I awoke to the fresh breeze wafting through my window. In my hooves was the incredible pony that I had only met a few months ago. Who could have guessed that meeting in such a way would have pulled our lives together? I was so scared. Scared of doing anything wrong, scared of trying to move too fast, scared of upsetting her in any way. I pulled myself up and looked out the window at the glorious Ponyville morning awaiting me.

Morning was my favourite time of the day. It was peaceful, quiet, tranquil, and was the time of the day where flower buds opened, ready to take in the sun’s rays. Luckily for me, Lily enjoyed mornings as well and she yawned sleepily, glancing up at me as I held her in my hooves. She instantly smiled at me and hummed happily.

“This is real, right?” She whispered.

“Yeah.”

“We really… We had… s-sex. Oh my gosh...” Her cheeks flushed red and she nervously bit on the tip of her hoof.

“Hey.” I placed a hoof on her cheek. “I know… I know it's scary, and if you want to slow down, please tell me. I would never hurt you.”

“S-slow down?” She said, panic in her voice. “N-no! It's more… I just never thought… I would feel this way. About another mare, that is.” She said quietly, her head swimming with thoughts as her eyes darted back and forth. “I m-mean… you said you've always been attracted to mares, but… this is all so new, and to be honest… scary.”

“I know, that's why I said if you want to slow down, we will.”

“I don't think I want to. I… really really like you, Roseluck. I just don't want to overload myself.”

“Lily, we're friends. You don't have to call me Roseluck. Only my mum calls me that anymore.”

“I - I think it's a pretty name…” Lily muttered. Who would have known that four months ago, those words would have kickstarted my feelings for this incredible mare.

“A quite lovely memory, if I do say so myself.” I jumped as a voice spoke from across the room. “I hate to have to interrupt it.”

“L-Luna?” I jumped up before bowing. I heard her laugh before walking over and placing a hoof on my withers.

“Oh, I really must remind you before I get into things, you are dreaming, Rose.” Princess Luna laughed and a rush of conscious thought filled me. This morning… the morning after our first time together. The morning after I first told her I had feelings for her.

“I wish…” I started. “I wish all my memory dreams were as nice as this one.”

“Yes, unfortunately though, life is a journey. If it was all easy, then it wouldn't be life.” Luna said solemnly.

“I-I guess so.”

“I believe this is your third month along in your pregnancy, how are things going? I see you’re beginning to show quite obviously. Has everything been alright recently?” Luna asked, genuine worry in her voice.

“Uh, fine, really. I think the last of my morning sickness is going away, but the cravings are still kinda crazy. I told my parents about us, about the pregnancy, about our engagement-”

“Ooh!” Luna clapped her hooves together. “Congratulations! I am very happy for you both.”

“Th-Thanks. I also told them… that you might be taking us back to Equestria some time In the future which they had… mixed reactions to. My mum still has a little bit of doubts and worries, but she seems to be accepting the idea, if quite slowly.”

“Yes, about that…” Luna frowned in worry, sitting down next to me. “We must talk you coming to Equestria.”

“Wh-what? W-we can still come, r-right?” I said, panicking slightly.

“Yes, of course! In fact, it would actually be better that you arrive here sooner rather than later.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rose… this world is slowly draining you.” My blood went cold. “Pony bodies were not meant to live in a world devoid of ambient magic. It is the fabric that holds our reality together, and without it… ponies will deteriorate.”

“Oh my gosh.” Fear filled me, not even so much for myself, but for Lily and Brisk.

“Do not fret too much, as you are far off from experiencing any effects of this magical deterioration, but obviously, we want the best for you, Lily, and your foal. As such… I would recommend you begin preparations to arrive in Equestria as soon as possible.”

“Wait, for real?” My eyes lit up. “You found a way to take us there!?”

“Yes, Rose.” She smiled and nodded warmly.

I smiled and was about to shout in celebration, but a certain question nagged at the back of my mind. “W-wait… I have a question to ask.”

“Go ahead. I will answer to the best of my abilities.”

