Tensions

The sunrise that fell upon Canyon Run the next morning graced the town with a gentle warmth that evaporated the freshly fallen dew. With the aid of light to guide their paths, ponies groggily opened up their shops and homes for visitors. Near the northernmost edge of the giant plateau that held the town so far above the canyon floor was the cliff house of the Thunder family. Inside, young Sprinkle and her mother Cirrus busied themselves in the kitchen. Upstairs, Gale and Gust found more enjoyment in sleeping through the morning than doing anything productive.

The day before the colts had tired themselves out mentally over their dates with Twist and Sweetie Belle. Now they slept peacefully where they dropped the night before. Neither had mentioned their plans, for fear of jinxing themselves so early before that wonderful Thursday arrived. The only thing the colts had to fear on this particular morning was a rather rude awakening. Gale, who had fallen asleep at his chemistry table shifted in his sleep. The result of the innocent movement was sending a beaker of concentrated dinitrophenol over the edge of the table.

Any chemist already knows what happened next. The very moment the glass shattered, the contents exploded, giving a wakeup call to anypony still asleep in Canyon Run, let alone the two rubbing the ringing from their ears at ground zero.

A mare flew into the room using a door found in the floor near what used to be Gust's bed. "What happened!?" she screamed.

Gale dropped down from the wall where an end table had him pinned. "What?!"

The family spent the next few minutes trying to get a bearing on what happened. When the deafness finally faded away, Cirrus, their mother, was finally able to get an explanation. "Gust, what have I told you about this?"

The colt winced, more from the scold than the alcohol soaked bandage she placed over one of his small cuts. "I'm sorry, mother."

"You're both lucky you just got a few scrapes and scratches", she told them, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Ugh", agreed Gale, "Me too! Can I have just one, repeat one morning where you don't try to kill us?"

"It was an accident, you dolt!" Gust retorted.

"Boys!"

Not another peep came from them. Cirrus was a forced to be reckoned with when her blood pressure was high, and as she returned to her EMT days to treat her foals, it wasn't going any higher. Once the bruise covering Gust's whole left hoof was bandaged, Cirrus returned her medical box to the top of the fridge. "I'm glad I sent Sprinkle out for blueberries…" She turned. "Now that I know my sons are okay, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Wait, we're not grou—"

Gust quickly stifled his brother with a jab to his sore wing. "Anything is fine, mother."

"So, what do you have planned for society today", she asked, turning to grab a few eggs from the fridge. "Aside from trying to destroy it."

"Me and Gust are going out today to practice some new moves!"

"What else is new?" she laughed. Cirrus was plenty used to her son's one-track mind. No matter what happened, Gale was going to fly, even if stricken with ponypox or the feather flu. "What about you, Gust?"

He snapped up from his thoughts. "Oh, um…I plan to continue researching an alternative to heat-based reactions for my fireworks."

"After we practice", Gale declared firmly.

Gust reclined in his chair to mull over his thoughts. And to Cirrus's surprise Gale didn't pester his brother to make sure that's exactly what they were going to do after breakfast. While the butter in her frying pan sizzled, she pondered what could be keeping the two silent. Usually she loved the quiet; three bickering foals were almost the opposite of peace and quiet, and this morning's chemistry disaster only further proved it. However Gale and Gust were seated at the table in total quiet. Whatever had their tongues in a vice had her curiosity in a death grip.

Every so often, she would glance back to see two continuous stares gazing vaguely past her. "Where have I seen that look before", she asked the over-medium eggs in pan. The toaster dinged, snapping her back from her days in Cloudsdale's flight academy. She smirked; everything made sense.

By the time their breakfast had finished frying, both colts were nearly drooling in their daze. The plates Cirrus slid to them from across the table snapped them right out of it. Without so much as an acknowledgment, they started to savagely tear the eggs and toast apart. Their mother, a smug look masking her face, sat opposite of them.

She propped her face up and leaned over the table. "So...which of you boys want to tell me first."

"Tell you what, Mom?" asked Gale.

"About the little fillies you like."

Cemeteries longed for the kind of eerie stillness that filled the kitchen. The size of the boys' eyes were almost the size of their mother's grin when she decided to speak again. "Go on, tell me. Who are you two chasing after?"

