On Thursday evening, Sky sat on the couch in his apartment. While Evening Shade was busy preparing dinner, Sky and Air Raider had flipped through the TV channels and found the original Johnny English movie, one of Sky's favorites.

"Of course, he landed on the wrong building!" Sky laughed. "This part never gets old!"

"It does not!" Air agreed.

Just then, Sky's phone began ringing, and he picked it up. It was Lyra. "Hey, babe..." Sky said with a sweet inflection.

"Hey, Sky!" said Lyra on the other end. "Guess who's back from Manehattan?" Lyra and her parents had driven down to Manehattan on Monday morning, to visit her sister Minty.

"Awesome!" said Sky. "How was it?"

"It was so nice." Lyra replied. "Minty was really excited when I told her about you. She said she wants to meet you when she comes home this summer."

"Great! I'd be happy to meet her, too. Is she more of a cool big sister or a protective big sister?"

"No need to worry about her, Sky. She's pretty chill, as long as you don't test her patience."

"Well, that's good." Sky chuckled. "What else did you do in Manehattan?"

"On the warmest day, we went up to the top of the Statue of Liberty." said Lyra. "The window at the top was kind of small, but we could still see the whole harbor from it. You would have loved it!"

"That sounds pretty great to me!" Sky agreed. "Going up there is definitely on my bucket list! Especially if we went up together."

"I was thinking the same thing!" Lyra giggled. "Anyway, what'd you do this week while I was gone?"

"I went to the beach with Sugarcoat on Wednesday." Sky replied. "We do that every April vacation."

"That must have been fun!" said Lyra. "Which beach did you go to?"

"We just went to Canterlot Beach." said Sky. "Although sometimes we go to Mistmane Beach. It's bigger than Canterlot Beach and it's on the North Shore."

"Oh, I love that beach!" Lyra exclaimed. "My parents actually own a beach house near there!"

"Really? That sounds amazing! I've always wanted to have a beach house myself. How often do you go there?"

"Usually we go for a week or two every summer. If my parents let me, I'll totally invite you to come with us!"

"Oh gosh, that would be a dream come true for me!" Sky burst out, with a big grin on his face.

"Guys, dinner's ready!" Evening called from the kitchen.

"Okay, I'll be right there!" Air said as he got up from the couch.

"Anyway, I'm about to have dinner, so I'll talk to you later." Sky said over the phone. "I love you, Lyra!" Sky blushed as he said those words.

"I love you too, Sky!" Lyra replied with a giggle. "See you later!" Lyra hung up, and Sky put down the phone and headed into the kitchen.

"I guess you were on the phone with your girlfriend?" Air asked Sky at the dinner table.

"Yep." said Sky. "Lyra was in Manehattan for the last few days, but now she's back in town."

"You know, I'm really proud of you, son." Air went on. "You've got your first girlfriend at a much younger age than me."

"Speaking of Lyra, I'd like to meet her one of these days." said Evening. "I want to get to know the girl that my son is dating."

"Sure thing, Mom." said Sky. "Do you want me to invite her to dinner one of these days?"

"That would be nice." said Evening. "But you'll have to be the one to make arrangements with her."

"Of course." Sky agreed. "I could even invite her for Saturday night, since we won't be busy that day."

"Isn't there going to be a storm that night?" Air asked.

"I thought there would be, but the weather forecast now says it's going to stay west of here." Evening replied. She turned to her son. "So yes, Sky, that would work."

"Great!" said Sky. "I'll call Lyra back after dinner and see what she thinks."

After finishing his dinner, Sky took his phone and headed back to his room to call Lyra again. He speed-dialed her and she picked up immediately. "Hi again, Sky!" she giggled. "Couldn't resist calling your girl back?"

"Why would I resist calling the most beautiful girl ever?" Sky laughed.

This elicited another flattered giggle from Lyra. "Sky, you are such a sweetie!"

"I try to be the best guy I can." Sky said modestly. "Especially for you, Lyra. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner at my apartment on Saturday night? I mean, I've already met your parents, so it'd be good if you could meet mine."

Lyra thought for a moment. "Of course, Sky! That would be perfect! I won't be busy that night, and that storm isn't going to come through here anyway."

Sky smiled. "Fantastic!"

Sky and Lyra ended up taking to each other long into the night, sharing funny stories and fluffing each other up with sweet compliments. Sky eventually had to hang up because Evening demanded that he take a shower and go to bed. As Sky went to bed that night, he looked forward to Saturday, and hoped that it would go just as well as his first meeting with Lyra's parents.

At six o'clock on Saturday evening, Spearmint Tea pulled up in front of Sky's apartment building to drop Lyra off. "This is Sky's building, right?" Spearmint asked.

