Twilight... A name known throughout Equestria. With every passing day it gained popularity, spreading across towns and cities near and far. The most faithful student of princess Celestia, the pony that restored the elements of Harmony, the pony that saved Equestria from countless threats, the pony to become an alicorn princess. All wonderful things... for those who didn't share the same name.
Twilight wasn't an unusual name, just seldom chosen. Morning Twilight happened to be one of the lucky ones to be born right before the rising of the sun. A while longer and she would have joined the ranks of the many Dawns and Sunrises. Instead her mother had ventured for something more unique. Fifteen years later it proved to be too unique. Morning could hardly make a step without having being compared to Twilight Sparkle. Anytime her full name was mentioned ponies would ask if there was any relation to the Princess of Friendship. She would smile, laugh then calmly explain there was no relation. The notion was silly. How could anypony even consider it? She was a pagesus and the princess - before receiving her wings - a unicorn. Her brother, sadly, had a much different attitude. Two years younger, he too was born in the moment between day and night. The difference being this time the sun was setting. It was only natural for his parents to give him an appropriate name - Evening Twilight. He hated it.
"It's not that bad," Morning would often try to cheer him up. "Imagine what the Clouds and Skies must go through."
"Right," he would grumble and walk off. Often he would sneak out at night and fly among the clouds. The only time he wouldn't hear the accursed name, the only time he could be himself.
And then his sister moved to Ponyville...
* * *
"Definitely something new," Morning thought.
When news of her transfer reached her she was surprised to say the least. Applying for Cloud Cleaning nearly always meant staying home. The job wasn't difficult - anyone could do it, possibly the reason all her friends avoided it. "If a Pegasus isn't good for anything they clean clouds" the joke went. And yet Morning chose just that to the great dismay of her parents.
"Morning," her mother would say, "there are thousand of things you could choose. Why limit yourself to something so trivial? Why not aim for the Wonderbolts? You were quite fast in school."
"Thanks, mom, but I haven't decided yet," she would always reply. "I just need some time."
A few grumbles and sarcastic comments would follow bringing the conversation to an end. According to her parents this was just a phase, something she would grow out of. Yet months would pass and no change would follow. By all accounts Morning really wanted to be a cloud cleaner. Every day she would dutifully perform her chores - grouping cloud fragments in clusters, so the real weather ponies could do with their work. It was the same over and over, until the they brought her the news - she was being sent to Ponyville.
"You are the best cleaner we have," Morning's supervisor had said. "The perfect pony to send. This is a huge honor, you know. Not just anyone gets to work where princess..." A slight pause. "...where the keepers of the Elements of Harmony live. You should be proud!"
Morning wasn't. She was perfectly happy where she was. She couldn't dream of objecting, though. And so she went.
Ponyville was very different from what she had imagined. Back in her town ponies made it to be like Cantralot. In truth it was a small town. The same as Morning's, just more earthy.
"'scuse me," a large beige pegasus approached. "Miss Twilight?"
"Yes?" Morning answered cautiously.
"Ship Shape at your service," he introduced himself. "Was told yu'd be arrivin' today and came to assure you most of yer things 'ave been delivered safely."
"My things?"
This was surprising. What things was the stallion talking about? She had made a point of taking a single suitcase. Bare necessities and a few clothes. Everything else she was going to buy in Ponyville.
"Thing is...," Ship Shape looked to the side. "There was a slight mis'ap with some o' the furniture."
Furniture? That explained it. Morning should have known her mother would send "a few things" for her new home, despite promising not to. Celestia knows what she had shipped. School trophies? Furniture? The family piano? At times she could really be extreme.
"That's alright," Morning forced a smile. "No need to..."
"'nd for that, I'd lend a hoof with yer luggage."
"Nah, there's no need for you to..."
Before she could finish, Ship Shape had already grabbed her suitcase and was on his way to her new home. There was nothing to do now but follow. On the positive side at least he knew where he was going.
The houses felt unnaturally low. Hopefully, Morning's cloud supervisor had remembered her request to find her something on a high floor. To be honest she was starting to doubt he had. This was exactly why she didn't like change. So much to get used to.
"First time 'ere, miss?" Ship Shape asked.
"What?" Morning blinked. She hated how absentminded she was today. "Oh... Yes."
"Y'll like it. Calm, relaxing. Not like the big city."
No point in her explaining that she was from a small cloud town. In fact it was far less exciting. Ponyville could be considered lively in comparison. Only the sky was calmer... and horribly ill kept. Clouds were disorganized and could fragments were scattered everywhere.
"'as its moments, now and again," Ship Shape continued adding an odd sentence every now and again.
Between his fragmented explanations and the thick accent Morning hardly understood anything, but nodded politely nonetheless. From what she gathered there was something about a dragon, a bull and a gold tree. Sounded more like a ponytale than anything else.
"'ere we go, miss" Ship Shape said suddenly tossed the suitcase on the ground, next to an earth crater. "I'll be off then. Pleasure to meet y'. 'nd don't fret 'bout the furniture. Will take care of that."
Morning just stood there, incapable of speech. Was this a joke? Her new home was a hole in the ground? Definitely not the way she pictured it. Finding a suitable home was difficult - she had gone through the experience after moving out back home - but this was absurd! No way she was going to stay here. She might as well fly back home where everything was familiar. Feathers to the "golden opportunity"! A good cleaner didn't need any special place to shine. Come to think of it she didn't need to shine...
"Excuse me," a voice asked. "Need some help?"
A second offer to help? This time it came from an earth pony. She was a shade whiter than Morning with a blue and pink mane. For her to offer, Morning must appear quite down.
"Oh, no no," Morning shook her head putting on a happy facade. "Everything is fine. I'll just be here a few more moments then be on my way..."
"Aren't you Morning Twilight?" the earth pony asked.
Morning blinked.
"Do I know you?"
"Bon Bon," the other offered a hoof. "I'm your neighbor. When I saw you arrive with Ship Shape I assumed it might be you, but wasn't sure."
