A completely exhausted faded purple-coated pegasus barged in through the front door of her house. Upon taking a few steps inside, she immediately collapsed onto the living room couch. Working at Cloudsdale Weather Factory was never an easy job for Cloudchaser. Each day, she would return home more exhausted than the last. Constantly having to manufacture clouds, ship them off, and even on occasion plant them in specific regions around Ponyville takes a lot out of you, believe it or not. If only she had as much agility as her boss Rainbow Dash.
It's not as easy as it sounds: having to work at a weather factory. Weather control is a very complicated and delicate process. One small flaw in the system and everything gets screwed up. Tampering with weather clouds is very dangerous. If you don't do it right...ZAP electrocution! If the rainbow mixture isn't brewed correctly, the whole batch could be contaminated and the rainbow would look horrible.
At this point, Cloudchaser's sister, Flitter, entered the living room. She too had an exhausting day at work. Flitter works as a waitress at a nearby sports bar and grill. Sounds easy enough right? Nope. Flitter has the laziest boss in all of Ponyville. All the employees take advantage of him and skip out on work while still getting paid, and he doesn't even notice. Most of the time she finds herself running the entire place alone, save for one of the chefs. Good thing he always shows up, if Flitter was alone in the bar she would probably kill herself ordering, cooking, waiting, bartending, and cleaning all at once.
"I take it you had a easy day at work too?" Cloudchaser sarcastically said.
Flitter groaned and sat next to her sister on the couch. She slouched back on the couch as much as she could to get the most comfortable position. Her back ached from cleaning the entire bar all by herself. "Rocky didn't show up today...again, and neither did any of the others. So I had to take orders, make drinks, and clean EVERYTHING! Lazy drunken bastard. At least Chef was there. I don't know what I would do if one day he doesn't show up." Flitter re-adjusted her position on the couch, sighing contentedly.
Cloudchaser sighed. "Rainbow assigned me to carry out the rainstorm for Ponyville on Thursday. I had to get a team together to manufacture the clouds, inspect them, and store them until then. Only problem was, somehow instead of rainclouds, I got SNOWclouds! I specifically filed for rainclouds, somepony down in registration must have screwed up. Long story short I had to stay overtime to fix everything."
"Jeez," Flitter commented. "Well, at least your boss isn't a lazy good for nothing drunk. And you had a team of weather ponies to help you. All I got is Chef."
Cloudchaser raised her brow. "Even with a team it's still VERY hard work. Factories ain't no fun 'n games ya know."
"I'm just saying, you have a lot more ponies to help you out. I have to do almost everything myself."
"Even with their help it's still a lot of weight on my shoulders. If I'm not coordinating rainstorms, I'm on the line making clouds. If I'm not on the line, I'm in the field placing clouds."
"It's practically stand in one place and tell ponies what to do, or stand in one place and fiddle with clouds, or fly around and place them. Doesn't sound so hard to me." Flitter shrugged.
Cloudchaser scoffed. "Are you saying my job is easier than yours?"
Flitter sat up to be at eye level with her sister. "Well, yea. I know factories can be dangerous, but at least you have ponies everywhere to lend you a hoof. I have barely any help and have to be around obnoxious stallions that constantly make immature sex jokes and harass me all day. No offence, but you seem to have it easier."
Cloudchaser stood up, giving Flitter an offended look. "I have the harder life? Well yours sounds like heaven compared to mine! All you have to do is write down what ponies want to order, give it to Chef, make some drinks in between, and give it to them."
It was Flitter's turn to stand up and defend herself now. "AND I have to wash the dishes--"
"Pssh."
"--Clean up all the leftover food and mop the entire restaurant--"
"Pssh."
"--Clean up any vomit when some drunken idiot drinks too much. Not to mention the harassment I get from stallions when I'm off work!"
Cloudchaser blinked and hesitated to answer. "I'll give you that one. But I have to make sure every cloud isn't active on the line. Make sure that all clouds go to their designated quadrants when I'm in the field. Make sure I receive every new shipment of clouds and rainbow mixture when I'm in the office, and make sure everything is accounted for and stored in the right place. It's all mentally exhausting! And I still have to make time for Thunderlane in between shifts."
"Please. I bet if I were you I'd do a better job," Flitter taunted.
Cloudchaser wanted so badly to yell at her sister. To tell her off completely. Working at the factory was hard! It was mentally and physically exhausting. Plus having to make time for her coltfriend, Thunderlane, and her friends. But Flitter claims that her life is a lot harder! If only they could switch places to prove once and for all who has the harder life.
Wait a second...switch places. That could possibly work out. Cloudchaser and Flitter are identical twins. The only way to tell them apart are their manestyles. With just a little work they could totally look like the other. Cloudchaser smiled as this thought came to light. Oh yes, this would work out.
"You know what," Cloudchaser said after a few seconds of silence. "I have an idea, come over here." Flitter followed her sister with curiosity to the bathroom. Cloudchaser rifled through a few drawers and cabinets to find some mane brushes and makeup. Once all the necessary components were found, she sprawled them out on the counter.
