The bell rang, signaling the end of another school day at Canterlot High. The students all exited their classrooms and headed for their lockers to get their things, grabbing their valuable items and any school materials they would need before they headed home or to their clubs and groups. They didn’t all take off, though; many hung around their lockers, in or near the bathrooms, the halls, or in the school foyer to talk, some walking while they talked. Everything seemed to be normal as far as the student body was concerned; hardly anyone seemed to be talking about the strange event that had occurred the night before. The few who had been awake to see it hadn’t been bothered by it and those who had seen the hastily recorded videos of it wondered if it had really happened. CHS had become a pretty magical school, after all; it was hard to get something past its students anymore.
Amidst it all, one girl had been thinking about the previous night for almost the entire day, albeit for a different reason than everyone else. Twilight Sparkle headed straight for her locker after classes got out and grabbed the books she was going to need for her assignments, her dog Spike hopping out of her backpack to let her put them in. She zipped her backpack closed once she was done and slung it on her back, standing up and closing her locker door. Before she could turn away from it, she heard a familiar voice call to her, “Hey, Twilight!” She turned her head to see a girl with red and yellow hair walking towards her, the girl’s black leather jacket moving slightly with her movements over her aqua dress and blue jeans.
“Hey Sunset Shimmer!” Twilight called as she waved, Spike raising a paw to wave as well.
Sunset soon reached her friend and said, “Hey, the rest of the girls want to go hang out at the mall for a while. You wanna come?”
Twilight adjusted her glasses as she replied, “Ah, I’d like to, Sunset, but I can’t today. I have to get home.”
Sunset immediately looked concerned at this. “Why? Did something happen?” she asked.
Twilight waved her hand, “No, no, nothing happened. …Unless something happened that I don’t know about yet. But anyway, I actually have something I wanted to take a closer look at and maybe do a little experimenting on.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow at this. “What exactly did you find?” she asked slowly.
“That’s the thing; I’m not entirely sure,” Twilight admitted.
Spike spoke up, “It looks really weird, whatever it is. It almost reminds me of those gems from Camp Everfree.” Both girls turned to look down at him as he spoke.
Sunset looked back up at Twilight and asked, “You think it’s something else that’s been affected by magic?”
Twilight bent down to pick up Spike as she replied, “That’s what I intend to find out.” She stood up with Spike in her arms and looked at Sunset, “I’ll let you know what I find out later, okay?”
Sunset nodded, “Okay. You sure you’ll be all right by yourself?”
Twilight nodded back, “Yeah. I’m just going to see if I can figure out what it is that landed on my roof last night. I’ll catch up with you and the girls later, all right?” Sunset nodded and watched her walk away, wondering what she found.
After a few minutes, Sunset walked out into the school foyer and found her friends waiting for her. “Hey, Sunset! Where’s Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked when she reached them.
“She had to go home. Said she found something that she wanted to investigate,” Sunset replied.
“She didn’t tell you about it?” Applejack asked.
“She said she didn’t know what she found,” Sunset replied.
“Huh. That’s kinda odd. Wonder why she doesn’t want us ta see it,” Applejack remarked.
Fluttershy murmured, “Well, maybe it’s not something bad or it doesn’t seem bad, but maybe she wants to make sure before she puts anyone in danger with it. Like with that magic device she made…”
Rarity spoke, “I’m sure Twilight knows what she’s doing. If she thinks she can handle it herself, then we should trust that she knows what she’s doing. I can’t see her leaving us to wonder for long what she’s doing. Now, shall we be off?”
Pinkie said, “Yeah! We may be one friend short, but we can still have a lot of fun at the mall!” With that, the six girls exited the school and headed for the mall.
A little while later, Twilight and Spike got home and headed for their room, Twilight shutting the door behind her while Spike hopped onto his pillow on the chest at the foot of her bed, turning a few times before he laid down for a quick nap. Twilight smiled down at him for a moment before she walked over to her desk and sat in her chair, turning her computer on as she (quietly) unzipped her backpack and pulled one of her books out. She began working on her homework while her computer booted up, trying to work quietly so as not to disturb Spike’s nap.
