Birthday Bio Double Feature: Cirrus and Nimbus · 5:39pm Sep 21st, 2016
At last, we have made it to the Pega-Sibs! After going over their parents and the other three members of my main group (Tomato, Flora, Bluejinx), we finally reach Cirrus and Nimbus. Note that these two are actually the oldest of the group, being three and a half months ahead of Bluejinx.
I will admit, I actually kind of have a fondness for twins. I’ve made a lot of sets of twins over the years because they just fascinate me. Case in point, just look at my Birthday Bio list and see each set of twins I’ve got. Heck, the Sandwich Bros’ ancestry essentially has a ‘twin curse’ that those bros have miraculously skipped out on in their generation. 
Anyway, I’ve got a tale of pegasus twins to get to.
In the floating city of Cloudsdale, Blazing Silver and Raincloud were quite surprised when their newborn son Nimbus was followed by his twin sister, who they named Cirrus. Thanks to a bunch of baby stuff for both genders that Blaze had bought (so that he didn’t have to be caught with things for the wrong gender), the parents were inadvertently prepared for the arrival of two foals. Raincloud wondered if her husband was psychic.
They were both cheerful, bouncy babies, and the cheerful bounciness would continue onto toddlerhood and even to their preteen years. Their legs got a lot of exercise when they figured out how to dance, and when they discovered how to use their wings, they added to the little dances. Though, when it came to things they didn’t like, like bath time or being fed vegetables, they had a way of playing dead, which was good enough to give their mother a heart attack.
When they were around five, their parents started giving them personal flying lessons. Like all lessons at first, it was frustrating, but once they got the hang of it, it was fun. They sang songs to themselves and each other for encouragement, though it could be distracting. Nimbus has a scar on his chin from the time he crashed into a very non-cloud part of the house, and Cirrus has often crashed into passersby.
Of course, then came the Wonderbolts training. As their parents were former Wonderbolts, Cirrus and Nimbus were expected to carry the same talent. However, as fun as flying was, they weren’t interested in doing tricks for it. Cirrus thought that performing for a crowd sounded fun, but doubted that either she or Nimbus were meant to be Wonderbolts. After all, when trying to do stunts, they crashed. Their parents assured them that crashing was a normal part of life and they’ll get the hang of it.
Nimbus didn’t feel like he was improving at all. While Cirrus was speedy and could make quick decisions (though she still crashed a lot for going a little too fast), he (and his reaction time) wasn’t nearly fast enough for all the tricks he was being taught. It didn’t help that when classmates from school saw him messing up, he got teased for being dumb. Cirrus had to defend him, and to get back at the mean classmates, the pair took up pranking.
It became one of their many tools for avoiding the Wonderbolt lessons. Other tools included manipulating the weather in order to postpone lessons, feigning sickness with surprising accuracy for the illness in question, or just hiding. Their parents did not like their mischief, but the twins did find it fun to mess with other ponies. School pranks included a snake cloud sculpture in the bathroom, filling up the classroom with fog, and a perfectly choreographed flash mob with some of the more downtrodden classmates at school.
While they usually received detention for their mischief, one teacher was impressed by the flash mob, and asked if they were interested in the next school Hearth’s Warming play. As a matter of fact, they were, and went on to behave in school for the next year in order to audition. When they asked their parents, Blaze and Raincloud thought there was no harm in them actually doing something other than pranking for once.
Despite expecting to get the role of minor characters in the musical The Winter Twins, they actually got the lead parts. Some disappointed foals who didn’t get the parts accused them of just getting the leads because they were actual twins. But, as they proved through rehearsals and opening night, Cirrus was properly dramatic as Winterflower, and Nimbus played a goofily charming Winterjingle. Helped that they were great singers that carried their pitches to perfection.
When given a standing ovation at the end, their cutie marks appeared.
While it seemed like their parents were proud of them for getting their cutie marks at first, both Cirrus and Nimbus eventually saw through the fake smiles and realized their parents were disappointed. After all, they had put so much emphasis on their kids taking up the mantle of Wonderbolt after an “accident” forced them to retire. So, out of shame for not getting the “right” talent, they avoided the theater for some time.
In order to not face their volatile father and depressed mother more than necessary, they went out to find different hobbies to occupy them. Pranking and other mischief that they both liked would just bring attention to them, so they ended up drifting apart as well when finding other interests. Cirrus went out to hang out with “cool” kids that didn’t care about anything, while Nimbus, unable to find anyone that took him seriously and didn’t think of him as “dumb”, travelled to the ground to explore by himself.
At first, their activities seemed to fill the void. Cirrus took to chillin’ around town with casual defiance of authority that she and her gang could easily get away with. Nimbus would sneak off to the ground, exploring a nearby forest to see what plants and creatures he could find. Cirrus would be complaining about her parents to those who felt the same way, while Nimbus would complain to any random rabbit or squirrel he came across, even though there was a communication barrier. Cirrus started to shun her childish side and tried to act more adult, while Nimbus embraced childish and carefree escapism that the ground brought him.
