Magic
Eight years later.
On a day close to wrapping up eight years later: as the sunset streaked across the sky with its rays of orange, Sunset Shimmer trotted through a cool and breezy Canterlot on the way home. She still lived in that somewhat dingy apartment despite having had a couple offers made to her regarding “proper houses”. The pony had turned all of them down, unwilling to part with her first dwelling on Earth.
Although her abode hadn’t changed, Canterlot had and it’d changed in strides. Most of the buildings had retained their old modern appearances, but what—or who—they had was something else entirely: various creatures of all kinds mingling in the lobbies, in the aisles, in the lounges...everywhere, and outside, too, on the sidewalk. Not even the sky itself was devoid of these creatures as a pegasus and a griffon bumped each other’s hoof and claw in mid-flight.
The stores and supermarkets still sold the usual stuff, although that stuff had been modified to fit Equestrian needs. Keyboards for ponies, to take an example, had been reduced to two keys and a space bar, with the keys acting more like pressable spinning tops than just buttons. Medicine, too, had taken on a more fantastical route, with homemade brews having gained traction with bottles and pills sporting weird-sounding ingredients on the labels like Zap apple, foal’s breath, lazililies, Phoenix Flora. Cameras had been given the adaptation treatment as well, getting neck pads that could bring the camera up to the pony’s eyes for easy picture-taking.
That’s without mentioning the outright magical like potions, spells, and one-use rainclouds which, if the sticker by the racks were to be believed, were great if you want to have control over your weather!
On the road, the majority had moved on to carts and carriages, with more than a few ponies willing to pull and haul other ponies and creatures around for money—it was like a taxi anyway. However, ex-humanity still had the technology they’d developed, so a couple early bird innovators created cars specifically tailored for hooves and paws, with the accelerator angled higher so their hindlimbs could reach it, for instance.
What gave Sunset a bite of peace, though, was how it wasn’t all burning down in flames, or that it hadn’t been reduced to rubble or even just abandoned. Instead, Canterlot—and, really, all the world over—continued on their merry way. Everything had been rocky during the first year or so, but now, it was quite alright.
The house lay only a few dozen steps away.
Sunset was now, of course, eight years older. But, not much about her appearance changed. Her wavy mane became slightly wavier, but that was all.
As she approached her home, Sunset noticed Lemon Zest was putting up a poster on her wall, taping the notice on her wall.
“Uh, Zest?” she asked, pointing a hoof at the poster. “What’s that for?”
The Earth pony took off her bluetooth earphones, her head still bobbing to the rhythm. “I’m participating in the Crystal Prep Cornhole Tournament! Wanna watch?”
Sunset rolled her eyes. Despite having moved on from Crystal Prep and education in general, Lemon Zest had stayed faithful and loyal to her alma mater, and it showed. She was wearing a baseball cap with the Shadowbolts’ insignia on it.
Onto the poster: there was depicted various silhouettes throwing bean bags into the board. It screamed, Crystal Prep Academy, one of the finest educational institutions in the world, is hosting its 50th Cornhole Tournament this month!
Sunset chuckled, thinking kindly of Lemon Zest winning the championship. “Have fun, then!”
“You, too, Sunset!” Lemon said back.
Both waved hooves at each other as Sunset glowed her horn, turned the knob around with her magic, and entered.
Not much had changed in Sunset’s house either. Her computer and her video game console did, although it was mostly to get horse editions and they had big components and parts suited for hooves, wings, and plain magic.
Still, she slept in the same bed, ate at the same table, looked out the same window, and heated food at the same microwave. The floor was the same, the wall was the same, the ceiling was the same.
A lot of things were the same here.
Sunset looked at the clock hanging and ticking above her front door.
Five o’ clock sharp.
“One more hour,” she mumbled, agitated. “What am I gonna do for one more hour?”
So, out of boredom, she decided to do a sneak peek of spring cleaning even though it was already autumn. Sunset trotted to a nearby drawer, and found a couple of trinkets. Inside hid a couple of broken phones, many horseshoes, a few late and unusable coupons, her old journal, some salt shakers—
“Huh?”
That red glow came over the journal. She floated it out of the rubble and blew the thin sheet of dust out of it.
When it’d settled with a rather pungent smell, the pony beheld the book: the journal, that magic journal with its abstract interpretation of the sun on the cover.
She placed a hoof on it. Still felt smooth like it’d always been, although she could feel its aging wrinkles.
Levitating the book in the air, she opened it and slowly flipped through the pages, careful not to accidentally rip or tear a leaf or two.
She saw the cherished correspondence between her and Princess Twilight. It hadn’t gone all the way back to their first letters about the Sirens and the Battle of the Bands—this wasn’t that other journal. Despite that, going through the pages gave made her nostalgic: telling Twilight how the Daring Do movie premiere went with Juniper, Twilight gushing over how cute it was to have a gecko as a pet, the princess congratulating her for passing the driving test, Sunset relating the story of how the fall play went….
This warmed her heart. This also warmed her eyes, as a tear ran down her cheek, although she moved the book forward so that the tear would not stain this precious thing.
