Epilogue
Epilogue
Rule the Roost was a board game played with two teams – girls versus boys, at Twilight's suggestion – on a colourful square board. About sixty-percent strategy and forty-percent luck, each pony moved a token on a dice-roll, working with their team-mate to round up as many chickens as possible into their coop before the other team got hold of them. A further element involved both teams having to protect their chickens from the Cunning Fox – played with appropriate levels of moustache-twirling evil cheesiness by Spike – who roamed the board trying to abduct chickens from the play area and either team's chicken coop.
The game lasted for over an hour, with everyone laughing, eating Spike's generously offered cookies, and enjoying the simple pleasure all the while. After the strange and emotional events of the days past, it was nice to just be together and do something normal.
Eventually, thanks to some lucky dice rolls and one inspired move on Twilight's part, the balance of power drifted inexorably towards Team Mare, and when Spike's next move stole another chicken from the board – complete with theatrical manic laughter – there were no longer enough left in play for Team Stallion to be able to win, and the game was over.
The girls were appropriately gracious in victory, but the losers had to pack the board and pieces away – that was the rule. Once all the bits were back in the box, Shining Armor carried it back to its appropriate spot, placed it neatly on the shelf, then returned to the group. He couldn't avoid a quick glance at the clock on the mantlepiece though, which was unfortunately noticed by Applejack, who began to look despondent.
"You really have to go back tomorrow mornin'?" she asked from where she was still laid next to Twilight. She hadn't quite gotten over her guilt, it seemed.
He just smiled a sympathetic smile and nodded as he settled himself back down next to Big Mac.
But Twilight had her thinking expression on. He'd seen it a million times before, and there was worse to come. Because then, her 'idea!' expression appeared. She lit her horn and from his peripheral vision Shining Armor saw her levitate what appeared to be a circlet made from daisies over to herself. He half expected her to eat it, but instead she placed it carefully atop her head, before whispering into Applejack's ear.
Applejack's face told a story of surprise, then shock, then horror and she looked back at Twilight in disbelief. In response, Twilight, not taking her eyes off Applejack, nodded deliberately to the side in his direction, with two short, jerky motions. Then with an expression that could only translate as, 'okay, if you're sure,' Applejack stood and stepped over to him. Adopting a position at his right hand side, and turning round to face Twilight, she stood over him, looked down at him, and placed her left forehoof lightly on his back.
"Um...I'm supposed to be arrestin' you."
Big Macintosh chuckled. Twilight grinned happily. Then she spoke.
"Thank you, Captain Applejack. Spike, take a letter..."
---
It was unusual for the guards to trouble Cadence in her private quarters once she had left the throne room for the morning. It usually suggested something was quite wrong, and the frantic pace of the knocking only served to unsettle her further.
She bid the caller come in, and through the door – in quite a hurry and with a flustered expression – entered her Guard Captain.
"Your highness!" Nervousness had served to increase his volume several decibels. He anxiously proffered her a letter. "We have just received this letter by mailmare from Ponyville. They have declared war on us!"
"What!?" Cadence nearly spilled her tea in shock.
"They have captured our Prince and are charging him with frivolous crimes! I knew he needed more protection..."
Cadence closed her eyes and took a breath. The Captain was a little excitable. Already this didn't sound like war.
"Do not worry, Princess. I am already canvassing volunteers for a rescue mission. We will get him back or die tr–"
"I think you had better let me see the letter, Captain."
"Of course your majesty!" He smartly held the letter out as Cadence took it in her magic and began to read. He adopted a confused expression as she read it through and began to laugh.
Dear Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.
I write to inform you that on his recent diplomatic visit, Prince Shining Armor has demonstrated complete disregard for the laws of our town.
His list of offences includes:
Treason – accusing the Princess of being "crazy";
Malicious damage – destroying a set of scientifically significant hoofprints;
Indecent assault upon Francesca the cow.
