• Published 30th Aug 2014
  • 1,972 Views, 369 Comments

Sunset Rekindled - EldritchNexus



Sequel to "Sunset Eclipsed". Sunset Shimmer and her friends go on a new adventure that takes them to Las Pegasus, Saddle Arabia, and beyond..

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Two Weeks Later...

"Lieutenant Dawn, will you please pay attention to me?" said Captain Star Shield to Radiant Dawn, who was standing idly nearby in one of the corridors of the Canterlot palace.

Radiant was staring off into space, bored out of his mind.

"Lieutenant Dawn!" snapped Captain Shield.

"Oh!" Radiant snapped out of his trance-like state. "Sorry, man--I mean 'captain'. I was just thinking about something my friend Frosty told me! So what'd ya want?"

"Lieutenant Dawn, have you checked the lower levels like I ordered you to?"

"Of course, sir!" nodded Radiant. "No intruders down there but a couple rats and bats and a few moths. Nothing a guard couldn't handle."

"And what about the palace gardens?" said Captain Shield.

"All taken care of, too!" yawned Radiant. "Nopony's coming into this palace without any of us knowing."

Star Shield frowned.

"Lieutenant, you don't seem to have that much enthusiasm about being a guard." he said quietly.

"Look, sir. I'm sorry!" sighed Radiant. "It's just getting a little dull and repetitive for me. No offense, sir."

"I understand how you feel, Lieutenant Dawn." said Captain Shield. "I once felt the same way when I first joined the Royal Guard. But you are still young, and so it's natural that you should feel this way."

"I just wish I had more time to be, you know, me." said Radiant. "I haven't really had time to do anything with my sister since we went to Vanhoover."

"Normally, I wouldn't approve of this, but considering everything you and Sunset Shimmer have done for the Princesses lately, I will put in a good word to allow you to take the next week off from guard duty."

"Are you sure?" asked Radiant, curiously.

"Yes, but only if you promise to work twice as hard the week after." said Star Shield. "Do we have a deal?"

"Oh, yeah! You can sure count on me." said Radiant, smiling. "Just one little break is all I need, and I'll be working as hard for you as your lieutenant as Sunset is as Princess Luna's student!"


"Sunset Shimmer, please! Why must you insist on falling asleep during my lessons?" asked Princess Luna.

Sunset Shimmer opened her eyes, trying to stay awake. Her nightly lessons with Princess Luna were getting exhausting to say the least.

"Sorry, Luna." she said, exhausted. "But I'm just pooped. I've been doing these sessions and lessons and things for weeks now. I honestly don't have the energy to keep going."

"Perhaps you should make an attempt to adjust your sleeping schedule, Sunset?" suggested Luna. "I could help you do this, if you wish."

"Nah...I think I've got this one covered." said Sunset, whose horn began to glow. "Just leave it to me."

The fruit bat was still flying around without any sense of direction. Sunset was supposed to use a coordination spell--which could allow any animal under its effect to follow a pre-determined plan, route or strategy set upon it by its user--on the bat, but her loss of sleep made it harder and harder for her.

"One more time." Sunset muttered.

A bluish-green aura covered the bat's head. It stopped in mid-air, then started to do a loop-de-loop in mid-air. Sunset's eyelids dropped, and the bat dive-bombed against her head with a loud thump.

"Yow!" she cried out when the bat hit her.

She shook herself awake, and then tried again. The bat flew in a perfect triangular pattern before flying through a series of hoops that Princess Luna conjured in mid-air. It went through the first three hoops, but stumbled through the fourth and began spiraling to the ground. Sunset saw this and quickly used her telekinesis to catch the bat in mid-air. She canceled out her spell, and levitated the bat up to her face.

"Awww...poor girl!" she said, softly. "Bathilda, I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Bathilda the fruit bat shook its head with a small optimistic squeak, then extended a claw to give her owner a thumbs-up.

"There now. Mommy won't make you fly through any more of the princess's obstacles." said Sunset. "You should fly to the garden and get yourself a nice, juicy tomato."

The bat gleefully squeaked again, and flew out through the window and into the night sky.

"I will give your performance with the coordination spell a B...minus, but still a B." said Luna. "If you were able to stay awake, I'm sure you could've done much better."

"Yeah, yeah." said Sunset, quietly muttering under her breath. "Heard ya the first dozen or so times you said it."

Princess Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so what are we doing next?" Sunset quickly, hoping to change the subject.

"Actually, I will conclude this lesson for tonight, my student." said Princess Luna. "I have subjects to tend to, after all."

"I'm really sorry that I wasn't able to stay awake, princess." said Sunset.

"We shall discuss this tomorrow, Sunset Shimmer." said Luna. "Good night."

Sunset left the chamber, and went into the corridor, and reflected on the past two weeks. Her time as Princess Luna's student was becoming rather dull. All lessons were taken exclusively inside the palace, her brother Radiant Dawn was caught up in Night Guard-related work for Captain Star Shield, and even her friends were too busy doing other things: Trixie was practicing for her next big performance while doing side-work for her cousin Dr. Pressure Point as a nurse, and Lightning Dust was on a mission with Princess Luna's Shadowbolts. Even Teddy was busy with some new friends of his here in Canterlot.

