-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.