Find Her, Stay With Her

Shortly after Ed and Danny had been banished back to the human world, Kyle and Jan went through the process of being sworn into Equestria as official citizens. There was a bit of paperwork that they had to fill out at Canterlot, but after watching the show a few years back, Kyle was quite familiar with the customs of Equestria, and he was able to fill everything in perfectly. His mother, however, needed a bit of his help when it came to studying the answers for the Equestrian Citizenship Questionnaire.

They also both decided to settle on getting new names that would better fit the world they were in, Jan especially agreeing to do so after hearing so many... exotic names of the ponies. Kyle decided to use his internet alias, xXx_Abstraction_xXx, as his new name, omitting the additional characters, and simply going by Abstraction. Jan, noting that her cutie mark was a frying pan, simply settled for the name Pan Fry.

"Now, you are certain that you are ready to be fully committed into serving as Equestrian civilians until the day you die?" Celestia asked both of them.

"Yes." Kyle, now Abstraction, responded.

"Yes." Jan, now Pan Fry, also replied.

Celestia smiled, closed her eyes, and nodded a single time.

"Then, it is from this day forward that you, Kyle Jonathan Schaeffer, are now Abstraction, Unicorn citizen of Equestria, and you, Janet Allison Rhodes-Schaeffer, are now Pan Fry, Unicorn citizen of Equestria. So, consider this your official welcome to our kingdom." Celestia said, smiling warmly.

Abstraction had finally gotten the sense of closure he had been yearning for all this time; to finally become a citizen of Equestria. There was no doubt in his mind that he was ready to leave everything in his old world behind. Well... almost everything...

"Um... Princess..." Abstraction spoke up.

"Yes?" Celestia asked.

"See..." he began. "...I made quite a living for myself back where I came from... and have saved up quite a fortune. So... I would really hate for it all to go to waste, so... is it possible to, maybe... convert American Dollars into Equestrian Bits?"

The Princess of Equestria pondered for a moment... but she eventually nodded.

"...I think it could be done." Celestia said.

"Great!" Abstraction said. "I'll just give you my account and routing number for my bank, and let you take it from there."

Shortly after he gave Celestia the information she would need, she proceeded to the portal room, where she sat in a meditation pose, charging her horn as the portal platform itself began to glow.

"This shouldn't take long..." she said to herself.

An accountant in an Atlanta location of Wells Fargo was busy running some checkups on the accounts of their clients. They would move subtly up or down as clients withdrew and deposited cash. Everything looked normal... except...

She happened to notice that one of the few millionaire they had was having their account depleted of cash.

"Oh my...!" she said, looking closely at the number as it continued to plummet.

The account, from what she could observe, belonged to Kyle Schaeffer.

"...Wh-what in the name of...?" the accountant said, pulling her glasses up away from her face as she saw the rapidly-falling number in Kyle Schaeffer's checking and savings accounts.

She immediately dropped everything she was doing and rushed to inform her supervisor of the apparent problem. Little did any of them know that it was all intended for good purposes. Abstraction would get his money in Equestria, and it would help to slightly reduce inflation in the area.

However, the humans, oblivious to the existence of Equestria, regarded this as one of the worst cases of identity theft that had occurred at the bank. As such, they rushed a letter over to Kyle Schaeffer's former address.

Mr. Schaeffer,

We are sending you this notice via rush mail to report an extreme emergency; your bank account appears to have been hacked and wiped clean of all money.

A report has been filed to the local police, and we have submitted this information to special investigators who will look into the matter. In the meantime, we are going to attempt to find a way to partially reimburse you. A full refund is impractical, given the amount you had saved up.

We recommend you change any saved passwords you have and encrypt them, and start putting together an emergency budget, since we don't know how long it could take to track down the hacker who breached our system. We will be taking steps to drastically increase our security and login measures and make sure that nothing like this happens again.

We are praying for you,

Linda Howell,
Wells Fargo Teller.

It was, however, a note that would never reach its intended recipient...

Despite a great deal of effort being put into the forensic investigation... the ethical hackers, special investigators, and other authorities involved found no sign of a data breach. It was as if all of the electronic currency had been deleted by code in the bank's server system that never existed, which proved very puzzling...

...but what was even more puzzling was the fact that nobody could make contact with Kyle Schaeffer himself...

