Over the course of the school week, Rainbow, Twilight and Fluttershy all talked about what event they should set up for the lattermost's video debut.
Then... That sunday...
~~~~~~~~~
"-to record now?"
"I'll get everything." Rainbow knocked a few times on Twilight's lab door. "Twilight? You awake in there?" Rainbow laughed a little.
A sharp metal ring came from behind the door, followed by a quiet "I'm alright" from Twilight. A few seconds later, the door opened.
"Morning, sleepyhead. How's tricks?"
Rainbow walked herself inside and -
~~~~~~~~~
"-didn't have to close it so hard, Twilight."
"My lab is not to be recorded for any reason by anyone other than myself." Twilight sat at a picnic table with her bag on the seat beside her. "The screen is okay though, right?"
"Yeah, screen's fine. No harm. Warn me next time, though, so I can close it myself."
"Warn me if you're coming in with a camera that's already on next time." Twilight ate a bite of her sandwich.
Fluttershy asked, "Hey, where's Spike? I thought he'd be here with you."
"And he would be, but since he can talk actual english, it might skew the results."
"Results?"
"Yes. Results." Twilight got into an open pouch on her bag and pulled out a piece of cardboard and a baggied stack of cards. "Not only will your test be recorded, but I am also making a note of your growth as a powered person. Graphing the differences between your skill then, and comparing it to your skill now."
"It's talking to animals. I don't think it's a skill that evolves; you either can or can't." Flutttershy looked to a tree behind Twilight and saw a squirrel on one of the branches. "How many cards are there?"
"150. Since anything less could come across as staged, or memorized beforehand, 150 will convince the viewers that this is no act."
Rainbow laughed. "Then they see the edge of a mirror in the video and believe it is."
"What?"
"Yeah." Rainbow aimed the recorder at the tree behind Twilight. "Right behind there is a bathroom mirror. During the video I'm going to take a few shots of the tree to show "there isn't anything there helping her", but my "bad recording skills" will show the mirror we've "been using to cheat". Of course I'm not actually going to use the mirror, that's all Fluttershy's skill."
"There's a squirrel in the tree. He's going to tell me what's on the cards, and I'll tell you. So long as the shapes are normal shapes."
"And colors. The shapes have colors." Twilight unbagged the cards and set them in front of her, face down. Then she set the cardboard flat at her side. "Every 15 cards, I'll add a barrier. So like, the bag, then the cardboard, you'll cover your eyes or turn around, then add things together. Bag and turned, bag and closed, bag and board, board and closed, board and turned, turned and closed," Twilight took a breath, "THEN-"
"Alright, we get it. Lots of things to make it that much clearer it's the real deal." Rainbow looked at the camera that pointed at her. "She's an egghead." She pointed it at the other two. Twilight gave an unamused expression. "A-Anyway. Twilight. Just before you hold up your first card, you have to say, "Pay attention. This is important." Alright? And Fluttershy? Could you approach the table from somewhere? I want to get you walking in from somewhere."
Fluttershy stood and asked, "From where?"
"Uhh, beyond the tree or something. Or maybe the parking lot? Just- somewhere."
~~~~~~~~~
Fluttershy started walking from a set of doors leading to the school's inner walls. She adjusted her hair, and made sure her hat stayed in place. Along the way, she admired the weather, and waved at someone beyond the screen.
The camera turned to show Twilight shuffling several piles of white backed cards. Her backpack sat on the table beside them, and a long folded piece of cardboard leaned against the bench.
Fluttershy came to the other side of the table and sat down. "Hey Twilight."
"Fluttershy. Thanks for coming out here on the weekend. I know we're both busy with our daily lives, but I'm so glad we both found a day to relax."
"It was no problem. Volunteers are coming every day at the shelter now. It's almost at the point where there are more people than animals." She took off her hat, set it aside and fixed her hair. "What are we doing today?"
"Psychic testing. Or predictive reasoning. I have with me over 100 cards. If you can get more than 100 right, I'll buy you lunch sometime."
"Alright." Fluttershy watched as Twilight stacked the piles together. She reached into her bag and retrieved a notebook and pen.
"For recording your accuracy, I will be keeping track of your results in this log. Is that alright?" Fluttershy nodded. "Great." She held a card face down above the deck with her left hand. Twilight turned to the camera, which was beside Twilight. "Pay attention. This is important." She held the card up with the image facing Twilight. "Ready when you a-"
"Red square," Fluttershy said. Twilight blinked a few times. Rainbow moved the camera to see the card was indeed a red square.
"Uhh..." Twilight put a check mark under 1-1 of her table. "Next?"
"Yellow triangle." Another mark on Twilight's page.
The test continued until all the cards were used. Twilight held up her table and adjusted her glasses. "Every single card was right. How'd you do that?"
Rainbow held the camera behind Fluttershy in perfect view of the tree. True as she said, the edge of the mirror was clearly seen in the video.
"Hmm." She put a finger to her cheek and looked up at the tree. Rainbow circled around and looked at Fluttershy. "A little squirrel told me."
"Really? Maybe you're just a natural psychic." The two shared a laugh before it ended.
~~~~~~~~~
The next day at lunch...
"So girls. What do you think?" Rainbow asked.
"Fluttershy really got help from the animals?" Rarity asked. Rainbow nodded. " Then... Why is there a mirror's edge in plain view behind the tree?"
"Like I said before, it's showing off our talent while still giving the illusion we're lying about it. That way, if any of us are approached by the government or anyone, we can say it was editing magic. Look, I even added frame cuts to make them think we took a breath and rehearsed the next fifteen cards. We didn't of course, but I had to do that."
"Ingenious," Twilight admitted. "So, I'm next. And I levitate things."
"I can help with that, I believe." Rarity said. "See, I have an order for the drama club that I've been expecting for the last month. Their stand-in designer is... less than adequate. So, if I could get you to help me lift something down from a high shelf, would that do as required?"
Rainbow snapped her fingers and pointed at Rarity. "Yeah! That's a great idea! Alright. So, filming's on sunday. Does that work for you, Rarity?" She nodded. "Great. Twilight?" Thumbs up. "Awesome! Now, we need to borrow a ladder. Gotta make it look fake. I'll toss some ideas around during the week and work out the details. Good plan? Good plan."
"The janitor's closet has a ladder," Applejack said. "Ah seen him use it from time to time changin' the lights or some such. Maybe he'll let me borrow it for the day. Or Ah could bring mah own."
"I think a metal ladder would fit the scene better, don't you think?" Rarity asked. "Surely the one in your barn is made of wood. And handmade by one of your family members."
"How'd you know that?" Aj asked.
"Because everything on your farm was handmade by someone in your family, Applejack."