| Twilight Sparkle's Science Fair Sparks | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Published | June 5, 2018 |
| Author | Arden Hayes |
| ISBN | 978-0-316-47570-9 |
| Previous | My Little Pony: Ponyville Mysteries: Cursed Crusaders |
| Next | My Little Pony: Ponyville Mysteries: Journey to the Livewood |
| See also | |
| Allusions • Little, Brown and Company • Hachette Book Group | |
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Canterlot High Stories: Twilight Sparkle's Science Fair Sparks by Arden Hayes is the thirty-seventh book in a series of chapter books published by Little, Brown and Company and the second entry in the "Canterlot High Stories" series.
In this book, Twilight Sparkle is partnered with new Crystal Prep Academy student Rising Star when Canterlot High School and Crystal Prep come together for a joint science fair.
Summary[]
| Table of contents | |
|---|---|
| Chapter title | Pages |
| Chapter 1: Signing Up or Sitting Out | |
| Chapter 2: Show Your Talent | |
| Chapter 3: Wish Upon a Star | |
| Chapter 4: Detective Sentry on the Case | |
| Chapter 5: The Writing on the Chalkboard | |
| Chapter 6: Rising Star's Secret | |
| Chapter 7: A Little Bit Evil | |
| Chapter 8: The Proof Is in the Papers | |
| Chapter 9: Science Fair Sabotage | |
| Chapter 10: The Canterlot Eight | |
| Chapter 11: A Message for Crystal Prep | |
| Chapter 12: Get Up and Dance | |
| Chapter 13: Movin' and Groovin' | |
| Chapter 14: Save a Dance | |
| Chapter 15: Who's Going to Space Camp? | |
Signing Up or Sitting Out[]
The story begins at Canterlot High School during the afternoon announcements. Principal Celestia announces over the school's P.A. system that, in order to promote a positive relationship between Canterlot High and Crystal Prep Academy, the two schools will be holding a joint science fair this year, for which the grand prize is a trip to space camp. As part of the "Canter-Crys" science fair, each participant will be partnered with a student from the other school.
Despite her love of inventing, Twilight Sparkle is nervous about signing up and seeing her old Crystal Prep schoolmates again, especially after what happened at the Friendship Games. Her friends, however, encourage her to participate for the sake of showing off her science talents and winning the grand prize. Several days later, Twilight learns that Applejack and Sunset Shimmer plan to enter the science fair, but she herself is still hesistant. While approaching the fair's sign-up sheet, she runs into Principal Celestia, who also offers Twilight support and encouragement. Inspired by Celestia's words, Twilight agrees to enter the science fair.
On the following Friday, a mixer between Canterlot High and Crystal Prep is held in the CHS gymnasium, with Principal Cinch and Dean Cadance also in attendance. Twilight feels nervous when several Crystal Prep students stare at her, but Applejack and Sunset are there to support her. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna arrive and start announcing the science teams; Twilight is teamed up with new Crystal Prep student Rising Star, and she is immediately taken by his good looks and charm. Rising Star expresses to Twilight how impressed he is by her past academic achievements, and they start to brainstorm plans for a machine that uses lights and music to stimulate positive party vibes.
Rising Star's Secret[]
Flash Sentry watches Twilight and Rising Star from across the gym, disregarding his own science fair partner. Jealous of the handsome and charming Rising Star, Flash suspects he is not as perfect as he outwardly appears. After the mixer, he follows Rising Star to his home on the other side of the city, but after some time of observing Rising Star's very normal behavior, Flash starts to believe he was wrong about him. However, he hears Rising Star go into the garage a short while later. When he peeks through the window, he sees a map of what appears to be Canterlot High and plans to brainwash and control all of its students.
The next Monday after school, Flash meets with Sunset Shimmer and her friends just as they are wrapping up Blitzball practice. He informs them of what he found out about Rising Star and suspects that the machine he and Twilight are building for the science fair is actually a brainwashing device. Concerned by Flash's discovery, Sunset and her friends go to inform Twilight. At the library, Sunset and the others find Twilight and Rising Star working on their science fair project. They pull Twilight aside and try to tell her that Rising Star is not what he seems. However, when Flash calls him an "evil demon trying to destroy the school", his choice of words reminds Twilight of her painful transformation into Midnight Sparkle, and she quickly leaves.