Then, she flipped to the last page with words on them.
Written in a hurried scrawl, these last words:
...I think I’m close to becoming a pony. Write what thou may, but know that we may not respond any further.
Please help.
The nostalgia gave way to those doom-filled days. Memories of that whole magical incident flooded her mind: the direful rush to find the solution in the library, the confrontation with Midnight Sparkle back on Earth, and then those moments after the portal had been overloaded—those moments when she realized, to her horror, that the world had gone magical. That no humans were left, that these strange and weird creatures she’d been familiar with had taken their place.
All of their places.
Sunset closed her eyes, thoughtful over this string of events, over how her world was now. Yesterday, she hadn’t given a single span of attention to the world of before, to humanity of old and how magic used to be this wild novel element being introduced and opened to Earth. Actually, the other day, she hadn’t done given a span of attention to that, too. And the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that….
She noticed something else in the drawer’s messy pile.
It was another notebook.
Sunset levitated it up, hanging it in the air for her to see clearly.
It was an ordinary notebook. The cover was made of plastic, and there weren’t too many pages nor too few. It was an ordinary, average notebook.
She turned around and set it against the sun’s setting light. The unicorn flipped it around and saw a sticky note on it. It simply read:
Notebook for notebooking.
It wasn’t the words that mattered, though. She recognized her hoofwriting there. Or, well, her handwriting from back then when she still had hands.
Sunset then noticed that she’d been absent-mindedly levitating a ballpen from the desk.
She decided to take her own hint.
Put the journal back into the drawer, dragged the notebook through the air as it glowed red, and sat at dining table, dropping it there and levitated her ballpen to the page.
Her lighting? The rays of the setting sun.
Sunset was in her element today.
So, with the notebook open on the first and blank page, she began:
Dear Princess Twillight Sparkle.
“...wait a minute.”
Sunset dropped the ballpen to the page and re-read what she’d just written.
She chuckled at herself, scratching her head in self-embarrassment. “Silly me! This isn’t a magic journal!”
So, she crossed that out.
Then, she began again:
It’s been such a long time since I’ve written anything like this. Where does the time fly these days?
I noticed my last words on my journal was almost a decade ago. Since I last touched the journal, I graduated from Canterlot High, finished college, served as Principal Celestia’s sometime assistant, and racked up a serious tenure at the local sushi bar.
Heh. That doesn’t sound much, but I’ve really come a long way. (I also can’t believe I still work there, but it’s a fun job!)
Earth has come a long way, too. Ever since that Monday afternoon, the world’s changed. Not all for the better, not all for the worse. Sometimes, I wonder what we missed because of that, if we’d all lived out normal lives. As normal as magic geode-wearing friends could be, but that still counts as normal compared to being in Equestria 2.0.
Anyway, I told you what I’ve done, which, frankly, isn’t that much. Yeah, I also helped around town, did some odd jobs here and there to satisfy my fancy like that one time I helped Applejack stomp apples.
Speaking of Applejack: Not much had changed with her and her family. After all she’s been through, she still helps out at home with farm work. She did get some new family members thanks to their old horses suddenly getting minds just like ours, but, let’s face it. They’ve been with her for so long, so does it really matter?
If you ask me about her whole situation, though, she’s fine. Applejack is right where she wants to be.
Earlier in the day, in the early morning, Sunset was treated to a traditional Apple family breakfast. Their hospitality was a mainstay, after all, and one of the more delectable forms that hospitality came in is food. Lots of delicious, mouth-watering, savory-and-sweet-to-the-nose-and-mouth food: apple pie, apple cake, apple cobbler, apple turnover...and all of that and more, topped with apple juice, apple shake, and apple ice cream.
“It’s mighty nice you came over to chow down with us!” Applejack said from the seat beside her, rubbing her own forehooves in anticipation. “We’ve had a great harvest this season, but before we get in’o all the Thanksgiving festivities, we’re doin’ a test run, so they say!” Then, she patted Apple Bloom’s mane. “And this couldn’t have been possible without my dear sis’!”
Sunset looked there and saw Apple Bloom gulping down her apple juice from her seat, which wasn’t a polite way of introducing herself but that was OK. She’d grown up to be a talented baker, what with the apron around her neck. After all this time, however, she still wore that bow on her hair, now accompanied by another like it.
Big McIntosh was happily chowing down on his three slices of pie, slurping this and that as Cinnamon shot a glare at him, implying that he should have some manners on the table. Oakley ribbed on Cinnamon by lightly nudging her chest, only for the pegasus to be attacked by another glare, and so he shuddered. The unicorn distracted thus, Big Mac resumed his sloppy yet passionate dining.
Granny Smith rolled her eyes, looking at Sunset and Applejack in particular. “Just get on wit’ it!” she murmured under her breath before opening her mouth wide to eat some pure apples.
At the dining table, therefore, was a simple family having a nice breakfast. The sunlight through the window cast a happy warm glow upon their table, upon their happy faces.
