Windy Skies

Windy hums gently as she goes to work.

Dressed in a red apron with white frills, she flutters about the kitchen. She pulls a large bowl with a plastic wrap cover out of the fridge and places it on the island counter. Peeling off the protective wrapping, she tips the bowl over and deposits a large glob of dough down onto the lightly-floured counter. After throwing the bowl into the sink, she stands on her hind legs and begins kneading the dough. The smell of garlic, olive oil, and spices waft through the air, making your mouth water.

Perched upon one of the bean bag chairs, you watch Windy eagerly as she goes about preparing dinner. On the way home from the gym, she asked if you had any preference for dinner. When you had told her no, she offered to make you both a homemade pizza. Apparently she made the dough earlier, just in case.

“I’m not the best cook in Equestria,” she had said, “but I can make a mean pizza! Your mom actually got mad at me once when we were roommates.” She winks. “Put on a little too much weight due to my cooking.”

So, upon returning to her small home, she set about preparing dinner while you headed to your room in order to drop off your drawing supplies. When you returned, you had asked her if she needed help, but she declined your offer. So instead, you plopped down upon the comfiest-looking bean bag chair and lounged about lazily as you waited for Windy to finish the pizza.

Not that you mind the wait. With how open the kitchen and the living room are, you have a clear view of Windy. Her hips sway back and forth, her tail flicking about to the melody of the song she’s currently humming. Every so often, her apron shifts just enough that you are able to catch a brief glimpse of her teats.

…

It’s a really good thing you’re laying on your stomach at the moment.

After flattening the dough into a circle and raising up the edges, Windy starts pulling out the other ingredients. Grabbing some more olive oil, she uses a small brush to lightly coat the dough. She then goes about using the tip of her hoof to push little dents into the dough’s surface.

When that is complete, she washing her hooves before chopping up the toppings with a large knife. It’s almost hypnotic, the way she uses her wings to help with the preparation. They grasp and move the food about while she uses her hooves for more precise tasks. The knife flashes, making quick work of the various toppings she’s picked—mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, thinly sliced scallion, chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, and chunks of diced pineapple.

As she chops the different items up, she snacks upon them as well. “Taste testing” she says, but you know that story; your mom does it all the time with your dad. Still, she kind enough to toss a few pineapple chunks your way, and you barely manage to catch them in your mouth, almost topping off the bean bag chair in the process.

While not something you get a lot of in Canterlot, you enjoy the sweet, juicy fruit whenever you can get it.

Once all her ingredients are ready, she smears a generous helping of pizza sauce over the dough before adding the toppings. She sprinkles the cheese on until a light layer covers the sauce. The tomatoes, onions, and scallion are spread out next, followed by another dusting of cheese. A few pinches of salt complete the build.

“There we are,” Windy chirps as she wipes off her hooves. “That should just about do it.” She looks over the pizza for a moment before perking. “Oh! Wait, hold on a second!” Trotting to the fridge, she roots around a moment before pulling out a jar filled with something you can’t quite identify. When she cracks it open, a strong smell fills the room that causes you to crinkle your nose.

“What is that?” you ask as she begins to pull small strips out of the jar.

“These are called anchovies,” she says as she spreads them out across half of the pizza. “I’m not sure if you have them back in Canterlot, but up here in Cloudsdale, they're considered a delicacy. Surely your mom has had you try them before!”

“Uh, not that I can recall,” you say, shaking your head. “What are they?”

“Really? Not even once?” Grabbing one from the jar, she holds it up for you to see. “They’re a type of small fish found mostly in the South Luna Ocean. We import them from the Los Pegasus.”

“Fish?” You scrunch up your muzzle and stick out a tongue in disgust.

Windy gives you a look of faux hurt. “Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!”

You roll your eyes before settling back farther on you perch. The light of the setting sun shines in through the bay window behind you, warming your coat and the bean bag beneath you. The shadows length, and it’s nearing the point where you’ll have to turn some lights on soon.

As Windy goes about adding the finishing touches to the pizza, you peer around the darkening room. An old shag rug rests upon the floor beneath the coffee table, well used and well repaired. There’s a fireplace along one of the walls, and picture frames line the mantle. There are more pictures hanging from the walls on either side of the chimney as well.

