100 years after the end of the curse in Glendale, the Big Bad Wolf Pack's elder lay lazily in one of the main rooms watching over the present pups of the Pack, some of them had Leoman parents, but it seemed that they didn't have Leoman features. The elder didn't know for certain how that worked. Dogs that were crossbred commonly had the features of both breeds. The same was true with cats. Ligers or Tions, lion and tiger crossbreeds (ligers=tigress+male lion)(Tion=lioness+male tiger) commonly had the features of both big cats. And children of dragons and one of the species of man seemed to have the traits of both, but Leoman and Lupman crossbreeds tended to take the form of one of the two, and more often then not, they were Lupman.
"Amy?" a voice said from behind her.
Amy turned her head to see friends from her childhood. Alice, Abbey, and Samantha. They were still made of indestructible glass, and now were the age of teenagers, the breasts beginning to blossom on their chests, though while in their glass form they were rather "hard". Amy only shook her head at that. Her own breasts and pulled into her chest when she reverted back into a quadruped. Their glass brothers were with them, but they appeared much younger then their sisters.
"Is there something you need, Alice?" Amy asked after a moment.
"We planned to visit our "families" today," Alice answered, using a code word so not to upset the pups, "we wanted to know if you wished to come with us."
"I would," Amy nodded, "Let me fetch one of the Omegas to watch this group, and I'll meet you by the gate."
Amy got up onto her four legs and walked out. As she did so, she thought back on everything. The battle against Kurse, all those YEARS ago. People grew up lived their lives and in the end died. She did feel a tinge of sadness. Her beloved Kevin and father of her own children had died a few years ago, as had her sister wives, Toni, Paula, and Gretchen. Her brother, Zelipe died around the same time, and an elderly Jenny and Marcy howled in agony for several days at the loss of their husband. Thinking of them, Amy shed a few tears. She loved them all very much, but that was way of all things. Souls are immortal, yes, but the physical bodies they resided in, are not.
In the end, everyone died, but with the curse gone forever, that cycle returned to the way it had been meant to be, and combined with the Leoman cascade violent crime was rapidly beginning to disappear.
Amy found two of the Omegas going through lessons with a different set of pups.
"Omega Lark," Amy spoke.
A carnelian colored female turned to face her. One of Lilly's descendants.
"Elder Amy," the Omega bowed.
"I will be going with the Glass Wolves to pay our respects," Amy spoke, "You will be needed to look after the pups I was watching."
"Of course, Elder Amy," Lark bowed again.
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Glendale's cemetery housed the remains of the Glendale Pride and a fair number of the Big Bad Wolf Pack. Alice, Abbey, Samantha and their brothers, John, Julian, and Jessie, and Amy were met by two quadrupedal Leomen. One was a reddish gold female and a truly massive male with a dark black mane, Mary and Trevor.
"Mother Mary! Mr. T!" John smiled came forward to hug each of them.
"Hello, John," Mary answered, with a low rumble, trying to imitate a purr, which Leoman couldn't do, "been good?"
"Always," John smiled and licked her.
"Hello, Amy," Trevor, now known as Mr. T by the Pride's cubs and the Pack's pups, "and we begin another trek down memory lane..."
"Back to when it all ended," Amy nodded, "and all the struggles we had."
Trevor nodded, remembering the battle he, Amy, and Paul had fought against Kurse, "will Orange Tang be coming?"
"Here I am," came the voice of the My Little Pony, "I can't believe it's been a hundred years already."
"Time flies when you don't age, I guess," Samantha chuckled.
"Speak for yourself," Amy, Mary, and Trevor said in near perfect unison.
The group then made their way through the cemetery, before stopping at eight marble gravestones.
"Hello, sisters," Mary said softly and nuzzled Moja's grave, and then did the same for Mbili, Tatuli, Nneli, Tano, Sita, Saba, and Nane.
Mary's half sisters and Fox and Gary's cubs lived a long time themselves, but died shortly after their 99th birthdays. Trevor had been her Prime Mate, but the eight Leoman Lionesses had cubs with Trevor as well. The eldest of them was the current police chief, and had taken over from Fran when she stepped down, who had taken over from Gillie. Gillie had ended up being Mother Glen's successor as Matriarch, and now that role had been passed to Mary. And the "nickname" Mother Mary went along with it. Though the jokes of "Let it Be" by the Beatles become old a long time ago.
