The Then and Now

by Flutterflyer

Rating: everyone
Tags: Equestria Girls, Sunset Shimmer, Main 7 (EqG), Twilight Sparkle (EqG), Slice of Life
Length: 4092

Ten years after the Fall Formal, Sunset and her friends return to Canterlot for reminiscence.

Ten years after the Fall Formal, Sunset Shimmer and her friends meet up outside Canterlot High to commemorate the time that's passed, and how far they've come.

Published 2023-06-15 06:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-06-15 06:40:01 UTC

The Now

Author's Note

So... hi! I know it's been a few months since my last fic here, and it will probably be a few months more until the next one. I've been distracted by non-MLP stuff, most of which I still need to post to my AO3 account. (I really should link that with this account at some point honestly, maybe even port my stories over there.)

As soon as I became part of this fandom, I became aware that 2023 was the tenth anniversary of the first Equestria Girls movie! While I adore all things from the G4 era of MLP, Equestria Girls is for sure one of my favs. (I mean it has Friendship Games, lol.) So I wanted to do something for the occasion. While I'm not sure this is my best work, (it could have used more happening), I still think it's a nice way to commemorate the occasion. I was trying to go for a vibe of old friends talking about high school, including some "what if" ideas that could have happened after Equestria Girls.

I hope everypony enjoys this though! Hopefully, I'll be able to clear some time for more MLP stuff in the future. There are still some stories I want to tell with these characters after all.

The Now

The statue still stood as proud as ever.

Time had done remarkably little to mark it, perhaps due to the magical nature that had once laid within it. Although it technically hadn’t been a statue for a while now. The most repairs it had ever gotten after the Friendship Games were a few planks over the cracks on the top.

Sunset Shimmer had been away from it for far too long.

It had been years since she had been here. The regular visits after graduation had slowly died down over time, ever since what had happened almost nine years ago. Sunset stared at it, remembering the confusion when she had first emerged from it all those years ago, the shock of emerging into a whole new world right before the scheming and planning began.

It was out of nostalgia that she leaned down in front of the stone, holding her hand out to feel it. She couldn’t help but expect her hand to sink into the surface once more, falling through the glimmering gateway into a world beyond most peoples’ wildest imagination.

Instead, her fingers touched cold stone.

She sighed, withdrawing her hand as she got to her feet, another’s gently gripping her own and holding tight.

“Were we being insensitive meeting here?” asked Twilight, a worried frown on her face, “the others did insist on it...”

“No. It’s perfect Twilight.” Sunset managed to smile, adjusting her outfit self consciously. “If anything I should be more concerned about the students reacting to some women in their late twenties gathering in front of their school...”

“What, us? Pfft, please. We’re totally normal!” Twilight scoffed awkwardly in an attempt to lighten up the situation.

”Thanks babe. It’s just hard not to think about it when it’s right in front of us, you know?” She gestured to the statue. “I have so many memories of this dumb... stupid... wonderful thing.”

”Tell me about it,” Twilight smiled, “on the bright side, things were bound to go up after being turned into a literal demon here.”

”Yeah, things mostly went up after that for me too,” Sunset laughed, “I saved you here, remember?”

”Oh right! With the daybreak form!” Sometimes Twilight really could look almost exactly like she did ten years ago, the same amount of enthusiasm and passion still remaining after all this time. “You really did look stunning back then.”

”What, and I don’t now? All these years and my flirting skills haven’t rubbed off on you at all I see,” Sunset smirked, her teasing earning another pout from her girlfriend.

Both of them had been the first to arrive out of their friends, having made it to the meeting point a few minutes earlier than they had agreed to, since they had set off as soon as they could out of fear of being late. Which, as usual, instead caused them to arrive way earlier than they needed to. It was a shared quirk of theirs at this point.

The idea of them all meeting up in person like this had come from Pinkie Pie in their shared group chat, and had been in the works for a couple of months now. The group of friends always made sure to meet up when they were in the same area.

“When was the last time we came together again?” Sunset asked, raising a finger to her chin.

”Hmmmm.... Rarity’s birthday two years back?”