"Oh," Morning shook Bon Bon's hoof. "Nice to meet you, Bon Bon, but it doesn't seem I'll be staying..." She turned at the gaping hole nearby. "Unless you have a tent to lend me..."
"That's not your house," Bon Bon laughed. "The Golden Oak library used to be here, before it was destroyed..."
"Ah," Morning remembered vaguely Ship Shape mentioning something something of the sort.
"I really liked that tree," the earth pony sighed. "But enough sadness. You're probably tired. Let me show you to your place."
The house was not as spacey as expected, but seemed comfortable. From what Morning learned, it had become empty after the library incident. The ponies that lived there found it too painful to look at the empty plot, so they moved to the center of town. Since then the place had remained vacant. Actually Morning was the first pony to rent it.
Typical, she thought. Leave it to the cloud cleaners to get something cheap.
"That's my place," Bon Bon pointed. "So if you need anything, I'm close by."
"Thank you, Bon Bon. I'm sure everything will be fine... I'm just sorry I couldn't offer you anything for your help. It'll take me a while to get used to things."
"No worries. We'll have plenty of chances. Once you settle in I'll take you and your brother on the grand tour, show you what's what."
"My brother!?!"
No, no, no! This couldn't be happening. Surely Bon Bon was joking. There was no way Morning's brother could be here. Their parents would never allow it. They had great hopes for him, great plans. It was Wonderbolt academy or bust? No cloud cleaning or artistic nonsense allowed. He was to become the child Morning was supposed to be. Not that he could guess by the way they treated him. And even that aside, Ponyville was the last place in Equestria he would go to.
"Well I thought he was," Bon Bon gave her a look. "Indigo Pegasus, black mane, quiet, kept his cutie marks covered."
"Perfect," Morning snorted. "It's him alright."
"Everything alright?"
"Everything is fine... My mother had pony knows what furniture shipped to my home, although she promised not to, some of which has had a "mis'ap" on the way. My brother seems to have moved in, although he shouldn't even be here. And the sky..." Morning stopped. Bon Bon's uncomfortable expression was telling her it was time to calm down.
"Sorry Bon Bon, it has been a long day and I'm a bit cranky. You've been so nice to me, but I really need a while. Tell you what, how about we go out tomorrow? You can show me the best places."
"Sounds good. Everything's better in the morning."
"Yes," Morning suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. She got that joke a lot.
"Can I ask just one thing?"
Here it comes - the all too familiar question. Morning had learned to hear it before it was spoken. Part of her wanted to say the answer straight away. That would cause for an awkward moment, teach Bob Bon not to meddle in things!
"Sure," she put on a polite smile.
"Are you related to Twilight Sparkle in some way?"
"No, just a coincidence."
Calm, she had to keep calm. Just until the evening. A good night's sleep and everything would get better.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself," Bon Bon chuckled. "You're a pegasus and Twilight was a unicorn. Would have been fun if you were though."
Both laughed, Morning a bit forcefully, then Bon Bon left. Finally, the end of a very long day. It was clear the trip was a huge mistake. Coping with change was more difficult she imagined. Less than a hour in Ponyville and so many things had gone wrong. And she hadn't started working yet. What would the next day bring? Best not think so far in the future. Right now she had a brother to chew up.
Thankfully for him, Evening was nowhere to be found. Instead there was a note on the kitchen table.
"Neighbor was asking about you. Going out for the night. Taking the attic. - Eve."
Typical! No explanation why he had come here or why. Just a brief mention he was moving in. Another thing to deal with tomorrow. Right now she needed some rest. Everything else could wait.
* * *
Everfree clouds were quite different from normal clouds. Not so much chaotic than untamed. The notion had a certain appeal. If there was no telling how a cloud would react, it's actions would remain a surprise, and surprises were good.
A bolt of lightning darted from one of the clouds and hit a tree below. Quite temperamental. Evening Twilight had been observing them for hours. A month ago he would never have believed he would set hoof here. After the constant teasing and comparisons, Ponyville had become his second least favorite place. It still was. The Everfree was a different matter. This he could enjoy. Eagerly he charged towards one of the storm clouds.
"Stop!" a voice yelled.
Startled Evening turned mid air almost crashing into the cloud.
"Don't go bucking lightning bolts," a pegasus approached. "It's dangerous if you're not used to it."
"And you are?" he asked mockingly. He didn't like others giving him advice unwanted.
"Absolutely!" the other calmly flew on the cloud and jumped on it. Lightning shot out hitting the tree underneath. "See?"
Impressive. If Evening was angry a moment ago, there was no trace of it now. He had never seen anything of the sort! Breaking wild storm clouds was one thing, de-lightning them - that was something else completely.
"Like that," the Pegasus flew off the cloud and next to Evening. "Sometimes things go wrong, though."
"Beautiful..." he uttered still mesmerized by the cloud. This he could definitely learn to enjoy.
* * *
Dawn at last. Morning couldn't wait to go to work. Finding a routine is key to a happy life, her father would often say. As long as she prepared and made a good impression everything would be perfect. She had been frequently praised for her work back home, there was no reason for it to be different here.
Morning took a quick bath, then grabbed a bite from the kitchen. Bon Bon had been kind enough to leave a welcome basket with apples, cupcakes and muffins. She made a mental note to thank the earth pony later... and maybe fix the place up a bit. Some of the floor still had confetti on them... Celestial knows the last time someone did a proper cleaning.
"You here, Eve?" she shouted.
No answer. He was most likely still out. No matter, he'll be back by noon. In the meantime she had to hurry. The instructions were for her to be at town hall by eight. That meant half past seven. Grabbing a cupcake she dashed out.
"Morning!" someone shouted.
"Yes?" Mornings stopped. The one who addressed her was a minty unicorn with cyan mane, and a slightly surprised expression. Both looked at each other quietly for a few moments.
