//------------------------------//
// Chapter 23: Paradise Regained 
// Story: I Don't Need Magic 
// by Undome Tinwe 
//------------------------------//

Twilight stared at the screen in front of her with unfocused eyes as she scanned through her emails and her course website to ensure that everything was up to date and going as planned. Dinky and Moondancer were doing everything right, and all she needed to do was to approve some grades and upload a few documents for her students.

It was all mindless work that Twilight normally did when she was stuck on a research question, since it gave her a chance to think about the problem while still being productive and keeping the baser parts of her brain active.

Of course, this time she wasn't thinking about physics or teaching. She had a much more important issue to ponder, one that she should've thought of days ago, before her bright future had gone up in magical flames.

Sunset Shimmer. The only woman Twilight had ever loved. When she phrased it like that, her course of action seemed obvious. She wasn't ever going to find someone she could connect with as well as she did with Sunset, and it made perfect sense to stay with her, to do whatever it took to reconcile with the beautiful, brilliant, infuriating woman.

On the other hand, Sunset came with a lot of baggage, magic chief among them. Twilight couldn't deny how much she had enjoyed studying the mystical force once again, how much pleasure she'd felt when she actually had a chance to wield the power she'd given up all those years ago. It was a rush unlike any other, and one that was more dangerous than any drug.

If she stayed with Sunset, she would have to deal with magic. There was no way around it, no way to bury her head in the sand and pretend that Sunset would just give up magic no matter what her argument. She'd buried her head in the sand, refusing to truly admit the truth that had been staring her right in the face since the start.

Sunset needed magic.

Twilight had been a fool in thinking that she could change Sunset, and all she'd gotten for it was burned once again. The fact that Sunset had apparently been thinking the same thing about Twilight didn't make her feel any better.

So, what now?

The logical course of action would be to stay with Sunset and try to at least mitigate any damage Sunset might do with magic. Sunset had been right in calling her a coward before – by standing on the sidelines, she was just giving tacit approval of Sunset's actions. Twilight needed to be there with Sunset, to guide her with a subtle hand and prevent her from doing anything too catastrophic.

That thought sent another wave of mental exhaustion through Twilight's already tried psyche. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life with a woman she both loved and was at odds with, playing games of manipulations and emotional combat every day. She wanted to come to an agreement with Sunset, but there was no way she was going to be able to trust her to keep her word, no after what she'd done this time.

The ringing of her cell phone pulled Twilight out of her fatigued reverie. She reached for her phone, and nearly silenced it when she saw Sunset's name on the caller ID. Her desire not to live up to Sunset's accusation of cowardice barely won out, however, and she reluctantly pressed the phone to her ear. "What do you want, Sunset?" She could barely muster the energy to be mad at her former girlfriend.

"Starlight stole your old magic detector, and I think she's going after Adagio." Sunset spoke without hesitation, every word coming out quickly and precisely. "I've got an address where I think they'll be, and Dash is going to meet me there, but I'd like you to come too in case something happens that we aren't expecting."

Twilight's earlier irritation was immediately shelved. "Where are they?"

Sunset rattled off the address. "It's along the way for me, so I can pick you up. Gimme ten minutes."

"I'll be ready." Twilight ended the call at that point. There was a lot they needed to talk about, but she really didn't want to think about it right now. She had to focus on the immediate threat. Starlight had been furious after her confrontation with Sunset – there was no telling what she might do if she managed to track down Adagio.

Twilight put her things away and changed into something comfortable yet warm for the cool autumn evening. Standing in front of the closet, Twilight glanced at the small safe that had come with the room. If the worst came to worst, they'd need every advantage they could get.

Opening the safe, she grabbed the small purple pendant inside and slipped it into her purse. She could feel the faint pulse of familiar magic emanating from it, calling out to her with its siren song.

She walked out to the curb, just in time to see Sunset speeding through in her car. As soon as she stopped, Twilight climbed into the passenger seat, and they took off.

For the first few seconds, neither of them spoke. Twilight wasn't really sure what to say, and she assumed Sunset had the same problem. After all, they'd just broken up a few hours ago, and despite her inner turmoil, Twilight was still mad at Sunset for her deception.

"So, what's the plan?" she finally asked, trying to keep her tone as neutral as possible.

"Starlight doesn't have an exact location, so if we're lucky, we can catch her before she gets to Adagio. Dash is going to meet us at her house. She'll help us take down Adagio, and then we'll get the medallion out before Starlight gets there. Hopefully, she'll calm down and we can talk things out afterwards."