”No, it wasn't that. Pinkie had to cancel at the last minute. But that was the closest we’ve been for a while. Before that it was probably when we all went to see the first film Rarity designed a few costumes for. It was a fun night, remember?”

”Says you! You didn’t have to sit next to the gay disasters...” Twilight grumbled.

”Hey! I thought we were the gay distasters! We weren’t even together back then! Yet we still managed to get our shit together before those two.”

”And they still aren’t together now! Really it’s so-“ Twilight blinked, before smiling. “Oh look, here comes one of them now! Hey Rainbow! Over here!”

Sunset turned, smiling as Rainbow emerged from Canterlot high, waving to some of the students as she jogged towards the duo.

“Hey guys! You made it! And before me too! Impressive!”

“Not everything is a race you know...” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised you would even make the comparison considering we totally beat you...”

”Well we all know who would actually win.” Rainbow smirked as she put a hand on her hip. ”But of course I made it. I'm one of the only three of us still living in Canterlot! Besides, did you both really think Canterlot High's coolest teacher ever would be late?”

Whereas Sunset and Twilight had taken differing careers in science, it was obvious that Rainbow always wanted to be an athlete of some kind. She had trained for a while for the position. Despite those missteps, she had managed to get a job linked to her passion, even if it wasn’t exactly what she wanted.

”Huh, funny, I don’t see Celestia anywhere. And can Canterlot High's coolest teacher really be in charge of the cheer squad?” Sunset smirked playfully.

”Haha. She says hi by the way. Luna asked if you wanted to turn into a demon again and rebuild a wall for the occasion. Also screw you! My cheer squad is the coolest in the country!”

”Heh. Maybe in ten years time. How have you been?” Sunset asked, leaving behind the playful banter for now.

”Eh, same old same old. Have some good students this year though! I’m expecting great things from them. I mean, I have to teach the best you know?”

“We know. You’ve kinda worked that into our heads for years now Rainbow. You know it’s statistically impossible for that to be true right?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

”Oh don’t ruin this with your eggheadedness!”

”But it’s just common-“

”Anyways!” Rainbow smiled, Twilight pouting as the athletic woman put her arms around both her and Sunset’s shoulders. “What were you both doing anyways? Do you enjoy looking miserable or something?”

”We weren’t looking miserable!” Twilight protested, “we were reminiscing!”

”About what? All the times I wasn’t here?”

”Wow, you really want to get all the banter out of the way before you have Fluttershy to deal with,” Sunset smirked, her words bringing a red flush to Rainbow's face as Twilight giggled to herself.

“Ok, ok. I’ll stop now. For real this time. You two better not say anything!”

”Rainbow. It’s been over ten years. You can’t still be hiding from your-“

”Not listening!” Rainbow put her fingers in her ears. “Can’t hear you!”

”You are a literal child,” Twilight deadpanned, “we should have known you being in constant contact with teenagers would do nothing to help your maturity.”

”Well, I doubt my past self would be overjoyed to hear that she could never escape this place. I would have panicked about turning out as an egghead or something. But yeah, can see why you’d think back on stuff. I did that when I started work here. Still do every once in a while.”

“It's hard not to think back here honestly,” Sunset sighed, “This is the closest place left to my old home. And that’s without all the memories we made together here.”

“Do you regret what happened?” asked Twilight, “with the portal and everything?”

They all thought back to that event often. It was around a year after Princess Twilight had first come into contact with them, when the constant dimensional travel and near universal collapse caused by Midnight Sparkle finally grew close to breaking point. If left unattended, there wouldn’t just be cases like Wallflower Brushes or Juniper Montages in Canterlot, but all over the world. So the portal had to close. That was the conclusion both Twilights had come to. It was the only way to ensure magic wouldn’t engulf the human realm, or leave Equestria drained of such an important resource.

And Sunset was left having to decide between two worlds.

”We did the only thing we could, you know?” Sunset smiled sadly. “I would have regretted what I chose no matter what happened. But I’ve told you plenty of times dear. I don’t regret choosing you.”

”Even if I was technically one of the sources of the dimensional collapse in the first pla-“

”Yes! We’ve been over this love!”

”Oh my god you are both so sappy! Do you argue about this every month or something?”

”No!” Sunset snapped at the same time as Twilight muttering. “Well every three at least...”

