As was the case every day for Flitter, she woke up to the sight of her twin sister Cloud Chaser. To anypony who inquired about their unorthodox sleeping arrangements, they espoused practicality of having a small cloud house and sharing a cloud bed. The reality of the situation was much more simple, neither of them was capable of falling asleep without the other. At least, not without magical assistance or staying up for three days straight and collapsing from exhaustion. Thus Flitter found herself smiling like an idiot at her favorite pony as she stretched out her wings and lightly brushed them along her sister's nose.
In response, Cloud Chaser's muzzle scrunched up in the most adorable way, forcing Flitter to stifle a giggle. A second scrunch was accompanied by a lazy hoof waving away the stimulus. A third scrunch was met with a sweeping wing and a mild scowl. Finally, Flitter reached her hoof up and pressed it to her sister's nose as she said, "Boop!"
Cloud Chaser finally opened her eyes as her expression morphed from confusion, to anger. Yet, as soon as she locked eyes with her sister, she couldn't help but return her goofy grin while maintaining her scowl. "Good morning to you too Flits," Cloud Chaser yawned out before stretching her wings behind her. "You know what time it is?"
"Well judging from the position of the sun outside, I'd say its... cuddle o'clock!" Before the half awake Cloud Chaser could respond, she was tackle hugged by a light blue mass of fluff and wings. Once Flitter was sure she had a good hold on her sister she nuzzled the top of her head before speaking again. "In all seriousness Cloudy, I think it's about eight in the morning."
"Don't we have work in an hour?" While muffled by chest floof, Flitter could still hear her sister loud and clear.
"Silly Cloudy, it's winter break. No weather work until after Hearths Warming. Now we can just relax and cuddle all day if we want." She nuzzled her sister once again, reveling in the closeness to her all time favorite pony.
"While that does sound tempting, I think I'd like to at least get out of the house for a bit." In retaliation to her sister's glomp, Cloud Chaser wiggled her own legs and wings out to wrap them around Flitter. "That said, we can at least stay like this for a while. At least until I'm fully awake."
"Okay, I guess that's a fair compromise, but I want more cuddles when we get home."
That got a chuckle out of Cloud Chaser as she wiggled and nuzzled up the underside of her sister's chin. "As if you could keep me from cuddling you sis."
Flitter gave her sister one final squeeze before sighing in contentment. "We'd better get up and ready for the day then." She felt one more strong squeeze in return before they broke their embrace. "I'll get the shower cloud warmed up. Can you grab some towels?"
"Sure, meet you in there." After lazily rolling off their bed, Cloud Chaser made her way to their closet where she grabbed three towels. Flitter always likes using an extra towel for her mane. Her small chore taken care of, Cloud hovered off to their bathroom where her sister was already in their double sided shower. It was convenient for two ponies, but enjoying two streams of hot water hitting your coat from either side is a simple pleasure both of the twins enjoyed on occasion.
After draping the towels over the hard cloud hooks on either side of the bathroom next to the shower, Cloud hopped into the thunder forged steel tub, bumping her sister in the process. "Miss me sis?"
Flitter gently nudged her sister with a wing. "No, you messed up my double shower, meanie! Now I only get one shower head." The effect of her pout was somewhat diminished by her involuntary smile.
Cloud just rolled her eyes. "Well at least now you have somepony to wash your back."
"As if I need help with that. Unlike you, I learned how to wash my back years ago." She punctuated her point by sitting on her haunches and sticking her muzzle in the air haughtily.
Cloud ignored her sister's antics and went about lathering shampoo in her mane. A moment later she heard a soft thump from behind her. After rinsing out her mane she looked behind her to see Flitter giving her a wide eyed toothy grin. "Hey. Hey Cloudy, check it out. I did the illegal thing!" With that proclamation she pointed down with her hoof
That got a raised eyebrow but Cloud looked down to the floor of the tub to see a bar of soap. "The illegal thing?" Cloud looked to her sister in confusion.
"Yeah, it's so illegal you can't even do it in prison!" About two seconds passed in silence until the pair erupted in snorts and guffaws.