The penalties for these crimes are strict, and at my direction Shining Armor has been placed under arrest by Temporary Guard Captain Applejack and will, I'm afraid, have to remain in Ponyville until he has paid his debt to society.
However, in the light of certain acts of courageous heroism on his part, and in the interests of maintaining diplomatic relations, I have decided that the mandatory one-hundred-year jail sentence shall instead be reduced to two days in the Golden Oaks Maximum Security Library. Unless he wants to go outside, in which case he will be made to promise not to run away.
I trust you will have respect for our very serious, not-at-all-made-up laws in this matter, and I can promise that Shining Armor will be returned with all haste once his sentence is complete.
With warm regards,
--Twilight
It took nearly a full minute for Cadence to stop laughing. War indeed! Oh, she was looking forward to hearing this story. But it wouldn't be for a while yet...
"Is the mailmare still here?"
"Yes princess!"
"Send her up. She will be returning to Ponyville with another letter." She looked at the hesitant guard before her. She couldn't blame him for being overly cautious. Being cursed for a thousand years had that effect. "Do not worry, Captain," she reassured. "I will get our Prince back unharmed and without violence. Stand your men down. You've done very well."
The Captain snapped a salute and left as speedily as he'd entered, keen to bring the mailpony to the princess with all haste.
Cadence found a quill and parchment at her writing desk and, grinning, put pen to paper.
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle
I am shocked by Prince Shining Armor's terrible behaviour. I do not believe that a mere two days will be sufficient time to allow him to learn the error of his ways, especially considering the serious nature of these crimes.
I think you had better keep him for the rest of the week.
--Cadence.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- 8686 · 17k words · 211 2 · 3.7k views
- 8686 · 11k words · 800 8 · 11k views
- Softy8088 · 8.6k words · 971 11 · 11k views
- Ivory Piano · 261k words · 2,185 42 · 38k views
- ambion · 33k words · 1,008 18 · 11k views
- Captain Unstoppable · 81k words · 975 53 · 12k views
- MidnightDancer · 10k words · 957 10 · 14k views
- xjuggernaughtx · 3.8k words · 233 4 · 3.1k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
787 users online
635,357 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
what an ending, definately one of the best and most original stories ever.
Damnit, Twilight, starting diplomatic incidents over something as simple as assault and obstruction of justice.
What are we going to do with you?
Heartwarming story with a great ending? You just gained another follower.
3524883
Don't forget indecent assault!
Wizard, well done sir!
It pleases me greatly that you have graced us with these wonderful words.
You have a good season premier.
- Sasha
3524889
I didn't...
One of the best stories I've ever read on this site. Thank you, 8686.
3524891
for your ponyism of on of the greatest games in all of forever, I award you one moustache.
This was a sweet story. I loved it!
3520664
Wow, you're absolutely right! Now that somebody else has wrote down a few pages on the internet, there is POSITIVELY no chance of this becoming canon!
You how it goes! Ever since we bronies have been writing fics about Twilight becoming an alicorn, we've completely shut that idea down from the writers; and it will never, ever be an episode!
fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/066/2/8/commission__twilicorn_is_not_impressed__by_zutheskunk-d5xag2n.png
3524893
SEMANTICS!!!!!! LET US ARGUE THEM!!!
this story really made me smile at the end of it. Thanks, you are a fantastic writer, both mechanically and emotionally.
I must say I greatly enjoyed this! I was a tad apprehensive after the first chapter didn't really catch my attention, but I'm glad I stuck with it all the way through.
Phenomenal, great job at getting the characters perfect- as well as giving me a new headcanon for Big Mac. This should be an episode of the show.
I was expecting shenanigans and instead I got feels and character growth.
Much better than what I expected.
15/10. Go feel bad about yourself. -Game Informer.
Hilarious. 11/10 Would read again.
You forgot 'Inappropriate Subtext With A Close Relative.'
I love this story. It's very heartwarming, and I especially liked the ending.
This needs to be an episode of the show. Seriously.
Better yet, two episodes. At least.
