I want
One hundred days
Of bright light
A hundred days
You're my man
Of bright light
Away, away

I've been replaying a lot of my favorite otome games lately and boy has it gotten me in a romantic mood! So I put on a playlist of all my favorite romance songs and drew all the mane six pairings in my Next Gen universe (plus Dislestia because I'm love them)

Here's a little bit more about how these guys got together!

Soarin' x Applejack
Applejack and Soarin first met at the Grand Galloping Gala when AJ tried to set up her food stand! They parted ways with very fond memories of each other (AJ being the seller of the best pie Soarin had ever eaten and Soarin as the only stranger to show any interest in AJ's wares) but didn't think much of the other beyond that. Eventually when Rainbow Dash got into the Wonderbolts she'd regularly bring one of her friends along as a plus one to the Wonderbolt galas and various parties they got invited to; Soarin and Applejack met properly at one of these functions. They recognized each other right off and ended up talking and flirting the entire night. They kept in touch after that, travelling to meet each other whenever they got the chance; Soarin loved Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres, easily charming each of AJ's family members. Soarin was getting older though and wasn't able to pull off all of his old flying tricks anymore, which was a problem as he would perform some of the most dangerous stunts involving lightning. One day during practice he got very very badly injuring when he botched his signature Lighting Blast, which is where the bad scarring on him in this picture comes from. He spent months in recuperation and physical therapy in Ponyville staying with the Apple family. The longer he stayed with them, the more he realized he didn't want to leave. He officially retired from the Wonderbolts and asked AJ to marry him on the same day.

Rarity x Capper
After the battle with the Storm King was over and Capper returned to Klugetown he found his thoughts often drifting to the kind unicorn who mended his coat, and a warm feeling in his chest always accompanied these thoughts. Rarity also remembered him quite fondly, but it wasn't until the map called her and Fluttershy back to Klugetown for a friendship problem that they encountered each other again. The three of them were quickly drawn into a big swashbuckling adventure that ended in explosions, saving orphans, a close call with a cave in, and a big damn kiss between Rarity and Capper. He accompanied the ponies back to Equestria (there had never been much of a life for him in Klugetown) and starts up a very successful career as a private detective. He and Rarity have passionate whirlwind romance and what is said to have been the most beautiful wedding in all of Equestria.

Sunburst x Twilight Sparkle
Princess Twilight Sparkle and Sunburst were friends for many years. They often shared babysitting duty of Flurry Heart, worked together to save the Crystal Empire a few times, and went to Antiquing conventions together. During this time, Sunburst and Starlight were in a rocky relationship that escalated when Starlight became unexpectedly pregnant with their daughter Luster Dawn. They finally broke up when Luster was around three or four, Sunburst finally standing up to Starlight for treating him like a doormat. It ended in a big blowout argument that shook the relationship to its core and they spent years barely being able to speak to each other. Twilight was uncomfortably caught in the middle of all this, being friends with Sunburst and Starlight's teacher, but did her best to offer condolences and council to them when they asked it of her. It got a little easier when Starlight eventually moved to Canterlot and they all got used to the distance. One day Twilight and Sunburst ended up working on a big research project about the Crystal Heart's power levels and the two of them spent many hours in a library alone, working together. With a little secret help from both Flurry and Cadence, the two timidly expressed feelings for each other and began a relationship. A few years later, they were married and Sunburst became a prince consort to the princess of friendship.

Pinkie Pie x Cheese Sandwich
This one isn't too different from canon! Pinkie, for all her exuberance and party energy, had always had some trouble articulating her romantic feelings to ponies she liked; This is partially why her first instinct upon seeing Cheese was to challenge him to a party off, she felt a little threatened by her attraction to him. I like to imagine that Pinkie and Rarity are the two members of the mane six who've face the most previous heartbreak. Pinkie is very earnest and open, and that had backfired on her a few times. She had to be gently prodded into confessing to Cheese by her friends and she was uncharacteristically shy went she told him. Cheese of course has been in love with Pinkie when he first saw her as a colt and later on when she challenged him to a party off, but hadn't wanted to press her into anything she was uncomfortable with. This picture is them FINALLY accepting that they're really just made for each other!

Rainbow Dash x Fluttershy
I've talked about these two a little bit already in another piece, but Dash has been in love with Shy for practically forever. They grew up together as best buddies and went to the same flight school. Rainbow Dash has always had pretty bad performance anxiety, but built up in her head that she would tell Fluttershy how she felt as soon as she was finally taller then her (early Flight School was the closest in height these two ever came) But alas, Fluttershy got her major growth spurt and Dash, on top of being an anxious ball of puberty, totally chickened out. Fluttershy also developed feelings for Dash around this time but they both too shy to really talk about it. They ended up drifting apart once they graduated Flight School and only really reconnected after the Nightmare Moon incident brought their friend group together. They spent another few years awkwardly dancing around their returning feelings for each other until Discord convinced Fluttershy to actually tell Dash how she felt. They spent several months after that as the sappiest, most in love couple in Ponyville, hardly anyone could stand to be around them; they got married pretty quickly and have been living happily together in Fluttershy's treehouse.

Celestia x Discord
I have so much backstory thought up for these two, but I'll do my best to summarize! Discord and Celestia met when they both very young, when Discord was a newly formed spirit of mischief and Celestia was still a young unicorn studying under Starswirl. Discord was there when Celestia and Luna became alicorns (along with their brother Gaius, who would be killed in battle with Sombra several years later) and he was very close friends with all the alicorn siblings. He got along best with Celestia though, and the two of course developed feelings for each other. Discord didn't think he was deserving of Celestia though (Starswirl had said some very unkind things to him and reactions to him from normal ponies made him ashamed of being such a strange creature) and Celestia wasn't sure how to read his mixed signals. As the years went by, he encountered Cosmos; he was excited to met another dragonaquius but the two of them quickly fell into a very toxic relationship, as Cosmos was much more violent then Discord and very controlling of them. He and Celestia had drifted apart in this time, and he only tried once to reach out to her for help. He was still sending a lot of mixed signals, trying to downplay how deeply in trouble he was to look good while still trying to subtextually ask Celestia for help, but Celestia's brother Gaius had been killed very recently and she was in no mindset to try and decipher Discord's garbled message. They ended up having a huge fight, sending Discord back to Cosmos's orbit and Celestia immediately regretting what she'd done. Discord, under Cosmos's influence, ended up attacking and trying to take over Equestria, forcing Luna and Celestia to seal him away with elements of harmony. Celestia always felt immense guilt for how she'd handled the situation (especially after Luna became Nightmare Moon shortly after) but it wasn't until after Luna's reformation that she had enough courage to try and reach out to Discord again, with help from Fluttershy. Fluttershy proved to be a balm for the effect Cosmos had had on Discord and it wasn't long after that Celestia and Discord had a long quiet talk and forgave each other for their past mistakes. Both were still too unsure to make any romantic moves for several years though, even though the feelings remained; Fluttershy ended up gently nudging the two of them together (partially to playfully get back at Discord for setting her up with Rainbow Dash).