"I don't like anypony", proclaimed Gale, returning to what remained of his breakfast.

"Oh, you don't, huh?"

"Not a chance!"

"What's her name, Gust?"

"Sweetie Belle, mother." The colt immediately regretted that. There was an earful from Gale with his name on it in the near future. Gale glared at him; it was way too dangerous to scream at his sibling in close quarters to Cirrus.

"Isn't she one of Breezy's friends from Ponyville?"

Gale nodded slowly. "Yeah…But Gust likes a filly too!"

"I already know that, thank you." She turned to the pony in question, who was three inches from escaping his chair and fleeing Equestria altogether. "Gust, would you care to tell me her name?"

He kept quiet, unwilling to sate his mother's hunger for embarrassing him. His gaze found something else much more interesting in the flower pot sitting on the windowsill. Though he wasn't making eye contact, the weight of his mother's patience pressed down on him in the way that it always did when he ignored it: with a vengeance. "…Peppermint Twist."

Unfamiliar with the name, Cirrus inquired, "Is she a filly from Ponyville too?"

He replied with a small nod. No longer having any remaining breakfast, Gust struggled to find something to avoid the mare he presently dreaded was his mother. Her eyes darted back and forth from him to Gale, keeping each of them glued to their chairs. "Do either of you plan to see them soon?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, the next time we gotta take Sprinkle to Ponyville."

Cirrus reclined in her chair. "Why just then? You can go whenever ya want, ya know?"

Gale shot into the air. "Seriously?"

"Yep. School's out for the summer, and you two are old enough to come and go as you please."

"Whoa! Even right now?"

"I'm not done with you yet."

"Ugh!"

"Chill out, Gale. I just want to know one more thing."

Gust shifted anxiously. "And that would be?"

"Do you plan to take them anywhere for a date? Or do I have to handle that for you?"

The tensioned that started to ease tightened tauter than before. That tidbit of personal information wasn't going to come out under the usual methods. As their mother, Cirrus knew of more ways to probe her foals for information. "I guess not. I you weren't even thinking about it."

Gale landed abruptly. "Why?"

She laughed, "My sons are all way too chicken to ask a girl out."

"Hey! For your information, I'm already taking Sweetie Belle on a date after Ponyville's flying competition!"

"And I have plans with Twist, too."

"Is that right?"

Gale and Gust exchanged horrified glances. She had done it again. Cirrus had pulled every single detail she wanted to know right out of them, and, now that they had let their mouths strand them in her knowing, it was time to come forward with the exact particulars of their dates that they knew she wanted them to tell her.

"Twist and I are going to a Ponyville museum."

When Cirrus turned her attention on him, Gale took his turn. "And Sweetie Belle's taking me somewhere after I win the competition. I don't know where."

"I'm glad neither of you had planned on anything romantic for a first date. It's a good thing to get to know them first. One last thing: when are these dates?"

"Thursday."

Gust may as well have kicked his brother in the face, because the peace of the morning was officially gone. "What!?" Gale screamed. "Thursday's when the competition is! How are you going to perform with me!?"

Gale recoiled. "I-I had no ide—"

"No! You know what? Forget it! You said you were gonna keep flying by me, but you lied!" The upset Pegasus shot out of the kitchen before anypony could consider a way to calm him back down.

Gust, completely shaken, slowly turned his head back to Cirrus, who apparently was only half as shocked he was. "I-I honestly didn't know…"

She sighed. "I knew this day would come…"

"What day?"

She stood up. "Come on, I'll show you."

The living room wasn't a far walk, yet Gust still had the confusion he would've had no matter where in the house she brought him. She pointed to the pictures on the mantle and walls. "Look at the pictures of Gale and tell me what they all have in common."

He studied each of the framed photos carefully. His brother's cocky grin was one thing each of them had captured, but Gust had a feeling that wasn't what his mother wanted him to see. He kept staring around until it clicked. "He's never alone in any of them."

"Now tell me why."

Puzzled, Gust turned back to the pictures. This time, he saw something more specific about who was always in the older twin's company. "Because I am in every one of them as well. As a matter of fact, I'm not alone in any of them either…"

"That's right." Cirrus put a hoof on her son's shoulder and motioned to the photos as a whole. "Since birth you guys have always been friends. Nothing in Equestria could've ever separated you."