It took them a minute or two but they eventually got enough control of their mirth to speak coherently. "Did-pft! Did you come up with that just now?"
"Heh, yeah. I didn't even drop it on purpose." Once she had gotten full control of herself, Flitter once again picked up her soap with a hoof and started scrubbing down her coat. As the twins helped scrub each other down, they periodically let out residual snorts until they finally rinsed and kicked off the shower clouds.
"You know Flits, I still don't get why you need two towels," Cloud spoke up as she started drying off. "I can get dry just fine with one." After nimbly wiping herself off with her wings and hooves, she dried off her pale blue and white mane and tail. They were still damp but a quick morning flight would take care of that.
"Well, I prefer to actually style my mane instead of letting the wind whip it up into spikes. You're able to make it work, but it would just look and feel weird on me."
Cloud closed her eyes and shrugged her wings. "Eh, I guess that makes sense. You do look cute with that bow in your mane." While her sister fussed over her mane, Cloud went out for her morning flight. Not much, just a quick lap around town. While she flew, Cloud Chaser couldn't help but notice her feathers felt off. This made it a bit harder to maneuver, but she wouldn't be out for long.
With a quick glance down, Cloud Chaser could see Ponyville come into sight. While it was still considered a small town, Ponyville had grown and changed substantially since the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration. Among those changes was a giant crystal tree castle that a lot of ponies claimed was an eyesore. Cloud just thought it looked cool. Plus it doubled as the town library, even after princess book-horse left it to her friend Starlight.
Once she was satisfied with her now dry mane and tail, Cloud bolted back home. Flying in through the kitchen window she was greeted by her sister having poured each of them a bowl of Chocolate Wheaties. "Welcome back Cloudy, your timing is impeccable. The cereal's been soaking for about a minute so it should be the perfect level of soggy."
"Sweet, thanks Flits." Once she made her way to the table, Cloud plopped down next to her sister and started lapping up soggy cereal and chocolate infused milk. "I really don't get why ponies like dry cereal. It's so much easier to eat it this way, and you don't get that weird half wet half dry texture."
Flitter nodded sagely. "It is a vexing mystery. At least we're both in agreement on proper cereal sogginess." As the pair enjoyed their breakfast, a comfortable silence fell over the room. Occasionally Flitter and Cloud Chaser would glance at each other and share a smile, but it wasn't until they both tipped their bowls up to drink the last of the milk that one of them spoke.
"So, what do you wanna do today Flits?"
"Well, Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth should be free today if you're up for dealing with Kicker's... eccentricities." Flitter tapped her chin with a hoof trying to think of more options. "We could see a movie. Yesterday I noticed the theater is playing the latest installment of that post apocalypse movie series you like. I also heard the library got a new shipment of fiction novels. Even a new series written by a donkey named Nimby."
Cloud Chaser cocked an eyebrow at her sister. "Flits, those are all nice options, but what do you want to do?"
Flitter blinked owlishly at her sister sitting barely a hoof away. "I already told you I want to cuddle you all day, but if that's off the table, I'm fine doing whatever as long as I can spend the day with you."
"Hmm. How about we catch a matinee at the theater then check in with Kicker and go from there? I do want to see the next Wasteland Equestria movie. The director has been really faithful to the books and the next movie covers my favorite story arc in the series."
Flitter nodded. "Then that's what we'll do. Let's head out early to get good seats. I might not be a super fan like you but I know it's popular. I'd bet even during the day the theater will be packed."
"Oh mare! That was even better than I thought it would be!" Cloud Chaser was practically vibrating with excitement while her much more subdued but still energetic sister walked beside her out of the theater. "Like, the special effects were awesome, but the acting was so on point! That was exactly how I imagined it going down in my head!"
Flitter nodded and smiled at her sister. "Ya know, you're adorable when you gush about stuff like that." As they exited the building they were greeted with a snowfall that came up past their fetlocks. Still, neither seemed to mind.