Flitter looked at the all the stuff on the counter, then at Cloudchaser. "What's all this for?"
Cloudchaser devilishly smiled, "watch." Reaching to the back of her head, she pulled out the clips in her hair and allowed her mane to rest flat on her head and droop down to her shoulders. She reached over to Flitter and pulled her bow off her head. Taking her manebrush, Cloudchaser tinkered with her mane a little. A little bit here, there and...done. Flitter looked at the mirror and saw two reflections of herself.
"Ok..." Flitter said slowly. "You look exactly like me, but what does that have to do with---" It hit her like a truck of bricks. "Ceecee, you're a genius! We can switch places!" Flitter clopped her hooves in excitement. "Now we can determine who has the harder life!" Flitter started for the makeup and hair clips to make herself look like her twin, but a thought came to her mind halfway through reaching for the clips. "Wait wait wait! What are we going to do about our cutie marks?"
Cloudchaser froze up. She's right. Even though they are twins, they don't have the same cutie marks. Surely somepony will notice that her sister has the other's cutie mark and find them out. How will they go about that? Wear a long saddle and hide it? No, can't wear saddles at the factory. Maybe if she could cover it up...with paint...of the other's mark. A light bulb appeared over Cloudchaser's head and she bolted out the bathroom door to another room, leaving behind a very confused Flitter who pondered how it was possible that a light bulb conjured itself above her sister's head.
Cloudchaser returned a few moments later with a bunch of body paint. Flitter would ask about how she got them, but it doesn't matter at this point. Cloudchaser reached for the paint brush and, using her artistic skills from art class in high school, painted an exact copy of her cutie mark on her sister's flank.
Flitter turned and looked at herself in the mirror. "Hmmm, that's pretty good actually. It looks real."
Cloudchaser examined it from a closer angle. "As long as nopony stuffs their face in your flank, you'll be fine." Cloudchaser squealed in delight. "This is going to be awesome! I get to be you tomorrow, and you get to work in the factory!"
"Hold on a sec, don't you have a date with Thunderlane tomorrow?" Flitter asked.
"Yes I do," she calmly stated.
Flitter giggled. "Aren't you scared I'm gonna do something to your man?"
"You? Hah! Don't make me laugh, you're not a threat. You don't even swing that way." Cloudchaser winked.
Flitter looked offended. "I am NOT a fillyfooler!"
Cloudchaser put her hooves up defensively. "Right...just like you 'don't' have a thing for Fluttershy."
Flitter slightly blushed and tried to hide it with part of her mane. She looked around quickly and started to sweat. "I..I..I don't have a 'thing' for Fluttershy!"
Cloudchaser said nothing as she exited the bathroom and weaved right to Flitter's room. Her sister followed with curiosity. Cloudchaser simply went into her room, opened her closet, and kicked the wall with her back leg. A small shake was followed by the raining of papers from the top of Flitter's closet. Cloudchaser took one of the papers in her mouth and opened it to reveal a poster of Fluttershy when she was a model for Photo Finish.
"That doesn't mean anything!" Flitter yelled defensively. "I just enjoy fashion, so I picked up a few posters when she was a model! It was a coincidence!"
Cloudchaser laid the poster on the floor and pointed to some writing on the bottom. "Almost all these posters are autographed."
"So?!"
"And all the autographs have hearts around her name."
"That's just the way she signs!"
"No, that's the way you told her to sign it when you got the autograph."
Flitter was beat, her sister had bested her at her own game. She was out of options and had to think of something to get rid of her. "Get out of my room! I'm going to bed."
(\/);,;(\/)
"Flitter! Get your lazy flank up!" Cloudchaser banged on the door to Flitter's room with enough force to break if off its hinges. The pony in question was sound asleep, resting with the blanket covering everything but her head.
Cloudchaser wasted no more time, she leaned back and BUCKED the door inward. This time, Flitter did wake up with a yelp and hugged her teddy bear that she had in her bed as hard as she could. Upon noticing the stuffed bear, Cloudchaser blinked and looked at Flitter with wide eyes.
Flitter locked gazes with her sister and held the same expression as her. Slowly, ever so slowly, Flitter gently placed the teddy bear down on the bed, slowly moving it under her pillow while still keeping her gaze locked with Cloudchaser. A few seconds of awkward silence loomed in the air.
"Get up, Flit." Cloudchaser said, completely erasing the bear from her memory. "You need to get ready for work."
Flitter yawned. "Get ready?" She turned to her window and lowered the blinds. "The sun isn't even up yet!"
"Weather waits for nopony, sis. Now get up and make yourself look like me!" Cloudchaser went to the bed and grabbed Flitter's tail in her mouth. She reared back and yanked Flitter off the bed. She impacted the floor with a thud and another yelp. "You got one hour."