”Twilight has to have her anxieties put to rest pretty often. So I don’t mind reminding her if it kills them. Even if it’s the same thing I’ve always told her. You really worry too much babe.”

”I know but I can’t help it! That’s why we need to focus on the good memories here and not stuff like this!”

”Obviously! Who wants to sit back and think of all the terrible stuff we went through? We’re supposed to be celebrating the good times! Like remember how annoyed Spike was when Ember came through as a normal human? And that time me and Pinkie pranked the whole school!”

“I thought we were supposed to focus on the good times Dash!” Sunset glared. “Not the time you- you know what. Not even going to think about it.”

The trio soon found themselves lost in reminiscence, thinking back to days long by in their discussions as they waited for the rest of their friends to arrive. Applejack was next of course. Her farm wasn’t too out of the way, but she had some last minute work too, and Rainbow was bound to do everything in her power to get there first.

“Oh shoot... of course ya got here before me.” She rolled her eyes at Rainbow's smug grin. “I’m still saying it’s unfair though! Ya literally work right next to where we agreed to meet! Come on!”

”Hey, if you were faster, then you would have gotten here first! Simple logic!”

”I had work to do on the darn farm! I couldn’t leave Big Mac alone with all-“

”Man, the years have done nothing to stop their competitive streak huh?” Sunset stated as the two continued to bicker.

”I guess even with maturity some things are just never going to change... we are pretty much the same as ever. Even ten years later.” Twilight mused.

”That just makes me feel old. Soon I’m going to have lived here longer than Equestria. That’s just... crazy you know?”

“Seriously? We’ve broken the laws of physics like ten times over and that’s what you find hard to believe?” Twilight asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

”Never said I didn’t. But it’s just... strange you know? It’s been nine years since I’ve seen Equestria. I can’t even imagine what it must be like now.”

”Are you two moping again!?” asked Rainbow with a scowl, “come on! Do we need to call Pinkie over here to get some damn positivity in your lives!?”

”Oh just cause they aren’t smiling doesn’t mean they aren’t enjoying themselves Rainbow!” Applejack rolled her eyes. “It's just complicated for them!”

“Thank you Applejack.” Sunset smiled. “How’s the farm doing?”

”Mighty fine at the moment! Ever since Flim and Flam finally stopped trying to con everybody in town they’ve actually been a decent help round the place!”

”I still can’t believe it wasn’t part of some petty revenge plan...” Rainbow grumbled.

”Me neither, guess that whole magic chaos before we closed the portal freaked them into turning over a new leaf! Honestly, I’m not complaining. Even Applebloom likes them now!”

”Although it did take you like two years to trust them, right?” Twilight asked, raising her hand to her chin in thought.

”Yeah, yeah... I can be as stubborn as a mule sometimes... but I got around to it in the end! Anyways, how about we... oh boy,” Applejack groaned with a blush, “here comes Rarity.”

”How can you- ohhhhhhhhh.” Rainbow blinked, the girls not sure what to say as the fashionable car parked nearby, a stylishly dressed Rarity walking out with a confident flick of her hair, a sight instantly undermined by the excitably bouncing Pinkie following her.

The diva didn’t seem to mind that much though, although if they were attending something formal it would likely be a completely different story. Carousel Boutique had gone from strength to strength after Rarity had graduated, the fashionista free to devote almost all of her time towards her passion.

It was only a matter of time until she would be noticed by the wider world really, her talents having given her a modest living. Whether it was designing clothes for galas, a few celebrities, and most recently a few films, Rarity’s fashion was quickly becoming one of the hottest new things.

Not that you would know it though; most of Rarity’s money found its way into charities, or saved in case she needed it. What she did keep was mainly used for her craft, such as materials and references. The car was the exception though; she just wanted the impression of glamour.

Pinkie was pretty much the opposite. The hyperactive girl had opted out of university, instead moving straight to working full time at sugarcube corner, a job she had remained in for a couple of years before she moved a few cities over, deciding to focus on a different way to make people happy and smile, to “keep life sweet and fresh!” in her own words.

It was that which guided her into renting a building and creating her own party themed store, selling supplies and other items linked to fun and laughter. Sure it wasn’t exactly as big as Rarity’s business, but she was happy regardless. And that was what mattered in the end.