As Twilight rushes down the block, she is haunted by her actions as Midnight Sparkle and the effects they had on her relationships with other people. When Sunset catches up with her, she insists that Flash Sentry didn't mean to hurt her feelings and was only trying to warn her about Rising Star. They go to a nearby sweet shoppe, and Sunset explains to Twilight what Flash found at Rising Star's house. When Sunset mentions Rising Star's plans for a brainwashing device, Twilight explains that the "Party Mood Modificator" just makes people want to dance. However, Twilight realizes that in her haste leaving the library, she accidentally took Rising Star's notebook. Inside it, she and Sunset discover incomplete blueprints for a device to brainwash the school, and with Twilight's notebook left behind with Rising Star, he now has everything he needs to build it.
Science Fair Sabotage[]
The Equestria Girls all gather at Sunset Shimmer's house, where Sunset and Twilight bring the rest of their friends up to speed. As they discuss how to put a stop to Rising Star's plans, Rising Star sends a text to Twilight saying they accidentally swapped notebooks. With her friends' guidance, Twilight replies to Rising Star and gets him to tell her where his half of the machine is, which Rising Star says is in one of the Crystal Prep science labs. After Twilight tells Rising Star to meet her at the Wondercolt statue outside Canterlot High, she and her friends plan to break into Crystal Prep and steal the machine.
Using some of Twilight's spare uniforms, the Equestria Girls disguise themselves as Crystal Prep students and sneak into Crystal Prep the next day after school. They split up into three groups to search the science labs for Rising Star's machine, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash quickly locate it. Before they can decide what to do with it, Rising Star appears and catches them in the act. As they confront him about his plans, Flash Sentry also appears to incapacitate him. They accuse Rising Star of planning to brainwash the students of CHS with his machine's subliminal messaging, but Rising Star says his machine was intended for Crystal Prep, not CHS. When Twilight plays the machine's pre-recorded messages, it plays positive messages like "kindness is a virtue" and "be a friend to everyone".
Rising Star explains that when he first arrived at Crystal Prep, he found the students distant and unfriendly. So he wanted to build a machine to make the school a better, friendlier place. In order to accomplish this, he entered the science fair and rigged the pairings so that he would be partnered up with Twilight and they could then finish the machine together. But after meeting Twilight and seeing how kind and honest she was, he couldn't bring himself to reveal the machine's true purpose. Despite feeling hurt by Rising Star's deceit, Twilight says they need to submit something for the science fair, and Applejack and Sunset Shimmer—having barely worked on their own projects—offer to help.
Movin' and Groovin'[]
With several students from both Canterlot High and Crystal Prep working together, Twilight and Rising Star finish building their Party Mood Modificator after successfully testing it on Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Using a specific spectrum of flashing lights and subliminal messaging, the machine compels Pinkie and Rarity to dance. For the accompanying music, the Rainbooms write a new song called "Get Up and Dance", and Fluttershy suggests having all of the other students join in as backup singers.
Several days later, the Canter-Crys science fair gets underway, and when Twilight and Rising Star demonstrate their Party Mood Modificator for the judges, it succeeds in compelling Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, Principal Cinch, Dean Cadance, as well as several nearby students to dance. Though Cinch calls it hypnosis, Twilight explains that the machine merely coaxes people's inner desire to dance to the surface. Overall, the judges are impressed, and as they leave to judge the other projects, Flash apologizes to Twilight for hurting her feelings at the library. Twilight forgives Flash, and he asks her to save a dance for him at the science fair after-party, to which she agrees.
During the after-party, the principals of Canterlot High and Crystal Prep award second place to Twilight and Rising Star's Mood Modificator. Though Twilight and her friends are disappointed that they didn't win the trip to space camp, they are happy for the students who did win. The Rainbooms celebrate the successful joint science fair with a live performance of "Get Up and Dance", and Twilight and Flash dance together as promised.
Quotes[]
- Twilight Sparkle: Blitzball practice this weekend?
- Rainbow Dash: You bet. Maybe after we can all go to Sweet & Sour. I've been craving those chocolate marshmallow puffs.
