Skybound Romance

Chapters

Prologue - Flight School
Meeting Up Once Again
A Visit to Windy's
A Visit to Bow's

Prologue - Flight School

It was an unparticular day at the Cloudsdale flight school and Wingcleft, the head instructor, was feeling more agitated than usual. The elder pegasus had been teaching the summer program at the flight school for moons, an occupation Wingcleft would admit wasn’t glamorous yet entirely satisfactory, yet the previous week, one unidentified foal had set off a prank that had tested his patience to its very limits. But now, Wingcleft was certain he had discovered the culprit.

He had narrowed the suspects down to two particular foals. Bringing them to his office, Wingcleft examined the suspects closely.

Both pegasi, of course, and both blue as well, though they had varying shades. Wingcleft hmphed, running a hoof through his faded blue mane, staring down the two foals. One a filly, orange mane, magenta eyes, very rough-looking manestyle. The other a colt, dully yellow eyes, small mohawk manestyle, and most noticeably, a rainbow colored mane.

On the left, the little pegasus filly’s eyes darted to the Wingcleft’s memorabilia hanging on the cloudy walls, to Wingcleft, she was obviously avoiding eye contact. On the right, the pegasus colt was playing coy about the whole matter, giving Wingcleft an innocent look.

“I’ll make this straight,” the instructor began, “One of you is in trouble. And don’t you play dumb, you know what you did! However, one of you is innocent, and you’ll be allowed to leave, if the culprit for the prank admits to it.”

The colt spoke up first, “Sorry sir, but I think you have the wrong pony, it wasn’t either one of us.”

“Yeah,” The filly added, “We’re innocent! You can’t just accuse us of stuff!!”

“Oh can’t I?” stated Wingcleft with a chuckle, “You see, this old wonderbolt has vision like a hawk, and I spied you two prancing into the commissary ten minutes before the prank! See, it turns out it isn’t one of you in trouble, it’s both of you!” He slapped his desk as emphasis of his accusation.

Both foals gave the elder pegasus confused looks after they exchanged glances.

“Her?” the colt yelled adamantly, “Why would I work with a filly?”

“Him?” followed the filly, “I work alone!” she paused, “I mean, if I even did it in the first place…”

Wingcleft ignored the yearlings’ defenses, instead pulling out a file from his desk, “You two know what you did, and I’m sure you also know the punishment for your heinous action.”

He could hear from the foal’s hushed gasps that they knew, “Yes, the perpetrator shall be sent home early.” He paused to pull out the list of names, “So, what do you have to say for yourselves?”
“But we didn’t do it!” The colt repeated, “I mean, we didn’t both do it…”

“Um, what he said,” affirmed the filly, “I didn’t have any help from him.”

“Aha!” Wingcleft shouted triumphantly, “So you admit you did do it!”

The colt shrugged, “Eh… It was mostly me.”

The filly shook her head, “Nuh-uh, it was my idea!”

“It was mine first!”

“Hmph…” Wingcleft rested a hoof under his chin, “So you’re implying you both came up with the exact same idea and both executed it at the exact same time?”

With much reluctance, both foals nodded.

Wingcleft sighed, “I’m not going to say I believe you, but regardless, the rules of this school are set, and you’ll both have to be sent home early.” A look of pity crossed his face as he looked upon the saddened expressions of the foals, “Look, I’ll let you have the rest of the day to yourselves, your parents will come to get you tomorrow morning.”

He waved a wing, signaling the foals to take their leave. And they did so, slowly trotting out of Wingcleft’s office.

The foals made their way out of the building, plopping their rears on the cloudy steps outside. They both looked up into the air, watching as the other pegasus yearlings practiced their flying in the clear, blue sky.

The two watched in silence for a good minute until the filly was the first to acknowledge the other. She turned a pensive eye to the colt, “I guess we really did bite off more than we chew huh?”

The colt looked over, “Yeah, I guess so,” his melancholy mouth turned up, “But you gotta admit it was worth it right? Just to see Ms. Pundit get her mane dyed hot pink… twice!”

The filly giggled, reminiscing on their successful dual prank on the pegasus instructor. Her expression was priceless. “Yeah, it was worth it!” She paused, “Say, how did you come up with the same idea as me?”

“Well… in the art room I saw that this place just happened to have the right stuff for a rainbow bomb and…” He spread his wings, making an explosion sound with his mouth.

The filly smirked, “That's the same thing I did! I guess great minds really do think alike.”
The colt laughed, stopping to lean back on a cloud, “You know, I would suggest we team up for an awesomer prank but I guess we really don’t have the time for that.”