(\/);,;(\/)
An hour later, Flitter's mane was styled up just like Cloudchaser's and vise versa. While Flitter was making herself look like her sister, Cloudchaser had been doing the same. Once Cloudchaser painted on both of their cutie marks (Because Flitter can't paint to save her life) they both double checked to make sure they looked exactly like the other. When the two were ready, Cloudchaser flew with Flitter to the weather factory while giving a rundown on exactly what to do in each position. Whether it be on the line, the field, or a coordinating position.
They touched down at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory after a short flight. Cloudchaser made sure that Flitter got all the information she needed, then turned to leave. Before leaving, Flitter called out to her sister.
"Ceecee wait!"
Cloudchaser turned around and landed back on the cloud. "What's up?"
Flitter looked around to make sure there was nopony around. "What if we're compromised? What if somepony notices?"
Cloudchaser placed her hoof on her chin in thought. "Alright, if somepony notices that you aren't me, or vice versa, you get the BUCK outta there and come find me. We re-swap and go back to normal."
"Alright, got it."
Cloudchaser outstretched her arms and hugged Flitter. "Good luck, sis."
"You too."
(\/);,;(\/)
And so began the epic journey of Flitter at the weather factory. Today, she was first assigned by Rainbow Dash to work on the line, tampering with thunderclouds to make sure they are safe to handle and not malfunctioned. Using what she remembered from Cloudchaser and from school that taught basic pegasi anatomy and abilities, she was able to (somewhat) manipulate the thunderclouds.
There were times when she made a slight mistake and accidently electrocuted herself, but least the shocks were minor zaps instead of full blown lighting. After an hour or so she had gotten used to the shocks. Being a pegasi, it is required that all foals that reach a certain age attend a weather school. The one Flitter and Cloudchaser attended was called Force of Nature. The schools taught pegasi how to deal with clouds, make clouds, make rain or snow, craft wind drafts, wind currents, and manipulate other acts of weather. During the attendance at the school, Flitter had been shocked a multitude of times by both minor and major lighting clouds.
This isn't so bad! Why does Ceecee complain all the time? Without warning, as if the machine was waiting for Flitter to say those words, the clouds sped up. Flitter shook her head and doubled her efforts, tampering with the thunderclouds and sending them in the right manufacturing lines for stable or unstable clouds. After a few minutes, sweat began to form a thin coat over her fur.
The clouds never seemed to stop! It was constant thundercloud after thundercloud after thundercloud! And even worse, Flitter was sure the machine was speeding up! As quickly as her hooves could, she kept checking each cloud that passed her. It became so overwhelming that eventually she messed up multiple clouds and sent them down the wrong line! Various flashes of lights and yelps from further down the line were seen and heard, but Flitter ignored them. Every strand of concentration was focused on the black clouds.
This was too much! She couldn't take much more of this! The clouds were now piling themselves around her as she tried to push them off to the side and deal with them later when (or if) this machine decides to slow down. Suddenly, all the piled up thunderclouds behind her began to sizzle and crack. All the clouds being rubbed up against each other created large amounts of static. Without warning, a great arch of electricity flew from the collective thunderclouds and impacted Flitter, sending her screaming in the air and falling to the floor.
A small crowd of pegasi gathered around her. Flitter's coat was full of soot and her mane and tail was streaked in every which way. Her eyes were rolling around in her head as she tried to recover from being electrocuted. Rainbow Dash heard all the commotion and made her way to Flitter.
"Whoa whoa! Cloudchaser, you ok?" Rainbow said as she helped Flitter up.
Flitter winced at the minor burns she received. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine."
Rainbow shot Flitter a confused look. "What's wrong with your voice?"
Flitter froze up instantly. Crap! They never thought of their voices! Quickly, think of an excuse! "Umm, sore throat?"
Rainbow shrugged, she seemed to buy it. "You feeling ok? If not, you could go home and I'll get somepony else to do it."
"No really, I'm ok."
"I could move you to a different position...coordination maybe?"
Flitter looked back at the catastrophe she caused, then to Rainbow with pleading eyes. "Yes, please."
(\/);,;(\/)
All the way on the other side of town, Cloudchaser prepared for her day working at the bar. After telling Flitter what to do at the factory, she immediately went over to the restaurant. There, she started prepping the kitchen and tables. Flitter had told her that Chef usually comes in around noon, when business starts getting crowded.
A little while later, Chef had came in through the back door and already started working. He hadn't noticed that Cloudchaser was already there yet. In that time, Cloudchaser had just finished cleaning the bar and noticed that the place was already partially crowded for lunch. She gulped and then proceeded to get the apron Flitter told her she had to wear while on the clock.
The apron was behind the bar doors inside the kitchen. There, she saw a dark brown-coated stallion wearing a chef's jacket and hat. Around him were various dirty pots and pans that were piled high. Some scraps of food were sprawled across the ground. Bits of lettuce, carrots, and some celery stalks. He was apparently trying to cook thirty things at the same time. All in all, the place was a disaster.
When the door to the kitchen closed, the stallion turned to see who was there. "Ah! Flitter! Good good you're here!" Chef then flipped a cutting board full of salad off the counter and onto a bowl. "Alright so, it's the middle of the lunch rush, and I am PACKED with orders, like usual. I need you to run out there and see if anypony needs anything else. If no, come back in here and help me wash the dishes. If yes, take their orders." He looked Cloudchaser in the eye with a pleading smile. "Ok?"