"My name is Morning," Morning broke the silence first.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot..." the other smiled ashamed. "I'm Lyra Heartstrings. Bon Bon told me all about you... And a few others as well. News spreads fast in Ponyville."
"Does it?" Morning could see it already. She could only guess how many ponies were talking about her. Not so much her than rather her name. Hopefully it hadn't reached her work...
"You know how it is. Especially at parties. Don't worry, though. Bon Bon and I are always here if there's anything you need. And there are lots of pegasi as well."
"That's perfect," Morning stepped aside. "I better get going, though. Don't want to be late on my first day..."
"Just one question before you go."
Here it comes...
"How do I call you? It would be confusing if I use Morning. As we've just seen," she chuckled.
"Ni..." Morning began.
The question had completely caught her off guard. For a moment she almost said her nickname. No! She couldn't! Not to someone she just met. Lyra and Bon Bon seemed friendly, but Morning had been let down before. Best keep her distance for now.
"Morning is fine," She stretched a smile. "Once again, nice to meet you, Lyra, but I really really must be going."
Before the unicorn could add anything Morning was off. A bit rude on her part, but Lyra would surely understand. And after all, Morning would apologize later.
It didn't take long to reach town hall. There was no one there. To make it worse, twenty minutes later Lyra and Bon Bon passed by.
"Hey," Lyra waved.
Ashamed Morning waved back.
"Sorry, I tried to tell you earlier. Rainbow Dash like to nap so no Chance she'll be here this early."
"Dash takes care of the weather in Ponyville," Bob Bob clarified.
"Oh and don't take her too seriously. Dash..."
"...has a high opinion of herself," both laughed.
There went the perfect day. Morning sighed to herself. It shouldn't have turned out like this. Back home work would have started by now. The sky definitely needed cleaning. Cloud fragments were everywhere. How could things be so messy? And the weather pegasus... Morning's supervisor hadn't stopped repeating how lucky she was to be working with the fastest pony in Equestria, second only to the Wonderbolts, finalist in the Equestria Games. Somehow she wasn't the inspiration she was made out to be.
"Is there any place close to have a bite?" Morning asked. "Seems I'll be waiting for a while, and the least I could do is treat you to something. You two were the first to welcome me to Ponyville and... Let this just thank you in a small way. If you are not busy, of course."
To her surprise both accepted. Soon they were having drinks at Sugarcube Corner. By all accounts this was the place to go for any occasion. With the assortment of cakes Morning could see why. But it was more than just that. This was the party heart of Ponyville, as well as the place through which every piece of news passed through before trickling down to the rest of town. By the time she could finish her drink Morning had heard more stories than she had her entire life. True, they were on the gossipy side, but there was nothing wrong about that.
"By the way, I really like your mane colour," Lyra said out of the blue.
"Don't worry," Bon Bon gave her a look. "She says that to everypony."
"I do not! And really it's close to mine, just a shade lighter!"
"Oh, I see what you did there," Bon Bon teased.
"Will you stop! Honestly, Bon Bon. White and cyan is a lovely combination."
"It's not exactly white," something urged Morning to speak. That felt weird. Usually she would remain silent in situations like this. "It has some blue. If i stand next to a white pony you'll see the difference."
"Oooh!" Lyra said looking at her closely.
Darn! That was a mistake. Now the attention was focused on her.
"It's just like my name," Morning blubbered out, making things worse.
"Now I get it!" Bon Bon shouted, far too loud for Morning's taste. "It all makes sense! And so does your cutie mark!"
The cutie mark... morning look at it. A half sun shining behind a cloud. It was one of those that could be interpreted in many ways.
"Nah, it's just that I'm good at cleaning skies so the sun could shine through. Hardly special."
"And your brother?" Lyra asked.
Another uncomfortable silence. This was the second time he came up in conversation. That seemed very untypical of him. His social skills were awkward to say the least.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"No, it's just... How exactly did you meet him? He wasn't supposed to come here. And definitely isn't the sort that would go about making friends."
"Well," Bon Bon began. For some reason both her and Lyra had guilty expressions on their faces. "When we learned there was a new pony coming, we set up a surprise party. Every pony was there. Pinkie Pie always holds a surprise party for every new pony. So we went in your house and waited. When someone flew in we assumed it was you."
"The lights went on," Lyra continued. "Party cannons shot confetti everywhere, and everyone cheered 'Welcome, Morning Twilight!'"
"Celestia..." Morning covered her face. That explained the letter she got. A surprise party was the worst possible way to welcome Evening. So many ponies at one spot, he must have freaked. "How did he react?"
"He just stood there quietly then said 'my sister will be coming later today'. He was about to leave, but Pinkie grabbed him and started bombarding him with questions..."
"...as she always does..." Bon Bon let out a slight sigh.
"And then he left. That was pretty much it."
There were thousands of questions Morning wanted to ask. The sudden sound of thunder made her think otherwise. Startled she immediately jumped for the sky... Only to come face to face with a rainbow-maned Pegasus atop a stormcloud.
"So this is the famous cloud cleaner I've heard so much about?" she said eyes narrowed. "Late, bad sense of your surroundings, giggling with friends instead of cleaning the sky... Definitely aren't as awesome as you thought."
* * *
Almost noon. Evening was so exhausted he had trouble seeing straight. Usually he would be up for it, but yesterday's surprise party had robbed him of any chance of sleep whatsoever. On top of that he had exerted himself too much last night.
"Teaches me right," grumbled.
Lightning bucking looked deviously easy. In truth it was almost impossible. Half the time Evening proofed the clouds, the rest of the time they proofed him. If only he hadn't been an idiot and accepted help. He should have, but refused on principle. The pegasus mare seemed quite understanding, though. She just shrugged and flew away. Not before offering help when he needed it. Quite cheeky come to think of it. She had said "when" not "if". The mere thought of accepting help terrified Evening... so he went for it.
"Hey," Evening stopped another pony on the street. "Know where I could find a lightning bucking pegasus?"
