It was easy as taking candy from a filly, Sunset Shimmer thought with an evil smirk. It almost made what she was doing to easy. Almost being the keyword there.

Her trip from the World Mirror through the Crystal Palace had been easy so far. Nopony had seen her arrival, and she intended to keep it that way for as long as she was here.

Finding the right room had taken longer than she had planned for, but in the end her prey was where she expected her to be. That there were no guards anywhere nearby made it easier.

Sunset had vivid memories of Princess Celestia's own, and she didn't want to have to deal with that. That there were none meant her prey didn't have any. Perfect for what she was doing.

Pushing open the door, she saw that Princess Twilight was fast asleep in her bed. On a bedside table sat the Element of Magic. Perfect. Quietly, Sunset made her way to the table. With a quick grab, she pulled out the fake crown from her saddlebags and replaced Twilight's Element with the fake crown.

Sunset sighed. That was part one of her plan done. Now all she had to do was get back to Canterlot High and put the rest of her plan into motion. It shouldn't be too hard.

Turning away, she saw the little bed right in front of her, right as she almost tripped over it. Wiping her brow, she stepped around it. That had been too close for comfort.

As she turned to the door, Sunset caught a faint wiff of something she couldn't place. Yet it smelled familiar all the same. She shook her head after a moment. No matter, she had what she had come for, and that was all that mattered.

Sunset hadn't gone more than four steps to the door when she heard the faint sound of a bow string being pulled back, before a voice spoke from the darkness. "I suggest you put that back if you value your life."

Sunset came to a screeching halt as from the darkness strode two figures. Human upper bodies and pony lower ones, but not the two she knew. But she knew enough about their kind. What worried her the most were the two arrows aimed at her that would kill her instantly if fired.

She growled. This was not a part of the plan, but she could get around this as she ignited her horn and prepared to teleport back to the mirror instead.

Only to freeze in fear as she felt a blade at her throat and another at the base of her horn. Cold sharp steel made her gulp as another voice spoke from behind her in a cold and deadly whisper.

"Use your magic, and I cut off your horn. Run, and I cut your throat. Your choice. Either way, you will not leave this room with what does not belong to you."

Sunset shivered. She knew those weren't hollow boasts. It wasn't the blade at her throat that scared her the most though. Unicorn horns were supposed to be unbreakable except by extreme force, and the shock usually killed the owner.

Sunset had seen a unicorn who had lost most of her horn. While it hadn't killed her, the magical feedback had destroyed all of her higher brain functions. Fizzlepop Berrytwist had been reduced to a vegetable in Canterlot General Hospital, and even at her absolute worst, Sunset had felt horrible for her. Nopony should ever be like that.

Yet, she had seen a blade very much like the one at her horn base cut through Mithral like it was a sheet of paper. Mithral was the strongest metal on Equus. Not even magic could get through it.

By now though, all the noise had finally woken up Twilight, who was staring in shock at what was going on in front of her. "What's going on? Who are all of you? And why is she taking my crown?" She asked, pointing at the Element of Magic.

The youngest of the Centaurides, a light tan in color all over, lowered her bow before taking the Element of Magic in her hands before bowing down to Twilight. "Your highness. I believe this belongs to you."

If Twilight had to guess, she didn't sound much older than she was. Whatever that meant for their kind as she nodded and took the crown back and set it on the table. By now, Spike had been awoken by all the noise and was giving everyone a sleepy look. "What's going on?" He asked.

Twilight shook her head as she looked at the three Cenaturides. "That's what I'd like to know. Who are you, and why are you helping me?"

The pink one smiled. "All in good time your highness. But first we must deal with this one." She pointed at Sunset. "Do you have a way to contact your friends?"

Twilight nodded as she looked at Spike. "Spike. Go find Princess Luna. Tell her something's happened, and then wake the others. Meet us in the Throne Room."

Spike nodded before running off, careful to avoid everyone now in the room. None of them paid him much attention, and soon his footsteps faded from hearing.

Twilight relaxed somewhat. She still had a lot of questions, but for now she waited. As she did, an odd sensation came over her. Whoever these three were, she was comfortable in their presence more and more every moment they waited.

Another thing she would ask about when the time came.

***

Thirty minutes later, all had been gathered in the Throne Room. Twilight's friends were still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, but the princesses seemed more alert than usual.

Princess Celestia bore a look few had ever seen her with as she looked at Sunset, who for her part only glared back, one Celestia could only sigh to. "Sunset Shimmer. She was my student before you Twilight. I saw much the same I did in you in her." She smiled as she recalled those long ago happy days, when Sunset had been so different.

