Chapters Prelude
Cloudchaser and Flitter have always been close. Like most twin sisters, they do most everything together but when it comes to their personalities, they aren't the same. Cloudchaser is very outgoing, loves to mingle with other ponies and is quite athletic while Flitter is a bit more reserved, only mingles with those she desires to and is not as athletic. With this being the case, it comes as no surprise to Ponyville that Cloudchaser has a special somepony while Flitter does not.
Getting Ready
Another evening has arrived in Ponyville and the events of the day have come to a close, yet that does not mean that the town shuts down or that ponies simply shut themselves in. In the house that she shares with her sister, Cloudchaser is getting ready for a date. She is combing her mane and tail frantically, trying to make sure she looked perfect. Her sister Flitter noticed this and asked, "Cloudchaser, what's the occasion?"
Cloudchaser replied, "I have a date with Thunderlane tonight and I want to look perfect for him."
Flitter knew that they had been dating for quite some time but that nothing seemed to be developing and wanted to know why. She asked, "Cloudchaser, you two have been dating for almost six months now and it seems like the relationship is going nowhere. Are you two ever going to get more serious?"
Cloudchaser replied, "I hope so. I enjoy him taking me out to supper every week but I hope someday he will want to be more serious instead of just having this laid back attitude and I really hope someday he might propose."
Flitter knew of Thunderlane's approach on life simply by seeing how he acts around town. She said, "I hope so for your sake he will but I wouldn't count on it. I think he loves that can of hairspray more than he does anything else."
Cloudchaser sighed, "I wouldn't go that far but he does love his hair spray." While she was getting ready for her date Cloudchaser wondered why her sister never tried to get to know any stallions so that she too could go out on dates. She continued, "Flitter, can I ask you a question?"
Flitter replied, "Of course."
Cloudchaser asked, "Why don't you ever try to get to know anypony?"
Flitter replied, "What do you mean? I do have friends that I hang out with once in a while. I know I'm not as outgoing as you are but it's not like I'm a complete recluse."
Cloudchaser asked, "What I mean is why don't you ever try to get to know any stallions? It makes me feel bad that I have a date every week while you are here at home."
Flitter replied, "I'm just not interested in hooking up with anypony right now. I would rather sit here at home and relax than go out and do something that I simply don't want to right now."
Before Cloudchaser could reply, there was a knock on the door. Cloudchaser opened it and there stood Thunderlane. "Cloudchaser, it is good to see you!"
Cloudchaser replied, "It's good to see you too Thunderlane!"
Thunderlane asked, "Shall we get going? I want us to get a table before the evening rush hits."
Cloudchaser replied, "Yeah, let's go."
As the two left Flitter couldn't help but feel a bit irritated. It was not because she wished that she had a special somepony, it was because she felt that Thunderlane would never want to settle down and give her sister what she wanted. Despite her being frustrated that Thunderlane doesn't want to get serious with her sister, deep down she thought that might not be such a bad thing.
Cloudchaser's Date
As Cloudchaser and Thunderlane headed towards the cafe, something just didn't seem right. Unlike prior evenings when they would head to the cafe when he would usually talk about anything and everything, Thunderlane was strangely quiet which caused Cloudchaser herself to be a bit nervous and quiet.
As soon as they got there, they were able to get a table and were waited on. The waiter asked, "So what do you two want?"
Thunderlane replied, "I'd like a hay burger and a large cider."
Cloudchaser added, "I'd like a daffodil and daisy sandwich and some water."
The waiter nodded and took their order to the kitchen. Cloudchaser was concerned about Thunderlane's strange behavior on their way to the cafe. She asked, "Thunderlane, are you ok? Normally you talk my ear off on the way over here but you hardly said a word tonight."
Thunderlane replied, "Yeah, I'm ok." He saw a slight look of disapproval coming from Cloudchaser. He knew he had to lie his way out of this question, "Ok, well one thing is wrong. I just don't know where I'm headed in life. I applied for a job at the weather factory in Cloudsdale but I haven't heard back from them."
Cloudchaser asked, "How long ago did you apply?"
Thunderlane replied, "About three weeks ago. I thought I would have heard back from them by now." He looked down and continued, "Maybe they just don't contact the applicants they decide not to hire."
Cloudchaser knew a bit about how the weather factory's application works since she had applied there in the past as well and was denied. She said, "Well I think you would have heard back from them by now. I applied to work up there in the past and it wasn't even a week after I applied that they contacted me letting me know that they did not need my services." She gave him an odd look and continued, "Are you sure that's what is bothering you?"
Thunderlane was becoming nervous as he realized that maybe she saw through his lie. He replied, "Well I'm going to be honest, I just feel like my life is lacking direction right now. Yeah I have a decent job but I'm hoping for more in life. I want a bright future but right now I don't know if it will happen."
When Cloudchaser heard him mention his future, she decided that now would be the time to ask specifically what he wanted in his future. She asked, "So what do you want in your future?"
Thunderlane replied, "Well I would like to one day actually be able to work in the weather factory, get some sort of job in the big city or become a professional bowler."
