Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie and Diamond Tiara arrived at Princess Twilight’s castle. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Starlight Glimmer were already waiting in front of the door. Apparently they'd heeded the warning from Princess Celestia not to enter the castle. Sunset didn’t think much of it, she had already been inside when she came through the portal. The yellow Unicorn noticed that Apple Jack was still missing.
“Every Pony, meet every Pony.” Pinkie Pie was excited.
“So where is Apple Jack?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“A.J. was giving out pies to the ponies in Town Hall. I’m sure she will get here asap.” Sunset Shimmer said.
“If you don’t mind me asking Darling, why have you summoned us to the castle? Princess Celestia told us not to go inside since we don’t know what happened to Twilight and Spike.” Rarity had a concerned look on her face.
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Sunset remembered how she admired Rarity’s attention to detail and her generosity in the human world. It wasn’t long after Sunset transformed back to good when she noticed it the very first time. The transformation into an oversized She-Demon ripped her cloths making them unwearable. Sunset had loved her fake leather jacket and was heartbroken when she saw it in pieces.
A few days after the debacle, Rarity invited Sunset to come over to her house. The two girls were talking and Sunset apologized one more time to Rarity for all that had happened. Rarity had already forgiven her but Sunset felt she didn’t apologize enough for all she'd done wrong. Rarity’s home was neat and spotless in every sense of the word.
Rarity made Sunset a fake leather jacket identical to the one she lost in the transformation. Every little detail even the metal pins were precisely where they should have been. It wasn't real leather of course, she knew she wouldn’t wear a real leather jacket since they were made out of animal skins. Sunset Shimmer cried when she received this gift. She couldn’t afford to buy another one and after all she had done to the girls she did not expect such generosity. She cried cause she felt ashamed, happy, joyful, sad, loved and forgiven all at the same time. Her emotions were overwhelming and got the better of her.
Later on she visited Rarity every once in a while. Sunset learned a lot from her while helping her make clothes, go shopping, and design entire wardrobes, though she never really was good at any of these things. Her sense of fashion was heavily influenced by Rarity these past few moons and the way how generously Rarity treated even strangers taught Sunset to be a better person.
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“Well I know you guys have been searching for at least seven days without much success. I think it is time to take a closer look at the places where they could have disappeared and Rarity your attention to detail is invaluable.” Sunset Shimmer said.
“But isn’t that very dangerous?” Fluttershy’s body was shaking; her face had scared written all over it.
“Oh come on Fluttershy. We have been in and out of this castle hundreds of times. How dangerous can it really be?” Rainbow Dash’s words were more a statement than a question.
“I’m sure it can be pretty dangerous.” The yellow Pegasus Pony added.
“Ahhhrg.” Rainbow rolled her eyes.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy grew up in Cloudsdale together and had been friends for a long time. It always took the blue Pegasus Pony a while before she acknowledged what a scary Pony Fluttershy actually was. It never bothered their friendship, though it got under Rainbow’s skin in times of action.
“I have to agree with Fluttershy here. If the Princess told us not to go into the castle, then we shouldn’t go. Surely not on the behalf of some random Unicorn I don’t even know.” Starlight Glimmer said. It looked like she was angry at Sunset for even suggesting it. Starlight’s mane, two shades of purple and one shade of blue, was struggling in the wind. The Unicorn’s light purple face turned nearly red in her anger.
“I’m sorry who are you?” Sunset countered. “If I’m not mistaken nobody knows anything yet and it is up to us to find answers. We will not find them by looking at the sky.” She added. A glow of admiration popped up in Diamond Tiara’s eyes when she saw the yellow Unicorn's reaction.
“I’m Starlight Glimmer and I m a part of this group.” Starlight got almost into Sunset’s face when she stated her name. The other ponies were just watching unsure of what was happening.
“Oh I know who you are alright. You are the pony who nearly destroyed Equestria by messing with the timeline. But now you want to play it safe?” The yellow Unicorn glared at Starlight Glimmer and gave her the evil eye.
