It's Too Early For This

The morning sun rose quickly over the small town of Ponyville, signalling the start of the brand new day. While many a stallion, mare, filly and colt began to emerge from their homes to greet the dawn, there was one place where things were less quick to embrace it. The imposing, crystalline form of the Friendship Palace. This impressive stronghold, home to the Princess of Friendship herself, glistened in the morning rays, but within, one person alone grumbled and grunted with the rising of the glorious sun. Spike the dragon, within the confines of his room within the palace, slowly cracked one eye open, immediately groaning at the sight of rays of light entering his window. Try as he might to cover himself in his bedsheets, he couldn’t hide from it forever. And so, rather reluctantly, he threw off his sheets, frowned at the sunny horizon outside of his window, and got out of bed, grumbling all the way.

Letting out many a loud yawn, the young drake began to make his way out of his room and downstairs, heading straight for the kitchen. There, he searched cupboard after cupboard, eventually happening upon a box of his favourite gemstones, which, at the very least, elevated his mood a little. However, as he took a seat at the kitchen table, happily munching on rubies and emeralds alike, he was struck with the sudden realisation that he was alone here. Looking all around the room, he found that the castle’s other occupant was nowhere to be seen. Feeling just the tiniest bit unnerved by this, he carefully picked up his bowl of gems, hopped off his chair, and instead began to make his way over to the adjacent room. Again, no sign of his lifelong friend. Eventually though, and after much searching, he found her, sitting at the now-famous cutie map in the central chamber.

“Twilight?” he called out.

Twilight Sparkle, the newest and youngest of the alicorn princesses of Equestria, looked up from the table as she heard her assistant’s voice. Smiling at the sight of him, she waved a hoof, silently inviting him to come over to her. Spike nodded, feeling more than a little relief at having found her at least. But, upon drawing closer to the map, he found, to his confusion, that it was covered in a number of open books, as well as numerous sheets of notes, which had been hastily scrawled from the looks of it.

“Um…you okay, Twilight?”

Smiling, the young princess nodded.

“Oh, I’m fine, Spike. How are you?”

The dragon raised an eyebrow, somewhat taken aback at the perky way in which is friend had replied. But, as he stood there, watching her, he found, to his dismay, that there were a few noticeable differences to Twilight’s appearance this morning. Somewhat dark circles under her eyes, and, more importantly, a few strands of hair from her mane, which now stuck up in multiple directions. Clearing his throat, he worked up the nerve to speak up again.

“Er…how did you sleep?”

But Twilight waved him off, letting out a brief scoffing sound before replying.

“Oh, I didn't sleep last night, Spike. I had way too much work to do!”

Raising an eyebrow, Spike knew that what he was planning to say was a dangerous path, yet proceeded regardless.

“Okay. I know I’ll probably regret this, but…what work is that exactly?”

Then, to Spike’s surprise, Twilight’s expression changed, almost immediately. Gone was her chipper smile and overall happy gaze, replaced instead by a look of utter seriousness, complete with narrowed eyes. As if to emphasise the point, she slammed a hoof against the table, causing Spike to jump slightly, before giving him the answer he wanted.

“Spike! We have a problem! A big problem! A problem that defies all reason and logic in the way it persists!”

Now, Spike was well aware at this point in his life that Twilight often spoke this way about many things that, quite frankly, he didn’t think were major issues. However, he had also come to learn that there was little chance of swaying her once she was convinced something was a problem, so, after letting out a sigh, he shrugged his shoulders before reluctantly saying the obvious question.

“Alright…what problem?”

Looking down to the table, Twilight used her magic to move aside several sheets of paper, which revealed that, underneath, there seemed to be a photo of some kind. Spike couldn’t get a good look at it from this angle, but that soon changed when Twilight reached out with her hoof, picked it up, and held it out in an almost accusatory manner.

“The problem…is him!”

Looking to the photo, Spike saw now that it was a picture of no pony, but rather, a human, the native race of the world beyond the magic mirror. But this was no ordinary human. Bearing distinct spikey-blue hair and a somewhat goofy grin, this was one Spike actually knew personally.

“Um…Flash?”

Maintaining her frown, Twilight nodded, after which she held the photo up to her own face, narrowing her eyes further still as she began to speak in an almost seething manner.

“Yeah…Flash. He’s the problem, Spike. And it’s a problem that must be solved!”

As one might expect, the young drake was completely dumbfounded by this behaviour, looking around for a while, almost as if he were looking for somepony to explain what was going on. In the end though, after letting out another sigh, he raised a clawed hand and rubbed the side of his temples.

“And how, exactly, is your not-so-secret crush a problem?”

Putting the photo down, Twilight turned to her assistant once more.

“That’s exactly it, Spike! I have a crush on him! I mean…don’t you see?”

Folding his arms, Spike shook his head.

“No, but I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”

Looking down to the table again, Twilight used her magic to levitate several open books and sheets of notes in front of her.

“It’s a problem because it makes no sense! I had a grand total of five minutes with the guy during my time in that other world, and I’m including both visits by the way. I know barely anything about him, what he’s like, and yet…”

Looking back to the photo, Twilight began to develop quite a fierce-looking blush upon her cheeks.

“…yet every time I saw him…it was like I’d lost all sense of reason and logic! I became this nervous, stuttering wreck!”

Dropping all of the books and notes, Twilight regained her earlier look of annoyance.

“I’m an alicorn princess for Faust’s sake! But this…this boy…when I was around him, I became a literal lovesick schoolgirl! And that…”

Again, she slammed her hoof into the table, which actually served to wake Spike up after he’d almost fallen asleep during her rant.

“…simply will not do!”

The young dragon rolled his eyes a little before speaking up again.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that you probably already have a plan for this…problem, I assume?”

Almost like lightning, Twilight’s expression changed to her earlier, more upbeat one, as she flapped her wings and leapt right to the other side of the table, right in front of Spike, causing him to take a step backwards.

“Indeed I do, my dearest assistant! I’ve been up all night, trying to figure out how it makes sense that I like this guy I only just met. I mean, if nothing else, how does it calculate that I, having never had an interest in males before, would suddenly develop such an interest now? And towards a member of a species I didn’t even know existed until then?!”

To that, Spike frowned slightly.

“Hey! Don’t go knocking cross-species love! I’m still trying to get Rarity to notice me, remember?”

This time, it was Twilight’s turn to roll her eyes.

“Sure thing, loverboy. But, back to the task at hand. This has been bothering me for too long now! And I came to realise that, if I’m going to solve this problem, I can’t just stick my nose in books all day!”

Hearing that, Spike stifled a brief chuckle.

“Really? Because it’s worked so well for you in the past.”

Ignoring his obvious sarcasm, Twilight stamped her hoof down, a look of sheer determination upon her face.

“Spike, I am the Princess of Friendship! I will not let this…this nonsense get me down! I’m going to solve this Flash problem, even if it kills me!”

Before Spike could react, he watched as his friend lit up her horn once more, causing a near-blinding flash of light, which led to him shielding his eyes just in time. When the light died down, and Spike lowered his claw, he found that Twilight was now carrying a pair of heavily-filled saddle-bags. And, as before, she looked more than a little pleased with herself.

“Any real scientist knows that, to truly understand a problem, you have to observe it! And that’s exactly what I’m going to do, Spike!”

Those words caught the young dragon by surprise, and he turned his head, looking to the other side of the chamber. There, still glowing as always, was the magic mirror itself, which had been moved here per Twilight’s instructions some time ago. Putting two and two together, he turned to his friend, an incredulous look upon his face.

“Seriously?! You’re going to the other world?! Over this?!”

Giggling slightly, Twilight placed a hoof gently upon Spike’s head, carefully patting him there.

“Don’t worry, Spike. I already sent word ahead to Sunset. So it’s not like it’s going to be a sudden surprise or anything.”

Spike opened his mouth to speak, only to find himself fumbling his words.

“That’s not what I…ugh!”

Slapping his forehead in frustration, the dragon took a few calming breaths, after which he looked to Twilight with a more serious look.

“Okay, fine. But if you’re gonna go over there, at least take me with you.”

Although initially surprised by this request, the young princess soon gained a more prideful look as she gazed down at her young assistant.

“Ah! Hoping to see a full-on scientific experiment in action, eh?”

Letting out a dry chuckle, Spike shook his head as he began to make his way towards the mirror.

“Nope. I just want to make sure you don’t end up doing crazy tests on the guy in some basement or something!”

Following close behind him, Twilight rolled her eyes at that.

“Ugh! I swear, I do one test to find out about Pinkie Sense, and suddenly I never hear the end of it!”

Getting Some Help

Thankfully for all concerned, the weather was gloriously beautiful today in the town of Canterlot. And within its titular high school, things were settling down after a long school day, with boys and girls from every class leaving the main building, ready to head off for whatever activity they wanted to do with their friends. And speaking of friends, an entire group of them now gathered near the once-magnificent horse statue out at the front of the school, which, sadly, remained a blasted wreck thanks to the recent events at the Friendship Games. Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie all stood or sat near the thing, looking a combination of nervous and excited. After a silence of many minutes, it was eventually Pinkie who, naturally, was the first to break the silence.

“Argh! This is so exciting! I can’t believe Twilight’s coming back!”

Turning to her ecstatic friend, a smile crept upon Sunset’s face.

“I know. It’ll be good to see her again.”

Although she looked like she agreed with that, Applejack turned to the former unicorn and raised an eyebrow as she spoke.

“So…any idea what she wanted us here for?”

To that, Sunset merely shrugged her shoulders.

“Dunno. Her message was kinda brief. All I know is that it was urgent.”

Looking to the rest of them, Rainbow, while placing her hands firmly on her hips, smirked a little as she added her own voice to the mix.

“Well, whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be something pretty interesting. I mean, this is Twilight we’re talking about, remember?”

There was a general murmur of agreement over that, and before long, Sunset looked like she was about to say something else. Unfortunately, she was interrupted when, all of a sudden, the surface of the nearby portal began to ripple and glow. This, as one might expect, caught the interest of the girls immediately, and those who were sitting got to their feet as soon as possible. They waited for a moment, then two, then three, but eventually, there was an emergence. There, passing through the once-stone surface, was Twilight herself, followed shortly by her now-canine companion, Spike. As was common at these gatherings, the girls allowed the young princess a moment to get herself used to walking on two legs once more, but this time, that took only a few seconds, after which she looked to them with a smile upon her face.

“Um…hi.”

Her words were like permission granted, and every girl there instantly rushed forward, embracing their friend in a tight hug. Although taken aback by this, Twilight soon regained her composure, smiling to them and returning the embrace. The hug only lasted a moment or two, and soon afterwards, they parted form her, allowing her to get her words out.

“It’s good to see you all again. How have you all been?”

Shrugging her shoulders slightly, Sunset was the first to speak.

“Nothing of note really. Things here have been pretty much exactly how you left it.”

Nodding at that, a look of realisation crossed Twilight’s face, and before long, she was scouring not only the group before her, but also the surrounding area.

“And…is she here?”

Understanding her meaning immediately, Sunset chuckled a little before shaking her head.

“Afraid not. Twilight had some work she needed to get on with in the library. But she said she’d meet up with us later.”

Twilight nodded at that, after which she gave Sunset her full attention before speaking up again.

“I see you got my message?”

Sunset nodded before replying.

“Yeah, but…you didn’t really say what was going on.”

Stepping forward, Fluttershy took on a look of worry as she spoke.

“Is…is it something…scary? Like a monster from Equestria?”

Before Twilight could answer, Spike let out a brief scoffing sound.