"Right, so get there first, get the medallion, then let you do your whole manipulation shtick to get Starlight back on your side," Twilight summarized.

Sunset finally turned to look at her, shooting her a sharp glare. "Is this really the time to get into this?"

"In a few minutes, we're going to be confronting your former co-conspirator – who I assume wants to pull off your original plan. Forgive me if I'm a little sceptical about your intent to actually stop her."

"I called you, didn't I?" Sunset replied. "If I wanted her to go through with this, why would I have asked you to follow me?"

"I don't know." Twilight matched Sunset's glare with her own. "I don't know what ulterior motives you might have, because you won't share anything with me."

"I can't share anything with you because you won't trust me enough to listen to me!" Sunset was shouting now, but before Twilight could respond, the phone rang. Sunset's voice lowered again, though it never lost its edge. "It's Rainbow." She accepted the call. "What's is it, Dash?"

"I think Starlight's already been here," Rainbow Dash's voice was curt and to-the-point, devoid of her usual bravado. "I'm at the house. Adagio's out cold and it looks like someone tore up this place. I don't see any marks on Adagio either – I'm not sure how she took her out, but the whole room smells like flowers and I'm getting light-headed just standing here, so I think she used some kind of knockout gas."

Sunset swore. "We have to get to her before she finishes the spell. Any other clues as to where she might've gone?"

"Nothing. But if I were her, I'd be trying to cast the spell now before anyone stopped me."

"That's my guess too. I'll see you at Canterlot High then."

"Be careful." Dash was in full military mode now, her words coming out as an order. "Don't engage until I get there."

"Can't promise that," Sunset replied. "I can't let her finish that spell."

Dash growled. "Sunset…"

"Thanks for your help, Dash," Sunset said, cutting her off. "I'll see you at the school."

"You better not get yourselves hurt." With a click, Rainbow Dash ended the call, leaving Sunset and Twilight in silence.

"You didn't mention that Starlight had stolen the sleeping spray too," Twilight commented neutrally. "At least, that's what it sounds like she used." 

"She didn't," Sunset replied. "She knows the recipe, though, and we have some of the inert stuff in the lab. She probably grabbed it from there."

"I thought you said that magic was needed to activate it. How did she manage to get access to some without stealing anything else from the vault? She didn't steal anything else, right?"

Sunset sighed. "She didn't have to," she said, sounding like a woman approaching her own execution. "When we were at Camp Everfree, I shaved off the tips of the cloverbloom while you weren't looking, and I gave it to Starlight for safe keeping."

Twilight felt the knife in her heart twist a little more. "I see. So you didn't trust me enough to tell me that either, huh?"

"And when would it have been a good time to do that?" Sunset's hands gripped even tighter on the steering wheel as they sped through the streets. "You were hell-bent on making sure I couldn't study magic at first, and later on if I told you then you would've used it as an excuse not to trust me again, not that you ever did in the first place."

"I want to trust you!" Twilight raised her hands up in frustration. "Do you think I want to doubt the woman I love? It hurts every time I have to think about what agenda you might be hiding from me, to know that you still can't trust me with your secrets."

"Can I trust you?" Sunset delivered the question like an archer shooting straight for her heart, her voice suddenly growing deathly calm. "You keep going on about trusting me, but have you ever thought about your own agenda?"

"I've made no effort to hide my intentions," Twilight replied.

"And that's exactly the problem," Sunset said immediately, as if she had predicted Twilight's response. "You're so fixated on what you think is right that you won't even hear me out. I couldn't tell you about the cloverbloom, or about the modifications to the neutralization spell, because I knew you wouldn't listen to my explanations. You'd react exactly like you're reacting now."

"So your response is to make yourself even less trustworthy by going behind our backs? That's always been your problem – you think you know better than everyone else."

"And you don't?" Sunset snorted. "Please, you're no better than me when it comes to this. Let's face it, that fight we had all those years was just between you and me – our friends would've gone through with whatever plan we suggested. Neither of us were willing to back down, and both of us were absolutely sure that we were right."

Did Sunset really think she had the moral high ground here? "I was willing to have a discussion, to try and come to some kind of compromise."

"You weren't ever going to compromise. You were planning on talking me onto your side the same way I was."

"I've been compromising all this time." Twilight opened her purse and pulled out her pendant, holding it up a safe distance from Sunset. "Do you think I'd be carrying this otherwise?"

"You don't see it, do you?" Sunset shook her head. "You haven't actually given anything up that you really care about, because it's not really magic that you're scared of. It's magic that you can't control."

"What do you mean?" Twilight slipped the pendant back into her purse, zipping it back up with more force than was necessary.

