The Issue of Multiple Sunsets

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Wish we had a portal

Big Macintosh pulled his old pick-up truck to the curb in front of Canterlot High School. He watched as Trixie got out of the cab, while Applejack, Adagio, and Pinkie climbed out of the bed.

"Thanks for the lift," Pinkie called out as she hopped down.

"Yes," Adagio said as she made her way to the driver side window. She leaned against the door, giving a great view of her cleavage (which Macintosh immediately looked away from, staring at the windshield). "If there's anything I can do to show you my... appreciation" -- she gave a wink -- "please let me know."

"I have a girlfriend!" Macintosh blurted out, still staring forward and not looking at Adagio.

"That's fine," Adagio replied. "I don't mind there being three of us." Her eyes narrowed and her voice dropped deeper. "And if you live up to your nickname, Big Macintosh, then I'm sure there's more than enough of you for both of u--"

The rest of Adagio's flirtatious comment was cut off as she let out a yelp of pain. Applejack had grabbed Adagio Dazzle by the ear like a British nanny would a naughty child they were watching, and now proceeded to pull her away from the truck by it. This was most certainly not an enjoyable experience for Adagio, as demonstrated by her repeated utterance of "ow, ow, ow," as she was pulled along.

Giving it one last twist and tug before letting go, Applejack turned to Adagio and fixed her with the firmest, angriest glare that she could manage.

"This was why I didn't let you ride shotgun," she stated. "I saw the look you were givin' my brother, and I don't want you anywhere near him."

"Oh, come now," Adagio replied, straightening up and running a hand over the assaulted ear. "He and I are both consenting adults fully able to make our own decisions." She then turned to glance back. "Besides, look at him." Her attention then returned to Applejack, looking her up and down.

"Are all the members of your family as big and strong looking as you two?"

Applejack straightened up, her head pushing back before she looked away. Her lips pressed tight as her face took on the red colors of her brother's.

She then returned her attention to Adagio.

"Why're you hittin' on him, anyways?" she asked. "Aren't ya planning to take your sisters and go back to Equestria?"

A smirk tugged at the corner of Adagio's lip. She crossed her arms over her chest, eyes narrowing.

"If you were about to come back home after a year in Europe, wouldn't you want to get one last taste of the country?" She then licked her lips.

Applejack shuddered and took a step back.

"Let's not talk about this," she stated. "Ever again."

She then started for Canterlot High, with a snickering Adagio Dazzle following behind her.

It looked like the four of them were the last to arrive. The rest of their group had already arrived, and were standing around near the pedestal, with Twilight standing the closest to it.

"So, when's Princess Twilight showing up?" Applejack asked.

"She's not," Rainbow Dash asked. "For some reason, the journal wasn't able to send a message to Princess Twilight."

"Then why are we here?"

Rainbow pointed at Twilight Sparkle.

"She wanted to check the actual portal."

"That's the portal?" Adagio cried out, eyes wide. "Are you telling me the way home was under that horse's ass in front of the school this whole time?"

"Probably not the whole time," Pinkie Pie replied, appearing beside them. "The school wasn't built until nineteen-sixty-three, and the statue was made ten years later, so it couldn't have been there before then. Then there's the fact that originally, it only opened for three days about every two and a half years, and had closed the same night as the night Sunset was blasted by our Harmony magic, which you saw and what was drew you here, and that in turn led to Princess Twilight Sparkle figuring out how to open the portal when she desires and not simply being forced to wait until the proper astro-chronal events line-up permitting inter-dimensional magic to occur naturally in creating the trans-dimensional gateway through pre-constructed reflective forces. So, in a way, you being able to use it is thanks to you attacking the school, and even if you had found it, you still would have waited until the proper time." Her brow furrowed. "Although, I suppose tha--"

"I don't care anymore," Adagio said before turning and walking off. She caught sight of the other two sirens, and noticed that Sonata's hand was wrapped up.

"What happened to you?"

"I hit a demon version Sunset Shimmer with a tire iron!" Sonata Dusk declared, puffing out her chest and giving the biggest grin that she could manage.

"Seriously?" Adagio asked, turning Aria Blaze and raising an eyebrow.

"Seriously," Aria confirmed, giving a nod. "Demon Sunset showed up to try and grab Crystal Prep nerd Sunset from my Jeep for some reason. That's when Sonata Dumbass here --" she pointed with a thumb "-- decided to whack her in the arm with my tire iron." She turned to glare at Sonata. "Which you owe me a replacement of, by the way." She then returned her attention to Adagio. "Because demon Sunset turned the metal red hot, and someone wouldn't let go of the thing until then. So it ended up burning her hand."

"Well, Aria punched someone!" Sonata said, pointing a finger at her.

Adagio let out sigh, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"I swear I can't leave you two alone," she huffed out. "You two are like a pair of coked out monkeys."