“I know that this life, my life on earth, isn’t what I’m supposed to be living. I know for a fact who I am, but… The love I have for my human parents is still real. I don’t… I don’t want to have to say goodbye to them forever.”

“I think I know what your worries are. I can assure you that we will be able to organize a magical tome that you can use to communicate with your parents. All you need to do is write in your version of the tome and it will show up in theirs. I hate to separate you, but unfortunately, Equestria works in the opposite way that Earth does. There is too much magic there. If humans were to come to Equestria, the ambient magic would slowly overload them.”

“I-I understand. Thank you, Luna. I just need to give my mum something to hold on to. That magic book will mean I can talk to her when I want, and although it’s not perfect, I really hope it will be enough to satisfy her.”

Luna nodded, her eyes closing.

“I can sense that the love you hold for this world is real, and I would be heartbroken if you had to be whisked away without any connection to your family here. My sister, Princess Celestia, and I have decided to give you one month to prepare. Any longer than that, and the risk of you, Lily, or your foal being harmed increases.”

“Th-thank you.” I said, my mind still rushing with all of this new knowledge. I was going home!

-

I shot up, waking up from the dream and looking to my side. I was about to shake Lily awake, eager to tell her the amazing news that I had just heard, but the image of Lily sleeping was way too adorable to wake her. I smiled, happiness filling me entirely as I imagined what our lives would be like. I wanted a nice little cottage home, close to the markets, yet not too close that the morning rush would wake us up on our days off. I wanted to find a nice school for Brisk Breeze, where she would be able to make many friends.

I would wake up early every day, preparing food for both of the wonderful mares in my life, before sending Brisk off to school, going to work with Lily, and setting up our stall together. Flowers were adored by every pony in ponyville, not only as a gift, but also as a nice snack.

That shocked me a little. A snack? Did ponies really eat flowers? I mean, I guess they could, but humans can eat them too, and they rarely did, if at all. I licked my lips as I tried to imagine a flavor for them, my curiosity causing me to glance over at the flowers that my mum had bought to “spruce up” the living room. No, I was not going to eat my mums gifts. I would try flowers later.

I decided to wake Lily up with a warm cup of coffee and made my way to the kitchen. I prepared it just the way she liked it and returned with a steaming hot cup of coffee in my hooves. I placed on the table before relieving my own cup and placing it next to the other. I gently shook Lily awake, my heart racing and my face plastered with a huge smile. I couldn’t wait to tell her the great news!

She slowly woke, yawning before looking up at me and smiling. Her face went red as she remembered our time that we spent together last night.

“M-morning, Rose.” She smiled sleepily.

“Morning!” I beamed at her.

“What’s with the smile?”

“Lily… I had another visit from Princess Luna last night.”

“Oh? What did she have to say?”

“Well… First, I want you to not panic at what I say next. Luna has assured me that we’ll all be safe for the time being.”

“Y-you’re kinda scaring me, Rose… Did she tell you something bad is gonna happen?”

“No, no, no. It’s good news. Well… mostly good news. Point is that if all goes well, nothing bad will happen.”

“Okay…” She trailed off nervously and glanced at me to continue.

“The way she explained it was that on earth, there’s none of this thing called “Ambient magic”. I don’t know exactly what it means, but apparently, ponies were never meant to live without it. Since we live here now, as ponies, we’re getting slowly hurt by this.”

“Wh-what!? I-It’s hurting us?”

“No, not yet, but…” I tried to hide my excitement at the next part. “Luna says that we have a month until she’s gonna be taking us to Equestria.”

Lily’s face immediately lost all looks of worry and instead was showing disbelief.

“A-a month…?” Tears dripped down her face.

“Hey, why are you crying? This is good, right?”

“Yes!” She threw her hooves around me, sobbing into my fur. “I-I’m so h-happy! I’m c-crying because I’m just so happy!”

I relaxed, hugging her back, planting reassuring kisses on the side of her head.

“W-we’ll be able to give Brisk a real life, Lily.” I whispered in her ear. “We’ll be able to live our life. Together.”