Cloud didn't miss a beat in responding. "Your face is adorable!" With her totally sick burn delivered, she stuck out her tongue. That just made Flitter giggle. "So, where do you think Kicker and or Blossomforth are at this hour?" Cloud rustled her feathers to dislodge some irritant within her plumage.
"You cold sis?" Without waiting for a response, Flitter draped a wing over her sister and held her close, sharing body heat. "Better?"
Cloud Chaser gave her sister a sheepish smile. "I mean, this is nice, but I was trying to get something out of my feathers. I think they might need a good preening. I should be good for a bit though."
Flitter shot her sister a skeptical side eye. "If you say so sis. Just let me know if it gets too annoying. We can head home and I'll preen you."
Cloud nuzzled her sister's cheek with her own. "Thanks Flits, but I'm fine. So, how to find the lavender pegasus and her special somepony?"
Flitter stepped over a random small embankment of snow before answering her sister. "Well it wouldn't hurt to look in the obvious place. Plus I am kinda hungry so lets catch two birds with one net." The pair stepped over another small embankment a couple pony lengths away from the first. They almost looked like tracks. Taking a closer look around, she noticed a few more parallel lines of packed snow. "Who built a sled track through town?" As if in answer to her question, a screaming pink and rainbow blur sped by, whipping up their tails in a gust of wind. "Was that Pinkie and Dash?"
Cloud Chaser snickered. "I guess that answers your question."
Flitter huffed out an exasperated sigh. "I'm grateful they saved us like a dozen times or something, but would it be too much trouble to tone things down and give us one week of normalcy?"
Cloud chaser raised an eyebrow as the pair resumed their walk. "Sis, I don't know what to tell you, but a town situated between Canterlot and the Everfree Forrest is incapable of having a whole week without something weird happening." Before they could cross the second segment of sled track, the same pink and rainbow blur whooshed by, the screams much happier than they were earlier.
Flitter, still holding her sister in a wing side hug, led Cloud onward, grumbling to herself about crazy mares and stupid magic forests. Much to her relief, they made good time to the best place in town for hay fries. To Flitter's mild disappointment and Cloud Chaser's relief, Cloud Kicker was absent as well as her alabaster paramour.
After Flitter folded her wing back to her side, the sisters made their way to a small booth and waited for somepony to take their order. "Ya know Flits, I have to wonder why do you like hanging out with that mare?"
Flitter was taken aback by the sudden question but recovered quickly. "Whatchya mean? She's hilarious, clever, vivacious, and she has almost as many friends as Pinkie Pie."
Cloud's eyes were downcast when she replied. "Geez sis, it almost sounds like you have a crush on her."
Flitter's eyes went wide as she tried and failed to make any comprehensive words, all the while a blush spread across her face. The waitress, Lyra Heartstrings, chose that moment to come check on them. "Hey girls, what can I get ya?"
Since Flitter's brain was currently broken, it fell to Cloud Chaser to interact with other ponies."Hey Lyra, we'll just have two orders of cheesy hay fries and a couple mugs of cider."
Lyra smiled at her pegasus friend. "Coming right up, but um, what's wrong with Flitter?"
Cloud giggled into her hoof. "I may or may not have broke her brain. She'll be okay in a bit."
Lyra shrugged. "If you say so. I'll be right back with your drinks."
As soon as Lyra had her back turned, Flitter fixed her sister with a death glare. "I don't have a crush on Kicker," she hissed, keeping her voice to a whisper to prevent other ponies from overhearing. "Why do you not like her anyway?"
Cloud's reply was momentarily postponed by the reappearance of a mint green unicorn placing two large glass mugs of sparkling apple cider. As soon as she was no longer in earshot, Cloud Chaser fixed her sister with a glare of her own. "I don't hate her, but I don't like hanging around her for longer than an hour at a time."
"Why though?" Flitter forgot her anger in favor of genuine curiosity.
