The phone's too-loud call flattened Sunset's ears to her head. Her aura claimed it and drew it nearer. "Hello?" She just about managed to get out past her yawn.
"Sunset," Celestia's perfect voice said, and for a moment, the years faded away.
"Yes Prin…" She started, and then her mind caught up. She glanced at the phone floating in her aura. "Yes, Principal Celestia?"
"I'm sorry to call you, but something has happened at the school, and I feel you are the one best qualified to understand it."
"Magic again?"
"Yes."
Sunset rolled to her hooves and stretched like a cat. "I'll be there in five."
This had not been what she had expected when she had gotten Principal Celestia's call. Sunset stared at the shattered remains of the statue. She did not even need to be in her true form to feel the Equestrian magic in the area.
"What happened?" Rainbow asked.
"By how the debris is scattered and the magical flux…"
"Yeah, yeah. What happened?"
Sunset snorted and rolled her eyes. It had nowhere near the right effect in human form, but at least Rainbow seemed to get the point. "Something happened on the other side of the portal and blew it open."
"It's open?"
"Yes, I'm just not sure if anything would survive going through."
"Why?"
"You know how in a broken mirror, your reflection goes crazy?"
"Yeah."
"Want to end up on the other side like that?"
"Oh. Not cool, no thanks."
"My point exactly." For the tenth time since she got here she wrote in her journal.
Twilight, are you alright? Please answer me, what happened?
There was no reply.
"So, are we going to have to save the day again or something?" Rainbow asked with far too much excitement.
"Rainbow, this is not a game…"
"Look, we are the heroes here. We save the day every time, and if the other versions of us are half as awesome as we are, they will be fine."
"Thanks, Rainbow." Sunset tried to sound convinced, but with everything she knew of what was going on in Equestria, there were far too many worst-case scenarios. Her eyes found the journal again. The tell-tale glow that would have meant Twilight had answered still failed to show. Please just be a crazy experiment that blew up a little too much. Slowly, reluctantly, she put the journal away and turned her attention fully to the local situation.
"Rainbow, I'm going to need some three dozen metal tent pegs and as many crystals as you can get.
"Why?"
"You do remember what happens every time Equestrian magic builds up here right?"
"Yeah, we get to save the day."
"Well, this time, I feel like saving the day before it's in danger."
Rainbow gave a lazy salute and blurred off with her power.
Sunset opened her notebook and set to work calculating the needed parameters for the containment array. Yet her emotions could not help but worry about her friend on the other side of the breach.
If you don't answer before I've finished this, I'm going to need to find a way to get back to that island…