//------------------------------//
// Epilogue-20 years later 
// Story: Live While we're Young 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

Gallus sighed as he stepped off the train from Canterlot and set off into the streets of Ponyville. The School of Friendship was hosting its annual reunion, and he, like all the other students of his class, had been invited to return to the school and find out how everybody was getting along.

The passage of 20 years had certainly changed him. Gone was the small, lanky griffon who had roamed these streets all those years ago. He was now quite a big griffon, with rippling biceps and strong, powerful limbs. His face retained something of his teenage looks, so there was that, but he was certainly no being that you'd mess with.

Not least because he was not only the first non Pony to succesfully join the Royal Guard, but to rise to the very top of its ranks as Captain. Whilst claims of nepotism on the part of the Princess continued to float about, Gallus just ignored them. The stories had no basis in fact, and creatures no longer made their minds up about entire issues based on silly rumours. Because that was just silly.

He strolled along, noting that Ponyville had changed very little in the 20 years since he'd been a student here. The street layout was still identical, and his friends were still around. The shops and businesses had barely changed, but a few of the faces had. Mr and Mrs Cake had retired and handed Sugarcube Corner over to their children, Pound and Pumpkin Cake, who did a very fine job of running the place. Carousel Boutique was also under new management, as Rarity now lived in Yakyakistan and did designing there.

As he trotted past Carousel Boutique, two more of his friends emerged into the light, having finished work for the day. Sandbar and Yona shut up shop and joined him on the road. They had changed a lot, too. Sandbar had indeed grown, but didn't seem to have quite the right proportions. Indeed, he was tall, but quite lanky, and his legs didn't quite look right in proportion to his body. It was a if somepony had taken a jpeg of him and stretched certain bits in size without adjusting the proportion settings, rendering some bits comically small and others too big.

Yona did not have this issue. She was now a towering wall of muscle and bone, not the sort of thing you got in the way of. Despite how massive she was, she always made sure to let others go ahead of her and didn't use her brute force to get her way.

"Hey, Gallus, how are you?" Sandbar called, as the trio strolled towards the School of Friendship.

"Work was more of the same," Gallus replied. "Even in my position it's possible to get bored. In the last 20 years, there hasn't been a single threat to Equestria. Even so, we still play a ceremonial role, and I suppose if some idiot were to try assassinating the Princess (and I really have no idea why they would) we'd be able to stop them pretty easily. I stepped up the training as they were actually in a shocking state after Celestia and Luna's reign."

"Sounds tough," Sandbar replied, his voice now noticably deeper and a lot more mature than all those years ago. "Well, I went into business with Yona producing clothing for pony and non pony customers. Rarity was kind enough to lease us the old Carousel Boutique building, and we've used it as our headquarters ever since. We sure get a lot of business here! I imagine being next to Equestria's most succesful school helps business a lot."

"Yona love new business!" the Yak smiled, as they continued on their way. "Customers so nice and friendly! None of the old prejudice we used to get."

"Twilight's program of social harmony sure paid off," Gallus grinned. "Nowadays, the sight of creatures of other races is no normal that most ponies don't even think twice about it."

Sandbar chucked. "To think we blazed that particular trail, eh?"

At long last, they arrived at the entrance to the School of Friendship, where a familiar face hopped out of the water and switched to hippogriff mode. Silverstream was quite a bit taller and leaner than in the past, with a long neck and a lot more fluff on her legs, but she was also a bit pudgier, probably the side effect of bringing two chicks into the world. It had astonished the medical community that griffons and hippogriffs could crossbreed with no apparent difficulty, their genetics being so similar.

"Hi!" she cried, and wrapped her forelimbs around Gallus' neck. "Wow, you would not BELIEVE how crazy work was today! I was helping to teach friendship lessons with fish and some of the students found it REALLY, and I mean REALLY smelly! So much so, we loaded it into a Party Cannon and BOOM we fired it off over the school! It looked really great, though Headmare Starlight didn't appreciate being buried in fish."

"I only wish my days were as exciting as yours, my dear," Gallus said, as he nuzzled her cheek gently. "Shall we head indoors? I think our friends are waiting for us."

"Oh! Of course!"

The doors swung open, and inside Smoulder and Ocellus were waiting. Again, much like Sandbar, Smoulder appeared to have been stretched in editing software, as her frame was roughly the same shape, just quite a bit taller. Ocellus had also grown a fair bit, having shed several layers along the way. She now stood as tall as Sandbar did, but retained the same basic shape, showing none of the traits of a Queen whatsoever. Her progression had been, by far, the most dramatic. Apart from becoming the mother to two nymphs, Princess Twilight had appointed Ocellus to the position of Astronomer Royal, a very important job that had her reading the stars. Although there had been some grumbling about appointing a Changeling to the job, Ocellus' skill in the job had quickly dispelled all criticism. She and Sandbar shared a moment together as husband and wife, separate from the constrains of their jobs, before she addressed them.

"Twenty years ago," she said, "I came here as a young, nervous, and shy being, unsure of my place in the world and not sure where life would take me. I imagine we all felt that way. But then I met each and every one of you, and our friendship changed our lives forever. We fought off evil, made many happy memories, and found our callings- and in some cases, love with each other. So I propose a toast. To friendship!"

"To friendship!" the six cheered, raising glasses into the air and downing them.

And so, our volume comes to an end. With the Six together once more, they would remain... Best Friends until the End of Time.