Flitter's Friday

"Hey, Flits."

Flitter's wings snapped open, and she probably would have immediately shot into the air if her parents hadn't drilled her to 'check the sky before you fly'. The antiquated pegasus nursery rhyme was all that prevented her from immediately smashing into the dark-furred shape hovering a few feet above her like her own personal raincloud.

"What do you want, Thunderlane?"

Instead of a potential injury, the aspiring Wonderbolt was instead struck with Flitter's most withering glare. It was only potent enough to earn an apologetic chuckle, but at least he abdicated her airspace, swooping forward and around in a smooth motion to face her.

"Sorry, didn't think I'd startle ya," he said, hovering just off the ground. She could already feel her irritation with him eroding under his easy smile, leaving her with only that inescapable and more intractable irritant pressing stiffly against one of her legs. She sighed, and Thunderlane seemed to take this as an 'apology accepted' and continued to explain, "Saw you down here and just thought I'd swoop by to see what you were doing."

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bite your head off. I was just, eh, lost in thought." The purple of her eyes wandered away from him and back to the stream gurgling a little ways off. The water of the brook slowed as the bed curved around the raised spot where Flitter was sitting amidst the wild grass. It quietly lapped against the dark grey pebbles of its bank, and it wound between the gatherings of lively green brambles and young trees that sheltered the peaceful scene from the world, although evidently not the sky. She looked over the little pools that dotted the bend here and there, the same ones she'd built last spring by stacking rounded river stones into half-rings in the shallower water. The sun reflected where it touched these tranquil pools, and despite everything, she smiled at the sight of the little gatherings of water striders that rested amidst the calm waters, and then scattered before the disruptive red flash of a dragonfly darting by.

As she looked back to him, Flitter was surprised to find Thunderlane still watching her intently. The gold of his eyes glinted in the midday sun as they moved subtly, seeming to study her. A sudden rush of worry forced her to quickly and unsubtly glance downwards, but the empty space between her haunches confirmed her ribbon hadn't come loose, no matter how poorly she'd tied it. So why was he looking at her like that?

"Yeah?" he softly prompted. He'd been waiting for her to explain what was on her mind.

Her throat tightened. She almost wanted to. It had been nice, and surprisingly easy, to talk to Nurse Redheart about her ribbon and what it meant to her. But then, the nurse already knew why she wore it.

Thunderlane's curious stare quickened her already anxious pulse. As a stallion, he might at least understand why she'd come to this secluded thicket to cool off, to lay in the knee-high stream until she felt some degree of normalcy--or at least, only the usual level of strange. But how well would he understand the less calming cold she felt as touching the water had reminded her of how most glamours were revealed by the touch of water? The inevitable irrational fear that whispered frantically that even her hitherto dependable enchantment would still fail her? That even after a few years of working with the weather team, this old familiar dread always had the chance of manifesting at the shock of chilly water?

Suddenly, she could feel the inescapable pull of the anchor that fear was bound to, submerging her in an absurd, frigid memory of--of all things--a summer camp she and her sister had attended some few years after receiving their cutie marks. She could almost smell the downpour and feel the chill on her coat. She could feel how her claustrophobic, impromptu shelter prevented her wings from opening, and hear her sister's voice nearby as she redirected playing fillies and the occasional adult from her hiding place amidst the obstacle course.

She stared up at the look of abject confusion on the face of a camp counselor who had barged past her sister's blockade. She could hear the echo of the mare's laughter at the sight of the scrawny colt cowering in the middle of the filly's obstacle course in his big pink bow.

"Flitter? You alright?" The stallion's deep voice pulled her head above the surface of her thoughts. The curiosity in his expression had been replaced by concern.

"Oh! Yeah. It's nothing important," she muttered. Two-thirds of a lie still didn't count as a lie.

"You sure?" Thunderlane asked, hovering a little closer to finally land. Flitter looked up at him, surprised by his persistence and the worry undermining the sturdy structure of his face. He almost looked vulnerable himself out of concern for her vulnerability. It made her think of Cloudchaser and the coltish, devil-may-care smile she presented the world with, and the tranquil, loving smile that was just for her.

They'd both known Thunderlane for a long time. Almost as long as she'd had the name Flitter. Watching the way the reflecting light caught by the stream shimmered and danced over the gathering-storm-grey of his fur, she started to consider the words she could use to tell him. How she could begin to explain.

"I haven't seen Cloudchaser since this morning, Thunderlane," she said, giving him a pronounced roll of her eyes. He gawked for a moment, genuinely caught off guard, before bursting out into the brief, rumbly peal of laughter she knew so well.

