The Mis-text Mystery

by MareDoVVell


The Hunt Begins

“RARITY!”

“Ahhhh!” Rarity screamed, nearly leaping into her open locker as she jumped in terror. She spun around, a reprimand ready on her lips, only to stop short as she caught sight of a rather manic looking Sunset Shimmer.

“Sunset? You nearly scared me half to death darling, what’s the matter?” she asked, concern ringing her blue eyes.

“Um, n-nothing, I just, uh, need your help with something.” Sunset babbled, her expression shifting from crazed to nervous.

“Of course dear, anything to help a friend,” Rarity responded automatically, “especially if it’ll help with whatever is clearly bothering you.” She added matter-of-factly.

“Ugh nothing is bother...well something is, but not in the after school special kind of way, I promise!” Sunset grumbled, miming shoving baked goods into her eye.

“Fine, fine,” Rarity sighed with a roll of her eyes. “What exactly do you need darling, as I said I’d be happy to help however I can.”

“Ok this is gonna sound ridiculous, buuuut...” Sunset awkwardly tapped her pointer fingers together, looking embarrassed. “You wouldn’t happen to have, say, a meticulously researched and recorded list of likely romantic partners for each of us, would you?”

Rarity gave Sunset an unamused glare, one hand on her hip.

Sunset cringed. “Right, that would be ridicu...”

“Of course I do, why you even needed to ask is frankly insulting.” Rarity interrupted.

Sunset gaped for a moment, before giving her head a quick shake to dispel her shock. “Um, y-yeah, sorry...I don’t suppose I could borrow a copy of what you have for Twilight, could I?” She pleaded, hoping her unbelievable streak of luck would hold out, and that Rarity wouldn’t ask too many questions.

Rarity gave her a calculating look, tapping a finger to her chin. “Hmmmm...Pony Twilight or our Twilight?”

“Y-you have one for both?” Sunset asked with a raised brow, before shaking her head again. “Never mind, our Twilight please.”

Rarity reached into her purse and extracted a tiny black notebook and a pen. “Hmm interesting, would have expected the other.” Rarity muttered quietly, keeping the pages out of Sunset’s view as she casually flipped through them.

“Uh, what was that?” Sunset chirped.

“Nothing darling, just talking to myself. Allow me to make a few quick edits and it’ll be all yours.” She said absently, before returning to a tone too quiet for Sunset to hear as she began marking the page in heavy ink. “Can’t make it too easy for her after all, my this should be fun.” After a moment she capped the pen and delicately tore a page from the book, holding it out towards Sunset.

Sunset could barely contain her grin as she took hold of the paper. She was practically salivating at the prospect of getting some answers. “Thanks Rarity, this’ll really help with my investigation.” She said absently as she folded the paper and shoved it into a pocket. “I’ll get it back to you as soon as I’m done.”

“No need, I keep every list in triplicate.” Rarity said with a proud grin.

Sunset blinked at that, suddenly curious about more than just Twilight’s list, more specifically what her own might say, but the bell for homeroom rang before she could enquire further.

“Ta-ta darling, do let me know how your investigation goes, won’t you?” Rarity said cheerily before closing her locker and strutting down the hall with a quick wave.

Sunset nodded dumbly, before shaking her head one more time and scurrying off to class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunset slumped heavily into a desk at the back of the classroom, nervously checking the room to ensure nobody was paying any attention to her. It was the start of third period, and the list in her pocket had been occupying her mind all morning, but this was the first class she had away from the prying eyes of any of her friends. She wasn’t keeping her investigation a secret per se, at least not from anyone besides Twilight, but the nature of the list in her pocket made it a holy relic of the dark magic that is teen gossip.

Giving one more furtive look around the room, Sunset finally slipped the paper from her jeans and spread it out on the desk in front of her. “Alright Rarity, lets see what you’ve got.” She muttered.

The list was numbered top to bottom, though Sunset couldn’t quite discern what the ranking meant to Rarity’s romance addled mind. Luckily each entry was accompanied by a little note of color commentary from the curator. Annoyingly, the first entry seemed to have been scribbled out in heavy pen marks, far too darkly to be read through, and was followed by a note that could be described as cryptic at best, but the rest were mercifully straightforward.

1. ////////////// - If I were a betting girl, my money would be on the other one, but who knows? Either would be adorably perfect

2. Rainbow Dash - I don’t get it myself, but it’s too popular a pairing to disregard

3. Flash Sentry - Ew

4. Timber Spruce - Double ew

5. Rarity - Flattering certainly, maybe worth some experimentation when college rolls around, provided she’s not taken

Sunset had to hold in a snort of laughter at that particular entry, glancing around again to make sure nobody noticed she wasn’t paying attention to the lecture.

