Author's Note

This takes place directly after Twilight and Sunset from Sunset Shimmer's Sick Day.

Scientific

As Twilight left Sunset's, she slapped the palm of her hand onto her forehead. "Ow!" she exclaimed. "How many freaking times have I done that today?! It's starting to hurt! Grrr! I can't believe I forgot to tell Sunset about Gloriosa! I was so distracted by the entire exhibit that it totally slipped my mind." She sighed.

Suddenly, the day's events slowly took hold over her. "What a day...and I still have to finish that experimental formula before I go to bed..." She made a sputtering noise and got to her car. She turned on the tune that gave her the adrenaline she needed to get to work on time to keep herself awake during her journey home.

The music, while energizing, slowly brought back the self-inflicted headache from early on in the morning. "Aw, crap." She grumbled. "That's it. The only thing making contact with my head for the remainder of the day will be a pillow." she said as she closed in on her home's driveway.

She parked the car and exited, then checked the time on her phone. Hmm. I may be a little fatigued, but I think I can pull off finishing the equation. she thought to herself, confident in her abilities. Just to be on the safe side, I'll keep some coffee close to me. I feel like I'm on the verge of a breakthrough!

Twilight entered her house and started brewing some coffee. While she waited, she cracked her neck and her knuckles, preparing herself for a rare light-nighter. I've heard some people prefer Crimson Bovine over coffee, but that stuff tastes terrible. Must be an acquired taste. She yawned. No! she scolded herself. No yawning. This is too important to yawn over!

Once the coffee was finished brewing, she took a metal canister and filled nearly to the brim, then put the lid on it. That should keep it nice and warm, she thought. She walked outside and turned on the outside light. "Hm. Still nice and warm out here." she said to herself. "Maybe I should crack open the window to my lab just a little."

Twilight got into her lab and changed into what she liked to call her "mad scientist" outfit. She took a good look at her equation as she took a quick sip of coffee. "Hmm..." she said, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Aha!" she said as an idea popped into her head. She frantically scribbled numbers onto her chalkboard. "Yes...yes! This makes sense..." she trailed off as another possibility occurred. "Wait...what about..." she scribbled more numbers onto her chalkboard. "Yeah, now we've got the gears turning!" Twilight said excitedly.

A couple of hours later, Twilight felt sleepiness slowly creep upon her. She yawned and stretched. "What time is it?" she thought out loud. She checked her phone's clock. "Wow, is it that time already?" Twilight lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes, making a sputtering noise. "No. This is too important to just leave here. I have to continue." she said as she yawned, then took a full gulp of coffee. "Let's do this." she said as she cracked her knuckles.

As time went on, Twilight felt more and more tired. Regardless, she pushed on. I'm gonna hit that breakthrough if it kills me! she thought, going over the equation in her head multiple times. "Eh, I've had one or two sleepless nights before. What's one more? It's not like I do this often anyway." Twilight shook her head. "Enough rambling. Back to action!" She turned on some energizing music to keep herself awake, but kept the volume at an acceptable level. Don't want to disturb the peace. She thought with a smirk on her face.

Time continued to pass, and Twilight felt herself slowly getting frustrated. She growled. "What am I missing?" She said as began pacing back and forth. "It better not be something obvious. It makes me crazy when that happens!" Maybe...no, that doesn't add up. She sighed and grabbed her canister. "It's empty...time to make more, then."

Twilight left her lab and walked outside to the porch's sliding-glass window. She opened the window and proceeded to the kitchen. Good thing Mom and Dad got more than one bag of coffee. I don't like taking all of it myself. As the coffee began brewing, she mulled over the numbers again and again. She sighed. What am I missing? I don't usually struggle this much... The coffee maker beeped, signaling that it was finished. Twilight refilled her canister and walked back to her lab, her head filled with possible answers to the equation that had been plaguing her throughout the night.

She returned to her laboratory, her frustration increasing. She immediately made a mental note to herself not to bang her head on anything. She'd done that more than enough times today. She continued working on her equation as the night went on.

"Gah!" she growled, pulling at her hair. "Screw this, I'll work on it tomorrow." She shut off the power to her lab to conserve energy, then walked back into the house. She sighed. I'm all for mental challenges, but that was just plain ridiculous! she thought to herself as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Well, I shouldn't dwell on it. I'm tired and frustrated enough as it is, I think it'd be counterproductive to obsess over it at this point.

She locked the sliding-glass window and cleaned out the metal canister that held the coffee she drank throughout the night. She then walked upstairs as quietly as she could, so she wouldn't wake up Spike or her parents. She grabbed her "Do Not Disturb" sign, placed it on the outside of her bedroom door, and closed it. "Maybe I'll find the answer in my dreams." she said as she changed into her pajamas. "That'd be nice." She got into bed and pulled the comforter over herself. She slowly drifted off to sleep, blissfully unaware that her inability to complete the equation would cause an incident that would haunt her for years.