"How Long Was I Out?"

by the_panic

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Human, Romance
Length: 11586

Yet another "human in Ponyville" story

Don't read this. Read "The Past is The Future."

Seriously.

This is terrible and I should delete it or something.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-03-11 13:14:01 UTC

Chapter 1

Three equines stood around what appeared to be a large, stainless steel coffin on an examination table. Two of the ponies, the pure white alicorn Princess Celestia and the lavender unicorn Twilight Sparkle, gazed at the object with looks of confusion. The third pony, with a gray mane that frizzed out in about as many directions as he seemed to be pacing in, was adjusting endless tools and meters.

"What exactly is this thing, Doc?" Twilight inquired, a single eyebrow raised. If it truly were a coffin, she had no idea why Doc would have connected all of these machines to it, let alone called herself and the Princess to observe. She trotted another lap around it, examining every surface.

"What it is exactly, I'm not sure. However, what I *think* is that it is some sort of life support system. My colleagues' analyses led me to believe it still contains some power, meaning somepony could still be alive in there. What anypony would be doing in such a contraption is beyond me, especially considering how deep underground our archaeologists found it," Doc wheedled as he continued to flip switches and enter data into his keyboard, "but I fully intend to open it up and find out!"

The Princess wore a look of concern on her face, "Are you sure that this is safe? That whatever is in there is of no threat to us?"

Doc stopped fidgeting with his tools, his eyes shifting side to side.

"That's what I thought. Guard!", Celestia shouted, motioning towards her usual escort in the outer room, "Have the rest of your squad on guard outside this room." The lone guard bolted outside.

Doc quickly returned to work, "Almost ready... A few more commands aaaaand.... There! Stand back everypony!"

The top of the coffin unlatched, and a slow hiss could be heard as the contents depressurized and the lid slid open. All three observers craned their necks over the edge, and saw a very strange creature inside. It was clearly not a pony, or anything they'd seen before. In fact, Twilight realized it slightly resembled some of the species of monkey and ape that Fluttershy looked after back in Ponyville, though it was mostly furless, save a patch of chestnut-colored hair on the top of its head. It also appeared to be wearing clothing; nothing that would catch Rarity's attention, Twilight thought, blue cotton pants and a black shirt.

The Princess was the first to break the silence, "So, Doc, Twilight, do either of you know what this is?" Neither of the other two ponies had time to answer, as the creature inside began moaning like it was ill, and began trying to pull itself upright and out of the box. All three observers began slowly stepping away from the creature, until it managed to sit up. It stopped groaning, looked each pony in the eye, and said, "How long have I been out?"

Twilight fainted.

Doc spoke first, "Can... Can you understand me? Do you have a name? And what are you?" The Princess managed to rouse Twilight from unconsciousness.

"Yeah, I hear you fine. My name's Sam, I'm a human. And you guys are horses?! And you can TALK?" Sam blacked out, doubling over on the edge of the coffin.

Doc yelled for a medic team, prompting the royal guard to stream in and surround the Princess. "My lady, are you injured? Did it attack you?!" "No no no, Doc wasn't calling them for me, he called them for the creature!" She nodded towards Sam's unconscious form.

After much effort, the EMT ponies managed to get Sam out of his box and onto a hospital cot on the level above the lab. Having never dealt with his kind before, they couldn't really do much other than make sure he was still alive, and strap his limbs down. The possibility of this alien creature posing a threat to ponykind had yet to be ruled out.

Twilight, having recovered from her own fainting, began to process what she'd seen, "I've never seen anything like that before, but it could perfectly understand us? I hope it isn't hurt, I can't wait to figure out what it is and how it ended up in a-" She was cut off by Celestia's hoof on her mouth, "I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to ask it questions. That's why I invited you here; if anyone can figure out what it is-"

The Princess herself was cut off by the alien in the cot speaking up, "I'm a 'he', not an it. You can call me by my name you know. And maybe let me out of these restraints? I'm pretty sure horses are stronger than humans." He struggled against the straps to sit up in his cot, which was obviously not designed to accommodate someone of his shape and size. "I guess I'm not dreaming then," he muttered, "Unless I'm on some sort of drug or something, there really are talking horses in front of me. Mind explaining why I'm here?"

Twilight walked over to his bedside. "Well, we were honestly hoping you could answer that for us. Why were you in that box?" The way she inquisitively cocked here head somehow set the human slightly at ease.

"My memory is a little fuzzy... How long was I in there?" Just as Sam finished his sentence, Doc cantered through the doorway, "Well, by my estimates, a few hundred thousand years at the very least, and that's based on calculations with some very conservative restraints on them."

Sam's jaw dropped. "A few hundred thousand?! Well, I suppose this is better than waking up on a planet ruled by apes." His movie reference was lost on his equine observers, he noted sadly. "Alright... You, the purple pony, I don't think I caught your name? Twilight is it? I don't remember much, but I think I was in here to escape an explosion... Why an explosion? Jeez I feel like I've got cobwebs in my skull. And seriously, can you untie me please?"

Doc began cautiously removing the restraints when his assistant researcher, who had been examining the interior of the coffin after Sam's exit, came rushing into the infirmary with a book in his teeth. "Doc, this is incredible! Whoever put the subject in there included a brief record of his medical info and the history of his time! It's a first-hand source of pre-Equestrian history!"

Twilight, always a sucker for a good book, instantly snatched the volume out of the assistant's mouth, levitating it to her side of the room. She quickly found an explanation for Sam's predicament: he was one of the last human survivors of a nuclear holocaust. "I don't quite understand what 'nuclear' means, but I'm guessing that in Sam's time, his civilization was at war, and used some sort of explosive weapon of incredible power. It seems they underestimated it's effects, however. I think Sam's coffin was supposed to keep him preserved until it was safe to surface again. Here's a journal entry describing the complete destruction of ecosystems, farmland, and inhabitable areas in general. Princess, I think this could even explain why the sun, moon, and weather patterns need our manipulation to function correctly!"

Doc's eyes grew wide, "A sizeable enough explosion could in theory cause our planet's rotation to slow at a small rate. Given enough time... It is plausible that it could slow to the point that the lunar orbit and the sun's movement appears stationary to us, requiring your Highness and her Highness Princess Luna to move them manually, or rather manually rotate the planet. That could easily cause the right temperature changes necessary to disrupt normal weather activity, which explains why our friends, the pegasi, have to manage the weather! This most definitely warrants further study!"

Chapter 2

Sam spoke up again, "So, if I'm still alive, that should mean there others that have this same chance, right?"

Doc's face lost it's enthusiasm, "I'm afraid that's a slim chance. We found other containers but they were all damaged or empty. That's why we were so excited to find yours; it was the only one relatively untouched by time, wear, and tear. There could be others still safely buried away, but we have yet to stumble upon them."

