Twilight was fast asleep on the balcony when she felt something tickling her. She giggled while slowly waking up. She then saw Owlowicious perched on the railing while using his feathers to gain his owner's attention.
She rubbed her eye while groggily saying, "Owlowicious…? Why are you here? I thought I sent you with Sunset Shimmer…"
The owl hooted and revealed a scroll at the bottom of his talons. Twilight took it and unrolled it to begin reading. She mumbled, "'Twilight, I am in…" She read the rest to herself and as she did, her eyes grew wide with each sentence. When she was finished with it, she rushed back inside with Owlowicious following right behind.
It was already morning when Twilight received the distress letter from Sunset. Thankfully, she didn't need to gather everyone-minus her parents, who were still making final arrangements for their retirement. They were at the breakfast table when she and Flash and their children rushed in with the news. The newcomers needed a quick explanation before pressing on with the issue at hoof. Once that was out the way, Twilight addressed the family.
"Sunset is in trouble and she needs our help."
Pinkie started wailing, "It's all my fault! She made me Pinkie-promise not to tell Twilight!"
"No, it's my fault!" said Cotton.
"It's our fault," said Cheese. "We were there when she made us all promise not to reveal anything about the life she lived in."
Applejack pointed, "You know you could have told the rest of us if you couldn't tell Twilight. You wouldn't be breaking the promise and we could have helped Sunset before this happened."
"I know!" Pinkie bawled away, having Fluttershy and Rarity comfort her.
"So now what are we going to do?" Scootaloo questioned.
"We?" Rainbow questioned.
"Hey, you guys need all the help you can get. Where you go, we go."
Rainbow rubbed the purple-haired mare's head while smiling, "Alright, squirt."
Scootaloo sighed, being half-annoyed and half-happy.
Screw Ball declared, "And where they go, we go!" The kids all cheered.
Fluttershy scolded, "Oh no, you don't!"
The children groaned.
"Right. You are staying here and that's final." said Rarity and the rest of the mothers nodded their heads.
The kids all moaned out, "But, Mom…"
"NO!" the mothers shouted.
Twilight explained, "It could be dangerous and we don't know how long it's going to take to help out. It's best you all stay here until we return."
"You said it, Sparkle," Discord popped on camping gear much like when he and the other guys had to go rescue their princesses. "Onward and offward-" He started to move out, but was stopped by Twilight's hoof.
"You'll be staying here watching the kids," she turned to the rest of the fathers and they started protesting. She pointed out, "I think it would be best we keep it a small but fairly large group. We have no idea what we're getting ourselves into and having too many of us could give us away."
"But it's too risky to have you girls go by yourselves!" her husband stated.
"Hey! We're as tough as any colt!" Rainbow declared.
"And we're certainly not helpless!" Rarity confirmed.
"We're not saying you are, but we are concerned about things that might interfere and we'll have no way of knowing that you might be in trouble." Fancy spoke on the husbands' behalf as they solemnly nodded their heads.
The girls smiled gently and embraced their beloveds, with Twilight saying, "I know it's frightening for you to lose us. Not a day goes by that we don't remember that moment…" She looked over to her sisters as they nodded.
Sweetie Belle said, "We also have our worries. We cannot forget the times that nearly cost us our lives…" She shed a tear as she tightly wrapped around her husband while he also shed a tear.
The kids stood by in bewilderment. Seeing their parents so scared made the kids realized that they were doing them a favor by making them stay out of harm's way.
Twilight stepped back with the girls as she said, "But this is something that has to be done and I feel… I feel like it does need to be us… I don't know why, but I believe it's important to have only the daughters of Sombra and Celestia take this journey."
"Why just the daughters?" Spike asked.
"I'm not sure exactly, but I'm trusting my intuition on this."
"Can't argue with that." Applejack shrugged.