"Hey, I don't only come to you when I'm looking for Cloudchaser, y'know." The stallion's rugged features resolved into the same half-cocked grin she remembered from their class' yearbook.

"Yeah, you also come to me to tell me to deliver her drill schedule for the week when you can't find her," she remarked flatly. His second bout of laughter and the way he animatedly tossed his short grey-and-gray mane was enough to bring a smile to her own slim muzzle.

"Hey, it's not my fault you're the only one who reliably knows where to find her," Thunderlane said in his defense. He squinted down at her. "It's got to be some kind of freaky twin magic, right?"

"That, or we just live together and know each other too well."

"So you're saying I should get to know her better?"

"Or move in with us," Flitter joked, her eyes darting away from stallion to follow a passing flash of red. She watched another dragonfly, or maybe the same one, flitting and weaving about them, before coming to rest on a long strand of grass a foot from her hooves.

"I'll pass. I'm pretty sure 'Chaser'd kill me if she had to deal with me more than she already does," he laughed again, and this time Flitter laughed with him. The dragonfly, startled by the merriment disturbing its domain, zipped off over the brook. A brief quiet followed, and Flitter looked up to find Thunderlane's gaze suddenly darting off too. Before she had a chance to think on it, he spoke up again, "Well, I don't know where to find Cloudchaser right now, so maybe I'll have to settle with getting to know you better."

"Glad to know I'm your second choice," the pegasus mare jabbed, although she felt a trace of warmth creep into her cheeks. She suddenly rose to her hooves, prompting the other equine to look back to her. "In that case, maybe you can help me."

"Yeah?" Thunderlane asked, not missing a beat.

"Just fly along the stream with me and help me inspect these pools." Flitter indicated one of the carefully constructed semicircles protruding from the bank some little ways out into the stream. The topmost stones broke the surface, separating the freely running white-edged water from that which was clearer and nearly still. "And if any of them have fallen apart, help me rebuild them."

"Uh?" the stallion sounded, only now seeming to notice them, before shrugging. "Alright, sure."

With that, both ponies took to the wing, following the streamlet upwards at a leisurely pace, their hooves nearly skimming the water. The coolness that rolled off its surface at least helped to soothe the persistent heat that had only grown less bearable throughout the day, if just slightly.

"So you're the one that makes these?" Thunderlane asked after a moment. She looked back at him past the rise and fall of her wings only to catch his yellow gaze retreating.

"Yeah, along this stream, anyway," Flitter replied. They briefly slowed to get a better look as they passed over one, and then a few seconds later, another, both neatly intact. She smiled to herself.

"Why?"

"Habitat diversity," the mare stated. It took her a moment's silence to check back on Thunderlane, only to find him giving her a confused look. She slowed to a hover as they came to the next wall, some half-minute later. It, too, was preserved, but she took a moment to turn and explain to her friend, one of her front legs tracing the outline of the rounded wall peeking from below the surface.

"Insects, and smaller fish, can use the pools to shelter, or to rest from the faster parts of the stream." She pointed further up along the stretch of water to where the straight, narrower part split in white hues over a few more prominent rocks. "Some species also prefer gentler waters to lay their eggs, or to develop in."

As he listened, he studied that intersection between the calmer and the more frantic waters. Thunderlane seemed to consider all of this for a moment, perhaps for the first time, and a smile slowly dawned on his face. "That's... actually really cool, Flitter. It must take a lot of work."

"I guess," she dismissed.

The next of them was some ways farther upstream owing to the unsuitable temperamentality of the faster current, and the two pegasi ascended before a short rock face where the stream splashed in long silver-white ribbons in its descent. It was a little way past this rise that they encountered the first of Flitter's stone formations that showed significant damage. At some point, a small section of the upstream portion of the wall had come undone, and the freely running water now coursed through the significant opening, splashing and swirling disruptively. Its builder eyed it for a moment, and then alighted on the bank, combing the stony stretch for suitably shaped repair material.

"And you're fine getting wet?" Thunderlane's voice came from behind. "Cloudchaser mentioned you have this thing about getting splashed with cold water."

"What?" Flitter wheeled about in a flash, her heartbeat suddenly dinning in her ears. He knew?!

Something in her expression must have told the stallion he'd said the wrong thing as the professional flier backed off, wide-eyed, and he was quick to continue on to explain himself, "She never said why or anything. Just... Well, remember how we had that group project together, back in school? During our last year."

Flitter's eyes narrowed, but reflected recognition. Her racing heart slowed to a jog, but she still felt out of breath. "Yeah?"