Abstraction was continuing his freelance artist career in Equestria, which really took off much faster than it did in his native world. Through the Equestrian equivalent of the internet, known as the PonyNet, he joined several art communities, showing off his work, and having numerous ponies around Equestria and beyond requesting commissions from him. Soon enough, he began making quite a lot of income once more, adding to what he already had in the millions. He also bought himself a lavish property in Canterlot, one that looked remarkably similar to the mansion he had back in the human world.

Eventually, he and Lyra decided to get married for real. It did not take long to make preparations, because their wedding had no ceremony and was very small; they were only doing it in the Canterlot Courthouse in front of a few witnesses, since neither of them felt like going all out and becoming the center of attention. The pastor recited the usual lines, and the witnesses consisted of Bon Bon, Noteworthy, and a few other ponies whom Lyra was acquainted with.

However... both of them could definitely agree that tying the knot for real... was the best decision they ever made in their lives.

Abstraction donated a portion of his money to his mother, who wanted to start her own chain of gourmet restaurants. With the money, along with an additional loan from the Equestrian National Bank, she started off by opening up a single restaurant in Canterlot, with her serving as the head chef. Her business was proving to be quite successful, as she had gotten many regulars, and her restaurant got excellent reviews. It got to the point where she decided to start a chain across Equestria, with the main location being in Canterlot, where she helped out with the cooking a lot, and caused many tourists to stop by her restaurant when visiting Canterlot; to have a dish made by Pan Fry, the owner of the chain, herself.

Of course, Lyra had really wanted for Abstraction to stay at her house... but he tried to explain that being in Canterlot was the only way he could continue making six-figure income; it was far more appealing to art enthusiasts than Ponyville was, he reluctantly had to admit. However, he came up with a compromise.

Abstraction decided to start putting all the money he earned into a joint account that Lyra could access, since they were married. And he also said that she could live in their Canterlot house to visit him, and live in their Ponyville house when she wanted to visit her friends. Plus, he would come to visit her whenever he got the chance while she was in Ponyville.

However... Lyra had been experimenting with her magic, and had made quite a big discovery, which made one of her first visits to Abstraction's home in Canterlot all the more important. The first thing that signaled her presence to him was the frantic knocking on the door.

"Woah, Ly... what's up with you today? I'm trying to spend some time with my mother!" Abstraction said after he opened the door for her.

"There's something I need to show you!" Lyra said, pushing her way in.

Abstraction narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"

"Well... see..." Lyra spoke up. "...I figured out a way to see beyond dimensions... and into the future... and, what I saw back in your world... it is huge...!"

"Oh, really?" Abstraction asked, tilting his head.

Lyra nodded. "...And it's all about you, Abby!"

The stallion internally cringed, because "Abby" was, of course, a female name where he came from, but Lyra had taken to calling him it as a nickname, and he just couldn't say no to her. However, he was also instantly curious as to what she meant by it.

At that moment, Pan Fry came into the room.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Well, apparently, Lyra has big news for us." Abstraction said.

Lyra nodded eagerly. "Yeah, and it's all about your son!"

"Oh, is that so?" Jan asked.

"So... what is it about me that's so important?" Abstraction asked.

"I'll show you..." Lyra said, just before she began to perform a spell.

She conjured a Viewing Portal that allowed them to view any point in spacetime, and sent its perspective to the human world, showing different locations, as well as points in the near-future. What was to come next would really blow the two former humans' minds.

It turned out even though Abstraction was gone from his native world... he had not left without leaving a mark. And quite a big one, too...

For weeks after his disappearance, his online fanbase had been messaging the accounts that would never be logged into again, requesting him for commissions. After months, they had began to get worried, posting things like “hey u still around” or “u gonna paint somethin 4 me”. After years, everyone gave up hope of reaching him, and posts consisted of “hes been offline for 2 years now” or “i think he might be dead” or “rip abstraction”.

The fans were so upset over his disappearance, they began to scour to find information about him, and through various sources from art shows, they discovered that Kyle Schaeffer was the real identity of “xXx_Abstraction_xXx”. They learned that he had been declared legally missing after utility and mortgage payments were not being made, and no one was able to contact him.

Eventually, after seven years, Kyle, as well as his mother, were both declared legally dead. Through Reddit and other social media platforms, the fanbase decided to hold a funeral at an art show in Georgia. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people attended the fan-made funeral. It was even being televised on international TV.