Lyra got out of the car and looked at the address above the front door. "Yep, this is it." She looked up at the shiny glass facade, twelve stories high. "It's a really nice building."

"It is." Spearmint agreed. "It almost looks like an office building, even though it's residential."

"It kind of does." Lyra chuckled.

Spearmint said goodbye to her daughter and began driving back home. Lyra walked under the awning and through the doors of the Somnambula Building.

Lyra had never set foot in Sky's building before, and when she entered, she was very impressed by the high ceilings and bright lighting of the lobby. Wow... this building is even nicer on the inside!, she thought to herself. If the lobby was anything to go by, Sky's apartment was very impressive indeed.

On the wall next to the elevator, Lyra spotted a floor directory that listed which apartments were on which floor. She pushed the button for the elevator and looked over the floor directory to find the number 17. Seeing that Sky's apartment was located on the ninth floor, she got into the elevator and pushed the number nine button.

The elevator rose quickly up to the ninth floor, and when Lyra got out, she found herself in a hallway with high ceilings and two silver doors, one on each side. The door on the left was numbered 17, and the door on the right was numbered 18. There was also a stairway and a large glass window at the end. Lyra went to the door on the left and rang the bell.

Within a few seconds, Sky answered the door. "Lyra!" he exclaimed, giving his girlfriend a big hug. "Come on in!" He gave Lyra a kiss on the cheek before leading her into his apartment.

Evening and Air were both in the kitchen when Lyra came in. "You must be Lyra!" Evening said. "I'm Sky's mom, Evening Shade."

"And I'm Sky's dad, Air Raider." said Air.

"It's really nice to meet both of you." Lyra said with a smile. "How much does Sky talk to you about me?"

"He doesn't tell us much about school, but when he does, you're always the first person he mentions." Evening explained. "He made it obvious how much he liked you. He's never been good at hiding his feelings."

Sky blushed and rolled his eyes. Lyra giggled knowingly.

"Anyway, what's for dinner?" Lyra asked.

"I'm making my homemade lasagna." Evening replied. "It's one of Sky's favorites, so I'm sure you'll like it too."

"Sounds delicious!" Lyra remarked.

"My mom's a really great chef." said Sky. "There aren't too many things she can't cook."

"There were so many things I wouldn't eat, before I met her." Air agreed.

"The lasagna won't be ready for another half an hour, so feel free to hang around with each other until then." said Evening.

"Great! Thank you." said Lyra. She looked around the apartment. "Your apartment is amazing!" she commented. "Everything is so big and shiny and modern!"

"It sure is." said Air. "That's why we picked it. As soon as I got a job in Canterlot, we found this apartment and signed a lease immediately."

"This place is a huge upgrade from our old apartment in Manebridge." said Sky. "It's by far the best place I've ever lived. It's so much bigger and it has an awesome balcony too." He pointed to the tall glass door to the balcony at the end of the living room.

"Let's go out there!" Lyra suggested to Sky with a grin.

"Of course." said Evening. "I'll call you back in when dinner's ready."

"Sounds good." said Sky. He opened the glass door, and he and Lyra went out onto the balcony and sat down on the cushioned bench.

All balconies on the Somnambula Building came with a fantastic view. Odd-numbered apartments such as Sky's apartment overlooked the suburbs and the rolling hills far away. Even-numbered apartments had a view of the city and the ocean beyond.

"Wow..." Lyra began, as she looked out at the expanse of the suburbs down below. "This view is amazing!"

Sky smiled. "I knew you'd love it. You can see half of Canterlot from here. Can you see your house?"

"Probably, but there's no way I'd be able to pick it out from here." Lyra laughed.

"You know, there's actually a really nice symmetry between my building and the cliff at the park." Sky said thoughtfully. "From this side of the building, you can see the suburban half of Canterlot. From the other side of the building, you can see the urban half of Canterlot. And from the cliff at the park..."

"...you can see all of Canterlot at once." Lyra finished. "That's really interesting. I didn't think of that." She leaned against Sky. "I could sit out here with you forever."

Sky smiled warmly. "Me too, Lyra. Me too." He and Lyra leaned in toward each other, and their lips met for the second time.

Air watched Sky and Lyra's kiss from inside the apartment. "Oh boy, now I really feel old." he said to himself. Nevertheless, he was happy for his son.

Evening opened the door to the balcony. "All right, you two, the lasagna's ready."

"Great! We'll be right there!" Sky replied. He and Lyra got up from the bench and came back inside, still holding hands.

After getting glasses of orange juice from the refrigerator, Sky and Lyra sat down at the dinner table with Evening and Air, and it wasn't long before they each dug into their slice of lasagna.

