“Bertram Billingsley Blueblood the Third!” Rarity gave a delighted, dumbfounded squeal, and grabbed onto Applejack's arm for support.
It had been a typical Friday morning up until that point-- the gang had gathered together in front of Canterlot High and made small talk before classes started. Twilight and Sunset were a bit quieter than usual-- though before anyone could ask, a sleek, charcoal-grey luxury sedan had pulled up in front of the school, and Rarity started going into hysterics.
“He's practically royalty!” Rarity gasped. “I mean, look at him! The man's one of the eligible (and, I might add, well-to-do) young bachelors in the world! Why, just look at his suit! Custom tailored, of course. And those loafers. Mmmh.” Rarity shivered, and wet her lips. “Did you know he holds the record for most appearances on the cover of Yachting Gentleman magazine?”
Applejack blinked. “Since when do you like sailing?”
“I don't.” Rarity huffed. “I just like gentlemen who own yachts.”
“Ya don't say.” Applejack said, deadpan.
“What's he doing here?” Sunset Shimmer peered curiously at Blueblood as he strode across the courtyard, towards the school. She shared a look with Twilight, who could only offer a bewildered shrug in return.
“Oh! Oh! I know!” Pinkie Pie waved a hand in the air, as if she were in class. “Maybe he had a party last night, and then he met some girl at the party, but she had to run away before he could get her name but she lost a shoe and whats-his-face found the shoe and now he's gonna make all the girls in school try on the shoe so he can find the girl who lost her shoe and then they can get married. Yay!” Pinkie Pie threw twin handfuls of confetti into the air. “Or maybe he's just a weirdo with thing for feet.”
“He better not be. That overstuffed peacock gets anywhere near my boots, I'm a kick 'im in the head.” Applejack narrowed her eyes, wary.
“Applejack!” Rarity huffed, and batted lightly at the cowgirl's arm. “You will do no such thing! Not just because he's certainly not here to re-enact the finale to Cinderella, but also because cranial trauma leaves a bad impression.”
“Oh, I bet it'll leave a huge impression.” Rainbow Dash leaned over, grinning. “In his head!” A pause, as her friends stared at her. “You know. 'cause he's gonna have a dent in his skull? From Applejack kicking him?”
“I got it.” Fluttershy murmured. “I just didn't laugh 'cause I don't want anyone to get hurt.”
“Tough crowd.” Rainbow grumbled.
A bell rang, and the girls picked up their bookbags to head to class, joking and chatting happily amongst themselves. Sunset Shimmer hung back and laid a hand on Twilight's shoulder to pull her back as well. She waited 'til the rest of her friends were well out of earshot, and then leaned in close.
“That's who you saw at the museum, wasn't it?” Sunset said.
Twilight nodded. “That's him. But what's he doing here?”
“That's why we're gonna find out. Come on.” Sunset Shimmer said.
“But … but it's time for homeroom!”
“Last night, we tried to steal an ancient and priceless piece of jewelry, and you're worried about missing homeroom?” Sunset cracked a grin, “Twilight, never change.”
“Thanks. I think.”
“Now c'mon.” Sunset stood up on tiptoe, and scanned the throng of students as they filed into their respective homeroom classrooms. She homed in on a head of heavily-gelled hair, and tugged Twilight along. “It looks like this Blueblood guy went into Principal Celestia's office.”
“Principal--” Twilight went pale. “Oh. Oh no. He knows! He knows and he's going to tell the Principal and then we're going to get expelled and then we'll go to jail and then we'll get prison G.E.D.'s that give you gang tattoos instead of diploma certificates!”
“Calm down.” Sunset Shimmer said, even as she planted her back against the wall and scooted closer to the open door to Principal Celestia's office. “If we were going to jail, the cops would talk to the Principal after we got arrested. Now keep quiet.” The hallways had emptied, and Vice-Principal Luna's voice crackled over the intercom system with the morning's announcements. Sunset tried to tune them out, and edged closer to the edge of the doorway, with Twilight pressing up against her right side in a sensation that would've been pleasant if she wasn't distracted by the matter at hand.
“Mmmm.” Blueblood's refined voice filled the small but tiny Principal's office. “I'll never understand why you waste your time here, Auntie. Shouldn't you have enough tucked away that you don't need to toil for a paycheck like a common plebeian?”
“Nobody goes into education for the money, Bertram.”
“Yes, yes, I know. Everyone has their calling. But really, it's possible to contribute to society as a whole without … you know. Working.” Blueblood made the 'w' word into a mild obscenity. “Why, I even made it a point to foist a few baubles from great-grandfather's collection onto the local museum. Did you notice?”
“I was a little busy at the time.”
“Of course you were, molding the young leaders of tomorrow, et cetera, et cetera. You'd really have to look to notice, however, since I had myself listed as an anonymous donor.”
“That's surprising. I would've thought you'd let everyone know just how 'generous' you were.” Sunset could practically hear Principal Celestia's finger-quotes.
“Oh, they will. I imagine they'll name a wing of the museum after me in a few years. In comparison, attaching my name to a couple of ancient trinkets seems a bit insignificant in the grand scheme of things, don't you think? I do have a legacy to consider, especially now that I'm getting older.”