"Like I said, we're not really that different. It's not that you hate magic or want it to go away forever. You're scared of having magic used wrongly, having it used against you. You're fine with us using magic to track down Adagio because you get to decide how it gets used. You were okay with letting Gloriosa keep her magic because you knew she wouldn't use it in a way you wouldn't approve of.

"Face it, it was never really about magic. You're scared of losing control, of being helpless, and since your first encounter was magic was getting possessed by it, you can't move past the fact that magic is something beyond your control. That's why you spent so much time studying it afterwards too. I get it. I'm the same way. But at least I admit it."

Twilight shook her head. "At least I don't have a habit of twisting the truth to tell the story I want."

"You can deny it all you want, but you're still letting fear drive you after all these years."

"And you aren't?"

"I don't even know anymore. I wasn't at first. In the beginning, it was all about proving that I was right, and that you were wrong. But now, I don't know. I have power again, and I'm doing so much with magic, but I've got new things to be scared of." Sunset sighed. "Like losing you."

"What?" Twilight glanced up sharply at Sunset.

"I was terrified of losing you," Sunset said, her head bowed down as she focused on the road. "I had power and status again, and was on the road to taking back my destiny, but it wasn't until I met you that I really felt like I really had something to lose. Equinox was always a means to an end, but you, you were one of the first endgames I actually cared about.

"So yeah, I screwed up because I was scared of losing you, and maybe I didn't trust you as much as I should've, but I'm trying to make it up now. The question is, do you really want to start over with a clean slate this time, or do you think it'd be better if we pretended like we were never a couple?

"I'm choosing to trust you by bringing you along this time. Can you trust that I truly don't have any hidden agendas this time? That all I really want to do is break this cycle we've been trapped in all this time?" Sunset was staring at Twilight now, the occasional flick of her eyes towards the road the only sign that she was aware she was still driving. Her gaze bore into Twilight's, insistent and demanding just like she was.

"I… I don't know," Twilight admitted, turning away from Sunset. "It hurts to think of us being apart, I won't deny that. Love doesn't fade just because you get into a fight. But I don't know if I can take this olive branch you're offering me."

Sunset nodded, her gaze turning sad. "I guess I have to accept that." She tilted her head to the left. "We're here."

Indeed, the old school building of Canterlot High stood proud in the bright moonlight, reflecting a soft white glow from its shuttered windows. It was far too easy to see in its otherworldly beauty how this place had come to be a nexus for magic.

As soon as they got out of the car, Twilight felt the first wave of magic crashing over her, the sheer force of arcane energy nearly knocking her off her feet. "We have to hurry!" she shouted, taking off as fast as she could and circling around the school building to the front entrance. As she ran, she could feel a hum in the air as it crackled with a spell powerful enough to send chills of pure dread down her spine.

She hadn't felt this much magical energy in one place since before the portal had been closed. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, her heart hammering away in her chest. Twilight finally rounded the corner of the school building and saw a hauntingly familiar sight in the garden where the portal had once stood.

Starlight Glimmer stood at the center of a maelstrom of color, holding up a medallion the size of her hand. All around her, rapidly shifting tendrils of light flowed into the artifact from tears in the fabric of reality around her, tiny portals opening up to show glimpses of unknown, fantastic landscapes before closing the next instant.

At her feet, a familiar journal sat, its pages flapping about in an otherworldly breeze. Vaguely, Twilight noted a small hole in the ground next to it where the nullification disc had been buried.

Starlight's eyes glowed with power as she turned her head towards Twilight and Sunset. "And the High School Power Couple finally arrive!" she called out, her voice dripping with disdain as it echoed with arcane might. "Are you here to watch as I do what you were too cowardly to?"

"Starlight." Sunset stepped forward, reaching into her jacket pocket. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"I was your partner for thirteen years. I think I can figure out how to use a magical artifact, especially since your Siren friends gave us an instruction manual for activating it."

As Sunset took another step towards her, Starlight held out one glowing hand in her direction. "I wouldn't get any closer if I was you," Starlight said, waggling a finger at them. "I'm too far into the spell. If you try to knock me out or something the spell will finish anyways, and without the person who activated it to direct the flow, you have no idea how the raw magic will behave."

Sunset stopped in her tracks, clenching her fists as she stared at Starlight. "You're right, I can't stop the spell, not without risking leveling this city, but you can."

"And why would I want to do that?" Starlight asked, eyeing Sunset warily with her arm still outstretched, as if waiting for her to make a move. "After thirteen years, I'm finally about to achieve what we set out to do. What we promised we'd do together."