“Ha! You’ll wish it was something like that.”

Taking a moment to frown at her assistant, Twilight regained her smile when she looked up at her friends again, clearing her throat before giving them their answer.

“Actually, it’s nothing as dangerous as that, although…it is something I feel needs sorting out.”

Walking closer to her, Rainbow slapped a hand down on her shoulder with a confident look on her face.

“Well, whatever it is, we’re here for you, Twi!”

Twilight looked around, seeing the smiles and nods of agreement after Rainbow had said that, and in this moment, she afforded herself a second or two to just enjoy the feeling of camaraderie. But, this moment didn’t last any longer, as she soon spoke up again, looking more than a little sure of herself as she did so.

“Great! So, what I need from you is to help me with some research on why I have a crush on Flash Sentry!”

And, just as soon as she’d spoken, it was as if all of her friends looked as if they’d immediately become as still and unmoving as statues. Twilight, for her part, couldn’t really understand this reaction, and as for Spike, he simply did his best to cover his eyes, practically dreading what was going to happen next. Eventually, her friends began to move again, blinking a few times as they all looked to her, almost as if they were waiting for her to just say “gotcha” or something.

“Um…Twilight? Are you okay?” Rainbow asked.

Raising an eyebrow at that, Twilight nodded.

“Er…yeah? Why? Is there something wrong?”

The other girls all looked to each other, as if daring one another to be the first to tell her. But, in the end, it was Rarity who elected to speak out, clearing her throat before she did so.

“Darling. If I may say so, this…this doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that should be the subject of…of research.”

Shaking her head, Twilight placed her saddle-bags, which had been slung over her shoulders during her transformation, upon the ground, after which she looked to her fashionista friend.

“Believe me, Rarity, this needs to happen. It makes no sense to me whatsoever that I like the guy as much as I do! I need to study him as much as I can to get a better grip on things!”

Despite her earlier shock, Sunset, to Twilight’s irritation, actually laughed at that, though one look at Twilight’s disapproving face caused her to raise a hand as she spoke.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…doesn’t that seem a little bit silly to you?”

Frowning, Twilight shook her head.

“Not at all. In fact, I was hoping you’d all help me do it.”

Yet again, a silence fell between them, and again, they looked to each other with nervous expressions. After almost a full minute of nobody saying anything, Rainbow let out a sigh before looking to her royal companion.

“Well…we did kinda say we’d help you no matter what.”

Before anyone could say anything else however, Pinkie jumped in-between them and spoke in that bubbly manner of hers.

“Technically, Rainbow, only you said that!”

Needless to say, this earned her a scornful look from the athlete, but, thankfully, Rainbow calmed herself enough to address Twilight once more.

“We’re your friends, Twilight. If you say you’d want us to help you with this, then…I guess we’ll help.”

The reluctance in her voice was clear, and all around the other girls it was obvious that, while willing to help, they were by no means as sure of themselves as they were before Twilight made her purpose known. As for Twilight herself, who was oblivious to the less-than-happy feelings of the girls, broke out into a massive smile, clasping her hands together before picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

“Thank you, girls! I really do appreciate this. No let’s go! We’ve got science to do!”

As the young princess began to make her way past the group, Applejack, scratching her head, spoke what was perhaps on all of their minds.

“Um…Twi? We’re not gonna be doin any…ya know…weird stuff in all of this, are we?”

Giggling at that, Twilight waved a hand at her farmer friend.

“Of course not, Applejack. We’re just going to be following a boy around, observing him in secret and possibly conducting a few experiments. There’s nothing weird about that.”

Naturally, all the other girls looked just the tiniest bit disturbed by their friend’s declaration, but stayed quiet as she made her way to the school. As they stood there, however, Spike, who had been watching silently this whole time, walked past them with a small smirk on his face.

“Yeah, welcome to my world.”

The Study Begins

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?”

Flutterspy

As the day had passed on, the girls had taken every precaution when following Flash around town. They'd ducked and weaved behind whatever cover they could find, be it simple bushes, walls, park benches, or even, in the case of Pinkie Pie, street lamps. Fortunately for all concerned, the boy had not noticed them once during their entire journey, not even Pinkie. Eventually, they stopped walking around, coming to a street corner where, oddly, Flash made a sudden turn, heading into the building which lay there. Twilight raised an eyebrow as she regarded the place, old and not as good a condition as the surrounding homes. But, what made it notable was the words etched just above the doorframe, which read "Canterlot Orphanage" in bold letters. Scratching her head, Twilight turned to her friends, all of whom seemed equally perplexed as to this turn of events.

"An orphanage? Any idea why he went in there?"

While many of the girls shrugged their shoulders at that question, Sunset, while placing a hand to her chin, thought harder on the matter.

"You know...now that I think about it, I do remember Flash going off at around this time of week like clockwork. He never said what he was doing though."

Looking to her, Twilight tilted her head.

"He kept it secret?"

To that, Sunset shook her head again, gaining a slight look of discomfort as she did so.

"Actually...in truth...I just don't think I was all that interested in what he did when I wasn't there."

Twilight nodded, acknowledging her point, after which she turned back to the building. After standing there and just staring at it for a few minutes, it became clear to the young princess that her quarry wasn't coming out anytime soon, leading to a grunt of frustration on her part.

"Ugh! I'm not going to be able to get any idea what's going on with him if I can't even see him!"

Placing her hand upon her hips, Twilight tapped her foot impatiently upon the sidewalk, thinking the matter over for another minute or so, after which, she suddenly looked like she had an idea of some sort.

"Say...do any of you know the layout of that place?"

The other girls, somewhat taken aback by that statement, looking to each other with confusion, after which they turned in unison towards Twilight, giving her a shrug of their shoulders. Getting a pretty clear answer from that, Twilight sighed, looking more than a little disappointed, until, all of a sudden, a solitary hand began to hesitantly rise, catching her attention.

"Um...I know."

All eyes turned to Fluttershy, who, as one would expect, was looking quite nervous about having spoken up like that. The other girls, after thinking about it, suddenly realised without saying anything that of course the girl would know something about it. Fluttershy and places of care went together like bread and butter after all. Lowering her hand again, she suddenly found that her hair began to fall in such a way that at least half of her face was now obscured by it, which was of great help to her at this point. As for Twilight, she soon broke out into a joyous smile, clapping her hands together as she drew closer to her friend.

"Excellent! Then you can go in and see what's happening!"

Needless to say, Fluttershy looked completely mortified by that prospect, and the other girls looked to Twilight with incredulous expressions, culminating in Rainbow speaking up.

"Hold on! I thought you said we weren't going to be talking to him?"

Looking to her friend, Twilight nodded a little.

"I did indeed. But, the important thing is that he be unaware of the study. If he happens upon one of you girls during his day, especially if it's something like Fluttershy visiting an orphanage, is he really going to suspect anything out-of-place?"

Rainbow opened her mouth, only to be struck with the realisation that her friend had a very good point here. Turning, the girl looked upon her other companions, but they too were found to be unable to come up with a counter-argument to that. So, sighing, Rainbow slumped her shoulders a little, instead going on to look at Fluttershy.

"Well, Flutters? Think you're up to it?"

Fluttershy looked to each of them before eventually settling on Twilight, who was looking as eager as ever to get on with this.

"But...but...but...what do I do?"

Moving closer to her, Twilight gently placed a hand upon her shoulder, giving her a reassuring look.

"Just do what you would normally do when visiting a place like this. If Flash sees and talks to you, don't panic. Just say you're there for a visit or something."

Thinking on that for a moment or two, Fluttershy took a deep breath before nodding to her friend. Smiling even wider than before, Twilight gave her a quick pat on the shoulder before gesturing to the orphanage behind them.

"Okay. Remember, we'll be here if you need us."

Nervously, Fluttershy nodded, after which she began to slowly make her way over to the old building, stopping every few moments to look over her shoulder to her friends. After a while of doing this, she reached the place, peering her head through the door and seeing nobody but the building's receptionist, a woman, who looked to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Um...can I help you?"

Thinking, Fluttershy eventually cleared her throat before speaking back.

"Y...yes. My name is Fluttershy and, well...I was wondering if I could help out here today?"

Hearing that, the older woman's face lit up somewhat.

"I'm glad to hear it! You're the second person who’s come here for that! By all means, go on through, I'm sure the kids would love some more people to spend time with them!"

Smiling back, Fluttershy went into the room the woman was gesturing to. As expected, it was filled to the brim with younger children, many of whom were busying themselves with playing with the toys set out for them, or doing games like hide-and-seek with their fellow orphans. Unfortunately, Fluttershy's assigned plan of staying out of Flash's sight was not going to be an option for her, as she saw that there he was, right on the other side of that open room. She saw that he was sitting down on a comfortable-looking chair, with what appeared to be a large book in his hands. What's more, he was surrounded by about a dozen or so boys and girls, all of whom were sitting on the floor, watching him with smiles upon their faces. Gulping, Fluttershy did her best to make her way close enough to see what was going on, but not so close as to be noticed. Unfortunately, given the lack of cover, the inevitable happened.

"Hey there, Fluttershy!"

"Eeep!"

Turning, the shy girl saw that, of course, she had been spotted, as Flash was now looking up from his book and had begun waving to her. The children too had turned to see her, and with so many eyes on her, she coughed nervously, before then giving a small wave back in greeting. Flash then gave a gesture that made it clear that he wanted her to come over, and seeing as she had no real reason to say "no", she soon ended up doing just that. Once there, Flash looked to her with a smile, finally speaking up.

"Good to see you again. Gotta say though, I wasn't really expecting to see you here today."

Letton out a brief-but-nervous chuckle, Fluttershy nodded before answering back.

"Um...I wasn’t expecting to see you either, Flash."

Letting out a hearty laugh, the boy nodded at that.

"Yeah. Guess I wanted this to be...well...my little secret, you know?"

For the first time in all of this, Fluttershy actually seemed to calm down, looking to Flash with a look of understanding.

"I...I think I know. I don't really like bragging about my work down at the animal shelter either."

Flash nodded at that, still smiling though.

"Well...working with animals and orphans, that's pretty awesome, Fluttershy."

To that, a small blush crept onto Fluttershy's cheeks.

"Oh! Well...I don't know about that."

Before Flash could respond, however, one of the kids, a small boy, spoke up to him.

"Um...Mr Flash? Could you keep telling us that story?"

Looking down to him, Flash gained a look of realisation.

"Ah! Right! Sorry about that, kids. Kinda got caught up with my friend here."

The kids giggled slightly at that, prompting yet another blush from Fluttershy. However, before Flash got back to his duty of story-telling, he got himself a look that suggested that he'd just had an idea.

"Hey...how about we both read it to them?"

Fluttershy, naturally, seemed taken aback by that.

"Um...both? Oh no! I wouldn't want to intrude!”

But the kids themselves looked very enthusiastic all of a sudden, looking to Fluttershy with massive smiles.

“Aww! Come on, Miss!” one girl cried.

“New storyteller!” another yelled.

As Fluttershy looked form one child to another, Flash gave another brief laugh.

“Better do it, Fluttershy. These kids can be vicious.”

The jokey way he’d spoken that did put her at ease somewhat, and that, coupled with all of the huge eyes staring at her, eventually led to her giving a small nod of consent, which was met with many loud cries of “yay” from the children. Giggling at this, Fluttershy looked over to Flash, who scooted over and gestured to the side of his chair, inviting her over. Although hesitant, she made her way over, taking a seat beside him. Smiling to his new companion, Flash looked again to the book in his hands, reading the words aloud.

“Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess, who lived in a faraway land.”

He didn’t continue, instead looking to Fluttershy. It took her a few moments, but eventually, she understood, looking to the book herself.

“Oh! Um…and because she’d spent her whole life in a tower, her hair had grown very, very long…”

“And? What happened then?”

Twilight, looking upon Fluttershy, watched as she twiddled her thumbs for a few moments, thinking over what to say next.

“Well…after we told them some stories, we stayed to make sure the kids weren’t getting too rough when playing their games. Oh! And Flash also brought along his guitar to sing to them a few times.”

With every word she said, Twilight was taking meticulous notes, all while her friends were looking to their shy friend. Sunset in particular actually looked impressed by what she’d heard.

“Volunteering at an orphanage? Wow…never would have guessed.”

To that, Fluttershy gained a sweet little smile.

“It was really nice of him. The kids all loved him, always talking about how he goes there every week.”

Looking up from her notes, Twilight looked to Fluttershy again, looking more than a little enamoured right now.

“It really does sound like a good thing for him to be doing. A guy like that, well…it sounds like it suits him.”

But, her expression changed almost instantly afterwards, looking instead like one of a scholar and problem-solver.

“Doing things like that would certainly contribute to people liking him. Still…I never knew about that until now. Guess that means it can’t explain the crush. Nevertheless, good work, Fluttershy.”

The other girl nodded at that, but wasn’t able to say anything, as they all began to hear the distinct sound of someone opening a door. Ducking behind the corner of a nearby house, they all watched as Flash finally made his way out of the orphanage. Once out on the street, the boy looked down the road, seeing the setting sun, wherein he placed his hands inside his pockets before starting to make his way off. Emerging from behind the house, the girls all looked to one another before Applejack eventually broke the silence.

“Well…guess he’s headin off home.”

Looking to the sun herself, Twilight gave a nod.

“Yeah…it is getting pretty late.”

Turning, she instead looked to Pinkie.

“Um…I don’t suppose I could trouble you by staying over, could I?”

To that, Pinkie rushed forward, embracing her in a hug.

“Of course you can stay, Twilight! It’ll be the best slumber party ever! Well…since the last one anyway.”

Laughing at that, Twilight parted form her friend, after which she looked to the others.

“Thank you all for helping today. But this is only the first day of this. There’s plenty more to do, but I think we can all do with a rest for the moment.”

All of the girls nodded with agreement over that, and together, they began to make their way back the way they’d come, all in readiness to head off to their own respective homes. However, as they did this, Rainbow stopped, looking over her shoulder to see that Fluttershy was still standing there, looking out to where Flash had been.

“Um…Fluttershy? You coming?”

Realising she was being spoken to, Fluttershy immediately spun around, putting on a smile as she looked to her childhood friend.

“Oh! Sure! I’m just coming!”

Nodding, Rainbow turned and continued on, following the rest of the girls. As for Fluttershy, she gave one final look to the orphanage, with a slight blush upon her cheeks, speaking up in an almost hushed voice.

“…Oh dear.”

The Reason Why

With the sun only just rising over the town of Canterlot, a cool morning breeze blew through its streets. Into this, Sunset Shimmer was found walking down towards her usual stomping grounds, Canterlot High. Upon reaching the front doors of the place, a small smile crept onto her face, leading to her taking in a deep breath before exhaling.

“Another day, another long study session.”

The words were spoken with comfort, and before long, she started making her way up the front steps. It didn’t take long to get into the school proper, but at this early hour only a few students had arrived thus far. But, unlike most of them, Sunset made her way straight for one of her favourite spots in the school; the library. Once there, she was met with the absolute quite of the place, bringing yet another smile to her. After looking around for a bit, she found the books she wanted, after which she chose a table and sat herself down. However, no sooner had she done so when she finally noticed that she was not alone here. Aside from the library’s keeper, Cheerilee, there was also another figure. At first, Sunset didn’t recognise them, with their brown trenchcoat and fedora hat obscuring their identity. But, it soon dawned on Sunset that the figure had very familiar lavender skin.

“…Twilight?”

Turning her eyes downwards, Sunset then noted the presence of a clearly-tired dog beside the figure, and sure enough, a chuckle escaped her. Getting up from her chair, the girl made her way over, and it wasn’t long before Twilight noticed her approach.

“Ah! Good morning, Sunset.”

Twilight’s fellow Equestrian nodded at that before taking a seat beside her.

“You too, Twilight. What’s with the getup?”

Looking down at her clothes, the young princess blushed slightly as she looked once more to her friend.

“I didn’t’ want to run the risk of Flash walking in here and spotting me.”

To that, Sunset nodded.

“Makes sense. So, how was Pinkie’s?”

Looking back to her own books, a sigh escaped Twilight’s lips.

“Same as always.”

Despite herself, Sunset let out a brief laugh.

“Ah. That energized was it?”

Twilight nodded.

“I'll say! She was so excited I was there that she just couldn’t go to sleep. Still, I guess it did give me some extra time to get some more notes down.”

Turning her attention to the table, Sunset saw that Twilight had indeed written many more sheets of notes during their separation.

“This whole thing may be strange to me, but…I gotta say, I do admire how much effort you’re putting into this.”

Twilight looked to her with a smile.

“Thank you.”

But, all of a sudden, Twilight began to look just the tiniest bit awkward, though about what, Sunset couldn’t say. However, with Twilight’s next words, all became clear to her.

“Um…Sunset? If it’s alright, could I ask how…or rather, why…you and Flash…erm…”

Realisation crossing her face, Sunset gave a brief nod.

“You want to know why we broke up, right?”

Turning to her, Twilight bore a look of slight guilt before nodding. After a while, Sunset turned from her, letting out a brief sigh.

“The truth is…it was my fault. During our entire time together…I was…difficult.”

Tilting her head, Twilight responded.

“Difficult how exactly?”

To that, Sunset let out a dry laugh.

“You name it! I was unsatisfied with pretty much everything we did together. I was rude, aggressive, I started arguments over everything that didn’t meet my standards. The whole thing was a mess from start to finish.”

Looking from Sunset, to her notes and then back again, Twilight’s expression was one of curiosity.

“Um…how long were you two together?”

Looking to her, Sunset took on a momentary thoughtful look.

“Let’s see…er…about eleven months, going on a year I think.”

For a brief moment, Twilight looked surprised at that answer, prompting yet further questions.

“Sunset…if you were really as bad as you say…why did Flash stay together with you for that long?”

Sunset shrugged her shoulders.

“Best guess…he can just put up with it. Always seeing the bright side, always giving people the benefit of the doubt. You know, that kind of guy. He tolerated more from me than pretty much anyone I knew at this place. I guess…”

Sunset looked down at the table before continuing.

“…I guess he thought I could get better while we were together.”

A silence fell between the two girls, during which, Twilight took in everything that had just been told to her. However, after a while, a new look of curiosity crossed her.

“What…what ended it? In the end?”

Taking another deep breath, Sunset exhaled again before giving Twilight her answer.

“It was shortly before your first arrival to the school. I knew the portal to Equestria would be opening soon and I was making plans to return to steal your crown. During that time…I was…worse than normal.”

A frown formed on Sunset’s brow before she continued.

“Then one morning…Flash met up with me, like he always did, with that smile of his, talking as though nothing was wrong with us, even though everything was wrong with us. And I guess…with everything I was planning, I…I just snapped.”

Her hands formed into a tight fist as she carried on.

“I lashed out at him, saying how stupid I thought his choice of conversation was. How I had more important things to think about than what he was talking about, or…or even him.”

For a brief moment, a look of regret flashed in her eyes.

“When I said that…he stopped for a while. After a moment or two of just staring at each other, he asked me outright…do you want to stay together?”

Slowly, Sunset turned to look Twilight right in the eye.

“And…I said no.”

Needless to say, Twilight was taken aback by that, but remained silent as Sunset continued.

“The moment he heard that…he stopped. He thought about it and…he just gave that smile of his and said…alright, Sunset…if that’s what you want.”

Twilight’s mouth hung open for a moment, but shortly afterwards, she shook herself out of it, now speaking up herself.

“And…he just left afterwards?”

To that, Sunset shook her head.

“Not quite. Before he left, he…he told me he didn’t regret a moment of us being together. That he had a fun time with me. I…I don’t know if he really meant that, or if he just said it to make me feel better, but…but yeah, that was the end of it.”

Sunset looked to Twilight, and in the moments that followed, a look of hesitancy and uncertainty dominated her face. She was wrestling with herself over something, that much, Twilight knew, and so she kept quiet as Sunset got her words together. When she finally did, she let out a sigh before, at last, speaking up.

“Twilight…I’m going to be absolutely honest here.”

The young princess, perhaps expecting something terrible, braced herself as Sunset continued.

“In the time following my defeat at your hands…I did a lot of thinking of all the bad things I did, and all the mistakes. And that moment, my breakup with Flash…it’s lingered in my mind. He put up with every bad thing I threw at him. And he…he was good to me. Better than I probably deserved.”

A look of regret crossed her once more.

“I know how you feel about him, so I’m sorry to have to say this, but…there are times, however rare, when I wish he and I…were still together.”

Silence fell between them once more, and this one far more uncomfortable. After a while, Sunset looked away from her.

“I’m…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

But, she was stopped from saying anything further, seeing a single hand placed upon her, prompting her to look up at Twilight, who looked back at her with a reassuring expression.

“Sunset…thank you for trusting me with this. And know that I do not think any less of you.”

The former unicorn looked to her, seeing no trace of a lie in her eyes, and in this moment, the emotion of her confession swept over her, leading to her lunging forward, holding Twilight close. Though startled by this, a smile crept onto Twilight’s face, and she too began to return the hug. Minute after minute passed, and after a while, they parted, Sunset sweeping aside a tear that threatened to emerge from her eyes.

“Sorry to lay that all on you. I know you have a lot of work to do.”

But Twilight shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it. In truth, I’m kind of glad to learn you had at least some kind of positive feelings for him…even if it did come after you broke up.”

To that, Sunset let out a brief chortle.

“Just…just go easy on the guy with your study, okay?”

For a moment, her expression softened considerably.

“And if the two of you do start something serious…make it last. He deserved better than what I gave him.”

Giggling slightly, Twilight placed a hand upon her friend’s shoulder.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Sunset. I don’t have anything too bad planned for him.”

In this moment, the two girls shared a laugh together, which had the effect of waking Spike up at last. Seeing this, Sunset smiled as she reached down, scratching his ear, much to his delight. However, as she did this, Twilight, making sure Sunset wasn’t watching, pulled out a pad of paper form her trenchcoat, before making another note upon it.

“Additional Flash character trait…high tolerance for aggressive behaviour. Potentially useful.”

Don't Sweat It

Now, while Twilight could safely be said to be a mare, or rather girl at this point, who loved school, there was at least one circumstance in which the weekends were seen as a welcome thing for her. And that was when she had some big project of her own to try and work on in lieu of anything else. And so it was that, on the dawn of a new Saturday, she rose from her slumber and got right back on with what she’d been doing ever since she arrived back in this world; following Flash Sentry. For one reason or another, most of the other girls, including Sunset, had not been available to join her this time, owing to other commitments. But, while this was something of a downer for the young princess, she at least took solace that, aside from Spike, there was one friend who remained by her side in all of this; Rainbow Dash. Although, even then, the athlete was still just as unsure about all this as she’d been throughout.

“So…aside from you taking notes, is there anything for me to do in all of this?”

Turning to her friend, an oblivious smile crept onto Twilight’s face.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Rainbow. I’m sure something will come up. But first thing’s first, we’ve got to find Flash.”