“Sure, but what do we do? We still have the whole day until we have to leave.”

“I don’t know, we could just hang out?”

The filly smiled, “Yeah, we can do that.” She stood up, brushing away the cloud puffs that had gathered around her hooves. “So rainbow-mane,” she turned to the colt, who stood up as well, “What’s your name? We can’t really hang out if I don’t know your name.”

The colt blinked, “Oh, it’s Bow. Bow Hothoof. How ‘bout you?”

“Windy Whistles.”

Bow flapped his wings, “So Windy Whistles, what do you wanna do?”

Windy looked up, shifting her gaze to a series of clouds overhead. She pointed a hoof up, “What about we head to the training course?”

“I’ll race you!” Bow was barely able to shout before shooting off the ground. Windy was quick to follow, the filly furiously flapping her little wings after the colt.

Though neither foal would admit it, they weren’t particularly adept flyers, but right now, it didn’t matter; for now they flew through the air. Like many pegasi, Bow and Windy felt their worries, having to leave the next morning, and the rest of their problems melt away, being left behind as they were able to spread their wings and soar.

Through the training course they flew, laughing as they chased each other, swerving around and through the clouds. The two yearlings played games, hiding in the clouds, making funny shapes, and just talking with one another.

Though their wings eventually grew tired, neither of the foals cared. And as the day drew onward, Bow and Windy continued their uninterrupted frolicking. And though it was only half a day, it felt much longer for the two foals who had grown a close bond with one another in that short time.

Eventually, the day ended.

Sitting together on a cloud above the rest of the school, Bow and Windy watched as the rest of pegasi retreated to their sleeping areas.

They laughed with each other as Windy finished recounting a story of one of her previous pranks at home, on one of her older siblings. As Bow finished, he let out a breath of air, looking forward into the sky. “The day’s over,” he said, “I guess we should head down and pack our stuff.”

“Just a bit longer,” Windy suggested, playfully nudging him with her hoof, “We’re leaving tomorrow, what’s the rush?”

Slowly, the sun began to lower in the sky, a sign that Celestia was changing the day into the night. Bow looked at Windy, watching as the setting sun casted a momentary orange hue on her blue fur.

The orange hue was gone as soon as it arrived, replaced with the purple hue of twilight. Both ponies looked up into the sky, at the dark shape of the mare on the moon, its brilliant glow sticking out amongst the twinkling stars.

“You know,” Bow said fondly, “Maybe it's because we’re always so high up, but you sometimes forget the amazing views we get as pegasi.”

“Yeah,” Windy sighed, “I guess sometimes we should just slow down and spend time with somepony we care about.”

Bow looked over, “Wait… you care about me?”

Windy giggled, “Of course! We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Bow smirked, “I guess we are.” He leaned back in the cloud resting his wings. He continued to look up at the night sky as Windy took the opportunity to lean her head against his shoulder. She couldn’t see the blush that flushed into his face.

Windy rustled her wings, adjusting her position, “So… will we see each other again? I mean, after all this?” She absentmindedly played with a puff of cloud in her hooves as she spoke.

“I don’t know,” Bow admitted, “But I do know I won’t forget you.”

“Me neither.”

Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles may have had to part with each other in the morning, but for now, they were both perfectly content. Two yearlings, both nestled into the same cloud, looking up into the beautiful endlessness of the night sky.

Meeting Up Once Again

In a little house in Cloudsdale, Windy Whistles began her morning like always, waking up last. Everyone else was already up and active by the time the teenaged mare climbed out of her cloudy bed, but Windy didn’t care. Hopping out of her bed, Windy swerved around various doodads left scattered across the floor by her sister, stopping in front of the dresser to get ready for the day.

With a flip of her wing, she tossed her school saddlebag on her back, and left the bedroom. She paused in front of the mirror to adjust her pale orange mane, after all, it took effort to keep it in its disheveled state.

As soon as she stepped into the hallway, Windy had to flatten herself against the wall to avoid being trampled by two pegasi chasing each other down the hall. Her two younger siblings’ joyous laughs echoed down the hallway, blending in with the litany of other sounds coming from the kitchen.

The kitchen was in a state of chaos, something Windy was accustomed to. The two younger siblings flew through the kitchen before spinning into the living room, swerving around Windy’s mother, Cloudbank Concerto, who stood with Windy's youngest sibling balanced on her back.

“Morning mom,” Windy said to her mother, not turning as she prepared a quick breakfast of oats.

“Morning sweetie,” Cloudbank responded, raising her voice over the sound of Windy’s two older brothers arguing at the table, “Have a good day at school!”