Hardly an adequate question, but what could he do? Evening hadn't made out her coat or mane color. The pony gave him a weird look, then muttered something about asking Pinkie Pie. The same answer as the previous three and just as useless useless. Evening had had enough of the pink monstrosity for one lifetime. Also she terrified him.
"Does anyone know..." he began but stopped mid sentence. What was the point? In his state even if he got to find the mysterious pegasus he would collapse in front of her. Some shut eye was what he needed. Just an hour or two. Then he would continue.
The walk back home was longer that he imagined. If he could fly he would have been there already. Walking half asleep, though, took longer. Not to mention the many times he got lost and relied on others to literally push him in the right direction. In the end he managed to arrive there and that was what mattered.
Sleep. He just needed some sleep. Once he got that everything would fall into place. Alas for him, sleep was something Poneyville had no intention of providing. Hardly had he closed his eyes when monstrous banging woke him up again.
"Quit it, Niny," he grumbled but the banging didn't stop. Someone was at the door.
This was annoying! Semi-conscious he went down and opened the front door.
"'ello," a large beige pegasus said. "Brought the rest of yer furniture. All in perfect order."
"Great," Evening tried to shut the door, but the other quickly put a hoof in.
"'d be much obliged if ye let the mailmares finish the delivery and put everything in place. Can't 'ave any other mis'aps now, can we?"
"Whatever," Evening yawned.
Taking that as a yes, the beige pegasus made a sign for the others bring carry the stuff in. A table, some cloud chairs, a bed... All useless junk Evening's parents hat sent. If it were up to him he'd throw it all away.
"You shouldn't have bucked lightning," a familiar voice said.
Instantly Evening felt an adrenalin rush. In a moment he was wide awake and staring at the mailmare. Before him was a grey pegasus with yellow mane.
"You?" he asked in disbelief.
Definitely not what he imagined. There was no mistaking the voice. And still he hadn't expected the lightning bucking mare to be so... Goofy? Cross-eyed? He quickly looked away. It wasn't nice staring at her like that. He was acting exactly like the ponies he hated.
"Will you be there tonight?" he asked quietly.
The mailmare shrugged.
"I want you to teach me..."
* *
Talk about a horrible day. And to think that the first impression had been the least of Morning's problems. Sure Rainbow Dash had chewed her up, but even so she was too carefree to be taken serious. The problems started later. To begin with Morning learned that there were no cloud cleaners in Ponyville - never were and never would be. The reason was the vicinity of the Everfree forest. Its unruly nature would often have clouds float to town. As such it was the duty of Rainbow Dash, and the other pegasi, to deal with them appropriately. A far cry from The pristine skies Morning was used to. Here no one bothered with cloud fragments because they kept appearing day and night. It was challenging enough to keep the clouds at bay... which was to be Morning's new job. And since from what she learned, Rainbow Dash mostly took charge or major events and emergencies, Morning was going to be left to her own devices most of the time. The problem was she didn't have the strength for it. Her speed was slightly above mediocre and her endurance had a lot to be desired. A single day of cloud busting and she could hardly feel her wings. Celestia knows how painful it was going to be the following day. On a positive note, Dash had said "she wasn't totally hopeless." That had to count for something at least?
"Pardon me..."
Or maybe she was just being nice. This town was full of that. Back home everything was colder - from the weather to the ponies themselves.
"Excuse me..."
Nonsense! She was just worked up because she hadn't fit in yet. A few days, a week at most, and she would find her routine and feel right at...
"Excuse me!"
Only now did Morning notice that an extremely tired pegasus was flying beside her.
"I just here to assure you that all your belongings have been delivered safely to your home," he said breathing heavily. "I would like to apologize for the inconvenience on behalf of Ship Shape and the entire mail delivery service, and hope you would continue to rely on us for transporting messages and items in the future."
"That's very kind of you," Morning put on her happy face. "You've done a marvelous job. Please tell Ship that I appreciate all he's done, as much as I appreciate your efforts."
Her words seemed to have an effect, for the mail pony smiled, despite his utter exhaustion, mumbled something of 'it being quite alright' and flew off.
Morning envied him. Some ponies were so easy to cheer up. She could really use a dose of that right now. Instead she had a long talk with her brother to look forward to. The weird bit was she hadn't decided ho to proceed exactly. She was still mad at him for dropping in like that. At the same time she was concerned. The last time they had spoken was at their parents' house. Evening had just been sent to flight school, to "grow some backbone." He hadn't had taken it well. Words were said, accusations made, culminating in his mother asking why he couldn't be more like "the alicorn Twilight". That was the final straw. Evening didn't shout or yell, he quietly left the room and avoided home for the next week. Morning had to fly the skies for days until she found him.
"Just leave me alone," he had said buried in rain clouds. "Take care of your own problems before messing with mine."
That had hurt... a lot. Would it be any different now?
It was almost nighttime when Morning got home. Fortunately her brother hadn't left yet. Unfortunately he was all covered in bruises.
"Eve!" Morning gasped. "We're you fighting?"
Not this again! It was their childhood all over. Evening would constantly start fights, yet lacked the strength to finish them. Morning, who was the big mare at the time, would then get involved and calm things for a week or so... when the process would repeat itself.
"No," he said in his most annoyed voice. "Night chasing."
"Oh? And where did you do that? The Everfree forest?" She was expecting some wisecrack, yet her brother didn't react one bit. "The Everfree?!? Have you lost your mind? That place is dangerous!"
"I was just at the edge."
"And at night!"
"I can see at night..."
"We aren't foals anymore, Eve! I can't take care of you all the time. I have a job."
"I know. And you won't have to. I can take care of myself now. I think I've even found work, so I'll help with bits..."
"I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to know why you came here without telling me," she moved closer to him. "Is everything alright."
"Sis..."
"I really want to know."
Evening turned away.
"As you said I'm not a foal anymore," he headed to the door. "And you can't take care of me. You can't fix me, just as you can't fix yourself. Hide it all you want you are just as broken as me."