Cloud Chaser took a deep breath to calm her mind before answering. "Cloud Kicker is... she's just hard to deal with. You say she's funny, but most of her quote-unquote jokes are just gross. Not to mention how she talks about us." Cloud locked eyes with her sister, desperate to get her twin to understand. "It's bad enough other ponies talk, no matter how many times we explain ourselves. I know most ponies don't believe those rumors but it doesn't help when Kicker just fans the flames."
While Flitter tried coming up with a response, Lyra came back with their cheesy fries before leaving them be. They weren't exactly exuding friendly vibes at the moment. Flitter settled her head on the table and studied the effervescent drink in front of her as she spoke very carefully as to not further upset her twin. "I hear you Cloudy. I didn't realize you felt so strongly, but I understand. I get frustrated when I'm forced to justify the fact that I live with my sister, and that I'm not interested in finding a special somepony." She glanced up at her sister who looked deep in thought. "Why would I abandon my best friend for a stranger? Why is that so hard for ponies to understand?"
"So why are you okay with Kicker making those crude jokes about us?" Cloud Chaser ate a few fries and took a drink of her cider, her frayed nerves from earlier being drowned out by delicious food.
Flitter went back to studying her drink, grabbing a single fry with her tongue. "I'm not sure. I guess because she actually understands, so it feels like an inside joke." Flitter grabbed another few fries and actually started chewing before taking a quick sip of her own cider.
Cloud gulped down a bit more of her drink. "I guess I never thought about it like that, but... I still don't like it. She might not mean anything by it, but I still don't like it. I don't think its funny. I guess there's no harm if she makes those jokes around you, but if I'm with you, I'd just appreciate it if she didn't make those jokes."
Flitter sat up and reached over the table to her sister's hoof. "Hey, that's totally fine. The next time I see her I'll let her know. She might be a bit much some time, but she respects boundaries."
"Thanks Flits. It would be nice to hang out with Kicker without having to keep my temper under control." After sharing a smile, they both smirked, and began to scarf down their food and chug their drinks in a desperate bid finish their meals first. Despite Cloud's small head start, Flitter managed to finish three seconds faster. "How do you always win?"
Flitter smirked as she looked down her muzzle at her sister. "Years of practice and dedication. Maybe if you apply yourself, you'll be able to surpass me one day."
"If you say so, feather brain."
"Ugh, my wings are really bugging me," Cloud Chaser complained as she alighted upon their cloud home's entry way. Flitter was already inside.
"Why didn't you have me preen you this morning before we left?" Flitter's voice came from their living room.
"Because it wasn't bugging me as much then, and... I kinda forgot about it after breakfast." She carefully made her way inside, her wings partially outstretched, trying not to irritate her feathers further. Still, she grimaced every other step as her feathers refused to stay perfectly still.
Flitter padded the cloud floor inviting her sister to join her. Cloud Chaser slowly made her way over and plopped down on her stomach before fully stretching out her wings. "Yikes Cloudy! Didn't I preen these a few days ago? Your wings look like you flew through a tornado." All along Cloud's light blue wings, there were about a dozen feathers sticking up, twisted, or broken. "Honestly, if this is how you treat your wings, I'll have to just preen you every day."
As Flitter laid down next to her sister and started her work, Cloud smirked. "Oh no, how terrible. Having to be preened every day by my sister? Please, have mercy." Her snark earned her a wing smack to the back of her head.
"Keep it up and I'll just leave you to preen yourself. Normally I'd assume the sad state of your wings meant you don't even know how. However, if that was the case, my wings would be just as messed up as yours. So what's up Cloudy?" As she spoke, Flitter started on the left wing, gently licking and nipping the base of the feathers to stimulate their oil glands. She then worked her way along each primary feather, applying the oils as she went. Whenever she encountered a misaligned feather, she'd twist and nudge each into their proper place.
Cloud Chaser let out a sigh as she relaxed under her sister's ministrations. "Honestly Flits? I have no idea why my wings got messed up today. Maybe it was from flying with damp wings in the cold this morning, maybe I messed up some feathers in the shower. They don't usually get this bad, but- OW!"
