Being a Saturday, the Sweet Snacks Café was about as lively as one would expect, being almost jam-packed full of all the local teens who loved coming there for the sweet and delicious confectionaries they were so famous for making. The waitresses were in full swing right now, roller-blading over to each and every customer they had, always with a smile on their faces and lovely-looking milkshakes in their hands. But, curiously enough, the most active member of their staff, Pinkie Pie, was not among them during this tumultuous time. And that was because not only was this her day off, but she was also here as a customer herself. And not just her, but all of her friends too, who sat together in their usual corner both, downing their favourite flavours of milkshake. While most of them enjoyed this moment, Rainbow and Applejack, naturally, had made something of a contest out of their drinks, and were eyeing one another as they finally finished, with Rainbow emerging as the victor.

"Yes! In your face!"

Chuckling, the farmer girl tipped her hat to that.

"Fair’s fair, Rainbow. Good job."

Looking to them both, Sunset put on a smile.

"Good job to all of us, remember?"

The girls all looked to her as she raised a particular piece of paper, an essay she'd recently been given back, with a big red "A+" stamped on the top. The other girls all smiled to this, looking down at their own papers, which all had similar grades given to them. Pinkie especially giggled to this.

"Nothing's better than spending time with friends after a big old successful assignment!"

Twilight, adjusting her glasses, nodded to this.

"I couldn't agree more, Pinkie. After all the hard work we put into this, we deserved a nice break."

There was a general murmur of agreement over that, and after a brief bout of silence, Fluttershy spoke next.

"It'll be nice, having this get-together, given..."

A grimace came to her.

"...given that I need to talk to Zephyr when I get home."

Rainbow frowned to that.

"Ugh! What's he done this time?"

Sighing, Fluttershy began to explain.

"My parents are trying to get him to start thinking about what he wants to do once his final year in the school is over. I mean, they're not being pushy about it, obviously, knowing them, but they still want him to think on it."

Rarity looked over to her.

"Well, here's hoping he has a plan, like we do."

Sunset looked to her with curiosity.

"Oh? You have something in mind, Rarity?"

The young fashionista, sweeping aside some of her hair, nodded back to that.

"Indeed I do, darling. I like to think my career in the local fashion world is going well, slowly but surely. I've already caught the eye of a few notable names, and even if that weren't the case, my time working at the local stores has given me a great deal of insider experience."

Fluttershy smiled to this.

"I know the feeling. After all the time I've spent volunteering down at the animal shelter, the manager there actually asked me if I wanted to stay on in a more permanent role once my time at CHS is over."

Pinkie smiled widely to her partner's declaration.

"That's sounds super-great, Fluttershy! I'm sure you'd love it there!"

Fluttershy smiled right back to her girlfriend's assurance, before looking to her with curiosity.

"And you, Pinkie?"

Leaning back into her side of the booth, the party-lover took no time whatsoever before replying to that.

"Weeeeeeeell...as you all know, I work plenty of jobs, including this one right here..."

She gestured to the rest of the café, even giving a wave to some of her fellow waitresses, which was promptly returned, before finally continuing to speak.

...but what I really want to be getting into is my cooking! I've already started looking into a few places that are hoping to hire a baker or dessert chef of some kind, or at least someone with starter experience. And from there, well, we'll wait and see."

Chuckling to that, Applejack used a finger to scoop up the last bits of froth from the side of her milkshake glass and tasting it before adding her voice to the proceedings.

"Well, y'all know mah family's orchard is a pretty full responsibility. Oh, sure, ah've worked on it plenty, but when mah time at CHS is done, it may well be mah full-time life."

Her friends looked to her, and as a result, she decided to clarify.

"Now that's not sayin' ah won't be lookin' fer other stuff, but ah think we all know where mah heart lies."

They all nodded to that, and soon after, they turned to Twilight, who began to speak up next.

"Well, as you'd probably expect, I plan on continuing my experience in the sciences, and I've been looking into a number of Colleges that specialize in it. When CHS is done, I intend to carry on in my education."

Rainbow gave a smile to her friend.

"Yeah, figured you'd do that.”

Twilight looked back to her with some curiosity.

"And you, Rainbow?"

The athlete shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, you all know I probably won't be breaking out as some mega-level rock-guitarist, so I figured it'd be best to focus on my other great love."

A smirk came to her.

"I always keep an eye-out for try-outs for the various sports teams around town. They're always looking for people who look like they can go far, and with luck, that might just be me making headlines about some big score somewhere."

Sunset, having finally finished off her own milkshake, smiled to her.

"Sounds like quite a dream, Rainbow, but don't forget to get yourself something to fall back on if sports don't go your way."

Looking back to her, Rainbow nodded.

"Don't worry, I won't let ambition make me put all my eggs in one basket, Sunset. And speaking of which..."

She gained a curious look herself.

"...how about you?"

Letting out a long sigh, Sunset looked to all her friends before replying to that.

"Honestly? I'm not sure what I want to be doing. I considered maybe trying to become a teacher, like Princess Celestia was, but I'm not sure if it's something I'd be happy doing."

Seeing their Equestrian friend be so unsure about her future caught them off-guard, and Pinkie Pie especially seemed to be eager to find something to cheer her up. But then, just as she was thinking on that, the door of the café opened, and into it came, of all people, Pinkie's older sister, Maud. Smiling, the party-lover waved enthusiastically to her.

"Ooooh! Ooooh! Maud! Over here!"

The amateur geologist made her way over, giving a small nod to each of her friends before finally glancing to her sister.

"Everything okay, Pinkie?"

Pinkie glanced from her, to Sunset and then finally back to her sister.

"Well...Sunset's a bit worried about her future after CHS, so I was wondering if you had any inspirational ideas? You know, about what your goals are maybe?"

Though Sunset was slightly irritated at her friend just blurting out her concerns like that, she was nevertheless grateful for the help, and in fact started to look to Maud herself, curious as to what the older girl would say. After a while, the seemingly-emotionless elder sister began to make her case.

"My biggest goal in life is to not wake up at the age of forty with the crushing realisation that I've wasted my life in a job I hate because I was made to feel like I had to have my whole life planned out while I was still a teenager."

Silence fell over the group, and all of the other girls looked on at Maud with both uncertainty and some measure of discomfort. All, that is, except for Pinkie, who grinned widely at her sibling.

"Thanks, Maud! Great advice! Okay, you can go and have a milkshake and stuff now!"

Maud nodded, then got back to heading to the counter, all while Pinkie looked over to Sunset.

"See, Sunset? There's no rush! You can still enjoy life and not have to worry about the future just yet!"

Though Sunset wasn't quite as excited about the proclamation that Maud had given, she could still appreciate what was behind it, and so, after letting out a sigh, she gave a warm smile to her pink-haired friend.

"Thanks, Pinkie. I guess...I could enjoy not having a plan for a bit."

Folding her arms, Pinkie took on a somewhat prideful look.

"See? When in doubt, just ask Maud."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow to that.

"Yeah...not sure if I’ll be doing that anytime soon, Pinkie."

Pinkie rolled her eyes at her friend’s words.

"Ugh! Great wisdom is never appreciated in its time!"