It was dark - the sky was still dark, dreams were dark - all was dark. At the darkest hour of the night, everything felt depressed and gloomy, as if some shadow passed through Ponyville at night - unseen and unknown, bringing the spirit of Nightmare Moon upon the ponies in Equestria for one hour each night. This was but a rumour, yet it somehow became so real to some, as the night passed with restlessness and unease.
Flitter was one of those ponies. One of those who couldn't sleep every night, and one of those ponies who didn't know why. She opened her eyes, and groped around for the lamp, which was back at her bedside table. It was late, she assumed, as she stared out of the window, through the transparent curtains. The chill in the wind froze her icy cheeks, and her mane was immediately messed up once more - without the help of the ribbon she wore everyday - and that she took off each night. Fashion has always been her thing, as did caring for little critters on the ground - even though she was a pegasus. Sure, she DID enjoy clearing the skies - but she was only given a tiny portion of the job, as Rainbow Dash did Ponyville, and Cloudchaser did Canterlot. Talking about Cloudchaser, she was the best sister anypony could have, even if she was a little insensitive at times. She was a fun-loving mischievous pony, and she somehow looked forward to her job each morning. And yet even her hard work still let her rest enough so that she had energy to last the day. Her sister, Cloudchaser, was still sleeping in her bedroom - which she could tell from the loud snores and mumbles of sleep-talking coming from the next room.
"Cloudchaser?" she whispered, as she tip-hooved to her sister's room. It had light blue wallpaper all over it, and there were posters of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, the Wonderbolts and all the other respected pegasi in Equestria, dotting and decorating the plain walls with their colour and style. There was a four-poster bed in one corner, and in it lay a blue pegasus, deep in her sleep. Cloudchaser didn't stir, apart from the rolling around in bed, tossing and turning - yet still showing no signs of awakening. Flitter grit her teeth. She hated waking Cloudchaser up - since she herself knew how hard getting back to sleep could be when you've just been woken for nothing. But she shook her head, messing her mane once more. "Cloudchaser?"
At this point, Cloudchaser opened her eyes, slowly, to see the image of her sister's face in front of hers. "Aargh!" she screamed, ducking under the covers. Flitter rolled her eyes, and muttered, "It's me, Cloudchaser." Her sweet personality prevented her from shouting, and rolling her eyes was the most she could've done to express her annoyance. Cloudchaser groaned, "What IS it, Flitter? I'm tired, okay?"
Flitter grabbed her sister's hoof, and pulled her up, before gasping. "Oh, I'm sorry, Cloudchaser! I didn't know you sleep "naked" like Fluttershy!" And then, her eyes grew wide. "Cloudchaser! Um....is that "I love Fluttershy" on your chest?" Cloudchaser gasped, before lying, "It actually...spelt out "I love Fluttershy's new moves" on it, but...I..I guess it rubbed out after warm-up." Flitter whispered, "You don't have to be shy, Cloudchaser. Never mind that, right now - but um..." Cloudchaser's first reaction was a death-glare, before shrugging it off. "It's okay, Flitter. You...er....were misled. But really - what's wrong? You sound petrified of something."
"Oh, but I can't sleep, Cloudchaser!" There was a brief silence. "Can...can I sleep with YOU?" she asked, sweetly. Cloudchaser was shocked, getting the wrong idea, and the words escaped her mouth, as she shouted, "NO! Get out! You're my TWIN SISTER for Celestia's sake!"
"I just want to sleep beside you on the floor," Flitter argued, before turning away, rather sadly. But Cloudchaser shook her head firmly. She was as true as steel, and never changed her mind or broke her mind. "I - I'm sorry...um...Flitter, but Fluttershy..I mean, Flittershy. Heh, new nickname, I guess," she stammered, before chuckling nervously. "I have a crush on ...I mean..uh..I have to crush those bedbugs in my pillow!" She demonstrated, wrestling her pillow, while almost punching herself for letting that name slip from her tongue so easily.
Flitter nodded slightly, not noticing anything unusual about Cloudchaser's behaviour.. "I understand, Cloudchaser. I just can't sleep nowadays." She trailed out of the bedroom slowly - to her own one. Cloudchaser bit her lower lip. She didn't want to be so cruel to her twin sister, but she had her secrets, and nopony must find out. One of her secrets were - she had a secret crush on Fluttershy.
Ever since "Hurricane Fluttershy," she somehow felt an attraction to the yellow pegasus, and over time it grew so strong, that she was ready to sing out her feelings to everypony, in Ponyville, in Las Pegasus, in Canterlot and in um..everywhere else.
"F is for Fun.
L is for Luscious
U is for...uhm...Unbelievable
T is for Tenacious
T is for Transculent
E is for Elevating
R is for Rare
S is for...Ssssexy
H is for...Happy?
Y is for You"
Of course, Cloudchaser wasn't quite the singer you had in mind, but at least she had a stable voice - even though she was a shocker at song-writing. Her voice was only soft, so that nopony could here, drowned by the rustling of the leaves outside, the howling of the wind, and the songs of the reeds by the bank. "Fluttershy...fluttershy! I would die for you, your love makes my heart shatter..F . L . U . T . T . E . R . S . H . Y ... Fluttershy!"
As time passed, as the clock ticked, and as hours passed, Flitter finally went to sleep - and Cloudchaser had retained her secrets, without anypony suspicious - or finding out about them. Her embarrassing secrets were kept, her mouth sealed, and Flitter's mind unconcious towards any strange happenings.