As for Fluttershy, she’s done well for herself. Staying a pony helped her relate to her animals even more now that they see her as an equal (or first among equals, but I shouldn’t tell her that). Like Applejack, she’s right where she wants to be: Helping out animals at the animal shelter and, somewhere down the line, helping out everypony, too.
Although, in a world with magic, she has learned of new animals to take care of.
The animal shelter had not seen any renovations at all.
OK, it had its walls proofed with steel and anti-magic material, but that was merely for protection, the manager had posited. Even then, he’d gone on, pets needed to roam around on the grass once in a while; should the grass be renovated, too, with the world’s changes? That’d seemed like paranoia to him.
Today, it was merely another Tuesday for the shelter as a jackalope fair was held just outside, and, really, what was so mesmerizing or amazing about rabbits with antlers on their heads?
Yet, that’s what the non-pet lover would think.
Several ponies and other creatures had traveled from far and wide to this shelter to see these jackalopes hop, skip, and jump freely. To them, they were adorable critters, and some were already voicing their desires to take one home.
Sunset levitated a couple carrots to a bunch of jackalopes, which they nibbled on with gusto. Several joyful squeaks could be heard from between their whiskers.
“Thank you for the carrot delivery, Sunset!” Fluttershy said, announcing her presence by landing on the ground as she carried a bottle of carrot juice on her back. She closed her wings and looked back, checking if there were any scratches or anything stuck on her feathers and on her mane which’d lengthened over time.
Sunset smiled and wrapped a hoof around her friend’s neck. “My pleasure! Besides,” looking off to the husk of jackalopes gobbling up their food, “they’re kind of cute. Never had the chance to see these things back in my day.”
Fluttershy smiled, closing her eyes cutely and tilting her head to the side. “Well, they’re quite nice—”
“Run!”
And ponies came screaming out of the shelter, scrambling away from the two-headed orthos barking twice as loud and twice as fast, causing the ground to shake and tremble.
The visitors panicked, yelped, ran, jumped—anywhere. The jackalopes hopped away to the back of the shelter, away from the raging dog/s as it rabidly bared its two sets of teeth to whoever was the nearest which, now, was a poor mare hiding in the bushes, hoping the adage of “You don’t see me, I don’t see you” would come true that moment.
Sunset gulped, backing away and biting her lip in fear. “F-Flutters? Since when did you get—”
“Oh!” and Fluttershy flew over to the dog and immediately rubbed its head. Both of their heads.
As quickly as it’d burst out in senseless anger, it’d calmed down, now sagging its tongue and wagging its tail. Those vengeful eyes had become delightful puppy eyes, and those barks had softened into mewling bleats.
Then, as fast as they’d dispersed, everyone came slinking back, relieved that the threat had been neutralized, that the orthos was now just like any ordinary pet dog.
An ordinary pet dog with two heads, sure, but those are trifling details.
“Aww, don’t you worry!” Fluttershy said in a dainty whisper to it...or them. “I know needles are scary, but you have to be brave for your sake because they will help you against sickness. Be brave not for me but for yourself, you little doggies!”
The doggy/ies then rolled on the floor, rolling in bliss at Fluttershy’s call and beck.
Sunset, meanwhile, had her jaw hanging open at this feat of pet mastery.
Rainbow Dash was pretty sad when the Rainbooms had to break up at the end of high school. It’s great everyone’s stayed in Canterlot all this time, but with everyone having to go their separate ways career-wise, it was inevitable.
So, it surprised me when I found out she was going on a solo act, help set up the country’s buckball league complete with TV networks and sponsors, and get viral on the internet by hanging out with A.K. Yearling twice a year. I’m still not sure if she knows Yearling’s secret, though.
(Note to self: Rip the last sentence out if Rainbow comes knocking.)
She managed to do all three and much more. Rainbow’s a sports hero, a part-time one-mare-band, and one of the most famous Daring Do fans in all of history, all while leading Canterlot’s weather team and staying good with her co-workers at the Rodeo Sports branch.
She may’ve grown a bit cranky and out of focus, but I gotta say: she’s such an accomplished mare.
“You think?!” Dash said, yelling at Sunset with a snicker as she held the microphone close to her mouth and her shades-covered eyes.
Both ponies were standing inside the studio room that’d been installed in her house some years back. Furnished with soundproof walls, expensive recording equipment, a many-buttoned-slidered mixer, and a personal fridge and television set to keep her company—all these lay in the room as it smelled of fresh buttered popcorn.
Unlike Applejack and Fluttershy who’d gone through minimal changes, Rainbow went radical ever since she started wearing shades and sunglasses all the time, even indoors. Part of it had been due to her singer personality, part of it had been due to the simple hunger for being cool no matter what.
“You think I can’t sing a song about fried chicken?!” Dash yelled once again, only to end in hearty laughter as she slapped the wall with her hoof.
“Not really,” Sunset replied, then, turning her head to the side, “but, why? Why fried chicken of all things?”
“Easy.” Dash knocked her forehooves together with a slam! “Everypony sings about love. Everypony.”
“That’s a stereotype and you know it,” Sunset said in deadpan.