There were various artists and commission clients who all stepped to the podium to offer their respects to Kyle. Even some art university professors attended and gave their speeches on behalf of Kyle's “demise”.

Following the funeral, he was absolutely everywhere on the media. On television, in the papers, on the radio, various websites, billboard ads, and even biographical movies and books, all of which had information from... unorthodox sources. But of course, they all left out one major thing... and that was the existence of Lyra Heartstrings.

There were many celebrities, news reporters, and talk-show hosts who always liked to pay tribute to Kyle through televised programming about events that were the result of inspiration by his art, and the people with whom he was involved.

“It was through his new, abstract, artistic style that new architecture designs have been created, movies are taking on new art, as well as video games, even fiction bookwriters have been immensely inspired by the new art style that had been conceived by freelance artist, Kyle Schaeffer. Though he is now presumed to be gone, his legacy will not be forgotten by the massive, international fanbase he had created and captivated for years. Millions of new artists, writers, and composers from around the world, all inspired by the work of Kyle Schaeffer, have began publishing their work on a scale so massive, it repeatedly caused servers worldwide to crash from an overloaded client.”

“Yeah, I was a big fan of his work, and apparently lots of other students from my university were as well. His work inspired me to enter into an art program and start an art club at my old school, and from what I hear, it's now a fairly major organization at the school. Also, this seems to be happening a lot at other schools as well. It sounds like millions of people around the world are hearing about him and being inspired by his unique art style.”

“Engineering students from the University of Harvard have created a new method of building construction, based on a circular line pattern in a painting made by internet artist xXx_Abstraction_xXx, otherwise known as the now-supposedly-deceased Kyle Schaeffer. The design of structure supports, although unorthodox, has demonstrated the ability to be more effective than current building designs. Many construction companies have come to see the beams' stress demonstration comparison, and are looking at getting this style widespread in modern construction. This could, in turn, lead to reduced unemployment rates and boosted local economies on a nationwide level. Perhaps even worldwide, one day. A majority of future architecture for new buildings, from skyscrapers to small houses, could benefit from this new engineering design. They have decided to name this building method the 'Schaeffer Arch Beam' layout.”

“No doubt, people from all over the world have been inspired by his art. He has influenced so much change in, not just the world of modern art, but the modern world as a whole. His interactions and acceptance of artwork commissions from citizens of various nations, including China, Russia, and even Middle East countries, has demonstrated a lasting effect on the people of the internet. Friendships are being made worldwide through the communities he has spawned, foreign pen pals numbers have increased by one-hundred and seventy percent, sanctions from world nations are dropping, and even ongoing wars have been stopped via ceasefire.”

“These human relationships that his commission art platform started has helped to dissolve diplomatic tensions of nations with whom America has had previously icy relations. The President himself was astonished to know that Kyle Schaeffer was able to peacefully bring the people of the internet together in a way that would take a gigantic leap towards world peace. For all anyone could know, Schaeffer may have indirectly prevented future wars, and created a path towards future peace agreements that could unite the world as a whole one day.”

“We can see that these connections Schaeffer has created among online communities has spread the word among non-internet users, and it ultimately forced the people of the world nations to speak out to their governments, and to try and put forth the effort to stop conflict with other countries. Ambassadors have been sent from various countries to foreign nations, and it has all been mostly successful. World conflict rates have dropped immensely, unlike anything seen in history. The most noteworthy exception is North Korea, whom many nations have ordered sanctions against after Kim Jong-un made threats against their world leaders for allying with the United States, and he even went so far as to call Schaeffer 'The Devil's Paintbrush'.”

“I really regret that Schaeffer could not live to see how his small actions set off the Butterfly Effect for one of the best changes we've seen in world nations, all through the powerful tool that is the worldwide web. He seemed like a good young man, and he had a bright future. Even though world leaders can change things at will, sometimes it's the little people who make the BIGGEST impacts on the world, as they are often not forseen. Without his efforts on the internet... our world might still be heavily fragmented.”

“Kyle Schaeffer can only be described as an internet artist who was able to transform the world! And it's truly a shame that he will never be able to live life to the fullest...”

“He was just an artist behind a computer screen... working in the shadows... who single-handedly took our world one GIGANTIC step closer towards an international utopia, and greater use of artistic sense in construction, music, electronic media, and other things on which society sets its focus. He will be missed.”