“At least I didn’t try to steal somepony else’s crown in a conquest to take over Equestria.” The purple Unicorn countered.
“Oh yeah? It wasn’t all my fault, I was somewhat mind controlled. What is your excuse?” Sunset Shimmer fired right back at her.
Starlight Glimmer had enough of the yellow Unicorn. She powered up her horn. It seemed that a confrontation with words could turn into a physical fight between both Unicorns. The other ponies appeared frozen, no movement, just a shocked expression on their faces. When Sunset Shimmer saw Starlight powering up her Unicorn magic powers, she was determined to defend herself and did the same. Two powerful Unicorns staring in each other’s eyes, face to face, and ready to fight.
“What in the hay is going on here?” Apple Jack yelled out loud when she walked up to the group of ponies. Nobody noticed her coming before cause everypony seemed mesmerized by the arguing Unicorns. Immediately after everybody heard Apple Jack’s voice the Unicorns powered down their horns. The orange earth pony had a rather angry look on her face.
“Somepony tell me what is going on here.” A.J. said with a rather angry voice.
“Oh. Oh. Let me. Let me.” Pinkie Pie started to bounce jump towards Apple Jack.
“You see. Sunset was like; we have to get into the castle and Starlight was like; no we have to listen to what the Princess told us. I think at that point it was a competition of who was the worse pony or something. Then they both powered up their magic, ready to fight each other.” While the pink earth Pony was explaining, she imitated both Unicorns which looked rather funny.
“Alright ya’ll. Let me make this simple. Sunset is right, we have to go into the castle and Starlight is right too. We should heed the warnings. However, since Princess Celestia disappeared too we have no other choice but to dig deeper.” When Apple Jack mentioned Princess Celestia’s disappearance, all ponies' eyes except Sunset Shimmer’s got larger. The yellow Unicorn hadn’t told them yet.
“You are right A.J. I should have been more considerate. I’m sorry Starlight.” Sunset apologized.
“Princess Celestia is gone? That changes everything. I’m sorry too, Sunset.” Starlight Glimmer seemed to understand the situation and apologized too.
On the way inside the castle Sunset Shimmer explained how she got the news about Princess Celestia. The ponies discussed while they walked, where to search and what to look for. They searched for magical clues or signs of struggle but there was nothing out of the ordinary in the castle's hall way.
“We should split up girls to cover more ground faster.” Rainbow Dash suggested.
“Good idea Dash. Starlight and Diamond Tiara can come with me to the library. Dash, you, Fluttershy, and Rarity should look through the upper chambers. A.J. you and Pinkie should check the lower chambers. We should all meet up at the throne room when we are done.” Sunset instructed.
“You sure you want to take Starlight along, Sunset?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah I’m sure. We got off on the wrong foot but I think we are good now.” The yellow Unicorn answered.
“No problem here.” Starlight Glimmer added.
“Alright ya’ll. Let’s do this.” Apple Jack grabbed Pinkie Pie by her hooves and started her search.
Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity went on their way to look for clues in the upper chambers. The castle was quite big. Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and Diamond Tiara made their way to the library.
The library looked exactly the same as the day before when Sunset Shimmer arrived from the human world. But this time she could see more. The castle's lights had been magically lit by Starlight Glimmer and Rarity when they walked inside. The yellow Unicorn used her magic to put her bag on the ground.
“I have to check the Journal.” Sunset Said.
“Will that not close the portal?” Starlight asked.
“Yes. We can reactivate it when we put the Journal back in place.” The yellow Unicorn explained.
Starlight used her magic to move the book onto the small round table next to the portal device. Diamond Tiara didn’t know anything about the portal or the journal, she was fascinated. Sunset went over to the table and opened the book with her Unicorn magic. She turned page by page to find the last the entry.
“But how can that be?” Sunset said in a shocking voice.
“How can what be, Sunset?” Starlight Glimmer wondered.
“Yeah, what is wrong Sunset?” Diamond Tiara added.