Cloudchaser knew of his love of bowling but she wanted to know something else. She asked, "And what else do you want in your future?"
Thunderlane had an extremely nervous look on his face as he knew what she was hinting at. He replied, "And well uh-uh, have you as part of my life."
Cloudchaser sighed, "Part of you life? Could you elaborate on that?"
Thunderlane replied, "Yeah, you know........." Their meal got there as he was trying to think of what to say, "Oh good, our food is here! I am so hungry."
Thunderlane dove into his food while Cloudchaser began to eat her's with a disgusted look on her face. She seriously began to wonder if her sister wasn't right and that he may never want a serious relationship. For a brief moment he had an empty mouth and she asked, "Look, I want to know where I fit into your future."
Thunderlane knew he had to lie his way out of this one too, "Well, I do hope we can get more serious someday and maybe eventually be married."
Cloudchaser knew it was a lie as well but wanted to see how long he would go on with this. She asked, "Maybe eventually be married? When would this be?"
He replied, "Uh-uh maybe in a couple or three years."
At this point Cloudchaser was becoming more and more skeptical and even began to wonder if he loved her. She commented, "Thunderlane, you know I love you but with the types of answers you are giving I wonder if you even love me or if you just like saying you have me as a marefriend."
Thunderlane replied, "Well yeah I love you. You know that."
Cloudchaser asked, "Then why don't you ever show it? We have been together for nearly six months and you have only kissed me once! Once! I've known of couples who kissed more than that on their first date!"
Thunderlane replied, "Yeah, I know that."
Cloudchaser decided to drop the issue and continue to eat her meal. Despite being frustrated that Thunderlane would not give her direct answers and it seemed like the answers he gave were either lies or half-truths at the best, she began to devour her meal while he was eating his more slowly as he was very nervous.
A Heartbreaking Discovery
Once the two had finished their meal Thunderlane was ready to leave but Cloudchaser was not, she wanted to get more answers. She asked, "Thunderlane, do you remember what we were talking about before we decided to finish our meal?"
Thunderlane replied, "Uh, no."
This really irritated her. To her this was him not even caring about what she had to say. She snapped, "I was talking about how you have only kissed me once during our whole time together and you acted like you didn't even care!"
By this point their argument had grabbed the attention of everypony else at the cafe but Cloudchaser didn't care. She wanted to get the truth out of him. She continued, "Listen, I am going to ask you one more time. Do you truly love me or not?"
Thunderlane replied, "I'll be completely honest, I really like you."
Cloudchaser gasped, "What? You only really like me? You don't really love me?"
Thunderlane replied, "What I really meant to say was that I really love you."
Cloudchaser knew that was a lie. She knew that what he said first was the truth. She stood up and yelled, "You know what? I'm done! When my sister told me that you would probably not ever be serious I should have listened to her." She began to cry, "I wanted to be positive, I wanted to believe that you loved me, I wanted to believe that you would want to be serious and I wanted to believe that my sister was wrong! I should have listened to my sister and avoided this heartache!"
Thunderlane went to hug her but she pushed him away, "I don't want a hug from you! In fact I want nothing to do with you." She began to run towards home and yelled, "You know what Thunderlane, we're done. I deserve somepony who will actually love me and not be afraid to show it." Before galloping home she looked back and sneered, "Maybe you can hook up with your precious can of hair spray since you love it so much! I'm sure you'll commit to it!"
Thunderlane took off after her and yelled, "Wait! Please come back."
The way things were beginning to turn during their argument concerned some of the other patrons. He felt a pony grab him and say, "I would leave her alone if I were you. She said that she was done and you've caused her enough heartache already."
It was at this moment that Thunderlane knew he had blown it. He realized that Cloudchaser had really loved him but that his lack of desire to commit to one pony and settle into a normal life routine caused him to lose her.
Cloudchaser's Agony
When Cloudchaser arrived home she was crying in agony. She was crying harder than she ever had in her life and this brought about a great amount of concern from Flitter. Flitter ran to her and asked, "Cloudchaser, what's wrong? What happened?"
She pushed her sister away and screamed, "I don't want to talk to anypony right now. Just give me some time alone right now, ok?"
This was not at all like Cloudchaser. She had went through heartbreak before and normally the first pony she would talk to would be Flitter. While Flitter wanted to go and talk to her sister right then and there, she decided she would give her the space that she needed as she did not want her to get mad at her.
For two straight hours Flitter sat downstairs and could hear her sister crying in agony. Despite being tired, she decided that she would stay up until she knew that her sister was not quite as distraught. When she finally heard her sister go quiet, she headed up to check on her. There she found Cloudchaser crawled up in a ball sobbing quietly on her bed. She asked, "Cloudchaser, do you want to talk?"
Deep down she had no desire to do so but she thought maybe talking would help. She replied, "I guess so since every time I've had my heart broken you seem to be able to calm me down."
Flitter pulled her up, hugged her and asked, "What happened? What did he do to hurt you so much?"