Chef wasn't the demanding type, but in situations like this, he had to be in his 'go go GO!' kind of mood. Cloudchaser could see that he was very stressed everyday working alone in the kitchen, but still, work had to be done. Curiosity kept Cloudchaser wondering how he and Flitter could put up with this almost every day. She quickly shook the thought out of her mind. Working at the factory was way harder.
Cloudchaser obeyed Chef's request and headed outside. There, she was pretty sure about twenty more ponies piled in to the bar. Gulping, she quickly weaved through the tables, asking them if they needed anything or a refill on their drinks. Very little were content with what they had. Cloudchaser found herself running back and forth from the kitchen to the tables and bar.
Flitter was right, she thought. Nopony else is here to help out. How in the name of Celestia does she do this almost all by herself?! She didn't have much time to contemplate with it, as more ponies piled in wanting her to take their orders. Carrying a tray of food on her back, she didn't notice that a foal had spilled a glass of water in front of her.
You all know what happens next. The evil slippery water so mischievously made her slip back on her hooves and send the tray flying through the air. All the patrons in the bar swiveled their heads to look at the upcoming catastrophe. The tray of hay fries, a grilled daffodil sandwich, and a medium soda soared through the air over a dozen customers until it finally zeroed in on its target.
It all happened too quickly. There was no warning. Just an innocent citizen that wanted to have a simple lunch. All that was torn away as the bar food impacted a stallion's face. His wife next to him shrieked. The soda had made the rest of the food mushy, making it stick to the poor pony's face. Some of the hay fries slowly dripped off onto the floor.
All Cloudchaser did was stare from her position on the floor. Well, this was it. She was going to get Flitter fired, and it was all her fault. What kind of sister is she? Cloudchaser would never hear the end of it. In retrospect, this could be a good thing. This job obviously sucks! No one is ever around; this place should go out of business.
In the wake of the devastation, the stallion held out his tongue. A lone hay fry, drenched in soda, slowly found itself hanging off his muzzle. He slightly shook his head to tear it loose from its perch until it fell onto his outstretched tongue. Without making any sudden, quick movements, he retracted his tongue, chewed, and swallowed.
"Needs more salt."
(\/);,;(\/)
Back at the factory, Flitter was struggling to hold up her end. Being moved to coordination wasn't as simple as she thought. Instead of physically working, now she had to stretch her brainpower and mathematical skills. Math...it is the bane of pony existence. It is the essence of a demonic being that rest in the deepest, darkest pits of Tartarus. Only the dead may know peace from this insanity.
She thought it wasn't important. She thought that after high school, everything they taught about math was completely irrelevant in the real world, such as graphing inequalities and long formulas that take forever to complete and if you mess up the slightest thing the entire equation is wrong! But no, now she must resurrect all those dead memories and once again use the formulas to calculate where to put the clouds, taking into consideration the wind speed of the area. She had the measure the amount of condensation to know what elevation to place the clouds, graph out where to put them to make sure the town and other areas got the appropriate measure of rain, and--
"AHHHHH!" Flitter swept her hooves across the desk and tossed all of its contents onto the floor. All right that's it! Cloudchaser has the harder job! Anything to do with the language of the demons (Math) is far worse than dealing with an entire restaurant by yourself! "I give up...."
Suddenly, Flitter felt a hoof on her shoulder that made her jump a little, and she turned to see Rainbow Dash looking at her with sympathetic eyes. "Cloudchaser, is everything ok? You've been acting weird all morning."
Flitter contemplated exposing herself or not. If she did, it would probably be really awkward and might get Cloudchaser in a lot of trouble. She sighed, "yeah, I'm fine. Just..um...I'm having some, some uh..." Quick, think of a good excuse! "Issues with...Thunderlane?" Flitter couldn't think of a good excuse, so throwing Cloudchaser's coltfriend under the bus was the next best thing.
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. "That lazy good for nothing excuse of a...what did he do to you? Did he hit you?!"
Flitter blinked. "No no! It's just some...arguments and stuff, nothing worth making a fuss about." She put on a sheepish grin.
Rainbow seemed unconvinced. "Don't worry Ceecee, I'll kick his flank for you!" She pounded her hooves together.
"Wait wait! You don't need to do that it's really no big--" Flitter was interrupted by her own thoughts. She had a flashback of a few weeks ago when Cloudchaser and Thunderlane had the biggest argument Flitter had ever heard. For a moment, she thought those two were going to do far worse then break up. After the argument, Thunderlane went to Flitter and tried to hit on her! Can you believe it?! Ever since then, Thunderlane never got Flitter's full respect anymore.
Now was a good time for revenge. "Actually...yeah...kicking his flank sounds like a good idea." She looked around the room to make sure there was nopony else there. "Nopony's gonna notice if we 'go out for lunch' for a bit will they?" Flitter wore a devilish grin.
