Unbridled Bonds
Atlas and Willow have built a bond Windmane Stable respects. Proven through competition, strengthened by years together and secure enough that Atlas has never thought to question it.
Then Alicorn arrives.
Stories follow the mysterious newcomer through the valley, including whispers of an old tradition in which bonded partners can receive a rare blessing from him. Willow's curiosity is immediate. Atlas's answer is not.
What she sees as something they could explore together, Atlas cannot help seeing as someone being invited into a part of their relationship that has always belonged only to them.
Alicorn offers no persuasion and Willow makes no demands. The choice belongs to Atlas as much as it does to her.
But the longer Atlas resists the question, the harder another becomes to ignore. If he trusts Willow completely, what exactly is he afraid of?
