It was a hot summer day in Ponyville and the sun was blazing. The weather pegasi really brought on the hot stuff, especially for the ponies working hard in the fields of Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack was out in the orchard, bucking tree after tree as sweat glistened in her coat and mane. Big Macintosh was plowing the wheat field, getting ready for seeding that Apple Bloom was providing. Bloom was also in charge of making sure Big Macintosh kept hydrated and didn’t suffer from heat stroke. Granny Smith was keeping cool in the shade of the big barn-like house, taking her mid-afternoon nap. DJ was also on the farm that day. Unlike the others, DJ had no set job on the farm so he was wherever he was needed. Today, DJ was assigned to keeping the corn fields watered so they wouldn’t wilt. This was usually done by the farm’s sprinklers, but DJ had magic. With ice magic being his talent, water creation wasn’t too hard to do. He would start by creating snow storm above the fields and then would proceed above them. DJ would pour his magic into his hooves and bounce on them, just like Rainbow taught him. The enhanced magic in hooves would melt the snow within and create rain. This would also keep the storm regulated and prevent it from turning violent, especially with warm and cool temperature collisions.

While this sounded easy, it was actually quite taxing. It required a lot of magic to perform and DJ had to be on top of the clouds, so he was constantly exposed to the sun. The more he did this trick, the smaller the storms would be created, slowing him down. So by the end of the day, DJ had finished at the same time as his siblings. They gathered at the porch of the Apple homestead. Well, all but one, because DJ collapsed onto his barrel from exhaustion before even getting to the first step.

“Work yourself out there, youngin’?” asked Granny.

“Granny, I’m far too tired to even bother quipping. What do you think?” This got a laugh out of the old mare and a few chuckles from the others.

“Well good. Hard work is good for a growin’ stallion. Just ask your big brother.”

“Eeyup.”

“I’m gonna kill all of you in your sleep,” DJ retorted, but it came very tired and slurred.

“Looks like he still had one left in him,” Applejack commented. The farm mare approached him with a bag of bits and placed in front of DJ’s muzzle. “Here’s your pay, brother.”

DJ scooted himself over to look into the bag. What he saw caused his eyes to widen. He looked at his family with those eyes. Applejack just smiled at him. “Big Mac told us what you’ve been savin’ up for, so we thought we’d help ya out. No take backs. Have fun!”

The Apples proceeded to head in for the night, leaving DJ to stare at the bag. After a moment in the dark, DJ hopped up into the air with a big grin on his face. “Woo Hoo!” He grabbed the bag and flew home at the speed of Rainbow Dash. DJ landed outside of the Books and Branches Library, bounded through the door, and slammed it shut, all while wearing a big, goofy smile. “I’M HOME!!”

The rest of the family was sitting not too far from the door and were all staring at him with shock and surprise. “So we see,” Spike commented.

“’Sup dad?” greeted Scootaloo.

“Hi daddy!” Nyx said with a smile and wave.

“Any reason you slammed a door in my library?” asked Twilight who was not amused with her husband’s behavior.

“Because I’m happy! I just made bank, Twi! Bank baby!”

“Bank?” they asked.

“I got money!”

“Ah, but why so happy about that? The Apples always pay you for your help,” questioned Twilight.

DJ trotted right up to her and pulled her in for a big kiss. The kids did not like it.

“Ew!”

“Dad!!”

Twilight however was deeply entranced by the passion. After the initial surprise, she moaned in pleasure and returned the kiss full force. These were their best kisses, because Twilight was a sucker for spontaneous romance. The only problem is that sometimes Twilight got to into it the motion and would forget that they were in public. In other words, it brought sexy, lusty Twilight who wanted it there and then. DJ didn’t mind it in private, but in public, not gonna happen. He wasn’t gonna let his wife embarrass herself like that. Thankfully, when DJ broke the kiss, Twilight was still in control of herself.

“Wow,” she commented. “What’s the occasion, lover,” Twilight said sultry and with a seductive look. Okay, maybe not in complete control.

“Because this is what needed to finally do what I have been planning for almost a year.”

“And what’s that?” Twilight was back to curious.

“Our honeymoon!” he proclaimed with happiness. Twilight’s eyes lit up with glee and hugged her husband around the neck.

“You mean it?” she asked with her eyes closed and her neck under his.

“Eeyup! I finally saved enough up! Would have had enough a while back, but we just had to celebrate two certain birthdays.” DJ was referring to Spike’s seventeenth birthday in May and Scootaloo’s eleventh a few weeks back at the start of June.

