//------------------------------//
// Epilogue - Free at Last 
// Story: Lessons From Ponyville Elementary 
// by Blade Star 
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It was four or five days after Twilight and the others returned from their brief trip up north to the Crystal Empire. Dear Cadence had finally popped and the extended royal family now had a new addition in the form of little Flurry Heart; the first natural born alicorn in quite some time. 

I’d heard about the whole thing, both from Twilight, as well as from what I read in the papers. In the latter’s photographs on the new parents, I couldn’t quite believe that Cadence, barely a week after giving birth, following an easy labour I might add, already had her figure back. She was as thin and youthful looking as ever, and made pretty much every mother in Equestria feel jealous and briefly visit the gym in an attempt to get their weight down. 

I just felt sorry for poor Shining Armor. In all the photos, he looked far more haggard and worn out, with a ruffled mane and a fair amount of dark blue stubble growing all over his snout, never mind the bags under his eyes and the generally spaced out look. I guess you could work out which one of them was doing the night time feeding. 

The little foal was so adorable though, with large, oversized wings and an adorable little face. I’ll be honest; I’ve never liked the Cakes’ foals. It’s something about those soulless eyes of theirs, and the fact that one of them likes to walk on ceilings in the dead of the night, gurgling ominously all the time. Still, Flurry Heart was a cute little baby, although her alicorn magic was making for some problems. It was lucky that they were able to put the Crystal Heart back together in the end.

It was also nice to hear that Starlight had indeed met up with her old childhood friend, Sunburst. The stallion had done alright for himself. While not excelling, he was still very knowledgeable, and his quick thinking had earned him a place in the imperial family’s inner circle. From what I understand, he is now something along the lines of a godfather to Flurry Heart. 

And speaking of godfathers, Roger has been in the papers recently too, due to the part he played in busting up that mafia ring. I’ll admit, I was quite worried when I heard that he’d been investigating organised crime, even if it was just the pony version of it. Still, at least he wasn’t in Tartarus when he was doing that. 

The whole thing had happened just as little Flurry Heart was having her ceremony. In five or six different cities, Royal Guard, local police, and even the Griffon military had taken part in coordinated raids to arrest all the higher ups in this syndicate. From what Roger told me, the entire thing went off without a hitch. He even helped one pony and his family get a second chance at life. He’s now back to working with Celestia in court most of the time.

Not much else has happened really. At the end of the day, I’m just a schoolteacher; action and adventure rarely come my way. The only other big incident that I can think of happened a few months ago during Hearth’s Warming Eve. 

We both get our fair share of cards from friends in town and beyond. They all come in similar looking white envelopes, and there usually isn’t anything too remarkable about them. However, the couple of days before the holiday, Roger had a letter post marked from Canterlot. He’d had a few from up that way, a couple from the princesses, a few friends in the Royal Guard, along with a few nobles. A few of these came in nicer looking envelopes. So I wasn’t surprised when the cream coloured envelope, bound with a red wax seal on the back, landed on our doormat. It was addressed simply to ‘Roger’ with a post mark that indicated that it came from the headquarters of the Royal Guard in Canterlot Castle. It struck me as odd that there would be no address.

I managed to catch Derpy up a little way down the road and asked her about it. I was actually quite curious as to how such a simply addressed letter had made it through the postal system. The mailmare told me that it had arrived courtesy of a runner from the guard, with instructions for to deliver it here. Other than that, she didn’t know any more than I did, and was just as perplexed by the whole thing. 

Heading back home, I showed the letter to Roger when he got back. He was glad to have another card. Grabbing a letter opener from his office, he peeled off the wax seal. As it turned out, it wasn’t a card at all, but a letter. I didn’t see what it said, but it ran for a couple of pages and was written entirely in cursive in ink. The reaction in my husband was almost instantaneous. After reading perhaps one or two sentences, his eyes went wide in fear and he dropped the letter. I asked him what was wrong, but he didn’t reply. A moment later, he picked up the letter, stuffed it into his coat pocket and dashed out the door, saying only that he needed to see Twilight. 

Twenty minutes later, he came back, much calmer, and apologised for rushing out. He explained that the letter had come from a prisoner that he had helped put away. And while it didn’t say anything outright, it did make a few veiled threats. He had Spike contact Princess Celestia, who had now apparently cleared the matter up. She even sent a letter back, apologising to the both of us for the breach in security. 