"Maybe it's for the best. I don't really remember much of anyone, anyway..." Sam's eyes dropped towards the floor a little. "So, I've given you guys what answers I can, now its your turn. Is everyone a pony in this time? And Twilight, did I really see you use magic a few minutes ago? And most importantly, what do I do now?"

Twilight, still standing at Sam's bedside, tried to comfort the confused man. Even though he had never seen such creatures before, he could see in her eyes that she meant well. "Yes, well, almost yes, most of us around here are ponies. I am capable of magic, as are certain others. As for what now..." Twilight began mumbling to herself, until finally exclaiming, "Princess! I have an idea. Obviously Sam is an intelligent creature, so surely we can't keep him locked up here as a lab rat, right? What if he were to stay with Spike and myself? I could help him get back on his feet, and learn more about him and his people in the process!"

Princess Celestia looked at Doc. He had all the books and equipment found with Sam, and, as Sam had very little memory, that meant the scientists had all the information and artifacts they needed. He nodded in approval. "Well Twilight, Doc seems fine with that, and I think it would be a great opportunity. Are you sure you're up for this?"

Twilight was beaming, "Are you kidding? I'm sure the rest of my friends will be very interested to meet him! But... I'm getting ahead of myself. Sam, is this an arrangement that you'd be ok with?"

Sam shrugged, "It's gotta be better than being crammed into a hospital cot. Thank you, Twilight."

"Doc sent over a few of the things found in your box. He said that he's done studying them, and that they belong to you anyway." Twilight levitated a package over to Sam's side of the room.

"Hey, I think I remember some of this stuff... iPod... My music! This is great. And... My laptop. Too bad I can't use this with your power system."

"Actually, I think Doc's engineers put together a sort of power converter for your things. That's how he managed to test and examine them. I'll have him send it down from Canterlot," the unicorn's stomach began to growl, "I guess with all of this unpacking and excitement, I forgot to eat lunch! Come with me, one of my best friends works at a great bakery, you have to try some of her baking, you'll love it I'm sure!"

Sam followed her outside into town. As they walked down the road to Sugarcube Corner, Sam could feel the silent stares of the townsponies out and about their daily tasks. Twilight sensed his anxiety, giggling, "Don't worry Sam, they've just never seen something like you before. Remember, I fainted the first time! They'll warm up to you eventually."

"The feeling's mutual, heh... No offense Twilight, but I'm still getting used to the idea that the dominant species is a race of talking ponies, some of whom can fly or use magic."

"Fair enough. Speaking of fair, here's a fair warning. My friend at the bakery, Pinkie Pie, she'll more than likely instantly decide she likes you, and descend on you like a swarm of locusts. She pretty much likes everypony, and she's not afraid to show it. Pretty much play along with any crazy antic she tries, and you'll at least get a good laugh out of it, she's very kindhearted. Hey, she might even throw you a welcoming party! That would be a great way to introduce yourself to the rest of Ponyville!

"I'll keep that in mind," Sam said, as the pair stopped in front of a cupcake-shaped building, "I'm guessing this is the place, Twilight?" His unicorn friend nodded, and they stepped inside.

"OH HEY TWILIGHT, LONG TIME NO SEE, I WAS JUST BAKING UP A BIIIIIG BATCH OF MUFFINS FOR THE SHOP, BECAUSE DERPY JUST CAME IN AND BOUGHT MY LAST ENTIRE BATCH, AND OHMYGOSHWHATISTHATWITHYOU" the pink pony bounced over the cash register and stood inches away from Sam's face. "HI! I'm Pinkie Pie!" She grabbed Sam in a tight hug. Sam, remembering Twilight's "warning", reciprocated. "OHMIGOSH I've never had someone hug me back like that! Your hooves don't look like hooves at all, they almost have little claws on them like Spike except they aren't all sharp and pointy and-"

"Pinkie! Let my friend introduce himself! And remember to breathe, haha." Twilight rolled her eyes.

Finally escaping from Pinkie's grasp, Sam replied, "I'm Sam. I'm a human, apparently from several thousands of years before ponies existed. But, Twilight tells me your pies and cakes are the best anywhere, so she brought me here for lunch"

"Oh Sam, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard, of COURSE my baking is the best!" Pinkie bounced into the kitchen.

"Wow, that was relatively tame by Pinkie standards," mused Twilight. "So, have you put any thought into what you want to do here? I'm sure being my house guest and interview subject for the rest of your life isn't something you'd like to do forever."

"Well, I vaguely remember doing some teaching back in my time. Might have been math, I'm sure it'll come back to me eventually. The I.D. card you found with me had me listed as an engineer of some sort," At the mentioning of math and engineering, Sam noticed Twilight's eyes light up, "Once the folks here get to know me, maybe I could try my hand at teaching? You said the local teacher, Cheerilee was it?, had a record-breaking class size. If all else fails, I'm sure I could learn to handle some handiwork." Sam honestly wasn't sure what he could do, his memories were still hard to grasp hold of. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until Pinkie brought the fruit pies that Twilight had bought for the both of them.

"You know, Sam, I pretty much throw welcome parties for ALLLL of my new friends, and any friend of Twilight's is a friend of Pinkie's! So consider it done, I'll invite the whole town! There will be cake, and punch, and dancing, and party games, ooooohhh and music! Can't forget the music! OHMIGOSH I have to get started planning!" With a blur of pink, Pinkie had vanished.

Sam laughed. "You weren't kidding about her at all, were you, Twilight?" The unicorn smiled and shook her head. "Once we finish up here, let's go back to the library. I'd like to see if my laptop still has any charge in it; I might be able to at least show you a few things from my time for a while even without Doc's converter. Meanwhile, I'm going to make a complete fool of myself and cram my face into this pastry," Shoving a large piece into his mouth, he managed to grumble, "After all, I haven't eaten in a couple hundred thousand years."

Chapter 3

After showing Twilight some pictures and clips of music on his laptop, and deciding that it had been a bad idea to introduce her to what "heavy metal" was outside the context of chemistry, Sam decided he was ready to endure the torrent of questions that he had seen building in her eyes all day.

The purple unicorn brought her hoof to her chin and absentmindedly eyed the ceiling of her library for a moment. "Hmmm... Well, since you'll be staying with me for a while, this one will help us both; what do you humans typically eat? Besides apple pies, I mean."

"Well, meat is a pretty big category for us, we used to raise cattle, chickens, and pigs for that..." Sam quickly noticed Twilight's eyes growing wide with shock, "But we're biologically herbivores mostly, so we also eat quite a few of the same things you ponies do. You know, fruits and veggies." This seemed to relieve his host's anxiety a bit, as the thought of housing a predator made her shudder.

With a small, nervous laugh, Twilight posed her next question, "In your time, were there other intelligent species living with you? Kind of like the cows and buffalo I mentioned earlier."

