One month later

Rainbow trotted up next to her family as they stood on the bow of the ship they were on. She noted as they looked around in amazement at the Pillars of Hoofacles and the city beyond them. She said, “Magnificent, isn’t it?”

“Yep”, Rumble said, in a near-perfect imitation of Big Mac.

Her dad said, “Yeah, this is so cool! You live here?”

“Well, not in the city. My house is up on that cliff,” she said, pointing up at a cliff. “Inside my regiments fort. We can head up there now if you want.”

“Sure! Oh, I can’t wait to meet my Grandson!”, her mom said, squealing at the end.

Rainbow trotted towards the back of the ship, spotting Vexillum drinking out of a thermos near the back of the ship. He stopped mid-sip, saluting and saying, “Ave, Praetor. Anything I can help you with?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna take my family and my sister's coltfriend up to my house. I take it you can deal with getting the regiment resettled?”, she asked.

He shrugged and said, “Sure, Praetor. You’ve been through a lot; enjoy some time with your family. Vale.”

“Vale”, she replied. She made her way back to her family and told them, “Alright. My Second said he can deal with getting the troops back into the Castrum. Let’s head up. Follow me.”

She took off, her family right on her hooves. They flew up over the cliff, past the watchtowers on the edge of the cliff and towards her Castrum. They all slowed down and gawked at the well-laid-out fort before them, before picking up a bit of speed to catch up to her. They landed outside her house as Rainbow reached into her cloak to grab her key.

“Cool house, Mrs. Dash”, Rumble said.

Scootaloo said, “Yeah, this is awesome!”

“Just wait until you see the inside,'' Rainbow replied, finally finding the right key. Before she could stick it in, she noticed a distinctive smell. One she loved from her husband's usual recipes. After a few additional sniffs, she grinned. “Oh, Castus. You sly dog.”

Her parents also seemed to pick up the smell. Her dad said, “What’s that smell? It kinda smells good, but I haven’t really smelled anything like it before.”

Scootaloo also picked up the smell. “Yeah”, she said. “What is it?”

“Cuttlefish cakes”, Rainbow said, unlocking and pushing open the door into the foyer. Once again, they looked around in amazement at the inside of the foyer of the Praetorium. She yelled, “Castus! Sport! I’m home!”

Before she could even yell out anything else, a blur of several colors shot into her, sending her falling back and her officer's cap falling off her head. Depressi said, “You’re home! I missed you so much, mom!”

“Heh heh”, Rainbow giggled, nuzzling her son. “I missed you too. Now, I take it your dad is making dinner?”

“Yeah, he just”, he said, stopping when he saw the other ponies around him and his mom. He leaned down to her so his mouth was just above her ear. “Mom, who are all of these ponies?”

Before she could reply, Windy scooped up Depressi, using her wings to swing him around. “Hi, there! I’m your grandmother, Windy Whistles! Oh, I really can’t believe I’m finally meeting you!”

Depressi, meanwhile, attempted to get free, flapping his wings and struggling. Knowing it could get out of hoof easily, Rainbow said, “Mom! Please stop strangling my son!”

Windy stopped, before giggling and smiling sheepishly. As soon as she let him go, Depressi shot over to her, partially hiding underneath her. “Mom?”, he said, very nervous sounding.

Rainbow lowered her head to eye level with him and spoke to him slowly. “Sport. Don’t worry. These ponies aren’t going to hurt you or anything like that. These ponies are my side of the family.”

“These… these ponies are my family?”, Depressi asked, eyes going wide.

She chuckled. “Well, not the grey one, but yeah. The orange one is your Aunt Scootaloo, and the other two are your Grandmother and Grandfather.”

It was his turn to smile widely and dive at them. He wrapped in a hug around Rainbow's dad's neck, yelling, “THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!”

Finally, Castus came out of the house, muttering something before exclaiming, “What’s with all the yelling? Depressi, are you harassing the seagulls again?”

Rainbow said, “No. He’s just welcoming his Grandparents and his Aunt.”

He froze, looking around in stunned silence. “Well, this is a pleasant surprise.” He cleared his throat, before walking up to Bow, who still had Depressi around his neck. He held out his paw and said, “Hello, sir. My name is Castus, your daughter's husband. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Windy came up next to him, smiling widely as well and saying, “Hi there! I’m Windy Whistles, and like you said, it’s nice to meet you!”

“Thank you, Miss”, he said. “You raised a wonderful daughter.”

“I know,'' her dad said. “Our little dashie is so awesome!”

“Little Dashie, eh?”, Castus said, looking over at her and smirking.

Rainbow said, “I have your baby name, and you have mine. You don’t bring up mine, and I won’t bring up yours. Sound good?”

He seemed to roll it around in his head for a bit, before saying, “Deal. Now, how about we go inside, eh? I’m sure you smelled the cuttlefish cakes.”

“Yeah. And, get a bit more bread and prepare some more salad. Equestrians don’t eat meat, and so-”

“Actually, we wouldn’t mind giving it a try”, Scootaloo said.

“We wouldn’t?”, Rumble questioned, before getting a light smack with her wing. “I mean, of course, we would!”

“Sounds good. Still, make a little extra just in case they don’t like it.”

“Ok”, Castus said, heading back inside.

Rainbow said, “Let’s go. I’ll get us some drinks while Castus finishes up dinner.”

They followed her inside the main living room, sitting on the various seats and sofas around the room. As she went into the next room to grab some cups and drinks, her son came up next to her. He asked, “Mom? What are they saying?”

Rainbow wrinkled her snout. “They’re speaking in Equish. The language that Griffons speak. I’ll translate for you, and teach you about it at some point. Then you can talk to them. Sound good, eh?”