That was all in the past now though. Both Hearth’s Warming and little Flurry’s arrival had come and gone, and things were now settling again into their usual quiet routines. Roger was still working in Canterlot on weekdays, but as of a couple weeks ago, he was no longer required to work in Tartarus. I was fine with that.

We’d had Celestia, Luna, and Discord around for a little get together not too long ago as well, which had been nice, if a little stressful for me. Now though, one of the best times of the year was coming up. Today was the last day of the school year. When the bell rang at three o’clock this afternoon, Cheerilee and I would be on holiday for the next six weeks.  





The day was coming to an end; the last day of the school year. The excitement in the air was palpable as the foals all tried their best to keep themselves from jumping up and down in their seats. Cheerilee and I were feeling just the same; in another half hour, no more marking, no more tests, no more lesson plans for six weeks. 

We’d already made out plans, just as the kids had. Cheerilee needed a break, and a good time. So, she, Milano, Lizzie and I were all going on a weekend trip to Las Pegasus, staying in one of the nicest hotels in the city.

“Alright, everypony, calm down,” I called out. “I know it’s nearly the holidays, but we’ve still got one more lesson to go.” The kids let out a collective groan.

“Oh, c’mon, don’t be like that,” I replied, smiling. 

I quickly set them their last bit of work, after briefly teasing the possibility of homework over the holidays. What can I say, all teachers are a bit of a sadist at heart. It wasn’t anything too taxing for them, just a couple of maths worksheets to complete. They all settled down to it fairly quickly, leaving me to relax for a moment, sitting down at my desk.

I began rooting through one of the desk drawers. As it was the last day, today was the day that all the ‘contraband’ that Cheerilee and I had confiscated over the year was returned. There were yo-yos, comic books, slingshots, and that one copy of Playcolt (I’d be having serious words with Snails’ parents soon enough). With the exception of that last item, they’d all be returned to their rightful owners, with the warning not to have them out in class again.

At that moment, Cheerilee walked into the classroom, causing a few heads to look up. She trotted over to my desk and we had a little natter. 

“Ah, holidays at last,” Cheerilee said, with some relief. “As much as I enjoy teaching all these colts and fillies, a break is always nice too.” I smiled at that.

“I hear that,” I replied. “You looking forward to our trip next week?”

“Of course,” Cheerilee replied with a nod of her head. “It will be nice to get back out there.”

Ah yes, after an acceptable amount of time moping around after she and Big Mac broke things off, Cheerilee seems ready again to put herself out there. Of course, going to Las Pegasus, she isn’t looking for anything serious. Like the song says; girls just wanna have fun. As for me, I did rather fancy a night on the town. Heck, I can’t do worse than Roger when he went there. Although I do hope I’m allowed to go back to Las Pegasus sometime after we’ve had our fun. He still can’t remember exactly what he did you know.

In any case, it would be fun for both those married and the single mares. Milano and me were quite happily spoken for, but that wouldn’t stop us from having a fun girls’ weekend out with our friends. 

The clock was ticking ever closer to three, when the last bell would go. Most of the kids had finished up their work, and we were letting them just chat amongst themselves, quietly of course. 

“What about you Apple Bloom?” Cheerilee asked. “Are you doing anything fun over the summer vacation?” The Crusaders all looked up and nodded enthusiastically. 

“We sure will, Miss Cheerilee,” the little filly replied. “Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and me are gonna see about getting’ our…” she paused. “What did ya call it again Sweetie Belle?”

“Our consulting office,” Sweetie Belle replied. 

“But it’s still the clubhouse though, right?” Scootaloo checked.

“Sounds like you three have a pretty good business start-up going,” I offered kindly. “You three really are becoming quite famous in town.”

“Yeah, as opposed to infamous,” Diamond Tiara added, for once good naturedly. 

“Look!” Apple Bloom suddenly piped up. With a hoof, she pointed toward the clock. The second hand was ticking down the last minute. In a little tradition that I think most schools had, we all counted down.

“Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one!”

With all the foals cheering, the bell let out its familiar shrill ring. Cheerilee and I also let out a welcome sigh of relief. 

“Okay, everypony,” Cheerilee called over the noise. “That’s it. Enjoy you summer vacation.”

“We’ll see you all in September,” I added. 

With that, the excited foals all charged out of the school and headed for their homes, all of them paused to wish us all well on our holidays. A few moments later, the once packed classroom was empty, save for me and Cheerilee.  

