CHAPTER 50: Epilogue
Shrek found life as king much more complex than he initially expected, like one big puzzle that he couldn't solve. Nonetheless, he eventually settled in, as did his kids. Fiona, reigning as queen over the kingdom, also got set into the position. At this point, life felt refreshed; gone were the depressing thoughts due to Charming, and in their place was a sense of relaxation. He was able to comfortably take strolls across the kingdom, along with Fiona, getting to know all of the citizens. It still felt surreal to him though that he was no longer an orge living in a swamp covered with toadstools, but now, a king in a wealthy kingdom in the intent of reigning in the name of Arthur. Shrek would occasionally recall everything that Arthur had said to him, and it made him emotional, but at the same time, he was proud to be serving for the kingdom that that kid did a good job in before he was killed.
Shrek's personality had brightened for the better, ever since he became king. He realized that he'd have to be less of the grumpy type, and more of the open type, and that was something he managed to accomplish about a month into the position as king. As of now, it's been over five months, and the kingdom was still doing well. In fact, there was buzz roaming across the place due to an orge being the king. However, there were occasions where it looked as if some citizens were rallying up to build a 'political party' in order to try and rid Shrek as king, but in the end, the plan fell apart. Speaking of rallies, one person that Shrek had never forgot about was the man who, without a doubt, ended up being Shrek's most extreme foe: Prince Charming.
Shrek didn't believe in anything Charming stood for; dictatorship, evilness, and most importantly, vindictiveness. This meant that he had allowed those who perhaps still had support for Charming to voice it out openly. He believed in allowing everybody to have a free voice, one where they won't be scared of being shut down. As long as a physical threat wasn't posed with it, then it was completely normal under Shrek's reign. But in regards to Charming, every time Shrek had thought about him, he no longer felt depressed, but instead, he'd let off a chuckle.
Why? because the orge knew for a FACT that Charming didn't want this outcome to become a reality; Shrek himself as king, and now that it's happened, Shrek thought of it as a sort of 'spit in the face' type of thing, where he can explicitly claim that he's 'defied' Charming in the plan the son of Fairy Godmother had tried to accomplish whilst he was still alive. Anything negative based about Charming made Shrek feel better, honestly. It only made it better for him to recall that he was the one to give Charming the ultimate end he had been deserving of. And it did, after all, look like his threat was truly eradicated; all of those people who worked for him in his re-emergence were nowhere to be seen, so clearly, there's no longer a threat full stop.
Dragon, appreciating Shrek's accomplishment of becoming king, had eventually helped out; Shrek never forgot about the state that Duloc was left in after they cleared it out of Charming's men. At one point, she flew back there, and it was surprisingly the case that some of the citizens had returned, even though it was now an abandoned place with no government. In order to make the people of Duloc get a head-start again, after suffering the deadly wrath of Charming, Shrek had requested that Dragon, along with Donkey of course, take as many of the Duloc citizens back to Far-Far-away, and it'd be an understatement to say that they were delighted. They never knew Far-Far-away existed, and it made them eradicate all of those horrid images of Charming shooting people with his crossbow when he invaded Duloc with his knights, to take over it. Not only were they given a new life, it was also Shrek's first main act as king, and it was a generous gesture.
As for Duloc itself, nothing much could be done to it. In the end, it was a kingdom that was once ruled by Farquaad, before becoming a democracy, before being taken over by Charming some months later. The amount of switching in governments (you can't really call Charming's takeover a government, though) had created instability in the place, and especially after Far-Far-away's knights, alongside Arthur and Shrek, did a clearing out of the dictatorship from Charming. It was saddening, really. Shrek hasn't thought about it yet, but there could be the possibility, with Dragon's help in terms of transportation, to make Duloc an active kingdom again, but that would mean setting up a government, and eventually, leaving that government to fend for itself. It might go well, it might go badly, but it's worth a shot, should Shrek go for that route.
Nobody knows what truly happened to Twart and Blay, the two guys Shrek met at the abandoned village when he was just starting to acknowledge that Charming was back on the rise. All that's known is that they were captured by Charming's forces, and presumably, given their deaths. They were good guys, too.
Shrek's new clothing completely contrasted his old orge clothing. Remember when he tried to put on a royalty-looking set of clothing, with Fiona, that made him unable to move, practically at all, because of how tight it was? he was in one of those, but obviously this time, it was one that was the perfect size for him. It was a coat of red, glittered within the golden color, with the shoulder pads having white, thick layers to them. The crown had a stable spot on his head, as its shines had reflected royalty and a sense of importance. Shrek, honestly, felt much better in himself for having a change of style, and one that'll be permanent with him for as long as he'll be king.