Windy gave a nod before heading out through the front door. As she shut the door behind her, Windy loudly exhaled, living with nine other ponies made her home very busy and very loud.

Nonetheless, Windy Whistles had a personal schedule to keep, and right now was the exact time for her to fly to school.

On the other side of Cloudsdale, another teenaged pegasus woke up. Raising his head with a sleepy snort, Bow Hothoof brushed his scruffy rainbow mohawk out of his face and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

He didn’t know the time, so Bow slouched out of bed, collapsing in a lump on the floor. Standing up, Bow groggily shook himself awake. He looked around, his room was just how he left it, a perfect open area for his morning exercises. Bow had a regime to keep up with, so he concentrated on his wing flexes, loop-de-loops, and hoof crutches before leaving his spacious room and heading into the kitchen.

The house was dead quiet, his parents having left earlier in the morning. The kitchen was clean, the only thing out of place was Bow’s school supplies laying in the middle of the table, him having put it there during the previous evening.

There was another pegasus, Bow’s younger brother, though not by much. Rainbow Blaze shared the same rainbow mane as most ponies in Bow’s family. He sat at the table, nonchalantly reading the morning paper. As Bow entered, Rainbow Blaze glanced up, “Mornin’ Bow, heading out to school again?”

Bow nodded, “Yeah, just try not to get in any trouble while I’m out okay?”

Rainbow Blaze smirked, “No promises…”

Bow rolled his eyes at his brother’s jesting before he grabbed his saddlebag and left the quiet household. He stopped before he left, remembering he had something else to do at school. Luckily, the bag of sports equipment he had to take to the school gym had also been left beside the front door.

After leaving and looking left and right, Bow saw that there was almost no other pegasi out and about that morning, likely because they had all left for the weather factory, which loomed high up in the sky nearby.

But that didn’t matter to Bow, he had places to be, and a route to fly, and so, after a stretch of the wing, Bow took flight.

In the meanwhile, across Cloudsdale, Windy made her first stop on her way to school. She flew into the Cloudsdale Sweet Treat Malt Shop, a popular hangout for teenage pegasi in the evenings, but in the morning, it was usually empty.

But for Windy, this was the usual stop before school. Inside, the pegasus cashier awaited her arrival.

“The usual I presume?” he asked, passing Windy a frothy, sugar-swirled shake.

She handed him the bits and took the drink, “You bet! You know how Dawncrack likes his early morning sugar.”

“I’ll bet he does,” the cashier tipped his hat, “Have a good day!”

Carefully maintaining her hold on the drink, Windy waved goodbye and took leave of the shop, maintaining her course to Cloudsdale high school. Located in the middle of downtown Cloudsdale, the morning crowd of teenage pegasi had gathered and milled about the school grounds before classes began. The grounds were a place where teenage lovers met, gossip was traded, and the occasional dispute.

Windy in particular, had a specific stallion in mind. Dawncrack was in his usual spot, hanging out with the other jock pegasi in front of the gym. He was large, much like any stallion who worked out, despite his daily consumption of sugar-filled shakes. Windy assumed he worked through the calories quickly, due to him being the current best flier in the school, which was also the reason the two had started dating.

“Hey Dawncrack,” Windy said to him, landing beside the stallion and his clique, “Here’s your morning drink!”.

Dawncrack swept aside his blond mane, “Thanks babe,” he took the shake while simultaneously tossing Windy a few bits, “Here’s the goods for the next one. Now, before you interrupted me, not that I had an issue with it, I was telling the guys my ideas for future maneuvers when I become the next wonderbolt!” He spread his auburn-colored wings, motioning the nearby stallions and Windy to back off before he took flight.

Up into the air he flew, his wing flaps blowing away nearby clouds. He performed somersaults, loop-de-loops and aerial stunts above the school. Nearby students looked up and cheered on Dawncrack.

His hooves skidded on the cloudy ground as he landed, coming to a halt next to the shake. “See? I’m great,” He contemptuously concluded as he drank the drink, “Now be a doll and hand me my stuff.”

Windy listened and nodded, picking up and handing Dawncrack his gear that he had left on the ground. “Now,” Dawncrack said, grabbing his gear and wrapping a large hoof around Windy, “Let’s get in the gym and get sweaty!” The other pegasi jocks cheered and followed Dawncrack into the gym, leaving Windy to tag along behind.

Windy didn’t necessarily like having gym class as her first subject of the day, but it was what Dawncrack preferred and it was the schedule she was accustomed to. There was a gym coach of course, but the faculty of Cloudsdale High typically let Dawncrack do whatever he wanted in the gym, because of his promising flight stats.

