Sugar Cube Corner was, undoubtedly, one of the more popular spots for the youth of Canterlot, especially after a long day at their respective schools. Be it CHS or Crystal Prep, boys and girls often flocked here after their studies, tests or whatever else they'd been doing that day, and the place was now packed with those just looking to unwind a bit. Mrs Cake was hard at work, going from booth to booth, making sure all the teens had what they wanted, and all-in-all things seemed to be looking good for the place. There was one booth in particular, however, that sported a rather odd patron. A small purple dog, currently downing a tasty-looking milkshake, before sighing with satisfaction over it. Now, most venues would be rather nonplussed at having a canine for a customer, but Mrs Cake merely smiled and shook her head to the little pooch, strolling over before speaking up in that calm and welcoming tone of hers. "Enjoying it?"

Spike smiled right back as he finally looked up from his drink. "It's even better than the last one. Seriously, you guys keep getting better and better at these!"

Mrs Cake waved him off. "Oh stop, you'll make me blush!" The two shared a quick laugh together over that, but it wasn't long before the store's owner glanced around, specifically to the door. "So...will I be serving one here today, or eight?"

Spike chuckled. "Hehe, give it a moment. They're a bit...busy right now." He watched as Mrs Cake opened her mouth to speak, only to be kept from getting a single word out by the sound of the door swinging open. Spike smirked to himself. "Well, speak of the Devil..."

Mrs Cake too smiled, turning to look upon the new arrivals. Sadly, her smile vanished immediately, replaced instead with a look of utter shock. It was definitely the girls, but they were here not in their usual clothes, but rather the magical garbs that always appeared whenever they used their now-famous Equestrian magic. This was not the shocking thing, however. No, that was the fact that they appeared to have all been pelted with eggs to one degree or another, with their deadpan expressions interrupted only by the occasional trickle of yolk down their faces. Slowly, the older woman glanced back down to Spike, whispering to him. "I'll just...um...get seven more milkshakes then."

Spike nodded, watching her go for a bit before again looking to his friends, who now finally made their way over to his booth. Though really it was more of a shuffle than anything, a clear sign of exhaustion. Whatever they'd been through, it had definitely been tiring, and after sitting down around him, they all let out deep exhales to emphasise that fact. Spike looked to each of them, then took one final slurp of his own shake before finally breaking the silence. "So...rough day?"

Sunset, in spite of herself, chuckled, wiping away some egg that had trailed down her cheek. "You could say that."

"Honestly, of all the things that could have been infected with Equestrian magic, why, oh why, did it have to be a chicken coop?!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Ah could maybe put up with it if it weren't mah coop!" Applejack added, reclining further into her part of the booth. "Well, better start lookin' fer a new one."

Fluttershy, looking like she wanted to at least try to lighten the mood, smiled to them all. "Well, at least all the chickens got out safely before it all went wrong, right?" The silent treatment she got caused her to sigh in slight defeat. "Well...I think that was good anyway."

Spike nudged Twilight in the side, prompting his owner to look down to him as he spoke. "It can't have been too bad, right? I mean, you're all here."

Twilight smiled to him, offering him a quick scratch behind the ear. "You're not wrong. Still, it could have at least been a bit less...messy," she grumbled as an especially gloopy bit of egg fell onto her glasses.

Rainbow chuckled dryly after that. "I can take the mess, I can take the danger, I can take the randomness of a chicken coop being given life and going rogue...but did it have to talk too?!"

Spike raised an eyebrow to her. "Well, it's not the first thing the magic has given a voice too, remember?" he remarked, pointing to himself.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Oh, it wasn't the talking...it was the puns!" She grimaced, giving herself a facepalm. "Dear God...the puns!"

Pinkie, who had been quiet thus far, soon started to develop a mischievous smirk. "Oh yeah...the puns."

Rainbow, knowing her friend quite well by now, immediately regretted having said what she'd said. "...Oh no."

As the athlete had feared, Pinkie immediately stood up, hands on hips, bellowing out an overly-exaggerated version of, presumably, whatever voice the possessed coop had spoken with. "Muahahahahaha! I guess I wasn't eggs-axtly, what you were eggs-pecting, eh Rainbooms?!" The response was a chorus of boos from all the girls, prompting a giggle on Pinkie's part as she sat back down. "Meh, worth it."