A truly excellent and heartfelt story, nothing more needs to be said on a critical level, it's perfect, very well done, I'm still smiling and on the verge of manly tears, the ending was priceless.
Favourited, and also have an upvote
Loved it.
Honora Imperator
A great story, beautifully written, with almost exact behaviors one would expect from characters in the show.
11/10.
I'm expecting great things.
and then shining starts going paranoid about cadence cheating on him because of teh way she worded the letter
Gosh darn it, there's no need to be that humble about your story, It was a good idea and you carried it out through perfectly.
I would love to know what the killing-spree idea was. (unless it was just a joke
)
Thank you, and have a great Season 4!
I wish there was a way to upvote more than once on these. Seriously, best. story. EVER!
I was busting my gut just as hard as Cadence was. Well done.
Also, that board game seems like fun. I would like to figure out how that could be played or even made. Plus, I like how you actually made an entirely new game.
good story^^
i want to read that
With the way things were going, I was half expecting Twilight and Big Mac to get together thus actually sparking some tension between Mac and Armor with the whole 'make sure he's good enough for my sister' spiel. Slightly disappointed it didn't since I'm a TwixMac fan and all but still a good story.
Ya dun good, friend. Ya dun good.
10/10
Very nice. I found myself nodding sagely to the interactions between Shining and Big Mac, and feeling enormous warm and fuzzy feelings at the interactions between the siblings. And the ending hit JUST the right note with me. Friends are the family you choose, after all. Two thumbs up.
An excellent end to a fantastic fiction. Well done, well done indeed. You deserved to be featured, with all of the popularity that comes with it.
If you truly think you are so unworthy then I am afraid that I shall have to hunt you down and beat you about the head. I, for one, thought that was lovely, and well-deserving of its success, so there. Ya boo sucks.
Great story. This chapter was incredibly funny. This was my favorite chapter of the story. The others were all close behind. You did great.
3525379
I put the picture in my comment.................-_-
Just look at the awards in the upper right-hand corner.
Stop assaulting me with these chapters, my feels cant take it any longer!
Also, second best star trek quote ever! of all time
This was well done...very well done.
10/10
I think we can all learn a lesson from that. Bravo! I loved the ending especially. It was nice of the older brothers to let their little sisters win at a board game. How sweet.
I see a lot of 10/10's going on here. To this i say BAH!
3524930 Don't forget humanizations, those are fairly common, as well. Hasbro and Studio B could never do those either.
Disappoint? My good writer, I have you and this story to thank for getting me back into FimFiction stories at all. I can't believe I've been missing out on such great works, and thanks to you I'm back to reading online stories again. Thank you. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Undoubtedly one of the best fics I have read on this site. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Such is the way of the law
As the 500th like, good story!
Very in line with the show, and something I could see if it was an episode.
I'm a steady believer in the dread of an ending, for I hate an ending more often than not.
Endings are harder to pull off well, than anyone realizes.
This ending was almost totally perfect <3
I honestly have nothing bad to say about this fic, i think it might even be my #1 favorite to be honest.
That was one of the greatest things I've read in a long time. It was absolutely Shakespearean. Tears threatened my eyes when you deployed the feel cannon, and I couldn't help laughing at the jokes.
This from a guy who prides himself on his poker face.
Keep up the good work!
Wonderful ending to one of the best stories on this site.
Have you thought about submitting this to EQD?
This story just got better and better as it went on, ultimately rewarding us with a pitch-perfect blending of the two families... This is some Grade-A friendshipping!
I also think it's a nice example of the dynamics of siblings who spend every day together and siblings who don't. I know the last fight I had with my brother was well before he left for college. I can see how Shining Armor and Twilight could never fight, with their future careers separating them often even in childhood.
In any event, I thoroughly enjoyed the characterization of all parties here... Nicely done and thanks for sharing it!
Amazingly Done. Very nice cute story.
That has to be one of the best slice of life stories I have ever read in my time here in Fimfiction. And I read many.
3523855
I, on the other hoof, have never heard someone say potahto.