The adventures of Select Few & Writer

It was early in the morning, and Select Few was taking a walk around the edge of town. The white pegasus often did this, as he liked watching the town of Hoofington slowly grow brighter as the sun rose.

Generally, he was alone on his walks, as he either woke up earlier than most or stayed up later.

Usually, that is. Today, he felt as if he was being watched.

Select looked around him, but didn't see anything except the occasional tree or bush. He decided that he was just being paranoid, and continued on his way.  After a while of walking, the feeling of being watched increased. Nervous now, he slowly turned his head behind him, but again saw nothing.

"Easy now. You're just a little jumpy from reading that book yesterday." He told himself. He had checked out a book about various myths and legends from around the Hoofington area for Writer, and had decided to read it once she had finished. It had turned out to be mostly filled with horror stories, though, with everything from mysterious disappearances to monster sightings.

Normally, those things wouldn't effect Select, but he had been up all the night before, and was tired when he read it.  Now, he was beginning to believe that that hadn't been such a good idea.

He adjusted his sunglasses, and prepared to start walking again. After a few steps, however, he heard a rustling behind him.

"A-ha!" He shouted as he spun around. But again, there was nopony behind him. Just a bush and the road. Now thoroughly spooked, he carefully unfolded his wings and started gliding over the road. After travelling a few feet forwards, the rustling started up again. Select decided to ignore it, but sped up just a little anyways. The sound followed him as he travelled along the road, but every time he peeked behind him, he only saw the road and a bush.

In fact, it was the same bush every time...

Select realized this, and suddenly came to a halt. He flipped around in the air, and dove straight into the bush. "I've got you now! Whoever you are, you won't be getting away!" As he looked around inside the bush, though, he didn't find anypony or anything.

Briefly considering that the bush was alive and had been following him all day, Select shook his head and dismissed that crazy idea. He backed out of the bush, wondering if he was actually being followed, or if he was going crazy. He turned around to finish up his walk-

And ended up face to face with Writer.

"Hey, Few. What's up?" She asked, with a smile on her face.

"SWEET MERCIFUL CELESTIA!" Select shouted, flying backwards several feet.

"You... Are you ok, Few?" Writer asked, sounding both amused and concerned.

After he calmed down, Select landed and answered "Yeah, I'm fine. You just startled me. What are you doing out this early?"

"Why, following you, of course!" Writer said, pointing to a pair of binoculars hanging around her neck. "I had to jump out of my bush when you dove into it. What was with that, anyways?"

"Sorry. I thought someone had been following me, and was looking for them in-" Select's face suddenly turned into one of confusion. "Wait, you were the one following me? Why?!"

"Well," Writer began, "I could say that I was studying your daily habits in order to learn more about how your brain works, but instead I'll tell you the truth and say that it was for the lulz, of course."

"For the..." Select said, obviously still confused. "Never mind. Just don't sneak up on me from now on, ok?"

"Alrighty, Few." Writer said. "I'll try, but no promises. Why are you so jumpy, anyways?"

"I'm tired, I think. And I'm not used to strange bushes following me around." Select replied.

"That's silly. You'd think having me for a sister would have you used to stranger things by now." Writer cheerfully said, as she hopped over Select's head and back into the bush.

"You'd think..."

Select started walking again, and Writer moved the bush to stay beside him. She poked her head out the front of it to continue talking to him.

"I'm wondering, though: What's with the bush?" Select asked.

Writer turned her head around to look at the bush "What, this old thing? I always use it when I'm researching ponies."

"You always use it?" Select said. "You mean you've done this kind of thing before?"

"Oh, yes, plenty of times!" Writer said, suppressing a giggle. "Most of the time, Ponies don't realize I'm studying them, though."

"And by study, you mean... stalk?"

"You may call it stalking, but I call it SCIENCE!" As Writer said the last part, she dove back into the bush and retrieved a notepad. She handed it to Select, who saw that it was almost completely filled up.

"This is where I write down everything I learn about ponies while I study them." Writer said.

"Go on, look inside."

Select looked down at the notepad, and handed it back to Writer. "You mean Stalk. And, no thanks. I don't think I want to know what ponies do when they think they're alone."

Writer took the notepad and put it back in the bush. "Study. And it's your loss."

They finished up walking and headed back home. Once they got there, Writer ducked into the bush, then hopped out of it.

"So, do Mom and Dad know about your 'Studying'" Select asked, walking into their kitchen.

"Sort of..."Writer replied. "I told them that I was working on a research paper, and that I had to go out a lot for, well, research."

Select grabbed a cup and filled it with orange juice. "Well, I won't tell them about it, but you've got to promise to be careful."

Writer grabbed the cup with her magic and drank out of it. "Thanks! And, I promise!"

Select stared at the cup for a moment, then grabbed another one. After they finished drinking, Select flew up to his cloud room above the house to go to bed, and Writer walked back to her room. Once she was there, she grabbed a rug that was in the middle of the floor and moved it aside, revealing a trap door. She went inside, and set her notebook down. The room was full of filled notebooks, with pictures of different ponies lining the walls. As she grabbed an empty notebook and camera, she headed back up to her room.

Before she closed the door, she looked down into the secret room. "Soon, Hoofington." She said in a low tone. "Soon, I'll know all of your secrets."