Rainbow mirrored Flitter's grin. "Not at all, Ceecee. Not at all."
(\/);,;(\/)
Thunderlane was just minding his own business one faithful morning. Nothing important was going on today, so might as well spend it watching TV. He grabbed the remote and headed for his signature couch. His backside was just about to rest itself on the groove mark he had worn by sitting on it for so long, when a knock at the door came. He grumbled and lazily made his way over to answer it.
Rainbow Dash and Flitter stood at the doorway, both with devious grins on their faces. Thunderlane smiled nervously. "Oh, hey Rainbow Dash," he said with a deadpan voice. "And hey Ceecee," that time in a little more sultry voice.
The two mares entered the house and they flanked either side of Thunderlane. Rainbow, still holding her devious smile, placed her hoof under his chin. "Heyyyy, Thunderlane. How's it going?"
Thunderlane started to sweat, was Rainbow Dash coming on to him? With his marefriend right next to him?! "I'm um, I'm doing, uh, fine."
Flitter placed her one hoof on the side of his cheek, and the other on his back. "Hey Thunderlane, why don't we go upstairs, me and Rainbow want to...show you something."
SCORE!
Before he could think anymore, he found the two sexy mares already heading upstairs. He chased after them with newfound energy until they were all in the room. Still wearing their seductive smiles, Flitter and Rainbow got as close as possible to him.
Thunderlane felt a hoof placed on his chin again and his head was turned to the faded purple mare. Still with the seductive gaze on, she slowly leaned her head in until her lips were almost touching his ear. He could feel her breath against his ear as she whispered, "payback time."
This confused Thunderlane. He was about to question it, but was unable due to a stinging pain in between his legs. His pupils shrunk to pinpricks as the pain shot through him like a needle. He was barely able to let out a high pitched squeal before falling to his knees.
The two mares towered above him, leaving the poor stallion defenseless and full of fear. Slowly, they readied themselves for a powerful strike, aiming once again for his most vulnerable spot.
To the ponies outside the house, it sounded as if a little filly was screaming.
(\/);,;(\/)
Two pegasi, a faded purple one and a cyan one, fell to the floor laughing in the latter's office of the weather factory. Their escapade of pummeling poor Thunderlane at his home was too much to take in. Flitter was still in disbelief that it actually happened. After so long, she finally got back at him for trying to hit on her.
Rainbow Dash and Flitter laid on the floor for a few seconds, recovering air from their laughter. Rainbow was the first to get up. "Ceecee, that was awesome! Next time that jerk does anything to you or your sister, come find me. What exactly did he do to you?"
Flitter stayed silent for a few moments. "Well...a few weeks ago, he and I had a huge argument...I thought we would break up. We didn't, but a few days ago Flitter told me that after the fight he tried to hit on her! Can you believe that?!"
Rainbow Dash scowled. "That scumbag! Why are you still with him anyway?!"
"Well...um..." Flitter stumbled on her own words, trying to find the right ones. "He's always good at heart, and...we don't really fight much, it was mainly just that one that was even mentionable. I know he can be lazy..but...I don't know, he's a good pony when you get to know him." Flitter smiled, hoping she would believe her.
And it worked. Rainbow smiled. "Well, if you're happy with him then I don't see a problem. Anyway," she looked at the clock. "The thunderclouds should be ready for shipping. Do you think you can run the field?"
Flitter gulped. "Sure."
"Great! Here's the map." Rainbow handed Flitter a folded piece of paper.
Flitter inwardly sighed and examined the map. Some of it was the calculation and points she did while working at coordination. The rest was from somepony else who took her place when she was 'out to lunch.' The coordinates were scattered throughout the map of the skies over Ponyville, and Flitter's wings involuntarily shuddered at the thought of flying consistently for such a long time. The last time she flew this hard - or flew for more than a few minutes at all - was when all the pegasi in Ponyville were chosen to funnel water from the reservoir to Cloudsdale.
Flitter took one last gulp before flapping her wings and making her way to the hanger.
(\/);,;(\/)
It was late in the day now, and also the time for Cloudchaser to start serving drinks at the bar. At first, it was just a few beers or light girly drinks. An hour later was when the hard liquor was in demand. Stallions and mares were lined up on the bar stools awaiting their alcohol. Cloudchaser bounced from one end to the other mixing drinks and spilling most of the contents, forcing her to remix them.
Somewhere along the lines of serving, she stopped paying attention to how much alcohol she served to some of the patrons, resulting in a few drunken stallions. They started acting silly at first, telling stupid jokes and banging on the table. After another hour or so, one of them got violent.
Cloudchaser gulped once she finally noticed the stallion who had way too much to drink. Flitter warned her of such things and the possible outcomes. Cloudchaser made a mental note to keep track of the drinks she serves to ponies, lest another incident happen.
Unfortunately, the stallion got a little too violent. "HEY! Barmaid....another whishkey!"
Cloudchaser took a breath and tried to calm herself. "I'm sorry sir, but you've had too much as it is."