And with that he was out. Morning kept staring at the door long after he had left. Some things never change. Of all the ponies of Equestria, she was the only to whom he spoke openly. Yet in his openness he would hurt her... By Celestia, may the night bring her calming dreams.
"Here you go, two pieces of apple cake, dearie," Mrs Cake said. "Can I get you anything to drink with that?"
"No thank you," Morning smiled. "We're fine."
"If you change your mind, let me know."
Tempting. Maybe later though. There was still so much to do and Morning had a lot of catching up to do. For the moment though, she could afford a short break.
"Here," she gave a pie piece to a lilac pegasus sitting on a bench outside. "I wasn't sure what to get so I went with this."
"You can never go wrong with Sugarcube Corner," the lilac pony gobbled it in one bite. "Effwithinf is good."
Morning froze. In other circumstances she would laugh and make a joke. Here she couldn't afford to. What if it comes out as an insult? One mess up like that and the whole town would know. Instead she sat down politely and took a little nibble. It was delicious! Sweet with a hint of lemon, crunchy, yet soft, filled with scores of aromas that Morning couldn't even describe. The sudden urge appeared for her to swallow it whole. She resisted.
"Say, Cloudchaser," she turned to the lilac pegasus. "Is cloud cleaning here always like this?"
"Not used to it?"
"Well back home weather clouds were much calmer. Weather ponies followed a strict schedule. Everypony knew when and where they would be. The only concern were cloud fragments. Until I came here I had hardly busted a cloud..."
"It's the Everfree forest. Clouds float here on their own quite often. Dash gets most of them, when she's not sleeping. The rest we leave. It's always good to have a few clouds for fun."
"And cloud fragments?"
"Oh don't worry about those. Give it a few weeks. You'll stop noticing them."
Stop noticing them... An easy task, and totally impossible. The moment Morning was in the sky she instantly started chasing after them. Just one more, she would say. No one would mind. Besides the sky would look so much better. Deal with the fragments first then move to the clouds. Morning was best with small things. Rainbow Dash, Cloudchaser and the other Ponyville pegasi could handle the large clouds. They were used to it, and did a fine job. Eventually Morning would too... if needed.
One by one the clouds disappeared, poofed by Morning's hooves, until none remained. Good thing too. All four legs were killing her. Thank Celestial she had wings! Walking home would prove painful in her current state.
"Well, well, well," a familiar voice came from above. "Trying to outawesome me, are you?"
Morning swallowed. From what she had learned that was possibly the one thing that Rainbow Dash couldn't forgive.
"Starting at dawn, before I'm awake..."
Hardly difficult, Morning thought. Rainbow wasn't the early riser.
"...asking Cloudchaser for help..." dash looked Morning straight in the eye. "And then working till evening. What are you doing? Trying to make me look bad?"
Morning didn't say anything. The last thing she wanted was to make a pony look bad. She hadn't even noticed that it had become evening! Stupid fragments! Stupid Everfree forest! If only things had been normal she wouldn't be in this situation! The sky would be properly cleaned, Rainbow Dash wouldn't be upset and Morning wouldn't have to endure this pain pulsating through her body.
"Anything to say?" Dash crossed her hooves expectantly.
"No," Morning sighed. Things were bad as it is for her to prologue the inevitable.
"Well I have!" Dash said then grabbed her head, and firmly turned it to the left.
The sight made Morning shudder. An entire new wave of clouds was approaching, right into her perfectly clean sky. These were no fragments, they were huge ballooning monster clouds!
"See?" Rainbow Dash said in a triumphant voice. "If the sky remained clean after one swoop, I would have done it first thing in the morning then gone back to bed. Speed is the trick. Do it at the very last moment and everyone is happy."
Morning felt defeated. All her hard work was for nothing. If she had listened and taken care of the big clouds, Ponyville would have had a few hours of perfect sun at least. Now all she had managed to do was to make a fool of herself.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Rainbow Dash's attitude suddenly changed. "You did well. Of course you won't be as awesome as me, but you did get the entire sky clear... for a while."
"Thanks..."
"Maybe next time just try to take it a little more easy?" she winked. "And focus on a smaller area until you build up the strength."
Was that an insult or praise? Or a bit of both? Before Morning could ask or even utter a thank you, Rainbow Dash had whooshed away in the direction of the clouds.
Show off, Morning thought as the front lines started to disappear. Well, so much for her sense of achievement. Maybe she would walk home in the end despite the pain. Flying didn't seem right somehow. What the hay?!? There was a cloud on the street? How could she have missed that? Annoyed she approached the cloud and was just about to stomp it, when the cloud spoke.
"Hello there!" it said in a cheerful, high pitched voice.
Startled Morning pulled back. Only a few moments later did she see that the cloud was in fact a very curly pony. This certainly was awkward. Unlike her brother, she didn't see too well at night.
"Hello, hello, hello!" the curly pony greeted her. "I'm Pinkie Pie, and you are Morning Twilight, who sounds similar to Twilight Sparkly, but is not similar at all, although you think it is and say it's not, because you don't want others to think it is. Because it's not."
"Err..." Morning tried to get her head round what she had just heard.
"I prepared a party for you, but your brother came instead, so we had a party with him, thinking he was you, but he wasn't"
"That's alright," she managed to catch the last part. "We can always have a party later. Maybe the end of the week..."
"Oh, no, that won't do," Pinkie Pie's expression changed from cheerful to concerned. "We can't have a party until you are feeling better."
"What? Nonsense," Morning offered a wide smile. "I'll be fine by then. Just as long as I don't try to dance."
"Better on the inside," Pinkie clarified. "You try to hide it with face smiles, but they aren't very smiley. I won't give up though! Just you wait, you'll get a real smile soon!"
Sleep came quickly. The moment Morning touched the pillow she was already transported in the land of dreams, and with them came the pain. The image of her brother emerged before her, the dark indigo almost black.
"You are just as broken as me," his words whispered through the air.
Before she could say anything he faded into the night replaced by a pink cloud.