To think they all thought he was dead. And, in a way, he is. The life of Kyle Schaeffer is over, and he has been reborn into the Unicorn pony, Abstraction. He really felt like he was betraying the world by disappearing... but came to grips that he could not go back. A matter that he could wholeheartedly accept. Despite all the praise the world was giving him... there were the few who did not believe he deserved it. Mainly, it was people from his past...

“He has created a bad image for our company. He could've changed the world in the same way if he stayed working with us, and maybe even better than how is currently is. Because he would've helped to provide excellent service to millions of customers over the course of his career with Kroger, but he just gave it all up, and went about humiliating us with it all.” Kyle's former manager from Kroger said in an interview.

“Granted, he was different from all the other kids, but that did not excuse his poor level of attention and concentration. He always had his head in the clouds, he never seemed enthusiastic about school, and he was just a slacker. I don't see why he should be getting praise just for painting. That's not a skill that applies in the real world!” one of Kyle's former teachers said.

“Oh, I remember him when I was trying to do my regular shopping at Kroger! He was such a nuisance, and I can't believe they would hire someone who doesn't even show the LEAST bit of concern about the customers! He was making my life difficult by not accepting my coupon because it was 'already used by another coupon I had'! He needed to learn more respect and courtesy for the people who shopped there! He should've been fired and blacklisted! He should NOT HAVE BECOME FAMOUS FOR GETTING AWAY WITH THIS KIND OF S[BEEP]T! He lived and died as a bad person, and he will suffer in Hell for all eternity for it!” a Kroger regular said to a reporter, just before the feed cut off.

“He SUCKS! He didn't 'create world peace' or 'become the internet art-god'! It's someone else, not him! Schaeffer was a piece of S[BEEP]T who didn't have the right to come out of his mom's p[BEEP]! And y'know what? I'm GLAD that piece of s[BEEP]t is dead! He was a—” one of Kyle's middle-school bullies said in a televised interview, before the feed again cut off.

The Viewing Portal simply dissolved into a blank vortex as Lyra stopped having it perceive, leaving the young stallion and his mother in total surprise and awe at what they had just witnessed.

"See what I told you?" Lyra asked. "I meant it when I said it was big!"

“So... everything I did... it set off the Butterfly Effect... and it led to greater international cooperation, and civilization improvements...” Abstraction said, still staring at the magical energy field in awe.

He lowered his plot to the floor, and sat as his eyes fell in the same direction, where they stared at his pondering forehooves.

“...I never even thought any of this could happen... hell, I never even intended for it to happen...” Abstraction said.

It was so much for him to take in; he did not believe that he had the capacity to change the world in such a way. However... his mother felt different. She was no longer shocked by the revelation, but rather... impressed. She placed a hoof on her son's shoulder, and he looked up at her.

“You see how much you changed the world? Remember those times when you were younger when you felt bad about yourself every time you failed something, claiming you were worthless?” Pan Fry asked. “Well... just look at what your calling has done for our world! I can't even begin to express how proud I am of you!”

Abstraction smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

“So... do you want to go back now?” Lyra asked. “Do you want all the fame and glory you worked so hard to create? You want a hero's welcome?”

Abstraction pondered for a moment, but shrugged.

“Meh, our world's got enough heroes...” he said. “...one less wouldn't hurt. I'm just happy to know what my work and connections have done.”

Lyra closed the Viewing Portal, and then she walked over to Abstraction and placed a hoof on his shoulder.

"Well, I think it goes to show that, if you can do something like that in your original world, just imagine what you could do here in Equestria!" she said.

Abstraction would not, of course, consciously try to "save the world" or "become the god of a new world". All he wanted was to live a modest lifestyle with his beautiful wife. However, no matter what would happen as a result of his passion, he would ultimately embrace it and accept it as it came. In any case, he hoped that he could become extremely iconic throughout the world of Equus.

"Well, in any case, since you're here, Lyra... you wanna head out and do something? I'm not working on any commission pieces at the moment." Abstraction said.

Lyra pondered. "Well... maybe we could have a quick cup of tea, and maybe go window-shopping and see a movie later?"

"That sounds good!" Pan Fry said.

With that, the three went off on their way, living their lives to the fullest, and would continue to do so for years to come, no longer was there a care from their old world that had followed them to Equestria...