A closer look at the pictures reveals that most of them are of the same mare, though taken at different points of her life. A rainbow-maned foal toddling across the floor. The same foal—a little older than before—attempting to fly out of her highchair, but a bungie wrapped around her waist is preventing liftoff. A young filly with short rainbow mane and braces, beaming happily as she waved a large trophy about.

Though the majority of the pictures are of the rainbow filly, several of them contain other ponies as well—some of Windy, and some of a stallion with a short-cropped rainbow mane.

One particular picture catches your eye. It sits at the front of the mantle—the centerpiece of the photo collection—a depicts three ponies. The rainbow filly sits in the middle, being hugged tight by Windy, whose mane is done up in a weird, retro style, and the rainbow-maned stallion, who’s wearing a purple jacket. All three have closed eyes and wide smiles on their muzzles.

You stare up at it curiously.

“Alright,” Windy says, trotting out of the kitchen. “Pizza is in the oven. We have fifteen minutes to kill before it’s ready.” Collapsing beside you on another bean bag, she lets out a happy sigh. “Oooh, that’s the stuff. Momma’s tired tonight.” She stretches, a low groan escaping her as her hooves wiggling about. “So, what should we do while we wait?”

She glances at you, and you nod towards the pictures. “Um, who’s that?”

Blinking, she glances up at the pictures as well. A smile spreads across her muzzle when she sees what you’re asking about. “Why, that’s my little Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer this side of the Celestial Sea.”

Oh, so it’s her daughter. That actually make sense; they practically have the same coat and eye colors.

Getting up, Windy crosses the room and picks up one of the pictures. “She’s one of—if not the—greatest things that’s ever happened to me.” She smiles down at the picture, and it’s clear how proud she is of her offspring.

You allow a few moments of silence to pass before you speak again. “And, uh… the stallion?” As soon as the words leave your mouth, you’re rolling your eyes. It’s obvious he’s this Rainbow Dash’s father—they have the same hair, after all.

When Windy doesn’t answer right away, you perk up. The smile has faded slightly from her face, and her wings now droop by her sides. Uh oh… looks like you might have asked the wrong question.

Your ears fold back and you mentally kick yourself for bringing it up. Before you have time to backpedal though, she speaks. “That’s Rainbow’s father, Bow Hothoof. He’s… he’s gone now.”

Her words have a melancholy tone to them.

You really didn’t want to ask, but your curiosity gets the better of you. “How, um… how did he die?” You kick yourself again as the words leave your lips, but it’s too late.

“Hmmm?” Windy blinks before glancing up from the photo. “Wha… oh. Oh! Oh, no… he’s not dead.” She laughs, and the room is suddenly brighter than before, the gloomy atmosphere dissipated in an instant. “Oh, goodness no. He’s still alive and kicking. We’re just not together anymore. We got a divorce.” Putting the picture back on the mantle, she returns to her bean bag.

You cock your head to the side. “Divorce?”

“Yes,” she says, giving you a lopsided grin. “We went our separate ways a few years ago.”

“But… why? T-that is... if you don’t mind me asking?” You didn’t want to come off as nosey, but you are generally curious about why anypony would divorce somepony like Windy. Divorce isn’t uncommon in Canterlot—especially with the nobility. Everypony has arguments, even your parents, but they always made up in the end. You know that for a fact!

…

The walls in your house are kinda thin…

And mom miiight be a screamer.

“It’s a funny story, actually,” Windy says. “We ended up splitting due to our daughter. Now, it’s not what you think,” she adds quickly, forestalling anything you might have been preparing to say. “I love my daughter dearly and couldn’t be more proud of her if I tried. Same with Bow. It’s just, well… one of us loved her a bit more than the other.”

You give her a confused look. How could love be the cause of the divorce?

“You see,” she continues, “unlike what you’re probably used to in Canterlot, here in Cloudsdale, we’re typically a matriarchal-centered society. Pegasi fillies are usually stronger, faster fliers than colts, as they’re smaller and have less mass. Down on the earth, greater size probably benefits unicorns and earth ponies, but up here, in the clouds, smaller size is everything. So, when we had a filly, Bow was thrilled.”

