One year later…
"The Equinox Ball has always been a celebration of the accomplishments of the many extraordinary people – both within and outside the company – who have helped us to achieve the success we enjoy today. Tonight, we celebrate the most eventful year that Equinox has ever had.
"Between the start of our first ever internship program, our new partnerships with top research institutes across the country, and, of course, the opening of our new branch in Cambridle, we've certainly been busy the last year, and I'd like to thank everyone who helped make our initiatives a success, including my girlfriend Twilight, who's had to put up with me being stressed out this whole time. Twilight, Equinox Labs thanks you for your generous contributions."
A polite laughter washed over the crowd as Twilight blushed a deep red. Shooting her an easy smile, Sunset spoke on. "Equinox Labs was founded on the belief that we could make the world a better place, and with your generous donations today, we will take yet another step towards reaching that goal. Thank you, all of you, and please have a wonderful night."
Sunset took a seat after a few seconds of clapping. Next to her, Twilight punched her lightly on the arm. "Way to reduce my work in the past year to being your cheerleader," she grumbled without any real heat.
"I should think that everyone in this room understands that this new renaissance of technological progress for Equinox would not have been possible without melding your genius with that of Miss Shimmer's." From his seat on the other side of Twilight, Fancy Pants humored her with a kindly smile.
"See, Fancy gets it," Sunset said, elbowing Twilight back. "Besides, I've been singing your praises for the past year – I think I'm starting to annoy everyone."
"Fine, I guess I'll let this one go. But only if you make it up to me when we get home." Twilight said with a small pout.
"Sure thing, Twilight." Sunset winked at Twilight as she spoke, a smouldering flame burning in her eyes.
"Oh, how precious!" Across the table, Rarity clapped her hands together in glee. "I was sure that two would stop being this adorable after a year, but you've managed to buck that particular trend quite thoroughly."
"Thanks, Rarity," Sunset said dryly. "Glad we're providing quality entertainment for you." She took a sip of her wine, letting the cool liquid soothe her parched throat. "Anyways, love lives aside, there's something I need to talk to you about, Fancy Pants." She leaned over to make eye contact with the businessman. "How you heard about our latest discoveries in superconductive alloys?"
"I've read a précis of your press release, but I haven't had the chance to inquire further," Fancy Pants replied. "What marvels do you have to dazzle us with today, Miss Shimmer?"
"Well, I think you'll be interested in our new mythril alloy, which we've tested and shown to be at least an order of magnitude more conductive than anything else on the market…"
Sunset spoke on, giving her practiced spiel to Fancy Pants. Just like in all their previous meetings, Fancy proved to be a shrewd businessman, holding his cards close to the chest and making Sunset work for every concession.
In the end, they managed to work something out that they both agreed would be a good starting point for proper negotiations, just in time for the dance floor to open up. "I think we've covered a lot of ground tonight," Sunset said as she stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've been promised a dance with the most beautiful woman in the room."
"What a remarkable coincidence," Fancy Pants replied as he also stood up. "I believe I have that very same engagement. Good night to you, Miss Shimmer, and I hope that love finds you well."
"Same to you, Fancy." Sunset walked over to the other side of the table, where Twilight was chatting with Rarity. "Excuse me," Sunset said, cutting in. "Sorry for bothering you, but the dancing's about to start."
"Oh, of course." Rarity tittered, covering her mouth with a hand. "I wouldn't dream of getting between a woman and her first dance."
"Thanks, Rarity." Sunset turned to face Twilight. "Would you do me the honor of sharing a dance with me, Dr. Sparkle?" she asked in the most faux-cultured voice she could manage.
Twilight giggled softly before schooling her own features into a slight frown. "I would be delighted, Miss Shimmer," she replied in her own haughty tone. She reached out to grasp Sunset's outstretched hand, rising gracefully from her seat, and together, the two of them headed out to the dance floor.
A slow, cheery love song played in the background as Sunset wrapped her arms around Twilight, her hands wandering as low as they could without being scandalous. They rocked back and forth lightly, heads nearly pressed together. "One of these days, I'll learn how to dance," Twilight said, her footsteps slightly shaky. "Especially if you're going to keep dragging me to these events."
"I think your lack of coordination is cute," Sunset replied. "But I have no problems taking lessons with you if it means I get to grope you the whole time."
"Behave," Twilight said, though she couldn't keep a serious tone in her voice. "We can have fun later tonight, assuming I can get through all my paperwork." She batted lightly at Sunset's shoulders. "You know, ever since we started dating, I've gotten twice the number of requests for thesis supervision than I did before. Because apparently being on track to be the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history pales in comparison to dating the founder of Equinox Labs."
"You can always just say you aren't taking in any new students this year," Sunset said.
"Unfortunately, I need to find someone to replace Dinky after you stole her from me." Twilight glared at Sunset. "You know, she was on track to be the best postdoc I ever had."
Sunset's returning smile was nothing short of cherubic. "And now she's on track to be one of the most brilliant scientists we've ever hired."
"I should never have let her take that internship," Twilight grumbled.
"She's in a better place now." Sunset's solemn tone was somewhat marred by her smirk.
"I'm going to get you back for that tonight." Twilight's own hands drifted lower as she pulled Sunset tighter against her, leaving no doubt as to her intent.