She also had very little news from the other settlements of Equestria: Sunset was getting less and less fan mail from Fillydelphia, her mother Scarlet Blaze had yet to send any noteworthy messages from Vanhoover, and even Princess Celestia had not received any news about King Nelphyn's whereabouts. Not even a rumor about any Changeling activity anywhere in Equestria. Either Lord Umbriel was being kept on a short leash this time, or the Changeling Royal Family was still hunting for King Craw.

Sunset Shimmer had not participated in any exciting events since two weeks ago, when she battled the Chrysalis Syndicate all on her own in the human world. Though she still missed Sergeant Craw, her boyfriend who happened to be the human counterpart of the infamous renegade Changeling of the same name, she was able to get on with her own life knowing she was able to make-up with him before she came back to Equestria. It did not stop her from feeling rather bored, though. The most noteworthy thing she had done since then was when she got her new pet bat, Bathilda.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wonder what Twilight Sparkle's doing." Sunset muttered to herself as she went back to her bedroom. "I bet she gets to do all kinds of cool and awesome stuff with her own friends, especially being a princess and all, while I'm stuck doing the graveyard shift with Princess Luna."

She came to her bedroom door, and looked towards the door to Trixie's old bedroom. It had been so quiet now that Trixie had moved out of the palace. She looked at Lightning Dust's door, but heard no noise within; Lightning still hadn't come back from her mission.

Then she remembered what Quick Shot said to her in Vanhoover, about the premiere of his movie in Las Pegasus. It was supposed to have premiered a week ago, but was delayed for unknown reasons. Maybe she and her friends could go check it out some time.

"Come to think of it, I haven't been to a movie theatre." said Sunset, sleepily.

She went into her bedroom, and tucked into her bed, falling asleep quickly.


In a village located in the deserts of Saddle Arabia, two stallions were having a conversation with each other on the outskirts. These two were considered outcasts by their village for their raucous and impolite behavior.

"Then I says to him: He must-a be crazy." said Black Scarab to his friend. "And then he say to me: 'He must-a be stoned!' Then I say: 'I tell you he already is'!"

The two Saddle Arabians laughed.

"Scarab, you...you are funny." said the other stallion, gasping for breath.

"I see you two have nothing important in your futures." said a third voice.

The two looked to see a third Saddle Arabian with a black mane and red-rimmed sunglasses approaching them.

"Ah! Welcome, friend...not!" said Black Scarab. "Take a hike!"

The third stallion said nothing.

"Go now, stupid one." said the second stallion, fighting the urge to laugh. "You waste our time."

"That makes two of us, apparently." said the third stallion. "You two are by far the biggest morons I have ever met."

"Yes...Black Scarab is stupid...not!" said the first. "Now go away, or we will call the guards and have them stone you."

The two started laughing idiotically, as the third stallion removed his tan cloak, revealing the black amulet he was wearing on his neck. The second stallion gasped.

"Scarab, do you know what this is?!" he panicked, then turned to run.

The pendant began to glow with a red aura, and shot a current of red lightning at him, engulfing him in red light as he hung suspended in the air.

"Wah wah wee wah." said Black Scarab. "Good trick...not!"

The red aura that surrounded Scarab's friend then shot its own current at Scarab himself. The two Saddle Arabians floated closer to the magic user.

"I do hope that not all Saddle Arabians are degenerates like you two." said the stranger. "I want subjects to rule over without having to turn them all into mindless zombies. Personally, I think you two would be better off as mindless zombies."

"Please! Spare us!" said Black Scarab. "We give you our wives, our daughters! Anything!"

"Filthy cowards. You two village idiots are nothing to me."

Then a ghastly wail filled his mind.

"King Nelphyn!" boomed a familiar voice in his head.

Nelphyn paused, and replied telepathically.

"Saegmuntitus!" he mentally said in surprise. "I didn't expect to hear from you so soon!"

"Nelphyn, why do you insist on wasting your time on those pathetic villagers?!" demanded the voice of the Ram King. "My plans are still in motion, you fool."

"Of course, master." said Nelphyn. "But I still have my own mission in Saddle Arabia to complete, and I need time to do so."

"Then you better complete it soon, my equine servant, or you will know suffering beyond comprehension!" said the voice of Saegmuntitus. "You have until the end of the month, or I will send another of my agents to dispose of you and everyone else that obstructs my goals! And I assure you: He does not tolerate ponykind, and you are no exception."

The voice died away, and Nelphyn stood there with a furious expressions on his face. He looked at the two Saddle Arabians that were still floating telekinetically in front of him. He snarled at them, and they just cowered. Nelphyn used the Alicorn Amulet's telekinesis to thrust them both into the air, pull them back with lightning speed, and then shoot them into the wild blue yonder.

"Very well, master." said King Nelphyn. "You want me to complete my task?"

Nelphyn removed his red-rimmed sunglasses, revealing his glowing red eye-sockets.

"Then I shall." he said with an ominous tone in his voice.

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