What'd I tell ya? Here's the epilogue to the first volume of Royals, Friends and Lovers!

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Epilogue: Breakouts and Alliances

Written by Zack Wanzer and James Riddle

"Hey, Vincent," said Watermelody, snapping him out of his thoughts, "want to go to Sugarcube Corner for a milkshake?"

"Sure, smiled Vincent, "all that remembrance has made me a little parched. How about you, Comet? Care to join us?"

"Don't mind if I do," the yellow unicorn stallion replied, and with that, the three friends trotted off to Sugarcube Corner.

Unknown to them, two pairs of blue eyes were spying on them from the bushes.

"Och, believe me, Vincent," said a female Scolttish accent from the lighter pair of blue eyes, "yon troubles are only joost beginnin'!"

"You're not the only one who has their own agenda, Golden Lass," said the second voice, "unfortunately, my target is nowhere to be seen."

"No matter, Icy Heart; I imagine she'll turn up soon enough," said Golden Lass.

"Agreed," replied Icy Heart, "so until she does, I suppose you want us to focus on taking down Vincent?"

"Correct," replied Golden Lass, "and with the recent news of Scattered Marbles being arrested for foal abuse, I reckon he could be an excellent ally to us."

"You suggest that we bail him out?" asked Icy Heart.

"Exactly." Golden Lass gave an evil grin.

"I hear he's being dealt with by a sadistic guard named Whiplash," said Icy Heart, shuddering in fear after mentioning his name.

"Ye know him?" asked Golden Lass.

"All too well," explained Icy Heart, "years ago, I was arrested for foal abuse, and he beat some tar out of me, but I managed to escape with my life. I'm not going through that again."

"You're not chicken, are ye?" Golden Lass mocked.

"No!"

"Then let's go!" said Golden Lass, and with that, the two unicorns both vanished in a burst of light, reappearing at Canterlot.

"Here we are," said Golden Lass, "now to get to that prison."

"But what about the guards?" asked Icy Heart.

"Leave them to me," said Golden Lass. The two unicorn mares snuck up to the entrance of the castle, and then Golden Lass cast a spell from her horn, causing a mist to enter the castle and surround every guard there was, causing them to fall right asleep.

"That should take care of them for a while," said Golden Lass. She and Icy Heart then quietly made their way down the halls, searching for directions to the prison.

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Meanwhile in the prison, Whiplash was beating up on Scattered Marbles in one of the cells. The dark yellow stallion didn't look as tough as he did when he had been arrested. His entire body was covered in bruises and whiplashes, his wings were dislocated, he had two black eyes, and he was too weak to even get on all four hooves when Whiplash threw him to the ground.

"Get up, you useless worm!" Whiplash snarled darkly.

"I can't!" Scattered Marbles cried in pain.

"Then let me help you," said Whiplash sadistically. He levitated Scattered Marbles into the air and slammed him against the wall five times.

"Looks like that should be enough for now," said Whiplash, dropping Scattered Marbles to the ground, "I don't understand why Princess Celestia shouldn't let me kill freaks like you right away!"

"I'm not a freak!" snapped Scattered Marbles, before clutching his wing in pain.

"All foal abusers are freaks in my book!" snarled Whiplash, "Equestria would be a better place without them!"

And on that note, he slammed the cell door shut, locked it tightly, and trotted off. Using what little strength he had left, Scattered Marbles weakly crawled towards the wall and propped himself up.

"I let you down, Ivy," he sais sadly to himself, "but I'll find a way to make up for it. I promise…"

"Poor old Scattered Marbles," said a voice.

The dark yellow stallion jumped in fright; had Whiplash returned early? No, thankfully. It was instead two unicorn mares he'd never seen before.

"You were just trying to avenge your wife's death," Icy Heart said sympathetically, "but how do those fools show their appreciation for you? By calling you a freak, sadistically torturing you, and locking you away for half a century! It's not fair, is it?"

"N-no, it isn't," Scattered Marbles moaned, "wh-who are you, and what do you want?"

"Ye can just call uz Icy Heart and Golden Lass," said the bright ochre unicorn mare, "and we're here tae help ye escape."