Trevor meanwhile went to a couple that were nearby. One was the grave of his friend Aaron and his Prime Mate... Sabrina. Their deaths were more tragic. Aaron was diagnosed with cancer shortly after turning fifty, the doctors, both Pack and Pride did all they could, but could only keep him comfortable. If it weren't for the fact that Sabrina had newly born grandchildren to look after, Trevor had been nervous that his sister would commit suicide to join her Prime Mate. She had told him that she would never do so, remembering the pain his parents had felt when they thought he was dead. But Sabrina was never really the same after Aaron died. She ended up dying a few years later of causes that were never explained, clutching at a photo of her and Aaron's wedding. Trevor, and Aaron and Sabrina's cubs, Nala, Simba, Kiara ended up being Sabrina's pall bearers. He hoped his friend and sister were happy in heaven.
Orange Tang, meanwhile went her brother's grave.
"Ponyland still stands well brother, and St Mary's has recently been renovated," Orange Tang said to the gravestone, "It looks marvelous... even if it isn't pink."
+++++++++++
Years before, as Father Michael lay, old and departing from the mortal plane, he had a few people there. Orange Tang had come of course. She wished Michael would stay with her, but didn't activate the "transforming magic" that the My Little Ponies had, as that would be sinful. Lawrence and Anne arrived with their children as well.
"So many... -cough... cough... cough...-" Michael coughed out.
"You're my brother, Michael," Orange Tang spoke, "No matter our forms. I will not abandon you."
"You are the best Priest I've ever heard," Anne told him, "I have always loved your sermons."
"You looked after me with kindness and love," Judas said from Marie-Eliza's arms, "you are a Saint, as far as I am concerned, Father."
"Thank you..." Michael said slowly and caressed Orange Tang's mane, and then Judas's head before quietly passing on.
++++++++++++++
The group then moved on to a lone gravestone that had a great many markings on it. It started with the name Serena Serenity. Underneath that was her "birth name", Patrick Aloysius F. X. O'Duffy. Underneath that was a Greek letter which Trevor couldn't identify, and Amy and the other Lupman recognized as a rank letter, but one that held little purpose now. Under that was an inscription that read, "the one that helped bring that awful curse to an end." It finished with the years of Serenity's birth as Patrick O'Duffy and her death as Madame Serenity, an incredibly long lifespan.
And at that, Trevor remembered the elderly woman.
++++++++++++++++
"I can't thank you enough for all this," Serenity commented as the movers moved what goods she decided to keep into what had been the guest room in the Tyson home.
"You are Pride, Madame," Marie Tyson told her, "even if you aren't a Leoman. For protecting Trevor, and accepting the invitation, you are Pride."
"The Pack's done much the same, although their reason is for ending the curse," Serenity chuckled, "Jensen's declared me to be Omicron Serenity among them."
"A sign that you are regarded well by the Pack and the Pride," Marie answered, as Trevor and Sabrina came out to watch. They soon hugged Madame Serenity.
Serenity only nodded, "I hope you don't expect me to go hunting though. I'm too old to fire a weapon, and I have no fangs and claws."
"You wouldn't have to do anything you do not wish to," Marie told her, "forcing you would be uncivilized."
By this time, Jacob came out to join them, "and as part of the Pride, our home is yours as well. You may cook what you wish, and will cook for you as well."
"Thank you," Serenity answered.
+++++++++
2015
Trevor, Mary, and Amy sat quietly by Serenity's bedside as the elderly woman lay there still.
"Thank you for looking after me," Trevor spoke, sniffling. He didn't want her to die. She was his Aunt, his guardian, his friend, but there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.
"You needed it at the time," Serenity said weakly, "and it would have been "uncivilized" for me to simply let you wander on your own without protection."
Trevor couldn't help but cry and hugged Mary to him. She tried to be strong, but having been the one who brought Trevor back to her at St. Mary's, Mary couldn't but cry as well.
"Omicron Serenity, you will forever have the Pack's thanks for finding the cure for the curse and helping to end all its ills," Amy spoke firmly, "may you always be remembered in the hearts of those who live in Glendale."
"You, Trevor, and Paul did far more then I," Serenity answered, "You were the ones who killed Kurse. If it weren't for the three of you, my work would have ended painfully. Go with Amaterasu, young Amy."
"Go with God, Madame Serenity."
And then the elderly woman, who had been many things in her life finally died of old age.
+++++++++++++
"Present"
"Am I too late?" came a new voice as the group continued to move on.
They turned to see a glass Lupman adult and an elderly looking black cat with her. Marie-Eliza and Judas.
"Magic wolf!" Julian leaped into Marie's arms and licked her.