And so, Windy, despite being rather small, usually ended up with the jock ponies in the gym. Dawncrack said she was too small to participate, so Windy was typically benched, sitting aside as she watched the stallions trained.

The pegasi jocks yelled to each other and loudly grunted as they did exercises, but Windy was used to loud noise, having to live with an extended family, and she took the opportunity during first period at the gym to do school work, either her’s or Dawncrack’s, when he wanted her to do it. It wasn’t peaceful by any means, but it was enough for her to sometimes get sucked into her own little world, a time to reminisce.

Outside the gym, Bow prepped for the small thing he had to do before class. It was the simple task of taking tennis equipment and putting them back after he borrowed them the previous weekend.

Taking the back entrance to avoid the morning rush, Bow slinked his way through the locker room to the storage room. The locker room was empty this early in the morning, as the classes had yet to begin. He placed the borrowed equipment back in their rightful place when he heard someone else enter the locker room behind him.

Glancing through the glass windows of the storage room, he saw a blue mare that seemed awfully familiar enter the locker room. In her mouth was a sheet of paper.

He watched as she opened a locker and inserted the sheet.

Stepping a hoof out of the storage room, Bow called out, “Hey you! What’re you doing?”

The mare gasped and looked up at him in surprise. “Oh, um, I’m just putting this in-” she paused as she looked upon the stallion who had called her out.

Bow approached her, passing an awkward glance, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. It’s just that the only ponies who come down here this early are the jocks, and you don’t look like a jock.”

“I guess you could say I’m affiliated…” the mare replied. She stopped again, squinting her eyes as a look of recognition crossed her face. “Bow?”

Bow blinked in surprise, “How do you know my name? Unless…” a look of recognition crossed his face as well, “Windy!”

Both ponies gasped, “We go to the same school?”

Windy scrupulously nodded, a mixture of surprise and amusement on her face. “This is so weird! I can’t believe I didn’t know this! How have we never bumped into each before?”

Bow shrugged as he rubbed the back of his head with his wing, “I am kinda busy elsewhere a lot, I guess our paths just never crossed until now. Say, how did you know it was me? I mean, it’s been moons, and I didn’t even recognize you at first.”

Windy raised an eyebrow with a smirk, “Your rainbow mane isn’t exactly hard to remember.”

He laughed, “Oh yeah, I forget how noticeable it is sometimes. Still, why are you even down here before class anyway? I was returning some stuff I borrowed.”

Windy gave a passive sigh, “I was just putting away some finished homework for Dawncrack.” She looked up, seeing an expression silently cross Bow’s face at the mention of Dawncrack’s name, “Speaking of him, I should get going, he doesn’t like it if I'm absent in the gym.”

“Now worries,” Bow chuckled, “I have classes to get to as well.”

As soon as he finished, the sound of a school echoed into the locker room. Classes had begun, and soon other ponies would enter.

“Wait!” Windy held a hoof as Bow began to turn away. She quickly pulled out a sheet of paper from her saddlebag and scribbled something onto it.

She handed the paper to Bow, “Come over this afternoon. Ya know, just to talk and stuff, catch up and all that.”

She glanced over her shoulder as the sound of voices began to emanate from the exit. And without another word, Windy had turned tail and left, leaving the bewildered Bow standing by himself.

After a few seconds of silence, he looked down at the paper. It was her address. He softly chuckled to himself as he folded and put away the paper.

“That’d be nice,” he replied to no one in particular.

A Visit to Windy's

The school day that followed passed as a blur to Bow, and before he knew it, the bells rang and school day ended. He hadn't seen Windy again, and he could only assume she had gone home.

Now, Bow stood at the other side of Cloudsdale in front of a little, cloudy, two-story house.

He pulled out the crumpled paper, double checking to make sure it was the right place.

Upon flying to the address Windy had hastily written, it became clear to Bow why he had gone unaware of her. Windy lived on the opposite side of the city from him, and in a rather dislocated neighborhood he had rarely ventured too as well.

Walking up to the front door, Bow could already hear the sound of voices inside. He only had to knock a hoof on the door once before it was answered.

Thoughts raced through Bow’s mind when a lanky pegasus answered the door. He was tall and skinny with a dark blue coat much like Bow’s own and Bow would have to look up if he weren’t rather large for his age. Instead, the two stared at each other eye-to-eye for a few, awkward, silent moments.

“Can I help you?” The pegasus asked after a moment, narrowing his eyes at Bow.

