EPILOGUE

As promised, here's the epilogue. Amazingly, this is the third chapter I've been able to post today. It's been a long time since I've written this much in a single day. I hope you all enjoy the ending of volume 9. Please review.

"So it was all a trick to make Shadow disappear?" Dash asked in surprise. "So she could hunt down bad ponies for the ESA...which Discord is over?"

"Yep...that's pretty much the gist of it." I answered with a shrug before taking a drink of my coffee.

"So Shadow's okay?!" Budder asked gleefully, almost leaping from her chair onto the dining table.

"Yeah, she is." I answered. "But keep it on the down-low. I don't even think I'm supposed to be telling you guys this stuff. It's supposed to be a big national secret, understand?"

"Yep!" My sister chirped. "I won't say a thing." She paused. "We'll see her again, right, bub?"

"Well, I did say I'd stop by." A familiar voice replied. We all turned to see Shadow leaned up against the door frame of the dining room. She was wearing a black, tight-fitting one piece suit with red accents, and a spiked collar. Two wicked-looking trench knives hung from a belt at her sides.

"Shadow...didn't expect to see you this soon." I said, rising to greet her. Shadow walked into the room and my sister ran to her and hugged her like a long-lost aunt.

"I'm going on a job. There's ponies that need killin', and I leave tonight. I just thought I'd stop in and...ya know, see ya before I go." She explained. "I guess uh..." The fearsome undead killer was acting a little shy now. "I wanted to see my...family...before I had to go..."

"I'm glad you did." I said. "You come back from your mission, you hear me? And stop by when you get back...let your family know you're okay."

"I will." She said dutifully.

"Pick us up a snowglobe or a tee shirt or something from the gift shop." I grinned.

"Oh for fuck's sake..." She groaned, shaking her head. "There it is..." She sighed and gave me a small smile. "I'll come back and visit when I'm done savin' the world, assbutt."

"We'll be waitin'." I stated. She walked out of the dining room, and we heard the front door open and close.

"She's very..." Dash muttered.

"Unique..." I concluded. I sat back down at the table and picked up my mug. Then again, she was our friend. Of course she was bound to be strange. Who likes normal anyway?

So ends volume nine of 'One Pony's Tale: The Drake Chronicles'. I hope at least some of you enjoyed this arc of Drake's life. This story has been a labor...so much has happened since I started writing this volume...I want to take the time to dedicate this story to my grandmother, Lerlie Salisbury-Harrington. She asked me almost every day how my stories were coming along. Now that she has passed away, things are so very different. I've become not only the heir to the family home, and to the entirety of my family history. All of the photos and keepsakes of my maternal lineage are now my responsibility.

I will be starting a new volume soon, probably tomorrow. It will be a bit different from the last few, and will center around Drake and family's domestic life. Expect the sort of comedy and wit you've seen out of the gang in previous stories, only more of it. Also, there will be four more stories left in the series, three if I decide to end the series on a high note. Oops, did I type that? Spoiler, maybe? You'll just have to wait and see. I will be back soon with the next volume, everypony. -Drake