Breaking Through The Clouds

by Flightless

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Other, Original Character, Comedy, Tragedy, Pinkie Pie, Slice of Life, Human
Length: 2691

The Sugarcube Corner household is supposed to be always happy, right? A daughter of Pinkie shows that this isn't always true. And her twin is bound to help her.

The Sugarcube Corner rarely has any problems, but Cloudy Skies has had a self esteem problem for a long time. And when she doesn't talk her problems out, they start to fester deep inside her mind and physically starts to show. Will it help when her twin Sugar Rush steps in to make sure she doesn't have to deal with this battle on her own?

This story features humanized characters from Kilala97's Alternate Universe( http://kilala97.deviantart.com/ ). It will also get kinda dark in later chapters.
Cover Art by Kilala97: http://kilala97.deviantart.com/

Published 2014-10-21 17:40:05 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-08 15:09:53 UTC

Getting Help

This was a morning like any other in Equestria, most people were still waking up, and some of the people in Ponyville were being woken up by the loud voice coming from a window of Sugarcube Corner.

"Cloudy! Cloudy! Wake up!" A young woman's voice sounded into the ears of a sleeping Cloudy Skies.

"I don't think you realize how tired I am, Sugar." Cloudy mumbled, barely awake.

"I'll go get Candy to help if you don't get up noooooww." Sugar Rush sang to her twin sister.

Cloudy's eyes snapped open, and she hopped to her feet. Dear Luna, never again, Cloudy thought to herself, remembering the last time Cotton Candy helped wake her up.

FLASHBACK

Sugar Rush walked to Cotton Candy, who was sitting down at the breakfast table of the Pie/Pierce home.

"Candy, can you help me? Cloudy won't wake up." Sugar asked her older sister.

Candy's head looked up to her younger sister, and instantly shot a big smile towards her.

"Of course I will!" Cotton exclaimed, hopping up from the chair and practically bouncing to her mother in the kitchen.

Even though it was early in the morning, Pinkie Pie already had her hair in the wavy cloud of pink. Her snorting laugh ringing through the kitchen, her daughters knowing she was talking with her toothless alligator, Gummy.

"Oh, Gummy. You tell the funniest stories." Pinkie said, while Gummy just blinked in response.

"Mooooooom, can I borrow the Party Cannon for a few minutes?" Cotton sweetly asked, her mother turning around to face her.

"Sure! What's the occasion?" Pinkie Pie asked back to two of her daughters.

Candy and Sugar looked at each other, questioning if they should tell their mother a white lie to ensure their plan. They quickly chose against it, knowing Pinkie can tell if they are lying. Sugar spoke up, first.

"Cloudy won't wake up, and I wanted to get her out of bed so we could go hang out with Echo, Api, and Pixel." She explained to her mother, who soon shook her head.

"No, no, nononononono. You might hurt her being that close in a room." Pinkie said, her daughters gaining frowns on their faces.

"Buuuuuuut, you can take Gummy here," Pinkie picked up her pet miniature alligator from the kitchen counter, "You know how much he loves Cloudy."

All three smiled big as Sugar quickly grabbed Gummy from the counter and ran upstairs, her older sister on her heels. Slowly, they opened the door to Cloudy's bedroom, tiptoeing to her sleeping body.

"Good morning, Sky!" Sugar yelled as she tossed Gummy on top of her sleeping twin.

Cloudy Skies' twitched, opened her eyes, then screamed, realizing a toothless alligator was latched to her face. She rolled from the bed, landing on her back, whilst trying to pull the reptile from her face. Gummy could've been a plunger the way Cloudy struggled to pull him off. After a few minutes of the battle for the gray haired teenagers face, the reptile gave up and instead latched to her grey streaked hair.

Cloudy slowed raised from the floor, breathing heavy slightly, glaring at her sisters on the other side of her bed. Sugar and Candy both gave Cloudy a big grin as if saying, We're sisters and you're totally cool with this, right? Cloudy breathed in deep, ready to yell at the two pink haired women, but caught a smell in her nostrils.

"You're both lucky I smelled mom's cooking, or both of you would need new eardrums." She started walking across the room, pulling Gummy from her hair and cradling him as if her were a baby, "Good morning, Gummy. Did those two make you wake me up?"

END OF FLASHBACK

Cloudy started down the stairs and began smelling the aroma of a Pinkie Pie breakfast. Freshly made waffles, muffins, eggs, bacon, sausage, coffee and see soon caught sight of orange juice and milk. Mom makes sure everyone in the house is happy, no matter what they want for breakfast. Cloudy smiled as she thought to herself. She loved her family dearly, and was essentially connected by the hip to her twin sister, Sugar Rush. It was to the point where they would finish each others sentences. And the fact they could practically read each others minds made things a lot easier... Sometimes.

"So, why have you been sleeping in so much, lately?" Sugar whispered, leaned over to Cloudy while they were eating. "Are you okay, sis?" Cloudy swallowed her last bite of waffles before replying.

