For whatever reason, Sunset found her usual walk through the school to have an air of weight about it, like an unspoken feeling one has when they know that something uncomfortable is about to happen. The same feeling when you’re asked to wait outside the principal’s office, or when you receive a letter with bad news. Her steps were heavy because of this, as she made her way to what was usually a favourite hang-out spot for her and her friends; the music room. As the name suggested, this is where they all practised their music, which while once serving as the source of their pony transformations, now served largely to give them all something fun to do. But even these fond memories could not shift the foreboding feeling the former unicorn felt at this time. So, as she finally reached the door of the place, she let out a deep sigh as she raised her hand, grabbed a hold of the knob, and turned, giving her entry into the room.

“Sunset! You’re here!”

The voice was loud and excited, and before Sunset herself could react, she found a swift lavender hand gabbing hold of her arm, dragging her in without her even being able to get a word out. Now inside the music room, Sunset took a moment to compose herself, looking up to who she knew would be there. Twilight, who, as her voice would suggest, was looking more than a little excited with something. But she was not the only one here, as Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were all nearby, sitting or standing in their own way as they looked to this new arrival. Sunset, letting out another sigh, looked straight to Twilight when she spoke, her voice clearly that of one who was quite tired with everything that had been going on.

“Twilight…I assume you have another plan?”

The young princess nodded, still bearing a look of joy as she looked to her friend.

“Indeed I do! But, I know I’m going to need a little help with this, so I decided the time has finally come for me to include her in this study.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that, not quite understanding who Twilight was referring to by her. However, as she stared at Twilight, Sunset noted that she was actually looking to something behind her. Slowly, the Equestrian exile began to turn around, and when she finally finished doing so, her eyes widened with shock. For there, standing beside the very door she herself had just entered, was none other than another Twilight. Specifically, the Twilight who once went to their one-time rival school, Crystal Prep. Adjusting her spectacles slightly, the shy girl looked nervously to Sunset, raising her hand and giving a small wave while forcing as much of a smile as she could, which wasn’t much.

“Um…hi?”

Bearing clear confusion upon her face, Sunset spun around, looking Twilight right in the eye.

“Twilight? What’s going on here?”

Clasping her hands together, Princess Twilight made her way over to her human counterpart, placing a hand upon her shoulder before looking over to Sunset with a confident look in her face.

“Well, I got to thinking. If I’m going to get to the bottom of this crush business, I can’t just watch Flash from the shadows or take notes. I need to be more direct. I need to get out there and see him interact with…well…me.”

Hearing that, Sunset’s expression became one of concern, and she placed a hand up to her temples, rubbing them slightly.

“Oh no…”

She had already suspected where this was going, but Twilight, oblivious to that concern, simply kept on smiling as she spoke up.

“That’s right! I’m going to use my counterpart here to pose as me, so that I can observe Flash talking to her. That way, I’ll be able to get far more accurate readings on our potential relationship.”

Turning, Twilight looked to the still-nervous girls beside her.

“Sure, she’s not exactly like me, but she’s close enough that Flash probably won’t be able to tell the difference!”

Placing her hands on her hips, Twilight widened her smile at the girl.

“Okay, other me…let’s swap clothes!”

To that, the human Twilight snapped her head in the princess’ direction, looking utterly mortified.

“W…what?!”

Gesturing to her, Twilight began to explain herself.

“Look, it’s perfectly fine. You just need to be dressed like me so that Flash won’t suspect anything. So come on, let’s…”

“Stop!”

Twilight halted in her tracks, turning her head towards the one who’d shouted, Sunset. Her fellow Equestrian looked to her, almost angry at what was going on, which didn’t really make sense to Twilight in the slightest.

“Sunset? What…what’s wrong?”

Sunset, looking to her, bore a look of incredulity after hearing that.

“What’s wrong?! Can’t you see just how far this has gone, Twilight?”

Twilight paused for a moment, looking to each of her friends, all of whom seemed to bear similarly concerned looks, before settling her eyes on Sunset again.

“But…it’s for the study! It’s important that I understand this as much as I can!”

To that, Sunset slapped her forehead with frustration.

“Ugh! Twilight! Don’t you see? We were willing to go along with this at the start, but what was just because it was you observing Flash. But now…”

Gradually, her expression became one of concern.

“Now…it’s gone too far. You’ve got all these plans that, quite frankly…are overstepping boundaries a bit.”

