There had been several occasions when Lucky found himself rendered completely speechless. But there was no doubt in his mind that right now was probably the most surprised he had ever been. Standing outside of his apartment Lucky had been filled in on why Annie wanted to talk to Amber alone, and he couldn’t believe it. Sure, Annie was the kind of person who would do anything to insure that her friends were happy, but this was on a whole different level.

“Annie’s really willing to go that far…?” A part of Lucky felt that he shouldn’t have been surprised, but even so he couldn’t help himself. As he tried to process this T simple stood in silence, looking over to his friend.

“Hard to believe, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” neither T nor Lucky said anything for a while longer, unsure of how to proceed a conversation after having such an offer placed on the table. T would have preferred to stay silent until the girls came out, hoping that maybe then Annie would take over. But he knew he couldn’t, he promised that he’d try to get lucky on board.

“So what do you think?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” looking down again Lucky pulled his hand out of his pockets and gazed on the ring around his finger. This offer would give Amber something she’s wanted more than anything in her life, something that she was told she might never have. He couldn’t even begin to think about denying her something like this. But at the same time he was hesitant to say yes, unsure of whether or not Amber would be willing to go along with it.

No matter how he tried to twist it, there was only one fact “This is her choice to make.” Looking up at T Lucky continued “I’m not going to give an answer, I’m going to wait to hear hers. And whatever it is, I’ll go along with it.” As soon as Lucky stated his resolve both he and T’s attention were caught by the sound of the door opening. When it did Lucky quickly noticed that Ambers appearance had changed, though she wasn’t back to her normal self he saw that she was better than when he last saw her. And he also noticed the slight puffiness of eyes that had just cried.

“Did you tell him?” asked Annie as the two of them stepped out.

“Yeah.” Both T and Annie watched as Amber walked up to Lucky who had wrapped his arms around her for a hug. The two were silent for a moment, most likely still trying to settle after what they had been told. Eventually Amber stepped back and looked up into Lucky eyes,

“So…did you make your choice?” he asked. Amber in tern smiled back at him and gave a node of her head.

“Let’s do this.”

The group soon made their way back into the apartment, everyone finding a seat in the living room. The first step had already been taken now that both Amber and Lucky accepted Annie’s offer. But again this was only the first step, one of many that would need to be taken before this could all be done. Which is what brings them to where they are now, ready to discuss what they are going to do next.

“So how exactly does this work?” asked Lucky, between the two of them Amber was the one with the most medical knowledge while his was limited to just some of the basics.

“In Vetro fertilization isn’t something that can just happen overnight. It takes several appointments and you’ll have to be prescribed some medication before they can even consider making a date to remove some eggs.” Said Amber, which brought her to a question she hadn’t thought to ask until now. “That being said, where is this all going to take place?” she asked.

“That’s something else I wanted to bring up,” said Annie “But I wanted the both of you to be together before I did. Like you said, this is something that will take time, not just my appointments, but the one’s Amber would have as well. For this to work out best, the two of us would need go to the same hospital.” but there lied a problem, both Annie and Amber lived miles away from one another, both having their own hospitals they go to. So the obvious solution would be that one of them would have to move locations for a while.

Question was, who?

“We have plenty of space here,” said Amber “You’ve used our guest room before so you know it’s comfortable. And after what you’re doing for me it’s the least we can do.” Annie looked over to Amber and smiled warmly at the offer.

“I appreciate that Amber, I really do.” she said “But I have to ask you something; since you told me what happened you said that it’s hard for you to function. You also said you haven’t been able to work, so I have to ask, how long has it been since you left home?” Amber knew she couldn’t see her face, but still she turned away from Annie. She could feel a small sliver of shame wash over her, even she wasn’t sure how long it had been since she went outside.

“It’s…it’s been a while…” said Amber as she hung her head. Annie simply hummed in response, a small part of her had expected that answer.

“That’s why I have to insist on this,” she said with a series expression “Until we sort this through, until everything is said and done…I want you to live in Ponyville with us.” Amber couldn’t explain it, but for some reason the thought of going back to Ponyville filled her with an uneasy sensation. Her visits to the rural town had always been happy, many fond memories having been made there.

“But why, why do I feel afraid to go there now…?” she asked herself, desperately wishing that there would be an answer. But one didn’t come, not to her question anyway, and still she had to say something back to what Annie was insisting upon.

“Y-you know Annie, Canterlot General is a lot larger than Ponyville Hospital, their technology is up to date, a-and I know a lot of the doctors there too. It wouldn’t be hard for me to get the appointments we need if I talk to them.” Annie was silent for a moment, as if she was thinking about Amber’s suggestion.

“That does sound like it would make things easier,” Annie said with a nod of her head, for a moment it made Amber relax. Sure she didn’t know why she was trying to avoid Ponyville, but so long as they could still get the same results it wouldn’t matter, right?

“But can you bring yourself to step foot in that hospital?” again Amber felt herself pause, her last memory in that hospital was not a happy one. But how could it be, how could anyone look back in fondness of the place where you had your dreams crushed.

“Lil…” Annie said with true concern in her voice, Amber looked up at her to see Annie looking back, her brows furrowed. “You can’t avoid this…” Amber bit her bottom lip for a moment, she wished she could know why she tried to avoid it in the first place. But she knew that she wouldn’t be able to find out sitting here, she’d have to find her answer there.

“Okay…” she said, but then her expression changed, it was stern and unmoving, something Lucky hadn’t seen from her for a while now. “But I have one condition,” she said.

“Okay,” said Annie.

“Any and all of the expenses for this will be paid for by us,” she said as she placed on hand on Lucky’s shoulder. Annie looked as though she was caught off guard by this, for a moment she looked as though she was going to say something, but Amber beat her to it. “No Annie, I’m not going to back down for this one,” she said.

“You’re giving me everything short of a new organ, while I know you’re doing this for me I can’t take all this without putting in something of my own. Lucky and I have saved up a lot of money over the years, it should be more than enough to cover everything.” Lucky looked over to Amber for a moment, they did in fact have a lot of money saved. This was because they were looking to buy themselves a home. But he didn’t say anything, because one look in Amber’s eyes was all he needed to understand. There would be time for a new home later, right now this was more important, for both of them.

Annie let out a small sigh, she was sure her insurance could cover this, but it didn’t sound like Amber would move an inch. But maybe that was a good thing, being able to hear her friend trying to be stubborn, in a good way. “Okay Lil, you win this one,” she said with a smile. The room fell silent after that, the offer was given and accepted, and the conditions have been set, all happening a lot faster than Annie expected.

But it wasn’t long until the silence was broken by the sounds of someone clearing her throat. “Y-you know Del runs a new restaurant near here,” said Amber. “I bet if we showed up we could get some seats,”

“I could eat,” said T as he and Lucky got up from their seats. Soon after Amber and Annie rose as well, and all four began to make their way to the door. But before they did Amber felt a hand place on her shoulder. Looking back all she saw was Annie smiling at her, one so bright that she couldn’t help but return it. Without a word the two caught up with the guy and locked the door behind them. She didn’t think much of it at the time, but in that moment she had made a large first step.

Author's Note

I think this stories version of Annie could beat out Rarity for her Element of Harmony. Maybe it's just me. What do you think, did I make her too generous here?