The Pros and Cons of Being Famous

"Hey, did you see that alicorn filly walking in the main shopping district with that unicorn and annoying pink earth pony?"

"That little filly! She had wings and a horn, and I didn't even know that Cadence, Luna, or Celestia had a foal out of wedlock! How scandalous!"

"I wonder wherever those two mares found an alicorn filly? I would say that it's the unicorn's, but she is an alicorn, and no filly I've ever heard of has ever ascended!"

"They probably kidnapped that alicorn!"

Upper Crust and Jet Set stopped as they overheard a passing group of gossiping mares, and turned in the direction to where one of them was pointing. A gray alicorn filly with a white mane and bright blue eyes was happily gazing into a toy store while a white unicorn with a beautifully styled purple mane and a pink earth pony chatted. The filly would occasionally look back over her shoulder and smile, asking questions to the two mares. Crust immediately recognized the pink pony, Pinkie Something, who had crashed into her, and the unicorn as Rarity.

Jet Set frowned snootily, saying, "Dear, didn't we run into those mares before our luncheon? Also, weren't they alone before?"

Upper Crust nodded, a sneer creeping up her face. "Yes, and did the unicorn not say that she and her annoying little friend were visiting the Princesses? I bet that they did, and kidnapped that filly. Although, it's a mystery to me as to why that filly is an alicorn, what she was doing in the castle, and how they knew about it..."

While the couple was staring critically at the three mares, Pinkie suddenly stiffened. Rarity continued talking to Lily, neither of them noticing Pinkie's strange behavior.

"Frizzy mane," Pinkie touched her suddenly frizzed out mane, "and itchy stomach? *quiet gasp* That means..." She suddenly whipped around.

Rarity, startled by Pinkie's sudden movement, jumped a little. "Pinkie! What in Equestria is--"

"... SPIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rarity glared at her friend, while Lily jumped and hid behind Rarity. Rarity followed the gaze of Pinkie, her eyes resting upon Jet Set and Upper Crust. The couple noticed that they had been seen looking, and immediately pointed their noses into the air, and began to sophisticatedly walk away.

Pinkie and Rarity looked at each other, both wearing a frown. They came to a silent agreement, and nodded.

"HEY!!! You in the polos!!! Get back over here!!!" Pinkie started to canter towards them, until Rarity caught up to her, and quickly shoved her hoof into Pinkie's mouth.

"Let me handle this," she whispered. Rarity trotted up to the unicorn couple, while Lily anxiously tried to catch up with her.

"Excuse me," she called out to the unicorns. They stopped in their tracks, slowly turning around to face Rarity. "I believe your names are Upper Crust and Jet Set?"

Upper Crust sniffed impatiently. "Yes, and you are... Rarity, it was?" Rarity nodded, waiting for her to ask what she was doing. "Might I ask you why you have stopped us?" She paused for a minute, her eyes trailing to Lily. The filly was behind Rarity, who noticed the unicorn's gaze and instinctively put a foreleg in front of her for protection.

Lily peeked cautiously over Rarity's leg, mutely watching the three grown-ups talk.

"My friend, Pinkie, noticed you and your husband watching us," Rarity continued. "Do you have a reason for doing so?" She looked at the two of them, wondering what they would say. She thought she had a good idea what their reason was. Rarity took a sideways glance at Lily, checking to make sure she was alright. Lily, although not frightened, had an odd look to her, like a cat deciding whether or not the mouse it had spotted was worth the chase.

"Well, it's just that you have an alicorn filly with you and your friend," Jet Set replied, looking Lily over. "Wherever did you find her?"

"Well, the princesses invited us to the castle and then they introduced us to her and she is just the cutest little filly EVER and we ate lunch with her and she laughed when I got cupcake frosting on my muzzle and now we're going shopping with her to get her some clothes and stuff!!!!" Pinkie Pie took a huge gasp of air before speaking again. "Oh, and then we were in front of this big toy store and she was asking us about our jobs and stuff and she was really excited when I told her I'm an assistant baker!!"

Rarity, used to Pinkie's ramblings, tried not to facehoof. Meanwhile, Lily, giggled to herself at Pinkie's ability to say so much on a single breath of air. Jet and Crust were far from amused, however. They shared a look, before looking disinterestedly at the gray filly. They must have come to a silent agreement that the three mares were not worth their "sophisticated and upper-class style," because they turned around once more to walk away.

Rarity glared at the back of the couple as they got farther away, while Pinkie chatted to Lily nonchalantly.

"... and I can't WAIT to throw you a 'Welcome to Ponyville!!!' when you visit for the first time 'cause it'll be fun fun FUN and you'll meet everypony and make lots of friends if my name isn't Pinkamina Diane Pie!!!!!!"

