Well, it's time for us to begin the transition into the next phase of the story! Seems like things could be getting better for the two from here on out... but will it stay that way? We shall see...

Several months following Kyle and Lyra sharing the same dream, it came time for the two to move out. Yes, it was moving day, because Kyle had finally graduated from school with an Associates' Degree in Fine Arts, and a Bachelors' Degree in Computer Science (Kyle was really good with computers as well as artistic painting), paid off his student loans, and had managed to save up more than enough money to move out. Of course, Ed was totally against the idea, repeatedly demanding that he "think about what [he's] doing! It's damn brutal out there!", but did nothing to try and stop him. His mind was most definitely made up.

Kyle and Lyra were so glad to have finally gotten away from the Richardsons, now that Kyle had saved enough money to both take out a loan for a new car as well as move out. After a little while, he got a new job as an entry-level web programmer, which paid over twice as much as his old minimum-wage job at Kroger. He figured it would be sufficient until his commission artwork started taking off, now that he was accepting them on DeviantArt, as well as other sites.

It took a little while, but Kyle began to make quite a lot of money from his artwork. So many people requested commissions from him (even to the point that he had to periodically halt the requests, just because he got too many). He became quite a famous artist on the internet, and his username even made it into the autocomplete of the Google, Yahoo!, and Bing search engines. His internet persona had been known by quite a large number of people before he met Lyra, but along with a bit of advertising investment, his networking expanded exponentially, especially with people recommending his artwork to other people and online communities forming about him.

He even began to sell actual physical paintings on eBay, and given how famous he was on the internet, the auctions were quite intense, with snipers putting in ridiculously higher bids right at the last second, making for several thousands of dollars for each piece. Kyle couldn't help but find it quite funny that he could make thousands of dollars by painting a simple picture and putting it up for auction.

I admit art would be worth a lot, given it's straight from a famous artist. Kyle thought. But why would people spend thousands of dollars on a painting?

A while ago, Kyle put his two-weeks notice in for his programming job after spending roughly a year with the company, and kept the benefits under COBRA rights until he bought his own insurance. For a few months, he had gotten emails from the Kroger grocery store, and later the programming company, requesting him to return if he was interested. But of course, he declined, because artwork was his true passion.

Kyle decided to rent a flat for a good amount of time, which he would need to save up for a permanent residence. With the amount of artwork he was putting out via commissions and auctions, it was not too long before he was essentially earning six-figure income and was able to save enough to afford a mortgage on a fairly large mansion (sixteen-thousand square-feet) just on the outskirts of the city, with a fairly large amount of lawn, a huge garden, gargoyle statues at the entrance of the driveway, and a fountain in front of the house itself. He decided to have it furnished as well, with a lot of modern-looking furniture and decorative objects.

Another plus was that the massive house was fairly isolated; there was not another house for a couple of miles, and there was a large, stone wall surrounding the two-acre estate, with a gate leading into the driveway, and a security system linked to all the doors in the house. Kyle decided to purchase some security cameras from Best Buy and install them, linking them to a DVR capable of holding up to two weeks of footage from all of the cameras, just for a bit of added security. No one would be bothering them uninvited. It was just him and Lyra.

Also, in the event of possible monetary theft from his bank account, Kyle decided to invest in a large, heavy safe, which he put into a space in the basement that used to be a small cupboard, withdraw small amounts of cash from his banking account at a time, and put them into the safe. The best part was that the safe was equipped with a password-protection lock, and biometric-access denial system. Kyle was literally the only person who could unlock it. Also, he moved a small bookcase in front of it; it covered it so well that it was impossible to tell that it was there.

And of course, Kyle finally shelled out some money to get the watch his mother gave him repaired. He took it to a jeweler, and despite them repeatedly saying "You might as well get a new one, since it would be the same price as gettin' this one fixed.", Kyle insisted that they repair this particular one. They were able to quickly swap the broken crystal for a brand-new one, along with some minor tuning on the hands and bezel, buffing out some scratches, and installing a new battery, as the old one was already dead. The watch worked perfectly once more; in fact, it was just like new. Kyle felt tremendously better.

All in all, it felt great for Kyle to be doing what he wanted to do. For the first time in his life, he truly felt like a happy man. Being self-employed was absolutely wonderful, Kyle thought. It felt great to not be bossed around by any managers, and especially Ed. Even with the debt he was in, his income outweighed it immensely, and it would only be a few years before he would be a multi-millionaire, according to his math.

Speaking of money, Lyra had also asked if she could possibly have a job. Since she could not get an actual job, given that she's a pony, Kyle decided she could help him around the house, with things like household chores and yardwork. He would even pay her for it, so it would seem like a job. He could not pay her with actual cash, since she would not be able to use it, so instead, he paid her via a reloadable prepaid Visa debit card, so that she could buy her own stuff off the internet if she wanted. He had already gotten her a new Alienware laptop for her birthday, as well as a powerful desktop for himself, complete with dual monitors to increase his productivity with his art.

Even though all was well and they were far away from where they originally lived two years ago, they still missed their little sanctuary in the woods. And what made them feel even more of a pang of sadness was that they would never see it again. It was gone now; all of the land had been bought by a building company for the construction of real estate, and was now begin cleared out.

But this was not an issue for either of them for very long, since they now had a bigger, better sanctuary where they actually lived.

Aside from all being well and good, there was something strange that came to Kyle's attention...

He noticed that his body was taking on a few pony characteristics. The auricles of his ears were slowly turning fairly plain-looking and became rounded points, slightly resembling pony ears. His hair started growing on the back of his neck. The soles of his feet became fairly padded and firm. Whenever he sighed, he would always make raspberries with his lips even though he does not consciously intend to. Whenever he would run, he had a tendency to do it in a gallop by instinct rather than normally like he always would. He also found the aroma of hay to be quite appetizing (he even tried it to find that it actually tasted quite good).

He also happened to notice that, on both of his thighs, his skin was darkening in a shape and pattern that, if you look hard enough, resembles a paintbrush.

Wonder if this is supposed to be a cutie mark...? Kyle thought. If it is, then wow... a human with a cutie mark. Sounds kinda weird, if you ask me. But, since painting is my special talent, I guess it would make sense.

He wasn't sure if constant exposure to Lyra's magic was causing it, or if it was just from him simply being around Lyra all the time. No people appear to have noted any of his changes yet, which was a good thing, Kyle thought.

Kyle could not feel any actual change happening; he only merely noticed via visual examination. But... the one thing he did feel was a strange tingling and pressure at the base of his spine... he could almost swear he was growing a tail, even though nothing was visible yet.

Huh... this is pretty weird. he thought. I wonder how I would explain this to anyone who notices? What if I keep changing? Am I gonna turn into some sort of human-pony hybrid? Maybe a sort of satyr? Or will I end up changing into a full pony...?

He was not sure, but it did not bother him. How he ended up, he did not care. All that matter to him right now was that, for the first time in a long time, things were finally going right for him. He finally had turned his life around for the better, and was truly happy. The same could most definitely be said for Lyra as well.

Well, all seems to be going well for the two... but remember, anything can happen. So, I hope you all enjoyed this timelapse chapter, and we'll get back to the main substance real soon. Sayonara! Keep holding on...