The stallion banged his hoof on the table, knocking over other patrons' drinks. "Too much?! HA! Lishen here mishy, give me another wishkey, or elsh!"
Flitter had told her of a method that would easily get rid of drunken patrons. Cloudchaser slowly reached under the bar to a shelf that contained a taser. Once she had a firm grip on it, she kept it concealed until the stallion made a risky move.
"Fine! If yer not gonna give it to me, I'll take it myshelf!" He then climbed over the bar table and fell on his back on the opposite side. Seeing the bottle of whiskey on the shelf above him, he reached out for it. He was unable to obtain the dark liquid as a shocking pain hit his back and tensed his muscles. He fell to the floor, all the energy drained out of him.
Cloudchaser poked her head in the kitchen and beckoned for Chef. "Could you help me get this idiot out of here, please?" she asked him.
Chef responded quickly as he had to get back cooking. He lifted the stallion by his shoulders while Cloudchaser lifted him by his legs. The two dragged him out of the bar and called for the police to pick him up. Once that was over, Chef immediately made a beeline to the kitchen to continue the orders.
"Hey, beautiful, watcha doing tonight?" another stallion, obviously drunk, asked her.
Cloudchaser sighed and ignored him. She tried to focus on making a plethora of beverages while still maintaining a count on the customers' drinks. She lifted up two bottles of varying alcohols and mixed them together. When she handed the drink to the customer, she heard a shattering sound at the end of the bar. Looking over she noticed that the drunken stallion who asked her what she was doing tonight had dropped his beverage. Groaning, Cloudchaser picked up a broom and mop and headed over to the spill.
She swept the broken glass into a pile and knelt down to sweep it into the dustpan. Once her rump had been exposed from bending over, the drunken stallion gave Cloudchaser a firm, quick smack on her flank. Cloudchaser's blood boiled to a rage as she stared the stallion down with steeling eyes. However, the stallion didn't flinch, but instead groggily bobbled his head and tried to lean in and kiss Cloudchaser. The pegasus just pushed him to the ground and ordered him to get out. Luckily, he was able to comply and exited the restaurant.
Finally, the patrons started to slow down, and Cloudchaser was aloud a moment to rest. She stuffed her face into her crossed arms. If I have to deal with another drunk I'm gonna- As if karma had been reading her mind, a group of stallions entered the bar. They all wore high class military uniforms with their medals and ribbons shining in the dim light. There were about nine in total. One of them, the most decorated, sat down across from Cloudchaser, swiveled in the bar stool, and yelled out to the entire bar in a booming command voice.
"Drinks are on me boys!"
And the entire bar cheered, and Cloudchaser contemplated whether to use the taser on herself.
(\/);,;(\/)
The hanger was on the far side of the weather factory. Wide open doors allowed easy access for large flying trucks picking up and dropping off shipments of weather supplies. A few large crates sat next to Flitter. Each crate was filled with a rain cloud or a rainbow. Her job was to tug the crates around and place the contents in the areas specified by the map.
Flitter looked at the map, then at the crates and gulped. This was going to be a long flight. She whimpered and stretched her wings, ready to take off. As soon as the upward draft lifted her in the air, the weight of the crates instantly dragged her down. This was all about strength, and towing. How in Equestria does Cloudchaser do this?! These crates weigh a ton!
She was able to lift the crates into the air with her after a few minutes. It took a lot of wing power, but she did it. It was only five minutes in the air before Flitter wanted to collapse. Her wings were burning as if somepony was pulling them off their joints. She panted heavily and started sweating bullets. Flitter was no flyer; she didn't spend much time in the air. She always preferred the ground where it was safer.
The last time she exerted this much wing power was during the Tornado event where every pegasus in Ponyville helped to funnel water from the reservoir up to Cloudsdale. Even then she barely made it out with her wings intact. But this? This was torture beyond all means.
Flitter made it to the first location and dropped off the cloud. One down, forty-five to go. She looked at the map to see the next nearest location. Five miles south. Fantastic...
(\/);,;(\/)
The day was finally over! Cloudchaser had just finished washing the dishes, mopping the floors, cleaning the tables, cleaning the bar, and now she was free! The day was hard...no, hard was an understatement. The day was the most dreadful day Cloudchaser had ever experienced. Everything she had said about Flitter she immediately took back. The fiery pits of Tartarus looked like a playground compared to this bar.
It was around seven at night when Cloudchaser was finally released from the restaurant. Usually Flitter gets out at about ten or eleven, but Cloudchaser came in a lot earlier than Flitter normally does. Cloudchaser just wanted to go home, take a shower, and SLEEP. The entire day was filled with agony, and she wasn't overexaggerating.
On her way home, she stopped at a fork in the road. One way was the route to her and Flitter's house, the other was towards the Everfree Forest. On the edge of the Everfree, there was a small neighborhood where a certain pegasus lives with a variety of animals.
A certain pegasus that Flitter had a crush on.