Lily, noticing that the unicorns had left, turned towards Rarity. "Miss Rarity, why did Pinkie call those ponies 'spies,' and why was the stallion interested in where you found me?"

Rarity thought over Lily's question before carefully replying, "Well... many of the ponies here in Canterlot are very snobby and vain, but they also seem to have a talent of knowing everything that's going on in the city. Since you're an alicorn, and they have never seen an alicorn filly, they wanted to know all about you."

Lily nodded, and smiled happily as Pinkie took her by the hoof and pulled her back to the toy store. Rarity smiled to herself as she followed, happy that Pinkie's energetic and random personality didn't frighten the filly.

////\\

Meanwhile, back at the palace, many of the day guards glanced curiously at Princess Luna - who had smeared two black lines of paint on each cheek, and who had also casted numerous illusion and so-called "prank" spells - who was currently sneaking around the castle. None of them really knew what was going on, but it probably had to do with the fact that it was all Celestia's fault for bringing this prank war upon Canterlot Castle.

////\\

As Fluttershy glanced at a jewelry case in one of the many shops in the main shopping district of Canterlot, her rainbow-maned companion was far from enthused.

"Are we done yet," Rainbow Dash whined as she dragged her hooves across her face. "I want to get this whole 'group shopping'  thing done already and go to the park or something fun!"

Fluttershy sighed quietly, and tried her best to block out Rainbow's complaining and whining. Oh, why couldn't I be shopping with Rarity? she thought to herself as RD's whining continued as they crossed the street after paying for some pretty bracelets and hats.

////\\

Twilight smiled nervously as she, Applejack, and Spike searched for the rest of their friends. Although they had all decided to meet at the park by two, her left ear began to flick nervously while she continuously glanced at a large clock reading, 1:35.

"Oh, calm yerself down, Twi," AJ said while rolling her eyes. "It's only about 1:30, we got plenty of time before we go to that big ole' park."

"Yeah, Twilight," Spike added, "It's not like the world'll end if you're one second late."

Twilight nodded, not taking her eyes off of the clock, the minute hand slowly moving towards where the 36 was. It took AJ waving her hoof in front of Twi's face to snap her out of it. Twilight shook her head a few times, while AJ merely rolled her eyes and turned back to her cousin Apple Fritter's stand. She was selling her famous, you guessed it, apple fritters, which Applejack absolutely adored.

"Hey, Fritters! How's Babs back in Manehatten?"

Apple Fritters smiled. "Oh, hey AJ! She's doin' pretty good, though I haven't talked to her big sis in a while. Would youse two like some fritters?" She held up one, letting the smell waft over to Applejack and Spike.

"Heck yeah, Ah do! Half a dozen, like usual. What'll it be?" she asked, as she grabbed a few bits out of her saddle. She gazed lovingly upon the apple fritters, enamored with their delicious aroma.

Fritters whistled slightly. "Well, it'll cost ya about... 18 bits!"

Applejack snapped out of food thought mode for a minute. "Wait, hold on there, partner. Ya can't charge me that much for some fritters! We're cousins!"

Fritters smiled again. "Well, in my business, we says that there is no discounts for our families. Some of us has mouths to feed at home, and we can't afford to lose a few bits."

AJ grumbled as she took 18 bits out of her saddlebags and placed them on the counter. Her grumpiness faded, however, as Fritters gave her the steaming box of apple fritters.

////\\

Lily Note smiled happily as Rarity ran a brush through her mane, styling it. Pinkie Pie was sitting down by the pond in front of them, pushing out a small toy boat that she had bought. She was getting some stares from some of the ponies in the park, but she didn't care. Lily and Rarity were sitting on a large picnic blanket that Rarity had laid out, with a few healthy snacks.

"Just one more minute, darling, and your mane will look so lovely! This is a hairstyle that is difficult for non-unicorns, as their hooves can become tangled up in their mane." As Rarity began to braid Lily's mane, she smiled slightly at the memory of Sweetie Belle trying to do this to Apple Bloom. The ending result was the Scootaloo bringing the pair to Rarity so that she could untangle them. It had been quite a job, but a few ponies had watched, and she had got a bit more business for a day or two.

Lily who had noticed that the other mares were not at the park yet, asked, "Miss Rarity? When will the other mares come?"

Rarity chuckled slightly. "There is no need to call me 'Miss,' Lily, and I think that they should be here soon. Celestia have mercy on us all if Twilight is late!"