“O-oh my gosh…” Lily panted out between happy sobs. “This is the best day ever!” She launched herself at me and planted a kiss on my lips, giggling through her tears as she covered my face in kisses. I giggled back, returning her kisses whenever she gave me the opportunity to do so.

“R-Rose, I love you so much.” Lily smiled, exasperated and panting. “I c-can’t believe this! We’re… We’re going home!”

------

“Dad… I got visited by Princess Luna again and she said that we… we have to go to Equestria in one month.”

“What!?” He said, face immediately filling with worry. “One month!? I thought you were going in like, a year!”

“I-It’s not actually our choice now, dad…” I nervously explained what I had told Lily before, about the fact that living in this world was slowly hurting us.

“My god, Rose… I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” My dad said, tears beginning to show.

“It’s okay, dad. I know how you feel. Honestly, I would have loved to be able to spend more time with you and mum before we left, but it’s not all bad! Mum will be pleased to hear that Princess Luna will be bringing a magic book over, when you write in it, it’ll show up in my book in Equestria. I know it’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing, right?” I smiled, hoping that it would make at least my dad happy. “Who knows, maybe I’ll even convince Luna to let us visit in the future. If it’s possible…”

“If it’s possible, I’m sure she will let us.” Lily smiled and placed a reassuring hoof on mine.

“Rose, I… I’m sorry for the way we’ve been acting.” My dad apologized and I raised a hoof to stop him.

“You’ve been fine, I’m more worried about mum.”

“No, I should have been acting kinder to you too. Your mother… will be fine. She’s been getting better over the past month, but I’m sure you understand why she’s like this.”

“I do.” I nodded, confident that my mum would support me, no matter how hard it might be.

“I’m… I’m gonna go explain things to your mum. Wish me luck.” My dad waved to me and stood up. I watched in silence as I waited for him to return, fiddling with my hooves and staring at the empty seat that my dad had been in. After a short while, I heard quiet voices coming from the laptop speakers before thumping footsteps, slowly growing louder. Suddenly, my mum dropped into frame, her face full of tears.

“Listen here, missy! You and Lily are coming to live with us for the next month and that’s final!” She shouted, pointing a finger at me.

“Uh…”

“No buts! I’m not letting you go without spending as much time as possible with us!”

“O-Okay.”

“Do I get a say in this?” Lily asked before my mum replied with a deafening “NO!”.

“Well. Looks like we better get packing, huh?” I said, pursing my lips. Lily smiled at me and wrapped a hoof around my withers.

“Thank you, Rose… I’m sorry for shouting, I just…” My mum said, sorrow in her voice. “I’m gonna miss you so much.”

“We’ll still be able to talk to you through the book, mum. It’s not goodbye forever.”

“B-Book?” She raised an eyebrow. “What book?”

“Dad didn’t tell you?”

“I tried.” My dad said, coming into frame. “She got all hissy and stormed off before I could even mention it.”

“Mum! You didn’t even let him finish?”

“No… Sorry.” She said guiltily.

“Okay, well listen, please. Before overreacting, honey.” My dad said, kissing her on the cheek.

“Princess Luna said that she would bring a magical tome to our world that when you write in it, will send that message to my book in Equestria and vice versa. I know it’s not the same as seeing us, but I promise that if we ever get the chance, we will come visit.”

“Th-thank you, Rose.” My mum sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Y-You’re still staying with us for a month, though.”

I nodded.

“Yes, mum. I promise.”

“Okay, I have the day off on tuesday, so I’ll come pick you two up then. Make sure you pack everything you need!” She shouted before hanging up the call.

“T-Tuesday!?” I stuttered in disbelief. “Th-thats… tomorrow! Why didn’t she just say tomorrow?”

Lily shrugged and hugged me tightly. I felt her body relax against mine and immediately, the worries left my body. I kissed her on the forehead before lying backward on the couch, Lily falling with me and placing her head on my chest.

“Your mum really loves you, doesn’t she?” Lily spoke up after a minute of silence.

“Yeah, she does. Sometimes, a little too much.”