“Oh DJ! Ooh! Where are we going? When are we going? Oh, I need to prepare some schedules!” Twilight ran off to her schedule drawer. Where else would she keep ‘em? In her mane? Are you kidding? You have no idea how many of those damn things there are! It ain’t funny! “So many plans to make, appointments to rearrange. We’ll need a sitter for the girls, too. Somepony to look after the library. We have so many—“

DJ decided to stop this before it got out of hoof, so he ripped the schedule from Twilight’s grasp. “Twilight, honey. Calm down. I already have everything set up. We leave in a week, the location is a surprise, I know the girl’s will understand, and we already have a somepony who can look after both the girls and the library.”

“Who?”

“I’ll give you a hint. He’s purple, not a pony, lives in this house, and it’s Spike. That enough?” DJ said with a smile.

“Spike? Are you sure?”

“Hey! I have taken over the library many times since you and the others leave me behind so much and I am more than capable of watching over two pre-teen fillies,” Spike said with a huff. “I can take care of things, Twi. I only look young, remember? I can do this!”

“Well, if you’re sure, Spike,” Twilight relented, earning a satisfied grin from the dragon.

“With that taken care of, just need to let the others know we’ll be gone for a few days,” DJ said.

“Will you bring us back souvenirs daddy?” asked Nyx with a pleading look.

DJ chuckled a little at the cuteness. “We’ll see kiddo. You two will be good for ol’ uncle Spike, won’t ya?” He pulled his two fillies into a hold with a smile.

Nyx giggled. “Yep!”

“Sure.” Scoots wasn’t as enthusiastic.

“Who are you calling old?” Spike asked with a glare. DJ just smirked and had a small laugh. It grew and grew, eventually causing Spike to give up the glare and join in the mirth, which led to infecting the others in the laughter too. Family laughter is a glorious thing to hear.

**********

DJ and Twilight were at the train station, awaiting its arrival. Their friends and family had shown up to wish them well. They waited patiently as the train began to pull into the station and started to say their farewells as the passengers started to disembark.

“Do have you two, and at least try to get out of the bedroom a few times,” said Rarity while hugging Twilight. Her statement caused both DJ and Twilight to blush and become flustered. Rainbow started cracking up.

“Ahahaha!! You should see yourselves! Ahahahaha—AH!” Her laughter was cut short when DJ decided to make a Rainbow Popsicle. His mad grinning made it so much more evil.

“She’ll be fine in about two hours,” DJ said matter-of-factly. Twilight just rolled her eyes at him. The others said their own wishes and Twilight reminded Spike of all he needed to do while they were gone, which just frustrated the teenager even more considering this was the fifth time in the last hour that he was told this.

“If you two don’t get going now, I am gonna become a living flamethrower!” the young drake threatened.

“Ugh! Fine!” Twilight relented and the couple boarded the train. They waved to their friends as the train pulled away from the station and started heading south. As the train chugged along, the young lovers got comfortable on a bench in their own private cabin. Royalty has its perks after all. After roughly twenty minutes of just enjoying each other’s company, DJ spoke up.

“So, Twi, here we are, on our way to a lover’s vacation. Exciting, no?”

“It would be more exciting if you told where we are going,” Twilight responded with a puppy dog look at her husband.

“Sorry, Twi, it’s a surprise. And you should know by now that puppy dog eyes don’t work on me; I’m immune. Although, I think it’s time for the first gift.”

“Gift?”

“There’s a reason I had this trip planned for this week. I just happen to know a certain lovely mare’s birthday is this week, so I plan on making it her best birth week ever!” He gave her a very smug look. “Starting with something that she’s wanted for a long time.” Twilight looked at him with expecting eyes. She watched as DJ pulled out a stack of her notes, a quill, and an inkwell and gave them to her. “A no holds-barred Q n’ A session on humanity!”

Twilight’s eyes lit up in giddy joy. “Oh DJ! You mean it?”

“Eeyup. You can ask me anything, love. Absolutely anything and I will answer it to the best of my abilities.”

Twilight hugged him tightly. “You’re too good to me, you know that?”

“I just know how to make my favorite mare happy, that’s all. This is just the first gift, too, so be prepared for the best darn week of your life, love.”

“Can’t wait! Okay, so let’s start with…”

They two talked of human culture, economics, religion (reluctantly), governments, and the like. This lasted for hours and by the end, Twilight had twelve new notebooks filled of information. When she finally ran out of questions, she leaned over and gave DJ a peck on the cheek. “You’re the best.”

“D’aww! Don’t I feel special?” he said with a goofy grin. DJ looked over at the clock on the wall and noted the time. “Well, we got a few more hours until we reach our special destination. What do you want to do to spend the time? This may be our honeymoon, but it’s your week, Twilight.”

