I Don't Need Magic

by Undome Tinwe

Chapter 2: The More Things Change...

All things considered, Sunset reflected, things could have gone better.

When Twilight's grad student had welcomed her with open and nearly buzzing arms, Sunset had hoped that her reunion with Twilight could actually be pleasant. At the very least, Sunset had thought that they might be able to work with each other like professionals.

Then Twilight had walked in, and it was like falling through another portal, except this one took her on a trip through time, not space. Memories of all the times they'd shared together had overwhelmed her, and before she could stop herself, she'd tried to greet Twilight as a friend almost on instinct.

And when Twilight had replied in that ice cold tone of hers, Sunset had been keenly reminded that those memories were just that. Memories. Those times were over, and they weren't ever coming back.

In response, Sunset had lashed out, allowing herself to get sucked into the same argument that had ruined everything all those years ago, and making about as much progress as they did back then to boot. At least Sunset knew Twilight was innocent, even if Twilight hadn't liked Sunset using her empathy powers on her.

As for the woman in question, Twilight had walked over to her desk and plopped herself down on her chair, and was now rubbing her forehead with her hands. For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

Finally, Twilight turned to face Sunset, her large, purple-tinted eyes still glaring at her from behind her glasses. "You think I stole the journal?"

"There's kind of a limited number of magic users around here thanks to us. You're one of the only people I know with the knowledge and power to pull off this kind of thing."

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "I swore I would never touch magic again after what happened, and I've upheld that vow for fifteen years."

It seemed Twilight was just as stubborn as she used to be. That would make things harder. "Are you saying you haven't used magic in over a decade? Not even a little? Don't you feel it calling to you?"

"Of course I do!" Twilight snapped, her composure breaking for a moment and revealing the turmoil and pain inside. She quickly recovered, though, and once again that angry mask covered her feelings, but not before Sunset saw her weakness. "But I know how dangerous and addictive it can be, so I've stayed far away from any possible triggers. I won't be responsible for unleashing magic on this world again." Like you and our friends did, Sunset knew Twilight wanted to say.

"Stubborn as ever, I see. You could do so much good if you just embraced the magic, you know."

"Like you have with Equinox Labs?" There was a hint of accusation in Twilight's tone. "I assume that you didn't revolutionize multiple industries from the sheer force of your genius."

"Yes, like I have," Sunset said with unabashed pride. "Even without actual magic, I've managed to do so much with Equestrian know-how."

Sunset pointed at the open window and the clear skies beyond it. "I knew what the weather was going to be like today a week ago, instead of having to hope that the weather forecasters got it right."

Her eyes narrowed as she spotted a metal tower in the distance. "When's the last time you remember losing cell signal in the city? You think human technology could've designed such a perfect antenna in less than a decade?"

Sunset raised her hands in a sweeping gesture, turning back to face Twilight. "Imagine what we could do if we actually had magic to supplement the discoveries. A whole new era of progress could be ours."

Twilight rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed. "Right, like continue to screw over all the people who were swindled out of their land by companies using your new dowsing technology, or make the weather corporations even richer at the expense of the people. Is that the kind of new era you're talking about?"

A shrug. "Yeah, shit happens sometimes, but that's the cost of progress. You're a scientist; you know that sometimes we make a few mistakes when we make new discoveries, but it's still worth it in the end." Sunset found herself surprised and hurt by the vehemence in Twilight's voice and her deliberate blindness to all the good she'd done. Why couldn't she see that Sunset was right?

"Look, we're never going to be able to agree on this, and I couldn't stop you even if I wanted to." Twilight sounded tired, her eyes downcast and lines of exhaustion dancing across her face. "I'm not in the mood to repeat Ethics in Science 101, so please, just leave and go chase after your magic thief. I'm sure it'll be a great adventure for you, and I can stay here and try to pretend this conversation never happened."

"Sorry, Twilight, but I can't do that. I need your help." Twilight's eyes snapped up at Sunset, surprise and curiosity warring for dominance on her face. "This isn't Equestria. I can't just cast a divination spell to figure out where it is. I need to use human science, and you know more about tracking magical energy without using magic than anyone else here or even in Equestria."

"I told you I was done with magic," Twilight said firmly. "I'm not going to let myself get sucked into that world again."

Her tone brooked no argument, but Sunset had already expected this response. "Whoever took the journal didn't just steal it because they wanted to talk to the Princesses," she said, keeping her expression serious as she held Twilight's gaze. "The journal doesn't even work anymore now that the portal's gone. It's really only useful because it's got a link to Equestria that you could use to siphon magic from there or open a portal."

"Isn't that what you want? To bring magic back into the world?"

Sunset resisted the urge to sigh at Twilight's petulance. "Not like this, and you know it. Whoever stole it either has no idea what they're doing, which could be really dangerous for everyone, or they know exactly what they're doing, in which case they'd be even more dangerous. You understand the danger of having that journal in the wrong hands better than anyone."