After a while though, Sunset actually afforded herself a laugh, followed by another sigh. "Well, if nothing else, it's good to know we did some good taking the thing out."

There was a murmur of agreement among the girls, during which time Pinkie looked down to her school bag, which she, along with the rest of them, had left behind before going on their messy adventure today. It took only a few moments before the party-lover whipped out some earphones, popping them on and switching on her music. The other girls paid her no mind, as it was now when Mrs Cake returned, bringing with her the promised tray of milkshakes. The girls all eagerly accepted, enjoying that first slurp as if it was the most delicious thing they'd ever tasted. Mrs Cake smiled to this, getting back to the counter soon afterwards, and after having swiftly downed most of her shake, Twilight eventually elected to speak first. "You know, this whole Equestrian magic debacle can't last forever, right? I mean...it'll have to stop eventually."

Rarity, sweeping aside some of her hair, gave a firm nod to that. "Quite, darling. One does not wish to engage in such...unpleasantness their whole lives after all."

Rainbow snorted as she looked to her fashion-loving friend. "Speak for yourself, Rares. I could play the superhero forever!"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Eyup, we know ya could."

Rainbow, however, was unconcerned with her friend's remark, balling her hand into a fist and offering it to her. "Hey, let's face it, we're pretty awesome at it."

Applejack looked to the offered first, then to Rainbow's smirking face, before developing a smirk of her own. "Yeah...we kinda are, aren't we?" She matched the fist, bumping it against Rainbow's and prompting a simultaneous shared chuckle between them.

Fluttershy, who had taken to pulling bits of egg shell out of her hair, looked over to Sunset. "Maybe we can call Princess Twilight about it? She might have some insight about all this magic coming in."

Pinkie, having apparently heard her friend through her earphones, whipped them off and grinned widely, clapping her hands together. "Oooooh! Maybe she can come over and we can all have ourselves a big and fantastic talk-about-magical-perils sleepover!"

Sunset smiled to her friend's enthusiasm, then suddenly started to look a bit more thoughtful. Twiddling her thumbs, she very much looked like she wanted to talk about something important, and after staying silent for quite some time she finally did so. "Twilight...rules Equestria now."

A silence fell, and all her friends looked to her, especially Twilight, who now adjusted her glasses slightly. "Um...pardon?"

Sunset glanced back up to each of them before settling on her spectacled friend. "I got word of it some time ago. Princess Celestia and Luna retired. Twilight...reigns over all of Equestria."

Her friends all looked to her with utter shock, and for a time nobody said anything. Occasionally, they'd look to one another, as if hoping one of them would actually say something or have a better handle on how to react to news like that. After a while though, it was, inevitably, Rainbow Dash who broke that silence. "That...is...awesome!"

Sunset, seeing her enthusiasm, as well as the happy smiles on all her other friends' faces, afforded herself a grin of her own. "Yeah...it kind of is, isn't it?"

Rarity squealed with delight. "Oh my! Mayhaps a coronation dress is in order?"

Sunset placed her hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, I think the other you got that part covered."

Rarity nodded, smiling with satisfaction. "Well then, I'm sure Princess Twilight looked stunning if that's the case."

Twilight, who had naturally looked the most uncertain out of all of them, took a moment to take off her glasses and give them a quick wipe with a handkerchief. After putting them back on her face, she looked to Sunset with more concern. "Was she okay? Ruling, I mean. I know I'd be pretty nervous."

A thoughtful nod from Sunset. "She was. And I don't blame her. Having people look up to you is one thing, but a whole nation? That's stress on a whole other level." She paused, then slowly started to smile softly. "But...after all she's been through...I think she's ready for it."

Twilight too smiled, but before she could say anything, Rainbow leaned over and looked to Sunset with confusion. "Wait, she had some big fancy I'm-taking-over party and we weren't invited?"

Here, Sunset looked a bit guilty, scratching the side of her cheek briefly. "Well, she did kinda send me a message...but I told her we couldn't make it. The exams and everything."

To that, Rainbow threw back her head and groaned loudly. "Uuuuuuuugh! Why do schools always do that to us at the worst times?!"