"I'm looking forward to it." Sunset's own voice dropped lower as she let herself melt into Twilight's embrace.
Before things could get too close to something that would scandalize Rarity, Sunset's phone buzzed. Extricating herself from Twilight with a wistful sigh, Sunset pulled out her phone. "Sorry, just got a text."
"Me too." Twilight withdrew her own phone, both of them opening their messages.
"It's Dinky," Sunset said. "She's got something urgent to show us."
"I have the same message."
"You think it's important?" Sunset eyes Twilight, unsure whether or not her new employee was simply being overly enthusiastic as she normally was.
"She knows where we are," Twilight replied. "She wouldn't send that unless it was actually something we needed to see now."
"Alright, let's go."
The pair headed over towards the side of the dance floor, where the President of Equinox Labs was standing with a small crowd of the Canterlot elite. Sunset signalled Starlight, who quietly excused herself to speak to them. "What's up?" she asked.
"Twilight and I need to head over to the lab," Sunset said. "Dinky's got something to show us. Can you hold down the fort?"
"Sure. You two have fun."
Sunset and Twilight made their rounds, saying goodbye to the more important guests at the Ball before heading out to the parking lot, where Gear Shift was ready with their car.
The drive to Equinox's less-publicized lab went by quickly, the site of the newest addition to the Canterlot labs located only a few blocks away. Twilight and Sunset tried to speculate as to what Dinky had called them for on the way, with little success.
They reached the nondescript building hiding in the shadows of the fading sunlight, and the pair stepped out of the car. They walked through the front door and passed through all the different locks and other security measures in order to reach the main lab, where an excited Dinky was practically bouncing on her heels waiting for them at the entrance. "Twilight, Sunset!" she called out, Sunset winced at the loudness of her tone.
"Hey Dinky," Sunset said, waving. "What've you got for us?"
"I did it! I finally got it to work!" Dinky actually started hopping up and down as she spoke.
"Got what to work?" Twilight asked.
"The transdimensional stabilizer!" Sunset gave up on trying to follow Dinky's movements as she listened to her response. "All I had to do was tweak the configuration of the rings in order to increase the capacitance and push the bandgap into the gamma region!"
Sunset's annoyance immediately vanished. "Wait, you got the stabilizer to work? That means…"
"Yup! See for yourself!"
Sunset and Twilight followed Dinky into the heart of the lab, where a small mesh cage sat on a table. Inside, the journal that had brought them together a year ago sat glowing faintly. On a screen next to the cage, the feed from a camera positioned at the top of the cage showed the pages of the journal. Sunset gasped as she saw a previously-blank page now filled with words written in a familiar handwriting.
"She… she kept writing to me," Sunset whispered as she studied the messages scrawled on the page. The first set of messages were from Princess Twilight, informing them as to the portal's failure and asking if they were okay. The increasingly frantic messages abruptly cut off on the next page, replaced by what appeared to be annual messages asking if they were okay.
"After all this time, she kept trying." The first tears began to fall as thoughts of the princess who had saved her wormed their way into her heart.
"Dinky, can you give us a moment, please?" Distantly, Sunset heard Twilight's request to her employee.
"Sure thing, Twilight." The sound of footsteps sounded out through the room, growing slowly quieter until Sunset couldn't hear them anymore.
At the same time, she felt a warm, comforting presence grow closer. Twilight wrapped one arm around Sunset, her other hand reaching out to cup Sunset's face and turn her towards Twilight. "Hey," she said softly, "you okay?"
"Yeah." Sunset's tone was equally soft, the former unicorn unable to bring herself to break the spell she found herself in and ruin the moment. "Just a little emotional seeing something from the Princess for the first time in years, y'know?"
"I get it." Twilight pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "Take all the time you need."
"I'm good now," Sunset said, feeling the pressure in her eyes fade. She gave Twilight a weak smile. "Good thing we let Dinky in on our little secret, huh?"
"I'll admit, I had my doubts, but I suppose I did argue for getting more people to work on magical research, and it's obviously paid off."
"You know what this means, right?" Sunset's tone suddenly grew serious. "It's time to start the next phase of our plan."
Twilight sighed. "Yeah." Her voice turned sour. "And here I thought we might be able to go a little longer before our next fight."
"We don't have to fight, you know." Even as she said the words, Sunset knew it was pointless.
"Considering how our last discussion went, I have my doubts." Twilight pulled Sunset in closer, pressing their bodies together. "But it's okay, because whatever happens, we'll get through it together."
"Yeah, together." Sunset and Twilight basked in each others' presence for a few seconds before Sunset spoke again. "Twilight?"
"Yes?"
"I love you." Sunset leaned in and stole a slow, sweet kiss from Twilight.
"I love you too," Twilight said as they pulled away from each other. "And no matter what comes next, I'll stand with you."
"I never doubted it," Sunset said, sneaking one more kiss in before regretfully turning her attention back to the journal. "Do we have the statement we drafted up somewhere around here?"
"I think we kept it in the cabinet over there." Twilight walked over to one side of the room and pulled out a sheet of paper, handing it over to Sunset. "Would you like to do the honors?"
"Sure." Reaching for a pen, Sunset opened the cage and pressed its tip against the pages of the artifact, writing the words that would herald the beginning of a new era.
Dear Princess Twilight…