Lyra, Gifted Unicorn Dropout

Lyra was in a bit of shock. Shackles? This mare was barely beyond being a filly what in Tartarus could she be guilty of doing that requires shackles. On top of that the strange golden unicorn seemed more terrified than anything else. The other one said something about two Sunset Shimmers there must be another Sunset Shimmer. Lyra didn't know what was going on but her instincts told her they had the wrong mare. This terrified teen could not be dangerous at least Lyra hoped so. The other unicorn who was there seemed more the dangerous type. Yeah the terror could have been that she was somewhere she would be caught but that didn't seem to be the case.

Someone had to speak up for her and Lyra was the only one to do so. She hoped she wasn't speaking up for some criminal but what little she saw made her side with the terrified golden unicorn. As the guards came through the door Lyra shout to them. "Wait! I don't think this is the pony you think she is."

The guard that had made the original shout of alarm alerting the others to this being Sunset Shimmer and to come prepared to chain her up gave Lyra a long look. "I have served in the guard for years and I will never forger who Sunset Shimmer is. I was there when she was Celestia's student. There when she was caught breaking into the restricted section of the archives. I saw Celestia order her permanently banned from the castle. And I was there when we found her again in the castle only to chase her to this very mirror which she vanished into." He point a hoof in the direction of the young mare and the mirror. "It has been a few years now but she looks exactly the same as I last saw her. That is Sunset Shimmer and she is guilty of violating Celestia's banishment from the castle twice over now and guilty of tampering with this artifact. She is going to be taken to the dungeons until Princess Celestia decides what to do with her."

"A few years and she looks exactly the same?" Lyra asked skepticly. "Look at her. If she looked this way years ago shouldn't she have aged some? She is barely beyond being a filly. If she has been gone for years then shouldn't she look a bit more adultish?" Lyra felt a little smug about her logic being something the guard couldn't argue with.

The guard dismissed the arguement as his co-patriots chained the still unconcious unicorn. "Who knows what that mirror does? Perhaps she was just held in stasis in it for a few years until it plopped her back out?"

Lyra decided to go with a full explaination of what she saw. "Wait there was another unicorn here too that went back into the mirror before you arrived. She said something about two Sunset Shimmers. She looked exactly like her but more like my age. Maybe that is the Sunset Shimmer you are talking about. Please don't punish this one for whatever the other one did." Lyra hoped again that she wasn't defending a guilty felon. "She is terrified. I felt her emotions. I am Princess Cadence's personal student I can tell what a pony is feeling and I know she is terrified. She was so terrified she passed out for Celestia's sake! And you want her to wake up in a dungeon chained up!"

The guard paused but a moment. "I am sorry but it is my duty to see that she is apprehended and held securely until the princess decides what to do with her. You may relate what you saw to the princess and you will be questioned at length about what you saw by the rest of the guard for formal record. Your opinions shall be noted as well. But for now she is headed to the dungeons and you will be relating your account to the record taker."

"Can I go down to the dungeons with her?" Lyra considered again what she just said. "Just to be outside her cell when she wakes? I tell you that she is terrified and I am really good at calming magics. You won't find any pony better at calming her down short of Princess Cadence. You can take my testimony anywhere can't you?"

The guard considered with a hoof up to his jaw in thought for a long moment and finally sighed and answered. "The record taker will not be happy about it but your request is reasonable. You will have a several unicorn guards on hand down there already due to this being Sunset Shimmer and they will assure you are doing what you say you are doing. There is nothing wrong with trying to calm the prisioner."

He gave a quick few hushed instructions to some other guards. Lyra was guessing at this point he was someone of rank. He then turned again to her and said. "Celestia is being informed of Sunset Shimmer's capture and will likely wish to see her soon. You will follow my ponies down to the dungeon where your testamony will be taken promptly. The record taker may even meet up with you on the way and start while you walk as he really doesn't like the dungeons and may rush to try to avoid the visit. You are free to use calming spells and speak with the prisioner when she wakes. You will be under constant supervision and the prisioner will have a magic suppression ring on in addition to her shackles."

"I better get going then," Lyra said as she went straight out the door to the waiting guards.

For the love of Celestia what had she just gotten herself involved in!