"That was a fun party," Sonata said with a giggle.

"Speak for yourself," Aria retorted. "You weren't the one who had to try and clean up after."

"Okay," Adagio snapped. "You two. Stand here, shut up, and don't touch anything."

Turning, she then shouted, "What are we standing around waiting for? We're all here already."

Twilight Sparkle was willing to admit that it was a valid point. Really, there was no reason for them to wait for everyone to be there, or for anyone else to be there at all. Maybe two at most: one to check the portal, and another to tell the others if something happened to them. After the journal issue, she decided to come check the portal itself, and everyone decided to come along (or maybe felt obligated?).

Well, not everyone. The five Sunset Shimmers stayed behind.

Still, it had only needed one or two, then all of them that where at the apartment decided to come to the school, and Applejack and the rest were told to meet up with the group here.

Now, all that remained was actually to check the portal.

Taking a deep breath and bracing herself, Twilight took a step toward the pedestal. She reached out with one hand, placing her palm against the surface. It started to sink in, shifting around her hand like water.

Then, it suddenly pushed Twilight's hand away, causing her to stumble backwards and fall on her butt.

Three electronic beeps came from the portal.

"We're sorry," a robotic but feminine voice said, "but the dimension you are trying to travel to cannot be reached at this time. Please try again later. If problems continue, contact your local magical technician." The three beeps repeated. "We're sorry, but.."

That was not what Twilight had been expecting. She had been thinking that either the portal would work as normal and they could talk to Princess Twilight directly, or it would not and she would just be putting her hand on a piece of glass. The idea of having the portal reject her and getting an automated message had not really been a possibility.

"Are you alright, darling?" Rarity asked, holding out a hand to the fallen girl.

"Yeah," Twilight answered as she took the offered had. "I"m fine." She brushed at the back of her skirt, then turned to look at the portal, which had now gone quiet. "Just not what I expected."

"So, what should we do now?"

That was a good question. They had a strange and highly magical situation, but with no way to reach Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Sunset being a victim of said situation, there was no one with the knowledge and skill needed to try and deal with it. Plus, what were they supposed to do with all the different versions of Sunset Shimmer they had found? Especially the evil ones? It was not like they could just let them go, but they did not really have a way to catch and hold them either.

"Maybe we should all go home for the night."

Everyone turned, eyes wide with surprise not only at what was said, but who had said it.

"Applejack?" Rarity asked, taking a step forward. "You can't seriously be suggesting we give up."

"I ain't suggestin' that in the slightest," Applejack retorted. "But we don't know what to do and it is gettin' late. While I don't entirely like the idea, it's probably best we all go home, try 'n' get some sleep, That way, we can try and come up with somethin' to do while refreshed, and not stumbling around in the dark hoping to accomplish something or other." She crossed her arms and gave a shrug. "Maybe the portal and journal will work tomorrow, or maybe someone will get a new idea."

Silence reigned for a long moment as the others considered it.

"Applejack's right," Twilight conceded. "Getting some sleep would mean we would be able to look at this thing with fresh eyes." Her lips then pressed tight. "Although... considering what happened with siren Sunset and Crystal Prep Sunset, I'm not sure how I feel about leaving the others alone..."

"You kidding?" Rainbow replied grinning. "Between Daydream Shimmer, Power Rangers Sunset, and Streetmage Shimmer anyone who tried to mess with them will probably get blasted to dust. Probably the safest place in the city." Her brow furrowed. "Well, except for like a cool super secret hidden hideout, like the batcave or something."

She shifted, looking away.

"Which we so totally need."

"So, we're done for tonight?" Sonata asked.

"Unless someone has a better idea," Applejack offered.

None of them did.

Comments

[ShadowLDrago]

Her eyes narrowed and her voice dropped deeper

Which is impressive considering she's already a contralto.

"That was a fun party," Sonata said with a giggle.

... You worry me.

[Comickook]

Again, you did an excellent job on this latest chapter. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are all well done in all the right places. I particularly liked AJ's demonstration of over-protectiveness concerning her family when Adagio kept flirting with Mac as well as "the robo call" style message concerning the portal and the point out concerning how some of the heroic alternate Sunsets can MORE THAN take care of themselves .

I'll definitely be looking forward to more of this.

[OmniFox]

We need a list of all the Sunsets.

[aceina]

so where are all the sunsets staying for the night

[Ri2]

Someone should check behind the statue, maybe there's a tech support number they can call.

[Frazzle2Dazzle]

9176598
BZZZT~ Hello, this is magitransports incorporated, how may I help you?

[Snowdrifter]

9176598
Didn’t Pinkie have a throwaway gag in FG involving a book about portal maintenance technician? If that book was from the CHS library it might be suspiciously convenient, ahem, I mean helpful.

[Prince Leviathan]

So....im guessing that the final seasons finale is happening as this is so the mag8c portal isn't magic rn.