Needless to say, Twilight looked rather taken aback by that.

“What are you saying?”

Sunset’s expression softened, for she knew this wasn’t going to be an easy thing to say, especially to a friend. But, steeling herself, she got her words out.

“Twilight…I think…it might be time for you to end this study.”

Twilight’s eyes widened, almost to the point of being horrified by what had just been said to her.

“End it?! But…but there’s still so much I don’t understand! I can’t just quit!”

Sunset took a step closer to her, trying to speak as calmly and softly as possible.

“I know you’re dedicated to this, and I admire you for it, really I do. But…I think you might need to stop and take a look at things from our perspective. And, if I’m being honest with you…I think we all agree that…well…this crush is just something you’re going to have to accept, without understanding it.”

Twilight stopped, looking to each of her friends. They couldn’t look her in the eye, and that alone told her everything she needed to, for the one consistent look on all of their faces was guilt. None of them wanted to speak, save for Applejack, who now took a few steps closer.

“Look, sugarcube…ah know this means a lot ta ya…but Flash ain’t been too good lately. Ah think all the stuff with Pinkie and…and this feelin that somethin's been happening…well…it ain’t good fer him.”

To that, Twilight looked down at the ground.

“I…I know it’s unorthodox to do all the things I’ve been doing, but…this crush…it just never made sense to me…and I can’t have that!”

Looking up, Twilight’s expression was now one of determination.

“I have to keep going!”

Staring at her, Sunset frowned a little.

“Twilight, we’re saying this because we’re your friends. You’ve become obsessed with this project of yours! You need to stop, for your sake, as well as Flash’s!”

But Twilight shook her head.

“I can't stop! That’s just not who I am! I need to understand these things, even if I have to keep on going for months to get to the bottom of why I like Flash!”

“So…that's what’s been happening.”

In an instant, everything stopped, as if time itself had frozen. The looks on Twilight and Sunset’s faces had morphed within moments from anger and defiance to full on fear. Nobody wanted to turn, but they knew that, eventually, they’d have no choice. And so it was that, slowly, their heads started to swivel around, and before long their fears were confirmed. For there, standing in the doorway, was Flash Sentry himself. The room became as silent as a graveyard, with all of the girls looking to the angry-looking boy as if they’d lost the ability to speak entirely. After what seemed like an eternity though, Twilight finally broke that silence, taking a step closer to Flash as she did so.

“F…Flash. Please, I…I can explain.”

But the boy, still frowning, looked to the girl with intensity.

“Twilight…I don’t know how long this has been going on, but…from what I understand… in an effort to get your head around what’s been going on between us, you’ve been following me around, in secret, to the point of outright spying on me…”

He turned, looking at the other girls, Applejack in particular.

“…you had your friends keep me in the dark about it all, even lying to me about what was happening…”

As Applejack looked away in shame, Flash turned his gaze to Pinkie.

“…even had one of them try and seduce me…”

Likewise, Pinkie too avoided his gaze, looking quite embarrassed, and Flash himself now centred his attention on Twilight entirely.

“…and all of it…because you couldn’t just talk to me?”

Twilight looked at the ground, shame covering her face. Seeing her like this, the boy let out a sigh, grasping the bridge of his nose and rubbing it slightly as he spoke, his voice kept in a low tone.

“Twilight…I care about you, I truly do. But…why? Why couldn’t you feel like you could come to me with this?”

The young princess looked to him, opening her mouth several times in an effort to get her words out. But nothing came, and instead, her situation had made it so that all she could do was, once again, look away from him. Flash, seeing this, frowned again, giving a brief glance over to Sunset before looking back to Twilight.

“I…I need a moment.”

And with that, he turned, ready to leave. But, before he stepped out of the door, Twilight looked to him, finally managing to get a word out.

“Flash?”

The boy stopped, but only for a moment.

“I just…I’ll see you later.”

Twilight paused, watching him leave, gently closing the door behind him. With Flash gone, the room fell silent once more, and Twilight, ever so slowly, turned around to look upon her friends, many of whom looked as uncomfortable with how this had gone as she was. Raising a hand, Twilight slapped her forehead.

“Ugh! What…what have I done?”

Applejack, after giving Sunset a quick look, stepped up to the girl, placing a hand upon her shoulder and getting her attention.

“Twi? Can ah be honest with ya?”

Twilight looked to her, giving a nod, which was all the farm girl needed.

“Twi…ya dun goofed.”