window at the very end of the hallway. As soon a she reached that window, she immediately started beating her laser pistols against the glass, but no matter how hard she struck, it just wouldn’t break.
It wasn’t long until the cloud of toxic gas reached Rainbow. The fumes quickly irritated her eyes and lungs, making her eyes tear up and causing her to start coughing uncontrollably. As she began to hunch over, she took a second glance at her laser pistols, then beat her head against the window for making such a stupid oversight.
Despite her near blindness, Rainbow pointed her laser pistols at the window and fired. The two laser bolts easily shattered the glass, opening up a large vent for the gas to escape. Desperate for some fresh air, Rainbow quickly leaned as far out the opened window as she could. In her haste to reach out the window, she had dropped both of her laser pistols, which plunged into the ocean outside, but she was too busy coughing frequently and uncontrollably to care about that.
Eventually, the gas thinned out enough to allow Rainbow at least a small break from her fit of coughing. She glanced to her right towards one of the submarines sitting on the main deck. Even through her vision was still very blurred, she could tell something wasn’t right. She saw three minifigs apparently loading things into that sub, all of them wearing nothing but black, and she was pretty sure none of her friends typically wore that much black. Not to mention, if there were two Shadowbolt agents on this vessel, then it wasn’t hard to imagine that some others were doing something else nearby.
Rainbow tried to shout at the shady people, only to suddenly start another fit of loud and uncontrollable coughing. Although the toxic gas had thinned out, it was still billowing out the opened window, right past Rainbow Dash. Realizing that she had to get entirely away from this gas, she had no choice but to pull herself out through the window, grab onto a narrow ledge along the side of the vessel, and carefully shimmy her way over to the deck, all while her vision remained impaired by tears as she continued to cough uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, as the Shadowbolt agents continued to load supplies into one of the submarines, it didn’t take long for them to notice the loud and persistent coughing coming from the side of the vessel. Sour Sweet was standing atop the sub, allowing her to glance over and see who the source of that noise was. “Oh no! We’ve been spotted!” exclaimed her sweet face. Her head spun around to her sour face as she turned to her teammates on the deck and shouted, “Hurry up and get inside!”
“Don’t worry,” assured Twilight. “This should be the last of our supplies.” She and Sunny Flare were each carrying a scuba tank and a small box of other supplies as they climbed up atop the sub. They passed the items down through the opened hatch to Lemon Zest inside, then climbed down into the sub.
It was right as Twilight began to enter the submarine after Sunny Flare that the rest of the Canterlot LEGO Team suddenly burst through the door onto the deck. It didn’t take more than a very brief glance for Sunset to realize what was going on. “Hey! They’re stealing a submarine!” she shouted.
“Buzz off, Loser Team!” spat Sour Sweet. “We’re here on a mission and you’re not gonna stop us!”
Meanwhile, inside the sub, Twilight and Sunny set aside the last of their supplies while Lemon sat down in the pilot’s seat and flipped a few switches. Twilight turned to the front of the sub and asked, “All set, Lemon Zest?”
“Ready to rock and roll!” responded Lemon excitedly as she grasped the main controls.
Twilight turned her gaze up through the hatch and shouted, “Now, Sour Sweet! Now!”
“Finally!” grumbled Sour Sweet as she picked up a random tool and tossed it towards a winch on the deck, knocking over the lever and causing the overhead crane to latch onto the submarine and slowly lift it off the deck and into the water. “So long, suckers!” she taunted the Canterlot girls before climbing inside and pulling the hatch closed.
As the five girls from Canterlot City rushed over to the side of the vessel, they were unable to do anything but watch as the submarine was lowered into the water, detached from the crane, and slowly descended into the depths of the ocean. They were too late to stop the Shadowbolts.
A series of loud coughing and hacking suddenly drew their attention towards Rainbow Dash as she slowly climbed her way off the side of the vessel and onto a stairway down to the main deck. However, she was now so weakened that as she climbed over the railing, she slipped and tumbled down the stairs.
Rainbow’s concerned teammates quickly rushed over to her as she continued her frequent coughing. “Rainbow Dash! Are you okay? What happened?” asked Pinkie Pie worriedly as Fluttershy knelt down beside her friend.
Rainbow remained lying face-down on the deck as she rubbed her watery eyes and coughed a few more times before she managed to wheeze, “Tear gas.”
“Those brutes!” growled Rarity in disbelief. “Have they no shame?!”
“They’re Shadowbolts, remember?” Applejack pointed out. “They don’t give a darn ‘bout who they run over to get what they want.”
“All the more reason for us to go after them,” stated Sunset Shimmer. “I don’t know what they need that treasure for, but we need to stop them.”
“But how?” asked Pinkie. “They’ve already got a submarine in the water.”
That question was quickly answered as all six girls turned toward the other submarine that was still sitting on the other side of the main deck.
“Good thing this here vessel came with two subs,” remarked Applejack.
“We gotta move fast,” Sunset firmly said. “Let’s grab whatever diving equipment we can find, climb inside, and dive down to Atlantis.”
“But what about Rainbow Dash?” asked Fluttershy as she slowly helped her impaired friend up to her feet.
“We’ll have to take her with us,” replied Sunset. “We should be able to find a few spare oxygen tanks lying around, so I’m sure she’ll be okay.”
With little time to waste, the Canterlot LEGO Team quickly gathered up all the diving equipment they could find and loaded it into the second sub. Once everything and everyone were all set to go, Sunset flipped the lever on the other winch and climbed into the sub with the others as the crane lifted it off the deck and into the water. With Rainbow Dash currently out of commission, Sunset Shimmer decided to step up and handle the controls as the sub was lowered into the water and detached from the crane. Sunset flipped a few switches and grasped the main controls as she began to pilot the submarine down into the depths of the ocean. They were now in a race with the Shadowbolts to retrieve the lost treasure of Atlantis.
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I actually forgot Trenderhoof was a Shadowbolt in the movie, but I knew he was going to snitch to the Shadowbolts in Baltimare.
So does this mean we be seeing Fluer de Lis aiding the Shadowbolts too?
A long chapter and hardly any comments? Well, as much as I'm glad that I don't have to type any long replies, I am starting to wonder why some of the regular commenters from the previous stories aren't saying much anymore.
7072913 Yeah, I noticed that he was pretty much nothing more than a background character in the movie, so I decided to give him at least a somewhat notable role in this story.
7073815 Sorry, but I don't really have any plans for mentioning anyone outside the six that this story focuses on. Just like with the LEGO Team, you know there are lots of other members out there, but they're not part of the focus group here, so don't expect to see much of them in this story.
I'm on the edge...OF GLORY! And by glory, I mean my seat. This is
AWESOME!
I just had a sudden realization. How did a pair of laser pistols end up in the broom closet of a boat? For that matter, what's a banana doing in a broom closet?
I'm kind of leaning towards the latter explanation. It would explain how Trenderhoof can be a travel writer and a secret agent at the same time.
Hey, I know you won't be able to respond to this message for a while, but did you come up with that line yourself? If you did, it's highly deserving of an award. Applause to you.