Sunset rose just before the sun. It was an hour before the dawn would rise. She quickly and quietly opened the door for four ponies.
Party Favor whispered, "So we'll take turns pretending to be you being sick while you go explore what's out there."
Sunset nodded, "I can't thank you enough."
Sugar Belle pulled out a fairly large bag, "We chipped in our bits we earned from Starlight Glimmer. Since you're going to be gone for three days, you'll need to eat and spend the night somewhere."
Sunset felt guilty, "I couldn't…"
"Yeah, but at least we get paid. You don't. You have to work for her regardless." said Night Glider.
Double Diamond pushed the bag towards her, "Go ahead."
She slowly took it, and showed no pleasure in doing this to the only friends she'd ever known. "I'll pay you back. I promise."
"Forget it. You're already paying back the witch. You don't need to pay us back." Night Glider gestured.
The others agreed with her.
"You guys are the best!" Sunset had her arms out to have a group hug, which they did.
"Now get going." said Sugar Belle. "If you don't get out before the sun rises, you'll never get out here."
Sunset didn't waste a minute. She took the bag of bits and her strange necklace and wrapped a cloak around herself. She waved back to her companions as they waved to her and she managed to get to the front doors where Troubleshoes was waiting for her with the cart. She jumped in and he pulled away.
When breakfast was over, Twilight was outside getting ready to shoot an arrow at the target a few feet away from her. The instructor was next to her giving her directions. But as much as Twilight was able to listen to the instructions, she couldn't get the arrow to hit the target. Instead, it went everywhere. She shot arrows that hit trees and bushes. Some of her sisters were nearby with their husbands and they had to occasionally dodge the arrow.
One arrow went up to the sky where Rainbow and Soarin' were going to take a nap when the arrow shot through the cloud, barely missing them. Pinkie and Cheese were having a picnic when an arrow shot into their cake. Applejack and Spike were in the apple orchard when an arrow shot into the tree and caused a bunch of the apples to fall off their branches and land on them.
However, one arrow managed to hit them when Fluttershy and Discord were feeding the animals in the gardens. Discord gave out a huge yowl and grouchily yelled out, "Sparkle!" He went towards her to show the arrow stuck in his tush just above his tail.
Twilight rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, hold still, you big baby…"
"Easy for you to say! You don't have a sharp projectile lodged in your heinie!"
"Just count to three and I'll pull it out."
He begrudgingly sighed and started, "One- OWW!" He screamed when he felt it being pulled out, "You said 'three'!"
"I said for you to count to three. I didn't say I'll pull it out at three."
He muttered under his breath, "You're just trying to get back at me for all the stuff I've put you through all these years…"
Twilight could only shake her head. Because some of what Discord said was true, she thought pleasantly.
By then, her sisters came to her with Pinkie having an arrow through her head. Spike gasped, "Oh, my gosh! Pinkie! Are you okay?!"
Pinkie giggled and took off the arrow, which was actually bended to make it look like an arrow went through her head. "Of course I am, silly. You like? I made it myself!"
"Very… realistic, sugar cube…" Applejack said uneasily.
Twilight grunted, "Okay! Okay! I need to work on my aim!"
"I'll say. The way those arrows were flying, one could have flown across Equestria!" Rainbow snickered.
Twilight felt herself starting to boil over and tears threatening to escape from her eyes. She threw the bow and quiver of arrows down in anger, "You think it's so easy, then why don't you try to take our parents' place!" Then, she teleported herself away.
"TWILIGHT!" they gasped.
Flash flew in, "What happened?"
"Twilight ran away!" Pinkie cried.
"What?!"
"We got to find her!" Applejack proclaimed. "Fluttershy, go get Rarity! We're going to need all the help we can get!"
Fluttershy nodded and fluttered away quickly.
"We'll search from above!" declared Rainbow as she and Soarin' took off.
Discord popped on his Sherlock attire, blowing on his bubble pipe, "In the meantime, I shall look for clues of our missing princess's whereabouts." He looked at Pinkie and Cheese and snapped his fingers. The next thing they knew, they had bowler hats on. "And you two shall be my trusted assistants who ask questions to such obvious answers."
"Hey!" they both protested.
"You want to find Twilight, don't you?"
They could only sigh.
