Sunset Eclipsed

by EldritchNexus

A Moment in the Obsidian Horseshoe

Sunset Shimmer went downstairs to the main parlor, where Trixie Lulamoon, Pressure Point, and Frosty were sitting together.

"So, what's Canterlot like nowadays?" asked Frosty, curiously.

"Pretty good." said Pressure. "Having three princesses in and around it certainly helps."

"I knew about Celestia and Luna, but I thought Princess Cadence had gone to the Crystal Empire?" said Frosty.

"He's referring to...Princess Twilight Sparkle." mumbled Trixie.

"Twilight Sparkle, huh?" asked Frosty. "I've heard about her. She's Princess Celestia's star student, and has been involved in all kinds of crazy stuff in the past couple years, from what I've heard."

"Tell me about it." Trixie and Sunset said simultaneously.

"But I used to be Princess Celestia's student, too." said Sunset.

"Ditto for me." said Pressure. "I didn't go anywhere near Twilight or Sunset's level, though."

"Whether that's a good thing or not, is up for debate." added Sunset Shimmer, in a deadpan tone.

"Very funny." snarked Pressure.

Suddenly, the door opened up, and a female pegasus crept inside under a dark gray cape. She had her face obscured by an explorer's hat she was wearing. She approached the innkeeper, and asked for a mug of cider.

"Sure thing, miss." said the landlord. "Just get yourself seated with my newest patrons over here, and I'll get you what you need."

"Thank you." said the pegasus, quietly.

The brown-coated pegasus sat down next to Frosty, who eagerly scooted down to make room for her.

"Hello, ma'am." said the small unicorn. "Whatever brings you to this corner of Equestria?"

The pegasus said nothing.

"Silent, huh?" asked Frosty, leaning his head suspiciously. "Nothing to say to a guy like me?"

The pegasus still made no attempt to respond.

"Hey, that's cool with me!" Frosty waved a front hoof. "I was just talking with my friends here about something unrelated to you."

"Yes, that would certainly seem like a reasonable thing to do, Frosty." agreed Sunset. "She looks uninterested in socializing, anyway. I can relate to that, actually."

"Really." said Frosty.

"Oh, yeah." said Sunset Shimmer. "You should've seen me during my years at Canterlot."

"And whether that was a good thing or not is definitely debatable." retorted Pressure.

"It sure was." droned Sunset. "Stop digging up the embarrassing parts of my past, please."

"Fine, then." said Pressure.

Teddy came into the inn, his teeth chattering.

"Gee, I sure am pretty chilly." he said. "I'm in dire need of..."

"Blankets?" suggested the innkeeper, who approached him with a blanket across his back. "Perhaps some hot chocolate?"

"No. Companionship." corrected Teddy, who promptly went over to Sunset's table. "Wait a minute, somepony's already taken my seat! What gives?"

He was circling the pegasus' seat, as if expecting to make her leave.

"So, what are you gonna do about it, huh?" questioned the blue earth pony. "Are you gonna sit somewhere else, or..."

Suddenly, the female pegasus removed her cape, and stretched out her wings, which struck Teddy on the nose. She then drank from her glass of water. It seemed as though she wasn't even aware of Teddy's existence. Sunset couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Well, fine!" snapped Teddy. "I guess I'll just sit somewhere else!"

Teddy started trotting around the parlor, looking for somewhere else to sit, but it seemed that most of the ponies there were uninterested in his company. Seeing this, Sunset Shimmer decided to get off her seat and walk up to him.

"Hey, umm...Teddy?" she asked. "I think I could get you some more...poignant friends."

"Wow, you'd do that?" asked the earth pony.

"Sure." said Sunset. "I know somepony that would really appreciate your company. Follow me outside, will ya?"

Sunset and Teddy went outside, and over to the marketplace. Right on cue, Flim and Flam had just arrived with their frozen treats machine. Sunset nudged on Teddy's side, and turned to him.

"Go talk to Flim." said the yellow unicorn. "He's the one without the moustache."

"Okay." said Teddy.

The blue earth pony approached the unicorn twins.

"So, hi. How's business for you guys?" asked Teddy.

"Oh, just fine." said Flam.

"Can we interest you in a snowcone?" asked Flim.

"Sure. I love snowcones."

"What flavor would you like?"

"Pink lemonade, please." said Teddy.

The Flim-Flam Brothers activated their contraption, and a pink ball of ice dropped down into a cup at the bottom.

"That'll be ten bits." said Flim.

Teddy opened up his side-pouch, and dropped ten bits onto the table. Flim levitated the snowcone over to Teddy.

"There you go, fine sir." said Flim, before noticing Sunset Shimmer. "And would the lovely lady like anything?"

"Umm...no thanks." said Sunset. "I just wanted to introduce Teddy here to you guys. He wants some friends, you see."

"I see." said Flim. "And does Teddy have any sense of...showmanship?"

Meanwhile, a unicorn guard came bursting into the officers' lounge in the royal guard barracks, where Radiant Dawn and Sergeant Bullpup were conversing with each other.

"Sir, we have a problem!" exclaimed the guard.

"What is it, private?" asked the sergeant.

"The Changeling we were holding in the basement cells has been slain."

"What?!" exclaimed Radiant. "I thought he'd be safe down there. What happened to those two guards we had stationed at the doors?"

"One was unconscious on the floor, and the other has disappeared without a trace." answered the guard.

