Equestria Girls: Magical Meltdown

by PonyUpYourBits

I Need to Know

Sunset Shimmer hastily fumbled for the mouse to pause the video, astonished by what she saw.

"...But...how?" she muttered to herself. She continued to stare in bewilderment at the screen, gazing into the face of someone who had the same hair color and the same face as her. "Did this really happen?"

She picked up her backpack and slowly rose to her feet. There's no way this is a coincidence, she thought as she left the table. Whoever that is, she and I are connected and she has some kind of power...I have to know more. Sunset pulled out her phone and began to write up a text message.

---

That day, after school, Sunset met with Jade Jewel and Pearlescent under the football bleachers.

"Why are we meeting over here?" Jade asked.

"I need a favor from you guys," Sunset said. She pulled out her phone and showed her friends a photo. It was of a purple-haired girl with thick black glasses taken in the school halls.

"Huh...that's one of Pinkie Pie's friends...uh...'Twilight Sparkle'," Pearlescent said, recalling her name. "What about her?"

"I've been following her around most of the day," Sunset said. "I have a hunch about her but I want to be sure."

Jade Jewel and Pearlecent exchanged confused looks. "So...what does that have to do with us...?" Jade asked.

"She has a lab in the school," Sunset explained. "I need copies of the notes she keeps on her desk."

"Uh...can't you do it?" Pearlesecent asked, uncertain about her friend's strange behavior. "Why do you need us for that?"

"I need to make some prepartions of my own," Sunset answered in a scheming tone of voice. "Besides, you guys are in their circle, it shouldn't be hard for you to get her to show you her lab."

"What's all this about?" Jade said, getting fed up with Sunset's lack of forthcoming.

"Look...I just think I'm onto something big. There's something weird about this school and I can't be sure until I know what she's been working on," Sunset snapped back. She slung her bag over her shoulder. "Just do this for me and try to have them by the end of the week..." She concluded as she started to walk away. Pearlesecent and Jade Jewel gave miffed expressions to her back as they watched her leave.

---

The next day, Jade Jewel and Pearlescent were in the music room with the rest of the group watching the Rainbooms practice. The band was just finishing a song and Rainbow Dash ended with a big flourish.

"You guys are electric!" Jade said, complimenting them. Rainbow Dash proudly flicked her hair back as she took off her guitar.

"Hey, you took my advice," Pearlescent said to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie grinned.

Jade Jewel pulled out her phone and checked the time. She lightly nudged Pearlescent to get her attention and nodded when Pearlescent was looking at her. Pearlescent responded with her own nod.

"So whaddya'll wanna do now?" Applejack asked the group.

"I think we've earned a trip to the ice cream shop," Rarity said, checking her eye liner in her compact. Everyone in the group nodded in agreement.

"Care to join us?" Applejack asked, extending an invitation to Pearlescent and Jade Jewel.

"Uh...actually, we had a little request," Pearlescent replied. "Before we go do you mind...uh...showing us your lab?" she asked, looking in Twilight Sparkle's direction.

"My lab?" Twilight said, a little perplexed. "What's so interesting about that?"

"Oh, um, nothing..." Jade said, nonchalantly. "We just saw you go in there the other day and were...wondering what you...work on in...there..." Jade's face twisted around slightly while she spoke, as though she hadn't prepared to answer. She glanced over at Pearlescent with a stranded look in her eyes. Pearlesecent frowned and shrugged slightly in response.

"Well...I guess it's alright..." Twilight said. She looked over at her friends and they shrugged at her. "Okay, I'll show you around."

The three girls made their way through the halls to Twilight's lab. She pulled out a key and opened the door, leading them inside.

"Well, here we are," Twilight said, grinning a little uncertainly as she presented her lab to her guests. The girls took a quick look around and saw Twilight's chemistry equipment on a long, tall table in the center of the room. At the far end, there was a computer set up perpendicular to the length of the table and a stool on wheels under the table. The whiteboard behind the table was covered with complex calculations and a little ways away from the central table was a smaller drafting table of equal height with a little lamp clipped to the edge. On the drafting table a folder full of paper was resting, which drew Jade Jewel's attention.

"You know, I just remembered, I left my textbook in fifth period," Jade said, spontaneously. She glanced at Pearlescent, who immediately understood what was happening. Jade quickly excused herself and left the lab. As soon as she was outside the door, she took off her backpack and removed a roll of tape from within. She cut off a small strip of tape and placed it over top of the door's bolt. Pearlescent looked over her shoulder and saw Jade flash a thumbs up after she was done before vanishing beyond the edge of the door frame.

Pearlescent took out her phone and looked at the screen. "Oh! Uh...look at the time, we should meet up with the other girls, yeah?" she said, somewhat hastily.

Twilight looked confused. "But...I didn't even tell you what I'm working on..."

Pearlescent laughed nervously. "Well...you know, can't keep them waiting!" Twilight frowned but led Pearlescent out of the lab and locked the door behind her. They walked down the hall together.

"Don't you want to wait for Jade?" Twilight asked, noticing Pearlescent wasn't waiting for Jade to return.

"I'll just text her, she knows where we're headed," Pearlescent said. The pair turned down another hallway towards the exit of the school. At that moment, Jade reemerged from around the corner and returned to the lab's door. With the tape she placed over the bolt keeping the door unlocked, she pushed it open with ease. She made a beeline for the drafting table and picked up the folder. She sighed with some mild guilt as she looked at it in her hand.

This better be worth it, she thought before stuffing the folder into her bag.

---

"Here, 'Amber'," Jade Jewel said, tossing a folder from her bag onto the table in front of Sunset Shimmer at lunch the following day. Pearlescent was standing next to her with her arms folded and a look of mild disapproval on her face. Sunset smiled and opened the folder as her friends sat down opposite her. She briskly skimmed through the photocopied notes.

"What are these?" Pearlesecent asked, trying to glean what she could see of the notes. The notes contained things like drawn diagrams, charts, and graphs. Much of it was handwritten by Twilight. "Do you even understand this?" she continued, picking up a sheet of graph paper that was covered in confusing calculations and equations.

"Enough to know what I'm looking for..." Sunset replied, her eyes still focused on the pages she was quickly shuffling through. Jade simply rolled her eyes in response.

"Perfect!" Sunset exclaimed, satisfied with the information contained in the notes. She dramatically closed the folder upon finding what she was after. Her friends jumped slightly at the loud clap of the folder closing. "It's just like I thought, now I simply need Twilight Sparkle to clarify the details..."

"Just like you thought about what, Sunset?" Pearlescent said, confused and exhausted by her friend's behavior. "You've been going on for days about this huge 'thing' you've been investigating but you haven't told us what it's about."

"I won't keep you waiting for long. Right now I need to 'speak' to Twilight Sparkle..."

Comments

[RowanSkie]

Yup. Semi-corrupted scientific little bookworm Sunset is.

[Pr1deM0rn1ngstar]

Why do I have a feeling this is going to turn into an interrogation