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.