Boredom. That was the main feeling being experienced by most of Twilight’s friends right now. At first, their agreement to her rather unusual request had been well enough. They’d followed her to the library where they’d basically done their own thing while they let her gather some additional books. But now, by her own words, the work had “begun in earnest”, and so they’d spent the better part of an hour asking around town to find out where their target was at this exact moment. They’d followed lead after lead until, eventually, they came upon none other than Sugar Cube Corner. But, rather than simply enter the place to look for him, Twilight had another plan in mind.

“Ugh! Twilight! Do we have to stay behind these stupid bushes all day?” Rainbow asked.

With a pair of binoculars firmly placed upon her face, Twilight made a noise that seemed to sound like agreement before actually responding outright.

“I’m afraid we do, Rainbow. If we go in there and Flash sees us, the entire study could be compromised.”

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow leaned back into her section of the bush, looking to the other girls, none of whom seemed anywhere near as invested in this as Twilight was. The only one who seemed to be bearing any kind of interest was Sunset, but even she was more than a little unsure about it all.

“Um…Twilight? If you don’t mind my asking…when Flash comes out of there, what exactly are you going to do?”

Putting her binoculars down, Twilight turned to her fellow Equestrian with an obliviously happy smile.

“Take notes of course! I need to get a better understanding of what, exactly, Flash has about him that could have drawn me to him, made me crush on him like that.”

Raising a hand, Sunset scratched the side of her head, clearly showing uncertainty about how her friend could be viewing such an ordinary thing in such an unordinary matter. However, she hadn’t the chance to speak, as Rarity, now clasping her hands together, looked to her royal friend with an almost dreamy look in her eyes.

“Oh, but Twilight! Mayhaps it is merely love at first sight! Like in those wonderful romantic stories of yore!”

Looking to the young fashionista, Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Rarity… appreciate that you probably believe in that kind of thing. But the fact is…I don't. I need to understand this, not just assume it’s some fairy tale love story.”

Bearing a disapproving expression, Rarity folded her arms, looking away from Twilight with a brief “hmph” sound.

“Well, to each their own, I suppose. Though you really shouldn’t be so analytical about such things, Twilight.”

Chuckling at that, Spike, who had been sitting silently during most of this, looking to the girl with a smile.

“Hate to break it to ya, Rarity, but that’s kinda like asking the sun to be a little less hot.”

Rarity opened her mouth to speak, only to be kept from doing so as Twilight began to inch forward, letting out a brief gasp. This caught the attention of all the other girls, and they turned in unison, peering over the top of the bush to see what had caused it. Sure enough, there he was, Flash Sentry, the boy Twilight had come to study. Naturally, he was oblivious to their stares, coming out of Sugar Cube Corner with what looked like a small cake in his hand. Walking away a little, he sat down on one of the numerous chairs and tables the Cakes had set up for their customers to sit and eat on sunny days. Getting himself comfortable, Flash looked down at his confectionary before taking a large bite. As one would expect, this caused Pinkie’s stomach to grumble slightly, with a despondent look on her face soon after.

“Aww! Can’t we go over there and get something too?”

But Twilight shook her head.

“We can’t! For the time being, Flash needs to be completely in the dark about us watching him!”

Leaning closer to her, Applejack kept her eyes on the boy as she whispered to Twilight.

“Um…what exactly are we lookin for, Twi?”

To that, Twilight shrugged her shoulders.

“Anything! Some clue as to why he would get my attention the way he did.”

Hearing that, Applejack let out a brief chuckle.

“Well, not to be too blunt, Twi, but the boy is pretty easy on the eyes.”

Looking to her, Twilight frowned slightly before speaking up again.

“I know that! But think about it! There are loads of good-looking guys at Canterlot High, so why did I latch onto him?”

At that question, Applejack was at a loss for words, leading to her shrugging her shoulders. Turning, Twilight instead looked over to Sunset, and for the first time, a particular thought about her companion came to mind.

“Sunset…why did you choose him?”

Turning to her, Sunset seemed a little surprised by that question, prompting Twilight to explain herself.

“I mean…you two dated, right? It can’t just be simple coincidence that both of us, both ponies, found an interest in the guy, so…why did you choose Flash of all people to date?”

The look on Sunset’s face made it clear that talking about that particular relationship was not something she normally did. However, after a few moments of silence, she let out a long sigh, after which she began speaking.

“I… don’t know. I was still at that time in my life when all I wanted was to get influence over the school and the students. Dating Flash…I dunno, it just seemed to help with that.”

Tilting her head, Twilight took on a look of slight confusion.

“But…did Flash really have that much sway over the school himself?”

Chuckling slightly, Sunset shook her head.

“Not in the way I would have wanted. Flash isn’t the kind of guy to want power like that. He was just…just a nice guy. He had a lot of friends, and people generally liked him a lot. That made him popular, and dating him sort of let that popularity rub off on me.”

Thinking on that, Sunset looked down at the ground, almost looking sad to talk about all this.

“I was…I was just using him. Trying to get people to like me by being close to one who was already liked.”

Sensing she’d touched a bad nerve, Twilight immediately gained an apologetic look.

“Oh! I’m…I’m sorry, I…”

But Sunset, putting on a small smile, raised a hand, stopping her.

“It’s fine. I got over it a long time ago. That was…another life.”

In time, Twilight looked relieved that she’d avoided making her friend feel any worse than she needed to be. If she’d had the time, she might have asked further questions. Unfortunately, she didn't have the time, as Pinkie began hopping in one place behind her section of the bush, catching Twilight’s attention.

“Ooh! Ooh! He’s on the move!”

Putting up her binoculars again, Twilight saw that Flash was indeed making his way away from where had been, dumping the wrapper of his cake into a nearby trashcan before putting his hands in his pockets and starting to walk down the street. Lowering the binoculars again, Twilight narrowed her eyes, a look of determination upon her face.

“Let’s go, girls! The chase is on!”

To that, Spike slapped his forehead.

“Could you please stop talking like that?”