Sunset didn't have the heart to tell Twilight and Spike about what happened with the reflection. But thankfully, the mocking entity did not bother Sunset for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, that didn't help Sunset sleep any better. She must have gotten at least three or four hours of sleep… If she was lucky. Twilight noticed something wrong with Sunset in the morning, but knowing what a big day they were about to have, she decided not to pressure her.
The train ride to Canterlot was a little better, and the others noticed Sunset looking distant on the train, so they decided to see if they could make her feel better by telling stories of their adventures together. Sunset was amazed at Fluttershy's story of the time she was turned into a bat; she giggled at Pinkie and Applejack's traveling story; she admired Rarity's courage in her tale about the Diamond Dogs; she was awestruck at Rainbow Dash's story from the Wonderbolt's Academy; but Twilight telling about their incident at the Grand Galloping Gala was her all-time favorite story.
"I remember when I had to go to the Gala when I was little… the old me thought it was unbelievably boring," Sunset reminisced.
"Eeyup, well the old you wasn't too far off," Applejack replied.
"It certainly wasn't a night of princes, that's for sure," muttered Rarity.
"Yeah, but then we came around and everything went all crazy and fun-er-iffic!" bounced Pinkie Pie. "Princess Celestia said it was the bestest Grand Galloping Gala EVER!"
Sunset couldn't help giggling, "Wow. Kind of wish I could've gone to that one… maybe skip the Gala and go straight to the donut shop first."
"Yeah, I think we'll remember that for the next gala," Rainbow Dash said awkwardly. The eight of them all laughed loudly, forgetting all their worries, and all Sunset's worries.
"Still, I'm mighty proud of you for finally talking to the Princess, sugarcube," praised Applejack.
"Indeed, darling," agreed Rarity, "we knew this would be a very big step towards making up for your past… Um… Boo-boos."
"Yeah… This is way overdue for me," sighed Sunset, "I just really appreciate you girls coming with me."
"No sweat," replied Rainbow Dash as she reclined in mid-air, "Just think of this as a little bump on our two months of awesome hanging-out-ness! Just get through this, and the rest'll be easy-peasy. No big deal."
Sunset looked solemnly out the window, "Yeah, no big deal. Just the mare I ran away from all those years ago and I'm finally going to apologize for being a raging demon monster. No big deal at all," she muttered.
"Exactly," sang Pinkie, who didn't understand sarcasm sometimes. "Then, I guarantee she's gonna pull you into a big old hug," Pinkie gave Sunset a hug of her own to prove her point. "And then… we PARTY!" a confetti explosion blew up behind her.
Sunset sighed, "I hope you're right, Pinkie. I hope you're right." With that, she stared out the window for the rest of the train ride.
In a matter of hours, they arrived at Canterlot and were already entering the great entrance hall –Sunset trailed a bit behind for obvious reasons. The eight of them saw two royal guards - a unicorn, and a pegasus - approaching them.
The guards bowed to Twilight, "Welcome back to Canterlot, Princess Twilight; friends; Sunset Shimmer," greeted the unicorn guard, not even noticing Sunset. He then jerked his head up in shock when he finally did notice. "Sunset Shimmer?!"
The guards pushed past Twilight's friends and pointed their spears directly at Sunset, "You're not getting away this time, Shimmer," spat the pegasus guard.
"You have no idea how long we've been waiting to catch you! Nopony slips past the royal guards!" yelled the unicorn guard.
"Except for Nightmare Moon, Discord, the changelings, Tirek… actually a LOT of ponies slipped past the royal guards," joked Pinkie Pie.
"Ok, bad example," groaned the unicorn guard. "Still, you're coming with us, and–"
"Stand down right now," thundered Twilight, she flew right in front of Sunset and spread her wings, shielding Sunset. "She's with us!"
The guards were confused, "Excuse us, your highness? You do know this is Sunset Shimmer, right? The troublesome unicorn who ran away from Princess Celestia, and left her an emotional wreck?!"
"Yeesh," Rainbow Dash whispered to Pinkie Pie. "And I thought we laid it on thick." It was true, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash could be careless with their outbursts, but this was ridiculous.
"She's also OUR friend, and we brought her here so she could talk to Princess Celestia," Twilight retorted.
The guards were confused. "No fooling? SHE wants to talk?" the unicorn guard asked.
"Took her long enough," muttered the pegasus guard to his partner. Every time these guards opened their mouths, Sunset's heart was growing heavier and heavier, not that the guards noticed.
Sunset's friends noticed, and they didn't like it. "Just give me five minutes with these guys, that's all I'm asking," Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack.
"Don't be silly, Dash," Applejack whispered back. "Wait until I'm through with 'em!"
At this point, even Twilight was getting annoyed, "Listen, all we want is to speak to Princess Celestia, and we want YOU to escort us to her. And as the Princess of Friendship, I order you to take us there NOW!"
The two guards cowered in fear at Twilight's anger, and hastily bowed, "Of course, your Highness. If the seven of you," Twilight shot a glare, causing them to cower, "Eight of you will just follow us, we'll take you straight to the princess." With reluctant sighs, the two guards trotted up the stairs, the eight friends following behind.
Sunset wiped her eyes to hide her tears. "Thank you," she whispered to Twilight.
"Anything for a friend," Twilight smiled. "Now it's only a brief walk, and it'll be over like that."
"And then we party?" Pinkie looked with pleading eyes.
Twilight and Sunset giggled, "And then we party."
"Yippee!" cheered Pinkie as they followed the guards.
Not too far now, as they all made their way through the hall of stained glass windows. If Sunset didn't have butterflies in her stomach before, she had them now. Luckily, she kept herself distracted by looking at the beautiful artwork.
She admired each one as they passed; Twilight and her friends defeating Nightmare Moon, then defeating Discord, Shining Armor and Cadence stopping the Changelings, Spike saving the Crystal Empire, but her admiring stopped as soon as she set eyes on one particular window. It was the window of Twilight becoming a princess. As proud as she was for her friend, seeing her like this, ascending into an Alicorn, brought up some unpleasant memories: Memories of a certain filly screaming at her mentor.
"I deserve to stand beside you and be your equal… If not your better! Make me a princess!" demanded Sunset Shimmer.
"No," replied Princess Celestia. "Being a princess must be earned… I have been trying to teach you everything you need to know, but you've turned away from it. Sunset Shimmer, I am removing you from the position of my pupil. If we cannot get past this, your studies end here."
"We'll never get past this because you aren't seeing how great I deserve to be! This is the biggest mistake you'll make in your entire life!"
"One of many," she heard Princess Celestia say as the guards escorted Sunset out.
"I'll make you regret this, Celestia! Nopony denies Sunset Shimmer her destiny! NOPONY!"
Remembering that day was too much for poor Sunset. "I can't do this," she thought to herself. With the others not watching her, she quietly scooted back, and used her magic to teleport back into the entrance hall. She ran as fast as her hooves would carry her out of the castle; she didn't know where she would go, but anywhere was better than beside the ponies she'd only hurt.
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.