Sunset sprinted down the castle halls, and now appeared to be within what felt like a labyrinth of a building. She didn’t have any knowledge of where the exit to the main square was located in this castle, as it really had been ages since she truly explored Canterlot. She only knew for certain that this was the only way to reach the coronation, but with a security guard hot on her tail, it didn’t give Sunset much time to consider which direction to take. A split road showed up at the end of the hall, and by trusting her main instinct, Sunset veered to the right into a separate hallway with a broom closet.

Since Sunset had already ran a pretty good distance up Canterlot’s walkway, she knew she couldn’t run from the security guard for much longer. In fact, running the short distance in an attempt to escape him had already exhausted her energy pretty well. When she approached the broom closet, Sunset pressed her hooves on the handle out of desperation, and by some miracle, it opened. Sunset fell into the small room as the door closed behind her. She crashed onto the floor so hard, her saddlebag’s strap came off of her. Max, who was right behind Sunset, noticed she went down the right hallway, and continued down that way, unaware that she had already hid herself.

Sunset panted quietly inside to catch her breath, but felt some relief upon hearing quick hoofsteps away from the closet door, which signified to her that the guard most likely didn’t know where she was anymore. It felt like just the right time too, as if she kept on running, he would’ve definitely caught her shortly after, and the punishment wouldn’t be lenient. As Sunset waited around for several minutes to regain some of her energy, she began to have the initial thought. If Max did end up catching her, would he have simply brought her to Celestia, who would’ve been able to vouch for her and clear up this whole misunderstanding? This idea was soon proven to be foolish, as Sunset eventually heard Max’s voice from a fair distance outside the door.

“Alright, squad.” Max addressed several royal guards suddenly standing outside the hallway. “I just encountered a unicorn whom I suspect is planning something malicious during Princess Twilight’s coronation. Be on the lookout for a female unicorn with a light-orange coat, red mane with yellow highlights, and turquoise eyes.”

As Max finished describing Sunset, one of the female guards spoke up. Sunset didn’t immediately recognize the voice, but something about her tone seemed familiar.

“Ohhhhhh, how exciting. A new caper to solve?” The female guard asked rhetorically, before raising some sudden annoyance in her voice. “Why do we have to be the ones to do this when there’s fun festivities right now? You couldn’t have assigned Flash Sentry to do this dirty work!?”

“He could not join us today, nor the coronation on account of his injured wings.” Max replied to this mare guard. “And I would watch your tone, cadet. Or I will consider talking to Princess Twilight to have you suspended from this job indefinitely.”

“Awwww, you’re going to fire me?” The mare asked like an innocent child wondering what she did wrong, before raising her voice again. “Go ahead, old-timer. I could use a break anyway, and I know you’re bluffing, because you’ll need all the help you can get right now to find this culprit anyway. Otherwise, you’ll be the bozo who gets fired!”

Max simply sighed in frustration. “Whatever the case, just find this unicorn, and we can have this conversation later. And remember, whoever catches her first will get a bonus. The first thing we’ll do when we catch her is throw her into the Canterlot dungeon, just to ensure she can’t get anywhere near the coronation! We clear? Then get going, search every inch of this castle!” Max ordered, as he and guards began to split up to do a thorough search.

Based on what she just heard, Sunset knew she was really between a rock and a hard place now. If any of the guards did end up catching her, it sounded like she’d miss the coronation for sure, and be spending some hard time in a dungeon, which would even make her end up missing her graduation too. And hiding in this closet wasn’t going be in Sunset’s favor for much longer, since the guards were really searching for her. She had to do her best to sneak around the castle now, which almost reminded her of the time she snuck into Crystal Castle to steal Princess Twilight’s crown. Sunset began to have the suspicion fate was beginning to make her relive some of her worst memories, but if it went to prove how much she had changed since those days, it didn’t matter anymore. Sure, she did act rather hostile back at the entrance, but in all fairness, the guard really didn’t give her any other choices.

Sunset had to think fast, before any of the guards opened this closet. Relying on her magic was already out of the question, due to being out of practice for so long. While looking around the room for any vents she could crawl through, or quick disguises she could come up with, Sunset unfortunately came up with nothing. It was a broom closet, after all. There wouldn’t be much she could expect to work with, let alone a fully convincing disguise to completely fool the guards. Sunset had to pick her own poison, either attempting to slowly get past the guards in the hallways, or staying within this closet and risk getting cornered. The former seemed like the better option of the two options, so Sunset prepared to make an escape, while listening closely for any nearby hoofsteps. With so much on her mind, she opened the door and left the closet, but forgot to take her saddlebag with her, which was left behind.

Now Sunset was practically living out the fantasy plan she jokingly came up with during the holidays, when she forgot to take her storage locker’s key from her CHS locker to get the toy bags for the Toys for Kids festival. She almost felt like a spy infiltrating an enemy base, except that this wasn’t a movie, and getting caught would give her one harsh punishment. Sure, Celestia would most likely sort things out at some point, but by then, Sunset would’ve already missed both the coronation and CHS graduation.