Once everyone had a well-rounded breakfast, the princesses got their saddle bags ready. They embraced their loved ones as they prepared themselves for the trip at hoof. Philomena came up to Twilight before they left and the alicorn concluded that the Phoenix wanted to come with them and let her.
"I'm sure Sunset will be excited to see you." she told the majestic bird.
Philomena chirped happily.
The nine princesses hugged their husbands and children as they said their farewells of staying safe and wishing them luck.
Twilight told her daughter, "Listen to Daddy and remember our agreement."
"I will…" Starling whispered in her mom's fur.
Then she told her son, "Look out for your sister."
Fire gave a nod.
"I love you both so much."
"What about me?" her husband joked.
She giggled, "And I love you, too."
They stared at each other for bit until they leaned in for a kiss, just as the couples around them were doing the same thing. The princesses slowly parted from their loves and gave sad smiles to their foals. They went out the castle doors and passed the gates of Canterlot.
Sunset woke to a clang and found a metal tray of food beside her bedside. She found a tiny note next to a bowl of oatmeal that read, 'Just because you disobeyed doesn't mean you won't get fed. Your meals will be teleported to you from now on. P.S. Don't bother to try teleporting yourself out. The spell stops any pony from leaving or getting in, even if they use magic.'
Well, duh.
Sunset figured that Starlight had covered all the angles when she cast the spell. She would be stupid to even try. It was pointless. Her only chance for escape now was Twilight receiving her message to help her. She prayed that she would come.
As Sunset was eating breakfast, daily life in the manor was still going on. Starlight was preparing for her outing, "And when I come back, I expect my tea to be ready."
"Yes, milady…" Sugar Belle replied.
"I'll be back in an hour and hopefully, everything will be done by then."
"Yes, milady." the other three said.
"Good, very good." She went out the doors where Troubleshoes was, got into the cart, and took off.
The four sighed heavily and Double Diamond spoke, "It's all our fault… We should have done a better job hiding the fact she was gone…"
"Yeah… but it's not our fault that Starlight was smarter than we thought…" said Party Favor.
"She… just got the better of us…" said Night Gilder.
"We can't just give up like this, can we?" Sugar Belle questioned and said, "Sunset doesn't deserve to be locked up like is!"
"Of course she doesn't," Party Favor indicated. "But what can we do? We can't get anywhere near the door without being zapped!"
Night Gilder flapped her wings, "Or the window, for that matter."
Sugar Belle pleaded, "But there has to be some way to get her out…"
Double Diamond hung his head, "If only there was…"
With another sigh, the four ponies went to complete their chores, plus the chores that were given to them as punishment. They knew they didn't have much time to finish it all.
The nine royal mares had managed to take the train at Owlowicious's urging with him leading the way. They stopped in Pony-Ville, knowing they weren't that far off from their castle home in the Everfree Forest.
"Do you suppose we could stop at the castle to pick up a few things?" Rarity asked, even though her saddle bags were already packed full.
"No time," stated Twilight. "I don't know how long Sunset will be able to hold out, since I don't know if she's being fed or not."
"The poor thing!" Fluttershy gasped.
"Exactly, which is why it's important we hurry."
"So no pit stops!" said Rainbow.
But Pinkie started to squirm, did a little dance, and squeaked out, "Be right back." She zoomed away, and then in the distance, a toilet flushed. She zoomed back, feeling better.
Rainbow then said, "Unless it's necessary."
Twilight quickly asked, "Anyone else?"
Everybody shook their heads.
She furrowed her eyebrow, "You're sure? Because this might be your last chance to use a clean restroom before we head off to parts unknown."
This caused them to cringe and Rarity pointed, "On second thought… I do need to touch up my make-up." she started heading off.
"Me, too!" Applejack said.
"Me, three!" said Rainbow.
"Me, four!" Scootaloo gestured.
"But you girls don't like make-up…" Sweetie Belle said as they went.
"We do now!" the three shouted back before going from sight.
Once every pony was sure they had done their business, they resumed their quest.