Sunset took a few steps back. "But this isn't what we set out to do. We didn't start Equinox just to give magic to ourselves."

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Obviously I'm going to use this power to open a portal to Equestria so that magic can return to this world."

"And that isn't why we founded Equinox either." The lights surrounding Starlight grew brighter, but Sunset stood firm. "Magic was always our secondary goal. We started the company to help people."

"And that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm going to create the utopia that you dreamed of, before you let your scientist girlfriend corrupt your views."

Twilight was about to defend herself, but Sunset spoke first. "Twilight didn't 'corrupt' my views. She just made me realize some things I'd been blind to for years. I'm sorry, Starlight, but I've let my own biases influence you. There are real dangers to bringing back magic into this world, and we can't just ignore them because we think we know better."

"I'm not an idiot, Sunset." Starlight's tone was more annoyed than angry now, though the magical light show continued to rage around her. "I know there's a cost to what has to be done. But with this power, I could make sure to minimize the damage done by introducing magic into this world."

"So that's it then? You're going to be the final decider on how magic gets used in this world?"

"Don't twist my words like that!" The aura around Starlight flashed a bright red as she shouted. "I'm doing this for the good of the world. You would do the exact same thing in my place before you let your love for Dr. Sparkle cloud your judgement."

"I would have, yeah." Sunset spoke the admission plainly, staring Starlight right in the eyes. "And I would've done it for the wrong reasons, just like you're doing."

"Oh, and what reasons are that?"

"Control. And power. Because I thought I knew better than everyone else, that everyone else was just blind to the truth. I would've wanted to bring magic back so that I'd be as powerful as I used to be, back when I thought I could become a princess. And with that power, I could've finally had control over my life, and everyone else's, so that I could do what I thought was right." Sunset let out a bitter chuckle. "Heh, I guess I'm not as reformed as I thought."

"This isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of me handing this power back to you," Starlight said flatly. "Even if I give up this power, all that'll happen is that you'll be the one with the magic instead. We'd just be trading one tyrant for another."

"No, we wouldn't." To everyone's surprise – herself included – Twilight stepped forward. "Because she wouldn't be alone." Twilight reached out and held Sunset's hand in her own, looking up into her wide eyes with her own warm gaze. A fire sparked within her, the embers of her love flaring up again at the sight of her heart's desire baring her soul for her to see.

"And the snake finally speaks!" Starlight hissed out the words as she turned her glare on Twilight, fiery lights flickering around her hand. "Your tricks won't work on me, Dr. Sparkle. Unlike my former business partner, I'm not about to fall for your charms and allow you to seduce me away from my cause."

Twilight felt Sunset tense and squeezed her hand, meeting her frown with a gentle but determined shake of her head. Satisfied that Sunset wouldn't lash out at Starlight, Twilight turned to face the woman who was as lost as she had been. "I know you don't like me, Starlight, and I understand why. But I truly don't hold any ill will towards you. I meant what I said before: I'm thankful that you were there for Sunset, and I'm sorry I walked away from her."

"Too little, too late, Professor," Starlight sneered. "Now, are you actually going to try and provide a counterargument, or are we just going to keep talking about how we should all be friends?"

"I'm not here to talk you out of bringing magic back into this world."

A stillness came upon all three of them as Twilight spoke the words. Sunset and Starlight were staring at her in surprise, with the magic around Starlight flickering in and out of existence to match her uncertain gaze.

Feeling the weight of two worlds on her shoulders, Twilight stood strong, her head held high as she addressed Starlight. "Sunset isn't the only one who's been blinded by her past. I haven't given magic a fair chance like I should've, and I've let fear control too many of my actions."

Twilight took a step forward as Starlight eyed her warily. "But it's time I got over it. I've seen all the wonderful things you and Sunset have managed to do at Equinox, all the miracles that would've been impossible without magic. I can't in good conscience say that bringing magic into this world would surely ruin it anymore."

Another step forward. Behind her, Twilight felt Sunset moving as well to keep them connected. "But if we bring magic back into this world, there's still so much harm that could be done. You know this. You're not stupid, and you understand what the consequences of giving people this much power could be."

"Progress always has a cost." A larger portal opened beside Starlight, giving Twilight a glimpse of a derelict castle before closing again a second later. "As a scientist, you should understand that better than anyone."

"I do understand that, which is why I'm not going to tell you not to do it." Twilight held out a hand towards Starlight, palm facing up. "I'm just saying that you don't have to do it alone."

