Twilight got off the train when the Sun was already down. It had been a while since they'd stopped moving, but she'd stayed there, thinking. Half trying to crack the cube, half deciding on what to do.
She needed to sleep, for a while at least. Rainbow would come for her there, she'd been instructed to. Sleeping meant not working on solving the puzzle, but it was fundamental that she got proper communication going. She could go for a couple of nights without sleeping, she knew herself there, but it was still important to get everyone involved and everything properly organised.
Starlight had been at the other laboratory. She'd arrive during the night. Everyone at the one in Ponyville who could realistically help was prepared to begin working as soon as Twilight stepped in. She'd leave the cube with them when she went to sleep, hopefully for no more than three hours, ideally not more than one. Twilight was also seriously considering contacting Sunset. No point in doing it right then though, she'd write during the night and have the girl come the morning after if she chose to have her there.
Twilight walked through Ponyville hidden by spells. She didn't want to be interrupted or noticed. She couldn't afford to. They were potentially less than a day away from the complete destruction of a city, with five potential targets which all had their citizens fully trapped, and she didn't have a good answer for what was going on that wouldn't cause mass panic nor the time to come up with one. She'd lock the doors to her laboratory and allow no one inside the morning after, especially not any journalists.
She'd have Pinkie in. It was worth trying anything she could. She'd get in contact with her through Rainbow. Celestia would be searching the archives, alongside whoever else she could get to help with that. Twilight would take sleeping breaks the day after at agreed upon times. Sunburst was already doing research. She'd decided against getting Cadence involved. Not quite likely to help enough, too many too important obligations elsewhere.
The castle's doors opened as Twilight walked in, then closed behind her. It was still too early to go to sleep. She walked through the corridors up to the main laboratory and dropped her disguise along the way. She stopped the researchers as they came to greet her, and tossed forward both the cube and a stack of papers on the nearest empty table. "That's everything I've figured out so far, everyone get a copy and at least skim through it. If you have questions, just ask. I won't force any of you to work on this, and if anyone ends up dying I don't want you to feel responsible."
Silence spread through the room as everyone got to reading. Twilight glanced at the clock. Four hours, then she'd sleep. She'd write to Sunset before then. She'd have a separate file prepared for Starlight. Less than a day left.