Cloudchaser smiled sisterly and proceeded toward the cottage. This act would be more of a benefit than a prank, or maybe both. It all depended on Fluttershy's reaction. Cloudchaser knocked on the door. A few moments later, the butter-colored pegasus answered.
She smiled at seeing Flitter (who was actually Cloudchaser). "Oh, hello Flitter! What are you doing here? If you don't mind me asking...that is."
Cloudchaser smiled. They're perfect for each other. "I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by to ask you something important."
Fluttershy stepped to the side of the doorway. "Ok then, come in."
Cloudchaser obeyed and made her way to the couch.
"Would you like a drink?" Fluttershy called from the kitchen.
"No thanks I'm fine."
"Oh, ok." Fluttershy proceeded over to Cloudchaser. "So what did you want to ask me?"
Cloudchaser smiled. Even though she was technically asking somepony out, she wasn't the least bit nervous. Mainly because she already had a coltfriend, and because she's pretending to be her sister. Even when that was the case, she still had to act a bit nervous to make it more believable. She fiddled with her hooves and didn't look Fluttershy in the eye. "Ok, so Fluttershy...I just wanted to say that I'm...that...I really like you, a lot, and I was wondering if we could go out sometime...maybe?" She gave her a small adorable grin.
Fluttershy blinked, then her entire face turned scarlet. She sat on the couch without saying a word for a long time. Each second, her face grew redder. Fluttershy tried to from words, but her vocal chords just up and left her throat momentarily. Cloudchaser started to think maybe she was a little too blunt. Fluttershy started to sweat, all of this came so suddenly.
Finally she was able to find her voice, which was just barely above a whisper. "Y-you a-are in l-love ...with m-me?" Cloudchaser nodded. "B-but why m-me?"
Cloudchaser smiled and brushed Fluttershy's mane from her face to gaze into her eyes. "Because, Fluttershy, you're an amazing mare. You are the cutest, most innocent pony I have ever had the honor to meet. I love the way you are always so kind and caring, how you are never mean to your friends, how much you care for everypony, and the way you take care of every little critter you see. And remember that time you jumped into the hurricane and gave us the last bit of wingpower needed to funnel the water up to Cloudsdale? That was the most bravest and amazing thing you have ever done. I knew at that moment that I wanted to be with you." She took Fluttershy's hoof in her own and held it.
Fluttershy was completely awestruck. There, sitting in front of her, was a beautiful mare that just confessed her love for her and gave her this very euphoric feeling that she had never felt before. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Cloudchaser's mesmerizing stare. Everything felt so...unreal to Fluttershy. She had known Flitter for so long, and they had been friends for quite a while, but she never expected her to have romantic feelings. Nopony has had feelings this strong for her than the mare sitting before her. All the other relationships that Fluttershy had never ended well. But Flitter....she would never do such a thing. Fluttershy felt calm and safe around her at that moment. She felt as if Flitter would protect her, and would love her like she always wanted. Real love. Not like those jerky superficial stallions.
And at that moment, Fluttershy closed her eyes, smiled, and knew everything was going to be alright. "Ok."
Cloudchaser silently cheered. "Really? You mean it?"
Fluttershy nodded and blushed, "yes."
Cloudchaser hugged Fluttershy. "Thanks, Fluttershy. I'll come by tomorrow and maybe we can go out to dinner or something? My treat?"
She smiled. "That sounds nice."
Flitter, you owe me BIG TIME!
(\/);,;(\/)
Flitter collapsed into the house, wanting to just die on the carpet from exhaustion. Never had she had to fly for this long and hard. It's completely blasphemous how Rainbow Dash never even touches the ground. Flitter was sure her wings went numb after the first hour, and now she would be surprised to find that they're still attached.
Meanwhile, Cloudchaser walked through the door with a smug smile on her face, but still showing she was exhausted by also collapsing on the carpet. Flitter rolled over on the floor and looked at her sister.
"I take it you had a horrible day too?" she said in between pants.
"Yep." Cloudchaser hated losing a bet to her sister, but she figured Flitter also had a terrible day, so they were even.
"Didn't I tell you it was hard maintaining an entire restaurant almost by yourself?"
Cloudchaser shivered at the memory of the drunken stallions. "Yep, what about you? Did you have a terrible day also?"
And so Flitter explained in full detail her entire day at the weather factory. How she kept getting shocked at the line to when she almost killed herself at coordination. Of course, she left out when Rainbow Dash went 'out to lunch' with her, and ended with how she almost crash-landed into the library while working at the field.
"Did you even pay attention in weather school?" Cloudchaser said.
"N-not really..."
Cloudchaser groaned. "Don't you know you're not supposed to poke a thundercloud too hard, or else it will burst?!"
"I'm sorry."
And then Cloudchaser explained her day at the restaurant. She started with having to prep everything before the place opened and then later dropping the tray of food onto a stallions face. They both laughed at that, but it died down as Cloudchaser got to the part with the drunken stallions and the military stallions. She then ended with telling her sister she hooked her up with Fluttershy.
"You did WHAT?!"
Cloudchaser bumped Flitter's shoulder with her elbow. "I totally got you a date with Fluttershy."