By the time Spike woke up, Twilight had finished her homework, changed the bulb in the lamp on her nightstand, and had gotten herself a sandwich to eat while she browsed the Internet to see if there was any information on the supposed ‘night whirlpool’ that had appeared last night. Most of what she found were stories on questionable news sites and blogs posted on sites like MyStable by well-established alien conspiracy theorists. Looking at the comments made on videos taken of the phenomenon only led her to a whole other brand of weirdness as everyone had an opinion to voice. It was getting to be too much for her to handle.
Fortunately, she was roused from her thoughts by Spike’s barking. She swiveled around in her chair and smiled over at him, “Hey Spike. Would you like something to eat?”
The purple dog wagged his tail happily, “Yeah! Yeah!” Twilight reached down and grabbed his food bowl before standing up, leaving the room and coming back with the bowl filled. She knelt and placed it on the floor, Spike immediately leaping down and digging in. Twilight watched him for a few moments before her gaze shifted to look at her bed. She crawled over to it and reached underneath it with her left hand, searching. She felt what she was looking for after a few seconds and pulled out a black garbage bag containing a small, gray, beat up metal box. It was almost like a small toolbox. Spike looked up from his food as she pulled it out and opened the lid with her right hand.
Inside the box was what appeared to be a glowing purple crystal shard. It was certainly bigger than the magic geodes from Camp Everfree, just short of being too big for the box it was in. Twilight stared down at the glowing treasure in wonder as she thought back to last night…
Flashback
Twilight stepped out of the front door of her house, still in her pajamas and nothing covering her feet. Spike was hot on her heels, both running out onto the sidewalk after they stepped off the porch. Twilight had wanted to see what had landed on the roof, but the sound of the neighbors yelling outside had caught both her and Spike’s attention. Stopping on the sidewalk, they saw several of their neighbors out on their front lawns, and a quick look around revealed what had woken them up: the power lines not far from her house had come down, electricity coming from the ends of the cables as they lay on the sidewalk below. Some of the neighbors were yelling at anyone who tried to move closer to the downed lines while others were using their cell phones to call the city.
Seeing that there didn’t seem to be any immediate danger, Twilight turned back to her house, Spike following her as she walked along the side of it. She looked up towards her roof, noticing the way it slanted down in the back. She hadn’t been awake when the noise on the roof started, but what she had heard, it sounded like it was getting louder before stopping suddenly. Spike, who had been woken up by the noise, confirmed that it had gotten louder before it stopped. Since there was nothing in the front yard, that left the backyard as the most likely place where whatever had made the sound had landed.
As they stepped into the backyard, Spike leapt in front of Twilight and bared his teeth, growling as he looked around in case it was something dangerous. They both looked around, Twilight using her cell phone’s flashlight to give them a little extra light. They didn’t see anything until they looked towards the back of the house, where they saw a faint purple glow coming from behind some bushes. The two stared and looked at each other before they began to creep towards it.
Twilight picked up Spike when they were right beside the bushes and they both looked over the top of one. There they saw a purple crystal lying on the ground, a faint steam coming off it. Holding Spike in her left arm, Twilight brought her right hand forward to touch it as she wondered aloud, “What is this?” Almost as soon as her fingers touched it, she jerked her hand back with a sharp “Ow!” The crystal was still a bit hot from hitting the power lines, though thankfully it wasn’t carrying any electricity.
Twilight shook her hand until the hot feeling dissipated and she looked down at the crystal again. After a few moments, she spoke slowly, “Spike… keep an eye on this, whatever it is. I’m going to go get some gloves… and some garbage bags.” She walked as she spoke and she set Spike down next to the space between the house and the bushes, where the crystal’s glow could be easily seen. Spike watched her as she ran back around to the front to get back in, his eyes darting around after he lost sight of her, looking for any sign of trouble.
End flashback
Twilight shook her head and looked back down at the crystal shard for a moment before she shut the lid again. She then tucked the box under her arm, stood up, and turned to Spike saying, “Come on, Spike. Let’s go see what’s on TV.” Spike gave a nod and a yip and followed her out.