Sunset trotted quietly, hiding in various rooms and behind furniture, hoping to lessen the likelihood of alerting any of the guards to her presence. As she did, she could distinctly hear Princess Twilight’s voice in the distance, which gave Sunset the impression that Twilight was okay, even after that fall from the balcony earlier. Thankful at this fact, Sunset continued sneaking around before she finally noticed a door that led outside. Hoping that she had finally found the castle’s exit to the coronation, she opened the door, and saw it was nothing more than a dead-end balcony. By now, Sunset had become completely exhausted from everything she went through today, and instinctively growled in frustration before quickly covering her mouth, realizing how loud she suddenly became.

It wasn’t even 10 seconds later, that one of the female pegasai guards heard the noise and ran into the hallway Sunset was in. Before Sunset could even react, the guard had quickly flew over to grab her hoof. Sunset didn’t recognize this mare at first, but eventually realized who it really was after noticing the familiar colors of her coat and mane, along with her distinct mood swings. In fact, she was the same guard Sunset had overheard talking to Max while she was stuck in the closet earlier.

“Aww, are you lost, ma’am?” Sour Sweet asked with a sarcastic sweet tone, before changing it to a more forceful demeanor. “Because you’re going to help me get that bonus for my job! You fit the exact description of the intruder hiding around this castle, so now I’m taking you in!”

Sunset began to panic internally. Her fear of getting caught and taken into custody was already happening, but before trying to do anything desperate, she then remembered a key detail. Twilight had informed most of the guards about who she was, making Sunset began to wonder if coming clean to the guard about her identity would be enough to set her free.

“Wait, before you take me in… could I at least tell you who I am?” Sunset insisted.

“Well, this is a surprise, but a welcome one.” Sour Sweet replied. “Go on ahead, I could use a good laugh.”

“I’m Sunset Shimmer.” Sunset revealed her name to the guard. “Please, if you can trust me and take me over to Princess Twilight, I can assure you. She can clear up this whole misunderstanding.”

“Wait a minute, Sunset Shimmer?” Sour Sweet began to brainstorm, realizing that Princess Twilight did mention that name to her and her colleagues earlier that day. Without seemingly any hesitation, Sour Sweet changed her attitude completely and began speaking in a more helpful voice. “Okay, in that case, I can take you to Princess Twilight. But, you’ll have to come with me, so that if any other guards see us, they’ll see I’ve at least found you.” She finished, still holding a strong grip on Sunset’s hoof.

“All right, that’s no problem.” Sunset said with relief, thinking that if Sour Sweet was going to bring her to Twilight, she wouldn’t need to worry about being trapped into the dungeon.

Sunset trotted down the halls with Sour Sweet, thinking she could trust her. After all, this Sour Sweet was a Canterlot Royal Guard, and seemed more trustworthy than the human version whom Sunset remembered took part in stealing Rarity’s dance choreography. All of a sudden, Max Steele noticed both Sunset and Sour Sweet from the corner of an intersection, and quickly trotted over to the two mares.

“Well, Ms. Sweet!” Max addressed the royal guard. “I see you’ve caught the intruder!”

“That’s right, chief!” Sour Sweet replied back. “Now quickly, give me some hoof-cuffs so we can restrain her and take her down to the Canterlot Dungeon!”

“Wait, what do you mean-!” Sunset exclaimed out of reaction, but quickly got cuffed before she could even finish her sentence. She then turned to Sour Sweet and gave her a dirty look, realizing exactly what she was doing. “Grrrrr! You tricked me! You said you’d take me to Twilight!”

“Please.” Sour Sweet scoffed at Sunset’s scolding. “You really expect me to take the word of an intruder? And whether you are or aren’t this ‘Sunset Shimmer’ you claim to be, it doesn’t matter. All that matters to me is that I get my bonus for catching you first!”

“Alright, we can discuss this later.” Max addressed Sour Sweet. “Right now though, help me escort her to the Canterlot dungeon.”

By this point, Sunset didn’t really have many options, but she’d be a fool to simply surrender and let them take her to the dungeon. She pleaded with the two guards in a final attempt to save herself.

“Listen, you two.” Sunset said sternly. “I’m Sunset Shimmer, a good friend of Princess Twilight. I was most definitely invited to her coronation, but you wouldn’t let me in. If you’re going to throw me into the dungeon, fine. But I at least insist you bring Princess Twilight here, and let her decide on the matter. I do have a right to that, at least? It’ll take just a few minutes. If even Twilight allows you to take me down to the dungeon, then I will go with you without any hesitation.”

“She cannot be trusted, she’s just wasting our time!” Sour Sweet blurted out in frustration. “And most importantly, she’s robbing me of my bonus!”

“You won’t have a bonus or a job for that matter, if Princess Twilight finds out you imprisoned a good friend of her!” Sunset said with a serious look in Sour Sweet’s eyes. “Please, you both already have me in custody, what have you got to lose at this point?”

“Well, since Princess Twilight is now ruling Equestria now that Celestia has stepped down, I suppose we can let her have a say in it.” Max said, meeting Sunset halfway. “But if this is just a fib, I’ll make certain your punishment is even more harsh than it will be now! Lying to the authorities is a serious offense, after all.”

“Alright, deal.” Sunset said firmly, as Max picked up an intercom to call Princess Twilight over to the castle, much to Sour Sweet’s shock and disapproval.