Leaning back in his chair, Sam laughed, "Given how the rest of us killed each other off, I'd wonder if there were EVER any intelligent creatures on earth in my time. But no, though apes and chimpanzees seemed to come close sometimes." Her giggling subsiding, Twilight felt a slight twinge of guilt laughing at such a dark joke.

Remembering some of the music Sam had on his computer, Twilight couldn't comprehend how something so... aggressive and violent could be pleasant to anypony's ears. Sometimes she couldn't even handle Rainbow Dash's rock-and-roll. Sam explained, "Yeah, I can see that. Metal isn't for everyone, I guess. I like how complex some of the songs are. You really have to know your instrument to get that detailed with it. It's cathartic, too; you get angry and turn this on as loud as you can, it feels good. As for the screaming that was in a lot of what I showed you, it just fits the music. And not all metal is that violent, some of it is so mellow and melodic that I will occasionally go to bed listening to those songs." Twilight couldn't help but admire the way Sam's blue eyes lit up as he described why he loved that harsh music of his, his hands wildly gesturing as he excitedly regained a memory of a concert he had attended. "... It's just incredible, the feeling of the music crushing you while the crowd collectively loses their minds around you... But I'm rambling again I think. Got any other questions?"

"Ah right," She snapped out of her daydream, "Well, I know you haven't regained much memory in terms of your time period's history, so those can wait for later. Like any new friend, I think for now I'd just like to get to know you. What was your family like? Did you have a special somepony before you were... is frozen the right word?"

"I still don't remember much of my family, beyond that I had a mom, dad, younger brother, and younger-still sister. I recall sitting at a table with them several times, all of us eating together. We were happy." Sam's face showed a hint of confusion, "What do you mean by 'special somepony'?"

Twilight strained her mind for an explanation, "Oh, um, I think another term would be marefriend?"

"Ohh, you mean a girlfriend. No, I don't think I did. In my line of work then, I didn't get much time to go out and socialize. Computer and electrical engineering is a pretty tough field." Just remembering the hundreds of hours spent hunched over a keyboard made Sam's head ache.

Twilight sympathized, "I know the feeling there, with all my studying, sometimes Pinkie and the rest of the gang end up dragging me out by force! And what exactly did you do?"

Sam began rubbing his chin, "Basically, my boss would give my team a set of specifications and functions that our next device should meet, and then I would design and layout the circuits for the device to implement those functions. It was pretty tedious work, but I was also pretty good at it." He seemed to suddenly remember something, "But hey, sorry to cut your Q-and-A session short here, but I'm going to go talk to your friend Applejack about possibly working for her family while I wait on Cheerilee's decision."

Twilight waved her hoof, "It's no problem! I'm sure she'll be glad to meet you, and even happier to have an extra set of hooves, I mean hands, around. I'm sure I can keep myself busy in the meantime." Sam quickly ducked down and out of the library's front door.

Twilight trotted over to the box Sam was keeping his stuff in. She found his laptop and levitated it back to her desk. After several minutes of aimless button-mashing, she managed to get the device turned on. She opened his pictures again and began flipping through them. She was amazed at the various sights and places Sam had been to. It saddened her a bit that none of these existed anymore, but she was sure Sam felt it much more strongly than she did. He had been to huge cities that put Manehattan and Fillydelphia to shame, each crawling with more humans than lived ponies in all of Equestria. There were a few pictures detailing Sam's graduation from high school, and then university. It was still mind-blowing that even now, Sam looked exactly the way he did in these eons-old pictures. Even though his muzzle was totally flat with the rest of his face, minus his nostrils, Twilight admired the way his eyes shone out through his permanent case of bed-mane. Or did humans refer to it as just "hair"? She decided to ask him later. She couldn't wait for him to regain the rest of his memory. He seemed to be pretty intelligent thus far, and Twilight had always wanted a friend with intellectual interests as strong as her own.

She was starting to feel pretty happy about taking on this little research project for Princess and Doc.

Chapter 4

Going in the direction his host had pointed him, Sam strolled down the wooded path to Applejack's farm. He noticed that the reaction he got from the few ponies he'd passed along the way had been a bit milder. He supposed that being seen with Twilight and Pinkie at the bakery at least suggested he wasn't a threat to anyone. It was a pleasant, sunny day, and though he was still trying to fully wrap his head around his situation, Sam felt at ease. As far as waking up in the far future could have gone, he felt like he'd gotten a pretty decent deal. He thought back over all of the movies and shows he'd seen dealing with this situation; he could have ended up forced to be a delivery boy in New York for the rest of his life. His pony hosts had been pretty good to him so far. Twilight had given him a place to stay, at least temporarily, and seemed fairly eager to help him adjust and fit in to Ponyville's way of life.

At first, the idea of being interviewed as a history source struck him as strange. Sam was afraid he would be treated as an experiment subject, but talking to Twilight about everything had just felt like a nice chat between two friends. He smiled a little as he remembered how she seemed to hang on every word he spoke about his past.

A drawling voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "Well are ya'll gonna stand there all day or are ya gonna tell me what you're doin on mah farm?" A tan pony with a tied-back blonde mane and Stetson hat was staring at him out of the barn. Sam had been so deep in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that he had arrived at Sweet Apple Acres.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, kinda went out of my head for a minute there. I'm Sam, your friend Twilight Sparkle sent me down here to see if I might find some work around here." Sam looked around at the multitude of apple trees, they seemed to stretch completely past the horizon.

"A friend of Twilight's, eh? In that case, ah'm Applejack, and if'n yer lookin fer work, ah'd wager I kin keep ya busy! Follow me and I'll show ya 'round. You ever buck apples before?" Sam shook his head, wondering what he'd gotten himself into.

It was nearly sundown before Sam stumbled back to Twilight's library. She heard him enter and galloped to meet him at the door, "Oh good you're back! How did it go with Applejack?" Before he had a chance to catch his breath, Twilight answered for him, "Judging by all the dirt and apple fragments on your clothes, I'd say pretty well. I'm sure AJ appreciates the extra help."

Slumping down in an overstuffed chair, Sam finally recovered enough to speak, "Yeah, she tried her hardest to teach me to, what was it, buck apples? I tried telling her that humans just aren't naturally as strong as horses and ponies, but she wouldn't give up on me. I ended up helping her brother plow and sow their field. Real talker, that Big Mac."

Twilight sat down next to him. "Spike just finished helping me make some dinner, and we've got plenty left over. I'm sure you've gotta be starving."

Sam patted his stomach, smiling, "Thanks, but you didn't tell me Applejack and her family were such accomplished cooks! They refused to let me leave until I'd eaten with them. Actually, they almost refused to let me leave at all and insisted I stay the night with them. They took to me almost as quickly as your friend Pinkie did."

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Yeah, that's the Apple family for you! They'll work you to death, but only so they can smother you with hospitality afterwards. So, are you up for more questions tonight? I hope you don't mind, but I looked through more of those pictures you showed me yesterday and I'd love it if you told me a bit about them."