Looking ahead, a determined expression now crossed her.

“Speaking of which, where did that lead say he was going to be?”

Scratching her head, Rainbow looked further down the street as the three of them walked together.

“I think it was the sports centre. It’s a little further down here.”

Nodding to that, Twilight upped the pace, leading to a brief chuckle from Rainbow, all while Spike shook his head incredulously. The three continued their walk together, eventually happening upon their destination; the local sports centre of Canterlot. It was a fairly large building, almost the size of Canterlot High in fact, and on a day like this it was clearly busy, with many of the town’s residents pouring in and out of the place. Smiling, Twilight made her way into the building, with Rainbow and Spike in-tow. Now, being new to this place, Twilight naturally had a hard time finding her way around, but, after consulting Rainbow a few times, she found herself heading towards several indoor courts, meant to host various sports. There, she checked each and every one of them, most yielding unsatisfactory results, as evidenced by the disappointed look on her face. But, at the end of it all, she found success.

“There he is!”

Turning to where she was looking, Rainbow and Spike saw that, like she said, Flash was indeed there. In one of the many enclosed sport spaces, Flash was there, decked out in a combination of white shirts, shorts and sneakers. At this present moment, he seemed to be playing a game of badminton with himself, striking the shuttlecock and sending it to the other side of the court, wherein it bounced back towards him, ready to be struck again. Seeing him do this several times over, Twilight was suddenly struck with the realisation that she hadn’t found cover yet, and so ducked just behind the wall separating one court from another. Rainbow and Spike followed, and together they watched the boy, who, as always, was oblivious to their presence or stares.

“So…what do we do now?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight thought long and hard about that before giving an answer.

“Well…I did have this one theory about why I might like him. The fact that both Sunset and me chose him above anyone else is far too much of a coincidence for me to ignore.”

To that, Spike looked to her and raised an eyebrow.

“What? You think he’s got some kind of magical pony-attracting powers?”

Twilight frowned at him before shaking her head.

“No, Spike, nothing like that. But I think there might be something about him that means that just being near him could draw ponies, or rather former ponies, into being interested in him.”

Hearing that, Rainbow let out a grunt of irritation.

“Ugh! I may not be one for romance or anything, but even I don’t think that that’s how it works, Twilight!”

Looking to her, Twilight narrowed her eyes somewhat.

“Maybe so, but I can’t rule anything out. In fact…”

A smile crept onto her face as she kept her eyes on her rainbow-haired friend.

“I think I’ve found something for you to do in this, Rainbow.”

That caught the girl’s interest, as she looked to Twilight with curiosity.

“Yeah? What?”

Still smiling, Twilight reached behind herself, putting her hand into the school bag she’d brought with her. After searching through it for a few moments, she pulled out what appeared to be a small plastic cup of some kind. After pulling it out, she offered it to Rainbow.

“I need you to take this cup and get a sample from him.”

Hearing that, Rainbow’s eyes shot open as wide as they could, and she immediately backed away from her, speaking in an almost frantic manner.

“Wha…a sample of what?”

Seeing this reaction, Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Um…of sweat?”

With that, Rainbow held a hand to her chest, letting out a massive sigh of relief.

“Oh! Thank God! I thought you were talking about…”

Realising what she was about to say, she started pretending that she was more interested in looking at something else to the side. Twilight, naturally, was both curious and a little annoyed by this behaviour, culminating in her letting out a sigh before offering the cup once more.

“Look…I just need as few drops of it if you can.”

Turning, Twilight looked to Flash’s court, and her face lit up for a moment.

“There!”

Turning herself, Rainbow saw that Twilight was looking to the small bench placed in the enclosed court. There, lying to one side of it, was a single white towel. After looking to it, Twilight turned to Rainbow once more.

“He probably uses that to wipe off sweat after his match. If you get in there, you can get the sample.”

Looking to her, Rainbow’s expression was one if discomfort.

“Twilight…you do know this is the kinda stuff that stalkers do, right?”

Maintaining her frown, Twilight placed the cup into her friend’s hand, using her now-free hand to point to the court. After pausing for a few moments, Rainbow let out a sigh of defeat before doing as requested, heading straight for the door leading into the place. Twilight and Spike kept hidden as best they could, and watched as Rainbow carefully opened that door. Flash, thankfully, hadn’t noticed her for the time being, instead keeping up with his game. So, Rainbow inched closer to the bench, reaching out with one hand to grab onto the towel. However, no sooner had her fingers come within an inch of the thing when a familiar voice could now be heard.

“Rainbow?”

Instantly, Rainbow shot up, standing straight and holding the cup behind her back. Flash had seen her, and was now looking to her with curiosity plastered all over his face.

“What are you doing here?”

With her eyes darting left and right, Rainbow began thinking as fast as she could with her presence now exposed.

“Oh! Um…I was…er…”

Thankfully for her, Flash already had an answer in mind.

“Let me guess, here for a workout or something?”

Seeing an exit, the athlete took it.

“Yes! That's what I’m here for! Just wanted to try out some sports today and…you know…all that stuff!”

But while Flash was willing to accept that, he still seemed confused by something.

“So…what are you doing in my court?”

Again, Rainbow struggled for an answer, but this time, she actually managed to think of one.

“Well…I was passing by and I caught sight of you in here, so I figured…why not stick around and watch? See how good you are?”

Smirking a little, Flash flipped the badminton racket in his hand before speaking up again.

“Oh yeah? And, if I may ask, how did I do?”

Now feeling more and more comfortable in this conversation, Rainbow folded her arms before giving a smirk of her own.

“Well…you were okay.”

Flash raised an eyebrow at that.

“Only okay? You think you could do better?”

To that Rainbow chuckled.

“Oh, trust me! I know I can do better!”

Laughing again, Flash thought on that for a moment, before turning and gesturing to the side of the room. There, Rainbow saw that there was a spare racket leaning against the wall, prompting her to look at Flash again.

“What…match against each other?”

Still smiling, the boy nodded.

“Sure. Why? Afraid you’ll lose?”

Now Rainbow, being the kind of girl she was, was not one to back away from a challenge like that. So, after carefully slipping the still-hidden cup into a pocket in the back of her skirt, walked over to where she racket was, picked it up, and then twirled it expertly in her own hand before taking up position next to Flash.

“Well…don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

And so it was that, to Twilight’s slight irritation, Flash and Rainbow began their game. Things started off well enough, with both of them striking the shuttlecock every time they’d bounce it off the wall towards their rival, but, as the minutes rolled on, both of them swung harder and harder. Eventually, things became so heated that only professional sportsmen could be said to play a game with that much intensity, as both students were clearly in this to win. Rainbow and Flash were so active that, by the time it was all done, their muscles were aching like nobody's business. However, as one would expect, the real athlete came out on top, and Rainbow delivered a swing so hard that the shuttlecock bounced just fast enough for Flash to finally miss it. With her foe defeated, Rainbow responded with her usual amount of humility.

“Ha! I win! I am the grand badminton champion! All praise be to me!”

Rolling his eyes at this obviously-jokey reaction, Flash, while still panting heavily, nevertheless offered a smile to the girl.

“Good…game…Rainbow. Hope…I wasn’t…too slow for ya.”

To that, Rainbow looked to him with a smirk.

“Hey! Don’t see yourself short, Flash. You really had me on the ropes for a bit.”

Reaching out Rainbow offered her hand, and after looking to it for a few moments, Flash took it, and together, the two shook on a game well played. After staying still for a while to catch their breath, Flash was the first to move, heading over to the bench, after which he picked up his towel, wiping his brow a little before looking to Rainbow.

“You need this too?”

Looking to the towel, a look of realisation struck Rainbow.

“Oh! Right! The towel!”

To that, Flash took on a look of curiosity, leading to a nervous laugh from Rainbow.

“Er…I mean…sure, I’ll take it!”

And with that, she took what was offered, but refrained from wiping herself with it for the time being. Instead, she turned to the boy one last time, smiling to him before speaking up.

“Say…maybe we could…you know…play again some time?”

Thinking on that, Flash gave a smile and a nod of his own.

“I look forward to it.”

Nodding back, Rainbow headed out, towel in hand. As for Flash, he looked back to the vacant wall before starting another solo game, giving Rainbow time to slip out of the court, making her way down a few steps before at last finding Twilight. The girl had been standing in the exact same place the whole time, and looked to Rainbow with eagerness.

“You got it!”

Rainbow smirked at that.

“Yep. One towel, as requested.”

Taking the thing, Twilight looked at it before stuffing it in her bag.

“I need to take this to one of the science labs in the school to do some tests. Come on Spike!”

And with that, she was off, Spike grumbling all the way as he followed. As for Rainbow, she stayed in that place for a while, looking over her shoulder to where Flash was still playing. Although she thought fondly of her game with the boy, and even felt like she had fun with him, those thoughts eventually led to certain other thoughts, which, inevitably, led to a worried look on her face.

“…Awww Hell!”

Exes

Being right in the middle of the day, there was, naturally, one time above all that the students of Canterlot High looked forward to, and that was their lunch break. Now, while most could safely say that they enjoyed their schooling more than most, it was during this middle time when they truly felt like they could unwind. Relaxing with their friends, the cafeteria was abuzz with activity, mostly in the form of all the various groups of friends chatting to each other about how their days had gone so far. But, amidst this happy scene, there was one person who seemed less than thrilled. Sunset Shimer, sitting alone on a table, was not focusing on her lunch, but rather looking ahead to another table on the other side of the cafeteria. There, surrounded by several of his friends, was Flash Sentry. Sunset watched her ex for some time, looking as if she was debating with herself over something important. After a while though, she let out a sigh, getting out from her chair before taking a step forward.

“Sunset?”

She stopped immediately, spinning in place to see that there, standing and watching her with a somewhat worried look, was Rarity.

“Oh! Rarity! How…how are you?”

Tilting her head, Rarity maintained a look of concern.

“Darling, I hope you don’t mind my saying, but you look like you have something important on your mind.”

This was the absolute last thing Sunset needed right now, but even so, her own face betrayed her as, just for a moment, her eyes darted to the right, in Flash’s direction. Any hope of Rarity not noticing were soon dashed, as the young fashionista turned, looking to see where Sunset had been gazing. As soon as she saw Flash over there, she turned back to Sunset. The wheels worked in her mind until, eventually, a look of realisation crossed her face.

“Sunset…?”

The former unicorn looked away, almost ashamed to look her friend in the eye.

“Look…Rarity…I just…I need to talk to him.”

Folding her arms, Rarity kept her eyebrow up.

“My dear…this wouldn’t have anything to do with Twilight’s little study, would it?”

To that, Sunset shook her head.

“No. But…a few days ago, I was talking with her, and well…I got to think about…about when me and Flash were together. And I’ve been thinking about it ever since and…I just need to talk to him.”

Hearing those words, Rarity frowned a little. However, after a while, her expression softened considerably, leading to her letting out a deep sigh before speaking up again.

“Sunset…I realise how feelings like that can…make us want to do things, grow closer to people. But…please remember. Twilight likes him. And he likes her.”

Sunset nodded, though still looked a little uncomfortable.

“Believe me, I’ve thought long and hard about this. I’m fairly certain I can keep things in check.”

Turning, Sunset began to make her way over to Flash. However, she only managed a single step before stopping, turning back to Rarity with an appreciative smile.

“But…thank you…for being worried about me.”