Marie only smiled and licked the glass male back. She did her best to spend as much time as possible in the mirrorverse, but she still couldn't spend all her time there. Her fear of becoming a second Kurse was still there, but after years of training, and having Judas by her side had really helped. She feared that possibility, but she now felt she could confront that fear. And she ended up spending time visiting the Big Bad Wolf Pack in Glendale and her own work in Australia, along with her mother. And Julie, Fran, and Darla's children, and the Fox and Elise's daughters had visited her from time to time. She could remember half of the Big Bad Wolf Pack visiting her family for a Christmas party, and her powers as a white witch had earned her the nickname, "magic wolf" among the youngest pups of the pack.
John and Jessie quickly joined their half brother. Jessie ended up lifting Judas into a hug.
"Easy now," Judas answered, "easy."
"You're not late, Marie," Amy spoke politely, "and I'm sure making sure the world's magic is properly handled keeps you busy."
Marie only nodded. The releasing of magic back into the world left her with a lot of work. And some of it had lead her back to Glendale at times.
+++++++++++
One year after the curse was ended...
"HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO ME!?" a man screamed madly at Marie and Judas, "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! IT MUST NOT END! THE ONES WHO ENDED IT WERE FOOLS!"
The man had ended up becoming a minor warlock when the game ended a year before, but had been struggling with various degrees of mental illness well before the battle with Kurse. With the release of magic into the world, he finally went mad and ended journeying to Glendale. In Australia, Marie and Judas were looking after the dolls that had received souls from Eliza and Marie's powers when she felt her self imposed geass ripple slightly. Some one was trying to recreate the game.
The two immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed to the site, ironically in a broken down home in Glendale's bad side of town, and Madame Serenity's former home, but she was now with Trevor's family full time.
"What you're doing is madness," Marie-Eliza told him, "that curse did NOTHING of value. Some may have used it morally neutral things, like the My Little Ponies, and a few have even used it for good... but that curse had a mind of its own, and the only reason those few didn't end up miserable themselves was because they managed to outsmart the curse's brain. And by recreating it, you would rob the world of magic."
"AND WHAT WOULD A STUPID FURRY IN A SUIT KNOW?" the man screamed, sounding like a lunatic, "YOU KNOW NOTHING! YOU'RE JUST A FREAK IN A SUIT! OR AT LEAST YOU SHOULD BE! THINKING ALL THIS FURRY MADNESS TO BE AN ILLUSION!"
The man apparently had a hatred of Lupmen, Leomen, Felmen, and Dragons for their "connections" to what some called the "furry fandom"... but Marie knew that that would end when the Leoman cascade finished, as everyone would be furry as a result of it. And Marie got the sense of that if his plan worked, he intended to turn anything that wasn't Human into a human in a furry suit seeing everything they did as an illusion of being Lupman, Leoman, or Felman. She knew that to be madness.
"To rob beings of what they are is not Christian!" Judas said to the man.
The man managed to fire a blast of lighting at Judas. Marie stepped in front of her familiar and took the blast. It threw her back, and being magically made, did cause her pain, but being indestructible, it did her no lasting damage.
"You do not deserve the magic that the end of the game gave you," Marie told the insane man and channeled a simple spell through Judas.
The man tried to access his magic, but nothing happened as Judas's eyes glowed with a bright light that had no real color.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
"Lobotomized the sections of your brain that allow you to use your magic, as one of the Hunters hoped to do with the original witches," Mare-Eliza answered, "Your magic is still there, but you can not use it, on yourself, on anyone else, or anything. That game must not come back. Far TOO MANY died trying to end it."
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" the man moaned.
Marie ended up leaving him in at an asylum. He was cared for by a pair of Leoman psychologists until he died of old age.
+++++++++++++
"Present"
The group then approached stone mausoleum, guarded by the stone statues of wolves. Inside were the graves of Alice, Abbey, Samantha, John, Julian, and Jessie's great grandfather, Patrick or Mr. P, as he was called in his later years. A lone blue ribbon that came to a center square with thirteen stars on it hung on the wall above his grave. Below the center "square" was a brass eagle over a plaque that read "VALOR" above an upside down star with a Laural crown around it. Beneath the medal was a small plaque that explained Mr. P's heroics in the Battle of Belleau Wood, in which he earned the medal.
Beside Mr. P's grave were five more, with Jensen, Kaylee, Fran, Darla, and Julie. They had all lived long and happy lives, had loved their children, and then loved their grandchildren. It was only the fact that the glass pups didn't age as fast as the others, as glass couldn't physically age, that Fran, Darla, and Julie would never get to meet their grandchildren, if Alice, Abbey, Samantha, John, Jessie, and Julian ever decided to have any.
"This began with them," Marie-Eliza commented, looking to Jensen and Kaylee's graves, "I suppose it is fitting that it ENDS with them as well..."