"Well, heh... I, back in school, I was big into pranks for a while, remember? One time, when me and 'Chase were waiting for you, I started settin' up the bucket trap prank. You know, door, water, bucket, the oldest trick in the book." The stallion continued to avoid meeting her gaze directly, but finally spared a glance towards her, chuckling at his own expense. "Well, Cloudchaser said she'd drown me in that bucket if I ever tried to pull a prank like that on you again. It took me a while to get it even after she explained that that sorta thing really messed you up, and I just sorta brushed it off at the time."

"Oh," murmured Flitter, very quietly. "So that's why she was mad at you all day."

"Try all week. That mare knows how to carry a grudge," Thunderlane offered a laugh, though it lacked the weight of its usual bass. At last, he managed to look her in the eye with an apologetic smile. "I deserved it though. I could be a real doofus back then."

"I guess some things never change," Flitter intoned seriously, but when she punctuated it with a smile, he laughed again, this time from the heart.

"Hey, I'll have you know I've changed a lot!" Thunderlane suddenly shot back, doing his best to sound angry. "Now I'm a doofus in uniform."

Now it was her turn to laugh, and the reedy sound made Thunderlane's dark muzzle break into a wide, white grin. A comfortable quiet reigned when the fit of giggling had passed, and it was in this quiet that Flitter found a stone of suitable dimensions. Taking it between her front hooves, she carefully hovered over to the breach, moving to slowly lower it into place.

"It's not so bad when I'm working on something like this," the mare explained softly, her voice just loud enough to be audible above the susurrus of the stream. With the new stone in place, she took a moment to patiently adjust it with her front hooves until it seemed secure. She could feel the other pony's eyes on her as she turned to retrieve another rock from the pebbly shore. "When I'm doing weather work, too. Just something methodical really. That's how I've been able to work through it over time. Now, it only really gets to me if I'm already anxious about something."

"Huh..." sounded Thunderlane nearly as quietly, watching as Flitter methodically put the next piece in place, before she floated away to repeat the process for the final time. "Like today, I'm guessing?"

"Well, yeah. But it's been nice," she said, hefting one last piece of stone, "having someone to talk to when I'm out here, I mean. Thanks, Thunderlane."

As she reapproached, though, she caught sight of the stallion flapping his own way into position and, following her example, depositing a rock in place, nudging and working it until it was secure. They both smiled as they watched how, with the turbulent waters directed away, relative repose returned to at least one small part of the brook.

"Anytime, Flits," he replied, but when he looked her way, he was confused to see her lowering herself nearer to the restored pool, her violet gaze searching its surface as silver stripes of daylight danced about her face.

"Look," she said. "With the colour of the streambed here, when the sun is right, it's almost like a mirror."

Flitter's features melted into clarity as the lingering ripples calmed, leaving her face to face with herself, and she blinked in disbelief as she saw the state of the mirrored mare's mane. The normally carefully maintained flow of her long blue hair was disrupted in several places by abrupt, rough upshoots, and her bow was haphazardly tied well off to one side behind an ear. In her rush to get her ribbon back on earlier, she must have made an absolute mess of herself, and she'd only just realised it.

A sudden snort sounded as the preamble to a cascade of giggles, and Flitter found herself unable to help herself even as she self-consciously cringed at the deeper notes that sneaked into her laughter. As the sound finally began to conclude, she heard Thunderlane's voice, "Hey, Flitter?"

"Haaa, yeah?" Her head and her gaze both lifted to find his face once more, but rather than the expected grin of amusement, or even confusion as to her own, he looked serious. His eyes fixed on her, keen and gilt, seeming to watch her every movement as she canted her head in curiosity.

"Listen, I, uh..." he started, hesitating briefly before changing tack. "What I mean is, are you, ah, seeing anyone?"

"Uh, what?" she responded dumbly. The mellow, murmurous voice of the creek winding its course below them seemed suddenly louder in the following silence.

"I mean… You know, a coltfriend, or a fillyfriend?" Thunderlane clarified, but she'd already known exactly what he meant. The shock in her eyes made his own very quickly retreat towards the opposite edge of the stream. Suddenly, the lingering looks he'd been giving her made a lot more sense.

The stallion remained silent, either awaiting her response or gathering his courage to speak up again, but her own thoughts loudly filled the interim with an onslaught of questions. How long had Thunderlane been interested in her? Had she just never noticed? Or had he only recently started to notice her? Maybe somepony else had actually noticed the more recent changes to her body?

