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Octavia and Vinyl exited the carriage, taking their first breaths of Ponyville air.

For some reason, they both felt right at home. The feel of the small town was quaint and welcoming. The scent of fresh apples floating over from Sweet Apple Acres mingled with the even more delicious smell of fresh baked goods wafting from Sugarcube Corner. The two trotted around the mane fountain, watching other ponies move past them, finishing their errands before nightfall.

"If I remember correctly, Pinkie told me she lived at Sugarcube Corner." Vinyl said,turning towards the bakery.

"I see. Well, lead the way then." Octavia said, following Vinyl as she made her way towards it.

The two entered the confectionery, completely overwhelmed by the delectable smells within, the shelves lined with treats the likes of which the two had only seen in Canterlot's best bakeries, and even they could not compare to how good everything looked. The stallion at the counter turned from what he was doing, hearing the bell above the door signal the entry of a customer.

"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, where we bake the sweetest treats for you to eat! How can I help you two lovely young mares today?" He asked cheerily.

"Oh, good evening sir. We were wondering-"

"Hey, is Pinkie home?" Vinyl asked, cutting her off. Before Octavia could finish, a hot pink blur shot passed her and nearly tackled Vinyl back out the door.

Mr. Cake merely sighed. "Why yes, she is. I'll be in the back if you need me." He said, moving through one of the doors and shutting it behind him.

"SCRATCHIE! It's SOOOO good to see you again! Which is funny, because I KNEW I'd be seeing you again. I had the strangest twitch- ear flop, knee shake, tummy rumble, and a hoof itch, ALL AT ONCE- that means I'm going to see an old friend, and here you are! It's been almost three months and four days since we saw each other at that party, which was a TOTAL rager!" Pinkie said, somehow all in one breath.

Octavia felt exhausted just listening to her. She hadn't even MET this "Pinkie" yet and she could already tell why Vinyl spoke so fondly of her: Pinkie was just as crazy as she was.

"It's good to see you too, Pinkie...though it'd be GREAT if you got off of me first!" Vinyl groaned, Pinkie still sitting on top of her.

"Whoopsie, silly me! I didn't mean to tackle you, Scratchie, I was just sooooo excited to see you! I mean, I've been waiting for it for like, eight chapters now." She said, moving off of Vinyl to allow her to get up.

Vinyl raised herself back up, and looked at Pinkie. "What are you talking about? Chapters?"

Pinkie gave her a quizzical look. "What do you mean, Scratchie?"

"You said you were waiting through chapters to see me. Chapters of what?" Vinyl asked.

"I never said that. You're such a silly filly, Scratchie." Pinkie giggled. "So, how've you been? What brings you back to Ponyville? You haven't really been back here since Rarity's fashion thingy, which was SOOO much fun, until Rarity got all sad and became a hermit for a few days, but she's all better now."

Vinyl blinked a few times, and shook her head. "Uh...me and Octy are on our way to Hoofington to go see her parents."

Pinkie then rounded on Octavia, circling her and examining her, locking her blue eyes on Octavia and ONLY Octavia.

"Um...is...there something I can help you with?" Octavia said, feeling somewhat awkward towards the pink pony who was now looking at her like some sort of display object.

Pinkie whistled. "She's cute, Scratchie! She your maaaarefriend? Is she? Is she? Is she is she is she?!" Pinkie giggled, nudging Vinyl's shoulder repeatedly.

"Actually, yeah, she is. We're on our way to Hoofington to tell Octy's parents that we're gonna have a foal-"

Vinyl was silenced by a hoof to the mouth. Pinkie turned her head, her eyes so wide that the blue rims were no longer visible. There was a low, rumbling sound as Pinkie began to shake violently. Octavia took a few steps back, not sure of what to expect.

"OMYGOSH!" She yelled so loudly that Vinyl's mane was blown back slightly, immediately returning to its normal frizzy state a moment later. "WE HAVE TO THROW A PARTY! I CAN'T BELIEVE MY FRIEND SCRATCHIE IS GOING TO BE A MOMMY!" Pinkie yelled. "Cake. LOTS AND LOTS OF CAKE! Blue and pink streamers, CONFETTI! Decorations, BALLOONS" She rambled, unable to control herself at the exciting news.

"Uh, Pinkie, just relax-" Vinyl started, only to be silenced again.

"Relax!? RELAX!? How can I relax when you're HAVING A BABY?! We NEED to celebrate! When are you two leaving?" Pinkie asked, her focus now trained directly on Octavia.

"Um...sometime tomorrow, I suppose." She responded, wincing slightly as she waited for the next outburst.

"PERFECT! I'll have an AMAZING party set up by tomorrow! Now go on and get so I can start working on stuff!" She said, pushing the pair towards the door.

"Wait, Pinkie wait! Is it alright if we bum with you for tonight?" Vinyl asked.

Pinkie stopped to ponder the question. "Bum? What's that mean?" She tilted her head, bringing a hoof to her chin.

"I told you that that is now how you use that word." Octavia said, proud of herself.

"You're still old-fashioned and it won't stop me from picking on you." Vinyl said with a smirk.

"If you do not have room, Pinkie, is there anywhere else we might be able to stay?" Octavia asked.

"I'm not really sure about that, but you can definitely bum here with me!" Pinkie said cheerily.

For the first time since the two had met, they actually face-hoofed in unison. They looked at Pinkie, who was happily staring back at them.

"So we can stay here tonight?" Vinyl asked.

"Yup! You can take the room across from mine! It's just up the stairs! I gotta go fix it up, though. I was using it as Gummy's room for a little while, and we all know how crazy he can get!"

