Twilight soldered the wires together and closed the lid on the magic detector. She tapped the touch pad in the center and grinned as it came to life. She picked up the whole apparatus and checked all the controls. After a few minutes, she was satisfied that it was working properly and put it in her backpack.
“All done?” Spike asked from the floor.
“Yep,” Twilight said cheerfully. “The range on the detector has been amplified by ten. Plus I managed to reduce the power consumption, so I can keep it on in my backpack and if any of that woman's magic is in the area, I'll know about it.”
“Cool, so what now?” Spike asked. Twilight frowned and thought for a moment.
“Well, Applejack and Rainbow won't be here until this afternoon. I think... yes! I can give the detector a dry run. I'll head back to the mall and see if it can pick up anything left from where Sunset was attacked. Even though it's been a few days, if I've installed the upgrades correctly, I should still be able to pick up the residual traces from the entrance to the mall's back corridors.”
“Sounds good. Need me to come along?”
“Sorry, Spike, you know the rules. School is one thing, the mall is another.”
“Aw, darn it,” Spike said. “I wanted to say hi to the poodle at Fluttershy's pet shop.”
Twilight giggled and scratched her dog behind the ears. “Maybe next time, Spike. But that reminds me. I think Fluttershy's working today.”
Twilight grabbed her phone and tapped Fluttershy's number. After a moment, her friend picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Fluttershy, it's Twilight. I'm not interrupting you at work, am I?”
“Oh, not yet. The mall opens in about ten minutes, but we got all the opening procedures done already, so I have some time to spare. What's up?”
“I'm going to be heading over there in a little while. I've made some modifications to the magic detector, and I need to test them out. I was wondering if you wanted to grab lunch while I'm out there?”
“Well, I normally don't take my break until about two, but I think I can convince Blythe to let me go a little earlier. Will one o'clock be okay?”
“That should be fine.”
“Are you and Applejack and Rainbow still going to see Gardenia Glow this afternoon?” Fluttershy asked.
“Hopefully, if Pinkie manages to find out her address. She's supposed to call AJ later.”
“Okay. Oh! I need to go, Twilight. The store's about to open. I'll see you at one!”
Twilight managed to get to the mall a little after twelve. She got off the bus and hiked her way around the mall's exterior until she reached the alley that led to the maintenance corridors. She took her backpack off and pulled out the magic detector. She held it up and frowned. The touch screen in the center of the pendant was dark.
“That shouldn't have happened. I left it on and it had plenty of power.”
She tapped the pendant a couple of times, then shook the whole device. She rolled her eyes and let out a disgusted “Ugh.” She knelt down and rummaged through her backpack, extracting a small screwdriver. In full problem solving mode, she sat down on the ground and opened the pendant, then used the screwdriver to pry out the cover to the electronics inside.
The connections she had created earlier were still good. Twilight frowned. She reached back into the backpack and pulled out a pocket magnifying glass. She peered at the workings of the pendant for a moment.
“Ah ha!” she cheered. “There you are!”
She put the magnifying glass back and pulled out an eyeglass repair kit. She took one of the small screwdrivers out of the plastic case and used it to tighten one of the tiny screws holding the circuit board in place. She put the tool away and reassembled the device. She tapped the touch screen again, and smiled as the familiar six pointed star appeared. The star turned into the oscillating pink line that indicated the magic signature.
Her smile turned to an expression of surprise as, once again, one of the LEDs began to blink rapidly. The same one that had blinked the day she and the other girls had encountered the woman in black. Twilight blinked and looked up sharply.
She's here!
She swallowed as she felt panic rising in her throat. She forced it back down and frowned.
No, I'm not going to panic. All the others wouldn't panic. I'm going to follow this and see if I can find out who she is. I won't engage her. I'll just see if I can identify her.
Twilight stood up, put her backpack back on and followed the LED back out of the alley and around to the food court entrance of the mall. She walked in, focused on the device, causing several of the mall patrons to move out of her way when it became clear she wasn't looking where she was going.
The LED began blinking faster and faster, eventually becoming solid. Twilight stopped immediately and looked up, drawing some dirty looks from the people passing behind her. She scanned the tables of the food court, looking for the woman in black. Instead, she saw two familiar faces.
Moondancer and Firecracker Burst were standing in line at the Sausage On A Spear stand. They were talking to each other and hadn't seen her yet. Twilight quickly moved to an empty table and pulled a book out of her backpack and quickly used it to hide her face. She looked down at the magic detector and was not surprised when the LED closest to the two girls was illuminated and solid.
Twilight slid the detector off the table and back into the backpack. She took the book up again, and glanced back at the girls. They were in a conversation, and from the looks of it, it was civil but serious. Both girls were frowning, only pausing in their conversation long enough to place their orders. Oddly enough, it looked like all they got for themselves were drinks.
As the two girls walked away from the stand, Twilight got up and followed them, taking care to stay a safe distance behind them. From their body language, they were still talking and it seemed the conversation was starting to get heated. Suddenly, both stopped walking as Moondancer grabbed Firecracker's arm. The taller girl looked at Moondancer's arm and then back at her face. She said something that Twilight couldn't make out over the echoing noise of the mall customers. Moondancer looked chagrined and let go. Firecracker smiled and put a hand on Moondancer's shoulder. She said a few words to the bespectacled girl, and Moondancer nodded in return. Firecracker returned the nod, then said what looked like a goodbye. A few seconds later, this was confirmed when the two girls parted ways and left in opposite directions.
Twilight quickly shrugged her backpack off and unzipped it.. This was her chance. If they were splitting up, all she had to do was see which LED lit up, and she would have confirmation of which girl had been in contact with magic recently. They'd finally have a solid lead on who had hurt Sunset. Twilight couldn't help grinning as she pulled out the detector. The rest of the girls were going to be so pleased when she reported her findings.
And once we know who it is, we can finally get Sunset back and put an end... to... all... what?!
Twilight stared at the detector, her eyes refusing to believe what she was seeing. She tapped the pendant in the middle of the detector but nothing changed. She shook the whole device, but there was still no change.
Two of the LEDs were lit. One on each side of the pendant in the exact directions Moondancer and Firecracker had gone. The conclusion was inescapable: both girls had been in contact with the magic.