Sam nodded, and reached for his laptop. "I think I can stay awake long enough for that. So, I took this one when a good friend of mine and I went to New York. Back then, it was one of the biggest cities anywhere. So many sights to see; a lot of history in my country happened here." Switching to a picture of Sam and another person in an Italian cafe, "Oh man, this was a good one... My friend, Danny was his name, and I went to this restaurant during that same trip. Best food I'd ever had, and they finished it with a tall pitcher of this drink called "sangria". It was like wine but with chopped up bits of apples and other fruits at the bottom. I wonder if anyone around here makes wine, I'll have to talk to Applejack tomorrow... Anyway..." Sam continued recounting some of his favorite memories as the pictures triggered them. Twilight moved a little closer to him on the chair. Feeling her eyelids and head getting heavier from a day of intense study, she rested her chin on his arm as he proceeded telling her everything he could remember about the highlights of his old life.

Sam continued on, describing a trip he made to his old university. She looked at him with a bit of confusion as he recounted how he drank so much of a drink called "rum" with his friends that he completely blacked out, and was violently ill in the morning. "Why would anyone do that for fun?" She thought; she would ask him about it later. He told her about a city called "Boston", how he loved taking the train near his house to go there on his days off. He described malls and shops that would have made Rarity forget all about anything she'd seen in Canterlot.

Eventually, the little lavender unicorn had completely fallen asleep. Sam, noticing this, carefully put his laptop aside so as not to disturb his sleeping host. He couldn't help but smile at how cute she was like this. He shifted around on the chair to get comfortable, and fell asleep himself.

Chapter 5

Twilight was the first to wake up. She let out a relieved sigh that Sam was still asleep and hadn't seen her curled up against him, her head on his chest. She was just about to climb off the chair when Sam took a yawning breath and said with a grin, "You're finally up, I was wondering if I'd have to sit here forever!" Even through her light purple coat, Sam could see a blush on his friend's face.

She couldn't figure out why she felt so embarrassed about it, "I'm sorry, I guess I kinda dozed off last night..."

Sam waved it off, "Don't worry about it. I don't think I was too far behind you there. I considered trying to carry you to your room, but..." Flexing his arms, he winced in pain, "You can thank Applejack for preventing that, haha..."

After breakfast, Twilight realized that today was the day Fluttershy should be returning from visiting her family. "Hey, Sam, we should go visit a friend of mine today, she's been out of town for a few days."

Sam shook his head, "If I go I'll have to catch up with you at her place a little later. Today is when you said your friend, Rarity, could get my measurements to make my new clothes. Apparently shirts and pants shaped for humans are a little uncommon around here."

"That's alright, just follow the path in front of my library like you're going to Applejack's, but take a left instead. Whatever you do, GENTLY knock on her door. I'll make sure to get it for you so I can introduce you properly."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "You aiming for me to make a good impression on her? Afraid I'll embarrass you?"

Twilight shrugged off his teasing, but she couldn't help but blush a little again, "Oh no no no; if you haven't noticed by now, a lot of us are named after traits of our personalities or our skills. How our parents do it, I don't know, but Fluttershy is very... Well, shy. She's incredibly timid. First time I met her, I simply said, 'I'm Twilight, what's your name?', and she cowered down like I was a three-headed hydra and a manticore wrapped into one! My point is, I just wanna make sure we don't shock her too badly, heh..."

Sam nodded in agreement, "Maybe I'll try to go ahead and get Rarity to make me a plain shirt, this old band tshirt with the skull will probably not win me any points, eh?"

"Oh, Twilight, that sounds so incredible! I've never heard of a... " Fluttershy squinted her eyes to remember.

"Human?"

"Yes, and you say he talks like one of us?" Any new creature struck the yellow pegasus' interest easily. She was already dying for Twilight to tell her everything she knew about humans: what they ate, how they slept, common illnesses, what they liked to do... Twilight had to slow her down a little.

"Well, I can't answer many of those questions yet. Whatever that machine he was in is, it caused him to lose a lot of his memories. He's slowly getting them back, but for now I've just been making sure he's comfortable. The rest of the village is already accepting him a bit faster than I'd imagined. He's even started doing some work around Sweet Apple Acres, which I know Applejack is thrilled about." A slight smile started across Twilight's face, "It's been really interesting having Sam around and getting to know him a bit. He's a little sarcastic and hard to read sometimes, though, and the music he likes scares me. But hearing him talk about his past, especially when it's a good memory, it's better than any book I've read." She remembered the way Sam's eyes would light up as he spoke; there was that faint little blush again.

Fluttershy could sense Twilight's happiness, "Oh he does sound wonderful. It sounds like this research project is becoming a little more rewarding than you thought!"

Twilight's cheeks were ablaze now, "I... I'm not sure what you mean. Oh. Oh no, you think that I... And he... No, haha. He's a good story teller is all, and he's been a good friend so far. Besides, he's a human. I'm a pony. That sort of thing just wouldn't work out, would it now?"

"Um, I'm not sure what you thought I meant," Fluttershy's eyes diverting to the floor, "but it just seemed like you and he were becoming great friends, is all. But if that's what was on your mind... Maybe you should talk to him, I mean, if you want to, that is."

"Flutters, he's a friend. And my research subject." Twilight let out a slight, nervous laugh. Did she really have feelings for Sam? "Maybe I should talk to him," She thought to herself, maybe she could clear up whatever was occupying her mind. "All that aside, Fluttershy, he should be coming over to meet you any minute now, I promised I'd introduce him to my friends."

"Oh, um, are you sure that's such a good idea?" Stammered Fluttershy, already hiding behind her long, pink mane.

Just down the path, Sam was indeed on his way to the cottage. He couldn't seem to get the mental image of a sleeping Twilight out of his head. When he had woke that morning and saw her head on his chest, with her purple and pink mane wrapped around her face, the smile it brought out in him seemed to stretch for miles. As soon as he managed to get his mind off of that, he remembered the way she looked up at him as he would tell her about something from his past, her big, purple eyes rapt at attention. He had to admit, he was growing pretty fond of that pony. He chuckled to himself, "Heh, if she were human, I bet I'd have asked her on a date by now." Even though he meant it, saying that out loud suddenly struck him as odd. He quickly brushed aside the thought. He was the last human alive; that meant no more dating for him, he thought with a sigh.

Eventually he made it to the cottage. Sam began to silently count how many different types of animals Fluttershy kept around her house. He came across a small shelter, and bent down to see inside. He was greeted with a loud shriek, as a large family of rabbits streamed out of the shelter, frantically running away. He heard a slamming noise; the door swung open and a panicked yellow pegasus came rushing out of the cottage.

"Oh no! Ohmigosh!" Fluttershy turned and saw Sam, screaming even harder, "OHMIGOSH A MONSTER, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BUNNIES!" She continued flying around frantically, while Twilight tried to calm her down. Failing that, she barked at Sam, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

He shook his head, "Nothing! I just saw these rabbits and stopped to take a look and they freaked!"