Rarity still looked worried, but nevertheless offered her friend a small smile. With that matter done, Sunset began to walk in earnest to where Flash was sitting. Fortunately for her, his friends had long since parted, and now, he was eating alone. Her nerves grew and grew as she drew closer, and when she was only a few feet away from his table, she finally spoke.

“Um…hey.”

To that, Flash stopped eating, looking up to see Sunset staring at him. An awkward silence fell between the two youths for a moment, after which Flash, though clearly unsure about this, still managed to get his words out.

“Oh! Er…hi?”

Nodding, Sunset gestured to a nearby chair on the opposite side from where the boy was sitting.

“Can…is it alright if I sit here?”

Flash looked to it for a while, thinking that point over, before eventually giving her a brief nod. With consent granted, Sunset nodded back, pulling the chair out before getting herself comfortable. The two stared at each other during yet another uncomfortable bout of silence, but after a few minutes of this, Flash was the one to break it.

“So…how have you been?”

Putting on a small smile, Sunset replied.

“I’ve been…good.”

“That’s…good,” Flash answered.

A brief chuckle escaped Sunset at that, and she took to shaking her head a moment.

“Same old Flash.”

After giving a small laugh of his own, Flash’s expression became more serious as he looked to her.

“Sunset…is there…is there something you need to talk to me about?”

At that, Sunset’s own expression changed, becoming one of melancholy. In her head, she’d figured it all out, what she would say and how she would say it. But now that she was here, actually talking to the guy, her mind just went blank. But Flash, seeing this difficulty just from looking at her, stayed quiet, giving her all the time she needed to get her thoughts in order. When she finally did start speaking, her words bore a distinct tint of discomfort to them.

“Flash…I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. I think back to some of the mistakes I’ve made and…and how much I wish I could undo them.”

Looking to her, Flash’s expression softened considerably.

“Sunset…you don’t need to apologise for that anymore. All of us here, we forgave you for that a long time ago.”

But Sunset shook her head at that.

“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about…us.”

For a moment, Flash seemed confused as to what she was talking about. However, Sunset looked to him, right into his eyes, and in that moment, realisation struck the boy, and his eyes widened. Now knowing what she wanted to talk about, he suddenly found himself at a loss for words himself.

“Ah…that.”

Sunset looked away for a few seconds, before looking back to him, her face bearing a genuinely apologetic look.

“Flash…when we were together…”

After a while, she let out another sigh.

“…let’s be honest, it was a disaster.”

Looking back to her, Flash stayed silent as she carried on.

“I was about as bad a girlfriend as you could get. Not once in all the time we were together did I ever make things easy for you. I was never all that good to be around and…”

Again, she fell silent, looking down at the table, as if unable to look him in the eye.

“…you deserved better than me. So I wanted…to say sorry.”

Flash looked to her, at the despondent expression upon her face, and looked away from her afterwards. He sat there, thinking over everything that had just been said to him, and in all fairness, actually seemed shocked by it all. Clearly, he hadn’t been expecting Sunset to come to him like this. And yet, here she was, and he knew she deserved an answer for all of this. So, taking a deep breath, he began to give her one.

“Sunset…our relationship might not have been the best…but like I said back then…I don’t regret it. Don't think for a moment that you need to apologise for it.”

The girl looked to him, and like Flash before her, stayed quiet and listened.

“We might have had more downs than ups during our time together, but that wasn’t enough to make me regret having it with you. And as for your…your occasional outbursts…I guess I figured at the time that you just had a lot on your mind. So…I just never let it bother me.”

To that, Sunset frowned slightly.

“…How? How can you always be so…so accepting of this? Of me?”

Flash took on a brief look of regret himself before giving her an answer.

“Well…I guess…you’re not the only one who feels they’ve made mistakes with the other.”

Sunset tilted her head, showing clear confusion, which, of course, prompted Flash to start explaining himself.

“It was during the Battle of the Bands. The Rainbooms were in the middle of one of their songs, and you came out of nowhere to tackled Rainbow to the ground.”

Sunset’s expression became one of understanding, for she knew where this was going. Even so, she stayed quiet as Flash continued.

“And I…I just said…I called you the girl everyone loves to hate.”

To that, Sunset had to stifle the urge to wince at being reminded of that moment.

“Yeah…it was pretty bad for everyone.”

Looking to her, Flash expression was one of sheer apology, as was his tone.

“I’ve been meaning to say sorry to you about that for a long time now. So…I’m sorry.”

But, to Flash’s surprise, Sunset shook her head, looking like she wasn’t concerned about that in the slightest.

“Flash…you were under a magic spell. Everyone was. The things you said to me, to Twilight…they weren’t your fault.”

Flash frowned at that.

“Maybe not. But, even so…I’m still sorry.”

Sunset looked to him for a while, seeing the earnestness in his expression, and found herself unable to do anything other than smile at him. She gave a single nod, acknowledging and accepting his apology, which led to him letting out a deep sigh, showing obvious relief at this. Sunset, still watching him, found herself becoming ever more curious as she regarded the boy.

“Flash…how can you always be like this? So calm? So…so happy? Even when you were with me, you always had a smile on your face, always telling a joke, even when you were by the worst girlfriend in the history of girlfriends. Just…why?”

Thinking hard on that, the boy looked to his ex and simply shrugged his shoulders.

“I guess…I just figured that, whatever problems you were going through…you’d find your way out of them, that you’d…get better.”

Sunset looked away from him, looking more than a little uncomfortable.

“In that case…I’m sorry I made you wait for nothing.”

But Flash, in spite of how upset Sunset might have felt, shook his head.

“Don’t be. I mean…you’re better now, aren’t you?”

Sunset looked to him, looking quite taken aback by those words. After a while of watching Flash stare at her, maintaining that same smile as always, Sunset, despite herself, actually found herself starting to laugh a little. After a while, Flash joined in, and together, they both felt a great deal more relaxed than they had been throughout most of this interaction. When the laughter finally died down, Sunset let out a sigh as she looked to the boy.

“Oh, Flash…I wish we could have had more moments like this…back then.”

To that, the boy gave a nod.

“Me too.”

Keeping her hands firmly on the table, Sunset looked away briefly, before looking back to him, looking a little uncertain as to her next words.

“I know things were never great between us, but…do you think that, maybe…we could at least be friends?”

Flash paused, thinking that over for a minute or two, and when he was done, he smiled, reaching forward and placing his hand upon Sunset’s.

“I’d like that. I really would.”

Sunset smiled, enjoying how pleasant this had become between them. But, after a while, she remembered that there was someone in particular nearby who was probably still watching them both, and so she cleared her throat before speaking up again.

“Well…this was good, but…”

But, she was kept from continuing when Flash spoke up himself.

“It’s okay. If you have somewhere you need to be, don’t let me stop you.”

Getting up from her chair, Sunset chuckled a little.

“Honestly, Flash. That goody-two-shoes attitude of yours will get you into trouble one day.”

Nodding, Flash smirked a little as he took hold of a nearby cup of soda and raised it to her.

“Maybe…but that day is not today.”

Laughing again, Sunset waved the boy a goodbye, before making her way away from him. Flash watched her go for a few moments before finding himself having to turn his attention to a few returning friends of his. As for Sunset, she finally looked away from him, walking over to find that Rarity was still where she’d been before, now bearing a slight frown as she looked to her. But Sunset, already seeing what was going on in her mind, raised a hand in an almost defensive posture.

“Rarity, its fine. We just reconciled, that’s all.”

To that, Rarity raised an eyebrow.

“And the hand-holding?”

Sunset shrugged her shoulders.

“It was nothing. Just a moment between friends.”

Rarity watched her for a few moments before letting out a sigh, silently showing that she accepted that, however reluctantly. As Sunset saw her friend walk away, perhaps to join up with the others, she looked over her shoulder to Flash, who was once more in the middle of talking with his friends. And as she looked to him, her own smile faltered.

“We’re…we’re just friends. Just…just friends…”

She kept on saying that, over and over, and after a while, it soon dawned on her that it wasn’t others she was trying to convince of that.

The Adagio Factor

Travelling through the park, enjoying a bright and sunny day, listening to the birds tweeting and fluttering about. That was pretty much the textbook definition of a calm and relaxing day, and at present, that was exactly what Flash was doing. Right in the middle of Canterlot’s local park, the teen made his way through the place, hands in the pockets of his famous leather jacket, smiling to himself all the way. What he didn't realise, however, was that he was not alone here today. For there, always trailing along behind him, was Twilight and her friends. The girls, as always, had been following the boy ever since they caught sight of him, and had, at this point, become pretty much experts at managing to stay out of sight. However, a time came when they were finally able to stop, as Flash himself came upon a nearby park bench. Taking this moment to sit upon it and rest, he seemed to simply enjoy the tranquillity of his surroundings, allowing the girls to take a more permanent spot behind some nearby bushes.

“So…anythin good this time Twi?” Applejack remarked.

Looking over a pad of notes she’d brought with her, Twilight let out a sigh.

“Not yet. The chemical analysis I performed on his sweat didn’t yield any interesting results. And I was so sure that was the answer!”

Scooting closer to her, Rarity placed a hand upon her shoulder before speaking sweetly to her.

“Darling, you really shouldn’t reduce romance to a science like this. I know you’ve already made up your mind, but perhaps you need to open that mind the possibility that, you and Flash…just sort of happened.”

But Twilight shook her head at that.

“I’m sorry, Rarity, but I just…I need to understand this.”

Before Rarity had a chance to speak further on the matter, she was interrupted when Rainbow spoke up next.

“Well, look at it this way, Twi. You’re not the only girl who’s shown an interest in the guy.”

That caught her attention, and she raised an eyebrow to Rainbow. Seeing this, the athlete raised a hand and pointed outwards, towards where Flash was. Looking over the bush, Twilight saw that a trio of girls, whom she recognised as Derpy, Lyra and Bonbon, were walking together through the park. As they passed where Flash was sitting, he gave them a friendly smile and a wave. And the girls, while certainly returning the gesture, gained more amorous look as soon as they’d passed him, making sure to not let him know they were looking that way. Narrowing her eyes at this, Twilight clenched her notebook harder than before. Seeing this behaviour, Sunset, clearing her throat a little, moved closer to the young princess, speaking up to her.

“Twilight…you didn’t think you were the only girl that Flash was going to attract, did you?”

Shaking her head, Twilight let out a sigh.

“Maybe not, but…I don’t know, it just…I’m not sure how I feel knowing so many other girls like him like that.”

Unbeknownst to Twilight, Sunset, Fluttershy and Rainbow all started to look just the tiniest bit uncomfortable. Fortunately for all of them, Twilight didn’t have the chance to notice, as a sudden and familiar voice could soon be heard behind them.

“Well well well. Having a little party, are we?”

Turning, the group all looked upon a trio of girls, roughly their age in appearance, all standing there and looking down on them. The Dazzlings; Adagio, Aria and Sonata. The third waved happily to Pinkie, who naturally lunged forward and embraced her in a hug of greeting. Aria walked up to Applejack and Rainbow, giving them a brief fist-bump as her way of saying “hello”. As for Adagio, she too got on her knees beside the other girls, raising an eyebrow as she kept her gaze upon Twilight.

“So…care to explain this unorthodox little get-together?”

To say that she was somewhat embarrassed would have been a great understatement, as Twilight looked to Sunset, then to Rarity, hoping one of them would give her a means out of this. When it became clear that they had none, she sighed, starting to speak up.

“Look, it’s just…I’m trying to study Flash to get a better understanding of why…why I developed this crush on him.”

Looking a little surprised at that, Adagio looked over the nearby bush, to the still-relaxing Flash some distance away, before smirking a little as she looked to Twilight again.