"And now we're being forced apart?"

She nodded. "I'm an operational forecaster not a psychologist, but I think that Gale needs your company and attention to function. Now he thinks you're abandoning him. I wasn't so worried about you because you think way more reasonably than he does. If I didn't have to work in Cloudsdale for most of the year I would've been able to ease you two away from each other."

"What do we do?"

Cirrus shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe if we can show him that he doesn't need you or that you still have his back he may not be so upset."

"I wonder…" Gale closed his eyes to think. "Perhaps it's possible to show him both…"

She liked the sound of that. "Okay, brainiac, how do we do that?"

"By using that flying competition and Sweetie Belle together. I can formulate a performance that will assure victory, then we can suggest that he and she spend that night at Cloud's home. The extended time in each other's presence will aid Gale in forgetting about our separation."

"I don't know. It's just one day…"

"Imagine what a solo victory will do for Gale's self-confidence. He'll be sure to think that he can perform on his own so he won't have to rely solely on me anymore."

The mare mulled it over. "That could work actually."

"I'll go begin the plan." He left through the still-open front door to search for Gale. The warmer air outside gave the Pegasus a little hope; the absence of cold air meant that Gale wouldn't be hesitant to head to the place he used to sulk alone. Knowing that, Gust let the windy skies carry him higher until he could no longer distinguish the ponies down below from the many griffins visiting for the upcoming week of dashball tournaments. Not many of the other winged ponies of Canyon Run acknowledged him, for most knew of his antisocial nature. That made it even easier for him to make it to the center of town, where the massive mountain ash dwarfed the town in its shade.

He evened off at its trunk, dodging branches and houses on the way to an isolated branch that overlooked Horseshoe Desert. At the end of the branch sat his fraternal twin, staring out at the sands of the arid landscape. As he did everytime Gale fell victim to his rash attitude, Gust crept across slowly. Any sudden moves could ruin his attempt at approaching his brother in a comforting manner.

"What do you want?" Gale couldn't even put all of his effort into sounding angry because he was so focused on fighting back any more tears now that he was no longer alone.

"Should you allow me, I'd like to explain myself."

"Whatever."

Gust sat beside his sibling. Starting off always became the difficult part, especially when Gale refused to let his wandering gaze settle on him. "I never intended for our plans to cross you know."

"Yeah, right."

"I couldn't have possibly known that you would even muster the courage to so much as agree to meet with her a second time, let alone a chance to explore each other's chances for deeper compatibility."

"What?"

Gust bit his lip in thought. "Err, I meant 'set a date up', I think…"

"Oh."

"I still want to assist you in the training for the competition."

Gale shot him a dirty look. "How? You can't even be there."

"I can prepare a solo flying routine guaranteed to win. I had thought that winning by your skill alone would boost your popularity in Ponyville by a much larger factor than flying with another."

"Wait", Gale replied dubiously, "You're saying that I can win without you?"

"Unless you believe that Ponyville is home to better flyers than yourself."

"What!? No way, I'm way better than they are!"

Gust smiled. "Shall we begin assuring first place for you then?"

"Hay yeah!" Gale needed no more convincing. He was already streaming for their secret training area at the far side of the town.

Gust followed posthaste, overjoyed at how well his pep talk worked. For now, there was nothing to worry about.

A little characterization never hurt anypony.

And so we have another update! Hopefully I can start gathering more motivation for my writing. My art is getting more attention nowadays and I'm more focused on that, leading to these delays.

I hate to say it, but reviews really help keep up my writing. Praise, creative feedback, or even a simple acknowledgment that you're reading really helps.

One little thing, I'm also on Fimfiction, so if you'd like to support me there, I'd really appreciate it.

As always, thanks for reading and I'll see ya next time!

Trivia:

Gale and Gust's inseparable relationship was inspired by an episode of Full House, where Jesse learns that his twins need other friends to avoid complications later in life.

Cirrus is extremely childish, as can be seen from her farming of embarrassment in this chapter, to the point of actually playing pranks on ponies twice (and sometime half) her age for a good laugh.