Twilight managed to calm her friend down a little, "Fluttershy, this is Sam, he's not a monster, and we need to run NOW, your rabbits are running right for the Everfree forest!" Fluttershy went catatonic.

"UGH! This is NOT the time for that, Flutters..." Twilight looked at Sam, "Looks like this is on us, follow me! We have to get her animals back." The pair sprinted off for the forest's edge. Just as they were out of sight of the cottage, Fluttershy's more intelligent pet rabbit, Angel, had already managed to herd his fellow bunnies back into safety...

Chapter 6

Sam and Twilight were rapidly making headway into the center of the forest. Using her magic, Twilight did her best to push branches and vines out of their way. They followed a set of tracks, running as fast as they could. They must have covered at least a mile, coming up on the top of an incline, when, suddenly, the ground fell out from under them, hooves and feet flailing in air as Twilight and Sam tumbled over the edge. They screamed in terror, before crashing in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the ravine.

When Sam finally regained consciousness, it was nearly sundown. He laid in the dirt for what seemed like ages before he could manage to sit upright. He dragged himself over to Twilight's sprawled form, and was relieved to see she was still breathing. How they managed to survive the fall, he estimated at least 4 stories, was beyond his understanding. He gently tried nudging her, trying to wake her up. After a few moments, his efforts were rewarded as she tried to lift her head. "...Sam? What happened?"

"Don't move! Not yet anyway. We fell; I'm going to touch each of your legs, tell me if you feel it." He touched each hoof, in turn, Twilight answering him affirmatively for each, until he got to her left foreleg; as soon as he touched it she winced in pain. Sam's expression was a mixture of relief and concern, "Well, you haven't had a spine injury as far as I can tell. I'm worried about that leg though. It's gonna hurt but can you try to put some weight on it?" She nodded.

Twilight slowly struggled to stand up. Sam placed his arms underneath her, and she gingerly placed her hoof down. As soon as it touched the earh, the injured unicorn collapsed into her friend's arms. A few tears streaking her face, she looked up at Sam, forcing a laugh, "Good thinking..."

"You're welcome. I'm willing to bet bits that leg is broken. Looks like we'll need a little shelter for the night, there's no way we're getting out of here on our own. I'm sure Fluttershy will get help to find us, we've been gone at least a few hours by now. So much for finding her rabbits now..." Sam sat down to look at Twilight's leg more closely. "Can you walk on three legs? I can carry you if you need that."

She stood up again, holding up her injured leg. "I'll try on three for now." She took two steps and fell straight over, yelling out. Sam shook his head, walked over and scooped her up in his arms. "Hook your rear legs over my right arm and lay back against my left." He grimaced a bit as he lifted her up; between the stiffness in his limbs remaining from Applejack's chores the day before and the brutal fall he just took, every muscle in his body groaned as he took on her weight.

"Dear sweet Celestia this is embarrassing..." Twilight muttered under her breath, but not quietly enough, apparently, as Sam responded with a quiet laugh, "Don't worry, I see a shallow cave in the ravine wall ahead that we can stop in for the night, I won't be hurting your pride for too much longer." Looking down at his patient, their eyes met briefly before they both averted their gazes. The pair stayed quiet for several more minutes, Twilight being the first to break the silence, a nervous smile on her face, "Thank you, Sam. I know none of this has been easy for you, but the way you've taken it all in stride... You're a pretty amazing pon-I mean person."

Sam looked back down, his face scuffed and scratched, but obviously beaming after his friend's speech. "Well, I had some help from one great unicorn, didn't I? You didn't have to take me in, you know."

"I'm sure you've picked up on the fact that I'm an incorrigible egghead, as Rainbow Dash would call me. And the opportunity to study someone from before my kind even existed... How could I resist? And boy, did you turn out to be interesting," She was relieved that her face was coated in dust, he couldn't see her blushing. "In fact, Sam, I'm not sure if I should say this, but... Sam, I think I lo-"

They were just a few yards from the cave when something crashed through the woods, nearly knocking Sam over. He quickly set Twilight down on the ground, when whatever rushed at them came through again, this time stopping halfway between them and the cave entrance. Twilight lit up the area with her horn, gasping as the light revealed what appeared to be a winged lion. "Manticore!" She yelled, instinctively levitating any large objects nearby to hit it with. Sam followed suit, grabbing a large branch. Twilight's first boulder volley connected with the monster's head, knocking it back a bit but mostly enraging the beast. It jumped forward, dodging Sam's swings, and swiped directly at Twilight's head, crumpling her, unconscious, to the ground instantly. The impact interrupted Twilight's spells, causing a few sparks of energy to set fire to the sparse plants on the ground.

Sam quickly threw his improvised club into the flame, turning it into a torch. He swung it in the beast's face, making contact a few times. The manticore jumped into the air, and landed directly on Sam's chest, knocking him down and hitting the back of his head into a rock. He felt a slight wetness on the back of his neck, and narrowly rolled out of the way as the monster's jaws snapped on the air previously occupied by Sam's skull. The monster swiped again, making a direct hit on Sam's head. The world spinning, Sam continued swinging his flaming club, finally hitting the soft flesh of the manticore's eye. It stumbled back, receiving another blow to its underbelly as Sam frantically swung back and forth. Realizing this meal wasn't worth the damage it was taking, the beast flew off. Sam tossed the torch towards the cave.

His vision fading in and out, he ambled over to where Twilight still lay, and hauled her up over his shoulder. Stumbling into the cave, now dimly lit by the torch, and slumped against the cave wall, gently sliding the unconscious pony down beside him. As he approached unconsciousness himself, he put his arms around Twilight. As his eyes slammed shut, he murmured, "I think I love you too, Twilight."

Chapter 7

When Twilight woke up, the first thing she saw was the relieved face of Fluttershy. "What... Where am I?"

"Oh, Twilight, I'm so glad you're ok... Once Angel got my bunnies back, (they're very sensitive, you know), he calmed me back down, and that's when I noticed you and your friend were gone."

"You mean... Your rabbits never went into the forest?" Fluttershy shook her head, and Twilight facehoofed.

Fluttershy continued her story, "I flew as fast as I could to get Rainbow. We spent all night searching until we heard a bunch of yelling and growling, and then we saw the little fire coming from the cave you were in."

Suddenly remembering Sam, Twilight panicked, "What happened to Sam? Is he ok?!"

"Oh no, I'm sorry Twilight, but he's in pretty bad shape. He hit his head really hard, and when we found him, he'd been bleeding awhile." Fluttershy said in a grave tone.

"Can I see him? I need to see him..." Twilight felt the tears stinging her eyes.

"He's stable for now, and you're in just barely better shape yourself..." Seeing her friend's emotions welling up, Fluttershy added, "But I'll get the doctor to wheel you over as soon as he can... If you want..."