"This lasagna is really good!" Lyra said to Evening.

Evening smiled. "Thank you! I'm glad you like it."

"So, how long have you and Sky liked each other?" Air asked.

Lyra blushed lightly. "To be honest, I could tell Sky liked me as soon as I met him." Sky blushed and nodded to confirm that.

"I'd never really had a real crush up to that point, but I knew I wanted to get to know Sky as at least a friend." Lyra continued. "He seemed pretty cool and funny, and he saved me from falling after I slipped in a puddle."

"When did you start to like him back?" Evening asked.

"When I was being harassed by another guy and he stood up for me." And Lyra explained the first incident involving Noteworthy.

"So that's what that fight was about." Air remarked. He pat Sky on the shoulder and smiled. "When that happened, I was proud of you for defending yourself. Now I'm even more proud of you for standing up for your girlfriend."

Sky smiled back. "Thanks, Dad. I couldn't just stand there and do nothing, could I?"

"Anyway, I called him the following night, just to make sure he was doing okay." said Lyra. "He told me that I was beautiful, and that gave me a feeling that I'd never felt before. No guy had ever given me such a heartfelt compliment. After that, I found myself wanting to spend more and more time with him, but my training schedule for the Friendship Games was so intense that I didn't get a chance to ask him out. I got such a wonderful surprise when he took the next step and asked me."

"And since then, things have never been better for either of us." Sky finished. He and Lyra had agreed to keep the second incident involving Noteworthy under wraps.

Air then chimed in with his own love story. He explained that throughout high school, he had always been that one nerdy guy that none of the girls really wanted. He never had a steady girlfriend until he met Evening during an office meeting at one of their old jobs. At the time, he was 32 and she was 25. Despite the age difference, they clicked with each other almost immediately. Four years later they were married, and in another four years Evening had given birth to Sky.

"That's a really nice story." Lyra said when Air had finished.

Air nodded. "It took a while, but it was definitely worth it in the end."

Lyra then began telling Sky's parents more about herself, so they would know her better. She talked about her musical talent and how she had competed in the Friendship Games the month before. But it wasn't long before the sound of raindrops could be heard falling on the big glass window.

Evening sighed. "Well, it looks like the weather forecast lied to us. Again."

It didn't end there. A flash of lightning appeared off in the distance, followed by a loud rumble of thunder.

"Ugh... this will be awful to go home in." Lyra groaned.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here until the storm passes." Evening offered. "It should be over by -"

But before Evening could finish, everyone's phones began buzzing loudly and vibrating rapidly. "What's going on?" Lyra exclaimed.

Sky ran to the living room to grab his phone. He came back and showed everyone the message that had come up on the screen:

FLASH FLOOD WARNING THIS AREA UNTIL SATURDAY 2:00 AM EST. AVOID FLOOD AREAS. CHECK LOCAL MEDIA.
-NWS

"Until two tomorrow morning?" Air exclaimed. "This is going to be rough."

"How am I supposed to get home?" Lyra asked. "I obviously can't walk, and my parents won't want to drive in this weather either."

"You can stay here for tonight!" Sky suggested enthusiastically. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I refused to share my bed with you?"

Evening thought it over. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable having an unrelated girl stay with her son overnight, but with inclement weather like this, it was probably the only safe option. "Okay, Lyra." she finally said. "You and Sky can spend the night together. Just no getting naked in front of each other or anything like that."

"Don't worry, Mom." said Sky. "We're mature enough to do this."

Evening nodded and turned to Lyra. "You should probably shower before Sky. He sometimes drifts off in the shower."

"I do not!" Sky retorted.

"Well, you did on Tuesday." Evening replied. "You were under the water for half an hour, and the steam leaked out into the hallway. That wasn't the first time that's happened, either."

Sky sighed. "All right, fine. Sometimes the warm water just feels really good."

"It sure does." Lyra agreed. She turned to Sky and put her arm around him. "I take a long time in the shower too, so you're not alone."

Evening rolled her eyes. She was well aware of the amount of time teenage girls spend in the shower, having been one herself. "Well then, I guess it doesn't matter which one of you showers first. You're both going to be hogging the bathroom for a while."

After dinner, Sky offered to take Lyra into his room, since she'd never been here before. Compared to Lyra's room, Sky's was a bit messier. Stacks of paper and books lay everywhere, on top of Sky's desk and on top of storage bins. Multiple diecast Formula One cars sat lined up on top of Sky's dresser. The dark blue blanket on his bed was in a wrinkled heap. Sky never bothered to make his bed. He didn't see the point of tucking in his blanket when he was just going to untuck it as soon as he went to sleep.