++++++++++++
The death of Jensen and Kaylee was met with great sadness by the pack. The two had "reigned" well for one of the longest tenures in the Pack's history before stepping down and letting Jenny and Bart take over, with Zelipe and Marcy becoming the new Betas. But, even after stepping down, Jensen, Kaylee, Fran, Darla, and Julie had ended up staying around the manor. Alice, Abbey, Samantha, John, Jessie, and Julian hadn't physically aged enough where they could leave, and Bart and Jenny ended begging their parents to remain at the manor and not retiring into a smaller home elsewhere in Glendale, as many other older Lupmen had done before them.
And so they lived out their lives peacefully at Wolf Manor. Julie, Fran, and Darla died of breast cancer nearly seventy years after the curse ended, around 90 years of age, possibly even close to a 100. Jensen and Kaylee survived them by only a year. When they finally succumbed to old age. Bart and Jenny, by this time, having stepped down as Alphas themselves arranged the funeral along with their successors. Two draft horses ended up pulling what locked like a caisson through Glendale to the church in which Jensen had married Kaylee, Fran, Darla, and Julie many years before. Each casket was covered by a flag that bore the Big Bad Wolf Pack's crest... a black flag with a gold "decal" of a howling wolf, similar to the one that had been on Mr. P's side.
Some members of the Pride were present as well. Trevor and Mary sat together, with a couple of their grandchildren and watching after the youngest of the glass pups. The one to officially give the eulogy, however, was Marie-Eliza.
"We gather today to pay respects to our Alphas, Jensen and Kaylee," Marie-Eliza began, "the Alphas when the game "Transform or Dare" was ended. The Alphas during the fight against Kurse. Alphas who took on the task of overseeing the healing of those wounded in that battle. And the Alphas who accepted victims of Kurse's range, my mother and myself, as members of their Pack... even though we do not live in Glendale."
Marie paused and looked out over the sea of faces, "because of his black fur and the strength and power that Jensen exhibited, even at a young age, he had been given the nickname, the "Big Bad Wolf"... and Kaylee, because of her reddish brown fur, earned the nickname "Little Red Riding Wolf"... but these were nicknames. Jensen may have been "big", but as Alpha-Jensen, he was not "bad"."
Marie left out the part of Jensen's original persona as Jennifer. None of the present Lupmen or Leomen would have known that, and Jensen himself had no memory of being Jennifer Smith shortly after the defeat of Kurse.
"They met as pups and went through their schooling for the good of their Pack and the good of their Society," Marie continued, "noticing the ill effects of the Game on Glendale. They married, along with Betas Fran, Darla, and Julie, and Jensen sired six pups with Kaylee, two with Fran, two with Darla, and two with Julie. And they lived their lives as devoted and protective parents, and even befriended various members of the Glendale Pride."
"But the Game overshadowed everything while they were Alphas," Marie continued after a moment, "it came alive and attacked them and their family and friends... but they managed to martial together the plan that defeated the Curse's mind... Kurse, allowing the rest of their friends to end the Game. After which, the problems they faced became more mundane... more everyday then what had been the problems caused by the curse. But without them, the happiness the world knows now might not have ever come... for it ultimately was their actions that lead to the end of the game... and that is the most important thing."
There were a few nods and claps from those present.
+++++++++++++
"The Present"
Marie reached inside a reflective portion of her body and pulled out two roses from a vase in her home. She then laid them on the graves of Jensen and Kaylee. As Jennifer and Kyle they had been the start of it in the first reality, but now in the new reality, as Jensen and Kaylee, they were the end of it. They left a legacy that their descendants and friends would strive to follow among Lupmen and earned the respect of the Leomen.
Mary remembered the black as night Lupman who helped her father fight off a mundane lion when she had wandered into its enclosure at the zoo.
Trevor remembered the Lupmen who had been friends with his parents.
Orange Tang remembered the Alphas who had approached her when she was the cursed orangutan priest, Paul, at the police station to inform them about Kurse's attack and begging her for her help.
Marie-Eliza remembered the Alphas who declared her and her mother part of their pack, even though Marie-Eliza and Eliza never lived in Glendale, and likely never would.
Alice, Abbey, Samantha, Julian, Jessie, and John remembered their father, mothers/aunts, and aunt. The ones who loved them dearly.
++++++++++++
And in a section of heaven, which looked like a thick pine forest, the spirits of Jensen, Kaylee, Fran, Darla, and Julie looked on at their descendants, friends, and pack members. And they knew that life would go on for them, and they hoped they would always be happy.
-FIN...