Twilight sighed. She read the letters over and over again, until she was wound-up and couldn't think clearly. Who could it be? She'd asked herself. Who could that pony be? That Taz character had a mind of her own. She had such a strange way of life and a weird way of thinking, and especially a weird way of communicating. Weirder than Starlight, and weirder than Fluttershy, even. But if that was her, then there was nothing she could do to stop her from being, well, her.
She walked up to Starlight's office, hoping she was still there. Knocking on the door, she asked, "Are you in there?" Starlight opened the door, putting away a sheet of paper she was writing on. "Getting into grading?" Twilight asked with a slight smirk.
Starlight giggled back. "I sure am. It's like homework in a way—you don't like it, yet you can't stop once you start." They shared a laugh before it all went silent. Twilight reached back into her mind, trying to recall what she was going to ask Starlight.
Then, it hit her. "Oh! Uh, you know Taz?" she asked. Starlight rolled her eyes and nodded. "I know you said this should be kept secret, but I can't help but wonder who she is. I can't help but feel the urge and the need to ask around, to see if we can find anything out about Taz. Please?"
"Uhh," Starlight groaned, unsure. Twilight looked almost impatient, and Starlight herself wanted the mystery to be over soon anyways. Hopefully "Taz" would reveal herself by the end of the week. Maybe even Monday, when the winners were to be announced. "Alright," she sighed. "But it's not like anypony will willingly say they are Taz. She did mention that she was her own secret, you know."
"Oh," Twilight grinned, "I know. But curiosity has gotten the better of me. We could at least try."
Starlight tried to stop Twilight, to interrupt and prevent any chaos from happening. "Besides, it would be weird to ask everypony in town if they know about a scheme including a pony named 'Taz...'"
"Yes," Twilight smiled. "Exactly my point. We don't have to try and ask everypony in town. We can just observe." Starlight then sighed and followed Twilight. There really was no way out of this. Together, they walked through Ponyville and observed everypony closely. Unfortunately for Twilight, who was really hoping for an answer, nopony seemed to be doing anything abnormal. Everypony just did their normal job.
Twilight frowned and turned to Starlight. "What do you think Taz looks like?"
"Twilight!" Starlight shouted. She needed to snap her friend out of it! "What are you thinking? It's enough to drag me along on a search I don't feel comfortable doing, and now you're ready to explore an anonymous pony's identity even further?"
As the words reached her, she realized what she had just processed, what mistake Starlight had finally pointed out. "Oh, I'm sorry. To both you and Taz."
Starlight sighed. "It's fine. I'm sorry I yelled... Do you want to go get some dinner?"
"Sure." There was silence between the two of them as they walked to the café nearby.
"I don't mind you yelling, actually," Twilight said to break the disturbing stillness that filled the air. As they arrived at the café, unfortunately near closing time, they heard a few more noises to fill in the gaps in their conversation. Twilight finally mustered up the courage to speak again. "I needed it. After you yelled, you made it clearer to me that I was acting wrongly. I'm sorry. Again." Starlight nodded, but still avoided eye contact with Twilight. Was it really that bad? she asked herself.
Twilight ordered a daisy sandwich, looking towards Starlight to see what she wanted. Starlight just shrugged, seeming tired, so Twilight ordered a sandwich for her, as well. "Did I say something to offend you? Are you still angry about my actions?" Twilight asked, unsure why Starlight was acting so distant.
Starlight shrugged again. "No, not really. You apologized for that already. I forgave you."
"So what's with the distance?"
"Nothing," she answered with a sigh and a look away. "Everypony just needs their time to think, to speak to themselves and nopony else."
Twilight nodded in agreement. "Alone time is nice, but could you do it while you're not in public? At a literal restaurant with me? When we're kind of, you know, hanging out?"
Starlight looked around as if she had forgotten where they were. "Oh. Yeah, sure." Twilight giggled a little, slightly glad that that problem had been resolved. Starlight still seemed a bit quiet, but at least she wasn't completely off in her own world.
As their sandwiches arrived, Twilight thanked the waiter. She made sure to also order some juice before he left, because she thought Starlight might need it to refresh herself. She knew she did, so she ordered another for herself. Starlight soon revealed that she didn't feel like eating anymore. Soon after, they left the café, Starlight eyed Twilight. "You came here to find Taz. I guess I'll accept that and tag along."
Twilight looked shocked. "But it's wrong! You were right, I shouldn't have been too eager to do such a thing. Taz's identity should be kept a secret."
Starlight smiled. "I'm glad you realize that. Now, it's only Wednesday, so we'll have two more days of sending gifts. The winners are being announced on Monday, and it seems that Taz is one of the top five students."
"Oh," Twilight said aloud, a breath of her thoughts escaping. She then spoke her complete mind out. "What if Taz won't show herself when we announce her name? How will we announce her name, for that matter?"
"Just say 'Taz,' I guess," Starlight grinned back. "I have a feeling she will reveal her identity on Monday. If she doesn't, then we'll leave her prize in the mail. She attends all the announcements, so I know it won't be a problem to let her know of her victory."
Twilight smiled too. They walked home together, Starlight mentally plotting out how her last letter with "Taz" would go.