“We could share stories?” Twilight suggested. So the two alicorns traded different stories between them and before they knew it, the train ride was nearing its end, even if neither seemed to notice.

“Ahahaha!!” DJ was laughing rambunctiously at Twilight’s story, while she huffed. “So, let me get this straight,” he said between laughs, “While Nyx and I were in Canterlot over a year ago, Discord convinced you he was sick and forced you and Cadence to go to the ends of Equestria to get him some rare flower cure? And then you got attacked by some giant worm that ended up getting that big doof sick for real? Ahahahaha!! That’s awesome! I am so gonna hold that against him now!”

“Yeah, yeah. I nearly get eaten by a worm while you’re out clubbing in some bar with your sister and Vinyl. Just perfect,” Twilight huffed.

“Oh, lighten up dear. Besides, we’re here!” DJ pointed outside the train window and Twilight’s eyes widened with glee. Outside was a tropical paradise. The white, sandy beaches, the glistening ocean waters, the palm trees blowing in the light breeze, and ponies in tropical attire everywhere. “Welcome my princess, to Mare-ami!” So far, the worst pony pun, yet. DJ looked back to his wife who had her face pushed against the window with a happy smile. Anything for her, though, he added with a smile. He tapped her shoulder and Twilight turned back to him. “Come on, let’s get our stuff. The hotel check-in starts soon. Sooner we get our room, the sooner we can enjoy this vacation.”

The two alicorns grabbed their bags, well DJ did. Tradition dictates that the lady doesn’t lift a hoof while on the honeymoon and I am too paranoid to let anypony else take my stuff. So, I became a pack mule. The things I do for love. As they walked through the streets on the way to the hotel, DJ could hear some of the talk on the streets, and he didn’t like it.

“Is that Princess Twilight?”

“Who’s that with her?”

“That’s that weirdo she married.”

“She’s far too good for a commoner like him.”

“I heard he comes from another world. How she could marry something so disgusting.”

The talk continued and DJ felt his anger starting to grow. The only thing stopping him from freezing those jerks solid was knowing that it would ruin his and Twilight’s honeymoon. What he didn’t realize was that Twilight could hear them, too. Neither let their feelings show, so they continued to the hotel in quiet.

With all of the bits that DJ had saved up, he and Twilight had a royalty suit reserved for them all week. DJ and Twilight settle in quite nicely, simply enjoying the room for the rest of the night, with Twilight remaining on the balcony, while DJ messed with some spell training. The rest of the night was uneventful, the somber arrival affecting both of them.

**********

The remainder of the week flew by faster than either of them thought. The days were full of fun and exciting things. From exploring the nearby forest to deep-sea diving in the ocean, it was all fun and games. What was off was that neither seemed to really be in a loving mood, leaving them with quiet nights of blissful sleep. Even while the two had their days of fun, the whispers continued. They were celebrities (to an extent) after all and there were many that had their own opinions. Most of them detailing how neither should be together.

This was their last night at the hotel and both were in bed. DJ couldn’t sleep, though. He just kept hearing those words repeating through his mind. Did he believe even one of them? NO! The problem was that they were infuriating. Twilight was his soul mate, as cliché as that sounds, but it was true. They were meant to be together. Why couldn’t those others see that?

DJ was brought out of his thoughts by a sound coming from the balcony. He slowly lifted his head, not wanting to wake up Twilight. As he turned his head, DJ noticed that Twilight wasn’t even in bed. He twisted his head towards the strange sound on the balcony, got out of bead, and headed out. There he saw his beautiful wife, staring out at the stars, crying her heart out. The sight made his heart hurt.

“Twilight?” he called out to his mare. She turned fast around at the sudden break in the silence. DJ saw that her eyes were red and tears were falling in waterfalls.

“DJ. Did I wake you?” she said simply, trying to hide her crying eyes.

“Couldn’t sleep. Twilight, what’s wrong?” He moved closer to her, but she backed away. “Twi?”

“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong.” She turned away from him, back out to the city below.

“That’s a lie and you know it.” DJ walked up behind him and put his forelegs around her neck. “Please Twilight. Please tell me what’s wrong.”

This broke the proverbial dam. Twilight’s tears picked up in intensity and her sobs grew louder as she put her head in DJ’s barrel. “Everything! Everything is wrong! Haven’t you heard those other ponies? Why do they keep saying those things? And it’s not just them! I just don’t know what to do anymore DJ! Our marriage, our daughters, is what everypony’s saying right? Are we ready for this? Am I ready for this? I just don’t know anymore!! I love you, DJ. I love you and Scootaloo and Nyx, but did we take things too fast? What if what we did was too early? What if things change between us? What if—“

DJ couldn’t listen to the love of his life talk like this anymore, so he put his hoof up to her mouth to quiet her. “Twi, look at me.” She wouldn’t. “Please, look me in the eyes.” Reluctantly, Twilight lifted her head to meet her husband’s eyes. Those amazing eyes that were always there for her. Honestly, DJ didn’t know what to say, so he decided not to talk. Instead he would let the music of this world speak for him. So, he sang.

Staff edit:  Copyrighted lyrics removed

Twilight stared into her husband’s eyes as he sang, his lyrics reaching deep into her heart. The she never really believed those other ponies, but their words were making her worry without need to. But, DJ wasn’t done. He reached a point in the current song, but then the music changed. The tempo was more uplifting and his new voice was soothing to her soul.

Staff edit:  Copyrighted lyrics removed

DJ looked down at his loving wife, her eyes telling him everything she was thinking. “Don’t you see, Twilight. As long as we are together, we’ll find a way. Nothing is impossible for us. And nothing will ever stop me from loving you. I went to hell and back, literally, just to come back to you and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I love you Twilight Sparkle,” he gave her a peck on the lips, “and nothing will ever change that.”

Twilight stared back into his eyes. Somehow, DJ was always to make her feel oh so much better. It was in that moment, that her love for him was rekindled. The flame of passion was ignited deep inside her heart. He loved her and she loved him. That’s all that would ever matter, no matter what anypony else said. DJ was hers. She leaned up and kissed him right back. “And I love you DJ Sparkle. Our love will never waver.” Twilight got a sultry look in her eye as she knew that she wanted him, she wanted him bad. With a quick teleport, the two were back in their shared bed. DJ tried to say something, but Twilight just shushed him with a hoof. “Shh, no words. Just us.” DJ understood and pushed her into a deep kiss. She returned it in kind, their tongues meeting in passion. Twilight fell back on the bed as they continued the kiss. When they broke, the two lovers stared into each other’s eyes, loving understanding being shared between them. The passion and love between them was at its peak and Twilight and DJ were finally one with each other that night.

**********

Twilight and DJ returned to Ponyville the next day, doing nothing at all on the train ride home. Twilight simply laid with DJ the whole trip back, both satisfied from the night before and completely content just being in each other’s embrace. The two loving alicorns were truly at peace, nothing would disturb them in this serenity. That’s nothing, but the train pulling to a stop at the Ponyville train station.

The two reluctantly got out of their positions, grabbed their bags, and disembarked the train to the sight of their friends and a big bright ‘Welcome Home’ banner.

“Surprise!” Pinkie exclaimed as she bounded up to them. “Were ya surprised? Were ya? Were ya!?”

“Yeah Pinkie, we were surprised,” DJ said with a happy smile.

“Unfortunately, neither of us are in the mood for a party. Sorry Pinkie,” Twilight added a little ashamed, but the two of them really wanted nothing more than to sleep this day away after that emotional night.

“That’s alright, Twilight!” Pinkie said with her bright smile. “Your party isn’t until tomorrow! This is just your welcoming committee. Duh!” Pinkie always made stuff seem obvious.

“Thanks for this everypony, but the wife and I would really like to get a little more rest. We’ll tell you everything at the party tomorrow.” They all completely understood, their five main friends giving them personal welcomes. With that out of the way, they made their way back to the library. Spike, Nyx, and Scootaloo were not present to welcome them, so DJ and Twilight were a little worried. As they walked in to the library, the two of them were greeted with a frightening sight.

The first thing DJ noticed is that Spike was hanging from the ceiling in a net. Scootaloo was glued to the floor, surrounded by books and a fallen bookshelf. Nyx was also hanging from the ceiling, a rope tied around her back right hoof, keeping both her and Spike hanging. What DJ knew would drive Twilight up the wall, was the fact that there was a pile of books in the back corner lit ablaze.

DJ took his look around, both of his kids looking shameful and embarrassed, while Spike just looked bored. “Curse of the Crusaders?” he asked out loud.

“Eeyup,” all three answered.

Twilight’s eye was twitching madly. “I’m going to bed,” she declared and trotted upstairs. They just watched as she disappeared up to the room. DJ started up after her, but stopped and turned to the three of them. With a quick bit of magic, all three of them were free from their respective traps.

“Just get everything cleaned up by diner. We have had a long trip.” With that, he trotted up the stairs, leaving the trio to their work. He entered the bedroom and saw Twilight already curled up on the bed. DJ smiled, got in the bed, and curled around her, pulling her in close. Twilight twisted her head and the two had a passionate kiss. “Sweet dreams my dear Twilight.”

“Peaceful slumber my loving DJ.” The two lovers fell into the sweetest of dreams, knowing that their love could never be destroyed.