Fluttershy smiled to her, placing her hand upon her shoulder. "I'm sure we can always visit and congratulate her later."

Sighing, Rainbow smiled back to her. "Yeah...I guess we could." She snickered. "Plus, how great is it we have a head of state as our friend?!"

The group all laughed together at that, with Rarity speaking up about it first. "I think Twilight might have other responsibilities besides doing favors for us, Rainbow."

Immediately, Rainbow blushed. "I wasn't suggesting that!" After seeing the critical looks she was getting, she nervously scratched the back of her head. "Okay...maybe a little."

Pinkie continued giggling for a bit, then looked to her athletic colleague. "Besides, we should be less worried about her and more worried about us! We've got a whole weekend to enjoy and no plans for it!"

Leaning back into her side of the booth, Applejack pondered that. "Well, ah know ah've gotta go an' get mah family a new coop...or at least fix up what was left o' the old one."

Looking over to her, Fluttershy clasped her hands together. "Oh, maybe I could help?"

Applejack smiled to her, tipping her hat as she did so. "That'd be mighty kind o' ya, Fluttershy."

Pinkie, understandably, smiled widely to that friendly display, then got her headphones out again before switching them on. "Well, I know what I'm gonna do! Spend tomorrow listening to all these super-fun tracks of mine!" She kept her headphones in her hands for a while, allowing the music to belt out. And as she nodded in-tune with the music, listening to the lyrics of "round and round and round" going on, she soon noticed her friends giving her odd looks, prompting a quick shrug of her shoulders. "Hey, they may have been baddies, but boy do those three know how to make a sweet-sounding song!"

The others reluctantly nodded in agreement, after which Rarity got up, brushing off some stray egg-shell from her outfit before starting to step out of the booth. "Well, this has been a lovely moment, darlings, but I really must be off. One desperately needs to go home and have a nice, hot bath after today."

Rainbow cackled again, getting up herself. "Yeah, I'm with ya there. I've got a jog with Indigo tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure she won't want me covered in egg while I do it." She paused, then smirked. "Heh, maybe she would. It'd get a chuckle out of her anyway."

They all had another laugh together over that, and one by one they all began to make their way off, giving one another a wave before finally departing. Eventually, it was just Sunset, Twilight and Spike, with the latter having finally finished his current shake. "So...Think you'll face something weirder next time the magic strikes? A big, flying mailbox maybe?"

A dry laugh escaped Sunset. "Honestly, after today's outing, I'd take it."

Twilight too took a sip of her drink, then looked over to her Equestrian friend with thoughtfulness. "Do you ever think about it? How odd our lives are? How everyone in this town has just gotten used to magic and the seven of us and...all of it?"

Sunset paused, thinking hard on that and looking to her. It was hard to read her face, at least at first, and for a while the former student of Princess Celestia just started looking around. Some familiar faces, some unfamiliar, all laughing and enjoying themselves in this place, before Sunset finally glanced back to her friend. Slowly, she smiled again, taking Twilight's hand into her own. "Yeah, it's weird alright." Her smile grew. "And you know...I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Author's Note

Unquestionably, the story I have poured the most time and love into on this site was my Equestria Girls Continuity, which was brought to an end last year. But when you spend that much time on something, it can be difficult to just walk away from it. Ever since it ended I've been thinking about that story, and whether or not to possibly continue it.

In the end, since I was very satisfied with the way I concluded it, I thought it might be better instead if I do a different sort of story. A kind of second draft, if you will. After all, now that the show has ended, I have a greater grasp on what is and isn't canon for the show, as opposed to what I was doing before and coming up with stuff that frequently ended up zigging where the show zagged.

Also, I think it's safe to say that my old story was kind of weird in a lot of places, so I'll try and keep this one a bit more grounded than what I've done before. So if you were expecting some out-there stuff like Adagio once more being given an R63 version of herself as a boyfriend, please know that's not the sort of thing this one will have.

Plus, you might have noticed I'm writing somewhat differently to how I normally do, and I decided that after so long of people suggesting that I use too many spaces it might be worth trying to cut back on them, just to see how people take it.

So yeah, it might not be as regularly updated, but I hope this new EqG story will engage readers like my old one did