"You try to hide it, but your smiles aren't smiley," Pinkie Pie's voice sounded.
Morning wanted to shout, to explain they were wrong, but found she couldn't. Her mouth was glued stuck... in the form of huge smile.
"Evening," Morning's mother said. "You should do something with you life! Why can't you take example of Twilight Sparkle? Look what she has achieved!"
The first comparison. Morning remembered it well. Twilight wasn't even a princess then, just Celestia's student who managed to find the Elements of Harmony. A fact that Morning's parents kept reminding them. Evening got the worst of it. He already was a disappointment - his cutie mark, his unhealthy desire to keep indoors. In short he was everything a Pegasus shouldn't be, and didn't do anything about it.
"Why can't you be more like your sister?"
This was her pain. She too reacted to each comparison, but did so in a very different manner. While her brother rebelled and resisted, she pretended. She couldn't become Twilight Sparkle, but she could make sure she never disappointed anypony. Every difficult task was avoided, every action - carefully measured to be what others wanted to see, every situation - planned to the last detail so there were no surprises. Surprises were bad, they were unpredictable, showing things that others didn't want to see.
"You can pretend all you want," her brother's voice echoed. "You'll still be broken."
"Broken," voices echoed. "Broken!"
Morning woke up covered in sweat. Pillows, sheets and blankets were all over the room. What a nightmare! Usually she dreamt normal boring dreams. Maybe it was something she ate, or the muscle pain from the cloud cleaning.
It was still dark outside. Somewhere round four a.m. Enough time to go back to sleep before work. Morning definitely needed it. Yet she just couldn't. Going to sleep meant she could face things again, things bottle up deep inside that had to remain there.
"Why was I born a Twilight?" she whispered then started crying...
* *
Lightning bit into Evening's leg like a steel trap. Two days ago he thought it would be easy to learn how to buck lightning. Quite the miscalculation. He wasn't nearly as ready as he imagined. For Celestia's sake, he couldn't even deal with the clouds, let alone kick the lightning out of them. So far he had clouds zap him, burst at contact, envelope him, one even bounced him off into a tree. Not once did he manage to do what he wanted. And that was absurd! If a tiny blond mare could do it with such ease, so should he!
"You'll only hurt yourself," she said sitting on a cloud a short distance away.
"Just one more!" he said eagerly and prepared to charge.
"Don't."
The single word made him reconsider. Not an order, nor a request, just a statement of the obvious.
"I'm not tired," he said defensively, still he did pull one of more harmless clouds next to her and relaxed on it. "I need to learn this tonight. Tomorrow will be too late"
The mare looked at him puzzled. Her eyes could only make him chuckle... in a good way.
"I'll probably be leaving tomorrow. If not, then the day after."
"Don't you like it here?"
"No," he replied honestly. "All this is fun, but the place is not for us. I only came because of my sister. She thinks she could fit in, that she could find a way to like it. Always been like that. She never will though. I know it even if she doesn't. There are too many things to do here, too many ponies who actually care."
"But that's a good thing."
"Not for Morning. She doesn't know how to react when people care. Back home ponies would ask a few questions, offer some help, and forget all about it in a day or two. Here you actually care. She is not used to that. If somepony cares too much, that means she runs the risk of disappointing them. And she can't handle that."
"That's nice..."
Now it was Evening to give her a clueless look.
"You cared enough to fly here and protect her," she said.
This was uncomfortable. Serves Evening right for not keeping his mouth shut! There was no reason for him to explain anything. Certainly not what he and Morning had gone through. And to a complete stranger at that! What possessed him to do something so stupid?!?
"You won't learn in a night," the mare said. "But I can tell you what you need to do."
Evening waited.
"You are too fragile. You need to train a lot to build up strength and speed. Try carrying something heavy while you fly."
Fragile? Evening laughed. No doubt about it, this was one weird pegasus.
* *
There was no way Morning could go to work. She didn't want to go. For once in her life she preferred to lock herself in a room and close the shutters. Until she could figure things out. Maybe no one would notice. Rainbow Dash certainly wouldn't, and...
"Morning," there was a knock on the door. "Are you alright?"
There was no mistaking Lyra's voice. If Morning could groan she would. She didn't want to see anyone right now. Her best bet was just to stay silent. Maybe Lyra would think she's sick and go...
"Morning?" The door opened gently.
Sure enough it was Lyra... with Bon Bon, and Cloudchaser, and some Pegasus she vaguely remembered seeing before. By Celestia, had everyone in Equestria come to worsen her mood?!
"Are you feeling any better?" Lyra asked. "Anything we can help?"
"What? No," Morning replied on instinct. "Why should anything be wrong?"
"You were crying all night," Bon Bon said.
The shutters! She had forgotten to close the shutters. She must have woken them up during her nightmare and not even notice! No wonder they had gathered here. They really wanted to help her, and she couldn't allow them. No matter what she was going through Morning had to continue with the act. With enough practice she could fool everyone, even her brother.
"Just a nightmare," she brushed it off, putting forth one of her fake smiles. "Nothing to worry about."
"You could give the clouds a day off," Cloudchaser offered. "I'll help Dash with the sky today."
"There really is no need" Morning got up from bed. "We all have nights like this from time to time. The important thing is not to worry about it. I'm really touched you came to help me, though. Look at me, less than a week here and I'm already worrying ponies."
Her voice had a soothing effect. One by one the ponies calmed down. Maybe it was just a bad dream. There certainly didn't seem to be anything wrong with Morning Twilight. They laughed then she treated everypony to a cupcake at Sugarcube Corner. Conversation topics mostly revolved round her thoughts on Ponyville, and a few of the its residents. At one point her brother brother became an item for discussion, mostly because he was rarely seen. The explanation that he spent all night flying, then slept till afternoon, only brought new questions. Ultimately Morning resolved the matter by asking jokingly whether any of the ponies were interested in her brother. With that and a few laughs breakfast ended and she was off to clear the sky again.