Cirrus and Nimbus didn’t listen when some theater members expressed disappointment that they didn’t do any more plays after that first one. They got their cutie marks that day, how could they not participate in more? But, driven by fears of their parents, the twins expressed that “they were busy.”
However, problems arose. Cirrus was pressured into doing things that she wasn’t comfortable with, but felt like she had to fit in with the clique—lest she be tossed to the wayside and feel unloved again. She felt sick when the deeds were done, but kept coming back so that she wasn’t alone, gradually growing numb to them. Meanwhile, Nimbus found himself running into more dangerous animals as time went on, and he discovered the joys of poison ivy, poison oak, and Poison Joke. Even so, facing those was better than facing his disappointed parents and his increasingly cynical sister.
After a few years, when they were adolescents, their problems came to a head. Cirrus fell terribly sick with the things that her so-called friends had given her, and said friends abandoned her since they couldn’t be bothered to catch her when she fell out of the sky (the authorities caught her in the nick of time). Meanwhile, Nimbus was unlucky enough to get caught in a forest fire, which injured one of his wings and made him a sitting duck until the weather patrol rescued him. Both twins were put in the hospital for a time, which made their parents realize how their hangup was hurting their babies.
After their recovery, their parents started to encourage them to get back into theater. While they both were nervous and unsure about doing so, they were assured that they’d be supported. After all, acting was their special talent that they earned for themselves—why should they deny it? The twins were promised that they’d be happier doing that than what they had been doing for the past few years.
So, once they felt good enough to move normally, they took drama classes, and auditioned for another play. While they were in minor roles this time around, they played those with style. After being praised for their roles (and hearing some loud applause from their parents), they remembered how good it felt, and so went on to audition for more plays. Doing so made them more popular than Cirrus’ so-called “friends” from before (those losers got arrested).
True to their cutie marks, Cirrus leaned towards more dramatic and tragic roles while Nimbus took to playing more lighthearted and comedic roles. However, they could pull off doing the opposite of the usual.
Cirrus still had to have therapy for what had been done in her youth, and sometimes felt like she still needed those things. Like a good brother, Nimbus is there by her side, providing her with some of her favorite candy and making her laugh to help her cope. He even planned out a nature walk to show her what he often visited—making sure to lessen all chances of danger (unfortunately, that walk ended with them discovering Cirrus’ allergies to animal dander). They even got back into their old habit of pranking, much to everyone’s chagrin.
There were still some jerks who teased Nimbus for being in theater, accusing him of a few certain stereotypes, which really annoyed him. They shut up when he took up boxing, with the reasoning of remembering what happened with his sister and wanting to protect her. While Cirrus is pretty ferocious in a fight and could hold her own, Nimbus wanted to be her backup.
Nearing adulthood, they decided to go to college in just about the best place for theater ponies—Manehattan. So, after their applications were approved, they packed up, hugged and kissed their parents goodbyes, and flew off to Manehattan to begin a new life.
They settled into separate dorm rooms, with Nimbus bunking with a guy named Simple Triage, and Cirrus bunking with a mare named Flora Peace. While Nimbus is friendly with his roommate, they’re not really considered best friends—though they do occasionally help each other with assignments. On the other hoof, Cirrus and Flora were polite to each other at first meeting. Though Cirrus’ irreverent nature about touchy topics does fluster Flora, and Flora’s general air of ‘beautiful good girl’ does make Cirrus jealous, they still enjoy their odd friendship, which includes spa days for their girls’ night out.
The twins have introduced each other to their roommates. Flora likes to hang out with them, while Triage, while polite, prefers to stay out of it. Through Flora (and an incident Nimbus had with a swivel chair), the twins got to meet Tomato Sandwich and Bluejinx, and they were brought into the fold.
Cirrus and Nimbus have gone to a Bridleway show with Tomato, which ended with Tomato hopped up on the songs and blurting them out on the street; to this day, Cirrus doesn’t leave him alone about his impressive singing voice. In down time, Flora does impart plant facts to an interested Nimbus, and they went to the zoo together for a fun and friendly date. Bluejinx and Tomato take turns taking them (and Flora) around the city. Both of the twins enjoy the city, though Cirrus likes it more so.
But above all else, they love to perform for their friends, and for others in any given play. And most everyone agrees that they’re at their best when they’re performing together.
Given your love of twins, how did you feel when it turned out Pinkie is one?
As for the twins, most of their story's been told before, but it's still nice to see them come back from that low point. I'm sure they have bright futures ahead of them.
I wonder if Nimbus has thought about getting a pet?