As the Sunsets on the Past

by Da Joestanator

The Search Begins *UPDATED*

Inside the throne room sat the princesses, Celestia and Luna, engaged in a thrilling game of chess. Celestia and Luna had the white and black pieces respectively. Luna levitated her King from E2 to E3, but Celestia countered with her Bishop from E5 to D4.

“Check, dear sister,” Celestia beamed. Luna, not being very good at competitions, just tossed the board away and pouted. The sisters then shared a good laugh as they levitated the board and pieces back on the table.

Before they could play again, two guards trotted in, followed by SIX ponies and a baby dragon. “Your highness,” bowed the unicorn guard, “Announcing Princess Twilight Sparkle and company." The six ponies and Spike walked right past them. “Wait, where’s Shimmer?” the unicorn whispered to his partner. His partner just shrugged.

This surprised the princesses, “Why Twilight, isn’t this a delightful surprise,” commented Celestia.

“Is there trouble in Equestria?” Luna asked nervously.

“Oh, nothing’s wrong at all,” Fluttershy smiled, “quite the opposite, actually.”

“In fact, we think this might be the best day EVER!!” Pinkie Pie cheered.

“How so?” Celestia grew curious.

Twilight could only smile widely. “Well, Princess,” she winked at the others, “we’d like you to say hello to an old friend!” The seven of them stepped out of the way making room for… Nopony.

The princesses were confused. “Um, where is this ‘old friend’ of yours, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked.

Twilight and her friends looked back and saw that Sunset was gone. Twilight started to sweat. “Um… will you excuse us for a minute?” Twilight awkwardly backpedaled and pulled her friends into a group huddle, “Where’s Sunset Shimmer?” The panic could clearly be heard in her voice.

“I swear, she was right behind us,” Rarity panicked. “I looked over, and she was too busy admiring the stunning stained glass windows!”

“Maybe she got too scared to go through with it,” whispered Fluttershy. “I know I’d be absolutely terrified if I had to do this.”

“But what’s she got to be nervous about? We said we’d be here the whole time,” grunted Rainbow Dash.

“Well it probably didn’t help that some ponies,” Rarity glared directly at two certain guards, “decided to maliciously gang up on the poor dear!”

“Maybe she didn’t run away,” Pinkie Pie thought hopefully. “Maybe she had to use the bathroom.”

“Pinkie, that’s crazy, who’d be able to find the darn bathroom in a castle this big?” Applejack retorted.

“Do you think she ran back to the train station?” Fluttershy asked.

“She couldn’t have, the next train isn’t for a few more hours,” Twilight remembered.

Spike looked up nervously, “Uh Twilight?”

“Not now Spike,” Twilight shrugged him off, “We need to figure out where she went!”

“Where who went?” asked a familiar voice. Twilight turned around to see Celestia staring down at her and jumped back a little. “Twilight,” Celestia said sternly, “What is going on here?”

“Tried to warn you,” whispered Spike.

Twilight fidgeted her hooves nervously, “Well… you see… what happened is…”

“Sunset Shimmer wrote a letter to Twilight!” Pinkie burst out.

“She said she wanted to stay with us for the next few months!” Fluttershy squeaked next.

“And she gave us gifts!” Rarity exclaimed, “which reminds me, I probably should have worn those darling earrings today if we were visiting the princesses-“

“And we were coming here because she wanted to talk to you about the past!” Applejack admitted.

“But those jerk guards of yours harassed her and we think she might have run off!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t keep it in either.

“…Pretty much what they said,” Twilight squeaked.

Both princesses were shocked… but Celestia’s jaw dropped the hardest, “S-S-Sunset Shimmer?”

“You mean she’s here, in Canterlot? Right now?” Luna asked in disbelief.

Twilight plucked up courage, “Yes. But you have to believe us; she’s changed! She’s a much better po-“

Before she could continue defending her friend, Twilight found herself caught in Celestia’s magic aura, “How was she when she got here? Was she all right? Has she been eating well? Why did she run away when she got here?” Celestia fired anxious questions left and right, desperately seeking answers about the wellbeing of her former student.

“Sister,” Luna exclaimed, “You must calm yourself. I’m sure she was perfectly fine in the company of Twilight and her friends.”

“She was a bit distant and nervous,” Twilight explained, “but she was very eager to come here to talk to you.”

“Or at least she was before these two,” Applejack pointed an angry hoof at the guards, “made her feel lower than an apple worm on a lemon farm!”

Celestia shot an angry glare at the two guards as they shrank under her stare, “I’ll deal with you two later.” Her voice was chilled and angered, “But for now, everypony must search the area! We must find Sunset Shimmer and bring her back with her friends!”

“Indeed,” agreed Luna. “Rarity, Applejack, we’ll search the castle halls!” Rarity and Applejack saluted, “Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, you two search from the skies!”

“We’re on it, Princess!” saluted Rainbow Dash.

“We’ll do our best,” agreed Fluttershy meekly.

“Pinkie Pie, you search the grounds,” Celestia continued, “Twilight, Spike, and I will patrol the towers.” Everypony saluted in agreement and dashed for the door to start the search.

Twilight stopped short right next to Celestia, “Princess, just so you know, she came back here so she could apologize for all she’s done. She missed you very much.”

“I know, Twilight,” Celestia answered sadly. She covered her eyes with her wings. “But I feel I owe her an apology as well.” Twilight wanted to ask what she meant by that, but she figured now wasn’t the time. With that, she and Spike followed her mentor out the doors to search for their runaway friend.

Author's Note:

Apologies for the shortness of this chapter. The original idea I had would've ended up being too long. But don't worry, you're in for a grande chapter soon... including appearances from a certain master of chaos, and a character we haven't seen in a long time ;)

Comments

[Awesomo3000]

Damn you, jerk guards!

[SadisticFluttershy]

Well, having it long wouldn't have been a bad thing. 3-4k words would've been fine.

[CHOAM]

As before, an enjoyable read

2015/05/31 Removed suggestions that no longer apply.

[Snowdrifter]

A character we haven't seen in a long time!?
Ms. Harshwhinny?
Limestone Pie?
Clover the Clever?
Gustave le Grande?

[Pr1deM0rn1ngstar]

Sounds like those guards done goofed