"Yeah, I'm always fine." She whispered back. Sugar looked at her with a knowing look. Then stood up, finishing her orange juice, and grabbed Cloudy's arm to take her upstairs.

They reached the top of the stairs and Sugar Rush looked Cloudy Skies in the eyes while an unspoken conversation went on between them. Sugar nodded once, and strolled to her room. Sky sighed and retreated to her room, changed out of her pajamas, and met her twin at the front door of Sugarcube Corner.

"Mom, Dad! We'll be back, going for a walk." Cloudy called to her parents.

"Make sure you call when you get to the Crusader's Clubhouse. " Pokey, their father, called to the twins.

"Are we really-" Cloudy started.

"-That predictable?" Sugar finished.

They walked outside to the cool air. It was Autumn, and only two weeks until Nightmare Night. But, that wasn't on either of the twins' minds. Lately, Cloudy has been sleeping more, and just been less motivated to do anything. This worried all of her family, but Sugar Rush the most. She felt as if she was losing part of herself. Cloudy was her best friend and her other half, they told each other everything, and Sugar knew what was causing all this trouble with her twin.

"Are you actually gonna tell me what's going on in your head?" Sugar asked warmly. Trying to comfort her sister.

"Why? You already know what's wrong. Remember? That twin ESP?" Cloudy replied, trying to keep from saying her problems.

"Because you haven't told me. Just because we know what each other is thinking doesn't mean we don't need to actually talk about our problems, sometimes." Sugar stepped in front of her sister to stop her. "Sometimes, you need to talk things out. You can't let your problems fester inside."

Cloudy sighed and hugged her sister. She tried not to cry in public, and she was fighting back tears. Sugar returned the hug, running her hand through her twin's hair. She squeezed Cloudy, then patted her on the head.

"Let's go to the Crusader's Clubhouse. Pixel's gonna be the only one there today. Echo's at one of Scootaloo's races, and Api is helping her cousins applebuck." Sugar said softly, then started towards the clubhouse, her hand holding on to Cloudy's wrist.

They walked through the town, Sugar Rush and Cloudy Skies now holding hands, like they usually did. It gave them both a sense of comfort, knowing that the metaphorical other half of themselves was with them. But, the grey haired teen wasn't comforted by her twin's hand, this time.

You're a klutz! You can't do anything right! You always mess everything up. That's why Sugar can barely stand you, let alone everyone else... That and they don't even want to look at you. Why would they?

Cloudy's mind was berating her confidence, as it it has for a long time, now. But as she's gotten older, school hasn't helped her self esteem at all. The other students found it entertaining to tease ad make fun of her when she tripped or fell from getting too excited. And lately, Sky's thoughts of herself has been the most negative, yet.

Soon, they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, finding the three Apple cousins working in the fields. Api Apple, the daughter of Applebloom and Pipsqueak, was the first to notice them, her red hair bouncing as she ran to the two twins.

"Hey, y'all! What can Ah do for ya?" Api asked excitedly, happy to see her friends come by. Her red hair bouncing as she ran up to the Pie twins.

Sugar Rush was the first to respond to the southern twang of the Apple.

"Hey, Api. Is Pixel Bit in the Crusader Clubhouse? We need to talk to her." Sugar asked simply.

"Yeah. Go right through the Eastern fields, right here. Then take a right at the second gap in the apple trees. If ya need help, Ah'll be applebuckin' with Golden Delicious and Red June here for about another half hour." Api Apple answered, walking back to the group of apple trees Del and June were at.

The twins watched her watched her walk away before they hopped over the wooden fence and started through the apple orchard. They saw the Apple cousins walking through the trees in a hurry. After a few more steps, they heard a thud of a kick, the sound of lightning, and Api screaming.

"Oh, yeah!" Cloudy Skies said, slightly cheerful for the first time, today, "It's Zap Apple season! Ohh, I can't wait for some Zap Apple jam! The way it even comes out in all the colors of a rainbow is so cool!"

Sugar Rush looked to her sister, then back out into the orchard. It is Zap Apple season!... Wait, I know just the person to help Cloudy with her confidence if Pixel can't, she thought to herself. A smile formed on the pink haired twin's face as the two Pies took the second right and walked towards the Crusader's Clubhouse.

Author's Note

So, this is my new story. I felt problems like this should be addressed and the victims should be helped. Having self esteem issues sucks.
So let me know how you like it by thumbing up or down, respectively. And leave a comment if you want!

The Calm

As they walked through the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres, Sugar Rush got more worried about her twin sister, Cloudy Skies. Cloudy cringed periodically, listening to her thoughts continue to berate her. Sugar was about to stop when they heard the daughter of Sweetie Belle and Button Mash call to them.

"Hey, guys! What are you here for?" Pixel called to them with a friendly smile on her face.

Cloudy responded, failing at hiding her sadness, "Just here to see the Zap Apples, then Api told us that you were here at the clubhouse.." She trailed off.