For the first time since her fight with Sunset, Twilight allowed herself to smile. "You have a good friend who's willing to stand by your side, who knows more about magic than either of us could ever dream of." Twilight turned to face Sunset, her smile growing wider as she let the love she had for the woman shine through.

If her previous declaration had left them speechless, this one shocked them back into coherency. "What?" Starlight's uncertain question was mirrored by the confusion in Sunset's eyes, shrouding the glimmer of hope she saw shining within those cyan depths. "But she betrayed you! Didn't you just get into a fight a few hours ago? And now you're standing by her?"

Twilight saw the pain in Sunset's eyes as Starlight's words reached her. Undaunted, Twilight spoke on. "Yes, she went behind my back and she should've been honest with me. But she's also human, or pony, depending on how she self-identifies, and she makes mistakes.

"And no matter how many times she's screwed up, I truly believe that she wants to help people, to make the world a better place, because she's a good a person, a person who is genuinely trying to do the right thing. We've all done things we wished we could take back, but if we can't move on from that, we'll never get anywhere."

"Twilight's right." Sunset radiated confidence and love as she spoke, turning to face Starlight as she gripped Twilight's hand even harder than before. "We've all been so caught up in the past that it's been affecting how we plan for the future."

She took another step forward. "But if we can't trust each other, we'll never get anywhere. Fifteen years ago, I tried to make sure that the magic leaking in this world couldn't be sealed off. I did it because I didn't trust anyone else, and because I wanted to be the only one to decide how magic gets used in this world. I didn't want to lose the power I'd gained, since that power meant that I wouldn't have to trust anyone, and I almost lost everything because of that."

Sunset held Starlight's gaze as she spoke, her voice softening. "You don't trust me anymore, and I don't blame you. I haven't given you both sides of the story, and I've spent the last thirteen years manipulating you onto my side.

"But if you do this, you're going to be alone. You're going to be the only one to walk this path. We won't be able to walk it with you."

"It wouldn't be the first time I ended up alone." Starlight looked uncertain now, the magic around her lessening in intensity as she allowed the pair to approach. "Maybe it's better this way." The words sounded hollow to Twilight's ears.

"I used to think that too," Twilight said. "And as long as I closed myself off from everyone, I could even convince myself that it was true. But you've been alone before, and you've had friendship before. Tell me, could you go back to being without anyone?"

Starlight didn't respond for a few seconds. All around her, the spell continued, the medallion floating into the air above Starlight and glowing so brightly that Twilight could barely stand to look at it. Finally, she spoke. "So what am I supposed to do?" she demanded angrily, though there was a note of sorrow hidden beneath her tone. "Just put everything I've worked towards for the past thirteen years in the hands of someone who might destroy it all because of friendship?"

"No." Twilight shook her head. "Put everything you've worked on in the hands of your best friend, and trust her to work with people to decide what's best, instead of trying to impose only your will on everyone."

"Last week, Twilight and I talked about how, instead of starting over with a clean slate, we should forgive each other for our past mistakes, and trust each other in the future. Can you do that?" Sunset also reached out towards Starlight, who turned away from her friend.

Starlight barked out a harsh, mirthless laugh. "As if you'd ever trust me again after this."

"I know about how you planned the bombing."

"What are you talking about?" Starlight asked, glancing up sharply at Sunset.

"Before we met. You told me that you knew about the plan to bomb the stock exchange back when you were in your old group. You never told me that you were the one who came up with the idea, and that you manipulated them into thinking that they were the ones who thought of it."

Horror etched itself onto Starlight's face as she flinched away from Sunset. "How did you know?"

A shrug from Sunset was her response. "Like I've told you lots of times, I'm good at reading people. You're not as good at hiding things as you think you are, and we've known each other for thirteen years."

"Why didn't you say anything, then? Why would you still want to work with me?" Starlight's disbelief was clear in her tone, her hands trembling as she reached out for the medallion once again.

"Because I trusted you," Sunset said simply, as if that was the only thing that mattered. "The past was the past, and if you weren't ready to tell me, then that was okay. I still trusted you to do what was best, and to use your skills to make the world a better place.

"So you see, I've always believed in you, and you've never given me any reason to doubt that trust, even now. Can you trust me now too?"

"I…" Starlight bowed her head, the first tears falling to the floor. For a few moments, she simply stared at Sunset's outstretched hand as magic welled up around her, her own hands hanging by her side.

Finally, after an eternity of waiting, she reached out and took Sunset's hand in her own. "Fine," she muttered as the tears continued to fall. "Let's do this your way."