Icy Heart's born glowed and fired a spell at the door. It instantly turned into solid ice allowing Golden Lass to break it open.

"Now let's get oot of here!" she exclaimed.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm in serious pain!" retorted Scattered Marbles.

Reluctantly, Icy Heart used her magic to lift Scattered Marbles onto her back. They then raced out of the prison.

At that moment, Whiplash came back and he could not believe what he was seeing.

"HE'S ESCAPED!" he shouted furiously. Then he noticed the chunks of ice. He picked one up and sniffed it. "So… she's finally come out of hiding," Whiplash said darkly, "the hunt is on!"

He then let out an angry roar which echoed all around the castle.

"Sounds like another foal abuser escaped from Whiplash," a guard muttered.

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Meanwhile, Icy Heart and Golden Lass had brought Scattered Marbles to their secret lair and began nursing him back to health.

"You see," said Golden Lass, "all four of us have something in common; the desire for revenge."

"What do you mean, four?" asked Scattered Marbles, "There's only three of us."

"Not for long," a slightly distorted female voice replied, and in entered Queen Chrysalis.

"Chrysalis? Queen of the Changelings?" remarked Scattered Marbles.

"The one and only," remarked Queen Chrysalis, "who might you be?"

"Scattered Marbles," the dark yellow stallion grumbled, "and Fluttershy's my crybaby little sister."

"He has been arrested for foal abuse," said Icy Heart, "we rescued him from being tortured to death by Whiplash." She shuddered after saying that name.

"Well, then, you are lucky to have survi…" Queen Chrysalis paused, and then stared at Scattered Marbles. "Did you mention anypony by the name of Fluttershy?"

"Yeah," he grunted, "why?"

"She is one of my enemies," explained Chrysalis, "and what makes it worse is that she is an ally of Twilight Sparkle."

"So, Scattered Marbles," said Golden Lass, "will you join us and help us take down our enemies?"

"What's in it for me?"

"Allow me to answer your question with one of mine," Golden Lass grinned, "would you like to see your beloved Ivy again?"

Before Scattered Marbles could respond, Golden Lass' horn glowed and enveloped him with a bright light, causing him to shield his eyes. When he looked, Scattered Marbles could see a familiar orange Pegasus mare with a green mane hovering down towards him.

"Scattered Marbles…" it called.

"Ivy!" cried Scattered Marbles. Ivy's spirit gently glided down until Scattered Marbles had her in his hooves.

"Oh! Ivy, my darling!" he cried happily, "I thought I would never see you again." As the two moved closer to kiss, the light faded and Ivy had vanished.

"Ivy?" Scattered Marbles called, sounding rather heartbroken.

"Not to worry," said Golden Lass, "your dream will soon be a reality."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Scattered Marbles.

"What if I told you that I knew a spell that could bring the dead back to life?" asked Golden Lass.

"Y-you can?" asked Scattered Marbles.

"I could bring Ivy back to you," offered Golden Lass, "all I ask in return is that you join us and help us achieve our revenge. Do we have a deal?"

"It's a deal!" remarked Scattered Marbles, getting up and then down again after a groan of pain.

"It may take a while for you to fully recover," said Icy Heart, "so you'd better relax until then."

"When do we strike?" asked Scattered Marbles.

"When the time is right," said Icy Heart, "and when our army is ready."

Scattered Marbles noticed a red curved shard on the wall. It almost looked like a horn.

"What might that be?" he wondered out loud, "Some kind of trophy?"

"It is the remains of a once powerful ruler," said Chrysalis, "Icy Heart says she found it whilst traveling through the North."

"Are you gonna do anything with that?" asked Scattered Marbles.

"We could use it to resurrect the pony who used that horn," said Golden Lass.

"Will he also be in our army?" asked Scattered Marbles.

"There's the possibility if he agrees to it," said Golden Lass. She then looked out a window towards the sky. "Beware, Vincent van Colt – when I'm through with you, you'll be mine… forever!"

THE END?

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With a line like that, you know it's not over until it's over. For the first volume, I'd say James and I made a few successful stories, wouldn't you agree with me? Expect volume two to begin sometime in the fall, so keep an eye out!