“Bah!” and the pegasus flared her wings open in disgust. “Whatever. Point is, everypony thinks fried chicken’s too funny to talk about. Well, guess what, world?” and stomped a hoof on the floor with a determined stance in her voice. “I will sing about fried chicken and nopony’s going to stop me!”
“You can’t even digest fried chi—”
“That’s why I order veggie fried chicken,” and, as if waiting for that moment, Rainbow grabbed a leg of veggie fried chicken from her bowl of popcorn and chewed on it. She made a point to eat as loudly as possible, opening her mouth wide so that Sunset could see her teeth get dirtied by the food all while listening to her aggravating om-nom-nom-nom’s.
She then got distracted by the game going on via TV. Dash lowered her shades and exclaimed, “Oh! Really?”
“Really what?” Sunset said, glancing over there and looking at the screen. Then, she gasped and smacked a hoof on her cheek. “What?! Canterlot Cavalries tie it up at seven?!”
Rainbow quickly grabbed a Daring Do plushie and held it close to her chest, staring at the screen as the final minute of the game began.
“My ponies better make it in!” Rainbow shouted. Shaking her balled up hoof at the screen, “You hear me, Stratusburg? You’re going down! Call yourself the Halters, eh? More like the Falters, am I right?!” and budged Sunset out of the way, causing her to almost trip.
All the while, Sunset made a mellow smile through it all. Rainbow was indeed enjoying life...except when her home team’s on the cusp of missing the playoffs she herself had designed.
Rarity consulted with her Equestrian self even before she left high school. It’s rather unfortunate the old owner of Carousel Boutique just left off because Prim Hemline wanted to move out, and Rarity’s done her best to bring her back. But, when she wholeheartedly gave her full control and trust over the shop, Rarity got ecstatic. I’ve never seen a pony so happy over owning a fashion store before.
With the help of the other Rarity, Rarity started fashioning her fashion empire (hah!). She made sure it was always the clients who came to her, not the other way around. She made sure that she was the one setting the trends, not the trends setting her. As she’d told me before, “If they’re in fashion right now, then they’re practically already out.” Or was it the other Rarity? I guess I’m still not used to this other-selves thing after so long.
Rarity also has a side job of playing the piano—a “proper” one this time—for special occasions like weddings and formal parties. She hangs out with Octavia that way, who’s also gotten over her funk. (Actually, she’s a better cellist as a pony than when she was a human. Don’t believe me? Ask her yourself, book.)
Now, Rarity’s the fun fashion magnate who you can always talk to. She’s never forgotten her roots here; even insisted on staying here most of the time and letting her entourage do the rest. It’s great, really, that she still spends lots of time with us.
“No,” said Rarity, inspecting Sunset who she’d donned up in jacket and hat, not unlike a certain detective. “That makes you look mysterious, to be sure, but you need to be both mysterious and beautiful. And a touch of the present.”
In the Carousel Boutique, ponies trotted around, checking the dress and suit displays and then checking themselves in front of the mirror. Assistants adorned in dazzling clothes of ties and hats complimented their clientele’s looks, approving of their choice or suggesting a better alternative based on their mane, eye color, coat, and a host of other details.
As for the grand fashionista herself, Rarity’s looks hadn’t changed one bit. Or at least on the surface they hadn’t. Sunset had suspected that she’d been using more make-up than usual today, but she decided to not talk about it, especially after hearing the pony whine about how magic make-up from Zecora was doing her wonders.
Sunset did her best to stay still on the platform as Rarity removed the jacket and replaced it with a dark cyan one, one that complemented her eye color.
Rarity smiled and lightly clapped her forehooves before turning Sunset to the mirror. “There! Or, almost there, as it were.”
“Uh—”
Rarity swapped the hat for a cyan one, too, matching the shade and hue of the jacket.
“That’s better!” she shouted, eyes fluttering. “Would you like some eyeglasses to add to that look of mystery?”
“Uh, no—”
“Or, how about a monocle,” Rarity added, tapping her chin. Then, with a shake of her head, “No, not that. That’d make you anachronistically tacky!”
Sunset sighed, hoping to take this as a sign to get out. “Thank you for that, anyway, Rarity.”
“Well,” Rarity began, “we need you prepared for the Hearth’s Warming party coming up next month, and I’m trying to form a theme for it. Mystery detectives is what I’m going for, and we’re sticking with it!”
Sunset rolled her eyes at this posh stubbornness. “Sure, Rarity,” she said casually. “Whatever floats your boat.”
The truth of it, though? Sunset just wanted to get out now. There’d always be time for costumes down the line, right?
Pinkie Pie was the only one among us who didn’t go to college. She wanted to be a drummer and a party planner, and while there are music degrees out there, I don’t think one could get a Ph. D in parties.
So, she gets paid to plan parties and play the drums there. It’s a weird combination, but it’s Pinkie being Pinkie. We expected that kind of thing to happen.
What we never expected was that she’d be the first to fall in love.
Not long after she got out of high school, Pinkie met a dreamy stallion from Manehattan: Cheese Sandwich. Turns out he’s a party planner, too! Just like that, it was love at first sight. They go along like pie and cheese...cheese pie. (That sounds delicious. I can’t believe I’ve never tried it before.) Now, she’s married to him and has foals of her own. They’re a happy, bubbly family.
