Remembering memories, Accepting changes

by KaylaBlues

Connections and Boundaries

The Ponyville Schoolhouse was a hustle and bustle as usual. Once the bell rang, it was time to head home. The young fillies and colts ran out in cheerful faces, some soared through the skies swiftly. Some even voluntarily stayed with Ms Cheerilee to have a nice chat and accompany her. Wind Sprint, Scootaloo and their other friends were a few of those fillies.

Ms Cheerilee giggled as she said, ''Well, I'm glad you're finally on good terms with your parents."

Scootaloo nodded her head repeatedly. She felt somepony gently touch her back, she turned and saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle waving good-bye at her. Scootaloo smiled and waved back at them as she saw her friends walk away with their sisters.

Scootaloo turned back to Ms Cheerilee and Wind Sprint. Only to find them moving on to Wind Sprint's life instead. Ms Cheerilee gave Wind a sympathetic look as she asked the filly what's wrong. Scootaloo looked at Wind dutifully, she only knew so little about Wind's personal life. She knows that her dad passed quite some time ago. Like Scootaloo, she idolized her father for years, just like how Scootaloo looked up to Rainbow Dash like a big sister. She could imagine how devastated Wind must be.

As she was listening to Wind talk, she overheard two other ponies talking. She knew that one voice all too well. It was Rainbow Dash, talking to a stallion who Scootaloo assumed is a good friend of Rainbow's. Probably bonded over Daring Do or something. The stallion actually looked like he could be Daring Do's genderbent!

As the two stopped walking, Scootaloo didn't hesitate to throw herself at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was automatically taken aback. She was not expecting her number one fan to be Pinkie pie 2.0.

"Woah!" she exclaimed. "Chill down, Squirt!" She let go off Scootaloo while patting her head which messed Scootaloo's mane. Though, the filly doesn't really care much. In fact, she enjoyed her mane being messed up.

She looked at the stallion, who was looking at Wind. She glanced at Wind then back at him. She raised a curious eyebrow, "You know Wind Sprint?"

The stallion spaced out for a second and cleared his throat. "Oh! Yeah! Yeah, I do know her." He said as he chuckled nervously. "She's my..." His voice trailed off.

"Stepdaughter." Rainbow Dash interjected. Scootaloo blinked her eyes twice in surprise and let her jaw drop as well. "This is Quibble Pants by the way." Rainbow also said. "Met him at the Daring Do convention." Scootaloo fixed her surprised face and replaced it with a smug that said Hah! Guessed so!"

"Yeah yeah. What she said..." He muttered, rolling his eyes. He walked towards Wind and asked, "Ready to head home?" His tone was gentle and soft.

Wind shot him a stare. "I wanna stay here a bit more... but I'll catch up later."

Quibble stared at his stepdaughter and sighed. "Sure. Just, don't be too late." He gave her a half-smile. Wind gave him a nod instead. He walked away and turned to Dash whispered "See you soon." Rainbow Dash gestured a goodbye with her wing and sighed dramatically.

Rainbow Dash turned to Scootaloo and asked. "I don't suppose you wanna stay here too?" The way she asked it seemed like she was irritated.

Scootaloo closed her eyes and shook her head in response. "Nah. I wanna rest." Rainbow grinned as Scootaloo hopped on her back as they both took to the skies, not before saying bye to Wind Sprint and Ms Cheerilee.

"See you tomorrow, Wind Sprint!" Scootaloo shouted from above. "See you Ms Cheerilee!"

Ms Cheerilee waved goodbye while Wind said nothing.

Eh. Worth a shot, I guess. Scootaloo thought to herself.

******

Clear Sky was standing by wooden side table, half-smiling at a family photo she took with her late husband and Wind Sprint. She remembered exactly when and where they took it.

Buckball field, just right after the Ponyville team won the tournament. All thanks to Rain Splash, Wind's birth father. Taken right before that unfortunate day.

Clear Sky heard the door creak and instantly hid the family photo in the drawer. She sighed slowly and peaked at the door. To her surprise, Quibble Pants came in, followed by nopony.

She hurried towards Quibble with a worried look on her face. "Where's Wind Sprint?" she asked him in a worrying tone.

"She wanted to stay back a little longer. She'll come back soon." Quibble replied.

"You could've stayed with her!" Clear Sky exclaimed with a disappointing tone. She sighed again, softing her voice. "You just bonded not so long ago, don't let it fall back down again..."

"And what am I supposed to be doing while staying with her? She doesn't like Daring Do and I suck at literally any sport!" Quibble expressed himself deeply, facing away from his wife.

"I don't know, anything? Together? You two are family now. Whatever you do will affect each other in any way." Clear Sky suggested, placing a hoof on his shoulder. "Sure, you suck at sports, but that doesn't mean you can get any better." she told him, trying to encourage him.

"But all that is just gonna take me away from Daring Do!" Quibble cried out. "And I like reading! And I'll miss a lot of conventions too..." He said, wiping the tears off his face.

"No, you won't..." Clear Sky said. ''You will find time for it, but you'll still have to find time for your family. For your daughter...''

Quibble's face straightened up. "My 'stepdaughter', you mean?" he slowly stated, eyeing at Clear Sky.

"Well, yeah, she may be me and Rain's daughter by blood, but she's still your daughter by heart." her voice was still soft, no matter how hot-tempered Quibble is. "You do know that, right?"

"Of course I do." Quibble assured. He gave Clear Sky a smile. Clear Sky returned another smile back at him. "So, uhm... Do you want to head outside to see Wind?" He asked her calmly, trying not to blush. He looked down and blinked. "It's fine if you're not up for it."

Clear Sky simply shrugged. "You said it yourself. She'll be back soon." She pointed a hoof at the door, where Wind Sprint hovered mid-air.

Quibble's eyes went wide open. He was shocked, yet fascinated. His stepdaughter was holding a book in her hooves.

A Daring Do book.

"I thought I might give this another chance." She said, sounding innocent as ever. It's just like how she gave Quibble one. ''An actual one this time.''

Quibble, who was still shocked didn't say anything. Clear Sky cleared her throat to break the awkward silence between the two.

She moved towards her daughter, and gave her a smile to show how much she supports her. '' Oh, sweetie... I'm glad you chose to give Quibble's interest a chance, but you know he also wants you to be yourself. Athletic, sports-loving.'' she whispered in her ear. ''Just like your biological dad...''

''Oh, I don't mind!'' The filly responded. "If anything, I just want to start again. Just because dad was sporty, doesn't mean I have to be."

Wind's smile faded when she scanned the room for Quibble. There was no sign of him anywhere.

"Where did he go?" she asked her mom. A somber expression covered Clear Sky's face. She looked around, she trotted to her room to try to look for Quibble. She silently gasped when she saw him.

"Mom, is... dad okay?" She flinched when she heard Wind ask. When she heard her address Quibble as dad. It was the first time she heard her say that.

"Quibble's fine." she faced her daughter. "He just needs some time to process everything... I'll go talk to him." She went into the room, but stopped herself and glanced at her daughter. "Why don't you head to your room and start reading?" She suggested.

Wind Sprint was still confused. What's bothering him? Is there anything wrong with having new interests? Is he still not ready to be accepted into the family? She had so many lingering thoughts in her mind, but she just decided to let them be instead.

She flew to her room with the Daring Do book in her hooves.

Author's Note:

Wind Sprint is adorable.
Quibble is chill, I somehow relate to him. I also suck at sports.
Clear Sky... just needs more episodes being a nice mother. Too bad she didn't