The next morning, Cheese Sandwich trotted up the pathway to Fancy Pant's estate in Canterlot. The mansion was simple, but elegant, made of carved marble with lovingly tended ivy crawling up the walls to embrace the perfectly polished windows that reflected the light of the rising sun. The paved pathway was lined on each side with topiary bushes, trimmed to resemble ponies in a number of heroic, inspirational poses. Cheese paused to make some funny faces at one of them, already imaging the kinds of decorations he could put on those. A gardener gave him a look as he cheerily trotted up to the wide white door and knocked on the golden knocker.

The door opened wide to reveal a butler in a crisp white uniform with long sleeves and golden shoulder emblems. A coat of arms displaying three gold crowns on a blue background and a trio of fleurs-de-lis on a pink background was sewn onto the butler's breast pocket. "Ah, Mr. Sandwich," he greeted Cheese cordially.

"Permission to come onboard, Captain!" Cheese said, saluting exaggeratedly. The corners of the butler's mouth twitched upwards and he stepped aside to allow Cheese entry. "Please come this way, sir. We have been expecting you." The butler led Cheese into a grand hallway with black and white checkered tile floors and a large crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Striding confidently down the hallway, he knocked at a large door.

"Come in!" a voice called. The butler opened the door and gestured Cheese into a small breakfast room. Encore Performance was sitting at a maple table along with Canterlot's premier nobles and philanthropists, Lord Fancy Pants and Lady Fleur De Lis. The three of them were enjoying a breakfast of toast and eggs as they admired the sunlit back garden through floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Ah, the pony of the hour!" Encore greeted him, rising up with a smile. "Fancy, Fleur, may I introduce you to Cheese Sandwich."

Fancy Pants stood up with a smile. "Ah, Mr. Sandwich. We're so glad you could come on such short notice."

"Enchanté, Monsieur Sandwich," Fleur agreed with a graceful bow of her head. "Monsieur Performance was most insistent that you were the best planner for this."

"It's simply supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to meet you both!" Cheese declared, pulling a top hat out from behind his back and tipping it as he bowed low.

"Er...indeed," Fancy Pants said, managing to maintain his composure even in the face of such an unusual guest. "Let me show you to the ballroom where we will be having our celebration." He guided the small entourage down the hallway to the mansion's grand ballroom. The huge ballroom was divided into six sections, each with a different color theme displayed in the furniture and curtain hangings: white, yellow, green, blue, red, and violet, each smoothly transitioning from one to the other. Lit braziers behind colored windows cast each room into gentle light.

"Oooh, fancy shmancy!" Cheese exclaimed, admiring the musician's stage in the blue section of the room.

"Unfortunately, Fancy Shmancy has a head cold and won't be attending," Fancy Pants replied.

"You know, I've been wondering," Cheese said. "Why are you having your party on the evening after Hearts and Hooves Day?"

"It's a tradition of ours," Fancy explained, exchanging a smile with Fleur. "Thirty years ago, when we were first dating, we both wanted to make a special date, but unfortunately, both of us got caught up in last minute work."

"So we waited until the evening after to make a special date for just the two of us," Fleur continued, wrapping her foreleg around Fancy's and nuzzling up against him. "And ever since then, we've had a tradition of spending Hearts and Hooves Day together for ourselves, and then having a party for our friends on the day after."

"Aww, ain't that sweet as cream cheese?" Cheese smiled sappily. "Ooh, that's pretty!" His attention had been diverted by a golden statuette of a falcon inlaid with diamonds of every color and shape, sitting in a glass display in the red section of the room.

"Ah, the Muletese Falcon," Fancy nodded. "It was given to me by a Muletese delegate as a thank you gift for overseeing their negotiations with Ponytaily. Legend has it that it will grant good luck to the owner. I gave it as a wedding gift to my wife."

"You sure it's a falcon?" Cheese asked, peering closer at the statuette. "It looks kind of like a chicken to me—"

RIIIIIINNNNNG!

