First Day on the Job: The Outbreak

Twilight Sparkle had, once again, stayed up all night studying. She could never learn her lesson. But why would she ever want to learn her lesson when she could be learning instead? Nobody else really understood. Nobody but Twilight.

Barely staying awake, Twilight was lounging on the train set for Manehatten, wearing her entire science-y getup. Glasses, lab coat, the whole shebang. Manehatten was quite a ways to go for a job, but it was sure worth it! A job opportunity like this only came once in a lifetime. Spike would get some more alone time, 'Spike Time' as he called it, and Twilight knew he liked that. Plus, she would only be working three days a week. She just hoped Spike didn't get too lonely all by himself. She sat and worried for the little guy. No, he'd be find, Twilight told herself.

She looked out the window and watched the world around her roll by. She loved the sights through the window on the train. So beautiful. It always relaxed her and made her feel at peace. She began to daydream about all the exciting things she'd be doing at her new job.

As Twilight felt the train begin to come to a stop, she snapped out of her sleepy state. She couldn't just sleep on the job the first day! This was important!

She shook her head a good few times to wake herself up more, and picked herself up off the seat.

Walking off the train, she could already see the large water tower protruding from the enormous lab in the distance, surrounded by the endless city that was Manehatten. Twilight couldn't help but smile to herself giddily as she made her way down the busy sidewalk and to the facility.

As she walked into the clearing where the building stood, she had to look almost straight up at the huge thing. Her mouth fell agape, and her eyes became wide. In big bold letters, it read EERC on the front of the building, and spelled out the words underneath. It wasn't just the building, there were patches of freshly cut grass surrounding it. It looked so futuristic. This was her new workplace. It was like a dream come true.

She took a step towards the front doors, which opened automatically. Already so high-tech!

The interior of the building was almost entirely white, except for the black and white checkered tile floor. White chairs, white walls, white everything. The receptionist desk even held a white vase with white flowers inside. Twilight was a bit thrown off by all the white, but hardly noticed through all her excitement. She took in the entire room, and then trotted up to a very tired looking receptionist at her desk.

"Hello," Twilight started, "I'm Twilight Sparkle! This is my first day here!" She smiled wide and pridefully, teeth showing. She awaited a response for a few seconds. Nothing happened. With a still wide smile, she nervously looked at the receptionist, a tired look still full on her face.

"Good for you." The receptionist rolled her eyes. Twilight was a bit confused. She looked around a bit.

"Um... Aren't you supposed to sign me in or something? Or direct me somewhere?" She said through her teeth, still smiling wide. Twilight was becoming a little anxious. Was her schedule correct? Maybe she should recheck it.

"Just head through that door." The receptionist pointed the hoof she wasn't leaning her face on to the back wall. There was a door marked 'EMPLOYEES ONLY'. Twilight laughed nervously, still through teeth. How had she not noticed that? She scolded herself, and began towards the door.

"Hey kid." The receptionist spoke. Twilight turned her head.

"Good luck." With an unchanging expression, she took a sip of her coffee.

"Um, thanks! I suppose..." Twilight looked down at the ground, a little unnerved by that comment. She opened the door and stepped inside.

The interior was the same as the previous room. In front of her was a pathway cutting through the sea of cubicles. There were a couple colts in shirts and ties, standing around a water cooler to her right. They looked like they were having a good time, talking and laughing.

Twilight suddenly had the realization that she'd have to meet new ponies, and possibly make new friends at this job! Twilight was no stranger to making friends at this point, but in a workspace it seemed a little harder. What if there were ponies here that were smarter than her? What if EVERY pony here was smarter than her What if she turned out to be the laughing stock of the office?

She shook the thought away. She would be sure to make some friends! After all, what good is a job if you have no friends to work with? She took a deep breath, and approached the two colts.

"Good morning, gentlecolts! Do you think you can direct me towards the lab?" Twilight spoke, perhaps a bit too exaggerated, and smiled. Her eyes went back and forth between the two. The colts looked at each other, and just began talking again, ignoring Twilight.

"I... Uh..." Twilight tried to ask again. Maybe they hadn't heard her or something? Just as she was about to say something else, someone behind her spoke.

"Twilight Sparkle?" A colt's voice. Twilight spun around, and turned to see a middle-aged colt, wearing thick glasses and a lab coat. His black mane sprung every which way, and was littered with a few silver hairs here and there. He had a sort of beige-colored fur, and green eyes. Twilight sighed mentally. At last, another pony of science in this place!

She approached the colt, who was sticking his hoof out to shake. Twilight gladly took the offer.

"I'm Professor Beaker," he said, shaking Twilight's hoof, "but you can just call me Beaker." A smile spread across Twilight's face. "We were all very impressed with your work, Ms. Sparkle. We're glad to finally have you here at the lab!" Twilight couldn't help but smile wider.

"Thank you for accepting me! You have no idea how excited I was to receive my acceptance letter!" Twilight stated, remembering the embarrassing episode she had yesterday morning.

"Good to hear. Now, let's give you the grand tour!" Beaker gestured to Twilight, signaling for her to follow him. Twilight beamed and did a little dance when he turned away, then began to follow close behind. They wandered around the large cubicle area to the other side of the room, and to another door. This door needed a key card to open, as Beaker demonstrated. He inserted a card into the slot underneath the door handle, and the small light turned green.

"In we go!" Beaker pushed open the door, and they entered a small hallway that only led to another door. However, this new door was just solid metal. Twilight was a bit confused. Beaker inserted his key card into another slot, and the door rose up, allowing them to enter. Inside was a completely white room.