Though don’t visit their house if I were you, unless you can handle four explosive fireworks of puns and laughter going off non-stop. Trust me on this.
Overall, Pinkie Pie is still the Pinkie Pie we all know and love.
It was Derpy’s birthday, and she was celebrating it at one of the parks there. Balloons hung from the trees’ branches as long tables of sweets and nothing but sweets extended far into the park’s borders. All kinds of creatures enjoyed the festivities: griffons and pegasi and other winged beings used the trees as beds on which to socialize and much on their food; unicorns did their best playing pin the tail on the pony while blindfolded and dizzy; and a couple deer showed some interested kirin their decorated plants.
As expected, the one having the most fun on her birthday is Derpy herself, wearing a party hat and dancing to the beat of some old-time song about magic.
Sitting on a bench not far away from the esteemed celebrant, Sunset levitated a brownie to herself, enjoying her time here as she partook in that sugary crumble only well-baked brownies could give. The chatter of the crowd blended in her ears, and all she focused on was Derpy dancing on the grass, oblivious to the world around her except that it was her birthday and that she should have fun.
Then, a tap on her shoulder, something covering her eyes, and then no vision.
“Guess who?!” yelled an all-too-familiar voice.
“Pinkie!” said Sunset in a merry tone, turning around and removing the pink hooves from her eyes. “I know it’s you!”
Pinkie rubbed her chin with a nail file, all on her upside-down face. “Really, now? I find that very suspicious. Don’t tell me you’re a spy of a secret organization only you know of!”
Sunset smiled and crossed her forehooves, unfazed by the baseless accusation. “Come on, Pinkie.”
Pinkie let go of the branch her tail was hanging from and landed on Sunset’s bench without damaging it...somehow. She then grabbed a whole cake from the table and chomped it down in one bite, her gulp as big as a dozen golf balls.
Sunset raised her hooves up to her face to shield herself from the cakey mess.
When it was over, she found Pinkie bobbing her head to the song’s beat, looking at Sunset with those blue eyes.
“So, what’s up, Shimmering Sunset?” Pinkie said, wrapping a hoof around her neck and making her bob to the beat.
Sunset smiled, now becoming a little dizzy herself. “I’m f-fine. I just forgot it’s Derpy’s birthday today.”
Pinkie gasped and retracted her bobbing grip from Sunset. She wiped her whole face with a tissue, a napkin, and a piece of bread for good measure. “You didn’t receive my invitation!”
“Wait, you sent out invitations?”
“Silly Sunset, of course!” Pinkie said in sing-song fashion. “Yours must’ve gotten stuck somewhere...but, hey, it’s not like you couldn’t ask Derpy when her birthday is and schedule that on your calendar app, right?”
Sunset blinked, guilt overcoming her for a few seconds before common sense told her that she couldn’t have possibly thought of that...if she could, she would’ve.
The unicorn coughed, more than happy to change the topic so the spotlight wouldn’t be on her. With an anxious smile—for one never knew what Pinkie’s next move would be—she asked, “So, how’s Cheese and the kids? Are they here, too?”
Pinkie then pushed Sunset’s head down, pointing over there and saying, “Look! They’re with Derpy!”
Considering the circumstances against her head, Sunset should be commended for turning her head around and looking over there.
There, beside Derpy, were Cheese Sandwich and two foals who were dancing with the birthday pony in harmony, enjoying their time with her and making her enjoy her time with them. The smile on Derpy’s face grew wide as it dawned on her: that these ponies could match her moves so well on her special day.
“So,” Sunset began, turning to Pinkie, “does that—”
Saw Pinkie was gone. Suddenly the weight on her head was gone, too.
Turned back to Derpy.
There, Pinkie was dancing with her family, now wearing a chicken suit and doing the chicken dance.
Sunset chuckled at that one. At the very least, Pinkie was fulfilling her job as this world’s Element of Laughter.
Finally, there’s Twilight Sparkle.
If you’d asked her back when she was in Crystal Prep and still a human that she’d become one of the world’s leading wizards with real magic (complete with wearing the whole wizard get-up), she would’ve thought you’re crazy. She’d be the first one to tell you that magic couldn’t possibly exist and that it only exists in fairytales and fantasy novels.
Oh, Twilight, how naive you were.
She’s gone from that to...well, one of the world’s leading wizards if not the world’s greatest wizard. Twilight’s made many strides in the field of magic, and she’s showing her magic prowess by authoring books and papers on magic, inventing new spells no one’s ever heard of, and making tons of experiments at her lab back home. She’s famous for inventing the first magic-run computer, which can, for example, use the law of contagion to facilitate instant communication between opposite sides of the globe without electricity or bluetooth technology.
It’s gotten to point that she received a letter from Everton to make her the President of their Magic Department and—get this— help them open up to a more friendship-based learning system. She turned the former down but helped them with the latter. How the tables have turned (in a good way!)