"I told him, you know... Or I tried to, before the monster attacked us..." Twilight drifted back to sleep.

A few days later, Twilight was released. Her head injury, though incredibly painful, was minor, and her leg wasn't broken as she'd feared; it was a severe sprain. Sam, however, had still not regained consciousness. The doctors determined that he was in no immediate danger of dying, but given the severity of his wound, specifically the brain trauma he sustained, there was no certainty that he'd ever regain consciousness. The thought of never really seeing Sam again hurt Twilight in a way that no fall, break, sprain, or manticore attack ever could.

In the course of their visits to cheer her up and drop off their "get-well-soon" gifts, Twilight's friends all picked up on her depression. After a bit of gentle, well-intended prodding, she broke down and explained to them all about her feelings for her human guest. She sobbed for what felt like hours, that she felt wrong for getting enamored with someone who wasn't even the same race as herself, and that aside, she may never get to talk to him again. The whole time, her friends were there, offering their supporting words and embraces.

Applejack, ever the blunt one, spoke up as Twilight's crying subsided, "Listen here sugarcube, about Sam, we wouldn't care if he were a buffalo. You ain't got ta worry 'bout what we, or anypony for that matter, think. First off, we're glad you're ok. Second, we're glad you feel that way about somepony, even if he ain't a pony. Finally, Sam paid a pretty high price ta save yore hide; make sure you don't waste that by being holed up in here poutin'."

Twilight finally broke a slight smile, "Thanks, AJ... You guys are too good to me... But what can I do? He's only a few steps above..." Her voice cracked, "A few steps above dead..." Suddenly, her eyes lit up, "I've got it! Surely there's a spell in one of these books that could help!"

Applejack cocked her head, "That's tha spirit? Whatever keeps you occupied... Just don't lose yourself, alright Twi'?"

The lavender unicorn barely heard her, as she was already hobbling all over the library in search of the right book and the right spell. Her friends said their farewells and promised to drop by the next day.

Eventually, Twilight found a spell that just might work. She was unsure of its exact function, as it only claimed to "regenerate the body of an injured pony." Obviously, Sam was not a pony, so she had no idea how the spell might react to his physiology. She figured there were two distinct possibilities: the spell meant "pony" as in the spell's target and was just a manner of phrasing, (aside from Sam, almost everyone else WAS a pony), or the spell really was being specific about the target actually being a pony. If reality turned out to be the former, then Sam would be healed! If the latter possibility was the case... At best, the spell just wouldn't work; at worst, the spell's effects would be unpredictable.

Either way, there was a problem. Twilight's own magical abilities weren't strong enough to fully power this spell; she'd need some help. There was only one pony that could help her with this: Princess Celestia. She had Spike quickly draft the letter, and then all she could do was wait. She hoped that the Princess would respond soon, as she knew she'd be unable to sleep until she had a chance to try this. Fortunately, Celestia answered quickly by appearing in front of Twilight.

"I came as quickly as I got your letter. I'm terribly sorry about not visiting you in the hospital, but there was a crisis in Manehattan and-"

Twilight cut her off, "I know, it's ok Princess, I was fine. Have you heard of the spell I mentioned in my letter?"

The Princess nodded, "I have, and I agree with your assessment of it's unpredictability given the circumstances... Are you sure that this is what you want to do?"

The unicorn responded, "Yes. He's not getting any better... And... I care a lot about him, I don't know what I'd do if he never woke up."

The Princess smiled knowingly, "I understand. Let's go visit him, shall we, my faithful student?"

Twilight and her mentor quietly walked into Sam's hospital room. An orderly was in the process of adjusting his IV medications. The entire hospital staff was surprised that their alien patient was in stable condition, given they had very little information to go on regarding how to best treat him.

Twilight felt the tears welling up again as she looked at Sam; he was connected to so many different machines. One to breathe for him, one to pump his medication, sensors to monitor his pulse and brain activity, all with miles of tubing and wiring between him and his machines. His head was still bandaged and swollen; he barely looked like himself.

The Princess looked down at her student, reassuring her, "Start the spell when you're ready, and I'll join in to amplify it."

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, and her horn began to glow. The Princess followed suit, adding her power to Twilight's own. Sam's body was slowly enveloped by the light. As the spell reached its peak, both Twilight and the Princess were completely blinded by a brilliant flash emanating from the bed. As the glow subsided, and Twilight's eyes readjusted, she was shocked by what she saw.

Laying in the bed before her was no longer a human, but a tan unicorn with a chestnut-colored mane resembling the messy mass of hair that Sam had before.

The Princess had called in the best physicians in Equestria to check on Sam. He had still not regained consciousness, but by all medical accounts he was perfectly healed, his pony transformation notwithstanding. Twilight hypothesized that Sam's unconsciousness was now just a side effect of the spell. After all, it was an incredibly powerful piece of magic.

Twilight's expression was still that of panic and distress, "Princess, what have I done? What do I do?"

The Princess placed a hoof on her shoulder, "You did what you thought was right, because you care about him. Would I be wrong in saying that you might even love him?" The exhausted pony blushed a little, "All you can do now is make sure you're here for him when he does wake up."

With that, Twilight climbed onto the bed. She noticed a familiar mark on his flank; it was an almost exact duplicate of her own cutie mark, though the center star was a blue-green and the outer stars were black, a reminder that his survival, and his transformation, was due to her love for him. She curled up next to Sam, and fell asleep for the first time since her release from the hospital's care.

Chapter 8

Sam slowly roused from sleep. The first thing he noticed was the sleeping form of Twilight Sparkle cuddled up to him. Her injured leg was bandaged, and there were a few healing cuts on her face, but all the same, she was fine. The second thing that he noticed was that they were in a hospital bed. "Someone must have found us after all", he thought.

He reached back to examine the back of his skull, and was surprised to find no wound, no stitches, not even a bandaid over the spot where he hit the rock. Still, something felt strange back there... Not with his head, but his hand, or as he saw when he brought his arm in front of his face, his hoof. He started yelling, and scrambling to sit up right in the bed, jolting Twilight awake.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?! I'M A PONY?! TWILIGHT WHAT HAPPENED?!!"

Twilight struggled to raise her voice over Sam's, "You were in a coma! We healed you but the results were... Unexpected..."

"UNEXPECTED? I'M A PONY! ... I can't handle this..." He fell out of his hospital cot, struggling to get onto all four hooves. This was not as easy as the others made it look, he realized.

He clumsily stumbled towards a mirror. His now-equine face stared back at him. All he could say was, "I'm a pony," like a broken record repeating. Something in his mind snapped, and suddenly the only thing he wanted to do was get away, alone. Nearly falling over himself, he dashed out of the hospital, tripping on the threshold.

Twilight, still injured and unable to walk beyond a slight trot, could only stand there in shock, tears streaming down her face.