When they got to the living room, Spike immediately jumped up on the couch and sat down on the middle cushion while Twilight looked for the remote. She found it on the arm of her dad’s easy chair and turned the TV on. She began flipping through the channels, looking for the cartoons. She knew there wouldn’t be much on at this point in the day, but there would be some reruns on. That would have to tide Spike over for now.
She soon found the show she was looking for: the unexpectedly popular cartoon featuring colorful talking dogs. Twilight felt that watching it now was a bit surreal since she had a talking dog, but she still enjoyed it and she knew Spike enjoyed it too. She set the remote down next to her dog and said, “Okay Spike, I’m going to be taking a look at this in the garage. Come get me if you need anything.” Spike just nodded, already too absorbed in the TV to do much else as Twilight left the room.
The Sun had almost completed its descent past the horizon by the time Spike reached for the remote and turned off the TV. It turned out that a late afternoon marathon of reruns for the show had been scheduled that had lasted several hours. Spike had faintly registered someone coming and going through the living room as well as the feeling of being petted while he had been watching, but there hadn’t been anything that caused him to look away for long. Now that he took the time to sniff the air, he realized it hadn’t been Twilight and guessed she was still working. Hopping off the couch, he made his way to the back door and let himself out through the pet door.
Wandering over to the garage, he found that the garage’s side door wasn’t closed all the way, a small opening visible between the door and the frame. Giving it a push, it opened a little wider, revealing the interior of the garage to the dog. Twilight, now wearing her lab coat and protective gear, was messing with something on a table in her makeshift ‘lab’. When she moved away with a set of wires in her hands, he saw that it was the crystal shard, now in a new container that was cylindrical in appearance and appeared to have protective casing on the outside of the glass. One end of the wires was attached to the top of the container, Twilight carrying the other end to the workbench across from the table.
When she reached the workbench, she began to move the wires towards something on it. Her back was facing Spike when he called out, “Twilight?”
She heard him and looked back over her shoulder at him, asking, “Spike?” Her hands kept moving forward while she was turned away and, less than a second later, they reached their intended target: the terminals of a car battery. Almost immediately, Twilight was sent flying backwards through the air with a cry as the resulting connection gave her a jolt. She landed on her back near the side of the door, her hair frizzed up and her body shaking as she shuddered. Even with her protective equipment on, she’d received quite a shock.
There wasn’t time to dwell on it as her and Spike’s attentions were directed back at the battery. Less than a second after being hooked up to the crystal, the pack exploded and the wires connected to it caught fire. Twilight let out a scream at this and, fighting through her body’s jittering, grabbed the nearby fire extinguisher and shakily stood up before pulling the pin and spraying the foam at the wire fire. It went out after a few seconds and she calmed down a bit, trying to get her breathing back under control. An errant spark came out of the destroyed battery and she quickly turned and gave the handle a quick squeeze, spraying a little foam at it. She kept staring at it and gave the extinguisher handle another squeeze when another spark came out.
She set the extinguisher back down when no more sparks came out, at which point Spike looked at her and asked, “What happened, Twilight?”
Twilight let out a sigh as she stood up straight and used her right hand to wipe off the front of her goggles. “I was just doing some tests, Spike. Trying to figure out what this is.” She pulled the goggles off and adjusted her glasses before walking back over to the workbench. “I knew it contained a lot of power. I destroyed so many smaller batteries testing it out,” she explained. Spike looked down at the garage floor and saw bits of small and big batteries littering it. Twilight leaned in for a closer look at the car battery, “Obviously a car battery holds a bigger charge, but I sure didn’t expect that to happen.” She gave a shudder, still reeling a bit from the jolt.
Spike looked up and padded forward a bit, making sure to stay away from the battery casings, as he asked, “So do you know what it is?”
Twilight looked down at him and replied, “Well, I think I’m half-right. It’s clearly not something from THIS world… but I don’t think it’s magic. At least not the magic we’re used to. Beyond that, I don’t know what it is.”