“Please tell me you didn't come here just to brag.”
“That's just a bonus, Auntie. I really came here to invite you to a birthday gala at my lake house tonight. It's just a small gathering-- just a little over a hundred of the city's best and brightest stopping over for champagne and cocktails. You know how it is.”
“Unfortunately.” Celestia said, deadpan. “But, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it.”
“I expected as much, but I felt obligated to make the offer. Still, I'll leave the invitations here in case you-- or Auntie Luna change your minds.”
“Not going to invite her yourself?”
“I'm sure she has better things to worry about … not to mention that she frankly intimidates me.”
Celestia's laugh bubbled through the open door. “Did she ever tell you what she did when she was your age?”
“Fortunately not. I'm sure it's terrifying.”
“You don't know the half of it.”
“Now, if you'll excuse me, dear Auntie, I'd best be going. You wouldn't believe how much preparation goes into a small soiree like this one. Why, the ice sculptor should be arriving any minute. Ta!”
Blueblood breezed out of Principal Celestia's office, already checking his cellphone. He didn't even notice Sunset and Twilight pressed up against the wall. Sunset grit her teeth and watched him disappear around the corner.
Twilight's shoulders slumped as a relieved sigh whooshed past her lips. “Okay, now what do we-- Sunset!” Twilight sputtered-- as soon as she looked up, Sunset was walking into Principal Celestia's office. Twilight made a pained little squeak of dismay, and then risked a peek around the corner.
“Sunset Shimmer?” Celestia looked up from her paperwork, blinking. “Shouldn't you be in homeroom?”
“I know, I know.” Sunset Shimmer managed a guilty grin. “It's just … uh. I … something's come up, and I don't know who else to talk to.”
“Oh?” Celestia carefully put her papers down, and gestured to one of the empty chairs in front of her desk. “Is this another one of those, ah … unique matters? The kind that usually ends in someone growing horse-ears and glowing”
Twilight tightened her fingers around the doorjamb. This was it. This is what they should've done from the start. Go to a respectable and understanding authority and explain everything so they didn't have to break the law.
“Oh! No.” Sunset Shimmer said. “It, uh, it actually was about boys.”
“What.” Principal Celestia said.
“Well, um … “ Sunset twirled a lock of red hair around her finger. “I was just thinking about auditioning for the drama club because there's this one boy who also really likes drama and I was wondering if you knew what the next play they were going to do was because then I'd know if I might have to kiss him on stage in front of everyone.”
“Miss Shimmer.” Celestia said, flatly. “That strikes me as a question more appropriate for Curtain Call, our drama teacher, don't you think?”
“Oh. Right. I guess that makes sense.” Sunset Shimmer scratched at the back of her neck. “I … I guess I didn't know who else to ask.”
“Now you do.” Principal Celestia started ruffling through her paperwork again, and sipped from a sun-logo emblazoned coffee mug. “You can ask Mr. Call what he has planned after your classes, Miss Shimmer.” On cue, the bell signaling the end of homeroom rang.
“Right!” Sunset Shimmer said, bubbly. “Thanks!” And with that, Sunset turned and walked out of Principal Celestia's office. Twilight hurried to catch up to Sunset, though she lingered long enough near the door to hear Celestia grumble.
“At least she's not pregnant … “
“What was that?” Twilight Sparkle kept her voice low, but the general din of students pushing out into the hallways on their way to their first class made whispering somewhat redundant. “You lied to Principal Celestia!” A pause. “You … were lying, weren't you? Because if you were really crushing on one of the theater kids you'd tell me, right?”
“Not jealous, are you?” Sunset Shimmer nudged Twilight with her elbow.
“I--” Twilight's jaw flapped around like the mouth of a broken puppet.
“Relax. I just made all of that up.”
“But why?”
“Because it was just the kind of banal teenage drama that'll make any teacher's eyes gloss over. The perfect distraction for me to snag these.” Sunset Shimmer reached into her jacket, pulling out a pair of finely embossed envelopes.
“You stole Principal Celestia's party invitation?”
“And Vice-Principal Luna's. One for each of us.”
“But, but--”
“It's not like they were gonna go anyway.” Sunset Shimmer neatly slid the envelopes back into her pocket. “Honestly, this'll be even easier than the museum. All we have to do is put on some party dresses, get inside Blueblood's mansion, and then get the Alicorn Amulet.”
“How? We don't have blueprints! And you haven't cased the place! There's no way we can figure out where the amulet is, or what kind of security's around it.”
“I've already thought of that. You still have that little magic-detector gizmo, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Perfect. The invitations get us inside the party, and your magic detector will take us straight to the amulet. I'm willing to bet that Blueblood's not going to have all the motion detectors and alarms that the museum had. We nab the amulet, sneak out, and we're home free.”
“But what if we get caught?”
“That's the best part!” Sunset Shimmer said. “Breaking into a museum is one thing, but gatecrashing a fancy party? That's got to be less illegal.”
“But still illegal.”
“Details.”