As the group fell into conversation once more, it wasn’t long until the final member arrived, notified by Rainbow instantly turning her head towards her as if she somehow sensed her presence. Fluttershy looked away with a blush. The pink haired girl had remained in Canterlot along with Rainbow and Applejack, now in charge of the local animal shelter after the original manager retired a few years back.

Outside of Sunset and Twilight living together, the three had stayed in contact the most in between their busy schedules. So Applejack had watched the pining over the years the most, the rest of the group only seeing brief instances of it in the times they were able to meet up. And of course, said pining was somehow...

“H-hey Rainbow!” The girl smiled, Rainbow somehow missing that her shy stammer only returned when she was talking directly to her. “Sorry I’m late...”

”Hey, don't worry! Come on Fluttershy, it’s totally cool to be late these days! Unless you're one of my students!” Rainbow flushed.

... very much ongoing.

”R-really? But I’m not as cool as you Rainbow!” Fluttershy said, the group looking back and forth between the duo as they continued to be utterly hopeless, Fluttershy not even noticing the other girls were present for a moment until Sunset cleared her throat.

“Oh hi girls! You all made it!”

“Well obviously darling. We can hardly not show up for such an occasion!”

”Yeah come on Fluttershy! I mean I know we can’t always get together, but did you really think we would miss the big day? This was when we all truly became friends!” Pinkie beamed.

”Well technically Princess Twilight already did that a few days before...” hummed Sunset.

”Eh, potato potato.” Rainbow shrugged, Twilight groaning at the messed-up saying.

”I mean even if we ignore that, it was still a good day for me!” Sunset smiled. “Though only in hindsight. If things didn’t turn out the way they did, I wouldn’t be friends with any of you. Man, that's scary to think about...”

“Pfft, don’t get sad thinking of dumb stuff like that!” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “We’re all friends! Why get sad about the idea of that not happening?”

”Oh yeah that's super silly!” Pinkie giggled. “You're supposed to be smart Sunset! Come on!”

”Hey! I am smart!” Sunset pouted as Twilight giggled next to her. “Don’t forget the time I aced that English exam on the same weekend that manticore hybrid attacked the city!”

”That’s true...” whispered Fluttershy with a smile, “I hope he’s doing well...”

”Yeah, but I also seem to remember someone utterly failing to understand magic even after like twenty attempts!” Rainbow smirked.

”I was working on high school equipment, what did you expect!? I could definitely do it now!”

”Oh like you can use that as an excuse darling. We certainly managed to get around issues like that in the past quite often!”

”Yeah you're gonna have to take the L on that one Sunset.” Rainbow smirked.

”What does that mean?” whispered Pinkie to Applejack.

”Ugh, she’s picking up slang from the students again...”

”I take it back. You're all the worst.” Sunset narrowed her eyes. “Except Twilight. She is the best of us all.”

“You're just saying that since we’re dating!” Twilight giggled.

“Not going to deny it. But I’m glad everyone managed to make it. I know how busy some of us can get.”

”Oh come on now darling, did you really think I could miss this? Sure I may have had to shuffle a few appointments around, but this was far too important for me to ignore! I certainly care about my friends more than my very successful career!”

”There she goes again.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “I knew you’d go straight to bragging as soon as you got here.”

”Well we’re all very proud of you Rarity.” Fluttershy smiled.

“Y-yeah of course! It’s totally awesome!” Rainbow blushed. “We’ve all done super well haven’t we?”

”O-of course Rainbow... I mean, it’s still sad you couldn’t be an athlete and all that but... I’m still really proud you managed to pursue your passions anyways!” Fluttershy blushed harder, slipping right back into nervousness as soon as she went to talk to Rainbow.

“N-nah it’s no big deal! I mean you were the one who gave me that pep talk to inspire me! You're the real awesome one!”

”One day. One day they will notice... right?” Twilight asked with a sigh, Sunset patting her on the back comfortably.

”Sure they will! At least I think so... maybe? I don’t know. But let’s just leave them to figure it out.”

”Funny, pretty sure you said the same thing when we graduated.” Sunset laughed, her other friends joining her soon afterwards.