Now, Twilight’s a part-time magic researcher of all kinds of magic, part-time teacher in both Canterlot High and the School for Gifted Unicorns, and full-time mage on an unprecedented level.
Of course, friendship is magic, so she always invites us to go with her on her trips, and she always makes time for us when we go out for our trips.
Sunset trotted through the familiar halls of Canterlot High. Being an alumnus of the school provided her with some privileges like prestige, recognition, and unlimited access to the library even past school hours.
She passed by several ponies, most of them students talking about this and that subject, holding or levitating books and laptops and phones and such. Here, a zebra and a pegasus were showing off cool trinkets to each other from their lockets.
A few Sunset passed by were teachers, mostly because they had formal clothes, wore glasses, or had their mane or hair all bunched up. In fact, she recognized Cheerilee ordering from the vending machine over there, getting for herself carbonated coffee for the last stretch of classes this afternoon.
Sunset then turned a corner.
By the nearest door, there was Twilight Sparkle busy talking to a couple students just outside the classroom. She was wearing her glasses along with a pointed witch’s hat and a long flowing robe, making her look like a nerdy witch.
Sunset decided to wait it out by the corner, taking care not to be noticed by any of the parties involved.
“...alright, that’s OK?” Twilight said, rounding off the discussion with a smile. After receiving a collective nod from her pupils, “OK, I’m glad we got that resolved quickly. Now, have a good day and don’t cause any trouble!”
The students trotted away, chatting among themselves as they headed for the cafeteria for their afterlunch break.
“Twilight?” Sunset said.
Twilight’s ears perked up, then turned to the unicorn by the hallway’s corner. “Oh, Sunset!”
Sunset nodded. “I told everyone about dinner at the café tonight. You’re going?”
Twilight tapped her hooves in anxiety, levitating a planner to her lenses as she used her magic to skim through the pages. “Let me see...ah! Yes!” Showing Sunset her schedule for the day on the book, “I’m completely free for the rest of the night except eight to nine P.M. which is reserved for my third session of weekly long-distance teleportation experiments!”
Sunset chuckled, leaning on the wall for that intimidation factor.“Still not over your brief visit to Prance?”
A moaning Twilight was the question’s result. “We’re not talking about my airplane ride back here.”
Sunset dialed her evil smile down a notch. Then, looking over her shoulder at where the students had been last seen, “So, what was that about, Twi? Troublemaker in your hooves?”
Twilight looked behind her, then caught wind of Sunset’s meaning. “Oh, you mean Bronc Stock? He got lost halfway through the lesson on magical energy in magic-light plants. I managed to clear it up with some of his friends who also wanted some clarification on the subject.”
Sunset nodded, letting some seconds pass by before saying, “So, you’re doing OK?”
“Doing pretty well today,” Twilight replied, rubbing her forehoof in slight concern. “Woke up to Spike burping fire into my face for the hundredth time. You never know when he’ll strike!”
Then, she checked the clock on the wall.
Five minutes to four.
“Uh, sorry about it, Sunset,” Twilight said, already trotting away and taking on a nervous accent, “but I have to go! One last class!”
And so, they shared their farewells there and then before Twilight disappeared from sight.
That visit done, Sunset journeyed through the hallways again and then exited the school.
Outside, it was a pretty normal day. Some pegasi tended to the clouds above, some Earth ponies were busy gardening on school grounds, and some unicorns were busking on the sidewalk with all guitars.
Two more hours until six, until that dinner with friends at Sweet Snacks Café.
We’ve been pretty good so far, and we’re still pretty good today. We may be more busy with other things than before, but we still find the time for each other. We still have each other to lean on.
Yes, it’s been a hectic ride over the past eight years. It wasn’t a walk in the park to get Earth back up and running, especially when everyone’s suddenly imbued with magic in a new body, but I think we did a good job considering how Earth isn’t destroyed yet.
Well, I’ve spent too long writing this thing. It’s about half an hour until dinnertime, and I don’t want to be late, not even fashionably late as Rarity would have it.
I wish I could write to you now about what everyone else experienced. I could tell you about how Sunny Flare’s Shadowbolts are still together, how our principals are slowly easing in to their lifespans and their roles as sun-and-moon movers, how Timber’s in a losing fight to get Twilight’s attention for the past five months, how Sandalwood’s revitalizing the green industry, how the Canterlot Movie Club’s joined forces with Juniper and are making their first professional movie together—oh, and how Abacus Cinch made appeared out of nowhere as a unicorn just to make a public apology for her actions.
And I still have stories about Cadance and Shining Armor’s family, how the Filthy Riches of both worlds made a partnership, Micro Chips making magic microchips….
Wish I could tell you all, but I gotta move. Don’t wanna be late.
But, hey. This is just the first entry. I’ll tell you something tomorrow night, OK?
- Sunset Shimmer
Sweet Snacks Café was abuzz with activity tonight, the sun having just set.
Inside, customers ate and talked in that cool conditioned air. The appetizing scents of hayburgers, garlic, and onions wafted from the kitchen as the jukebox continued playing doo-wop on the side. Black-and-white pictures of more than half a century ago had new friends now, those with color and magic creatures: over there, for example, was a photo of Princess Luna standing beside the diner’s Earth pony owner.