Completely unprepared, Bow stumbled through his words. “Oh um… I’m here to see Windy. It’s for a- school thing…”

The pegasus sighed before he turned away from the door, “Hey Windy! Your coltfriends here!” After a few seconds, Windy appeared, pushing brushing aside the pegasus at the door.

“Thank you Braze!” she said in a passive-aggressive tone while pushing her brother away with her wing, “You can go back to… whatever you do. I’ll take it from here.”

Braze only scoffed as he left, leaving Windy with Bow.

Windy passed an embarrassed glance to Bow, who peered over her shoulder to messy home. “Sorry about all… this,” she said, motioning a hoof to casual chaos behind her, “I did not prepare for you at all.”

“It’s no big deal,” Bow replied, “I’m completely unprepared as well.”

Windy stifled a laugh before she continued, “Well anyways, that tall pony was my older brother, Braze. He’s… moody.”

Bow nodded, “I can see. And he called me your coltfriend? I mean, I wouldn’t say we’re like that.”

Windy didn’t answer, giving a pause before she waved Bow inside, “Come on, let's go to my room.”

The two teenage ponies had barely stepped a hoof inside before a voice called them. “Hey Windy! Who’s this fella?” Bow turned his head to see a squat orange pegasus approach him. The pegasus scratched his chin with his wing, eyeing Bow closely. “Is this that Dawncrack colt your seein’?” Bow did his best to stay polite, staying still as the pegasus got uncomfortably close. “Not a bad find if I do say so myself!”

Windy sighed, putting a hoof between him and the noticeably nervous Bow, “No Uncle Foghorn, this is Bow Hothoof. He’s a friend.”

Foghorn nodded, “A friend. Oh yes, I see how it is. Well, I best leave you two to it.” He chuckled, “I don’t want to interrupt your friendship.”

Windy and Bow exchanged confused glances as they watched Uncle Foghorn trot back into the living room, where he plopped himself onto his favorite cumulus couch. Also in the living room was an older blue pegasus looking over two yearlings who sat in the middle of the floor.

The older pegasus waved at Windy, “Hi sweetie, having a friend over?”

Windy nodded with a paltry smile, “Yes Dad, he’s my… study partner. He’s here to help me study for school, and we really should go start, the studying I mean.”

Bow glanced down to her confusedly, but was quickly spun around by her and led into the kitchen. Cloudbank Concerto, Windy’s mom, was there, turning to the two young pegasi as they entered. She looked at Bow, “You must be Dawncrack! It’s nice to finally meet you! “

She held out a hoof which Bow shook back, “It’s nice to meet you too, but it's actually Bow. Bow Hothoof.”

Cloudbank gasped apologetically, “Oh, I’m sorry! I just assumed you were Dawncrack.”

“Well he isn’t,” Windy interrupted, “He’s my study partner.”

“Study partner? How interesting! Sorry about the mess, it’s just that Windy here’s never had anypony else over before.”

“Yeah yeah, but we really gotta go. School stuff to do and all that,” exclaimed Windy as she attempted to gently push Bow out of the kitchen.

The unmoving Bow came to a realization, “Oh yeah! We should start. Start our studying.” He emphasized studying with a not-so-subtle wink to Windy, who hmphed in reply.

“Okay, have fun you two!” Cloudbank said as she waved the two off.

“It’s studying, it's not going to be fun!” snapped Windy in retaliation as she left.

Windy groaned to herself as led Bow down the hall to her room, firmly shutting the door and collapsing against the wall with a loud sigh as they were both finally alone. Bow, as confused as ever, looked at Windy.

“So wait, are we studying? You seem pretty firmly set in that idea. Not that I’m against that or anything!”

Windy groaned, “No! I mean- Agh! I don’t know! That’s just something I came up with on the fly! I don’t know what I’m doing- I’ve never done this before! I just wanted some privacy! But there’s no privacy in this place!”

Bow shrugged, “Huh, I could never say that about my family, but your family seemed pretty nice.”

“I’m not saying they aren’t but they’re very intrusive. They never give a mare her personal space!”

Bow walked around the room, looking around Windy’s admittedly messing living area, “So Windy, how many ponies live here anyways?”

“Nine.”

“Nine?“

Windy nodded, “Yeah, you’ve got me, my five siblings, my mom, my dad, you’ve met Uncle Foghorn, and last but not least, there’s Granny Tinhorn.”

“My family way smaller,” Bow said, pausing to recount the family members with his wing feathers, “Just me, my parents, and my brother.”

“Wow, sounds very… quiet.”

Bow looked away, “Yeah, quiet’s one way to put it.”