“Aww! How precious! Our little princess getting herself a knight in shining armour to love?”

Twilight frowned at that.

“Be serious!”

Chuckling, Adagio folded her arms before continuing.

“I do apologise, my dear. In truth, I’m glad you have someone. Although, if you ask me, trying to turn the matter of romance into…well…a matter of science, doesn’t really seem all that productive.”

For once, Rarity looked to Adagio with a look of agreement.

“Perhaps not, but Twilight is set on doing it regardless. Unfortunately, her study thus far hasn’t been all that promising.”

Turning to the rest of the group, Aria then let out a scoffing sound before adding her own voice to the mix.

“Want some advice, princess? Move on. Guys like him are a dime a dozen. Sure they’ll act all nice and noble and stuff, but the moment he thinks he can get away with it, he’ll turn his attention to the next girl in line.”

To that, Twilight turned to the Siren with a deeper frown than before.

“That’s not true! Flash is better than that!”

Scooting forward a little, Adagio placed her hand upon Twilight’s shoulder, gaining her attention.

“Though I am usually loathe to agree with my sister, I fear she has a point this time around. Boys of his age are fickle. You two may have had something going for you for a few moments, but that will hardly last, my dear.”

Twilight shook her head at that.

“You’re wrong! Flash still cares about me, I know it! He wouldn’t…he wouldn’t…”

Seeing the look of uncertainty now dominating Twilight’s face, Adagio shrugged her shoulders for a moment, letting out a sigh before getting to her feet. Now looking down at the rest of the group, a smirk crept onto her face as she spoke up.

“Very well. You want proof? Then I’ll give it to you.”

And with that, before any of the girls could stop her, Adagio was off, walking around the bush and heading straight towards Flash. Twilight, naturally, looked incredibly worried at all of this, as did the other girls. However, to keep their cover, they stayed silent, merely watching over the bush as the elder Siren made her way closer and closer to the unsuspecting boy. When she was finally close enough, she struck a pose, with her hip thrust out to one side while resting a single hand upon it. Looking down to Flash, her face bore an unmistakeably sultry look, as did her tone of voice when she finally spoke up.

“Hey there, Flash. Room for one more?”

Flash turned, looking quite surprised to see the girl there.

“Oh! Adagio? Um…sure, if you want somewhere to sit, go ahead.”

He gestured to the spot on the bench next to him, prompting Adagio to take him up on his offer. After sitting down beside him, she crossed her legs, looking to him with that same amorous look in her eyes.

“Such fine company to have on a day as splendid as this, don’t you think?”

Looking to her, Flash raised an eyebrow.

“Er…sure. I guess.”

Adagio chuckled a little.

“You know…you’re so cute. Has anyone ever told you that?”

Needless to say, a look of slight confusion crossed Flash’s face.

“Well…if you say so.”

For a brief moment, Adagio frowned a little, clearly not expecting that response. But, she quickly regained her composure, smiling as sweetly as before.

“You know what? A fine lad like you deserves a little…comfort in his life.”

Flash turned to her.

“Um…comfort?”

Adagio nodded.

“Indeed. Why…what you need is someone you know you can enjoy a few moments with. Someone who can treat you right. Someone…close at hand perhaps?”

As she spoke, she inched closer to him, to the point where she was now leaning against him. As for Flash, he almost looked oblivious as to what was going on.

“Adagio…was are you suggesting here exactly?”

Giggling slightly, the Siren gave him an answer.

“Why…I’m suggesting that, perhaps, it might be best if you were to just cut loose and enjoy yourself once in a while. Maybe…spend some time with someone who knows how to give a boy a pleasant time?”

Flash, for the first time in all of this, narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Adagio…are you suggesting that you and I…?”

He didn’t finish his words. But then, he didn’t need to, as Adagio herself confirmed his suspicions with that same sultry smile, leaning in closer to his face and leaving no mistake as to what she wanted from him. But, no sooner had her lips reached within an inch of his when, all of a sudden, she found herself kissing the palm of his hand, which he’d slipped in just before she made her move. After pulling away from him slightly, Adagio took on a look of confusion.

“Um…is something wrong?”

To that, Flash nodded.

“I’d say there was. Look, you’re friends with Sunset and the others now, so I’m willing to let a lot of things slide, but I want to be clear on this. You and me, at least, what you were thinking of? It’s not gonna happen.”

Needless to say, Adagio was quite taken aback by that.

“But…but you know I can probably give you the best night of your life, right?”

Flash nodded.

“Perhaps. But my answer is the same.”

Looking to him, Adagio frowned somewhat.

“Okay, pretty boy, give me one reason why. One reason why you wouldn’t want what entire armies of men have fought and died to experience from me?”

To that, Flash knew exactly the answer he was to give.

“Simple…I’m taken.”

Hearing that, Adagio rolled her eyes.

“Oh please! Your little princess is an entire world away! Chances are she’ll never come back for you! Hell, from what I’ve heard, the two of you haven’t even kissed yet!”

Flash nodded.

“Even so…my answer is the same.”

Adagio sat there, mouth hanging open, looking utterly dumbfounded by what had just been said to her. Slowly, Flash got up from his chair, looking to her with that same frown as before.

“Now…if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll move on. The park seems to have lost its charm all of a sudden.”

And with that, he was off, walking away from Adagio with purpose in his steps, leaving the Siren sitting there, still shocked over what had just happened. She waited, watching him move further and further away, until finally, she shook herself out of it. For a while, she paused until Flash was finally out of sight, before getting up off the bench and walking over to where Twilight and the others had been waiting. Once there, the Siren saw that, as she’d expected, the young princess was looking to her with a somewhat smug expression.

“There! I told you he’d stay true!”

Frowning, Adagio got to her knees, looking more than a little irritated.

“This…this has never happened before!”

Aria, never letting up on a chance to tease her sister, looked to her with a smirk.

“Aww! Is our big sister losing her touch?”

Adagio’s head snapped in her direction.

“You know what? I bet it’s because of that whole mind control thing! It’s the only explanation! He said no to me because I used to be the bad guy!”

To that, Applejack folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, ah’m sure that’s the reason!”

However, Adagios remark had caused her to suddenly become deep in thought. After it was done, she broke out into her infamous smirk, looking to the princess with renewed vigour.

“If you want real proof that your boy over there is as faithful as you think, then test him out on one of your friends.”

To that, all heads turned in her direction, with Twilight looking quite shocked at that remark.

“W…what?”

Adagio nodded.

“You heard me. He may not like me, but your friends here are girls he does like. If you were to have one of them try their luck with him, I guarantee he’ll falter.”

Looking away, the Siren looked quite thoughtful again for a moment.

“In fact, I think I have just the venue.”

She then looked back to Twilight.

“You know I work at the local spa, right? Well, we’ve got a little promotion going that I think will be perfect to test the boy. That is…if you’re confident he’ll stay true to you that is.”

For a while, Twilight stayed silent, looking to each of her friends. Uncertainty crossed her face for a while, but, when it was done, her expression became one of confidence, giving Adagio a firm nod.

“Alright…but I promise you it’ll be the same result!”

To that, Adagio chuckled.

“We’ll see, my dear.”

Looking to both girls, Rarity, who had been silent during all of this, flipped some of her hair out of her face before speaking up.

“Well…if we’re testing the boy’s fidelity in a spa of all places, I think we all know who we’ll need to test him.”

Pinkie, looking to her, bore a look of utter seriousness as she nodded in agreement.

“Indeed we do.”

And then, as usual, she broke out into her trademark smile.

“Me!”

A Spa Day With Pinkie

With the day nearly over, the streets of Canterlot were becoming more and more vacant, as everyone, student or otherwise, was beginning to make their way back to their homes, ready to rest and relax after whatever they’d been doing. In one place, however, there was one person who seemed more than a little excited. Pinkie Pie, who was currently standing outside the entrance to the town’s local spa. Standing in one spot, she was practically bouncing up and down over how eager she was for this. But, she was not alone here, as both Twilight and Adagio were close by. In an almost uniform manner, both of the other girls were wearing standard disguises, fedora hats and trenchcoats, always looking around to make sure nobody but Pinkie spotted them. In this moment, Twilight spoke quietly to her friend.

“Okay, Pinkie. You know what to do, right?”

The other girl nodded.

“Sure do, Twilight!”

Stepping forward, Adagio bore a look of utter seriousness.

“Remember everything we said about this, okay?”

Pinkie nodded again, giving a little salute as she did so. Had things been easier for them, Twilight and Adagio might have continued on, just to make sure Pinkie knew exactly what was expected of her. But, they hadn’t the chance, as they both immediately took on looks of shock. For there, walking down the street, was none other than Flash. Moving as fast as they could, both girls darted behind the building, hoping that the boy had not noticed them. Their worries proved unfounded however, as Flash’s attention seemed to be entirely on Pinkie, whom he waved to with a smile. Pinkie waved back with an even bigger smile, and as Flash finally reached her, he was the first to speak between them.

“I got your message, Pinkie. What’s up?”

Giggling, Pinkie clasped her hands together before giving an answer.

“I have some super amazing wonderful news, Flash!”

Chuckling slightly at the girl’s behaviour, Flash spoke up again.

“Okay, what is it?”

Turning, Pinkie gestured to the spa beside her.

“I know how we can get your Mom an awesome full treatment spa day for her Birthday!”

At first, Flash seemed taken aback by this news, but after a while, that turned to curiosity.

“How did you know it’s my Mom’s Birthday coming up? And…how do you know she likes spa trips?”

To that, Pinkie rolled her eyes and snorted a little.

“Please! I’m Pinkie! Knowing Birthdays and what makes people happy is kinda my thing!”

Thinking on that, Flash shrugged his shoulders, after which he broke out into a smile.

“Okay, guess that makes sense. And you’re right of course, Mom does love that kinda stuff. So, what do we need to do to get it for her?”

Looking to the boy, Pinkie smiled even wider.

“Already taken care of, Flashy! They’ve got this special deal going on so that, if someone buys a spa activity for two people, rather than just themselves, they get this ticket for another full treatment day for someone else absolutely free!”

Hearing that, Flash scratched his head.

“That…doesn’t sound like it’d be good for their profits.”

Again, Pinkie giggled.

“Silly! I never said the deal was special for them!”

Flash paused for a moment.

“That makes sense…I guess.”

Shaking his head, he sighed a little before speaking up again

“Okay, so who are you going to the spa with?”

Looking to him, Pinkie clasped her hands behind her back, smiling sweetly at him with her eyes half-lidded. It took a while, a few minutes at least, but eventually, Flash began to understand, as evidenced by the widening of his eyes.

“Oh no! I’m sure there are plenty of other friends you’ve got who could go with you instead!”

Another giggle emerged from Pinkie before she responded to that.

“Well duh! But they’re all busy today, and besides, if the gift is for your Mom, it makes sense that you be a part of this too, right?”

Thinking on that, Flash’s expression was one of both concern and confusion, as he took a moment to scratch his head a little.

“Well…erm…I guess…”

But, before he finished, he found himself being grabbed on his arm by Pinkie.

“Great! Let’s go!”

And with that, Flash was now at Pinkie’s mercy, being dragged with full force into the spa. Although he was very much taken aback by this, the boy was thankfully given a chance to compose himself when Pinkie finally let him go when they entered the place in earnest. As expected of a place like this, it was filled with pristine whiteness, with a single attendant, Aloe, at the front desk. As Flash looked the place over, Pinkie rushed over to the desk.

“I’m here for the four O’clock, please!”