The customers themselves were quite diverse in species: ponies, griffons, zebras, hippogriffs, dragons, changelings, yaks, deer, kirin...all eating the same food and drinking the same drink, all saying something and sometimes laughing at a joke or two.
By the windowside sat six Canterlot High graduates munching over plates of fries, onion rings, hayburgers, hash, pancakes, waffles, and carrot dogs.
This included Fluttershy who could eat just about anything on the menu now that it had to accommodate pony and other non-meat tastes. Then again, technology had marched on; anything could be made with vegetables these days, and Fluttershy helped herself to a veggie burger anyway.
It was an interesting sight to see all these different ponies hanging out like they were old buddies, but that’s because they were old buddies. Rainbow Dash and Applejack still showed some rivalry, struggling in a round of hoof-wrestling on the table. Rarity had put aside her phone so she could chat with Pinkie Pie about her costume for the Hearth’s Warming party, which the latter had chosen to be that of a clown because “detectives need cheering up, silly!” Fluttershy was busy with her food, although she was hoping to talk to Pinkie about that birthday party she missed. Finally, Twilight Sparkle checked her pocket watch from her witch’s robe pockets.
“It’s almost six,” Twilight muttered, looking out the window and then glancing at the unattended plate of food at the end of the table. “Sunset should be here right about—”
Ring!
The door opened, ringing the bell, to reveal a frazzled and wet Sunset quickly drying her hooves on the welcome mat. She discreetly galloped past rollerskating waiters and traveling clients, murmuring Sorry!’s whenever she almost bumped into someone.
Then, she took a seat at her friends’ tabl—
“Wait!” Twilight shouted, before glowing her horn and then shooting a beam at Sunset.
In an instant, Sunset was dry. No drop of water on her. Her mane was back to its curly self again, and Sunset herself felt fresh as well.
“There!” remarked Twilight, rubbing her forehooves at a job well done. “Much better.”
Sunset smiled. “Thanks, Twi.”
“Finally,” Rainbow said tiredly, putting her shades up on her mane to get a brighter view on everything. “Ready to celebrate the Cavalries’ win?”
“I thought this was a simple meal between friends,” Rarity said, somewhat annoyed at this sudden turn of events.
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Pinkie replied before smacking a box of cakepie on the table.
“Pinkie!” yelled Sunny Sugarsocks, that old waiter friend of hers as she stopped by on her shoewheels. “No outside food, remember?”
Pinkie grinned and nicely hid the cakepie in her mane. “My sincerest apologies, Socks!”
Sugarsocks rolled her eyes and groaned before moving on to the next table, already carrying a tray on her back.
Sunset cleared her throat, grabbing her friends’ attention. “So...I see I have my food ready. Should I start already?”
“By all means!” Applejack answered, raising a hoof to resemble a thumbs up.
Fluttershy simply smiled at that, as if her eating of her burger would inspire Sunset to just eat already.
Then, Twilight spoke up: “Hey, uh, girls? I just realized something.”
That way, everypony else had their eyes on her.
“What is it?” Pinkie asked, almost her whole body precariously hanging over the not-so-organized collection of food on the table.
It was Twilight’s turn to clear her throat, adjusting her pointy hat along the way. Raising her head: “Did you know how this all started? This whole magic Earth thing?”
Then, Sunset smiled, crossing her forehooves on the table. “Right here, when we were all having some innocent snacks together.”
At first, the memories came up slow. Then, they surfaced: Sunset telling them about her trip to Equestria for some kite-flying competition, Rarity daydreaming about Equestrian royalty, and Twilight inquiring about how non-unicorn ponies held kites.
Everyone else nodded, saying their slow and quiet Yeah!’s and Oh, I remember that!’s.
Then, Twilight spread her forehooves. “Well, I admit I’ve made some very terrible mistakes along the way. I shouldn’t have nagged Sunset about it, shouldn’t have obsessed over it all that time...but, when you think about what’s happened, things didn’t go too bad.
“Yeah, there’s all the panic from week one of the catastrophe. That was really bad...but, after those first few days, I suddenly found myself crying on the bed for the umpteenth time, and I asked myself, ‘Why are you hard on yourself? It wasn’t your fault the world went haywire.’
A pause to catch her breath. “I’ve probably done some dumb things in the past that helped boost the disaster, but, when all’s said and done, what can I do? Go back in time and do it the right way? That’ll just make things worse.” A sigh, and then: “This is the world we live in, and while I’m sure none of us had asked for it back then, it’s crystal clear we’ve not only survived, but thrived in it—and most everyone’s doing that, too.”
Then, she removed her hat, putting it down and letting down her striped mane.
She rubbed her forehooves again and licked her lips. “So, let’s remember the world of before, and feast to the world of today! Let’s dig in!”
And so, everypony digged in, enjoying the big and bold taste and texture of fast comfort food at this enduring café. Everypony ate, everypony talked, and everypony laughed on that night.
It would be a good night for them on this Earth, on this strange yet familiar Earth.