The two sat in silence for a moment before Windy jumped up with a flap of her wings, “So, how about we begin this properly?” She marched across the room, clearing space kicking away her sister’s random detritus on the ground. “Bow Hothoof,” Windy began, taking on an aire of mock formality, “it's been a while since we were last acquainted. How are you doing my good pegasi?”

Bow cleared his throat, “Oh, um, still the same I guess. You pull any good pranks lately?”

Windy waved a hoof, “Nah, I stopped doing pranks a while ago.”

“Same. So what do you do?”

“Studying. Papers. Hanging out. Regular schoolpony stuff. Oh! I do like to follow the latest Wonderbolt news!” She paused. “And there is one more thing…”

Bow leaned in closer, “What is it?”

Windy looked around before letting out a large breath, “It’s something… private. I don’t really tell anypony about it.”

Bow nodded in understanding, “Oh. Well if it's private, I don’t want to intrude or anything.”

Windy held up a hoof, “No! I want to tell you about it! It’s just…” she stopped, “It’s hard for me to explain in here,” she turned away, walking up to the window. Bow watched as Windy proceeded to open the window to the back yard. Windy waved at Bow, “Just follow me.”

Bow followed Windy through the Windy, almost getting his large body stuck in the process. After squeezing him through, Windy made sure to shut the window behind her.

The duo walked across the backyard, stopping before the fence that separated the yard from the other yard of a neighbor. Windy made sure no one was looking before she squeezed her tiny body through the fence. Bow, of course, would be completely unable to fit, so he simply flew over.

Trotting up to the rear side of the neighbor’s house, Bow noticed that it looked dilapidated, at least as dilapidated as a house made of clouds could look. “Nopony’s lived in this place for moons,” said Windy after she took notice of Bow’s curiosity, “And a while ago, I found a way inside.”

Bow watched with curiosity as Windy pried open a looser part of the cloudy wall, opening a dark hole into the house. She motioned him inside before sealing away the hole.

Windy and Bow stood in silence in the surprisingly dark interior of the abandoned house. Through the lack of maintenance, the cloudy walls had taken on water, making the house’s interior a dark shade of gray, blocking out most exterior light. Windy led Bow through the shambled room, turning through a doorway blocked by errant floating flecks of cloudy material.

As he pushed through the floating cloudpuffs, Bow gasped. The room before him was bathed in a gentle light, created by the glow of various objects placed on wooden shelves hastily attached to the walls. Jars of glowing things, cloud bits, and miscellaneous goods, many of which were glowing, cast a speckled light that created a kaleidoscope of color on the ceiling.

“What is this place?” Bow asked Windy, who smiled at his expression of astonishment.

“This,” announced Windy, “Is my private place. The place I go to when I need a break from… everything really.”

“Wow,” Bow gasped. He walked around the room, examining the colorful objects on the shelves. “And what are these?”

“Whenever something happens” Windy began, tenderly taking down an object from a shelf, “I like to go back and remember it. Things are so busy for me nowadays, so sometimes I go here and relax in the quietness and reminisce. These objects, these mementos, they help me to… look back at the things I want to remember.”

“Like this,” she walked over to a shelf and took down a jar filled with a rainbow-colored liquid with gray specks floating inside, “These are some rainbows from our family vacation to Rainbow Falls. And this,” she took down what looked like a faded blue cap, “This is from my very first Wonderbolts show!”

She stopped, chuckling to herself, “Look at me, ranting about all this. I bet it just looks like I’m hoarding a bunch of junk.”

Bow adamantly shook his head, “No, I get it! All this stuff means a lot to you. Everypony has things that matter to them. I mean, I still keep a poster from my first Wonderbolts show.”

Windy smiled, “Yeah, this stuff really does mean a lot to me.”

The two stood in silence for a minute, basking in the soft spotted glow. Eventually, Bow spoke up again, “So, when you came in here to remember things, did you ever think about me? What I mean is, did you ever think about that day in flight school?” Bow coughed, trying to stave off the awkwardness of his wording, but Windy ignored it.

“Of course,” Windy calmly stated, “How could I ever forget that day?”

Bow felt a tinge of guilt in his stomach. He had nearly forgotten that day, though his reuniting with Windy had caused a cavalcade of memories to swirl back into focus in his mind. He watched Windy take down another jar from a shelf.

“This,” Windy said as she held it up to him, “This is from that day.” Inside was a small, pale yellow, cloudpuff floating in the middle of the jar. “Do you remember during the end of that day, when we watched the moonrise in the cloud?” Bow nodded. “This is a part of the cloud we sat in, I took it to remember that day. I took it to remember you.”