“There is an entry missing. See before I came back from the human world a message appeared in my Journal. It was one word. Help. But the message is not in this Journal here. If it appeared in my book it had to be written into this one. But it’s not there. So how did I receive the message and from whom.” The yellow Unicorn was confused. The ponies discussed and discussed. Time went by quickly but they weren’t any closer to solving the mystery.
“So you are saying there are two books. This one here and there is another one like it which you have, and if you write into one of them it appears in the other book as well?” The purple Unicorn was curious.
“Actually I gave it to human Twilight in the human world. I’m not sure if I will stay in Equestria, so it is there in case I go back and if not, Twilight can keep in touch with her ponyself or me.” Sunset said.
“This whole other world thing sounds crazy.” Diamond Tiara said.
“Yeah, I wonder if there is another me in this human world.” Starlight Glimmer added.
“I’m sure there is. We need to check with the others but before we do I have to write a message.” The yellow Unicorn implied.
Sunset Shimmer looked around the library until she found a desk which had a feathered pen and some ink on it. She used her Unicorn magic to move the book from the table by the portal to the desk. She opened the Journal and began her entry…
Dear Twilight Sparkle…
After Sunset was done writing, all three ponies made their way to throne room.
Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were already sitting on their thrones. The only empty seats were Twilight’s and Spike’s. The room looked impressive and reminded Sunset of King Arthur’s round table from the human world. Each throne had been set up around a golden circle in the floor which had Twilight’s cutie mark embedded. Twilight’s cutie mark represented magic.
“Took you long enough.” Rainbow’s scratchy voice shouted.
“Did you guys find anything?” Sunset asked while she was walking up.
“It’s like looking for a needle in a hay stack.” Apple Jack said.
“Yeah, this game is no fun.” Pinkie Pie added with a sad face.
Sunset Shimmer hadn’t felt this bad since her transformation. She was so sure they would find something in the castle but even the Journal gave more questions than answers. Sunset felt she needed to apologize for dragging everypony out here. She walked up to the middle of the circle. When she stepped on the magic symbol everything went crazy.
A loud buzzing noise made the other ponies open their eyes wide. The silver grey magic symbol turned all colorful before shooting out a huge beam of light. Sunset Shimmer was suspended up in the air and slowly turned. Her eyes started glowing with an intense white light. Sunset had no control over her body.
Starlight Glimmer had a somewhat frightened look on her pony face. She looked at Rainbow Dash in the hope for an answer. The blue Pegasus Pony got the hint.
“Don’t look at me. It never has done that before.” Rainbow Dash said.
Sunset Shimmer hovered in the center of the room. Her eyes were glowing white, her horn was all powered up, and it looked like she had grown magical wings out of light. She looked like an Alicorn just with magical wings. None of the other girls had any idea what was going on but they couldn’t stop staring. Diamond Tiara seemed frozen solid while gazing at Sunset Shimmer, it appeared she was a bit scared, yet fascinated.
Pinkie Pie was smiling and out of nowhere a bucket of popcorn showed up right next to her. She lifted up the bucket and must have poured half of it straight into her muzzle. Rainbow Dash noticed the pink earth pony eating popcorn.
“You are so random, Pinkie.” The blue Pegasus Pony said.
Sunset Shimmer hovered right next to Twilight’s empty throne. Surrounded by magical light she was slowly let down to the ground. Sunset could not stand, she dropped down to the floor. She was exhausted and had no energy to get up. Her eyes were back to normal and the magical wings of light had disappeared too.
“Are you alright Sugarcube?” Apple Jack was worried.
“Wha.. What happened?” Sunset could barely speak. She felt weak all around.
Starlight Glimmer was the first Pony to assist Sunset. She helped her up on her hooves. But the magic show hadn’t been over. The golden circle suddenly shot up from the ground and turned into the cutie map. The cutie map had been somewhat the living ingredient of the castle, it covered all Equestria and sent Princess Twilight and or her friends to solve friendship problems at different locations. The map called for individual ponies by making their cutie mark glow.