"Gummy?" Octavia asked, confused.

"Pinkie's got a pet alligator named Gummy." Vinyl said. "I met the little tyke last time I was in town. Cute little guy."

Octavia slowly inched towards the door. If there was one thing that she could NOT handle, it was anything reptilian.

"Relax, Octy. He's toothless- he can't hurt anypony even if he wanted to." Vinyl reassured. Regardless, Octavia still wanted NO PART of Gummy whatsoever.

"...I think I will go wait outside..." Octavia mumbled, quickly exiting the shop.

Vinyl sighed and shook her head. "She's afraid of anything that could bite at her ankles, and sorry to say, Gummy's one of them. She'll come around though."

"No problem! Gummy will be sleeping with me tonight so you two can use his room, isn't that right Gummy-wummy?" She said, turning her head slightly to show the purple-eyed gator latched onto her mane. The only response Vinyl received, if one could call it a response, was Gummy's eyes blinking independently of one another.

"...Riiiight. Well, we'll be back in a bit." Vinyl said as she turned to leave.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie said, hurrying off upstairs to fix up both the room and begin preparations for the bash.

Vinyl found Octavia sitting on a bench nearby, looking none too happy.

"You decided on having us stay on a place with an ALLIGATOR in it, even though you KNEW I was afraid of reptiles?!" She said, her voice coated with anger.

"Look, I'm sorry Octy. Besides, Gummy is going to be staying in Pinkie's room, so he won't be able to pull anything, alright?" Vinyl pleaded. "I really am sorry. I'd completely forgotten Pinkie had Gummy, so I thought it'd be alright."

Octavia sighed. She couldn't really stay mad at Vinyl. Her apology seemed sincere enough.

"Fair enough...so, what shall we do while we wait for Pinkie to prepare our room?" Octavia asked.

Vinyl thought about it, and a very fond and familiar memory came to mind. "I know. C'mon, follow me!" Vinyl said, breaking out into a gallop. Octavia blinked, slightly confused, but decided to follow regardless.

The two exited the mane part of town, and came upon a small hill with a sign posted at the top that said "Firefly Fields" in black paint. Vinyl smiled, recalling the first time she had been here.

"Octy, I know you're gonna love this." She said, leading Octavia over the hill and into a rather large clearing surrounded by thick trees.

"I do not see what is so amazing about this, Vinyl...it is just a clearing." She said, unimpressed.

"Wait for it." She said, watching the sun disappear beyond the horizon. The moment the last ray of light disappeared, it began.

Nightingales that had just woken up from their day-time slumber began to join others as they began to sing, all trilling a simple melody, fireflies beginning to wink to life amongst the tall glass of the clearing, in complete sync with the nightingales.

"C'mon Octy!" Vinyl said, rushing past her into the tall grass, the fireflies scattering away from her, continuing to blink in unison with the melody. Octavia blinked as a small one flew up to her and perched itself on the tip of her nose. She surprised it with a small sneeze, the firefly moving away to rejoin the group.

"...Oh, alright!" She said, joining Vinyl amongst the fireflies. The two played amongst the grass, much like they would if they were younger. A new feeling began to well within Octavia...she was having the time of her life simply playing with Vinyl, leaving all her cares behind back in Canterlot. For this time, she was simply being herself with the love of her life, and she would not allow herself to miss out on making such a beautiful memory with her.

The two continued to play with one another, making a game out of trying to catch the fireflies, who would move out of the way in just enough time to allow them to escape. Octavia laughed when Vinyl ended up on her back.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try!" Vinyl challenged.

"Fair enough." Octavia reared back, and launched herself up into a particularly thick group of fireflies, who avoided her completely. Vinyl fell over laughing when she saw Octavia end up on the ground with nothing.

"It is not that funny!" She said, getting back up.

"Of course it is! Besides, I have another fun game in mind." Vinyl said raising an eyebrow with a mischievous smirk. She quickly reached forward, and yanked off Octavia's bow.

"Wha- Vinyl! Give that back!" She said.

"Yer gnna hafta takth it bacth!" She said, dashing off into the grass.

"Oh, it is ON!" Octavia smiled, chasing after her. The two rushed through the grass, Octavia hot on Vinyl's hooves. The unicorn was fast, but Octavia's rear legs were stronger from having forced them to support her own weight as well as the weight of her cello for hours on end. She closed the distance, and gently nipped on Vinyl's tail, causing her to tumble. Octavia tumbled over her, the two landing in a heap.

Octavia leaned downward, and took her bow back from Vinyl. "Looks like I win." She winked.

"Yeah, yeah, you won this round." She chuckled. When the two took to their hooves, they looked around and saw a small hill. They proceeded to climb it, and were completely awestruck by the view.

The hill gave them a beautiful view of Luna's night sky, the moon hanging almost picturesque in the distance. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, the Weather Patrol having done an excellent job of keeping the rain away when it wasn't needed. The two sat side by side, simply staring out at the stars, the nightingales continuing to sing their song as a few fireflies buzzed past them, mixing in with the sky above them.

"This...is absolutely breath-taking..." Octavia said softly.

"Amazing..." Vinyl said. To Vinyl's surprise, Octavia scooted a little closer to her, and rested her head against her neck, a soft smile with a bright blush outlining her face. Vinyl blushed and started to speak, but decided against it, simply leaning her head on Octavia's. This was one moment she did not want to ruin.

The two sat in silence, enjoying each other's presence, simply watching the fireflies mingle with the stars.