Epilogue - Eight Years Later

"Ruby, look, you're a grown mare now, so I trust you'll take care of yourself, but I can't help but be wary of sailors. They go port to port in more ways than one, and I know he seems nice, but well, you could just be his Ponyville filly."

"I know, Paddock, it's just that Armada treats me so well, you know he took me out in Manehattan last time he was on leave, he's planning to take me to Stalliongrad for All-Hearts-Day."

"Why did you come to me anyway? I thought your mother would have been more use to you when talking about colts?"

"Oh, yeah, because her taste is so, so in tune." Ruby says, nudging you in the ribs and laughing, “I don’t know, part of me just feels like it’d be better if you AND Mom liked him.”

"Ruby, if he makes you happy then I’ve got no place telling you to ditch him, just please be careful, okay? Besides, if I recall, you were an item with that Scootaloo the other month? At Snappy's knighthood? You know you don’t have to hide that sort of stuff from me."

"Dad, it was one kiss, at a party, to get the attention of that cute new assistant librarian, not that it worked," Ruby starts, rolling her eyes, "Besides, I noticed you and Mom slipped away for a little while."

You pause for a moment, smiling broadly.

"Here I was thinking you'd decided not to call me that again, you know it makes me well up."

Ruby hugs you, your old frayed cap still backwards on her head in the same way she had worn it as a child.

"You'll always be my Dad, Paddock. You looked after me and Mom, did all the stuff my birth dad should have done."

A few tears roll down your cheek, and Berry appears. She has aged slightly, her first few gray hairs now showing, but she is still the wonderful and amazing mare you fell in love with. Ruby had grown up looking very similar to how her mother had been all those years ago, and like Berry had become rather popular with colts and the occasional mare; although she tried to hide it from you. She had even started working part time in the bar whilst she tried various different ventures on the side, and many of Ponyville's inhabitants considered the business better on the whole with Ruby behind the bar as well as her mother and step-father.

Tonight though, you and Berry were waving Ruby off on the start of her own journey, aiming to become a member of the royal guard. Very few mares ever made the physical demands required for such a job, but it wasn't completely unheard of. You and Berry had both at first tried to discourage her, believing that she was simply chasing a stallion, but watching her work in the bar, being able to handle ponies from all walks of life, part of you knew that she would one day make a fine police officer.

Watching Ruby climb on board the chariot pulled by two of Her Majesty's pegasus guards, you and Berry start to cry. Granted, Ruby would be back every few weeks, but you would miss having her around a great deal and you were genuinely concerned for her safety during the extensive trials and tests required for those joining the guard.

Berry nudges you, wiping her tears away on your coat.

“You do realise that this means we finally have the house to ourselves, right?”

A smile creeps onto your face.

“Aye, that I do, Berry, that I do. Let’s go home and celebrate.”

fin

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