Kyle was about to head outside and try to walk his sadness off... but he spotted something on his computer's keyboard. It looked like a note, but he did not write it, let alone put it there. He walked over and picked it up to see that it had a line of code written on it in pen. It was a line of ten keyboard characters. He did not know what they meant. He logged onto the computer to see that his email icon had a notification.

Logging into his email, he saw that he had a new message in his primary inbox, as opposed to all of the junk mail he gets in his promotional, social, and update inboxes. The address was masked, so Kyle could not see who it was from... but he was willing to take the chance to see what it was; his antivirus software should hopefully stop any threats. Hesitantly, he opened up the email, and an attached file began to download.

It was a video file, and it prompted Kyle if he wanted to open it now. He clicked on "Yes," which led to a password-entry window. The file was encrypted.

"What? What is this?" Kyle said to himself. "What good is a file if I can't even unlock the... wait..."

The realization struck him in that moment. He looked back at the note he set of to the side.

"Could it be...?" Kyle said.

He began to type each letter, number, and symbol in the order that they appeared on the note. His heart was hammering at this point. Upon pressing the enter key, a loading bar appeared, filling in less than two seconds: the file was decrypted and ready to play.

The computer's media player opened, and...

"...Hi, Kyle..." Lyra said, appearing on the screen.

Kyle stared in utter awe at the sight on his computer screen.

"...Hey, Lyra..." he replied out loud.

It seemed that Lyra recorded herself with his computer's webcam, as noted by the identical office scene directly behind him.

"...so, it's the night after you rescued me from those catchers. You're asleep right now, but... I wanted to make this video, because..." Lyra sighed. "...I just wanted to say that I hated the way I acted. I don't like to scold you... and I really do, from this point, want to make the most of my time with you..."

Kyle rested his chin on his hands, with his elbows on his knees, as he watched the recording.

"...And I especially want to make the most of it, because... well..." Lyra looked around for a moment. "...you once told me that, one day, I might end up returning to Equestria..."

The mentioning of this was making Kyle start to tear up again.

"...and, if that were to happen... that I might have my memory altered upon returning. But Kyle... even if that does happen... even if I don't remember anything about you or this world... I just want you to know this: you have done an awesome job of taking care of me, and you are an awesome person. I am amazed that you've managed to survive everything that you've been through... and still made time for me. So, Kyle..."

Lyra smiled, closed her eyes, and hung her head down.

"...I love you. I really do. Nothing could ever change that. And I can never thank you enough for everything you've done for me. So... whatever happens... just always know that it was not in vain, and I really appreciated every minute of it."

Lyra then reached for the keyboard, pressed a key, and the video ended. By then, Kyle was struggling to hold back his crying again. It did contain sad tears, but also... happy tears.

At the end of the video, Lyra kissed her hoof, and blew it at him. Kyle himself caught the kiss in his hand, and put said hand to his lips. He realized that Lyra knew that something like this was bound to happen, and she knew to prepare in advance for something like this.

He was fortunate that she had not left him on bad terms, just like before.

(XXXX)

It was yet another day in Ponyville for Lyra... at least, that's what she perceived. She woke up in the house that had been given to her to convince her that she had moved to Ponyville once of proper age, made herself breakfast, and went off on her own way, since she had the day off from work, at least, that's how everything had been arranged, as well as implanted into her memory.

Lyra stepped outside into the morning sun. "Ah... another beautiful day!" she said, taking a breath of fresh air.

“Lyra!” Bon Bon's voice came.

Lyra turned to see the Earth Pony walking briskly towards her, and then giving her a big hug.

“Oh, morning, Bonnie!” Lyra said, trying to pry her forelegs out of Bon Bon's. “Why so... friendly, today?”

Realizing that Lyra's memories must have been altered just as they planned, Bon Bon responded subtly.

“...I'm just so happy to see you.” Bon Bon said.

Smiling, Lyra hugged her back. "I'm happy to see you too, Bon Bon." she said.

After separating, Bon Bon spoke next.

"Wanna grab some brunch?" she asked.

Lyra nodded. "Sure!" she said.

After the two friends got a bite to eat, Lyra decided to head home for a bit of down time. From what she remembered, she had been quite burned out from her job for the past few weeks, and needed recuperation. She had it back to her home, and went straight to her bedroom with a book to start reading.

Lyra noticed a strange crystal pendant sitting on her nightstand. She had never seen it before in her life. What was it doing here? She walked over to it and picked it up, examining it. Though she never saw it before... something felt vaguely familiar about it.

"Weird necklace..." she said.

After looking at it for a few moments, a flash of light filled her eyes... and she saw... a hand holding it, offering it to her.

Merry Christmas, Lyra. A voice came in her head.

Lyra blinked a few times after the image ended. The creature's face was blurred... but she was sure she just saw a human.

"Strange..." Lyra said to herself. "...I got this necklace... as a gift? But... nopony gave it to me! And... who was that human?"

She happened to see a small box about a quarter the size of a shoebox sitting right under where the necklace was. She had not noticed right away... but she had never seen it before, yet it felt like she had. She opened it up... and inside were a few trinkets that looked like they were from an alien world... and a photograph of a strange creature.

"A human..." Lyra said, picking up the photograph.