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Before anyone else comments on this, let me head you off.
Wikipedia sez:
Edit: I'm aware it's further explained a couple paragraphs later, but still; the name 'cornhole' is pretty regional, and even then not frequently used.
Like I said, they'll be alright. Just needed some time to get back on their
feethooves.9337337
I would argue that feet isn't necessarily wrong; hooves (at least the rear ones) are structurally equivalent to toes. (Similarly, calling forelegs "arms" isn't wrong.)
This is a much better ending than its prequel.
Or maybe pony Moondancer?
Aww I wish you told us what happend to the student 6 and the principals
When Wallflower Blush unveiled actual snake oil—harvested humanely from shed skins and used as a pain reliever—the commissioner of the FDA famously threw up his hooves and resigned the very next day.
Sunset voted for Boaty McBoatface, didn't she?
Huh. The sushi place is still doing business? I suppose there are plenty of fishless rolls.
So... two pairs of sunglasses at all times?
"Speaking from experience, Twi?"
"No comment."
A satisfactory send-off for this world. The future looks bright for it, as the old and new come together to make something greater. Thank you for bringing it to us.
This was definitely a better put-together story than the previous one, as not only did it properly stick with its original premise, but the fact it focused on multiple things made complete sense given the scope of the situation.
It's not perfect or anything; some subplots didn't get fully realized, and it felt like there should have been a better transition to the end, but I quite enjoyed what I read for the most part.
Really fun story, I hope if you do get more ideas for this story that you'll keep updating. It's a fun world you've made.
Quite enjoyed the read. Usually don’t read the question girl stories but don’t know what made this one different
Well, I'm sorry to see this story go, but what a ride! Thank you for it all!
also, the story I told you about is now up; The day the old age died...
Give it a look, I gave you credit and everything!
p.s. may I use your OC's? Y'know the apple ponies that used to be normal but gained sentience?
9337327
I've never played cornhole before, and I've only seen other people play it on YouTube...and even then, it was all staged for ads. So, I went with the first name I got from Wikipedia.
9337337
I've been recording this world's recovery...but do you want to know what could be interesting if I ever do pursue this plot thread again? A B-rate, feel-good cheesy-style adventure set a few years after the change, kind of like one of the season premieres or finales but with lower stakes and a lot more shenanigans—lampshade and cliché heavy as everyone's getting used to fantasy trips and all that.
9337371
Thank you for that. I pretty much see Curiosity as a burning dumpster fire nowadays; I consider Turn much better overall, or at least I hope so, so to hear that is great.
Well, Moon Dancer doesn't strike me as the witch type. The sweater she wears isn't much of a wizard's robe or anything like it. I guess it's the glasses that got to you...maybe.
9337372
Wish I could, but I was honestly getting tired of not just this story but also of being tied with Curiosity which I want to get away from. Like I said before, I'm free to revisit this fic, but no promises.
9337407
I always thought of shades and sunglasses as two different things. I guess they're not, after all.
You're welcome for that. It's probably because I saw no story that told the tale of an Equestria Girls Earth suffering a magic-spreading disaster, so maybe I just sort of filled that gap.
It was also nice to have you along for the ride. Admittedly, at first, I felt like big eyes were watching me when you first commented on the fics, especially since the similarities with Oversaturated started coming up, because...you know, Oversaturated mastermind and all that.
9338441
It's good you enjoyed it. It's better that you pointed out the flaws I made. I need to have them pointed out all the time—becoming a better writer and so on. Thank you for sticking with it despite my clumsy handling of the stories.
9338824
Like I said, it's an anthology fic, so it's not really complete in a sense. Who knows? I may add to it once again...but, no promises. Now, I want to move on to something else.
9340715
I don't know what made this one different, too. Perhaps it's because it's tied to Curiosity's fluke in the feature box a few months back.
9341345
You're welcome. I hope it was a good ride despite the bumps on the road.
Well, I'd like to give it a look, but I'm the kind of guy who wants to finish everything in my bookshelves now before moving on, and considering I have a serious backlog in my library here (and my reluctance to commit to multi-chapters in general), I may have to limit myself to the first chapter if at all. I apologize for that; I hope you understand.
Still, I feel flattered that you were so inspired by Curiosity that you made a story based on its premise. You like the story more than I do at this point; I'm pretty good at loathing at my work, if I do say so myself. Have a good job on the fic, and thank you for the credit.
As for the OCs: Sure!
I think that's closure.
9342267
thank you!
A wonderful conclusion. Loved every second of reading this.
BUT WHAT ABOUT TRIXIE??? XD
10121938
I mean, yeah. Yeah he did. Probably a good idea he lay low for a while...
Not a bad series overall.
My kids really like this chapter. My son was 7 this March, and we decided to organize a party in Magical Curiosity style. I knew how much he wanted to celebrate his birthday with all his friends and family. Of course, I had to decorate everything as bright and festive as it is possible. We have called animators. I have created many interactive zones, but in the middle of the sites was a vast led screen for outdoor events with cartoons and photos of my son with his friends. I have never seen such screens at a birthday party, but it is a beautiful photo zone.