After a long climb, the fireside girls had finally reached the top of one of the doughnuts from 'doughnuts across the mountain' and they were now hoisting the magnifying glass after them. For some reason, it seemed to be lighter than they had expected so they managed to get it on top very quickly.
"Excellent work, girls! Now all we have to do is make the sun point shine through the glass throughout the desert until we see something reflecting the light!" Isabella told the others.
The others saluted and they all took the glass and tried to get the sun to make one single dot on the sand. After a lot of pushing and pulling, they managed to do this. And soon, they were scanning through the desert.
"I think I see something! Oh no... no that's just a bottle of water." "Hey what's that? Oh, it looks like a shattered window." Several times, the girls would find something but it was never the right object.
"Makes you wonder how many junk people throw away in this desert" Adyson said.
"Well likely a whole lot. Still no sign of the crystal though" Holly sighed.
Just then, a light shone in Ginger's eyes. "Hey, whoever is doing that, stop it!" she said.
"You're talking, someone is shining directly into my eyes." Milly said.
"Quit it! I'm the one here getting shined into the eyes!" Katie replied.
"Wait a minute... girls, get the glass a bit to the right." Isabella said and the others did so.
"Hey, it stopped!" Ginger said.
"Now go back!" Isabella said.
"Aaaand it's back again" Milly said while shielding her eyes.
"Girls, I think we found our crystal! If its reflections can reach all of your eyes, there has to be a whole lot of sides!" Isabella said and they all cheered.
"Can you see where the dot is pointing?" Gretchen asked the girls closest to the edge.
"Yes, there!" Ginger said, pointing towards a rock formation in the middle of the desert.
"Great girls! It looks like we have a destination then!" Isabella said followed by a few more cheers from the rest. "Let's first bring this glass back though and a few more bottles of water wouldn't hurt!"
the others agreed and they all started descending towards the museum again.

Phineas had been so occupied in his work that he didn't even notice that Ferb hadn't returned yet. All of his attention was pulled towards what he was doing. He wanted to get it done so bad for Isabella. For some unexplainable reason, he just wanted her to be happy and love what he was doingt! He didn't know why and he didn't even know whether these feelings were a good thing or a bad thing, he only knew that he wanted to see her smile again. Every now and then he would picture her in his mind while he showed her his creation which made her smile. Seeing her smile made him the happiest person in the world. That was the feeling that kept him going yet he didn't know why he felt that way or where it came from. He didn't give it much thought though as he just kept going.
"Phineas?" Candace had walked up to him.
"Wow! Oh, it's you Candace. Sorry, you startled me a bit." Phineas replied.
"Oh, what were you thinking about?" she asked curiously.
"Hmm? Oh eh nothing" Phineas said.
Candace knew otherwise though as he had been wearing the same mysterious smile all day, only reverting to his usual smile when he was talking to the others. She knew what kept him busy but didn't ask much further. Instead, she asked "Where is Ferb? He's been gone for pretty long now."
"He hasn't returned yet?" Phineas said, suddenly worried.
"Well no, otherwise I wouldn't have asked."
"Hmm, normally he would be done by now. Maybe something got in his way? I'm sure he'll be back so-" he couldn't finish his sentence as suddenly, his stepbrother came flying towards him in his hovercraft carrying a huge machine below it.
"OK, Ferb! Great! Now things will go a lot faster!" Phineas shouted to him.
Ferb just gave him the thumbs up, placed the machine on an empty spot on the plateau and put the hovercraft away. He got out and walked up to Phineas.
"Great work, Ferb!" he said.
"And how is that thing going to speed up the process?" Candace asked.
"Simple, we just install a program, press the button and it'll finish an entire section in no-time!" Phineas said, overly amused.
Ferb just looked at him. It was a different Ferb-stare though. This one was empty. It didn't say anything. Phineas, however didn't see this as he was too occupied by his project. Candace did see it.
"Uhm... is there anything wrong, Ferb?" Candace asked.
Ferb silently shook his head but Candace knew something was up.
"Jeez, what is it with those two today" she thought to herself. "First Phineas shows feelings for Isabella and now Ferb seems like his heart has been broken... "
"Right... I'd best be getting back to work again then..." Candace said.
"Good idea, Candace! We'll be done soon! A good thing too. I expect Isabella to call me really soon to tell us that they found the crystal! Ferb? Can you operate the machine?" Phineas said.
Ferb nodded silently and started walking towards the machine. Only now did Phineas see something was up. "Hey, what happened to all the enthusiasm from this morning?" he asked.
Ferb didn't turn around and just shrugged. He entered the machine and started fiddling with the computer panels a bit. Phineas just looked at him for a moment until he remembered that he was still trying to get a project done for his best friend. He just went back to work again.

Vanessa had left her father's house and decided to just walk around. She was filled with emotions and just felt like crying. She had screamed at her dad and ruined a possible friendship in only one day. She just couldn't take it anymore. After a while, she entered the park and decided to just sit on a bench there. She just knew she wouldn't see Ferb again but this time, it stung. It felt so weird to be feeling this for a kid but still, it felt nice. A few tears left her eyes until someone spoke.
"Can I sit here, miss?"
"Whatever" she managed to say between her tears.
"Now now. What could possibly have hurt you to be feeling this way." the person asked.
Only now did Vanessa see who had come sitting beside her. Next to her sat a boy maybe one year younger than herself. He had brown, curly hair and brown eyes.
"Oh excuse me, my name is Coltrane" he then said.
Vanessa sighed "it's nothing. Just nothing."
Coltrane grinned "I would have guessed."
Something about him seemed trustworthy. Vanessa sighed again. "It's my dad..."
"Ah, mostly the root of all the troubles in a girl's life." Coltrane teased.
"He's … well let's say I might have lost a lifelong friend because of him." Vanessa replied silently.
"And that friend left because of your father?"
"Y-.." Vanessa knew this wasn't true. It was partly her fault as well. "No"
"Well I'd say find a way to get both relations back on track."
"But how?"
Coltrane shrugged. "I'm not Santa or anything. Guess you'll have to find that out on your own." Coltrane said, after which he muttered "Just like I still need to find the right way to a friend of mine." Coltrane thought of Stacy. He hadn't spoken to her since the evening of the Baljeatles.
"What's with that friend then?" Vanessa had picked up on what he had said.
"Oh nothing really... we seemed to have lost track a bit."
Vanessa suddenly remembered something Ferb had once told her. "A good friend of mine once told me that... if you care for someone, sometimes you have to meet them halfway."
Coltrane looked at her. "Heh, and here I thought you were the one that needed advice. Thanks"
"No... thank you" Vanessa said and with that, she walked off again.