After checking that all the foals had found their parents or guardians, and were safely on their way home, Cheerilee and I began to close the school up for the summer. As ever, we stacked all the chairs, tidied up the classroom and our office, turned off all the lights, locked all the doors and windows, and generally made sure that everything was ship shape and Bristol fashion, as the saying goes. 

With everything sorted, we headed outside and locked the front door and the gate behind us. I wished Cheerilee well, and told her that I’d drop by her house on the morning that we were all due to catch the train to Canterlot. From their we’d take an airship, as well as a cloud walking spell, up to Las Pegasus. 

“Well, enjoy the next couple days to yourself, and I’ll see you when I see you,” I said to her, briefly hugging her in fond farewell. 

“Have fun yourself, Margaret,” Cheerilee replied. “Trust me, this vacation will go faster than you think.” Laughing, the two of us parted.





I decided to take the scenic route back home, heading over the bridge towards town hall. I stopped for a while on the bridge and looked down into the stream. The water level had dropped a bit but it was still flowing pretty full. The only time it didn’t was when there was a drought, which was rare considering the whole weather control ponies have, or when they dammed a portion of it up to use as a track for that soap box race they have for siblings. 

As I was staring down into the clear blue water, I heard the tell-tale whoosh sound of a pegasus passing overhead. Looking up, I spotted Lizzie. She was stunting; pulling all sorts of crazy manoeuvers that would make even a Harrier pilot jealous. Close behind was Rainbow. The mare’s become something of a mentor to her over this past year, showing her the ropes of flying and weather control. Now it seemed she was teaching her stunt flying. Well, being a Wonderbolt reservist, I guess she is qualified. 

“Nice one, Lizzie,” I heard a voice call out, catching my attention. Looking up across to one of the river’s banks, I saw Blade Star and Applejack sitting together watching the display. 

“I didn’t realise you two were here,” I said walking over to them both. “What brings you two out here than?” Bones gestured to the two pegasi.

“Lizzie’s tryin’ to learn some of RD’s tricks,” he explained. “She wanted me an’ ‘Jack to come watch. Ya know, have an audience and everythin’.” 

At that moment, Lizzie and Rainbow Dash pulled another manoeuver. Pulling up into a dead straight climb, they kept going until they ran out of speed, and began tumbling back down. Then, they began to criss cross over each other, with only a few feet between them, before finally pulling out a little way above the ground. I let out a low whistle.

“Wow,” I exclaimed. “I didn’t realise that she’d gotten so good.” Applejack nodded in agreement. 

“Eeyup,” she agreed, mimicking her older brother. “One year after becomin’ a pegasus pony, and she's already learnin' tricks. She’s certainly a better flyer than Scootaloo.”

“AJ!” Bones admonished, elbowing her and smiling. “Ah know you’re the most honest pony in Equestria, but ya don’t gotta be quite so blunt about it.” 

Lizzie and Rainbow now stopped their routine and hovered about fifteen feet up and called down to us.

“Hey, Mam!” Lizzie called out, waving a hoof. “What do you think? Dash says I’m almost good enough to apply for the academy like she did.”

“You certainly put on a good air show, sweetie,” I called back. 

“And what do the country bumpkins think?” That got her a blast of light blue magic, courtesy of her big brother, which she deftly dodged. “I’m just kidding!”

I laughed at that. Even as ponies, in a new world, the two siblings were still the devil to each other at times. Leaving the four ponies to their private air show, I continued to make my way back home. 

Huh, I guess I hadn’t realised, but I do think of our house as home. I wonder when that happened. When did I start thinking of Ponyville, or Equestria as my home? In all honestly, it was probably the day I landed a job teaching here. In one short year I’ve laid down a lot of roots, made lots of friends, and the odd enemy. I’m not sure even if I did find a way back to Earth that I’d take it. Hell, I probably wouldn’t. Because this place is my home. 

Getting to the house, I unlocked the front door. I quickly found myself accosted by Charlie, who was very happy to see me again. Making a quick fuss of him, I took off my jacket and hung it on the hook. Then, with the disguised changeling still following me, I plopped myself down on the sofa.

I let him feed off me for a moment to keep his strength up. Then I went over to the little store case where we keep all our film reels. Heading over to the projector that was placed up against the back wall, I put in a copy of some old Coronation Street omnibus. Then, pouring myself half a glass of wine, I let myself relax until Roger got home.