Flitter found herself taking an interest in the stallion's body in turn, although not for the first time. With his head and attention turned aside, it was almost too easy for her gaze to be drawn down along the statuesque figure of the career flyer. The masculine set of his jaw smoothly progressed into the sturdy pillar of his neck, which in turn gave way to a powerful but aerodynamic build, largely in a state of relative relaxation, except for the muscles along his back as they worked, flexing subtly to keep him aloft. Lower still, hanging proudly betwixt his rear legs, his sizable testes dangled in monument to his status as a stallion. What was surprising, though, was what showed above; the first few substantial inches of his length peeked part-erect from the shelter of his sheath, thick and mottled pink on black.

Flitter's breath hitched and the already confused chorus of her mental council suddenly rose into a cacophony of yays and neighs. Could she have truly inspired even this much in a stallion, let alone this stallion? What did she really feel about Thunderlane of all ponies showing this interest? One of her sister's best friends? Should she feel so flattered to have garnered the attention of the same pegasus who had teased her for her scraggly, unflattering physique back in school?

Without giving her a moment to grapple with these issues herself, at least one part of her knew exactly what it wanted, and it asserted its authority with a warm, near-audible slap against her undercarriage. She gasped in shock, and felt the stone she'd been holding drop into the stream with a gruesome 'ker-plunk!' The resulting splash was barely enough to graze her barrel, but the sudden shock of the cold water and the accompanying jagged lance of anxiety that ran her down made her wings stop working. The lurching sensation of freefall followed close behind, and she braced to crash into the stream.

Instead, Flitter found her hooves touching down gently on the stream bank. She opened her eyes to find herself peering up into the wide yellow eyes of the other pony. His powerful forelegs held her fast to his front, and her own hooves naturally came to rest about his shoulders. His mouth hung slightly ajar a mere few inches from hers, as if he'd wanted to say something but had become frozen in time. His body felt so hard in comparison to her sister's, but his embrace was every bit as warm. That heat spread over her like a loose flame, driving away the chilly echo of her trauma and consuming whatever rational thought yet vied in her head. She allowed her eyes to drift shut, and her shaking, feverish form to lean totally on the support of the strong stallion.

While the whole of her body prepared to surrender at Thunderlane's first advance, it was not the corner of reason that raised the vital question. Instead, it was that last frigid holdout of the lifelong dread which tried to influence her every decision that asked: What would he do when he found out? When he inevitably noticed that she wasn't a real mare?

The overwhelmingly bright fires of lust in her chest, and between her ears, and pulsing between her legs all answered together. They did not assure her that she was real, or even that he would or could accept her. It was so much easier than that. With her back arched and her tail aside, it would be the easiest thing in the world to convince a horny stallion that she preferred he take one hole over the other. That wouldn't even be a lie, would it? Then he'd finally hold her down. He'd pant and press and stretch her around him until she felt almost like any other mare. She would nicker and moan for him, and she would at last be satisfied. Between her enchantment and some careful positioning, he would never have to know.

The sensation of his unfamiliar breath as his muzzle neared shocked her. She found herself instead anticipating the cinnamon taste of more familiar lips. She yearned to open her eyes not to find gold but vivid purple peering back, loving and lustful for every inch of her. She craved the reassuring embrace of that same feminine form that had been by her side since the day they were born, since earlier even than that, and that had held her when she cried and when she'd had her first kiss. How could she possibly give herself over in the convenient deceit of a passing tryst, no matter how handsome the stallion? There was already a pony in the world that required no such deceit, that knew everything about her and earnestly called her 'lover' and 'sister'.

"Cloudchaser!" Flitter barked, her eyes shooting open as she hastily pulled free of her friend. Thunderlane's own gaze met hers, wide and surprised, his lips still partly pursed in hopeful anticipation. That confusion deepened as that singular name sank past the layer of excitement that was written so clearly on his features. Flitter could see the gears behind his eyes struggling to start up with the morass of stimuli gunking them up. Given her own day--and the painful ache still between her own legs--she winced in empathy and promised to make it up to him somehow even as her mind raced for any way out of this situation.

"I mean, haha, ah, I… We, I mean, me and Cloudchaser, that is, not me and you, we... were supposed to meet before the picnic!" Flitter lied. "It's supposed to be starting soon, right? Yeah! So… I really, really have to get going. You know how she worries! It was… really, really nice, uhm, talking to you, and… things." She couldn't bear to look at Thunderlane's befuddled expression a moment longer, so she wheeled about only to immediately regret that too, painfully aware that she'd incidentally flashed the pegasus with her be-glamoured backside. It took her a stumble and several false starts before her wings would cooperate and finally carry her off into the sky.

Thunderlane remained dumbstruck as he watched the indigo point of the little pegasus frantically flapping off into the distance. Eying the stream and running a hoof over his short mane, he finally moved, stiffly stepping out into the brisk spring waters, and releasing a baritone groan as the cold did little to relieve him.