//------------------------------//
// And we'll be flying through the streets with the people underneath 
// Story: La Danza D’Amore 
// by Undome Tinwe 
//------------------------------//

Several more songs passed, and Rarity did her best to network and focus on forming the connections she would need in the future.

Still, her mind wandered towards her lovers, both the ones she had danced with already at the gala, and the ones she still hadn't seen here yet. There was plenty of time left, but Rarity couldn't stop wondering when her next dance would come.

The next song started, and a rift opened up in the air, rending the very fabric of reality in two. The assembled nobles all gasped at the sight, recoiling away from the portal in fear. A circle of cautious onlookers began to form around it, leaving a clearing in the middle of the dance floor.

Rarity stepped forwards, a wide grin on her muzzle.

Sunset Shimmer stepped out from the portal, her ethereal wings flapping as she descended gracefully in front of her beloved.

"Hey, Rares," the ascendant unicorn said casually, as if she hadn't just entered through a portal that shouldn't have been able to exist. "I heard there was some kinda party going on, and I figured I'd stop by to dance with the prettiest mare in town."

Rarity tittered. "I'm all yours, dear."

The assembled nobles continued to give them a wide berth as Sunset took Rarity's hoof in her own. Her horn lit up, and Rarity felt a tingling around her withers. She looked back and saw a pair of angelic wings flaring out from her sides, white as the driven snow and flickering with energy much like Sunset's own flaming wings.

She looked back up to see Sunset smirking. "Let's fly."

She was showing off, Rarity knew. The spell to grant wings was difficult to cast in general, to say nothing of the skill and power needed to create two matching pairs without any arcane bleed-off blinding the nobles watching them fearfully. 

But what was a gala if not a place to flaunt one's prowess, no? And as they took to the skies together, Rarity couldn't help but bask in the awe of the crowd.

"I am so glad you could make it," Rarity said, returning her attention to her dance partner as they twirled around each other in the air in time with the music. "When you didn't RSVP, I thought your duties in the other world would keep you from attending."

"I'll always make time for you, Rares," Sunset promised, spinning Rarity in an aerial pirouette. "You're the most important person in this entire world to me."

"Oh my." Rarity giggled, biting her lip at that comment. "You really do know how to make a mare feel special."

"And you make it very easy for me to do that," Sunset countered. "Everypony looks up to you, you know."

Rarity glanced downwards at the nobles below them. "So I gathered," she replied dryly.

Sunset snorted. "You know what I mean. You're an inspiration to all of them, a role model for all the ponies that didn't manage to get both a horn and a pair of wings from Harmony. You show them what they can achieve with just hard work and talent."

"Sounds like somepony's describing herself as well, hmm?" Rarity teased, gliding around her lover.

Of course, Sunset didn't even try to deny it, simply shrugging in response. "Gotta admit, it's pretty satisfying seeing the looks on all these stuffy ponies' faces. Not that I really cared about their opinions, but there's still that warm, fuzzy feeling of being above them all, you know?"

"I know exactly how you feel," Rarity replied. "And I do not think there is any shame in being proud of what you've become." She wrapped a foreleg around Sunset's. "After all, I'm quite fond of this mare that's lifted me up into the heavens."

"That's good." Sunset leaned in closer. "Otherwise, this would be kinda awkward." With that, she pressed a kiss against Rarity' lips.

As the song came to its end, the couple floated back to the ground, never letting go of each other as they descended. They shared another kiss, and then Sunset gave Rarity a wink. "Well, that was fun, but I gotta go now. I'll see you next week for the other Rarity's Fashion Week presentation?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, dear," Rarity replied.

"Alright, see you later!" Sunset waved as she lit her horn, and the portal opened behind her. With a final, graceful bow, she stepped backwards and vanished into her own world, the only evidence of her existence the ghostly echo of her phoenix wings as they drifted upwards and faded away into darkness.