Sam had no idea where he was going, he just needed to keep going. Eventually, he realized he had shakily galloped all the way to Sweet Apple Acres, as he stumbled and tumbled over himself. He caught sight of Applejack mid-flip, who greeted his arrival with a confused stare.

"Uhm, welcome, anything I kin do for ya? Ya'll ok?"

Sam matched her confused stare for a few seconds before the realization dawned on him, "Oh, right, I'm not currently myself. Applejack, it's me, Sam." He fought to stand back up.

Applejack's confusion was increasing exponentially by the second, "But... Yore a unicorn, and Sam's a human, an' he's comatose." She looked back at the front porch and the tray of empty mugs, "Ah really should lay offa that cider fer a spell..." She muttered.

Pleadingly, Sam repeated, "No, it's really me. Long story short, Twilight healed me with her magic, but apparently on humans, its results weren't well understood, annnnnd... I'm now a pony."

Applejack chuckled softly, "That egghead actually done it. I don't believe it." If looks could kill, Sam would have Applejack dismembered. "Hay now mister, I ain't makin' light of this sitchuation here. All I'm sayin' is that crazy mare Twilight was buck-crazy determined to find a way to fix you. Poor filly looked like she ain't slept in days." Sam's death glare softened. "She really thinks a lot about you, ya know. When the doctors told her you were unlikely to ever wake up... Ah didn't think we'd ever get her to calm down."

Sam looked like he'd seen a ghost, "I think that's what she was trying to tell me before we got attacked... And then when I woke up at the hospital... I freaked out and ran off... Now she probably thinks I'm a terrible person, I mean pony."

Applejack's face contorted like she'd seen a monster, "You WHAT?! She works herself nearly ta death and you jus' up and throw it back in her face!"

Sam waved a hoof frantically, trying to calm the country mare down, "Look Applejack, I'm not ungrateful. I'm not. I'm glad she saved my life and I'll spend the rest of it trying to make it up to her if I have to. But, can you at least agree with me that the side effect here was a big shocker? Imagine if you woke up as a human. This was a lot for me to deal with all at once, and my mind just sort of shut down."

Applejack relaxed. "Fair 'nough I suppose. Still, I hope yer intendin' to tell her that. Say, if'n you don't mind me askin'... We all know what Twi' thinks about you. But... What about yore feelins?"

Sam replied, "To be honest, yeah, I think I feel the same way. And in a way... This change of mine simplifies that a bit."

Applejack's confusion was returning, "Beg pardon?"

"I don't know if you noticed before, but before all this, I wasn't exactly the same species as you. Even then, I thought I felt something, but I tried to brush it off as me just feeling incredibly grateful for Twilight taking me in, and generally being a great friend through this. But then we had the accident in the forest, and it all started to sink in then. And now... I'm like her! Hell, those marks you all have on your backsides? Mine is a color-inverted copy of hers for crying out loud."

Applejack smiled a little, "So it sounds like you know what ta do. Look, I'll let you in on a secret. Pinkie was goin ta throw you your welcome party at the library the night of your accident. And ever since Twilight was released, Pinkie's been bouncin' around claiming her 'Pinkie sense' says you'd be out today, so she decided to move the party tonight and make it a surprise party. We didn't believe her, but... Anyway, I'll make sure to grab Twilight and get her there. You just show up."

Just as Applejack instructed him, Sam trotted up to Twilight's tree library as the sun went down. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door.

"SURPRIIIIIIIIIIIISE!" Pinkie Pie hadn't been kidding, nearly everypony in town was crammed into Twilight's tree. Huge banners saying "WELCOME" and "GET WELL SOON" hung across the room. Every table was piled with baked goods or gifts, some for Sam, others for Twilight.

Pinkie came bouncing over to Sam, "I don't think I've seen you before! Just kidding! Applejack told me everything." She winked, "Happy ponification day!"

Applejack finally showed herself. She walked over to Sam and told him to go upstairs to the balcony.

Making his way to the top of the stairs, He saw her outside. The look of utter depression was crushed into her face.

"Twilight? It's me..." He had no idea how she might react.

She turned around, her eyes growing wide and misty when she realized who her visitor was. "I didn't think you wanted to see me... After the hospital... You hate me now. Admit it."

Sam looked hurt, "Look... I know my reaction probably wasn't what you'd hoped it would be. I just want you to know I really am grateful. I'm glad you did what you did, otherwise I probably wouldn't be able to have this conversation with you anytime soon, if ever for that matter." Twilight smiled weakly, "And I'm not all that upset about this change. Just understand it was a pretty shocking thing to wake up to. But it's not all bad."

Twilight cocked her head, "How? I completely changed you, you'll never go back to the way you were. Aren't you even a little upset about that?"

Sam shook his head, "It's gonna take some getting used to, yeah. But here's the thing, I know, Twilight." He cleared his throat, "I know how you feel about me, and honestly, I've had the same thoughts cross my mind, but I ignored them. Now that I'm one of you... I can actually say this to you. Twilight Sparkle, you've been a wonderful friend to me, and you have no idea how much everything you've done means to me."

Her quivering smile now stretching across her face, eyes brimming with tears, she shakily asked, "What are you saying?"

Sam trotted a little closer to her, and gently nuzzling her, said, "I'm saying I love you." The dam broke, and Twilight began crying like a baby over his shoulder. He waited for her to stop, before standing back, looking her in the eyes, and adding, "So... How about a date?"

She leaned forward, and kissed him on the cheek. Sam laughed, "I'll take that as a yes then?" Both parties blushed with embarrassment as cheers could be heard coming from behind them. The pair turned around to see Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all giggling like schoolfillies. Sam asked, "Alright... What are you all doing up here?"

Pinkie, still laughing like a madpony, spoke first, "Welllll, silly willy, you disappeared from your own party! So I asked Fluttershy who told me to ask Rainbow who thought Rarity knew, leaving only Applejack to ask! Naturally we all wanted to know where our new friend went, so we all asked Applejack and she told us you went up here!"

Applejack grinned sheepishly, "Ah tried ta stop 'em, honest I did..."

Sam sighed, "How long were you here? What'd you see?"

Pinkie blurted, "Just that ADOOOORABLE kiss Twilight gave you!" The other four friends died laughing.

Sam decided to try his magic for the first time, slamming the door shut, nearly shattering the glass panel in it from lack of control. Twilight giggled, "I'll help you with that later..."

Sam and Twilight walked to the other end of the balcony. Sam was still trying to take it all in. An unfamiliar time, place, and, now, body, to get used to. But with his new friends, and the love he now felt between himself and his lavender lover Twilight, he was certain it would all work out. He looked into her eyes, and returned her kiss.