Cloudchaser replied, "Well something didn't seem right from the very beginning. Normally on the way there he is very talkative but tonight he was very quiet, he hardly said a word. And once we got to the cafe he didn't seem right either."
Flitter asked, "What wasn't right about him?"
Cloudchaser replied, "I ask him what is wrong and he claims he applied for a job at the Cloudsdale weather factory three weeks ago and had not heard back from them. I know he was lying because I applied there once and I knew within a week that I didn't get a job there."
Flitter said, "I know you were pretty upset about that." She pulled her sister a bit closer and asked, "What else happened?"
Cloudchaser replied, "He then goes on to say that he thinks his life is lacking direction right now. He started to talk about how he wanted a bright future but he didn't know if it would happen. Of course I asked him what he hoped would happen and he gave me the sorry response of him hoping he could work at the weather factory or become a professional bowler." She began to sob, "And I knew this a couple months ago and knew none of it would never happen. I should have just left him then because chances are he'll never go anywhere."
Flitter asked, "What happened after that?"
She began to cry harder again, "Well I asked him where I fit into his future and he simply claimed that he wanted me as part of his life but stuttered when he said it! Well our food arrived but I wasn't going to let that get him off the hook. I asked him more about the future and he claimed that he hoped we could get serious and claimed that MAYBE someday we could eventually be married! That lying rat! I should have known that he didn't really mean it!"
Flitter asked, "And what else?"
Cloudchaser cried in agony, "And then I ask him if he even loves me and he said, 'I'll be honest, I really LIKE you.' He only said like, not love! Do you know how much that hurt? He flat out admitted he didn't love me."
Cloudchaser at this point had her face buried in Flitter's mane. Flitter replied, "I'm sorry Cloudchaser. That had to have hurt really bad."
Cloudchaser lifted her head and yelled, "It did hurt! It hurt so bad I felt like I had a knife plunged straight into my heart!" She buried her face in Flitter's mane again and sobbed, "I hate him, I truly hate him!" She nuzzled her sister and continued, "What is wrong with me? Am I not pretty enough? Am I not smart enough? Why Flitter, why?"
Flitter replied, "Cloudchaser, you are perfect the way you are. It is his loss, not yours."
Cloudchaser cried, "I just want somepony who will hold me, somepony who will actually kiss me, somepony who will want to spend a whole weekend with me, somepony who would want to just snuggle for hours on end, somepony who will want to be with me forever."
Flitter began to stroke her hoof through her mane and replied, "I'm sure you'll find that special somepony someday. Anypony would be lucky to have you in their life."
Cloudchaser whimpered, "I know." She calmed down a little and asked, "Flitter, could you stay in here with me tonight. You have really helped me and if I just want to talk, I want you to be right here."
Flitter smiled, "Yeah, I can do that."
Despite being very tired at this point, Flitter continued to stay up and hold her sister. Cloudchaser had gone through moments of stress many times but this was her worst. Cloudchaser finally fell asleep in Flitter's hooves she had relaxed enough. Flitter did hope that her sister would wake up before she fell asleep herself.
Discovering True Love
A couple hours passed and Flitter was still awake, just barely when Cloudchaser woke up. She pulled her face out of her sister's mane and looked out the window. It was almost dawn. She smiled up at her sister and said, "Thank you Flitter. You have no idea how much you doing this truly means to me."
Flitter smiled, "It's alright Cloudchaser. You know I'll always be here for you, no matter what."
Cloudchaser asked, "You know Flitter, I don't know why more ponies can't be like you. I bet there are even other twin sisters that wouldn't do for me what you did." She blushed and continued, "You know, if you weren't my sister I'd consider giving a mare a chance since it seems like all the lesbian couples I see are so happy."
Flitter asked in return, "Can I admit something to you and you won't think I'm disgusting or anything?"
Cloudchaser replied, "Yeah, you can."
Flitter asked, "Remember last night when you asked me why I don't go mingle and try to meet any stallions?"
Cloudchaser replied, "Yes, I do."
Flitter said, "I don't go and do that because I have eyes for only one pony, and that is you. I know it is wrong but you are everything a mare could dream of. You are sweet, you are kind, you have a heart full of love, you are caring and you are so sexy."
Cloudchaser began to cry, "Really? I feel the same way about you Flitter." Her crying only intensified as she continued, "I never told you about this because I thought you would think I was sick and I know everypony in town would probably cut ties with us but you know what? I don't care anymore, I want to be with you!"
Flitter cried, "Really?"
Cloudchaser continued to cry, "Yes! I know you'll give me the affection and love that nopony else will. I know you want me, I know you love me, I know you'll hold me and I know you'll always be here to comfort me." She calmed down a bit and asked, "With us being twins I don't know what term we'd use but would you be my marefriend?"
Flitter squealed, "Yes! Yes I'll be your marefriend!"
The two began to kiss passionately and in their hearts they finally felt true happiness. Flitter had dreamed of this moment for years and Cloudchaser's hidden love finally came to the surface. While they had a feeling that the town would be disgusted by their new relationship, all that mattered to them was that they had each other.