6. Applejack - Off the table until she gets over her fear of coming out to her Grandmother. Poor dear

7. Fluttershy - It'd be the cutest case of double death by heart attack in medical history

8. Principal Celestia - Certainly unconventional, but cute nonetheless

9. Adagio Dazzle - Let's hope not, for Twilight's sake...

10. Trixie - The term Tsundere comes to mind...I need to stop talking to Dash about those Japanese comics she likes so much

Finishing the list, Sunset chewed her lip in contemplation, reviewing the possibilites in the hopes of narrowing the list. She really wished she knew who was supposed to be at the top, but trying to get it out of Rarity at this point seemed like a lost cause, so she moved on.

She could immediately strike Flash from the likely suspects. He still got too frazzled to even approach Twilight, and word would have spread quickly if anything had happened between them. Same went for Timber since he was the object of a lot of her classmates' affections, and somebody getting their hooks in him would have hit the gossip network immediately, especially had it been Twilight.

She could also omit Rarity, by her own admission in the notes. She struck off AJ and Fluttershy for the same reasons. Hesitantly, she then crossed off Dash's name, as she had been spending an awful lot of time with Indigo Zap since the friendship games, and Sunset would bet good bits that there was more to the story there.

She was left with 3 remaining contenders, not counting the mystery number 1 candidate. Principal Celestia, Adagio Dazzle, and Trixie. Frankly Sunset wasn't convinced, but she hardly had much of a head for romance. Apparently people flirted with her all the time, and she had never once picked up on it, at least if Her friends were to be believed.

She folded the list back up and returned it to her pocket before attempting to pick back up on the lecture she had been ignoring, figuring she could start tracking down her new leads once lunch, and her following free period, rolled around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spying on your Principal would probably be very difficult at any other school, but that was not the case at Canterlot High. Principal Celestia had a known habit of taking lunch with her sister in the bleachers out by the soccer field. Sunset suspected this was to scare off the crowd of delinquent students that would otherwise use the space under the bleachers to sneak a lunch-time cigarette. Luckily, this left said space unoccupied, and Sunset could be very sneaky when the need arose.

Shuffling forward in a slow moving crouch, Sunset crept into a convenient pool of shadows in the bleacher crawlspace that was just within earshot of the two school administrators while they munched on matching salads. Carefully, Sunset lowered herself into a seated position to give her aching knees a break, and cupped a hand around one ear to listen in. She frankly didn’t really believe that Twilight might be romantically involved with the principal, but she planned to follow every lead she had for now.

The first ten minutes passed with very little of interest happening, and Sunset could feel her eyelids start to droop as the pair began wrapping up an extremely dull conversation about the budget for the next semester. She was about to give up and sneak away when things took a turn in her favor.

"So, any plans for the weekend?" Luna asked, tossing her plastic silverware into her empty takeout container and grabbing a napkin. "I have an extra ticket to that concert Macintosh and I are going to on Saturday, if you'd like to join us?"

Celestia gave her sister a good natured eye-roll. "No thank you, you know I don't like that weird 'Gothabilly Country' genre you two love so much, besides I'd feel like a third wheel."

"You wouldn't be a third wheel, it's not like it's a date!" Luna protested, looking a little nervous.

"At least not until you let him know that you want it to be." Celestia countered with a wink.

Luna crossed her arms, a noticeable blush darkening her face. "Sh-shut up!" she huffed, before noticeably deflating. "Y'know it'd be a lot easier if I had my sister there for support."

Celestia offered her a sympathetic smile. "You'll be fine, I believe in you. Besides I'm actually busy Saturday night anyways."

It was Luna's turn to offer a teasing eye-roll. "So you're seeing her again are you?"

Sunset perked up as she saw Principal Celestia's apprehensive expression. No way! she thought to herself.

"Y-yes, she asked me out again and I just couldn't say no, even if we could get in huge trouble if the school board ever found out..."

NowayNowayNoway!!!

Luna smirked. "Who cares? It's not like I'm about to tell them, and nobody would ever suspect a girl as shy as her to be pursuing older women."

Seriously! Twilight you dog!

Celestia gave her sister an incensed glare. "I am only three years older than her, thank you very much."

Wait, whu...?

Luna's cheshire grin nearly doubled in size. "You should know better than to try and lie about your age to your own sister Tia. I've checked her employee file and Cheerilee is only 33, so that would make the difference more like..."

"You shut your mouth right now, or I text Mac about your little crush!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

Sunset used the ensuing arguement to make a quick escape and head back to the school building, mentally reviewing her findings. Alright so Principal Celestia is secretly dating Ms. Cheerilee, and Vice-Principal Luna has a secret crush on AJ's brother, who apparently hangs out with them both regularly. Certainly interesting, but not all that helpful. Sunset sighed as she pulled out the list and struck Principal Celestia's name from it. Alright, next up is Trixie...