The clanging of the alarm bell brought several uniformed servants rushing into the room, all of them drawing batons. "Stop right there!" a muscled unicorn shouted, holding his weapon up threateningly.

Cheese leapt back, flinging his front hooves into the air in a gesture of surrender. "I want a lawyer!" he cried out.

"False alarm, everypony," Fancy Pants announced. "Our friend here was just a bit too curious." The servants-cum-security guards stood down, holstering their weapons. One of them turned off the alarm bell.

"My sincerest apologies," Fancy Pants said to Cheese. "We have to keep the Falcon safe. We've had ponies trying to steal it for years; I have heard several rumors that there's not a criminal in Equestria who wouldn't give their right hoof to be the one to steal it."

"Cheri, forget about such things," Fleur cooed reassuringly. "This is a happy occasion, one to spend with our friends." She turned to Cheese. "Now, Monsieur Cheese, Encore asked us to hire you because he said that you could provide us with something nouveau, something passionnant, for our thirtieth anniversary party. Do you have any ideas?"

Cheese tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm...organize a party for the cream of Canterlot by tonight...think we can do it, Boneless 2?"

The rubber chicken's reply was to bend over backwards. "Couldn't have said it better myself," Cheese grinned.

"Our servants are at your disposal," Fancy said.

"Great!" Cheese said, cracking his hooves. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us. First thing..." Cheese plucked a notebook and pencil out of his hat. "How much peanut butter do you have on hoof?"

"...Excuse me?"

That evening, the bells of the Canterlot clocktower chimed out seven o'clock. A drawn carriage trotted up the path to the mansion, its uniformed driver stopping right before the door. The door opened and Jet Set and Upper Crust emerged, trotting up to the open doorway.

"Ah, Mr. Set, Mrs. Crust," the butler greeted them. "Good to see you again. Come in."

"Thank you, Jervis," Jet Set thanked him, following the butler inside and giving him a pair of wrapped presents, which the butler placed on a table that had been set aside for the gifts. "I was sorry to hear that the normal party planner had fallen ill. Did Fancy and Fleur manage to find a suitable replacement?"

"I believe they found a replacement that was more than suitable, sir," Jervis reassured them, trying not to smile as he gestured them into the ballroom.

"Really? Who is—?"

Jet Set's question was interrupted by a spray of confetti, causing him and his wife to jump in surprise. "Wa-ha-ha-hey!" Cheese shouted, jumping up in front of them, now dressed in a dark suit coat with long tails and a multi-colored spinning bowtie. "Welcome to the Post-Hearts and Hooves Day Party!"

Jet Set and Upper Crust looked around. The ballroom had been intricately decorated, but not in a way of which either of them were familiar. Vibrantly-colored curtains hung from the ceiling, each purposefully selected to blend with the color theme of their section, and images of hearts, doves and angels adorned the walls. A long buffet table was loaded with treats of every description and color, their tantalizing odors mixing with a collection of red and white scented candles. A band was set up on the stage, playing an upbeat rendition of a classical tune.

For a moment, Jet Set and Upper Crust could only stare in surprise, completely overwhelmed and unable to respond. Cheese's face fell a little bit; he had expected surprise, but was starting to think he might have overdone it a little bit. Noticing this, Fancy Pants quickly trotted over. "Ah, my old friends! May I introduce you to Cheese Sandwich, our new party planner? He has been working very hard to provide us with a novel entertainment all day, and I, for one, think that it is paying off beautifully." He smiled and winked at Cheese, who grinned back.

"Well, I think so too," Upper Crust agreed after a moment, taking her husband by the foreleg and guiding him closer to the orchestra. "Come, dear, it's been too long since we danced."

"Too true," Jet Set agreed, whirling his wife into a tango. More guests began to arrive and filtered into the ballroom. Cheese greeted each enthusiastically, buoyed by the encouragement from his hosts. Within minutes, the party was in full swing, the room filled with chatter and laughter and music. The food at the buffet table had to be regularly replenished as the guests sampled the menu in between dancing and participating in a number of games, from blind pony's bluff to "Who Am I" to Matching Pairs.