Pulling back, she reached out to grab the medallion above her. Her eyes closed and a few seconds later, Twilight felt the storm of magic around her begin to ebb, the arcing bolts of magic shrinking away as the arcane colors faded around the journal.

Then, just as the last of the glow began to fade from the medallion, it suddenly burst into multihued flames, causing Starlight to scream and drop it to the ground. "W-What's happening?" Starlight cried out, eyes widening in panic as a roaring echoed out from the now vibrating and flashing medallion.

"The spellform is in a suspended state!" Sunset's shout was nearly drowned out by the sound of the medallion's release of energy, a bright ball of light erupting from it and hovering in the air, tethered to its source by tendrils of glowing magic. "We have to divert it before it becomes too unstable!"

"How?" Twilight took an instinctive step back as rifts in the air began to reappear.

"Do you remember how to open a portal to Equestria?"

Twilight nodded in response to Sunset's question.

"I'm going to divert the spell's energy into you. Use the connection from the journal to funnel it back to its origin. The magic should naturally want to take the path if you open it. Are you ready?"

As Twilight nodded again, Sunset reached out towards the glowing orb, and a moment later, she was surrounded by light, shining like she once had all those years ago at the Friendship Games. Through the physical connection of their held hands, Twilight felt more magic flow through her than she'd ever experienced before, even when she had turned Midnight.

Tamping down the panic and exhilaration of being flooded with so much raw power, she reached out with her long-dormant arcane senses and established a psychic connection with the journal, old muscle memories returning to the surface to guide her actions.

She opened a portal just as she did all those years ago, guiding the energy from Sunset into the journal and out into the wilds of Equestria. It was an unexpectedly intimate experience; Twilight could feel a deep connection with Sunset as her magic flowed into her, like their souls were being merged.

She hadn't been able to savor the sensation of their joining when they were fighting Sombra, but now, she could sense the other woman's drive, her need to achieve her destiny, to stand among her people as their benevolent leader. She could feel her fear of losing all she had worked for, her ambition to become someone who would be immortalized in history, her struggles to be a good friend even after all these years.

But most of all, she could feel her love enveloping her spirit, a force so strong it was a wonder that she could breathe. As she basked in her lover's light, Twilight knew she would remember this moment for all eternity. If she ever needed confirmation that Sunset truly loved her, this was one hell of a piece of evidence.

Slowly, the roiling sphere of renegade magic began to dissipate, fading away into a pinprick of light before vanishing with a silent pop. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as the last of the awesome power finally fled from her body, leaving her feeling exhausted and oddly empty.

She felt Sunset finally let go of her hand to walk towards the medallion, now looking like little more than a pretty chunk of rock. She picked it and the journal up without incident as Twilight and Starlight watched in tense silence.

After waiting a few seconds to make sure that something else wasn't going to come up, Twilight allowed her breathing to return to normal, sagging down into a slouch as the last of the adrenaline coursing through her veins wore off. A short distance away, she saw Starlight's pose similarly relax. "So, what happens now?" Starlight asked, sounding as tired as Twilight felt.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm beat," Sunset said, wiping off a bead of sweat from her forehead in a way that Twilight was still able to appreciate despite her inability to act on any base desires. "Today's been one hay of a roller-coaster ride, and I'm ready to sleep for about a year. Why don't we all head home and talk about this tomorrow? I know you've been overworked lately, but you can take some time off tomorrow, right? I swear I'll be back to work the day after that."

"Wait, you still want me to be your President?" Starlight stared disbelievingly at Sunset. "I just double-crossed you a few minutes ago! And I nearly blew up the city or something!"

Sunset shrugged. "Forgive and forget, remember? Besides, it's been a really stressful time for everyone lately, and it's not like I haven't been making mistakes either."

"I guess." Starlight suddenly perked up. "Oh! I just remembered about Adagio! I used that new anaesthetic we developed on her back at her house. She should be out for another few hours."

"I'll ask Dash to check on her," Sunset said. "She should still be heading over here." She took out her phone and began tapping on its screen. "Hey, Dash? No, we're fine. We're all safe and I have the medallion and the journal. I'll explain later. Can you go back and make sure Adagio's still there? We'll need to turn her in to the authorities. Tell them she got brainwashed by Sombra or something and tried to follow in his footsteps. Considering some of the materials she needed to fabricate the medallion, and how she's disappeared all these years, I'm sure they'll be able to find something on her. If not, we can figure something out. Yeah, everything's fine here. Thanks, I'll talk to you later." She returned her phone to her pocket. "Well, that's done. We ready to head out?"