Flitter spit out a broken feather before resuming her work. "Sorry sis, but it hurts less when you don't see it coming. Plus, I can't have you falling asleep on me just yet. You've got to repay the favor when I'm done." Cloud Chaser twisted her head back to glare at her sister, but didn't complain further as she went back to resting her head on her front hooves. It wasn't long until she was lulled back into a state of semi conscious relaxation.
Just as Flitter finished working the last primary, she noticed an odd lump. Peeling apart the feathers she noticed a few detached secondary and downy feathers clumped up together. "Huh, looks like you got some molted feathers mixed in between some of your primaries." After yanking out the irritant with her teeth, she smoothed the primaries down once again before moving to the right wing. "Just another thing that could have been prevented with daily preening."
Cloud Chaser cooed in delight at the loss of the irritant. "Oh mare sis, you have no idea how annoying that's been. I can finally move my wing around again!" In demonstration, she fully stretched out her left wing before folding it back and repeating the process a few more times. When she felt content, she let it fall lazily back to the ground.
The right wing was definitely in better shape, which wasn't saying much but at least there weren't any broken feathers that Flitter could see. Just as with the left wing, she nipped and licked at the base of the feathers to draw out the preening oil before gently spreading it over each wing with her lips and tongue. Despite all her complaints, Flitter enjoyed the physical intimacy that came from preening. Weather the one preening or being preened, it always relaxed her.
Until they learned to preen themselves, their mother would do it for them once a week as foals, then every other day after their first molt until they learned to do it themselves. For the first few years, their wings were to small to reach themselves so they just preened each other. Once they could reach their own feathers the twins started preening themselves, but always made time once a week to check each other's work.
Today had been a bit of an anomaly. Just three days since their last mutual preening. "Cloudy? Have you preened yourself at all the last few days?" Cloud Chaser didn't answer, so Flitter yanked on a feather to get her attention.
Cloud's head shot up as she howled in pain. "Ow! I'm awake! I didn't fall asleep! Geez you didn't even pluck that one. What gives?"
"Answer the question Cloudy. Have you been preening yourself the last two days?" Silence was her only answer. "Don't make me yank another one."
"Ugh, fine! No, I haven't been preening. Happy now?" Cloud smacked her head into their cloud floor and growled in frustration.
Flitter went back to work straitening out her sister's ruffled feathers. "Look Cloud, I'm not upset, but I would like to know why." She continued on in silence, the only noise being the distant sounds of foals playing in the snow outside and Cloud's incoherent grumbling.
When Flitter was half way done with the right wing, Cloud Chaser spoke up. "I... don't like preening my own wings. It's always such a pain, it takes forever to get it done properly, and I always end up missing a few ruffled secondaries. I know I should be able to do it myself. I'm a grown mare for Luna's sake, but... it's just annoying. So I just stopped doing it myself. Our weekly preening was doing fine for a while, but I guess once a week isn't enough."
Having finished both wings, Flitter walked around to face her sister before laying down again. She reached out a wing to hold her sister's muzzle up to face her. "Hey, all you had to do was ask. If I'm being honest, it bugs me too. I always enjoy the days we preen each other. I just never brought it up because I didn't want to bother you, but if you feel the same way, we can just preen each other every day."
Cloud visibly brightened at that news. "Really?"
"Yeah," Flitter said, getting herself settled on the floor opposite her sister. "Just like when we were fillies. Now how about you come return the favor for your favorite sister?"
"You're my only sister," Cloud shot back as she got closer to Flitter's right wing. "That said, you are my favorite pony."
"Same here feather brain." Flitter stuck her tongue out at her sister who returned the gesture before leaning down to work on her primaries.
Trying to find any out of place feather to start on, she had to pause for a moment at the sleek primaries in front of her. "Huh. You sure you want me to work on these sis? They already look good to me." In response Flitter violently shook up her wings in wild asymmetric patterns, overextending them to intersect above her and dragging them across the floor. That done, she once again draped her wings out for preening.
"You were saying?"
Cloud narrowed her eyes. "I was saying you're a massive brat and you're lucky I'm such a patient pony to deal with your horseapples."