The twins continued forward and started up the slanted walkway to the entrance of the refurbished clubhouse, Sugar lightly pulled Pixel inside the clubhouse. The faint smell of paint revealed that Api, Pixel, and Echo must have repainted the clubhouse recently. A quick look around told her that she was correct. The inside of the teenagers' sanctuary, the walls were coated with a light, pale yellow. The accents around the room were the same paleness of a light purple, while the ceiling had the Cutie Mark Crusaders logo surrounded by a pale pink.

"It looks like the Easter-" Sugar started, side tracked from the main topic of conversation.

"-Bunny got his holidays mixed up." Cloudy finished, also side tracked.

"Hey! I like it, thank you very much." Pixel stated, sticking her tongue out at the twins, then continuing, "So, what's the real reason you two are here?"

The twins both looked at the orange and purple haired girl, both of them being put back on topic. Suddenly, Cloudy's head dropped to stare at the ground, her thoughts coming back to her. Seeing this, Pixel put everything together and engulfed her gray haired friend in a warm, comforting embrace.

"You're letting things get to you, again, aren't you? How long has it been since it started back up?" Pixel said softly to Cloudy, who was holding back her tears.

"Almost a month. Sugar's been helping, but it's been getting worse everytime it gets better. I'm not as pretty as you two, and-" She was cut off by a sob as tears started to flow from her hazel eyes, "-And I'm a klutz! All I do is ruin everything, I wish I could make the clumsiness go away.."

Sugar joined in the embrace, comforting her sister. Her and Pixel letting Cloudy get everything that's been built up inside out. They could tell these thoughts have been eating away at Sky. The crying teenager was letting everything go, from hearing others at school call her a klutz constantly, to the thoughts that haunt her mind when it should be at peace. Her tears continued flowing, and soon it was hard to understand her due to her sobbing. Her twin and Pixel just kept the embrace, letting Cloudy know she had friends and family there for her, and that they were always there for her.

"You're not in the alone, sis. We're here for you to, okie dokie lokie?" Sugar looked her twin in the eyes, smiling warmly. Pixel nodded, confirming Sky wasn't by herself in this battle.

"Okie dokie lokie." Cloudy had a soft smile on her face, looking back at Sugar, while wiping away her own tears. "Thank you. Both of you."

"Now," Pixel clapped her hands together, "Who wants to go get some milkshakes? We'll have a milkshake race." She smiled at the twins.

Cloudy simply nodded, while Sugar grinned as she turned around to leave. Pixel followed the twins, all three of them starting to talk to one another. Soon, they leave the wood line and start through Sweet Apple Acres, as a redheaded girl runs up to them.

"Hey, girls!" Api calls to the three, "Where y'all headed to?"

"Oh, hi, Api! We're off to-" Sugar says back.

"-Get milkshakes. Wanna come with?" Cloudy finishes, happier than when she arrived.

"Thank Celestia! I need a break anyway." Api turned towards her cousins, "June! Del! I'm going to Sugarcube Corner with the others for milkshakes! Be back later!"

With that, the four teenagers walked through Ponyville, talking, laughing, and making silly faces. Though the latter was mostly Pixel, the others, even Cloudy, joined in on making silly faces every so often. Soon, they made it to the destination of sweets. The twins walked through the entrance first, calling to their mother.

"Moooom! We're home!" Sugar called out into the sweets shop.

An energetic, pink haired woman quickly appeared behind the group, throwing her arms around Pixel and Api. The teenagers jumped and turned at the sound of Pinkie's loud greeting.

"Welcome back, sweeties! Hello to you, Api. And hello to you, Pixel. You girls want anything?" Pinkie asked happily.

"Milkshakes, please!" All four teenagers said in unison.

And in a cloud of pink dust, the twins' mother was gone to the kitchen, whipping up the thick, delicious milkshakes each of the four wanted. As the teens sat in a booth on one side of the store, Pinkie brought all of them their orders. Each of the four looked at each other in amazement that none of them ordered, but they all got exactly what they wanted. After a moment, a stare down between the four ensued.

"Milkshake Race! One, two, three, go!" They all yelled in unison.

As they all slurped their beverage of choice, they continued to stare one another down. Soon, Cloudy ripped her mouth from her straw, gasping for air.

"Hah! I wi-ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" She started to yell in pain, "Brainfreeze!"

One by one, they all endured the same fate. Pixel after Cloudy, followed by Sugar, then Api. As the wrath of the ice cold concoctions racked their brains, all four found themselves either on the floor or draped across the booth's seats. Cloudy slowly picked herself up from the floor, and grabbed Pixel's hand to pull her to her feet. As the day went on, the four stayed together until it was already dark. Slowly the twins walked up the stairs to their respective bedrooms, told each other goodnight, and slowly drifted to sleep.

Author's Note

Woo! Finally updated!
I wrote this mostly sleep deprived, so let me know if you like it. :rainbowkiss: