Firelight bobbed her head slowly to Vinyl’s music, one earbud slid into an ear, while the other hung loosely, her ear stretched to catch any snippet of conversation from her… her moms. For the tenth time, the little pegasus gave a small sob, and blushed when Octavia drew her closer to her side. She just couldn’t believe it. She… Firelight… the tiny little mare with weird feathers… had Octavia Philharmonica and Vinyl Scratch as her parents. The best musical mares in… goddesses, all of Equis, probably, were taking her in as a daughter. The second they had left the orphanage, Vinyl had immediately taken a grinning Octavia and a thunderstruck Firelight down to a nearby clothing store. They had left with wide smiles and many tears, with Firelight dressed down in a slim, white leather jacket, her scarf wrapped around her neck, and new horseshoes to replace her battered old ones. It was utterly perfect.

“Whatcha listenin’ to, kiddo?” Vinyl asked warmly, horn glowing as a soft swipe of magic removed the tears on Firelight’s cheeks.

“You, of course,” she replied instantly, blushing, “Spin to Live.”

Octavia blinked, smiling softly as she nodded in agreement, “Oooh, I like that one… ...didn’t you play that one at Luna’s birthday bash?”

“Y-YOU PLAYED FOR THE PRINCESS!? THAT’S AWESOME!” Firelight squealed, eyes gazing at Vinyl in utter awe.

Vinyl smirked, holding up a hoof to forestall the questions as she turned to look back at a group of angry passengers that had begun to stalk up the aisle. Vinyl’s glasses rose up for a moment and, though Firelight couldn’t see exactly what happened, something in Vinyl’s gaze had each of the passengers darting back to their seats in an instant. Smirk still well in place, Vinyl Scratch turned back around, ruffling a sheepish filly’s ears with a soft hoof.

“We both have, actually. Octavia here has played at the Gala, and Celestia’s birthday party last year.”

Octavia, coughing politely and gazing down at her hooves sheepishly, couldn’t help but giggle as Firelight nuzzled into her side.

“W-what are they like?”

The two older mares exchanged glances, smiling fondly in remembrance.

“Heavenly.”

“Buckin’ fun. ...what?”

***************************

“Holy Celestia,” Firelight breathed, muzzle smooshed against the window as the train pulled into Ponyville Station.

The little town was practically stolen from the back of a magazine on Amazing Places to Live. Thatched cottages were settled in neat rows, many of them sporting cozy gardens and benches out in front. The center of the town was taken up the Mayor’s Pavilion, and a few dozen little shops, many of them built to certain themes. Heck, there was a cupcake themed building of all things! Oh goddess, the amount of sugar that had to be in that building alone…

“T-this is home?” she breathed, prying her gaze away and back to her new parents.

Octavia was practically beaming as she looked between  Firelight and the view of Ponyville, eyes misting over at the overwhelming emotion building in her heart.

“Yep,” Vinyl answered quickly, tugging Firelight over for a firm group hug before Octavia could start bawling openly in the fairly crowded train car, “It’s called Ponyville. Small place, but I think you’ll love it, kiddo.”

Firelight gave a soft meep in the center of the fuzzy hug, trying to spread her wings to show her excitement, “I-I do love it! I really do!”

She glanced back at the town as it grew in size, and the little filly’s ears lowered slowly as errant thoughts cascaded through her mind. Hopefully, Ponyville would love her back…

*******************

What in the name of the Celestial Sisters had Trixie been thinking? The Great and Highly Airsick Trixie groaned as she leaned her head outside the window of her and Twilight’s stateroom, struggling to keep last night’s dinner down in its proper place. There was a reason she always walked where she went. Motion sickness was a Lulamoon curse, sadly. It had already ruined a potential romantic cruise she had tried to spring on her fiance, then-marefriend. Cursed retching had hit just seconds after her proposal. Total moodkiller.

And now they were on a packed diplomatic airship, bound for the southern jungles, past the Badlands. Practically the most unromantic thing ever, with motion sickness, and Trixie should… she… Over on the single bed she and Twilight shared, her violet lover had twisted the blankets around herself in a fairly risque fashion, mane fluffed up from her wiggling, twitching sleep movements. Her broad wings had slid through the sheets, twitching slightly in her sleep.  Sickness forgotten, Trixie smiled lovingly down the purple alicorn, carefully trotting over and sliding atop her barrel, entwining her forelegs around Twilight’s back. Twilight was… soft. Not fat! Not by any stretch of the imagination. But years of junk food and study had given her soft curves and amazing flanks, and it made cuddling with the librarian Princess a comfortable affair. Trixie’s own body was far more lithe, and a tad bonier than her fiance’s, due to a lifetime of small meals and heavy cart pulling. She could practically mold herself against Twilight.

Laying her ear on Twilight’s chest, Trixie closed her eyes, smiling dreamily as she lost herself in the sound of her love’s heartbeat. Strong. Powerful, like the Princess she adored. Trixie knew that she was lucky. She was an egotistical jerk. It was about of her charm! Just… few found it charming. Even Twilight hadn’t, not at first. It had taken two attempts to destroy Twilight in order for either of them to see past the masks they wore. They had met on the outskirts of Ponyville, away from the angry horde of villagers and Twilight’s overprotective friends. Raw emotions had played out, there may have been shouting… slapping… ...making out... And the rest, well… the rest was history, wasn’t it?

“Mmm… Trixie?” Twilight murmured sleepily, and it was all Trixie could do not to giggle.

Her voice had no business being that adorable.

“Just relax, My Light,” Trixie whispered playfully, kissing along Twilight’s silken fur, “I’ll wake you up… properly.”

“Wha… w-what do you… oh!”

“Hehehe!”

**********************

Several- fun filled- hours later, the airship had landed at a tall, green-black spire, jutting out from the thick canopy of the southern jungles. Contrary to Trixie’s hopes, however, it was not their destination. Indeed, the actual hive was several miles through the jungle, accessible only with the information of the scout drones stationed at the landing zone.

“You have to be kidding me!” Trixie had snapped at the poor guard who had relayed the news, visibly trembling in rage, “First we ride on that giant floating death-trap for days on end. Then, we FINALLY land, and have to walk in this goddess forsaken heat to-”

Pop! Trixie blinked in surprise at the sudden silence that interrupted her completely justified rant, glancing down at her muzzle. A soft purple glow surrounded her muzzle, and a certain purple alicorn was smirking over at her, one eyebrow arched.

Ugh. Right. Be nice.

Rolling her eyes dramatically, she nodded to Twilight, rubbing her muzzle as the restrictive magic dispelled.

“Ahem. I mean… lead on, my dear guard. Let’s get this long and unnecessary trip over with. Quickly.”

At least it got Twilight smiling, and Trixie was fairly certain she spotted her violet lover mentally tallying up her patented (pending) Twilight Points. If those helped whenever they had time alone again, weeell… Kicking a stone out of her path, the Great and Powerful Trixie took up her rightful place beside her Princess, doing her best not to glare or seem standoffish. She owed Twilight that. She owed her so much more. Trixie could only hope that this trip went by quickly, and would reward them… somehow.