Sunset Shimmers cutie mark started glowing. A magical holographic image of her cutie mark signified a location on the map.
“Uuuuhhhhh. That’s soooooo exciting…” Pinkie Pie couldn’t contain herself. The pink earth Pony jumped off her throne into the air, well she was excited.
“Sunset. The map is calling for you. I didn’t even think that that was possible.” Rarity said. Every Pony was staring at the yellow Unicorn.
Sunset Shimmer started to feel better. She made her way to the cutie map and stared at it.
“Ok. Now what?” Sunset asked. The yellow Unicorn had no clue what was going on and everypony could see that.
“You see the small blinking version of your cutie mark? The map wants you to go there.” Rainbow Dash stated.
“Really Map. You could have sent me anywhere… Had to be the Everfree forest?” Sunset Shimmer was not happy.
“Maybe it’s a clue to where Twilight is.” Fluttershy’s voice whispered. The yellow Pegasus Pony had been there the entire time but Sunset forgot she was there. Fluttershy didn’t talk much so it was easy to forget her presence. Apple Jack got up and took a closer look at the map.
“I’ll be darned. The map is sending you to the castle of the two sisters.” The orange earth Pony said with eyes wide open.
“I wonder why the map didn’t call any of us.” Rainbow Dash hated to miss out on action.
“So let me get this straight. This map here calls you to solve friendship problems, right?” The yellow Unicorn was confused.
“That’s what it does.” Pinkie Pie answered excited with her vocals getting higher and higher.
“I don’t have time to solve a friendship problem. We need to continue the search for Princess Celestia, Twilight, and Spike.” Sunset wasn’t just confused but angry as well.
“Well Darling, the map sends us out for friendship problems. Who knows why you are being sent. Don’t get me wrong but the map has been so far very exclusive. Even Starlight who has been friends with us since a few moons has never got to go on a Quest.” Rarity explained.
“You may be right.” The yellow Unicorn calmed down and wasn’t that angry anymore.
Sunset Shimmer knew the Everfree forest was dangerous and wild. She had not been there, not even to the Castle of the Two Sisters. It wasn’t just the Timberwolves that worried her, there were other creatures and stories which made her feel uncomfortable. She knew if she wanted to find out what just happened she had to go. Though the yellow Unicorn was confident and knew about her strength, she did not want to go alone.
“If you go, can I come?” Diamond Tiara asked.
“No little one. You gotta sit this one out, its way too dangerous.” Sunset replied.
“Maybe you can take me along. I've never been on a cutie map mission before and would love to see what the fuss is all about.” Starlight Glimmer asked in an excited way.
“Well you want to come along to one of the most dangerous parts in Equestria. Consider yourself hired.” The yellow Unicorn replied.
“I certainly wouldn’t want to come along.” Fluttershy whispered from her throne.
“It is settled then. We stay here while Sunset and Starlight go to the Everfree forest.” Apple Jack said.
“If you don’t mind, I left my bag in the library. I'll pick it up when I come back.” Sunset said.
Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer left the throne room to start their journey to the Everfree forest.
“Ok girls. Let’s talk.” Rainbow Dash paused for a few seconds. “What just happened? The castle went all haywire on Sunset and the cutie map gave her a quest and did you see her wings?”
“Oh but Rainbow, how could I have not seen her wings. They were beautiful.” Rarity said.
“I don’t know, for a second there I thought she was transforming into an Alicorn.” Fluttershy whispered.
“We should have gone with her.” Apple Jack stated.
“Nah, she’ll be fine. Besides, Starlight is with her, so nothing to worry about. The map never sent us some place where we needed extra help, even if it was only two of us who were sent.” Pinkie Pie threw in.
“Maybe she is a Princess, she just doesn’t know it yet.” Diamond Tiara spoke her thought out loud.
“Shucks. It’s good talkin ya’ll but we need to figure out how to find Twilight and Spike.” The orange earth Pony said. All ponies suddenly got quiet and had a sad expression on their face.