She pauses for a moment and stares down at the rug, lost in her memories. “I was too, of course. My sisters and brothers all had colts, so I was overjoyed to be the first one in the family to have a filly. It was something I could finally rub in my older sisters’ faces. However, Bow took that excitement to a whole new level.” She waves a hoof around. “He recorded and celebrated everything Rainbow did. And I mean everything. I went along with it too,” she says with a shrug. “I’ll admit it, I participated. It was that new mom rush. It was all just so exciting!”

“Well… that, um… doesn’t sound too bad?” you say with uncertainty.

“I don’t think you understand. We celebrated everything. Sure, some of them were normal,” she laughs. “Rainbow’s first steps, her first flight, her first words, and so on. However, Bow… took it to the extreme. Simple milestones weren’t enough for him. He turned everything into a big event. Everything. Some of them were cute, like her first sneezing fit, but other ones… well, I had to put my hoof down when he attempted to preserve her first BM.”

At that you stick out your tongue and make soft gagging noise.

This just causes Windy to laugh. “Yeah, that was about my reaction too. It wasn’t entirely his fault though. Bow didn’t get a lot of opportunities growing up, as he was from the poorer part of town and his school didn’t have many options when it came to activities. I think… I think he was trying to get his second chance through Rainbow, and, well… it was a little too much for me.”

“Too much?” you ask.

“Yes, too much,” she repeats with a nod. “Every waking minute of Bow’s life was devoted to Rainbow. He spent hundreds and hundreds of bits on display cabinets for her various medals and trophies… and if she happened to not get one for a particular event, he spent bits on making a custom one for her. He loved Rainbow, he lived for Rainbow—hay, he practically breathed Rainbow at one point. She was his life, and I… I just couldn’t do that.”

She gives you a sad smile. “I love Rainbow just as much as any mother can love their foal, but I just couldn’t devote my entire life to her. I wanted to have my own life and Bow just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t give up the Rainbow. So, eventually, I said enough was enough… and we went our separate ways.”

Unsure of how to respond to that, you simply reply. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, don’t be,” she says, giving you a warmer smile. “It’s not your fault. Besides, we parted on good terms. We still see each other once in a while too, and occasionally he’ll take me out to dinner or I’ll take him to the movies. He even keeps me up to date on what our daughter’s up to, though for the most part he just sends newspaper clippings.”

Silence falls over the room as she finishes talking. It reigns for a moment before Windy suddenly jumps to her hooves. “Oh dear! What’s with all this sourness and sadness? This will not do, it will not do at all! We’ve got a pizza in the oven, and it’s your first ever night in Cloudsdale! We can’t have this depressing atmosphere!”

“Sorry,” you say quickly. “I didn’t mean to bring it up. It’s just, I was curious…”

“Oh, no. It’s completely my fault,” she says with a shake of her head. “The divorce happened years ago, and I’ve already gotten over it. There is no reason I should have brought doom and gloom down upon us.” She giggles faintly before falling silent for a moment. As she peers around the room, her eyes land on the bay window, and suddenly she perks up. “Oh… oh! Tell you what! How about we take our pizza out onto the back porch and watch the sunset while we eat? I promise, it’s quite the sight to behold and will undoubtedly raise our spirits again!”

You blink in surprise and the idea, but nod all the same. “O-okay…”

“Great!” she chirps. “Trust me, you’ll love this! There’s no sunset like a Cloudsdale sunset! You can count on that!”

It’s a few more minutes more before the timer goes off, signaling that the pizza is done. Carefully, Windy pulls it from the oven and sets it on the counter. The crust is a light golden-brown, and the cheese is still bubbling. A mouthwatering scent fills the air, accented by an exotic aroma you haven’t smelled before.

“You are in for a treat!” Windy coos as she sprinkles the pineapples over the pizza. “I think this is one of the better pizzas I’ve ever made!” Allowing the pizza to cool for a moment, she carefully slices it up with a pizza wheel. With deft movements, she slips a few of the regular pieces onto one plate and several of the weird, anchovy-covered pieces onto another. With the two plates balanced upon her outstretched wings, she moves gracefully towards the backdoor.

“Come on, champ,” she calls back over her shoulder. “Let’s have a bite!”

She doesn’t have to tell you twice!

With your stomach growling, you follow quickly after her.