Silence filled the room as Twilight considered Sunset's words. While Twilight was thinking, Sunset took the opportunity to take a closer look at her old friend.

Twilight had filled out nicely over the past decade and a half, with a lush, curvy body, a full bosom, and flawless lavender skin. Her pink-striped purple hair was tied up in a bun, which emphasized the soft roundness of her face. Her violet eyes sparkled with intelligence as she gazed thoughtfully at Sunset.

Finally, Twilight spoke. "Fine, I'll help you. But only because I want to make sure that magic stays off this world."

Sunset nodded. "Understood. I'll arrange for a hotel room for you in Canterlot. How long until you can come over?"

"What?" Twilight glanced up at her in surprise. "Why would I stay in Canterlot? My lab and my life are here."

"First of all, you won't be able to use your lab for magic research without people asking a lot of questions we don't want to answer. I've got a secret state-of-the-art lab you can use, and I can get you any piece of equipment you need. Second, the journal was stolen in Canterlot, and the old portal was in Canterlot High, so Canterlot is probably going to be the center of whatever's going on." Sunset was beginning to get a little annoyed at Twilight's pointless stubbornness.

"I can't just leave everything behind. In case you didn't notice, I have a job. An important one too, and the dean isn't going to be happy with my disappearing for who knows how long."

Sunset shrugged. "Just tell them that you're going to be taking a consulting gig from Equinox Labs that's very time-sensitive. I'll pay you twice your normal consulting fee and give an endowment to the school. There's no way they'll say no to that."

"No," Twilight replied. "I won't take your money. Whatever consulting fee you were going to pay me, just add it to the endowment. I'll find my own place to stay too."

"Fine." Sunset wasn't about to get into another argument with Twilight. "I'll talk to the dean and head back to Canterlot. When will you be coming?"

"I'll need a day to settle everything. I can be there Friday afternoon."

"Alright." Sunset turned to walk out of the office. "And thanks for the help, Twilight."

"I'm not doing it for you, Sunset," Twilight replied softly.

"Maybe not, but I still appreciate it." With that, Sunset left Twilight to her affairs, a faint smile on her lips. Sure, things hadn't gone quite as well as she'd hoped, but she'd gotten Twilight's help. And more than that, she'd seen the spark of curiosity and longing in her eyes as when she talked about magic.

Twilight Sparkle might have said that she was done with magic, but Sunset knew the truth: once you embraced the magic, it became a part of your soul, and no one could deny it forever.

---

"Arriving at Canterlot Palace."

Switching off her GPS display, Twilight turned into the parking lot next to a grandiose, elegant apartment complex. A security guard at the entrance checked her ID and then informed her that Sunset was expecting her, waving a valet over to park her car. All in all, a much more pleasant experience than her usual morning fight for a spot in the university parking lot.

As Sunset had anticipated, taking time off from work had been much easier than Twilight had expected. The dean had practically shoved her out of the campus, recognizing what a huge opportunity a connection with Equinox Labs would be.

The endowment had also helped grease a lot of wheels. Twilight wasn't sure how much Sunset had donated, but she was pretty sure that a lecture hall was going to end up being named after her.

Her course notes had been left with Dinky, who'd been happy to take over her classes until she got back and all her other meetings had been rescheduled as video conferences. The only real disturbance in Twilight's work was her experiments, which had to be put on hold.

Twilight had spent most of yesterday second-guessing her decision to help Sunset. She kept trying to tell herself that everything would resolve itself without her assistance. Sunset was the magic expert; she would figure out a way to stop the thief and everything would go back to normal. There was no need for Twilight to expose herself to the temptations of magic.

But the alternative, letting Sunset handle this on her own, was a lot more dangerous. If the thief had managed to use the journal's connection to open a portal to the pony world, someone would have to be there to make sure it was closed, and she definitely couldn't trust Sunset to do it after what happened last time. Twilight knew how far she would go to bring back magic, and she knew she had to be there to ensure that magic stayed out of her world.

With grim determination settling into her bones, Twilight walked up to the apartment complex. This was purely a business visit; she was here to stop magic from returning and that was it. She wasn't here to renew her friendship with Sunset or anything like that.

Sunset was waiting for her at the elevator. Today, she had opted to wear a pale blue blouse which complemented her skin tone quite nicely.

"Hey, Twilight," she said with a smile. "Glad you finally made it. I was worried you weren't going to show up."

"I ran into some traffic on the way here," Twilight replied stiffly. "So, should we get started? I'd like to get this whole thing over with as soon as possible."

Sunset's smile faded. "You know, this would be a lot less painful for both of us if we at least tried to get along."

"We're separated by fundamental differences in ideology as well as a history of betrayal. Forgive me if it's difficult for me to get all warm and fuzzy around you."

Sunset sighed. "Fine. Let's go to the basement."

"The basement? Why?"

"That's where my lab is. I bought out a large chunk of the storage area there and had it renovated." Sunset wore that damnable smirk of hers as she spoke. "It's not the best place, but I can't exactly have a lab all the way up here, and I don't want anyone to get suspicious if they see me leaving all the time to visit some random warehouse or something."