“Woah,” Bow mumbled, his words getting caught in his throat. He felt a warmth flush through his body as he couldn’t think of what to say.
Windy cast a look of concern after he didn’t say anything, “Oh, is this too weird for you?”

“No, not at all. This place is wonderful Windy,” He spread his wings, “All of this is wonderful. Thank you for bringing me here.”

She looked up at him with a little smile, “Thank you too Bow, for just listening to me.”

Bow jokingly waved her off, “Peh, it's nothing anypony could do Windy. Say, what is that thing from?”

For a long while the two ponies sat in the darkened room. They talked some more, Bow asking questions about Windy’s collection of mementos with her graciously offering an explanation for every object. Windy felt like a weight was lifted off her back as talked about her feelings and memories associated with her little collection. For now, Windy was happy.

For Bow, a familiar feeling, much like the one he had felt that night in flight school long ago, echoed through his body. He let his body sink into the cloudy floor. He knew he would have to say goodbye and leave, it was only a short visit after all, but right now, Bow wanted to stay in that room with Windy, amidst the glowing colors of her memories.

A Visit to Bow's

In the day that followed that short, but eventful, visit from Bow Hothoof, Windy Whistles found herself oddly distracted. She forgot to get the daily morning shake, earning Dawncrack’s ire. She found the rest of the classes in school difficult to pay attention to. When she went home, she almost forgot about her promise to Bow.

Before he had left the previous day, Windy asked if they could meet again the next day at his place. Bow, of course, agreed, giving her his home address and a time, likely so he could actually be prepared for her visit unlike her.

As she flew over to Bow’s home on the other side of Cloudsdale, Windy’s young teenage mind was a flurry of thoughts. The fact that she had given her address and relegated her private, personal memories to who was practically a stranger never crossed her mind, no, Windy felt a close connection to Bow, something as personal as her private spot back home.

In eloquent terms, Windy found herself fancying the colt. Though this, she would not admit herself.

Arriving at Bow’s home address, Windy found herself in the worker’s district of Cloudsdale, the area of the city where the workers of the weather factory resided due to the district’s close proximity to the factory itself. In fact, the district was practically underneath it, with the shadow of the building looming across the area, making the normally innocuous factory look almost imposing.

Nevertheless, Windy approached the little one-story building with no hesitation, eager to visit her friend and discover his own life. Before she could even knock, the door opened, Bow sticking out his muzzle.

“Hey Windy!” Bow exclaimed enthusiastically, “I'm so glad you made it!" He greeted Windy with a wide smile, his eyes twinkling with excitement. "Please come in!"

He spread his wings in a beckon, stepping aside to let Windy enter. She looked around curiously. Bow’s home looked very similar to her own home, with one clear difference, it was clean. In fact, the place was nearly spotless.

“Oh yeah,” Bow said after he cleared his throat, “I cleaned this place just before you came over, I um- I clean this place a lot.”

“Not like there’s ever much to clean!” A new voice came out. Windy looked over to see another pegasus in the living room. He was blue and had a rainbow mane much like Bow’s.

“And that’s Rainbow Blaze,” Bow explained with a sigh, “He’s my little brother.”

“Little brother’s a bit of a stretch,” chuckled Rainbow Blaze, “I’m only one moon younger than you!”
“I see he also has a rainbow mane,” Windy commented, “Is that thing that runs in your family?”

“Oh sure, my mom has a rainbow mane as well, it's a family trait or something like that… though my mom also says it came around when my great grandfather Hoofheld drank an entire gallon of liquid rainbow from Rainbow Falls.”

Windy laughed before she paused, “By the way, where are your parents?”

“They both work at the weather factory, they build storm clouds I think. Usually they work late, so me and Rainbow are usually home alone on weekdays,” he stopped, noticing he was looking at the ground. Casting a quick glance at Windy, he spread a wing to the kitchen area, “Enough about that, do you want something to eat.”

Following Bow, Windy looked over his shoulder to see that the kitchen table had been filled with an assortment of hastily prepared foods. Bow gave an embarrassed laugh when he noticed Windy’s expression, “I don’t really know what you like so I just kind of made whatever I could with what we had on hoof.”

“Luckily for you,” Windy retorted, “I do happen to like some of the foods you prepared.”

Bow grinned, relieved that Windy wasn't put off by his impromptu culinary skills. They both settled down at the kitchen table, their wings folded neatly by their sides. Windy took a bite of a particular daffodil sandwich, savoring the flavors that Bow had managed to unexpectedly combine in such a short time.