There’s a small porch out back with a bench swing. As you sit down next to Windy, you peer out across the backyard. It’s simple, yet also beautiful. A fence of rainbow light runs around the perimeter, along with several cloud-hedges. Small bushes made of clouds dot the yard, as do small decorative pillars. A birdbath rests besides the porch, and a few yellow birds splish about in the water. The centerpiece of the yard though is a good-sized pond made of liquid rainbow. A waterfall trickles gently down a small overcrop of clouds.

On the other side of the fence, small rolling hills go on for several dozen meters before suddenly coming to the edge of the cloud. From there, the floor of white drops away, and you can clearly see the patchwork landscape far below. The sun is just sinking below the horizon, staining the land below with deep shadows. You can see the rest of Cloudsdale hanging in the sky off in the distance. The clouds are blazing red, and for a moment, the city looks like it’s on fire.

“See, I told you it was amazing,” Windy says as she passes you your plate. “It’s one of the reasons I bought this place. I didn’t think much of it at first, but then I was passing by during a sunset one evening and, well… I fell in love with it.”

You have to agree with her assessment. The view is breathtaking! As you watch, the sun continues to sink below the horizon, turning the pinkish-red clouds darker until they’re practically crimson. Down below on the ground though, crimson has turned to black as dusk settles over the land.

When you point this out to Windy, she giggles. “Heh, I forget you aren’t used to a sight like this, being from the below and all. See, due to the elevated altitude of Cloudsdale, the horizon is farther down for us. That means when the sun has set for the ponies down there, we still get a few more minutes to enjoy it.”

And enjoy it you do.

The swing sways back and forth gently as you and Windy enjoy your pizzas. The warm cheese melts in your mouth, accompanied by the sweet flavors of pineapple and tomato and onions. You chew it happily, the greasy cheese sending your tastebuds into bliss. It’s been a while since you last had pizza; with both your parents in the Guard, they tend to have healthier meals.

As you’re finishing off your second slice, Windy slides one of her anchovy-covered pieces onto your plate.

“Here,” she chirps, “give it a try.”

You stare dubiously down at the pizza and the strange strips of meat adorning it. Glancing back up at Windy, you cock an eyebrow at her.

“Go on,” she says, nodding at the pizza. “If I recall correctly, your mother loved anchovies. Used to eat them by the jarful. That’s why I was so surprised you’ve never even heard of them before!”

Blinking, you give the pizza another glance before, with a mental shrug, you take a bite out of it. Immediately, a strong, salty taste fills your mouth, almost overpowering the other flavors. You chew slowly for a long moment, rolling the new taste around your mouth before swallowing.

You stare wordlessly down at the half-eaten piece of pizza.

That…

That was…

...

“Well, what do you think?” Windy asks softly.

In response, you proceed to devour the rest of the pizza in big, chomping bites.

“That’s what I thought,” Windy says smugly as you stuff your mouth as full as possible. “Just like your mother. Don’t worry, champ. We’ll make a proper pegasus out of you yet, despite your lack of wings.”

You can say nothing, your cheeks bulging with the delicious goodness that you have just discovered. You never thought a fish could taste like this! If your mom has known about this since she was a filly, why has she never shared it with you before!?

Probably trying to keep it all to herself!

As you continue to enjoy this new treat, the sky slowly turns from deep crimson and orange to purple and midnight blue. Stars spring to life against the vast expanse of darkness, thousands more than you have ever seen back in Canterlot. The moon slowly takes its place in the heavens above, and the clouds glow silver in the liquid moonlight.

It’s just as breathtaking as the sunset had been.

Beneath the masterwork of art that Princess Luna has laid out, you and Windy slowly finish off the rest of the pizza. She graciously gives you a few more of her pieces, allowing you to savor the new treat you had discovered. Silence falls as you both stargaze together, the only sound being that of the gentle creak of the bench swing.

Eventually, the pizza is finished.

With a belly full of food and the excitement of the day finally behind you, a yawn takes you by surprise. With a soft laugh and a smile, Windy gathers up the dirty dishes before helping you off to the guest room. You collapse upon the futon and are almost immediately asleep. One last thought crosses your mind before everything fades to black.

Certainly not a bad first day, if you do say so yourself.