Twilight followed behind Sunset as they headed back towards the elevator. Sunset keyed in the code to the basement and down they went, all while sharing in an awkward silence. The tension was so thick that Twilight thought she might drown in it.

"So, what kind of lab do you have in the basement?" Twilight said is a desperate attempt to avoid suffocating in their shared silence.

"The lab here is mostly for studying magic. All the stuff that's just based on scientific discoveries from Equestria I can work on at Equinox, but here's where I keep all the magical artifacts I have to analyze and see if I can recreate their effects with non-magical components."

"And have you ever succeeded in that?" It was something Twilight had always been curious about every time she read about Equinox's revolutionary discoveries.

"A few times," Sunset replied. "Our antenna designs are based on the communications spellforms that link the journal with its counterpart. Oh, and I managed to recreate some textiles that I nabbed from Equestria back in the day. Rarity's been having a field day with them, lemme tell you."

"How's Rarity doing, anyways? I don't follow the fashion world very closely, but I've heard her name mentioned several times in the context of haute couture."

"Pretty good. She's the top dog in the fashion industry right now, and Carousel basically decides what the trends are gonna be every season. Carousel also spearheads most of the charity events here in Canterlot, and Rarity even talked Dash into performing at a charity exhibition with the rest of the Wonderbolts in a couple weeks."

"And how are the others doing?" Twilight asked, the mention of Dash piquing her curiosity. Giving up magic had meant giving up her friends as well, and while she didn't regret the former, the latter had always saddened her.

"Well, Dash is in the Wonderbolts now," Sunset said. "She's not here much because of all the touring, but we make the most of our time together."

"The Wonderbolts?" That was a surprise. "I didn't take her for the military type. Wasn't she going to be a soccer player or something?"

"People change," Sunset replied simply. "Sometimes the things that seemed so important turn out not to be, and we find other things that are more important in our lives." She gave a soft laugh that did nothing to hide her bitterness. "Some of us, anyways. Sometimes we're just too stubborn to let go of what we lost."

From the pointed look she was giving her, Twilight suspected that the statement wasn't directed only at Sunset herself.

"What about Pinkie and Fluttershy and Applejack?" she asked, rather than respond to Sunset's unspoken accusations.

"AJ stayed on the farm with her family. Fluttershy got her veterinary degree and practiced for a few years before she ended up running an animal shelter. Rarity does most of the fundraising for the shelter since Fluttershy isn't really the social type, but she seems happy having the chance to help animals.

"Pinkie started Party Pony Productions." Sunset raised a hand before Twilight could respond. "No, I don't know why she picked that name when she's not a pony. She's basically the go-to event planner in Canterlot, and she's even helping Rarity arrange the Wonderbolt charity exhibition. And no, she still doesn't have much respect for things like logic or physics, even after she lost her magic."

Twilight could hear the pride and joy in Sunset's voice as she spoke of her friends' accomplishments. There was no jealousy or envy, just happiness that her friends had found success and were using that success to help others.

The elevator stopped, and a second later the doors slid open, revealing a dimly lit hallway lined with concrete. Sunset stepped through the doors and beckoned to Twilight to follow her. The swinging lights above her cast a kaleidoscope of dancing shadows along the uneven walls and floors, giving the whole place a surreal, almost ethereal atmosphere.

At the end of the hall was a heavy metal door with an array of sensors and screens next to it. Sunset walked up to the door and placed her right hand on one of the scanners and her left eye in front of another. "Scan complete," an artificial voice stated a few moments later. "Please state your name and code phrase."

"Name: Sunset Shimmer. Code phrase: friendship is magic."

"Identity confirmed. Welcome back, Sunset Shimmer."

The metal door slowly swung open, and Sunset gestured towards it.

"So, Twilight, ready to return to the world of magic?"

Twilight sighed. "No, but it has to be done. Lead the way."

Comments

[aceina]

just a note but human RD's biggest passion is music not sports or flying or the like

[Zaid ValRoa]

I’ve got to give you credit for hitting the balance on referencing whatever it is that happened between them subtly enough so it doesn’t come out as annoying.

[TwinAttorney864]

A shrug. "Yeah, shit happens sometimes, but that's the cost of progress. You're a scientist; you know that sometimes we make a few mistakes when we make new discoveries, but it's still worth it in the end." Sunset found herself surprised and hurt by the vehemence in Twilight's voice and her deliberate blindness to all the good she'd done. Why couldn't she see that Sunset was right?

I really want to hit Sunset for this quote. Just because shit can happen in the name of science, doesn't mean you can do it all willy nilly and brush it off as something that 'happens', we still have to try and make sure that it all goes smoothly and make sure that nothing bad can happen in the process of it. If that was the case, we'd be using explosive materials in science class because "shit happens in science"

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

I hope the two girls will get along again, I feel sad seeing twilight not being happy with being with sunset