Looking at a list on her desk, Aloe broke out into a small smile.

“Ah, yes. Welcome! Feel free to proceed with your handsome gentleman friend over to the changing rooms.”

Pinkie nodded frantically at that, turning to Flash with a smile as she started walking to that very place.

“Come on, Flash! We’ve got spa stuff to do!”

Flash, seeing this exuberance, sighed slightly, but nevertheless found himself chuckling at it all. Following her, he entered a long corridor, littered on either side with what appeared to be personal cubicles, the aforementioned changing rooms. Pinkie, as one would expect of her, had already darted into one, slamming the door behind her. As for Flash, he chose a nearby one, making sure the door was securely locked before turning to see his spa outfit. Unfortunately for him, all he saw there was a simple white towel, hanging off the wall. He looked around, perhaps expecting to see something else just out of sight, but there was no such luck. Looking at the towel, a slight grimace crossed his face before, eventually, he slumped his shoulders in defeat.

“Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.”

And with that, he started to undress, making especially sure to make it so that his trademark leather jacket was particularly well kept as he placed it to one side. With everything else off him, he took the towel and, having no other option, wrapped it around his waist, making sure his personal area was properly covered.

“I could have sworn spas are meant to provide more than this.”

But, with little else to do, he sighed again before heading out of the cubicle, and it was here that he caught sight of Pinkie, who was standing and waiting for him.

“Hey there, Flashy! Ready to do spa stuff?”

Like him, the girl only had a towel to wear, again white in appearance, which she’d wrapped snugly around her middle. Now, being the kind of guy Flash was, he turned, if only to avoid looking like he was staring at her.

“Oh, er…sure? I mean, what do we even do here?”

Giggling again, Pinkie reached down into the top of her towel before pulling out a sheet of paper.

“We’ve got a whole bunch of stuff to choose! But, we can only pick one, okay?”

Turning to her, Flash took the paper, seeing the list of the spas available treatments written all over it. After reading it for a moment, he looked up to Pinkie again.

“May I ask what you're doing?”

Pinkie clapped her hands together as she responded.

“Oooh! I’ve picked the massage! It’ll be soooooo good!”

Raising an eyebrow at that, Flash looked down to the paper again.

“Alright, in that case, I’ll…I’ll go for the hot tub.”

Unbeknownst to him, Pinkie looked away with a smirk on her face.

“Heh, I knew you’d pick that.”

Looking up to her, Flash’s expression was one of confusion.

“Pardon?”

Pinkie turned to him again.

“Nothing! You just go and have a nice time, okay, Flashy? We’ll meet back here after we’re both done, alright?”

Flash opened his mouth to speak, only to be prevented from saying anything when Pinkie, as usual, darted off in a cloud of smoke. Now alone in this place, Flash stood there with some uncertainty before letting out a sigh, after which he raised a hand and rubbed his temples a little.

“How do I get myself in these situations?”

When that was done, he exhaled deeply before making his way down the hall. Room after room he looked in, and in each, he kept finding the wrong stuff. But, luckily for him, he eventually happened upon the right room, and within he found the expected hot tubs. There were about three in total, and while all were bubbling away, none of them were in use, which frankly suited Flash just fine. Breaking out into a small smile, the youth closed the door behind him, making his way over to the nearest tub. Once by the side, he looked around to make sure he was alone, after which he took a deep breath before removing his towel, placing it on the side before carefully slipping into the tub. The feel of the water was odd at first, but after a while, he found himself feeling more and more relaxed, as evidenced by the look on his face. After a while, he let out contented sigh, closing his eyes as he leaned back into the side of the tub.

“Ah…now this is relaxing!”

“I'll say it is!”

Flash’s eyes snapped open, and he immediately saw that, as he’d already figured out, Pinkie was sitting opposite him on the other side of the tub, water right up to the top of her chest, with her smiling sweetly at him. Needless to say, the boy was more than a little shocked by this.

“Gah! I…I…Pinkie?! What are you doing here?!”

To that, Pinkie shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, I got halfway down the hall when I figured, you know what, I can have a massage any day of the week. But I haven’t been in a hot tub in years! So I thought I’d come down here and join you!”

As one would expect, Flash had crossed his legs during this, hoping very much that his friend’s eyes wouldn’t be wandering downwards anytime soon, even if the bubbling water did make it nigh-impossible to see such thigns. However, as he dwelt on this, a new and concerning thought came to him, especially after he noticed Pinkie’s own towel discarded on the side.

“Erm…Pinkie? I don’t suppose you’re…you know…wearing a swimsuit or something under there, are you?”

To that, Pinkie shook her head, maintaining her smile the whole time.

“Nope! Au naturel is the only way to enjoy a hot tub, silly!”

With every moment that passed, Flash found more and more colour draining from his face. But, as time went on, he stayed silent, watching as Pinkie just sat there, smiling at him from the other side. He hoped in his heart that things would stay this way, and so he looked away from her, desperately trying to avoid letting himself stare at her when she was like this. Unfortunately for him, taking his eyes off her was the absolute last thing he should have done, as moments later, he felt a warmth beside him. Turning, he found, to his dismay, that Pinkie had scooted all the way around the tub, so she was now sitting right beside him, to the point where her thigh was pressing against his own. Staring at her with shock, he opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut to the chase when Pinkie spoke up herself.

“The water wasn’t really that warm for me over there, so I figured, how about I come over here to you?”

Flash darted his head away, now feeling quite a bit warmer himself.

“Um…Pinkie? You don’t perhaps see anything wrong with what’s going on here, do you?”

To that, Pinkie shook her head once more.

“Don’t be silly, silly! We’re just friends here! Just a boy friend and a girl friend, sitting together naked in a hot tub while barely an inch from each other. There’s nothing inappropriate about that!”

Turning, Flash raised an eyebrow.

“I…I’m not sure if I agree with you.”

Looking to him, Pinkie gained a look that Flash, to his utter shock, recognised immediately as sultriness.

“Oh? You want us to be closer?”

Flash’s eyes widened as big as dinner plates as he shook his head frantically.

“Nope! I…I think we’ll just stay here as we are, if…if that’s okay with you.”

Pinkie smiled as normal, nodding to the boy before looking away from him. Flash, as before, stayed utterly quiet, now finding that the event which was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon had somehow turned into one of the most stress-inducing moments of his life thus far. As for Pinkie, she didn’t make it easy for him, always doing little things that would have turned his blood red hot. A few seconds of accidentally brushing her foot against his. Stretching out to a point where her uncovered chest might rise above the water. Occasionally letting out contented moans that sounded like something else entirely. As for Flash, his restraint was truly bordering on sainthood at this point, as he simply resigned himself to counting the seconds as they passed on the nearby clock. But, eventually, his salvation came, as there was a loud “ding” soon heard at the end of it all.

“It’s over!” he exclaimed.

But, he soon tempered himself as he cleared his throat.

“Oh! I mean…oh no! It’s over!”

Turning to him, Pinkie retained that sweet smile of hers, apparently ignoring the false excitement he’d just given out.

“Thanks for joining me with this, Flash. I had a really fun time.”

Flash turned to say the same, only to be struck with the realisation that Pinkie was hoisting herself out of the water. Immediately, he turned, covering his eyes as she left the tub and reached for her towel.

“Er, yeah! Me too.”

After a few moments, Pinkie, now covered, looked to the boy.

“You coming?”

Flash shook his head, still nervously smiling as he did so.

“I’ll…I’ll catch up, okay?”

Pinkie nodded at that before turning around and making her way out of the room. Only when she was gone did Flash finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Mom…I hope you appreciate this.”

As for Pinkie, she made her way along the hall, but, after a while, stopped completely. After checking around herself, she walked over to a nearby window, opening it up to find Twilight and Adagio on the other side.

“Well?” Twilight asked.

To that, Pinkie shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah…he ain’t budging.”

Looking to Adagio, Twilight’s expression was one of triumph.

“Ha!”

Rolling her eyes, Adagio sighed.

“Okay, fine! So he’s a regular Sir Galahad! There’s no need to feel smug about it.”

Still smirking, Twilight turned to Pinkie.

“So…where is Flash.”

Thinking on that, Pinkie gained a smirk of her own.

“Oh, I think he’s just making sure he’s not “standing-at-attention” before leaving.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, showing clear confusion. Seeing this, Adagio afforded herself a brief chuckle.

“Ask your parents, princess.”

Author's Notes:

Since a few people wanted to know this in the last chapter, let me take a moment to clarify something. Yes, this does take place in the same general continuity as my other story, "Of Rainbooms and Dazzlings", as well as it's sequel. I've been going back and forth on it a few time, but I will, from this point, refer to this particular timeline as the "Friends with Everybody" storyline.

Flash's Brief Respite

It was a calm and peaceful day down at the vast green orchards of Sweet Apple Acres. The sun was shining brightly, though not so much that it bathed the place in unbearable heat. On top of that, a cooling breeze gently flowed through the rows of the titular apple trees. All in all, it was a pleasant day, the kind of time where one merely wished to sit back, relax and do nothing except forget whatever troubles they were going through. Now, normally, on a day like today, Applejack, one of the more noted members of the Apple family, would have been hard at work in the orchards, collecting apples and such. However, given how much work she normally did out here, she decided that, on a day like this, she would instead just kick back and enjoy herself. So, rather than straining herself in the field, she was in her home, sitting at the family kitchen, downing a small glass of her family’s famous non-alcoholic cider.

The smile on her face made it clear that she was enjoying this, but, as soon as she raised the glass for a second gulp, she was interrupted by the sound of knocking at her door. Although irritated at first, she nevertheless remembered her manners, and got up from the table to make her way to the door. Making sure she was presentable, the farm girl put on a smile as she finally turned the knob and opened it. But, her smile soon turned to a look of shock when she saw that there, standing in her doorway, was none other than Flash Sentry. A silence feel between the two youths as they stared at one another, and after a while, it was Flash who finally broke the silence.

“Um…hey, AJ. Can…can I come in?”

Although she’d been shocked by this, Applejack soon shook herself out of it, returning to her former smiling expression before stepping aside.

“Sure thing, Flash. Come on in.”

Smiling in appreciation, Flash made his way inside. Closing the door, Applejack followed him, maintaining a curious look as they made their way back into the kitchen. After pacing up and down for a bit, Flash turned to her and spoke.

“Look…I know this is a bit last-minute, but…is it okay if, you know…I stick around here for a bit?”

Now, needless to say, Applejack was somewhat confused by that request. However, seeing no real reason to deny him, she shrugged her shoulders as she gave him his answer.

“Erm…ah guess so.”

Flash nodded at that, finding a nearby chair to sit in. Likewise, Applejack made her way over to the chair she’d been sitting in before Flash had arrived. Silence was the order of the day yet again, and through it all, Applejack looked to Flash, studying his face as he just stared at the wall. One thing above all else seemed to strike her as she observed him.

“No offense, Flash, but…ya look mighty tired ta me.”

Chuckling slightly, Flash nodded before speaking up.

“Yeah…guess I am.”

Turning to her, the boy’s expression was one of utter sincerity as he spoke.

“Can I be honest with you, Applejack?”

To that, the farm girl let out a laugh of her own.

“Shoot! Ya know me, Flash. Ah’d be pretty upset if ya weren't honest, remember?”

Laughing again, Flash nodded before starting to explain himself.

“Well…it’s just…things have been kinda weird for me lately. I can’t really put my finger on it, but…for the last week or so, I’ve been getting this…feeling. Like something’s off somehow.”

To that, Applejack started to look a little nervous.

“Er…off how, exactly?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Flash leaned back into his chair as he continued.