The search party starting calling out for her, but Twilight stayed hidden in the shrubs as she summoned a cloak to wear. She needed to get away from the pressures of the palace and the duties that were expected of her.
Sunset Shimmer looked up to the gateway of Canterlot. Troubleshoes had dropped her off a few feet away, having her to hoof it the rest of the way. They agreed he would come back at the end of the third day so he could get her back to the manor without Starlight catching on to what the others were doing to distract her.
Sunset walked through the drawbridge and made it into a sector of the capital. She saw fillies playing hopscotch and unicorns that were dressed lavishly. No doubt the unicorns were aristocrats going about their day. She was entranced by the sights that she didn't see the pony that she bumped into.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she apologized to the unicorn magically holding a tray of donuts from outside a donut shop.
"That's okay," spoke Donut Joe. "No harm done." He pointed the tray towards her, "Care to try one?"
"Sure," she smiled. "Thanks." She magically took a jelly-filled one and bit into it. "This is so delicious!" she mumbled.
He smirked, "My specialty. I had a few extra made, what with the Summer Sun Celebration happening soon."
"The… Summer Sun Celebration?"
"What? You've never heard of the Summer Sun Celebration?! It's only the biggest event in all of Equestria!"
"It is? Wow…"
"And not only do we celebrate the coming of the Summer Sun, but we also celebrate our Princess Twilight Sparkle's birthday!"
A princess's birthday, too? That is huge… She thought, and then asked, "Who is this Princess Twilight Sparkle?"
"Sheesh, kid, you need get out more. Where are you from to not even hear of the princesses?"
"Princesses? But isn't it just Princess Twilight Sparkle?"
"Are you kidding? It's the king, queen, and their six daughters: Princesses Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle. She's the youngest of the lot."
"Gosh… What else do you know about the royal family?"
"Well, the princesses were supposed to marry dukes and counts and all kinds of nobility, but the Queen changed her mind to let her daughters marry for love."
"Aw, that's so sweet."
"Right, so now, they and their husbands of choice have children of their own."
"That's good." she gave a small smile, thinking, Those kids sure are lucky to have parents and be royalty, too! Better they have that kind of life than the life I had…
When Sunset was growing up, she wanted the mare that raised her to support and play with her, but was always shoved away. At one point, she felt like she was going to cry until her foster mother scolded her that crying was a sign of weakness and that she had to keep her emotions in check as not to cry anymore.
Sunset had not shed a single tear since then…
Twilight was in the marketplace taking in a deep breath and smelled the fresh produce all around her. She felt so relaxed knowing she was a good distance away from the palace, but kept a low profile knowing her family was still out searching for her. But she did not want to be found right away. She just wanted a moment's peace before having to go back…back to the responsibilities given before her, and expected to get the job done right.
By wearing a cloak draped over her, she passed ponies without them recognizing her, thankfully. Without the cloak, ponies could easily identify her as their princess, what with her wings and horn. The wings were a blessing from her and Flash's true love's kiss, but they would have been a curse if she was seen at the moment with them.
The peace was short-lived, however, when she overheard two ladies dressed in their finest sitting at a café having tea and talking about her.
"Did you hear about our dear Princess Twilight Sparkle?"
"No, what?"
"I hear that the king and queen have decided to step down so that she may assume the throne!"
The lady gasped, "No!"
"Yes! I absolutely cannot wait for the coronation ceremony, but I haven't got a thing to wear!"
"You poor thing!"
"Yes, out of a wardrobe full of magnificent gowns I have for important occasions, I don't have anything for Princess Twilight's coronation! Oh, the shame!"
"Indeed!" they both sighed heavily.
Twilight couldn't stand it. It seemed no matter where she went, the expectations of what was required of her kept on following her. Her subjects were looking forward to her coronation ceremony while she was dreading it. They were counting on her to be the best queen there ever was or maybe to be exactly like her mother when ruling the kingdom. Her mother had to run the entire place while her father was AWOL due to the curse he had been given.
Celestia had ruled Canterlot with a fair but gentle hoof. Twilight had always imagined she would grow up to be like her mother, but as time went on, she was afraid that she could never take her mother's place.
A few blocks away from Twilight was Sunset Shimmer, still in front of the donut shop while recalling her memories of having to obey Starlight. She and Twilight had both thought, The last thing you want, is to… let anybody down…