Take care of the large clouds, Rainbow Dash had suggested. The first twenty times that didn't cause a problem. The work was done and the sky looked suitably clean. The next twenty proved a little more difficult... as did the next, and the next. By lunchtime Morning was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. The recent nightmare had done her no favors either. And then it happened - a single heretic thought entered her mind. She could gather some clouds and take a nap for a while. No pony would have any right to be mad. Rainbow Dash did that daily, from what she had heard. A few hours rest would go unnoticed, and she definitely needed it.
Looking around guiltily Morning flew to a suitable cloud and lay down. By Celestia it was comfortable! Far better than the earth pony bed in her house. Soon she was fast asleep... and back in her nightmare. This time she was in her room back home.
"They asked me again at school," she complained to her father. "The teachers too... Everyone thinks I am related to Twilight Sparkle."
"That's good," her father said with token interest.
"But I am not!" Morning protested. "I am me!"
"It doesn't matter what you are. You can be what you believe you are. If people think you are related make use of it. It'll help you later in life."
"But..."
The scene shifted. Morning was among a group of clouds now. Her brother was there too, all beaten up. It wasn't the first time either. Last few weeks his school arguments had escalated into fights, fights he couldn't win.
"You shouldn't fight, Eve," Morning's younger self said. "Just ignore them and they'll go away..."
"They never go away," Evening whispered. "Even when they aren't there."
"Just try, Eve..."
"You don't understand anymore. You did once, before you became popular."
"Oh, come on!"
"You laugh with them, calm them with made up words and fake smiles, but you can't change it. You became broken the moment she case her shadow."
"That's cruel and you know it! Twilight is just a name! It can only hurt you if you want it to."
"Then why is there just one Celestia?"
Before Morning could answer everything disappeared. Clouds and sky were replaced by endless dull whiteness. And in that whiteness there was a huge purple alicorn. That had to be Twilight Sparkle. She was immense! Compared to her Morning was a pebble, less even.
"Why do you exist?" a booming voice asked. "Don't you know there could be just one Twilight? Become me and end your suffering."
"But I am myself," Morning squeaked back.
"Not anymore!" the giant unicorn started to grow even more, filling the whiteness. "Whatever you might have been is gone. You are nothing! And when my name becomes famous throughout all Equestria you will vanish completely!"
"No!" Morning shouted amid the laughter. "I am Morning! Morning!"
"Morning!!!" a loud shout mad her jump. She was atop a cloud, surrounded by pegasi.
"Morning Twilight," an angry Rainbow Dash flew approached to the point where their muzzles were touching. "I can be understanding. Very understanding. But I will NOT let anyone make me and Ponyville look bad. No matter how new she is!"
"I'm so sorry," morning attempted to put on one of her smiles. It wasn't very effective. "It won't happen again, I promise. I'll work all night if I have to!"
"Have you seen what you have done?"
Only then did Morning notice. The sky - it was all covered in clouds, grey, drizzling clouds. This couldn't be happening! Just a moment ago there were hardly any, and all of them were white. Worried she flew up and looked around. Adark cloud cover was covering town hall and half of the town, going as far as Sugarcube Corner. Surely she couldn't have slept through it all...
"Taking a nap is one thing," Rainbow continued. "Forming sad clouds - something completely different!"
And then it happened. Rainbow kept on talking about something, but Morning was no longer listening. Her greatest fear, the thing she had worked her entire life trying to avoid had finally happened - she had proven she was not the perfect image of Twilight everyone thought she was. How could she go on now? The perfect armor of pretense had shattered revealing a useless ugly pegasus who could even keep a patch of sky clean! She had to leave.
"...and if what Cloudchaser said is true, you could use some help." Rainbow Dash was still talking. "Just tell us what is wrong and we'll help."
"What's wrong is that I'm a broken worthless pony!" Morning broke out in tears and shot up through the clouds. "I could never be like Twilight!"
Confused Rainbow Dash turned to Cloudchaser.
"What was that about?"
The drizzle over Ponyville turned into rain. Ponies ran to their homes seeking shelter from the unplanned event. Not Morning. In her state nothing mattered anymore. The rain mixed with her tears, soaking her to the bone. She was alone in the storm.
Arriving home Morning slammed the door behind her and crumbled to the ground. She was still crying, the quiet sobbing cry that one did when all strength had left her. What was she doing to do now? If she couldn't even be a lesser copy of Twilight Sparkle, what could she be? Nothing!
"It happened, didn't it?" her brother asked from the staircase.
Morning nodded silently. Words were not necessary to convey what had happened. Evening already knew. He had known all along. If she had treated him as a brother and not a silly foal she would have understood that. The same had happened to him, long ago. That was the reason he had come to a place he hated - to be with her when she lost all hope.
"You knew," she said brushing away her tears.
"From the moment they decided to send you here," he placed a wing on her shoulder.
"When did it happen to you?"
"Before my first fight. I tried to be the Twilight our parents wanted. When I couldn't I wanted something to dull the pain. Fighting seemed to help."
"I remember differently," a faint smile appeared, part of her real smile, not the fake ones he had used so often.
"It dulled the pain inside. After a while I just stopped caring. It took me years. You..." he sighed. "...you were too good in masking it, sis."
That was true, but she was also stronger. All the times he was in trouble she set things right, all the times their parents needed something she provided. Tartarus, all the times her friends back home felt down, she helped. Evening might have had a head start in experiencing the breakdown, but he was still younger and never had to deal with everyday life.
"Guess I'll have to find another way," she stood up. "Something that will fix both of us."
"You can't mend a branch with sugar, Nin..."
"I see that now. But I can keep trying."
There. The decision was made. Morning still wanted to curl up and cry in a corner, and maybe she would, but later. Now she had things to take care of. She had to send a letter to her cloud supervisor back home informing him she was going back to her old job, one to her parents telling them of the recent changes... There was the packing and shipping. Ship Shape certainly wasn't going to be 'appy about it. And then there were the goodbyes. That was the most difficult. The few ponies she had become friends with seemed really to care, maybe too much. Maybe it was best to skip that part. Just fly away in the middle of the night without saying a word.