“I don’t know. People acting in surprising ways around me. The way I always find those I know in places I don’t expect them to be. It’s not that I don’t enjoy being around them. Far from it. It’s just…something about it has been eating away at the back of my mind about it all. The feeling…”

He hesitated for a few moments before finally getting his words out.

“…the feeling like I’m being watched.”

Applejack’s eyes widened upon hearing that, and for once, Flash noticed.

“I know, I know. It sounds crazy.”

But Applejack shook her head.

“It ain’t crazy, Flash. Everyone gets those feelins sometimes. Even ah do from time to time. But it ain’t somethin ta worry about.”

Flash nodded.

“Maybe not. But…I don’t know, the way everything just keeps adding up, it…it’s pretty exhausting for me. This feeling…it’s like it’s following me around. I’ve barely been able to sleep this last week. It’s almost…almost like I know something strange is gonna happen, but I don’t know what or when.”

Turning, Flash saw the farm girl looking at him with mixed emotions in her expression. Concern chief of all. Looking away from her, the boy let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be dumping all this on you.”

But, to his surprise, she looked to him with a smile.

“There ain’t nothing ta apologise for, Flash. In truth, ah’m pretty honoured ya feel safe around me ta share this kinda stuff. But…”

For a moment, confusion crossed her face.

“…if ya don’t mind mah askin…why me?”

Thinking on that, Flash shrugged his shoulders a little.

“Well…I guess…of all the people I know, you’ve always been the most level-headed. The most stable. Someone can come to you and they’ll know that you’ll be straight with them. I guess…I guess I just felt I could trust you about this sort of thing more than I could with some of my other friends.”

Hearing that, a slight blush crossed Applejack’s cheeks.

“Aw, shucks, sugarcube! Ah appreciate that.”

Smiling, Flash gave a nod.

“I suppose, at the end of the day, if I wanted to get away from some of the craziness that’s been following me…you seemed like the right person to come to.”

Thinking on those words, a smirk grew on Applejack’s face.

“Well, let it never be said that ah don’t help folks when they need it. If ya say ya need a place ta rest fer a bit, then yer more than welcome ta join me here!”

Flash smiled and nodded at that.

“Thank you, Applejack, I…thank you.”

Applejack tipped her Stetson hat to him for a moment, reaching forward and patting his hand slightly.

“Ya know what ya need right now, Flash? Some good old fashioned apple cider!”

Chuckling slightly, the boy gave her a nod.

“You know…that sounds like just the trick.”

Smiling back, Applejack made her way over to the side of the kitchen, ready to pour not only herself a glass of cider, but also for her guest. However, as she did this, she stopped for a moment, looking over her shoulder, seeing Flash looking just as tired as he was when he first arrived. Concern now dominated her face, and she let out a deep sigh. In the end, she spoke in a hushed voice, keeping it low enough so Flash could not hear her.

“Darn it, Twi! At this rate, yer study’ll probably destroy this boy!”

The Penny Drops

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.”

Author's Notes:

Before anyone asks, I was planning on doing a chapter between Flash and Rarity, but after thinking on it, I couldn't come up with a scenario between them that felt right for me. So instead, I decided not to have her interact with him at all. I apologise in advance if this bothers anyone.

An End to the Study

It was always odd how, every once in a while, the day and the environment around us sometimes acts as the complete opposite to how we’re feeling. Sometimes, we can be down and gloomy on a bright and sunny day, and on others, we can be utterly joyous on a day that’s suffering from dark clouds and heavy rain. Such was the day today, as it was marked by not only bright sunshine, but also an unseasonal warmth, which put smiles on the faces of many in the town of Canterlot. However, for one group of people, this was, as expected, the exact antithesis of how they were all feeling. Twilight, standing outside the front door of Canterlot High, was looking about as sad and glum as one could expect to. Likewise, her friends, all of whom surrounded her, all looked just as down or uncomfortable with every step they took. It was a silent journey between them, and they all made their way towards the still-ruined horse statue at the front of the school.

“Well…at least we got to see Twilight again, right?”

Pinkie’s words were about as bubbly and upbeat as she usually was, but her efforts to cheer up her companions proved to be less than successful, as all of them bore looks of sheer melancholy during the walk, causing her to become silent herself as they finally reached their destination. Twilight, placing her hand upon the portal entrance, let out a sigh before turning to Sunset.

“I really messed up, didn’t I?”

Sunset looked to her, bearing a soft expression, and gently placed her hand upon Twilight’s shoulder.

“Twilight…you didn’t do what you did out of malice. And Flash…well…I’m sure he still cares about you.”

Twilight looked to her, still looking concerned.

“How? I know he said as much, but…how can you know that?”

Smiling, Sunset gave a brief chuckle before giving the young princess her answer.

“Trust me…I know when he cares.”

Twilight thought on those words, though how she truly felt about them was anybody’s guess. Still, in the end, she put on a smile, though again, nobody could tell if it was a genuine one or not.

“I just…thank you, for putting up with me as much as you did. I…I appreciate it.”

All of the other girls smiled, moving closer to embrace their royal friend. Though Twilight had hardly had the most pleasant of days, this moment at the very least was worth experiencing. None of them wanted to part from her, if only because of how down they knew she felt. But, they knew that all good things must come to an end sometime, and so began to move, one by one, away from her. Twilight, smiling to each in turn, let out a brief sigh, before looking down to Spike. Like the rest of them, he too had been worried about her, but, after reaching down and patting him on the head, Twilight silently let him know that she was fine. Getting back up, both her and Spike looked to the portal, and, as before, she raised a hand, ready to touch it and head back to Equestria. But, that was before she heard a certain voice call out to her.

“Twilight!”

Just like the last time she heard that voice, the young princess stopped, as indeed did everybody else. In unison, the turned, and saw, as they’d suspected, that Flash himself was running down the steps of the school. Twilight looked to him, utterly shocked at seeing him there, and all of her friends stood aside as they let the boy pass. When he finally reached her, he stopped for a moment, taking a few seconds to simply catch his breath.

“Wait…I…I…I need to talk to you.”

Needless to say, Twilight was taken aback by that, and looked to her friends, all of whom seemed just as surprised by this as she was. So, she gave Flash a nod, and the boy, in turn, took as long as he needed to get his breath back, before standing up tall and looking to the girl. An uncomfortable silence passed between them, during which, all of the other girls looked to one another, sharing looks that made it clear they were feeling awkward during this. But, thankfully, Flash finally broke the silence.

“I’m…I’m sorry for how I acted back then.”

To that, Twilight’s eyes widened, and she shook her head frantically at him.

“No! I'm the one who should be sorry! I should have come to you from the start!”

But, like her, Flash too shook his head.

“Twilight, I know this whole thing is new and strange to you. I shouldn’t have been so angry to learn of you trying to…to test it as you did.”

This back-and-forth of apology went on for several minutes, with the other girls and Spike turning their heads from one to the other as it happened. After a while, many of them started to look amused with how it was going on, Spike especially. But, to the relief of all of them, things eventually stopped when Twilight and Flash simply halted their apologies, looking to each other as if embarrassed. Moments later, and to the confusion of all of them, they actually started laughing of all things. When that died down, the two youths smiled warmly to one another.

“Flash…you were right, what you said before. I should have just talked to you.”

To that, Flash shrugged his shoulders.

“Hey, it’s no problem. I mean, yeah I was kinda angry at first, but…when I walked off, I got to thinking. What you did may have sucked…a lot…”

Twilight looked away in shame for a moment, only to look back to him when he continued speaking.

“But…you did it because you cared. About me. About us. I guess…I can’t really be angry with you, knowing that.”

Twilight tilted her head, showing clear confusion at this.

“Wow. How…how can you be so…so understanding about this?”

Hearing that, Flash stopped to think of an answer, and during which, he turned to Sunset, bearing a knowing smile.

“Let’s just say I’ve had to put up with far worse than that before.”

Like him, Sunset gained a slight smirk, giving him a nod. Twilight looked from her friend to Flash and back again, not quite sure what was going on. But, when it was all done, and Flash was once more looking to her, she took a step forward, speaking in a somewhat meek manner.

“So…is…is everything okay? Between us?”

Flash paused for a moment, considering that, before breaking out into a soft smile.

“Always.”

Twilight smiled at him, breathing a sigh of relief as she did so. But, before she got the chance to say anything, Flash beat her to it.

“You know, how about…the next time you come over…we maybe catch a milkshake or something?”

Twilight was somewhat surprised at that, but looked to her friends, seeing all of them silently urging her to accept the offer. Seeing that, she giggled slightly before looking back to Flash.

“I…I would love to.”

Hearing that Flash smiled.

“Awesome! So…see you next time?”

Twilight nodded, moving forward and, in a move that took Flash by surprise, embraced him in a hug. All of her friends giggled slightly at this, but kept it quiet when the two parted. Chuckling nervously, Flash composed himself after this, giving his crush a small wave before starting to head on off elsewhere. After watching him go, Twilight let out a contended sigh.

“He really is special, isn’t he?”

To that, Fluttershy, Rainbow and all the others all let out sighs of their own, nodding in response, which caught Twilight’s attention immediately. However, all of them realised what they’d done, immediately bearing looks of agreement instead, as they looked to Twilight with a smile. As for the princess, she shook herself out of her semi-suspicious mode of thought, giving them all a final smile before turning to the portal once more.

“Well, Spike, ready to head on home?”

Looking to her, his expression was a completely deadpan one.

“Twilight…I’ve been ready to leave since day one!”

Giggling again at that, Twilight looked over her shoulder, once more giving a happy glance to her human friends, before looking forward, right at the portal. She took a deep breath, as did Spike, and together, they jumped through the portal, leaving a bright flash in their wake. With their royal friend gone, the girls remaining all looked to one another, their expressions making it clear that something was on their minds. Sunset, however, was just forward enough to be the one to actually voice them.

“Okay, show of hands. Who here thinks Twilight’s study would have ended with her figuring out that Flash is too charming, nice and forgiving for his own good?”

Without even a word, all of the girls raised their hands, some going to far as to nod in agreement with what Sunset had just said. And speaking of whom, the former unicorn also had her hand up, but, as she looked to them all, a new thought emerged in her mind, one which she was less direct about speaking out.

“Also…keep your hands up if you might have, say…started to develop some warm feelings about the boy yourself during all this?”

Shock crossed their faces, but, as they looked to one another, they knew they couldn’t lie, and so, with slight embarrassment as their expressions, all hands stayed up, including Sunset’s. But, as this awkward silence sank in, Pinkie looked to Rarity, who was one of those with her hands up, and narrowed her eyes.

“Hey, wait a minute! You never had a close moment with him!”

To that, Rarity flipped some hair out of her face a little before replying.

“Well, perhaps not…but he’s nevertheless a charming gentleman amidst a school of boorish and occasionally childish boys. A girl can’t help but like a fellow like that.”

Looking to Pinkie, Rarity raised an eyebrow.

“And besides, didn’t you miss out on a close moment with him also?”

To that, Pinkie shrugged her shoulders, looking to Rarity with a surprisingly sultry look.

“Maybe…but at least I got to see him naked!”

As one would expect, all heads snapped in her direction, with blushes aplenty to go around. As for Pinkie, she maintained her expression, placing her hands on her hips as she gave herself a quick nod.

“Oh yeah! Better hold him tight, Twilight…or else I’m gonna have that boy one day!”

After yet another uncomfortable silence, Applejack turned to Sunset, her face one of utter mortification.

“Um…can we just, ya know…forget we all just heard that?”