“I… I wish…” Lily started before looking away and clenching her eyes shut.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong? Talk to me, Lily.”

“I…” She nervously glanced toward me, lip trembling. “I wish… my mum was like yours.”

“I know you do, Lily. I wish so too, but there’s one thing that I don’t want you to forget.”

“What?”

“You have more than one mum.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“You have a mother in equestria too, you know.”

“I know, but… they’re not really my parents. I mean, well, they are, but… do they think that they are?”

“Of course they do! What kind of parents would ignore their child because they’re slightly different?” I said, immediately regretting my words as tears welled up in Lily’s eyes.

“Oh gosh, I’m so, so, so sorry, Lily. That’s not what I meant…” I said, stroking my now crying marefriends mane. “What I meant is that I’m sure they would still think of you as their kid. You might not have all of your memories back yet, but they are returning, and you are Lily. Not Jack, Lily.”

“I-I don’t even know what they l-look like!” She sobbed loudly.

“Well, who’s to say you won’t have a memory dream about them?”

“Who’s to say I will?”

“No-one. That’s the thing. You gotta let you control your life and your emotions. I believe that if you truly want to remember them… you will.” I smiled warmly and placed a tender hoof on her cheek, wiping tears away and staring into her beautiful golden eyes.

“P-promise?”

“You need to promise yourself that, not me. My promise won’t do anything. It’s yours that will.”

“I-I love you, Rose.”

“I love you too, Lily. We should probably get packing. We’ve got a lot of stuff to do before tomorrow.”

------

“Okay!” Lily said, clopping her hooves together. “Just got off the phone with your dad, he’s gonna sort out the rent situation. Once we leave to Equestria, He’ll come and take the furniture and stuff, then pay off the rest of the rent contract.”

“Really? G-gosh… that’s a lot of money, Lily…” I said, a guilty look on my face.

“I know, but I’ve promised him all of my remaining funds for when we leave; It won’t do us any good here. I still have quite a bit saved up that was just gonna go towards living here anyway.”

“O-okay, if you’re sure. I finished packing our laptops, phones, clothes, our-”

“Clothes?” She interrupted, giggling. “Rose, we don’t wear clothes. Not to mention that they’re male clothes, even if we did wear them.”

“....Oh. I guess you’re right.” I blushed, looking away from embarrassment. “I don’t think there’s actually much more to pack, then. I keep forgetting how little we actually need.” I said, wracking my brain for anything I’d forgot, when I remembered something slightly off topic that I had forgotten.

“Oh! Lily!” I squee’d excitedly, rummaging through my luggage.

“Wh-what’s up?” She asked.

“This!” I handed her a soft blue velvet box, relatively large for us, but smaller than a palm on a human.

“R-Rose, is this…?” She said, a smile spreading across her lips.

“Open it!”

She slowly lifted the lid to the box with a hoof, revealing the gold ring with a red-gold band around the outside. I made sure that this band was slightly different from mine though, in a strangely convenient way.

“I-It’s beautiful, Rose!” She said, trying to keep herself from crying in happiness. “I love it! I really like the indent on the side, what is it?” She said, looking toward the red tinged gold part of the ring.

“It’s called rose gold. It’s to show you that I’ll always be with you. Even if I’m not with you physically, I will always be close to your heart.” I smiled, showing Lily a gold chain. Lily’s face was dumbstruck as she let me take the ring from her, attach it to the chain and clasp it around her neck, the chain letting the ring rest just above her breast.

“C-Close to my…” She sniffled, the tears finally pouring free. “My heart… Oh, Rose!” She flung herself at me, pulling me into a loving embrace. I let her press her lips against mine and she kissed me passionately. I didn’t even care that she was crying all over me, I just wanted this moment to last for ever.

Knock, knock!

Lily jolted out of the kiss in surprise.

“We’ll finish this later, o-okay?” I stared up at her and she nodded, wiping her tears away as I composed myself and walked to the door. I opened it up and my dad walked in carrying a large duffle bag.

“Morning, Rose! Your mum’s just waiting in the car for you, so let’s grab your stuff and get-” He stopped when he saw Lily, still wiping tears away. “Is everything okay?”