Before Spike could say anything else, they both heard Twilight’s mom calling from outside, “Twilight! Dinner’s ready! Your father and I are waiting on you!”
Twilight blinked in surprise and called back, “Okay, Mom! I’m going to go wash up and then I’ll be right there!” She looked around the garage and muttered to herself, “And I guess I’m going to clean this up later.”
As she walked towards the crystal, Spike asked, “Are you going to tell Sunset and the other girls about this?”
Twilight replied while disconnecting the wires on top of the container, “Definitely, Spike. We cannot keep this to ourselves.” She then took off her lab gear and set it on the table before she picked up the container and tucked it under her arm. She then turned back to Spike and said, “I’ll text Sunset while we’re upstairs. Let her know so she can let the girls know.” She then stepped out of the garage with him and pulled the door shut before they headed back to the house.
Meanwhile…
Sunset and the girls were currently sitting around a circular table in the mall’s food court. After checking out some of the stores, doing some shopping, and having a brief homework session, they decided to go catch a showing of the new animated superhero movie and were now grabbing a post-movie meal while they talked about it.
“I must admit, that movie was quite surprising. I don’t follow it myself, but I haven’t heard many good things about the show that it’s based on,” Rarity was saying.
“Well, somebody must’ve cared enough to try ta make sure the movie was a quality product, Rarity. They had to put things that fans of the show would recognize, but also take that extra step and make it somethin’ everyone might wanna see,” Applejack said.
Pinkie spoke up, “I don’t get why so many people are so negative about the show! All the jokes they put in, the way the main characters don’t understand what it means to be superheroes, the wacky situations… I think it’s all great!”
Rainbow rolled her eyes while muttering, “You would, Pinkie.” She then said normally, “I still kind of want to see that new movie about the Creeper.”
Rarity almost immediately admonished, “Rainbow Dash, you know Fluttershy doesn’t like scary movies. That wouldn’t be fair to her, going to see a movie and making her stand around outside by herself.”
Fluttershy started to speak up, but was interrupted by Rainbow, “Hey, take it easy, Rare. I can go see it myself if no one else wants to. I’m old enough to see it on my own and it looks like there’s plenty of tickets available over here.”
Applejack asked, “Ya think that says somethin’ about what it’s like, Dash? Like, maybe it’s not very good?”
Rainbow protested, “But the Creeper is really popular!”
Sunset spoke, “Yeah, to some people. He was more popular a couple years ago. Why didn’t they pick up on that and make a movie then?”
Rarity said, “That’s why it’s a good idea to research something before you commit to it. It’s better to pursue a big project when it’s involves something that seems to be at its peak popularity or if you’ve got a good feeling it’s time for something to make a comeback.”
Sunset shrugged, “Well, you would know that better than some of us, Rarity.”
Fluttershy finally spoke up, “Um, I was happy to see that Juniper Montage seems to be doing better now.” Everyone looked over at her at that, remembering the girl that had caused them trouble several times in the past still worked at the movie theater.
“Yeah…” Sunset started to say before she was interrupted by her cellphone notifying her she had received a text message. She pulled it out and checked her messages, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the new message.
“What’s wrong, Sunset?” Applejack asked after a few moments.
Sunset replied, “It’s from Twilight. She says she wants to show us what she found at school tomorrow, probably after school lets out.” She looked up at the others, “She’s making it sound like it’s really important.”
Pinkie piped up, “Ooh! She must’ve figured out what it is, just like Fluttershy and Rarity said!”
Rarity looked concerned. “Well, it must be very important if she’s so willing to bring it to school to show us. I wonder what it could be.”
Sunset said, “I guess we’re going to have to wait until tomorrow to find out. What do you girls think?” The other girls thought for a few moments before they all agreed. Sunset then began typing a reply on her phone as she said, “Okay, I’ll let her know we’re on for tomorrow. I’ll see if she wants a ride in the morning; maybe she’ll be willing to talk about it then and not leave us wondering all day.” Twilight texted her back after a few minutes, agreeing to the ride proposal. The girls finished eating soon afterwards and hung around for a few more minutes before they left the mall and headed home, parting ways for the evening.