- Twilight Sparkle: Ohhh... Or those sour huckleberry candies.
- Pinkie Pie: Did someone say 'sour huckleberry candies'? You're not going to Sweet & Sour without me, are you?
- Principal Celestia: Twilight, I know the last time you made an invention it didn't turn out the way you had hoped, and your experience at Crystal Prep was less than perfect. But you're so smart and talented. You shouldn't let anyone stop you. Besides, don't you want to go to space camp? I mean... even I want to go to space camp.
- Twilight Sparkle: Okay... I'll give it another try.
- Principal Celestia: That's all I can ask.
- Twilight Sparkle: Thanks.
- Principal Celestia: And, Twilight? I'm proud of you.
- Principal Cinch: Good afternoon, Twilight Sparkle. So happy to see you....
- Rising Star: So... What do you think?
- Twilight Sparkle: I think I'm very happy I signed up this year.
- Flash Sentry: I was at his house yesterday. And I looked through his garage window—there's this whole map of our school, and there were all these messages about mind control. And something about wanting to brainwash everyone.
- Sunset Shimmer: I'm not even going to ask why you were at his house. Or why you were looking through his garage window. It's probably better I don't know.
- Flash Sentry: He's an evil demon who's going to completely destroy the school! We have to stop him, or Canterlot High is toast!
- Sunset Shimmer: I don't think Flash meant what he said.
- Twilight Sparkle: Of course he did. Most people don't just throw around the words evil demon.
- Sunset Shimmer: Okay, you've got a point. It's not that he didn't mean it.... It's just he didn't mean to hurt your feelings. He's actually worried that Rising Star might be—
- Twilight Sparkle: A bad influence on me? He might make me go all Midnight Sparkle again?
- Twilight Sparkle: [reading] To be effective, the message must play for at least two minutes. The longer it plays, the more lasting the effect will be. Want the message to take over the school for the entire school year, so must have at least an hour of music...
- Sunset Shimmer: That definitely doesn't sound like an innocent dance machine. Why are there question marks all over it? What are those scratched-out formulas? These angles and patterns?!
- Applejack: Do you think anyone will notice we're not really Crystal Prep students?
- Twilight Sparkle: Not if you keep making that expression. You'll fit in perfectly.
- Flash Sentry: I told you! He's out to ruin Canterlot High!
- Rising Star: You're crazy!
- Rising Star: The machine was never supposed to make people dance. It was supposed to make people nicer. When I got to Crystal Prep I had all these hopes about what it would be like here. How I'd meet all these great, cool friends and join all these clubs and stuff. And none of that happened.
- Twilight Sparkle: Because everyone there is just so unfriendly.
- Flash Sentry: Um... can someone please acknowledge that I was right? Anyone?
- Sunset Shimmer: You were only kind of right.
- Twilight Sparkle: Have you ever been to a school dance where everyone was sitting down? Where the dance floor was empty and it was kind of... boring?
- Principal Celestia: I have been to one or two of those over the years....
- Sunset Shimmer: What if there were a way to liven up any party or event? If you could influence people in a big way, so before they knew it... they had to get up and dance?
- Principal Cinch: Some people just don't like dancing. What's wrong with that?
- Rising Star: But sometimes people don't like dancing because they're afraid they won't be good at it. Or they're afraid they'll embarrass themselves. With this machine, they won't have to worry about any of that. It frees you up to just—
- Dean Cadance: Get up and dance?
- Principal Cinch: That machine! It hypnotized us!
- Twilight Sparkle: No! It just put you in the exact right mood to dance. Brainwashing not included.
- Flash Sentry: I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean anything about you or the Friendship Games or anything. I just... I really thought Rising Star was doing something evil.
- Twilight Sparkle: I know. I know. It's okay.
- Flash Sentry: And I don't think about Mid-Sparkle, or whatever her name was, anymore. I never thought of you that way. I think you're... perfect.
- Twilight Sparkle: Thanks, Flash....
- Rising Star: Come on! A robot dog?
- Flash Sentry: I think I finally found one of Rising Star's flaws. He may be smart, handsome, charming, and kind... but he's also a sore loser.