"I haven't participated in a party this fun in years," Encore Performance congratulated Cheese, sampling a hors d'oeuvre from the table. "You did extraordinarily well, Mr. Sandwich."

"I'm glad that you're all having fun," Cheese answered. "You like that snack?"

"Yes. Er...what exactly is this?"

"Peanut butter and chocolate drizzle mini-pizza!" Cheese said with pride. "My own recipe."

Encore stared at the little snack thoughtfully for a moment, then took another bite and chewed slowly. "Not bad," he nodded.

At that moment, there came a tinkling of a bell from the front of the room. "Attention, attention, my friends!" Fancy Pants called from the stage, his wife at his side. "I have an announcement to make!" The room gradually quieted down as everypony turned their gaze towards the host couple.

"First of all, I would like to thank all of you for attending. It does us both such good to see you all here again. And also, we would like to show our appreciation to Mr. Cheese Sandwich for organizing this wonderful soiree!" The group applauded politely at his words.

"And now that we've all filled our bellies and raised our spirits, I do believe it's time for the official gift exchange!" Fancy Pants continued. "After all, what's the use of a loved one if you can't shower them in affection once in a while..."

His voice trailed off, his eyes focusing on something in the back of the room as his jaw dropped in disbelief. Every head turned to follow his gaze, and a great gasp rose up amongst the room as they all realized what had captured Fancy Pants' attention.

The display case that had held the Muletese Falcon was intact and empty; the precious statuette was nowhere to be seen!

"Everypony, stay where you are!" Fancy ordered. "Servants, get in here! Search everypony!"

Quickly and efficiently, the guests were lined up along the room, many of them protesting their treatment as suspects in a thief, but Fancy Pants firmly shut down their arguments. Each of the guests was quickly patted down by one of the servants and their pockets and bags turned inside out. There was no sign of the Falcon anywhere.

Finally, the servants reached Cheese Sandwich, who grinned nervously up at the stern face of the butler. The butler quickly frisked his suit, but found nothing, then took his saddlebags from him. Opening the saddlebag, the butler began to rifle through the contents. A set of plastic glasses with attached nose and mustache, extra confetti, some chattering teeth...

The butler's eyes narrowed as his grip closed around something. Slowly, he extracted his foreleg from Cheese's bag. Clutched in his hoof was the Muletese Falcon. Everypony in the room gasped in shock.

Cheese stared at the statuette in utter disbelief for a moment, then turned and gave a loud laugh. "Ha! Great gag, Fancy Pants! How'd you get that in my bag without anypony noticing? That's one of the best..." His voice slowly trailed off as he looked around to see everypony glaring at him in suspicion. The smile fell from his face as he realized that this wasn't a joke at all. "But...but..." he stammered.

"Dear, summon the City Guard," Fancy Pants said, his voice stretched thin with anger as he glared at the party planner. "Servants, hold him here until the Guard arrives to take him away."

The butler and another servant grabbed Cheese Sandwich by his forelegs and dragged him out of the room, taking the Muletese Falcon with them. Cheese followed them numbly, barely able to comprehend what was happening. His mind had ground to a halt, his heart dropping into his stomach and numbness spreading across his body. Time seemed to whirl around him, speeding up around him like rapids rushing around a rock, passing in what felt like an instant. The servants locked him in a small study room and kept stern, silent watch over him until two City Guards arrived, their armored hoofsteps clacking harshly against the floor as they placed shackles around his hooves and marched him out of the mansion. Cheese didn't even react when Boneless 2 fell off his back and landed on the floor with a pathetic squeak. It wasn't until he was placed in the back of a City Guard carriage that he finally understood that this was real, this was happening. The party was over for good.

Author's Notes:

So far, I'm on a good schedule. I had to fight through a bought of writer's block and various distractions to get this done, but I finally did it.

What's going to happen to our party-planning pony? Wait and see!

Oh, and someone please put Boneless 2 in a safe place. I don't think Cheese could stand losing another one.