As they ate, the conversation flowed effortlessly between them. They compared their school lives, discussed their favorite classes, shared amusing anecdotes about their teachers, and even delved into their dreams for the future.

“I’m sure it’s no surprise or anything,” Bow said as he took a bite out of a pear, “But I’ve wanted to be a Wonderbolt since I was a foal.”

Windy laughed, “Who doesn’t?”

Bow swallowed, “That’s why I train and do sports, for Wonderbolt stuff. I have an exercise routine that I do here every day. It’s even why I,” he hesitated, looking a smidge embarrassed, “Why I’m part of the tennis team at school.”

“Tennis team?” Windy raised an eyebrow, “I didn’t know the school had a tennis team.”

Bow leaned back in his chair, he wasn’t part of the Canterlot High flying team, where all the most achieved and popular fliers of the school congregated, so it was no surprise Windy was unfamiliar with him, and probably how she hadn’t noticed him earlier.

“That’s no shock. I mean you hang out with- I mean you date Dawncrack, the popular stallion in school! You’re probably around the cool colts all the time!”

Windy shook her head, “Not really, I may be around Dawncrack, but he doesn’t really like sharing the spotlight.”

Bow blinked with a sudden vacant expression, “I’ve never dated anypony before… How did you two even start up your whole thing?”

Windy put down her sandwich as she began to recall, “It was a few months ago, we met at the Sweet Treat Malt Shop, you know that place? He was hanging out with all the other jock fliers and then he came over, said I was cute and… Well, I couldn’t say no to the most popular pony in school!”

As the words drifted out of her mouth, Windy could feel a tension building in her stomach. Her feelings about Dawncrack were at odds with her feelings with Bow. She was currently in a relationship with Dawncrack, but she felt the need to continue developing her friendship with Bow, and maybe into something more…

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” said Bow, interrupting Windy’s train of thought, “Anyways, why don’t we head to my room? I have something that I think you’ll like.”

“Sure,” Windy nodded.

She followed Bow down a hall and into his bedroom, during which she couldn't help notice that her own home had an eerily similar layout to that of Bow’s. Of course, decor-wise, Bow’s bedroom was the exact opposite.

Rather than a bunk bed and an extreme mess, Bow’s room was orderly, with a single, rather small bed, exercise equipment, and a bookshelf full of books. Walking up to the bookshelf, Windy examined their spines realizing that Bow had acquired quite a collection of a specific series.

“Are these the Wonderbolt Yearbooks?”

Bow looked proud, “Yep! Complete collection of every show, member, stat, and fact about the Wonderbolts! I have every one from the past fifty moons! But this,” he took down a specific book, “This one is the jewel of the collection.” Carefully, Bow removed the protective covering to the yearbook before he revealed it to Windy.

Her eyes widened with amazement, “This is the ‘21 edition of the yearbook! There’s only like two hundred of these in existence!”

“That’s not all,” Bow assured with a smirk, “Look inside the cover.”

Windy did so accordingly, and gasped even louder, “It’s autographed? By Admiral Fairy Flight?!”

“Yep.”

Windy, who was nearly hyperventilating, stopped to catch a breath. “Wow Bow, this stuff is amazing! How’d you get your hooves on these?”

Bow shrugged with his wings, “Various ways, mainly my family goes way back with the Wonderbolts. No members, but close enough that I can have connections.”

Windy glanced over, “Can- can I read it?”

He nodded, “Of course! Just try not to damage them, these are worth like a thousand bits each.”

Windy couldn’t help but giddily laugh to herself as she hooved through the first yearbook. Wonderbolt yearbooks were rare, collector’s items even, and Bow had a large collection of them!

“Anyways, since I know you’re a Wonderbolts fan, I thought I’d show you these. I know it isn’t as ‘deep’ or ‘personal’ as your memory den, but this stuff still means a lot to me.”

Windy paused her reading, “Well if this stuff means a lot to you, then it means a lot to me… even though they already do.”

Bow felt his cheeks flush with red, “Yeah, I mean, I mean a lot to you?”

Windy grinned, patting Bow’s leg with a hoof, “Don’t be dumb! Of course you do!”

“Me too.” Bow said as he sat down next to Windy.

And then, much like the previous evening. The two pegasi spent a while together. They looked over the books, making sure not to crease the pages, talking about their shared love for the Wonderbolts, exchanging facts, and gawking together at specific pictures in the books. It was much more casual than the previous evening, more of two friends hanging out together than a personal memory moment, but neither of them minded. They were having a good time together, and for this duo of young ponies, that was all that mattered.