A Cloudborn's Restless Spirit

The day's sunlight was starting to take on the golden tint that signaled the end of “late afternoon” and the beginning of “early evening,” and still Flitter found herself glancing upwards every few minutes, squinting against the afternoon/evening glare. She hadn't seen what her sister had gotten up to after fluttering off to pursue her latest interest, and now both Chaser and her charcoal-furred mark had blown off somewhere and Flitter was regretting not paying attention. No, it wasn't that she distrusted Thunderlane; he was a crewmate and a friend. It was more the fact that the look in Chaser's eyes had said that she was as likely to bodysex Thunder as she was to challenge him to a wrestling match or a game of gravity chicken. Really, Flitter reflected, Blossomforth's ire should have been the least of her worries.

Speaking of which... A mane sporting clashing pinks and greens that could only belong to a certain contortionist was bobbing its way through crowds and around tables, making a beeline for Flitter. Oh no no no. Flitter tried to slip behind a group that was crowding the punch table, but couldn't pretend not to hear somepony distinctly calling her name.

“Hey! Flitter!”

Flitter winced, then sighed as she turned around. “Hey, Blossomforth. How've you been doing?” she said, forcing a smile.

Blossom's inevitable next words made Flitter's heart sink, even though it would've been absurd to expect anything else. "I'm doing fine. Have you seen Thunderlane?”

“Yeah.” Flitter sighed, looking distinctly displeased with the answer she was about to give. “He flew off somewhere with my sister.” She bit her lower lip.

Blossom's reaction was a surprise, but also a bit of a relief—she gave a tittering, genuinely amused little laugh. “Seriously? All right, I guess I'll just go home and wait for him to show up.” She looked up at the clouds, just like Flitter had been doing a minute prior. Unlike Flitter, she smiled at what she didn't see.

“Um.” Flitter licked her lips in the awkward silence. “Sorry, but that's what I saw.”

“No need to be sorry,” Blossom replied cheerfully. “The big softie's had a tough couple weeks. I'm sure he'll tell me all about what kind of crazy adventure she took him on.”

Flitter grimaced unhappily. “I'm sure he will. Glad I was able to help.”

“Mhmm. That's all I wanted to know, thanks!” Blossom nodded to Flitter, turned tail, and trotted back to her friends.

Flitter looked at the half-full plate of crisps sitting on the table next to her, along with her depleted cider mug and untouched salt lick, and decided it would be best if she followed Blossom's lead and just went home to wait for her sister. She downed the rest of her food, except for the salt lick, and took off at a canter. She hadn't had time to catch up with Raindrop or Skywishes, but she saw them all the time anyway. It just wouldn't do for her to stay at this party while as distressed as she was.

She knew that it was silly of her to be so perturbed by Blossomforth's attitude, of course. It was obvious why Chaser liked Blossom so much; in many ways the two were foals of the same season. Despite being a Ponyville native and despite even having a Cutie Mark befitting a groundbound, Blossomforth's heart still belonged to the winds, or so the saying went. By way of a more mundane explanation, her parents were both originally from cloud-cities.

For Flitter at least, Cloudchaser's brand of gleeful polyamory had long since become more of an activity than a way of life. After all, living among the groundbound meant the possibility of a relationship with one of them, which meant following their rules. That hadn't been too hard on Flitter; even before coming to live in Ponyville she'd been, as Chaser sometimes put it, “uptight” about who she wanted to get messy with. So, serial monogamy (again, Chaser's words) suited Flitter just fine.

What had been hard was being apart from her sister. It had been clear from early on that the two would eventually part ways, especially when Chaser went to flight camp while Flitter was doing an internship with the Wing Corps Survey Team. Still, for a few years, Flitter had tried to postpone that reality. Chaser, on the other hand, had been all too happy to fly off into the sunset. It had taken a very long time filled with sadness and resentment, but Flitter understood now that in Chaser’s mind they were sisters from afar just as much as they were in person.

Flitter leapt and glided over a row of houses, landing in the middle of the lane in her neighborhood. The sun would be going down soon, and Flitter couldn't imagine that Chaser would stay out late after such exertion as she was likely going through right now... But then again, since when had her dear adopted sister been fettered by common sense? Their parents might have chosen Cloudchaser based on how similar she looked to her sister, but they couldn't have been more wrong if they'd expected the two to be as similar in spirit as they were in coloration.

Nudge the door open. Kick it shut behind her. Pull her hair-bow out by the end with her teeth and hang it on the hat rack. Move on to the kitchen, glance at herself in the hallway mirror, open the pantry, and stare for a while. The coming-home routine always happened without any need for conscious thought, which was why Flitter nearly hit the roof with her surprised jump when she turned away from the hat rack and found an all too familiar grin half an inch away from her face.

“Chaser! What—you're home already?” she sputtered.