“Ok!”, he said.

The two of them headed back into the living room, Rainbow setting down the pair of bottles, one with water and one with wine, and several cups. He asked, “Water or wine?”

“Just water, please,'' Rumble said.

Scootaloo said, “Me too.”

Her parents both said, “Wine.”

As Rainbow poured the liquids into the cups, her mom asked, “So, how long have you lived here?”

“Ever since the fort was completed,'' Rainbow said. “So, about a year.”

The six of them sat around, laughing and chatting about their lives. How Scootaloo met and started Rumble for instance. Or some of Depressi’s antics. Her parents even attempted to bring up some old stories about Rainbow, but she shut them down and changed the subject quickly.

Finally, Castus yelled from the next room, “Dinner’s ready!” They got up and followed her into the dining room, sitting around the table. Castus came in with a platter of food on his back, setting it in the center of the table and sitting down himself. “I hope you enjoy.”

The seven of them began putting the food on their plates. They began eating, with her mom making a satisfied humming noise. When she finished her first bite of the cuttlefish cake, she said, “This is good! Dashie, would you mind if I steal your husband for a bit? Just so he can cook for me.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Whistles”, he said. “However, I’m afraid that slavery is highly illegal in the Empire.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say slavery. Just, helping me with some dinner from time to time”, her mom said, taking another bite of the cake.

“Would you pay him”, Rainbow asked, smirking.

Her dad said, “Of course! You know your mom.”

“Yeah”, Rainbow said. “I know her to be willing to do what it takes to get what she wants.”

“Like you don’t”, her husband said, before belting out laughing.

“True, true”, Rainbow replied, holding back her own snickering. “Still, I’m sure we can work something out. Maybe making him cook when we come back to Equestria to visit.”

“Come, back to Equestria?”, Scootaloo asked.

Rainbow swirled the wine in her glass, staring at her mirky reflection, before looking back up at her sister. “Well, I figured you wouldn’t want to stay in the Empire. Are you?”

“W-well yeah. But, you aren’t coming back with us?”, she asked.

“Squirt”, she said, slowly and carefully. “This is my home. I don’t like it as much as you, but I wouldn’t leave it for the world. I have a family, a job, and a new life here. I’m sorry, but this is my home now.”

“I get it,'' she said. “You’re right.”

Rainbow sighed, then scooted her chair back and stood up. “I’m going to go get a bit of air. I’ll be back in a bit. Sport, you can have my cakes; I know you like them.”

Rainbow made her way up the stairs at the end of the hall, before making her way to the balcony on the second floor. She could see almost the entirety of the city, from the city hall and markets to her troops making their way up the road to the fort. She looked over it, and couldn’t help smiling. This was her home.

Sure, she couldn’t visit her family as often as she would like, but that didn’t mean a thing. What was done was done, and she couldn’t change it. She felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time; something that happened all too often in Ponyville. Giving into it, she began to sing:

“🎵And now, the end is near.🎵
🎵And so I face, the final curtain.🎵
🎵My friend, I’ll make it clear.🎵
🎵I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.🎵”

“🎵I’ve lived, a life that’s full.🎵
🎵I’ve traveled each, and every highway.🎵
🎵And more, much more than this.🎵
🎵I did it my way.🎵”

“🎵Regrets? I’ve had a few.🎵
🎵But then again, too few to mention.🎵
🎵I did, what I had to do.🎵
🎵And saw it through, without exemption.🎵
🎵I planned, each charted course.🎵
🎵Each, careful step. Along, the by-way.🎵
🎵And more, much more than this.🎵
🎵I did it, I did it my way.🎵”

“🎵Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew.🎵
🎵When I bit off, more than I could chew.🎵
🎵But through it all, when there was doubt,🎵
🎵I ate it up; and spit it out!🎵
🎵I faced it all, and I stood tall.🎵
🎵And did it myyyy waaaay!🎵”

“🎵I’ve loved. I’ve laughed and cried.🎵
🎵I’ve had my fill, my share of losing.🎵
🎵But now, as tears subside,🎵
🎵I find it all, so amusing.🎵”

“🎵To think, I did all that.🎵
🎵And may I say, not in a shy way.🎵
🎵Oh no, oh no not me.🎵
🎵I did it myy way.🎵”

“🎵For what is a mare? What as she got?🎵
🎵If not herself, then she has naught!🎵
🎵To say the things, that she truly feels!🎵
🎵And not the words, of one who kneels!🎵”

“🎵The record shows! I took all the blows!🎵
🎵And did it, MYYYYY WAAAAAAYYYY!🎵”

She stopped, not even noticing Castus come up behind her. He said, “You have a wonderful singing voice.”

“Guess it’s the Equestrian in me. They love to sing; even more than Pryhans do. I haven’t sung in so long…”

He walked up next to her, resting a paw on her shoulder. He said, “Like you said, you have so few regrets. That’s the way to move on.”

“If you quote Drucius, I’ll drop-kick you off the balcony.”

“I won’t, I won’t. Now, come on in. Your mother is showing our son some old scrapbook she brought.”

Rainbows' face turned from one of serenity to alarm in ten seconds flat. “She brought it!?” She then scrambled downstairs, Castus smirking and following behind her.

And, that's it. The story is over, and so almost five months of work. Feels good. For those who have supported and all that, thank you. Have a nice day and a wonderful life!

Edit: This chapter has undergone a serious re-write. Any references or quotes in the comments section that don't line up with the current story are to be taken as a part of these re-writes. Thank you, and enjoy!

The song she sings is a slightly modified version of My Way by Frank Sinatra.