Twilight and Starlight nodded, and together the three of them set out towards the parking lot. When they reached their destination, Starlight split off from them to head over to her own car. Before she climbed into the driver's seat, she turned to face Twilight and Sunset. "I'm sorry for going behind your back," she said softly, not looking either of them in the eye.

"It's okay," Sunset replied. "Just, don't do it again, okay? I'd really like to be done saving the world from magical catastrophes."

Starlight gave her a weak smile before she disappeared behind her car. Sunset and Twilight went over to Sunset's car, and the two of them climbed in, sinking gratefully into their seats. "Phew," Sunset gasped out. "That was not how I expected this night to go."

"My life's been a string of unexpected events ever since you walked into my office," Twilight said dryly. "I'm becoming a bit numb to surprises. Still, today was definitely a doozy, as Pinkie would say."

"Yup." Sunset turned on the ignition, and a moment later they were off, driving through the empty streets washed in pale moonlight.

"You know, you didn't need my help to take care of the instability," Twilight said after a few minutes of silence. "You could've just taken control of the spellform and let it run to completion on yourself."

"I could've, yeah," Sunset replied, "and you could've easily destroyed the journal while we were channeling the magic away and said it was an accident. Hay, I'm surprised you managed to keep it intact with that much magic running through it."

"I tried really hard not to damage the linking spell it used to connect to Equestria." Twilight paused, unsure what to say next. Eventually, she settled on: "so, trust, huh?"

"Yeah, trust."

"That's one hell of a test to pull."

"I prefer to think of it as offering another olive branch."

"Whatever you say."

They didn't speak again until they reached Canterlot Palace.

As the pulled into the parking spot, Sunset spoke. "So, what happens now? To us, I mean." Her usual confidence was gone, exposing a vulnerability to Twilight that she hadn't heard in a long time.

Twilight spent a few seconds phrasing her response before replying. "After our fight, I spoke with Rainbow Dash, and she gave me some words of wisdom. I'm not going to sugarcoat it; what you did hurt, for all the reasons I said before. But we made a promise to each other yesterday, a promise that we would fight for our love, that we would work through whatever problems we had." Twilight hung her head in shame. "And the moment things got bad, I ran like the coward you said I was."

"I said a lot of things I wish I could take back," Sunset said. "And when we made that promise, I don't think either of us knew what we were really in for."

Twilight chuckled. "Heh, you can say that again."

"I think, in light of this new experience, we can release each other from that promise. I wouldn't want you sticking with me out of obligation, anyways." Sunset parked the car and turned to face Twilight, a solemn weight in her eyes. "It's not too late for us to decide that this isn't worth it, that being together won't cause more problem than it solves. This probably won't even be the worst fight we ever have."

"I know," Twilight replied, holding Sunset's gaze with her own. "Do you still want us to be together?" her heart thudded loudly in her chest as she asked the question.

"I do," Sunset replied immediately without missing a beat. "I've thought about it, and I don't ever want to go back to being alone again. The moment when I thought I'd lost you was, well, not the worst moment of my life, but pretty close. I realized that life was so much brighter when I was with you, that working with you was the most fun I'd ever had. I want you more than anything else, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I've fought for everything I have today, and I'll do the same for you if you'll let me."

Twilight allowed herself to breathe again. "I'm glad," she said, leaning closer towards Sunset. "Because I feel exactly the same way." Sunset met Twilight halfway, their lips meeting at the midpoint between them.

The kiss they shared was different than all their previous ones. It wasn't the fiery embrace of passion borne from the depths of lust, nor was it the chaste, gentle thing shared between lovers in quiet moments. This kiss was fierce, undeniable, insisting. It was a silent promise between two women who had been through trials both fantastic and mundane and become stronger for it to work towards earning each others' love just had they had earned all else they had achieved.

When they pulled apart, there was no doubt in Twilight's mind as to the strength of their commitment.

Face flushed, Sunset shot Twilight a crooked smile. "I know we were only broken up for a few hours, but I really missed that."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say, and there are many other measures of distance beyond the temporal."

"How poetic. Say, do you want to spend the night here?" Sunset's blush grew deeper before she spoke again. "I've got a guest bedroom," she added quickly, "and I'm finding myself really not looking forward to any kind of absence after I've just gotten you back."

"I'd like that," Twilight replied, her own cheeks warming as she committed herself to her next words. "And we don't have to sleep in different beds tonight if you don't want to."

Sunset's eyes widened as a slow smirk spread across her lips. "How very forward of you, Dr. Sparkle," she said playfully, no true heat in her censure.

"Recent events have given me a 'seize the day' mentality, Miss Shimmer," Twilight replied. "Should we head up now?"