She stared at it for a moment. Whoever this human was, he was quite handsome, Lyra thought. His light skin complemented his dark brown hair quite well. And his green eyes resembled emeralds. However, after looking closely enough...

...she remembered him finding her when she was lost...

...he took her into his home...

...he cared for her...

...he taught her about magic...

...he helped her get her cutie mark...

...they went on their own way...

...in a large mansion...

...they fought, but reconciled...

...he declared his ultimate love for her...

...just as she did for him...

...and they even mated, no less...

...Lyra gasped as it all came flooding back to her, in conjunction with her false memories.

“...K-Kyle...” she said. “...I... I remember... I remember everything...”

She looked at the little trinkets she had brought back from the other world.

“So... humans do exist...” she said. “...and a human... was my best friend...”

Lyra held up the necklace, starring deep into the glowing artificial crystal. She could almost swear she could make out patterns of human fingerprints on the metal setting...

She looked out of the window up at the sky, tears filling her eyes. She was saddened for a moment... but narrowed her eyes in rich determination, looking up into the vast blue void above the world.

“One day...” Lyra declared. “...I'll find a way to come back, Kyle. I promised.”

(XXXX)

Kyle slipped his wedding ring off of his finger, and held it up in front of his face.

“I'll never forget about you, Lyra...” he said out loud, just before kissing the golden band. “...never.”

He set the ring on his desk, and stared at it for a long while. Kyle knew that the love of his life was now gone, and there was little to no chance of her coming back... and he knew that he would have to face reality soon enough.

A few days later, Kyle found himself walking through an abandoned old park, the cracking concrete walkway being the only way through all of the overgrown grass. The sky was cloudy and gray, and the light gusts blew his open, slim-fit trench coat around him. Long walks were always something that helped him to think and reflect, which helped him gain a sense of closure when he could come to accept something.

Of course, he was continuing his freelance artist career, and was still making a lot of money off of it... and yet, it felt almost pointless to have everything he had, and no one to share it with. His life felt, not fully sad, but empty without someone he could talk to, hug, and especially, kiss.

Maybe one day, I'll meet a nice young woman who will finally accept me... Kyle thought. ...but still... no girl in the world could ever replace my Lyra...

Though he was now alone, though nobody ever knew of anything that happened between the two, which is now mere memories to him, and though he should have wanted absolutely nothing else more than to have Lyra back... Kyle felt that everything that happened should have been just that. Good things such as these won't last forever, and it just goes to show that one must cherish the good times and not take them for granted. And Kyle definitely cherished every moment with the iconic background pony.

If he had not gone to investigate the crying he heard on that one fateful day... if he was coldhearted enough to the point of not caring... he would still be the same, emotionless nobody that he was prior to meeting Lyra. But now, his sadness has started to diminish, as he has finally begun to move into the acceptance phase.

Kyle knew that Lyra would not want him to cry all of his tears away just because of her. She would want him to be happy and enjoy his life. He has promised himself that he would do so. No doubt, Kyle Schaeffer was indeed a changed man. He was no longer the bitter, reclusive eighteen-year-old that he used to be. He was now a wise, purified twenty-five-year-old with a heart of gold. He was now willing to help people out, having let go of his resentment to the world, and do things for the ultimate better.

After walking some ways, Kyle found himself on a bridge spanning over an actively-flowing creek about thirty feet across. He stood on the middle of the bridge, looking down into the water as it went rushing by. The sound of the flow was soothing to him. It drowned out the faint car noises of the roads in the distance, and helped him to be at peace.

Kyle was absolutely ready to keep moving forward and not look back. He would not think about Lyra... but he would never forget about her, and he will make good use of the positive energy he provided to her over the years. He knew that she was safely back home, in the background of the show where she belonged. They could never kill off any characters in a kids' show, so the thought alone helped him to accept that she was gone, but safe, and leading a normal life. Even so... he still felt like he needed closure... he needed someone to be there for him...

Having been staring into the river, Kyle returned to reality when he heard footsteps passing behind him. He looked back to see a woman with dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, sunglasses, and a windbreaker jacket.

"Sorry..." Kyle said, assuming he was in her way.

The woman stopped for a moment, staring at him.

“Wait... that watch...” she said.

She looked closely at the watch Kyle was wearing as his hand rested on the bridge's rail. Though she was wearing sunglasses, Kyle could tell that she was in immense surprise. She looked up at him.

“Kyle...” she said, slipping off her sunglasses. “...it's really you...!”

Kyle's eyes became immensely wide as he realized just who this woman was. She had never worn a ponytail, as far as he knew... but he knew her face... and then her voice... it came back to him all in just a few nanoseconds, forcing him to gasp. There was no doubt whatsoever.

“Mom...!” Kyle said.

Author's Note

Yep, this is it. The end of the story... or is it? Okay, so that wraps up this fic! Thanks for all of your support, fellow bronies and pegasisters! I hope you liked this story! Anyways, I am going to be on a hiatus on this site, since I am planning on writing an "Aliens" fic on FanFiction.net. However, if the fanbase hasn't died down by the time said fic is over, I will keep bringing you more fics! Anyways, thanks again, everyone! This is midnightwolfGX, signing off! Bye for now!