“Oh, yes, yes.” Lily laughed, waving a hoof in dismissal. “These are happy tears, Mr Linden. Rose just... gave me an engagement ring, and it’s… very very beautiful.” She said, the tears returning a little.

“Aww.” He smiled at me approvingly and picked me up, giving me a large hug as I struggled around, shocked that he had handled me like that.

“D-Dad! Put me down!”

“Fine, fine!” He said, placing me back on my hooves. “It’s hard to find a comfortable way to hug my cat sized daughter, okay? Speaking of cats, I assume Simon’s coming with you?”

“Yep. He’s not gonna be very happy in that carry cage,” Almost as if on cue, he hissed from his uncomfortable position. “But I’m sure he’ll forgive us. You… you guys don’t mind taking care of him once we’re gone, do you?”

“Of course not! He lived with us when you were at home, he only left because you did too. I’m sure he’ll love to be back there.”

“Okay, then I think we’re all set to leave.” I said, smiling confidently at Lily.

“Not exactly.” My dad said, unzipping the duffle bag he was holding. “I think I remember you telling me how you got Lily here, right?”

------

I am so sorry, Lily. I had no idea how horrible it was in that bag, or I would have tried my hardest to make it more comfortable for you. Not to mention, we only had to go down the stairs and outside this time. Last time, it was down her stairs, all the way to mine, then up my stairs again.

The drive out to my parents house was long as usual, but after being locked in one apartment for three months, not even able to go outside, really did make us appreciate the views of the city we got from our seats. We agreed not to stand up in the seat until we were out of the city to avoid prying eyes, but once we got to the outskirts and then eventually, the countryside, we both peered out of the windows, greatly enjoying the view.

Everything seemed so… big! It was like we were tiny! Oh, wait… Nevermind. It was definitely nice to be able to see a little bit of the outside world after such a long time, even if it was through a window. My mum was awkwardly quiet on the ride to their home, but I knew not to push her. This change was going to be huge for all of us. Hell, it already was huge for all of us, and they had reacted admirably so far. Any normal person probably would have lost it completely.

After the ride, we finally arrived at my parents house and I stepped out of the car, breathing in the fresh country air. Ah! So wonderful! This was what I remembered Ponyville smelling like. The dew on the green grass, the smell of nature integrating with life. It was a calming and refreshing smell, one that, from the look on her face, Lily was enjoying and remembering too.

“Well, Lily, this is our humble home!” My dad mentioned dramatically to the relatively large country house. It had two stories and was made with raw weatherboard. It’s look perfectly encapsulated the “retired old couple” look, but just happened to also be the home I grew up in.

“It’s amazing!” Lily said, trotting to the patio. “It’s so big, too!”

“Hehe, it’s not that big, it’s just big for you.” My dad chuckled and lifted our luggage out of the car. “Best part about it is that the entrance to the property is behind the treeline, so you’re safe to go outside as much as you like without being spotted.”

My dad and, unfortunately, still silent mum, showed Lily and I around the house. I knew the vague layout, but a fire had caused them to remodel a few years ago, so a lot of it was new to me too. One thing that wasn’t new was my old bedroom, the one room on the second storey. It was almost an attic like room, but was incredibly warm and cosy, with it’s angled roof making the room feel a lot larger than it was. As much as I had taken some stuff from this room when I moved out, there was still some stuff left behind. A large couch that was too big for my apartment, by old bed that was too small for a six foot man, my old CRT TV, which was hooked up to…

“My SNES!” I said, running over to the cherished console and picking up my old and battered controller. “Oh gosh, Lily, we have to play Kirby together.”

“Kirby? The pink blob that eats everything?”

“Yeah! I still have a working version of Kirby Superstar. We totally need to play it!”

“Sure!” She said and jumped up onto the bed. “First, though, I believe we were in the middle of something before we left this morning…?”

It took me a few seconds before it clicked and I smiled nervously at my enticing marefriend, placing my SNES controller to the side before joining her on the bed.