”H-hey! What’s so funny!?” Rainbow blushed.

”Nothing, nothing!” Applejack snorted. “We were just thinking ‘bout that time Wallflower, Derpy, and Flash accidentally went through the statue and we had to get them back!”

”Oh yeah, that was pretty funny in hindsight.” Rainbow nodded. “And then we had to stop them running into each other and... yeah it was just a whole thing huh?”

“Indeed. And then we had to deal with Indigo and the Shadowbolts being so irritating on that cruise! Honestly, there’s a reason I didn’t bother going on any more of those after those first two.” Rarity pouted. “Though I must confess going on one that goes well would be welcome...”

“I probably won’t need an experience like that again...” Sunset sighed. “We had Starlight there too, didn't we? I hope she’s doing ok as well.”

”We know dear.” Twilight smiled, holding her girlfriend's hands and giving a heartfelt smile. ”And I’m sure they're all happy too, you know?”

”I know... sorry for bringing down the mood again. This is supposed to be happy.”

”Oh don’t talk about such nonsense darling! It’s perfectly understandable to feel like that!”

”Of course!” Fluttershy added with a smile. “You don’t have to worry about bottling things up!”

”We’re always here for you Sunset.” Applejack smiled. “Don’t go forgetting that, ya hear?”

”Yeah you big dummy! I thought Twilight would have knocked some sense into ya by now!”

“It’s still a work in progress.” Twilight blushed. “I’m known to be quite patient.”

“We both help each other, and I’m lucky to have her.” Sunset smiled at her girlfriend before facing the others. “I’m lucky to have all of you.”

”Oh great, we’re about to get sappy...” groaned Rainbow, before falling silent as Fluttershy gave her a harsh glare that sent both of them blushing.

”Oh don’t get all high and mighty darling. Need I remind you how you act when you’re drunk. Applejack has informed me that you are very much the same affectionate mess as always.”

”Hey we don’t need to talk about that!” Rainbow cried in protest.

”Ohhhhh don’t be so embarrassed Rainbow! We all love you too!” Pinkie smiled, as the other girl put her head in her hands.

”Hate it here,” she muttered.

”Anyways... now that we’re all here... should we head to Sugarcube Corner? It’s a little cold out here...” Fluttershy muttered.

”Oh right, good point. Is that alright Sunset?” Twilight asked.

”Oh yeah of course! I just... was wondering if I could say something first?” her friends looked confused for a moment, before nodding.

”I’m confused, did we tell her to be quiet...”

”Pinkie, she’s having a moment, let her have this.” Applejack explained.

“Thanks Applejack. Anyways... I guess I just wanted to say... that it's thanks to you that I can follow my true heart. You saw how good I could be. It’s thanks to you I can stand up to anything, and helped me realise I was free to be anything that I wanted to be. So thank you girls. Thank you for pulling me out of that pit. Thank you for being my very best friends.”

Sunset smiled at the group, only Rainbow scoffing as she muttered. “Man this really does take me back to high school. With the sappy speeches and all...”

”You say that like the power of friendship wasn’t a real thing we used several times Rainbow.” Fluttershy commented.

”That doesn’t make it less sappy!”

”Well, it’s true. I just wanted you all to know that.” Sunset managed to say while being hugged tightly by Pinkie Pie. “A-anyways let’s head off! Pinkie please, not so tight!”

”Oh yeah! It’s been ages since I’ve been to Sugarcube Corner! Come on girls!” Pinkie was distracted by the news as she dashed away, the other girls slowly following as Sunset sighed in relief.

She took a step forward, but paused, turning back to face the statue once more, gently placing her hand on its surface.

”Sunset? Are you coming?” Twilight asked in concern, staying behind longer than her other friends.

”Just a moment!” she called back, shutting her eyes for a moment. It was probably childish to even do this, but it was an important day for her too. Even if she was across the dimensional barriers, their bond of friendship remained just as strong.

”Happy anniversary princess.” Sunset whispered, before turning back, her hand interlocked with her girlfriend’s as they caught up to their friends.

And in a far off land, across realities and dimensions, Twilight Sparkle smiled.

”Happy anniversary girls.”