Flitter scowled at her sister, but it eventually turned to a grin as she grabbed Cloudchaser in a bone crushing hug, "THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!! I love you so much, sis!"
Cloudchaser returned the hug. "No need to thank my awesomeness."
"You're the best sister ever!"
"I know."
Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Flitter went over to answer it. She nearly dropped dead at what she saw. Standing at the door was a black pegasus stallion with a black eye, bloody nose, and bandages and bruises laced over his coat. He stared at Flitter with murder in his eyes.
"Cloudchaser!" he yelled. "What the hell has gotten into you!" Flitter took a few steps back in fear.
Cloudchaser entered the room. "What's going on?" She saw the state of Thunderlane and worriedly asked, "What happened?!"
Thunderlane held out a bruised hoof. "This doesn't concern you, Flitter. This is between me and Cloudchaser." He turned to Flitter. "Why the hell did you and Rainbow Dash beat me up in my own home?!"
Cloudchaser turned to Flitter, stabbing her with steeling eyes. "You did this to him?!"
Flitter shrunk into the corner and started whimpering. She was unable to answer Cloudchaser on account of her penetrating her soul with her gaze.
Cloudchaser nearly grabbed the closest object and chucked it at Flitter. "What the buck, Flit?! I set you up with Fluttershy and you beat up my coltfriend?!"
Thunderlane blinked. "Wait what?"
Cloudchaser huffed and took the bow out of her mane, as well as smear the paint on her flank. "I'm Cloudchaser you featherbrain! We swapped places and Flitter was the one who beat you up." She turned to Flitter, "what the hell Flitter?!"
If Flitter could shrink even lower to the floor she would have. "I'm sorry! It wasn't my fault!"
Cloudchaser scowled. "What do you mean? Did you not kick my coltfriend's flank?"
Flitter nodded meekly.
"Why Flitter?! Why the buck would you just go up and beat up Thunderlane?! Do you have something against him?"
Flitter whispered, "yes."
Cloudchaser rolled her eyes. "What could he have possibly done to make you want to do this to him?"
"Remember when you had that fight a while back?"
Cloudchaser nodded.
"Well after that, he tried hitting on me! He came up to me, a-and started to flirt with me, and..." her voice trailed off to a whimper.
A dead, eerie silence permeated the room. Nopony moved, or even blinked. The tension was so tight it could be cut by a knife. Thunderlane, now exposed, started to panic. How would he explain this to his marefriend? After a few eternities of a stalemate, Cloudchaser turned to Thunderlane. "Get out, now."
Thunderlane looked at her, shocked. "B-but--"
"NOW!" The black pegasus didn't have time to oblige as Cloudchaser flew forward and pushed him out the door. She then turned to Flitter and helped her get up. Cloudchaser hung her head low as she sat on the couch.
Flitter soon joined her and hesitantly said, "I'm sorry, Ceecee."
Cloudchaser sighed. "No don't be. He was a jerk and you were right to kick his flank." She looked up and smiled at her. "I'll be ok, really. At least you have somepony to love now."
Flitter gulped. "So that's it? You're going to break up with him?"
"Seems like it."
A tear almost came to Flitter's eye. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I just wanted to get back at him."
Cloudchaser put her arm around her sister. "Really, it's ok Flit. You just don't hit on your girlfriend's sister." She sighed. "I have to ask though, why Rainbow Dash too?"
Flitter half-heartedly chuckled. "She was just looking out for me...well um, you."
Cloudchaser made a mental note to thank Rainbow Dash, and also tell her the truth about the whole incident. She looked to the clock. "It's getting late, we should head off to bed."
"Yeah, you're right."
(\/);,;(\/)
Months later things between Flitter and Fluttershy were going along fantastically. The two were perfect for each other, and they were already saying 'I love you' to each other. Flitter never stopped thanking Cloudchaser since the day they switched places, even though Cloudchaser had smacked her a few times to make her stop.
As for Cloudchaser, she and Thunderlane got back together. After that day, Thunderlane practically pleaded and bawled to Cloudchaser to take him back. Cloudchaser agreed but she made him promise to change his lazy attitude and apologize to Flitter. The stallion was true to his word, and he had been arguably twenty times better that the old Thunderlane. The two sisters never regretted the day they swapped places, for it changed their lives forever.
Now, Cloudchaser and Flitter were lazily laying around and watching TV together. When a commercial came on, Cloudchaser turned to Flitter. "So I got a date tomorrow with Thunderlane. I was thinking we could do a double date?"
Flitter pondered the thought for a few seconds and smiled. "That sounds like fun! I'll go talk to Fluttershy."
And at that moment, a gear clicked in both their heads. The two simultaneously faced each other. As if their minds were one, they both had the same idea. The same sinister idea. The same idea that they had months ago. The same devious idea to prove who had the harder life, but now turned into a prank. They both smiled wickedly at each other.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Cloudchaser said.
Without saying a word, Flitter reached up and grabbed the bow on her head and casually tossed it over to Cloudchaser.