“I just ate an early dinner at the party and then came to wait for you.” Cloudchaser’s expression was worryingly cheerful. “You going to ask me how my day was?”

Flitter rolled her eyes. “Why ask questions I know the answers to?”

Chaser stuck out her lower lip. “But I wanted to tell you all about it!”

“And I wanted to make dinner. Honestly, bragging is unattractive. Now, shall I make some for you as well?” Having Chaser staying with her was wonderful, it really was, but sometimes housing her took some extra effort, both physically and in terms of withstanding dear Chaser's energy level.

“I told you, I already ate. I actually wanted to ask if you wanted to go get some air for a bit.”

“I'm not in the mood.” Every time Chaser got that look in her eye, Flitter thought, it was because she wanted to breeze off on some kind of adventure. “It's been a big day, and--”

“No it hasn't! All you did was drink some punch and eat some chips." Flitter could hear Cloudchaser's eye-roll. "It'll only take a few minutes. Listen, I’ve wanted to do this for a while, but I keep forgetting or not having time...”

Flitter thought she felt a headache coming on. She wasn't actually hungry; in reality the coming-home routine would've been likely to end with her closing the pantry without pulling anything out and picking up her latest book or work assignment. For once, she capitulated. “All right,” she sighed. “Lead the way, I guess.”

Chaser happily trotted out through the front door and waited for Flitter there. As soon as Flitter set foot outside, Chaser took off in a distinctly upward direction. “Told you it'd be quick!”

“Oh for Mother's sake-!” Flitter lifted off, flapping to keep up. Above, the clouds were starting to darken from the sunset's glare. In another minute, Chaser had punched through a low-hanging cloud and was presumably sitting there, waiting for Flitter to catch up. Flitter didn't usually push for altitude like this, so by the time she hit the shrinking gap and emerged next to her sister, she was panting faintly.

Chaser was reclining on a tuft she'd molded into a kind of chair shape, staring off at some amorphous spot on the horizon. “Well?”

Flitter looked off in the same direction, and had to suppress a gasp. From below, the clouds had seemed dulled by the sunset, but here, they had been ignited. Hazy half-shadow clashed with warm gold and the cold cobalt of the firmament. The cloud Chaser had chosen as a vantage point was an island surrounded by hovering mountains of cotton. There were cresting waves, sharp cliffs, rolling hills and plateaus, some of them at eye level, some floating high above. It was as if they'd left Ponyville and entered a world made of light, fire, and magic.

“I see this almost every day,” Cloudchaser said loudly, piercing the moment. “It's still just as amazing every time.”

Flitter shuffled closer to Chaser, trying not to stumble on the soft, uneven surface. The altitude was difficult, but the surrounding beauty took her breath away twice as strongly. Chaser saw that her sister was having trouble, but mercifully didn’t comment.

Flitter folded her legs and settled down next to her sister on the pillowlike blanket of air. “I've never seen anything like this in my life,” she breathed. That wasn't quite true—she had lived in the clouds too, after all—but she hadn’t done anything like this in years, and never with Chaser. Even back when she and Chaser lived with their parents in Cirrus Crossing, Flitter rarely left the sculpted walkways and walls of the town proper for long enough to see the full glory of a sunset. With a twinge of guilt, she wondered if she'd forgotten some of the beauty of the sky, or worse, if she'd never truly appreciated it at all.

“Can't hear you,” Chaser blared again. “Forgot about acoustics already?”

Actually, she had, Flitter realized. “Thank you,” she said, out loud this time. “I'm glad I let you talk me into this.”

“And I'm glad you got to see it!”

They sat there for some time, no longer talking, just watching the cloudscape drift slowly past. The sun's fire gradually faded until it was only a low orange glow lighting dusky blotches of evening violet. As sunset faded into evening, Chaser stood, shot Flitter a smile, and disappeared down through the cloud as if diving to the bottom of a swimming pool.

“Hey!” Flitter managed a laugh as she dropped down in pursuit; she was too happy to be annoyed any more. Chaser was standing at the door to their house when she landed.

“Thanks for coming with me. The whole point was to show you.” For once, Chaser looked serene.

Flitter returned her sister's smile as she nudged her way into the house and waited for Chaser to follow her in. Then she kicked the door shut behind them, stopped at the hat rack, craned her neck for her bow only to remember that it was already hanging in front of her face, giggled at the disheveled state of her mane as she passed the mirror, opened the pantry, and stared for a while. Cloudchaser let out a loud yawn. Flitter didn't turn around, but she knew her sister would be reclining on the rug like a bored cat. Normally she would tut and tell Chaser to stop acting like a bored cat, whereupon Chaser would snort and flop into a chair instead. This time, though, Flitter just rolled her eyes, biting her lip to hide her amusement. "Apple and walnut sound good?"