Epilogue

-Five years after Sam and Twilight's accident-

Sam had since taken permanent residence in the library with Twilight. It took him a while, but with daily lessons from his favorite unicorn, his skill in magic was rapidly growing. It seemed the spell that changed him into a pony took some influence from the being who cast it, explaining his matching mark and the fact that he was made a unicorn like Twilight. That's what she thought, anyway. He also didn't take long to get used to his marefriend's often-crippling obsessive-compulsive disorder attacks; a few reassuring words from him were usually enough to at least convince Twilight to slow her pace. Sometimes her personality quirks made no sense to him, and Sam's own anachronisms were an occasional source of awkwardness as well, but he didn't care. All he knew was that things between he and Twilight were better than ever; they'd been married for nearly four years now, after all.

He still remembered the day he asked for her hoof as if it were five minutes ago. It was Twilight's birthday party, thrown by none other than Pinkie Pie as usual. It was a huge celebration; Sam had asked her specifically to go all out for this party, even by Pinkie standards. He managed to get the Wonderbolts to put on a show, hired the same group of musicians that played regularly at the yearly Grand Galloping Gala, and of course searched far and wide for the rarest, most extensive book of magical knowledge he could find as a gift for his beloved librarian. The party had completely caught Twilight off guard, especially as Sam had made sure to invite her parents. The music was beautiful, but it hardly compared to the sight of the lavender unicorn dancing in Sam's eyes. Twilight's smile seemed permanent; all of her friends and family were there, and she could practically hear the thoughts that were put into selecting her gifts. Once she finished opening them, she noticed Sam had trotted next to her, and had a resolved, but happy look on his face. He knew nopony there would be expecting this as he knelt down, and extended a hoof to her with a small box. He opened it, revealing a necklace (as nopony wore rings) with the best gem that Rarity could find, and the room fell completely silent as he asked the one question Twilight had been hoping for since they had reconciled the night of Sam's welcoming party. "Twilight Sparkle, would you do me the incredible honor of being my wife?" The previously silent room exploded in laughter and jubilation as she, tears streaming down her face, quietly said, "Yes!" The rest, as they say, is history.

Much to Sam's back's delight, he finally got a position teaching at Cheerilee's school within six months of his arrival in Ponyville. He knew Applejack would miss the extra help, but this was much better suited to his abilities. Soon, Ponyville was turning out students with math and science scores that assured them a place in the royal academy in Canterlot. Even after four years, he still loved the expressions on his students' faces as they tried some of the simple science experiments he often assigned them; their favorite so far was the science fair standby, the model volcano, and today was the day the students would show off their hard work.

Sam walked by each team's table, and briefly quizzed them about the geologic structures they had worked to represent in their models. Pointing a hoof to a few small crevices on the side of the of cone, he asked, "Alright, so these ducts here, what are they?"

Silver Spoon perked up to answer, "That's a fissure vent! Sometimes gas and magma can escape from them."

Sam nodded, "Very good, Silver. I'll come back with another question shortly." He walked towards the table occupied by Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, and silently prayed they followed his exact instructions. "Ok, girls, first, let's see your volcano at work. Please tell me you used exactly what I told you to..." The three fillies exchanged nervous glances. Sam gulped nervously, "Alright, just do it..."

Applebloom poured the orange-dyed vinegar into the top of her team's mountain to mix with the baking soda inside. The table began to shake a little, as the model volcano began spewing orange foam all over the classroom, before actually catching fire; just as Sam went to take cover, the model exploded in his face, the foam luckily putting out the small fires.

Once the smoke cleared, Applebloom was already at her teacher's side with a towel, and sheepish grin. As Sam cleaned himself off, he scratched his head in shock, "Girls... Did you use anything besides the ingredients I listed?" All three shook their heads, "Did you use the amount I wrote down?" They shook their heads again. "Ugh... How much more?" Scootaloo held up an empty half-liter beaker. "That explains the excessive foam, but... Leave it to you three to create a combustion reaction with just baking soda and vinegar..."

Sweetie Belle, looking a little crestfallen, spoke up, "I guess chemistry isn't our special talent, either..."

Sam and the students began straightening up the room. He found himself laughing a little; he just couldn't stay mad at those fillies. He'd give them another shot after tomorrow's class, but this time under careful supervision.

Another good day at the schoolhouse coming to a close, Sam packed his bags, locked the door behind him, and set off for town. Something felt different about today, good for sure, but strange all the same; he couldn't put his hoof on it. As he cantered through town, he saw the town florist getting ready to pack it in for the day. She had one more bundle of perfect roses on her cart, and he couldn't resist the urge to buy it.

He passed by Rarity, heading in the opposite direction. He waved to her, "Good evening!"

She responded in kind, though her smile was much wider than usual, and she seemed like she was about to burst with happiness at the sight of him. "She must be having a really good day," Sam thought to himself.

He made it through the door of the library, and called out to Twilight, "Hey! I'm back from school,"

She called down from upstairs, "Ok! I'll be down in a minute, go sit down in the kitchen, Spike and I made dinner!"

Sam trotted over to the table and smiled; she wanted a candlelight dinner tonight. "That Twilight, " he chuckled, "Anticipating my own surprise with one of her own." He levitated the old daisies out of the vase and replaced them with the roses. He took his seat, and waited for Twilight to come down.

When she finally did, he was dumbstruck; she was wearing the same star-trimmed blue dress she'd worn on their trip to Canterlot last year, her mane obviously the result of Rarity's special attention.

Sam finally regained control of his voice, "Wow, look at you, and this table! What's the occasion?"

She saw the roses, smiled, and raised an eyebrow, "I could ask you the same thing!" She levitated one out of the vase and coyly nibbled at its petals.

Sam laughed, "Oh, no reason, I just saw them and knew I had to get them for you."

Twilight blushed a little, "You are a thoughtful one, aren't you? Well... Whenever you're ready, dig in!"

The couple ate their meal, exchanging stories of how their day went. Twilight nearly choked on a daisy while laughing at Sam's recounting of the Cutie Mark Crusader Caldera Catastrophe. Eventually, the meal over, Sam reiterated his earlier question, "So, this was great, Twi. And you look stellar. Seriously, what's the big occasion? I haven't seen you dressed up like this in ages, and I passed Rarity on my way home; I'm betting she had a hoof in doing your mane that way, and she seemed awfully excited to see me coming in."

Twilight was beaming that her little dinner date had been a success. It went exactly the way "Romantic Date Ideas" said it should, and she certainly didn't expect the added treat of roses. She motioned for Sam to follow her into the study, where they sat down. Twilight cuddled up as close as she could to her love, looking up at him with her big, purple eyes shining.

"I've got something I want to tell you," She cleared her throat, and said sweetly, "Sam, we're going to have a foal!"

Immediately, Sam jumped up, galloping around the room, shouting his excitement like a madman. Snapping back to reality, he raced back over to the couch and embraced Twilight in a kiss that seemed to last forever. Finally pulling away, the smiles that both unicorns wore told Sam that, though his old family may be eons gone, he would always have a family here.