"Sure." Sunset and Twilight climbed out of the car and headed towards the elevator.

As they waited for the elevator to arrive, Twilight spoke up, a great weight sitting on her heart. "In the interest of not having any more secrets between us, there's something I need to tell you."

Sunset looked up at Twilight. "What is it?" she asked. The elevator opened and they stepped inside.

Twilight reached into her purse and pulled out her pendant, handing it to Sunset. "When you first came to my office, you asked me if I'd used magic since the day the portal closed."

"I remember. You said you hadn't. I don't blame you – you had a really bad experience with magic and it completely turned you off magic. What does that have to do with anything…" Sunset's eyes widened as she touched Twilight's pendant. Her eyes narrowed into a glare as she studied the artifact. "There's almost no magic left in this thing." Her glare turned its attention to Twilight. "There's no way it could've drained naturally this quickly."

Shame wrapped itself around Twilight's heart. "I lied to you. I didn't want you to think I was weak and couldn't hold on to my convictions."

Twilight looked into Sunset's judging eyes, baring her soul for her lover to see. "After I left Canterlot, I did swear to myself that I wouldn't ever touch magic again. And I kept that promise at first, until I realized that Spike's sapience was dependent on magic."

Sunset's glare softened almost imperceptibly. "What happened when he was away from magic?" she asked, curiosity battling with indignation in her tone.

"He went to back to being a regular dog." Twilight closed her eyes, her heart aching as the memories returned to her. "He was such a smart dog, and when he lost his sapience, it was like he'd died." She chuckled bitterly. "Depending on which school of philosophy you subscribe to, he did die when he lost his sapience.

"I couldn't let that happen, not when I had the power to reverse it. So I broke my own vow and channeled some of the magic of the necklace into him. It was like flipping a switch – suddenly he was my trusty lab assistant again.

"I kept funneling magic into him every few months, and it seemed to maintain his intelligence. At the end of the day, though, he was just a dog, and his lifespan was limited by his biology. Three years later, after he…" The anguish she had felt at the loss of her beloved pet-turned-friend still plagued her to this day, and she couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence. "Well, ever since then, I locked the pendant away and never used it again."

"So Spike's…" Sunset's voice trailed off as sadness clouded her eyes. "That's too bad. I would've liked to play with him one last time."

"I think he would have liked that too," Twilight replied softly.

The fire in Sunset's eyes returned quickly. "So you lied to me about not using magic," she said, her voice heavy with disapproval.

"I did," Twilight met Sunset's judging gaze with her own, refusing to hide her actions behind her grief. "And I'm sorry. I was just so angry at you and I wanted every advantage I could get against you."

"I can't believe you were so righteous and held that moral high ground over me when you…" Sunset took a deep breath. "No, we promised each other we weren't going to hold our pasts against each other."

"I'm sorry," Twilight said. "I should've told you earlier."

"It's okay," Sunset replied. "It's still not anywhere near as bad as what I did, so let's just forget this one too?" The smile she gave Twilight looked so forced it was painful to see.

"Sure." Twilight felt the tight coil of guilt slowly unfurl itself from her insides. The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the hallways, walking side-by-side towards the door to Sunset's suite. "So, I don't know about you, but I'm not sure if I can sleep right now, no matter how tired I am."

"I could use some time to wind down," Sunset said in agreement, unlocking the door and stepping into the suite, Twilight close behind. "You up for a bit of fun?" she asked, shooting Twilight a saucy wink.

Twilight nearly tripped. "W-what do you have in mind?" she asked, heart thudding in her chest once again.

"I've still got my old chess set somewhere around here," Sunset whispered sultrily into her ear. "Do you want to see who's still better after all these years?"

Twilight smirked, warmth filling her spirit in Sunset's presence. "I'd be happy to crush you any day," she said, pressing a kiss to Sunset's cheek.

"I've learned a lot since the last time we played," Sunset replied, pulling Twilight into a firm embrace. "You don't stand a chance against me anymore."

"I'll believe it when I see it." There was a silence as Twilight and Sunset shared another kiss, this one soft and gentle yet passionate. "I love you, Sunset." Twilight said as they broke apart, needing to affirm her devotion one more time.

"I love you too, Twilight," Sunset said. "But I'm not going to go easy on you because of that."

"I'd be insulted if you did."

Sunset grabbed her chess set, and after taking a minute to set up, their battle began in earnest. Both sides fought with all they had, never letting up for a moment, just like they always did.

They gave their all to claim victory, just as they had done to claim each other.