"Unlike you Twilight, Sunset began demanding the world bend over and kiss her flank. Eventually she demanded Celestia make her a princess as well," Hippothea added.

Celestia nodded as her frown deepened. "I of course refused to do so, for she did not yet deserve it. And from what I see Sunset, that has not changed at all."

Sunset spat on Celestia's hooves as she glared at Twilight, who wilted under the look. "It was my destiny. You know it is. Little miss perfect over there stole what was mine. I'm taking it back."

Hiipothea unsheathed her greatsword and held it out to Sunset's neck, a move that made the unicorn's ears fall and her cocky expression to fall away. "I see you've become even more delusional and stupid since we last me Sunset. I assume you remember what I told you then? What I would to you if you ever came back like this, or worse?"

Sunset nodded. She remembered alright. It was something she could not forget easily, and she knew for a fact that Hippothea would make good on her promise. Hippothea always made good on a promise she made.

Hippothea though smiled as she retracted her blade, but there was no mirth in her smile. "Lucky for you then that it is no longer in my hands what happens to you."

"Whose is it then?" Rarity asked.

"Twilight's. As Miss. Shimmer tried to steal her crown and Element of Harmony, the right of judgement is hers alone," Luna said.

"But I didn't do anything. They did," Twilight said, pointing to the three Centaurides around her.

Celestia nodded, smiling now as she looked at them. "And I am grateful for all their help. I can guess why you three are here now."

Eudiera nodded. "We came because the one we are bound to called to us. Whether Twilight knew so or not."

And Twilight hadn't known she had. She'd have remembered doing something like that she thought. It had been almost a month since her ascension. Why now of all times?

Mellinnia chuckled, guessing her thoughts. "We don't get it either. We just left our home a few minutes before we came here it feels like."

"But Twilight's been a princess now for a while. How the hay does that work?" Applejack asked.

Sophelia shook her head. "We don't know. It has always been this way for our kind when we leave our old home behind."

"Don't you miss it and your families?" Fluttershy asked.

Mellinnia and Sophelia shared a loving look. "Well, we're sisters, so we're not completely alone, and we've all known each other for years now," Mellinnia said.

Hippothea and Dianathe both nodded, while Appitrite looked happy to have someone her own age around now, even if they served different princesses.

Before anypony could say more, Eudiera, Sophelia, and Mellinnia walked to stand before Twilight. With solemn expressions, they removed the bows from their backs and set them to the side.

Twilight watched in shock as each and every one of them removed the blade from their back, pointed them at her for a second, before, as one, ramming them into the crystal floor and kneeling reverently before her, bowing their heads as they did so.

Cadance and Luna held up a wing to stop the girls and Spike from rushing forward. Luna shook her head as they gave them both a pointed look as the scene played out before them.

As one, the three before Twilight spoke. "Twilight Sparkle, born of mortal kind, now risen in image of the Great Mare. We now swear our blades to you, to stand by your side in good and bad, to never leave your side. Even beyond the ending of the world."

Mellinnia looked up and stared straight into Twilight's eyes. "Do you accept our service?"

Twilight hesitated only for a second, but in the end followed her heart. "I do."

They smiled as they looked up at her. "Then accept our Aeternus Oath. In the name of the First Empress and the Oath we swore in the ashes of the Fallen Kingdom, we are now yours to command," they said together.

Twilight felt the oath lock in place around them. Her soul reached out to theirs, and they in return reached to hers. Together they intertwined so fully and completely that nothing could ever tear them apart.

At that moment, Twilight understood. They truly meant what they had sworn. They would never leave her side for whatever reason and could not be tempted to betray her. Now she understood why her fellow princesses only had one. A guard that was only loyal to them above any other and would never even think of selling them out? Most rulers would kill to have that.

Questions of why she now had three were high on her list of questions, but that could wait for the moment. Another was at the top though, but it was too early to think about asking that one. Far too personal when they barely knew each other yet, and Twilight wanted to get to know them all.

If they were her guards, she wanted them to be so not only because they had sworn an oath, but because they cared enough about her that they would do so. Was that too much to ask?

Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up between them, startling the three before Twilight. "Hey! You know what this calls for?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "A party?"

Pinkie's squee was the only response anypony needed.

Author's Note

Yes, Equestria Girls 1 has been 100% derailed from what we know. Twilight will still go to Canterlot High and meet the Rainbooms. But now not as we saw it.

Sunset is not going anywhere ever again. At most to Canterlot's dungeons. Princess Celestia wants to think she's changed. But she hasn't.