"Hey! Watch your feather bucking language!"
"Make me brat."
"If you're gonna insult me, at least come up with something new."
"Do you want to keep exchanging insults or do you want me to preen your wings? You can't have both."
"Fine, you win this round, but this isn't over."
"If you say so Flits." Having finished their epic verbal sparring match, Cloud Chaser finally started working on her sister's wings. Just as Flitter did for her, she meticulously nipped and licked the base of her feathers until they secreted oil. While there weren't any broken feathers on Flitter's wings, most of her feathers were bent or twisted out of line. To start off, she coated the primaries with oil, and made sure realign them one at a time. Starting at the base of the wing limb, she nuzzled and licked her way along each primary until she reached the edge.
All the while Flitter mumbled her appreciation as she was gently lulled half asleep. When Cloud Chaser got up to work on the opposite wing, a wicked idea popped into her head. With a diabolical toothy grin on her face, she got situated in a good place to reach all the feathers. Once she had one of the bent feathers in her mouth, she quickly yanked it.
"Bucking horse feathers!" Flitter whipped her head to see her sister with a shit eating grin. If looks could kill, Cloud Chaser would have at least five broken ribs. "Why the buck did you do that?"
Cloud's grin stayed in place. "Can't have you falling asleep on me." Flitter narrowed her eyes, but instead of making a further fuss over it, she just tried to get comfortable again. Cloud Chaser, for her part, just went back to gently preening her sister. They were even now and she didn't want to incur any more wrath. She also didn't want to hurt her best friend.
Flitter managed to fall back into half consciousness by the time Cloud Chaser finished the final feather on her wing. "Not to toot my own horn, but I am really good at preening you"
Having been once again rudely roused, Flitter slowly stood back up, stretching her legs and wings before folding them back up. "Yeah, my wings do feel better than this morning. Though I'll have to deduct points for that unnecessary yank on the second wing."
"Hey, fair is fair. You pulled a broken feather, and yanked another one."
"Maybe, but I still give your work a B minus." As soon as she finished her leg stretches, Flitter made her way over to their cloud sofa. "Now come over here and give your sister some cuddles."
Cloud chaser narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in mock contemplation. "Hmm. If you insist." Without warning, she jumped over with the assistance of her wings and plopped right on top of her sister who grunted in discomfort, but still wrapped her in a full body six limb hug. "Told ya you can't keep me from cuddling you."
"Well I hope you're comfy, because we're not moving until I'm satisfied."
"But Flits, you're never satisfied with cuddles. You always want more."
"Then I guess we're never moving from this spot, Cloudy."
Cloud Chaser nuzzled into the chest floof beneath her until she was fully comfortable. "Good thing this is my favorite spot in the world." The pair had matching smiles. One holding her sister as close as possible. The other being lulled to sleep by her favorite sound in the world, her twin's heart beat.
"Hey Cloudy?"
"Yeah Flits?"
"Do we have any plans for Hearth's Warming?"
"Well, Twilight's gonna be coming to town to co-host the Hearth's Warming party. We could go visit mom and dad in Cloudsdale, or we could spend the day on the beach of Applewood. I heard Celestia and Luna are looking for volunteers for their snowball assault on Canterlot. Or we could roll the dice and ask Discord for suggestions. Fluttershy told me he's really mellowed out and can be a fun guy."
Flitter furrowed her brow in consternation. "Cloudy, those are all just options. Is there anything you want to do?"
Cloud craned her neck to look up into her sister's eyes. "I want to spend the day with you. I guess if I had to choose, I'd avoid Applewood because I don't like the heat. Other than that, you're all I need."
Flitter leaned down to kiss her sister's forehead before squeezing Cloud close and nuzzling her mane. "You're the best sister ever, ya know that?"
"That's impossible, my name isn't Flitter."
"Shut up. You're the best, and that's final."
"If you say so Flits."
Cloud happily went back to listening to the steady rhythm of Flitter's heart. "Hey Flits?"
"Yeah Cloudy?"
"I love you."
"Love you too sis."
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
