Sunburst was reminded of an experiment he tried as a foal.
He would time himself and try to memorize the layout of the mansion with his eyes closed. It wasn't successful, and he would be tripping and bumping into many things, but it had been an interesting experience.
This was...also interesting, he supposed.
The blindfold was tied snugly around his head, and he couldn't make heads or tails of anything around him. He tried to adjust himself into a better laying position, but so far as his hooves were tied over him he knew he'd never get comfortable. He heard the sound of a door opening, and he laid still, gulping audibly.
The clopping of hooves, then a strange male voice. "See, boss? I told you it'd be easy as pie. Now, all we got to do is wait for the ransom money, and the Royal family will pay us out the nose."
To Sunburst's growing surprise, the boss's voice was not only feminine but extremely so. "It feels too easy, Pharynx. Are you sure about this? He didn't have any bodyguards around."
"That's how rich ponies stay rich, boss! By being cheap! Trust me, having Sunset Shimmer here is like having a sack of gold!"
Sunset? What did Sunset have to do with...oh. Sunburst hesitated, then quietly asked. "Excuse me?"
They didn't appear to hear him, and the boss sighed. "Fine, but is the last job we pull like this. If you keep this up, you can find yourself another gang."
"Don't get your tail in a twist, boss!"
"Excuse me...?" Sunburst tried again.
"I don't need you commenting about my tail, Pharynx, and you can stop looking there too!"
"Sheesh, you ponies can take a joke..."
"EXCUSE ME!" Sunburst hadn't meant to shout it, but it came out anyway. After a gulp, he went on. "I, uh...I think there's been a bit of a...mix-up here."
A beat of silence, then the mare spoke. "What do you mean?"
"Don't listen to him, boss! He's just trying to wiggle his way out of here."
Sunburst shrugged helplessly. "I couldn't wiggle out of this if I tried. But, um, the thing is...you guys seem to think I'm someone I'm not. You see, Sunset Shimmer is my older sister."
Another beat of silence, and again, the mare broke it─but her musical voice could cut through steel. "Pharynx."
Pharynx's voice had an edge of nervousness as he replied. "Yes, boss?"
"Bring me the newspaper article you were looking at."
"Yes ma'am." The scuttling of hooves growing fainter.
...and then the slow canter of hooves towards Sunburst. Boss was looking at him closely, he could feel it, and she said, "If this a trick, you're going to be in a world of trouble."
"I'm no good at tricks, miss," Sunburst said easily enough. "I'm...not good at anything, to be honest. That's why the family doesn't care for me much. I'm a disappointment to them. Sunset's the head of the family...or, well, she will be, when mom retires. I'm just the spare."
Boss sighed deeply through her nostrils. "All right, enough with the sob story." But there was pity in her voice, no doubt about that. Perhaps even some understanding.
"I got it, I got it!" Pharynx returned, his voice slightly muffled but sounding more confident, and there was the rustling of paper. "See, right there, there's our meal ticket! I knew we got the right one!" Boss returned to Pharynx's side, no doubt to inspect it herself.
Sunburst had a fair suspicion of which article it was, as their mother had a tendency to cut all the articles pertaining to the family and hanging them on the wall. "Sunset's in the middle, she's the mare holding up the flag. I'm there too...wayyy in the right corner, behind the chairs."
"He's just pulling a trick," Pharynx insisted.
Sunburst didn't have much of a backbone, but when it came to memory, he had little doubts about it. "Look underneath the picture, it lists everyone's name in the order they're standing in from left to right. There's the Mayor, Dad, Sunset Shimmer, Mom, the Mayor's aide, then me...although they spelled my name wrong and put it as 'Sunblurt'."
A third wave of silence. Pharynx managed to get out an apologetic "Um" before the boss suddenly did something to cause him to howl in pain─and then kept repeating it. "OW! OW, OW, OW, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRYYYYY!"
"What kind of trouble did you land us this time, Pharynx!?" The Boss snapped. "I ought to skin you alive!"
Sunburst winced as he heard the sound of pain continuing, but as he did, the blindfold began to slip, and that's when he finally saw his captors. He was surprised to see a changeling, laying on his stomach and covering his head with his front hooves, groaning in agony as the boss kept smacking him with the newspaper. The boss herself was a unicorn mare...holy Celestia, 'Boss' was shorter than Sunburst was! A pretty mare, to be sure, with a dark purple mane and angry blue eyes, but how in the world was she able to command a changeling?
It was just his luck─his first time near a mare this good-looking, and she 'wanted' his sister. Typical.
Boss saw Sunburst staring, and Sunburst paled, trying to use the floor and shuffle the blindfold back into place. It didn't work. He sheepishly grinned. "...Oops?"