"Looks like we've got an intruder in our midst." said Bullpup. "Tell me, have you seen any suspicious ponies in the building?"

"Well, there was this pegasus in a ten-gallon hat walking around." recounted the guard. "But he told me he was in the wrong place, and that he'd leave right away."

"Oh, come on!" groaned Radiant. "You guys have got to be kidding me! This is what Vanhoover has to offer in terms of royal guards?"

"Unfortunately, Lieutenant Dawn." said Bullpup. "The Vanhoover division of the Royal Guard has seen better days. But we'll make up for this, I promise you. Since you technically outrank me, do you have any orders for my men?"

"I do." said Radiant Dawn. "Go out and keep an eye out for any more suspicious ponies. Also, wake up Sergeant Dust, and bring me to my sister!"

"Yes, sir!" saluted Bullpup.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot High, two Chrysalis Syndicate soldiers were reviving Rainbow Dash. After spending fifteen minutes of pressing on her chest and administering electroshock therapy to her body, she finally woke up again. Her friends were all crowded around her, cheering excitedly.

"Wow, where have I been?" Rainbow asked groggily.

"Oh, it was just terrible!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "You were conconscious for six days straight!"

"Conconscious?" repeated Rainbow.

"Yeah, it was like you were unconscious, but it was more like a concussion than anything." said Pinkie. "I mean you were all dizzy, and your eyes were open, and you were all sweaty and..."

"And did you say...six days?!" shrieked Rainbow Dash. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh...My test scores are sooo gonna fail."

"Don't ya remember anythan', Rainbow?" questioned Applejack. "Some cowpoke with a shotgun tried grabbin' you from the school! If it weren't for the Chrysalis Syndicate over here, y'all would've been doin' goodness-knows-what in goodness-knows-where!"

"Well, I do remember me screaming loudly, and then being punched in the face, and being injected with a bunch of needles." recounted the girl with the multi-colored hair. "What happened to that guy that grabbed me?"

"He's dead." said Fluttershy, timidly. "The soldiers shot him up. I saw the aftermath on the news. It was...horrible."

"Well, it serves him right, then!" said Rainbow Dash. "I mean, who goes around abducting teenage girls, anyway?"

"Many people, with many reasons." replied one of the Chrysalis Syndicate soldier. "Trust me, I've seen it all happen before."

"They probably mistook you for Sunset Shimmer, and tried to make a run for it with you." said the other soldier.

"They'd mistake me for Sunset Shimmer?!" growled Rainbow, who struggled to get back up. "I look nothing like her! I don't even look like a 'Sunset', so what gives?"

"Well, they'd probably know you had something to do with her." said the first soldier. "That whole Fall Formal incident isn't exactly under wraps. All kinds of crazy stuff happened back there, and the Diamond Dog Cartel has always been looking for able-bodied people for their businesses."

"The Diamond Dogs?" questioned Rarity. "Those jewel smugglers?"

"That's right." said the second soldier. "They're also into all kinds of businesses, too. Businesses you don't even want to know about."

Then Rainbow Dash felt her bowels shifting, and she groaned uneasily.

"She's not gonna have any lasting effects from those drugs, is she?" Fluttershy asked the soldiers, curiously.

"No, it's not the drugs." said Rainbow, urgently. "I've been out for six days straight. I really need to use the bathroom!"

"Hang on, we'll get you a bed-pan..." said one of the soldiers.

"No time!" squealed Rainbow Dash.

Then she sped out the door with extremely blinding speed, leaving an airborne rainbow-colored streak in her wake. The two soldiers stood there, their masked faces gawking at the ajar door.

"Holy sh--" said one of the soldiers.

"Shut your mouth." said the other, casually. "That just freed up the rest of our day. Now we can stop baby-sitting these little girls, and start doing some real Syndicate--"

Pinkie Pie suddenly threw herself between the two Syndicate soldiers.

"Oh, wow!" exclaimed the pink girl. "You guys went and saved our friend's life! You Syndicate guys are okay in my book! I know, I'll throw you all a party tomorrow in the gym!"

"Thanks for the offer, but we're much too busy for--" began the second soldier.

"Um, trust me." said Applejack. "Pinkie Pie's parties are just somethin' you don't turn down around here."

"C'mon, Canopy." said the first soldier to the other. "Just humor what they have to offer us!"

Canopy looked over to her comrade, and then to Pinkie Pie and her friends. She promptly shrugged.

"I don't know if Captain Umbriel would approve of this, Hopper, but what the heck..." said Canopy. "I haven't exactly been in a partying mood, lately, but this shouldn't seem too bad."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" cheered Pinkie Pie.

"I'm going to regret this." said Canopy, quietly.

"Don't worry about it!" said Hopper. "At least we don't have any reports to file out, unlike the sergeant."

Comments

[Lord Nopony]

"I'm going to regret this." said Canopy, quietly.

LOLZ!

[EldritchNexus]

3690446

1: How would that even be a thing? Nightmare Moon is Princess Luna brainwashed by dark magic. There is no magic in the human world, so how would Nightmare Moon even be able to exist? Besides, I'm already pushing it with the Chrysalis Syndicate.

2: Please stop posting meta questions in the comments section, especially when they're not relevant to the actual chapter. If you're curious about what is/isn't going to be in my story, then you'll have to find another way to ask me without taking up space on the comments page. Just PM me with a list of all the questions you have, and I'll see if I could answer that.