"As you can see, I've got all kinds of junk scattered around in here." Sky chuckled as he and Lyra sat down on the side of his bed. "I probably need to clean this place up soon."

"You know, I actually like a guy with a slightly messy room." said Lyra. "It shows that he's not too uptight or too serious."

Sky smiled. "Well, I'm glad you feel that way, because this is pretty much how my room has always been."

"What kind of things do you have on your desk?" Lyra asked.

"Mostly drawings I've drawn and stories I've written." Sky replied. "Do you want to see some of them?"

"I'd love to!" said Lyra.

Sky grabbed a sketchbook off of his desk and handed it to Lyra. She flipped through it and discovered many drawings of buildings and road maps, all carefully drawn with precise straight lines, and some colored in with neat and vibrant colored pencils.

"Wow... your drawings are amazing!" Lyra exclaimed. "These are the straightest lines I've ever seen anyone draw!"

"Well, I was always known for having incredibly neat handwriting." said Sky. "Virtually anyone I've ever had a class with at school has complimented it."

Lyra grinned. "So you're an amazing writer, an amazing artist, and an amazing boyfriend! I knew I picked the best guy!" She put her hands on Sky's shoulders and leaned in, and they kissed again.

After a few wonderful minutes, their lips parted, and Lyra looked over at Sky's collection of diecast cars on top of his dresser. She noticed that most of the cars all had the same number on their nosecone - the number 14.

"Yeah, I really like motor racing." Sky commented.

"I already knew that." Lyra chuckled. "I don't know much about it myself, but I'm guessing your favorite driver is number fourteen?"

"That is correct!" said Sky. "His name's Rapid Fire and he's from Spain. He's one of the older drivers in Formula One but he's still the best guy out there. He can win in pretty much any car you give him, even if it isn't the fastest. The past few years were pretty bad for him, but now that he's driving for the Ferrari team again, he has a really good chance at winning another championship. I have almost all the cars that he's driven in his career."

"That's awesome!" said Lyra. "Your collection of race car models is almost as big as my collection of unicorn books!"

"I guess it is!" Sky laughed. "We should compare them one of these days!"

"That's a great idea!" Lyra agreed. "Then we can really see who's the ultimate collector!"

Sky and Lyra continued to hang out in Sky's room until half past eight, when Sky went into the bathroom to take a shower. Since this was Sky's apartment, Lyra let him shower first. Sky took his pajamas - a big white T-shirt and a pair of light blue lounge pants - into the bathroom with him, to ensure that no one would watch him get changed. At nine o'clock, he came out of the bathroom fully clothed and dried, and found Lyra in the living room taking to Evening and Air. "The bathroom's all yours." he said to Lyra.

"Thank you!" Lyra replied. "Although I don't have my pajamas to change into afterward."

"Hang on." said Sky. He hurried off to his room and came back holding a second white T-shirt and a pair of light green lounge pants. "You can borrow these for tonight. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I never let you borrow my clothes?"

Lyra smiled. "Thanks, Sky!" She took Sky's spare pajama set and headed to the bathroom to take her shower. When she came out at nine-thirty, she found Sky waiting for her in his room.

Sky's pajamas were kind of big for Lyra, but he thought she looked really cute in them. He lifted up the blanket, and she laid down in bed next to him.

"This night just keeps getting better and better." she sighed happily.

Sky smiled and nodded in agreement. "There's nothing quite like laying in bed with the one you love, is there?"

"Indeed there isn't." Lyra said softly. She wrapped her arms around Sky and snuggled up next to him. Sky looked down and kissed her forehead. Lyra blushed and rolled herself over so that she was on top of Sky. Then they closed their eyes and for the first time, Sky and Lyra made out, rolling themselves up in the blanket together and exploring each other's lips with their tongues. As they did so, they both moaned gently with pure pleasure. Sky moved both of his hands through Lyra's soft minty hair, and Lyra used her hands to feel up Sky's neck. When their lips parted after ten passionate minutes, a very warm Sky let out a yawn.

"It's getting kind of late." Sky said. "I'm about ready to drop off for tonight."

"Me too." said Lyra. She giggled quietly. "Let's get some sleep. Just you and me. Together."

"Sounds wonderful to me." Sky agreed. He yawned again and turned off the lamp next to his bed. Before long, he and Lyra were sleeping together peacefully, with Lyra curled up in Sky's arms and Sky's face buried in Lyra's hair. Neither of them had ever felt safer or more deeply in love than on this stormy April night.

Author's Note

This will be my last chapter of 2019, so I hope you all enjoyed it!

A couple of things to note: Air and Evening's love story is more or less my IRL parents' story, and Rapid Fire is obviously meant to be the EQG world's Fernando Alonso.