Shrek had ended up at the Far-Far-away graveyard; he'd occasionally come here to pay his respects to Arthur, and also, the little pond that Harold's coffin was floating on, too.
Ensuring that his royal cape was off the ground as he walked to avoid falling, Shrek walked over to the distinguishable grave of Arthur's, as it seemed to still be in perfect shape despite the recent weather. He smiled at the grave, and just stood there, looking at all of the pots of roses that've been placed onto it. As he did this, the newly crowned queen of the kingdom, Fiona, had emerged from the castle too. It was just getting to night time, so that meant that they had put Felicia, Fergus and Farkle to bed in order to come outside here.
"Shrek, I'm sure he's got a smile on his face..." she said, standing besides Shrek as the two of them looked at the grave.
"I'd like to think so, myself, Fiona. You know what? I think it would've been the biggest mistake of my life to have not taken the crown. It feels like every day is fresh, and...I just experience delight every time, when I meet the citizens...just imagine what he'd be thinking if he was alive, and had seen us as king and queen?"
"I know, Shrek. Listen, I know it's not been easy..." Fiona said, holding onto Shrek's hand, "but we're in this together...our kingdom's doing well, and we've got a huge future ahead of us..."
"I couldn't have done it without your permission, though, honestly.."
"Oh please, you never asked for my permission to go to Duloc when you had to, even when I feared you wouldn't make it..."
"I'll definitely make sure to never put you through that again, okay? and I won't need to; we're the king and queen of a kingdom, that's a heavy responsibility that'll keep us from doing anything like that ever again..."
They held their hands up, as they moved into each other. Upon kissing each other, the mood was enhanced, and as they stood near Arthur's grave, they became more and more inclined to do the best possible job they could do. Months on from when Shrek and Fiona were crowned king and queen, they seem to have made a start on that already. Far-Far-away truly had a unique future in its prospects.
Shrek would never forget what Rumpelstiltskin did, either. Yes, he was once a dangerous foe who nearly banished Shrek from existence, but it was remarkable enough for Shrek, that Rumpelstiltskin had even changed in the first place, to potentially give forgiveness to the little dwarf. Plus, that time that he had seen him be killed by Charming had made him want to save him, even though it was impossible. However, he was also aware that Rumpelstiltskin, if he was alive today, wouldn't be fully trustworthy, but it's a realistic point to make about him when this is said: he was perhaps, after all, less extreme than the other three in Farquaad, Charming and Godmother, only because he actually tried to save Felicia. In the end, Rumpelstiltskin became a forgotten memory for Shrek, but Felicia would occasionally bring him up as her 'little friend', and it didn't bother Shrek whenever she did that.
Far-Far-away, economically, was still stable. Shrek tried to rule over the kingdom like Arthur would, after all. The citizens themselves didn't mind having an orge as their king as long as he was a relative of the previous king, and was somebody who's been here prior, both of which Shrek's done. As mentioned, a few of the citizens on the other hand weren't happy, so they started up some political parties to try and force an election and get Shrek de-selected, but he's a king; a kingdom never usually has elections with a king, or do they? Shrek was honestly contemplating holding one for the sake of it, but that was a few months ago. Because there were no longer any citizens who were angered at Shrek being king, and thus, no more political parties rising up, that thought had been completely forgotten from his head.
With Far-Far-away in safe hands with Fiona and Shrek, and with the old Duloc citizens being taken to Far-Far-away to start a new life, Shrek was able to live with the one thing that mainly Charming wanted, as did Godmother, but for her son. However, it was only when Charming started rising up as a regime dictator that that desire was thrown out of the window. If you go back to the time that commenced Charming's revenge plan, the one where that tower was slammed with a thud over his body through the window hole, what did he say before that? 'this was supposed to be MY happily ever after!' it might just seem like a normal thing, but look closely; why did Charming rally up those villains all that time ago, whilst he was still somewhat sane with his coup over Far-Far-away? because they never had their happily ever afters.
Shrek, meanwhile, has his happily ever after, and it'll live with him for years to come as king. It is because of this, that he, can reign in victory.
And thus, Shrek's life was secure, as was his family's, alongside his friends, for many years to come.
Author's note: You people are insane. I had so much fun writing this, and it was even more fun seeing you all stick around along the way. I was honestly, at first, unsure about this story when I first started it, but it picked up for me as I advanced to the chapters where things got serious. This is also my first big story that I have written that is NOT in my main fandom, and I'm looking to expand beyond my main fandom. Hopefully it was fun to read, and feel free to keep up with my other stories if you want. Have a good day you lovely people.