"Eve, what are you going to do?"
"Go back to flight school I guess. Can't stand home, either."
"You sure? You can stay with me until you decide what..."
"No," he cut her short. "Look, you wash and do what you need to do. I'll come get you after dark."
"Where are you going?"
"I need to finish something..." he flew towards a window.
"Hold on," Morning began, but it was too late. Her brother had already gone. "... It's raining outside..."
* *
Storms were different over the Everfree Forest. Some were violent with lots of wind and rain. This one was the opposite - scores of thunder crowds just sitting there shooting lightning every now and again. Perfect for what Evening needed. Or what he thought he needed. For hours he charged at them, trying his hardest, and each time he failed to buck any lightning. Fresh scars covered his body, along with the sharp sensation of pain. Pain was good though, it helped him deal with his inner conflicts, and right now there were quite a few. His sister hand handled the situation better than he expected, and that was good. But how would he deal with it? She would fly home and continue her old life, he wouldn't. Oh, Ponyville, why did you have to be so complicated. The town was icky as any other, but the edge of the Everfree Forest was nice...
"Hello," a familiar pegasus said and fluttered beside him.
"Hi," he whispered, eyes not moving from the forest. "I guess you've heard."
The other nodded. News really travelled fast here.
"Well, I was right, as usual. We'll be leaving in a few hours. I just came to try and get a bolt."
Without warning a tremendously heavy saddle was placed on his back. The weight pulled him to the ground. Flapping desperately he tried to remain in the air. Wings flapped faster and harder than they ever had before, yet ultimately gave up under the burden landing him slowly to the ground.
"Like I said - fragile," the mare landed a few steps away.
There was a thousand things Evening could have done. Instead he chose to remain calm.
"And you are weird!" he looked at her. Even in this darkness her eyes looked crossed. He was going to miss her too.
* *
Words were difficult to put on paper. Not the letters to her boss or her parents - those were easy. Those to Lyra, Bon Bon and Cloudchaser, on the other hoof... In the end she just wrote a sorry and placed the note on the table. That would have to do. Finished she looked around. The room had grown to be somewhat familiar, almost like a home. This was the first time she felt this way. It was still messy - she never found time to clean the confetti on the floor. A thought came to mind. She could take a hooffull to remember her welcome party. It would have been nice if she had actually been there, but she could always imagine what it might have been like.
Morning heard the door behind her open.
"You sure took your time," she said. "I'll be leaving the furniture. Not like I'll use it back home. You want anything?"
"Hello, Morning Twilight," a new voice said.
Morning turned around to see who it was. Her jaw dropped. A few steps at was no pony other than the Princess of Friendship herself.
"Could I talk to you?"
In moments like this words could hardly form. Morning nodded and followed Twilight outside. The town was complete empty and quiet. Every pony had gone to bed. Most of the clouds that had been removed, displaying the sky in all its beauty.
"I loved this spot," Twilight said as they went to the plot where the Golden Oak library had been. "I remember how upset and lost I was when it was destroyed. It was my home when I first arrived here."
"I know, Princess," Morning replied timidly. "I... was made aware of everything you accomplished since you came here. Everything I did, every action, every word was compared to you."
"That must have been difficult... How was it like before that?"
"Princess?"
"When you were a filly. You couldn't have been compared to me then."
"It was..." Morning tried to remember. Strangely enough she couldn't. There was nothing particular, nothing memorable. "Ordinary?"
"And your parents were nice back then?"
"Yes?" Morning had no idea where this was going.
"Did you ask them why they were comparing you to me?"
"No, but I could see it was because of the name. Everything was Twilight this and Twilight that! They didn't protect me or my brother when we needed it. They just wanted to have you as a child not us."
"Or did they just want you to become the best you could be because they want to be sure you could take care of yourself? It reminds me of a friend of mine. She was so worried about her younger sister hurting herself that she made her a prisoner in her own home, just to be sure she'd be safe. What if your parents did something similar? If you talked to them directly, maybe you'd learn many things about each other you never suspected."
Morning stood there, deep in thought. So that was the power of magic. She was standing next to the pony that had given her nightmares for the last few years, the one she wanted to avoid at any cost... and all she could feel was calm. As if a giant burden had been lifted from here. She didn't have to live in anyone's shadow anymore, be it the shadow of her own name.
"Thank you, Princess," she said quietly.
"Does that mean you won't leave Ponyville? The town is a place for everypony to feel at home... and we could use a weather pony who wakes up before noon."
"I... will give it a try, Princess."
"Please, call me..." she paused. "Twi?" this felt awkward.
"Twilight," Morning smiled. "I've nothing to hide from anymore."
"You don't. Plus I know several ponies that would be happy you'd stay. You'll find Ponyville is a magical place."
That pun. Morning tried her best not to roll her eyes. It pretty much ruined the grandeur of the occasion. But it did make Morning feel better. Went to show that even princesses were ponies.
"Oh, there just one more thing..." Twilight added.
Without warning a loud explosion sounded. The lights of all neighboring buildings lit up.
"Surprise!" Pinkie Pie jumped out of nowhere under a rain of confetti. She was not the only one. The entire town had gathered! Celestia knows how long they had stood there in the darkness. Morning's heart fell. What if she hadn't changed her mind? What would they think then?
"I thought of waiting until morning, since you are Morning, but morning is so far away and a good party doesn't wait," Pinkie's high pitched voice brought Morning back to the present. "And then I thought, since I had a party for you and your brother showed up, now we'll have one for him and you'll get to enjoy it!"
The notion was crazy. Morning couldn't but laugh.
"I'm sure he'll shiver at the thought," she said. "Somehow I'm not sure he'll visit anytime soon."
"Oh," Pinkie Pie looked innocently at the sky. "I don't know about that..."
Author's Note
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