"What's all this for?" Twilight asked, looking around the room.

"Well, Ms. Sparkle, this is a decontamination room. Anything that goes in and comes out must be decontaminated, as to not bring in any sort of unwanted bacteria, or leave with an unwanted 'experiment'." Beaker chuckled, taking off his lab coat and glasses to hang them up on the wall. "You might want to do the same, Ms. Sparkle." He said looking at Twilight, who was still in her lab coat.

"Oh! Right!" She quickly removed her coat and glasses just as an icy shower washed over them. Twilight jumped in surprise, and shivered from the sudden blast of cold water. Beaker just shook his head with a smile.

"Don't worry, ya get used to it." He chuckled again.

The water stopped flowing, and a large blast of warm air filled the room from the fans embedded in the ceiling to dry them off. Twilight's mane was a little poofed out, but she carefully combed it back into place with her hoof. They both put their lab coats and glasses back on as the other door metal door opened. They stepped through.

"This is the main laboratory!" Beaker said proudly, Twilight right behind him. She took a long gasp as her eyes soaked in all of the lab's glory.

The door they had just exited sat on a heightened platform, which had two short steps to lead onto the main lab floor. As far as Twilight could see, there were ponies in lab coats. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies. Each pony seemed to have their own personal mini-lab. A small cuticle-like room, encased in glass so their experiments were visible. Each mini-lab held various scientific devices. There were countless test tubes and beakers with various liquids, papers scattered across desks. This was better than a dream come true!

"So," Beaker turned to face a gawking Twilight, "how do you like it?" He easily read the look of enthusiasm on her face.

"It's... Incredible!" Twilight managed to speak. She was quite literally awestruck. A place like this was perfect!

"Oh please, this isn't even scratching the surface." Beaker said confidently. This only made Twilight more excited.

Twilight made sure to trot very slowly through the lab area, turning her head left and right to see what each side held in store. So many wonderful, smart ponies. So many amazing experiments! Twilight just couldn't wait to start collaborating with others!

As they approached the back of the large lab area, there stood yet another door only accessible with the master key card that Beaker held. He inserted the card, and they stepped into another narrow hallway. At the end stood an elevator door. Above it was a sign bordered in the telltale black-and-yellow caution pattern. 'DO NOT ENTER'. Beaker stopped and turned around to face Twilight, now with a rather serious expression. Twilight was confused by the sudden tension in his eyes.

"Now, Twilight," Beaker came close to Twilight, his voice lower in volume than his previous proud voice, "I need you to stay quiet about what you're about to see. This area contains classified information unbeknownst to the ponies on this floor and others above it. If you can't do that, we'll be forced to remove you, and perhaps take even further measures. Understood?" He lowered his chin on the last word, eyes still locked on Twilight. She gulped.

"Y-Yes sir, understood." She gave a nervous smile. What was down there that was so important that she wasn't even allowed to talk about it? Whatever it was, she was sure to stay quiet after that tense exchange.

Beaker's expression changed from serious to happy in a matter of nanoseconds.

"Great! Now let's go!" He hit the button on the elevator, and soon the doors opened. Twilight hesitantly stepped inside with Professor Beaker. The doors slid shut.

Twilight looked around the elevator. Still the same white interior, of course. Why would she expect any different?

She looked to the elevator pad to see there was a ground floor, three upper stories, and five going underground. Strange, Twilight thought. More floors underground than above? The thought chilled her a little bit. They must be hiding something big underneath the ground that deep. Not to mention Manehatten sat on the sea, so not only was this facility nearly entirely underground, it was underwater! This just chilled Twilight even more. She saw that the button marked 'B1' was lit up, and the elevator chugged to a halt.

"The other elevators in the facility can only access the above-ground floors. This is the only one that can go underground." Beaker told Twilight as the elevator doors slid open, making a tiny squeak.

As they exited the elevator, something was already throwing Twilight off about this place. Maybe it was the lighting, which was a tad darker than the ground floor. One of the lights in the corner flickered, making it even more shady-feeling. The ceiling was quite high, and there were three more doors. One in front of them, and one on either side of them. Beaker led Twilight through the door in front of them. They entered

The room was shaped like a square, and in the center was a large glass tube, connecting the floor and the ceiling. She couldn't see what was in the tube, because it was surrounded by mobile curtains on all sides. Under the curtains she saw hooves, moving back and forth. Most likely scientists observing whatever was in the tube. Twilight was becoming visibly unnerved, and Beaker noticed.

"No need to worry, Ms. Sparkle. Safety is guaranteed here at the EERC!" He made sure to hug the wall, which Twilight found rather strange, but she did the same. Twilight glanced up to the ceiling to see a security camera in one corner of the wall. Out of her peripheral vision, she spotted another in the next corner. Then another, and another. Four security cameras, one for each corner, all gazed to the center of the room. Beaker noticed Twilight's discovery.

"We have live camera feeds being watched by our security department 24/7!" It seemed as if Beaker was trying every possible way not to reveal what was inside the tube. Twilight, again, found the situation unnerving. She finally asked.

"What exactly is in that tube?" She sounded maybe a bit too demanding. Beaker looked to the ground, sighed, and raised his head.

"I wanted to keep this experiment a secret, but for a mare as intelligent and seemingly trustworthy as you, I will show you." Beaker gave Twilight a smile. She felt a little flattered being called trustworthy. Well, seemingly trustworthy.

"Boys, open it up!" Beaker called out. The hooves under the curtains stopped what they were doing, and the curtains were pushed out of the way. Twilight almost let out a scream.