Before Lily could even ask, "What do you mean?" there was a bright purple flash, along with a very annoyed looking Twilight, a confused and alarmed Applejack, and a nonchalant Spike eating an apple fritter. Twilight instantly looked to the clock, which read, 1:59. She sighed as the minute hand arrived at the 2, and two bongs rung out across the city.

AJ grumbled as she sat down on the blanket with an apple fritter, and popped it into her mouth. Spike raced over to Rarity, watching her with loving eyes. Twilight smoothed her hair, which had become slightly messy, and trotted over to the bench as well.

"So, Rarity," Twilight began, "how did your shopping with Lily and Pinkie go?" She sat down on the blanket as well, grabbing an apple with her magic.

"Oh, it was so much fun," Rarity began,"but we did run into this one unicorn couple; Jet Set and Upper Crust. I assume that you know them?" Her smile faded a tad, as she continued to braid Lily's mane.

Twilight nodded. "A few years before i moved to Ponyville, they came to one of my birthdays. It was my 6th anniversary of becoming Princess Celestia's protege, and the Princess decided to throw a party - she throws one every year for her special students - and invite a lot of those upper class snobs. Upper Crust didn't know that I was the Princess' student, and she kinda insulted me." A wicked grin appeared on her face. "You should have seen the look on her face when she found out who I was! Her face was just priceless, and she was practically kissing my hooves in apology!!" Twilight started to giggle, and Lily, Spike, and Rarity joined in. Applejack, who was still eating, burst out into laughter, bits of apple fritter flying out of her mouth.

"EEEEEEEEKK!!!!!!" Rarity squealed as she hastily threw up a weak shield around herself, Lily, and Spike. The wet food bounced off the shield. Lily giggled even harder as the mashed-up fritter hit Twilight on the cheek. As Rarity apologized hastily as she cleaned up Twi's face, while Pinkie Pie bounced over with her toy boat asking about what the squealing was for.

"Oh my! What happened?" Fluttershy's quiet, but anxious, voice was heard as the girls began to calm down. She was wearing a light turquoise sun hat that went nicely with her eyes. Rainbow Dash hovered behind her, holding a bunch of shopping bags in her mouth. As she laid them down on the grass she said,

"I still don't see why I had to carry all of your bags. Couldn't you have carried some?" Rainbow flopped down onto the blanket, stuffing an apple into her mouth. Rarity made a face as Rainbow chewed with her mouth open, as did Twilight and Lily.

Rarity turned back to Lily's mane, finishing the braid with a sparkly purple band. "There you are, darling! Here, take a look at yourself." She levitated her small mirror to Lily, letting her take hold of the mirror. Lily gasped in delight as she looked at the intricate plait Rarity had made. She also liked the hue of purple in the band at the end, leaving a silky brush of silver after it.

"Wow, Rarity! That looks amazing," Twilight exclaimed, as Spike excitedly praised it as well. Pinkie Pie nodded rapidly, asking if Rarity could braid her mane sometime, and Fluttershy asked Rarity if she could teach her how to do a braid with her hooves. Applejack, who had learned to braid when she was a little filly, looked the braid up and down before giving an approving nod, while Rainbow was the only one who ignored it. She yanked out a Daring Do book from her saddlebags, and opened it up.

"What?" Rainbow asked when she saw the expectant gaze of Rarity. A small lightbulb went off in her head. "Oh! Yeah, great job Rares..." She trailed off as she quickly turned back to her book

Rarity sighed, but knew that a compliment like that, from Dash, on anything she did was like being noticed by Trenderhoof, Hoity Toity, and Fancy Pants all at the same time.

Applejack stretched for a second, before asking, "So... what exactly are we all doin' here, again?"

Twilight exhaled loudly, clearly annoyed. "I told you all before we split up! We're having a short picnic here, and then going back to the castle to give Lily here a tour!" Her voice became more agitated as she lectured Applejack about the importance of listening to somepony who was talking, as the other four girls and Spike rolled their eyes.

"Why is she so annoyed?"

Fluttershy jumped slightly at the sudden, soft voice. She turned to Lily, who had a look of confusion and amusement on her face.

"Well," Flutters began, "Twilight has an eensy, teensy case of obsessive compulsive disorder, and she tends to freak out a little when ponies---"

"Do I make myself absolutely, 100%, crystal CLEAR?!" Twilight's mane had become frizzy again, her left hear was twitching horribly, and her eyes were twitching as well. AJ, who had cowered slightly in fear, gulped and nodded. "Good! So, let's go, girls!" Twilight's demeanor quickly changed back to bubbly and excited, and she happily packed up her saddlebags.

"---don't act exactly how she acts." Fluttershy concluded. Lily nodded solemnly, silently vowing to never ever cross Twilight Sparkle in her life.