//------------------------------// // Welcome Home // Story: An Imperfect Paradise // by Ximer //------------------------------// It didn’t take long for word to spread for the local press to come knocking, they practically came crawling out of the shadows before we even had a chance to leave the hospital. I knew they would come eventually, I just didn’t know it would be this soon. It left me a bit hot under the hood that they had more interest over a story than a newborn and his mother needing rest. There was one reporter though that did manage to slip through, despite my best efforts to shoo them off, as well as the staff’s frustrated complaints from the hallway being too crowded. Shady Daze, one of Scootaloo’s friends maneuvered past me, but I didn’t mind. I knew she would keep him in check, and continued to herd the others away from my tired mare and child. I eventually shut and locked the door to the room, rather astounded that press ponies were almost as insensitive as the press on Earth. Anything for a story wasn’t too high a price to pay for them apparently, even risking a hoof to the muzzle, or the wellbeing of another individual. “Long time no see kid, how’s life been?” I asked the little colt that had slipped past me. “Pretty cool I guess. Is that him?” Shady Daze asked, pointing a hoof at Stormwalker. “Yep, if you’re going to take his picture, at least take your flash off.” I replied. The colt nodded and quietly approached the bed. Rainbow Dash lifted him up onto her back so he wasn’t taking the photo from the ground, giving him a nice view of the newborn. Shady Daze stopped before he took the picture, turning back to me with a confused expression. “Why didn’t you throw me out like the others?” the colt asked. “You’re Scootaloo’s friend,” I shrugged. “Just try not to throw any weird rumors in there, like last time.” “Heh…yeah.” Shady Daze smiled nervously in response. The little colt had been one of the foals responsible for exposing me to Ponyville as “The Monster Of The Everfree!” and for being a school paper, it was actually a good read, once you got around the tiny little detail that all the information about humans in it was false. I was almost lynched due to this, but it was kind of a joke now, and something I held up my sleeve to get under Cloudchaser’s skin for fun. A few clicks could be heard from the device around the foal’s neck. Equestrian cameras still fascinated me; how they were built and worked were both equally interesting. After being so used to digital phones and recorders seeing a device that was built to work hands free in a similar fashion, albeit with an antiquated looking end result, was pretty cool. “What’s his name?” Shady Daze asked as he was lowered to the floor once more. “Stormwalker.” Cloudchaser replied. --- Since there weren’t any complications, the doctor had given us the green light to go home after Cloudchaser felt strong enough to fly. She was still pretty tired and wanted to rest for a few minutes, leaving me to tend to the colt and Scootaloo. Thankfully, Stormwalker had already been fed and was fast asleep, content in his room. We had added onto the house after finding out that Cloudchaser was pregnant. Twilight's necklace actually came in handy when helping to speed things along. Hands were much more dexterous than mouths or magic, after all. Roughly two hours had passed before there was a knock at the door. I checked on Cloudchaser before answering it, finding her to still be fast asleep. I didn't disturb her, bringing a child into the world was more than enough reason to need a little undisturbed nap. I quietly walked to the front door, which was almost impossible to do with hooves, so Twilight's necklace had found another new purpose; since bare feet were a bit quieter. It also made holding, and rocking Stormwalker easier. "Hey there Dainel, Ah hope we didn't go disturbin' ya none." Applejack said. The farm pony was accompanied by Fluttershy and, thankfully, no others. It's not that I didn't want company, I was just afraid that too much might cause the baby, Cloudchaser, or both to wake up. Right now though, both of them were out like lightbulbs. "Sure, just try to be quiet. I've got two sleepers on my hands." I replied, giving them the okay. "So, um, how is Scootaloo taking being a big sister now?" Fluttershy asked. "See for yourself." I said quietly as I led the two mares to Stormwalker's room. The room itself had been painted to resemble the sky, with a few clouds here and there on the walls. Fluttershy had suggested a few birds, and thus a few had been added. There was also a rather prominent rainbow that looked like it had been painted by a first grader; courtesy of Rainbow Dash being allowed to have a spare key. A chest of an assortment of stuffed figures, since animals would be a bit degrading in this world, sat in a corner of the room. Stormwalker clearly couldn’t play with these on his own yet, but it was the thought that counts, and they would make for a good crib buddy in a few months. Then, there was the pink dot on the ceiling, which at one point had covered the entire ceiling. Cloudchaser and I spent the better part of a day to cover it up, and I had a pretty good idea as to whom the culprit was. The dot, despite our best efforts, kept reappearing no matter what we did, and finally we decided to leave it be. Beside the crib, was Scootaloo, watching the snoozing foal from the outside. For being gung-ho about finding her special talent, this little colt might have just thrown a wrench in everything. She was absolutely enthralled by him, not in a creepy way, but in a natural, older sibling way. I had seen pictures that my mom had taken of Isabella doing similar stuff. It was kind of cute to watch Scootaloo looking out for her brother like my sister had once done so many years ago. "Any changes to report there, private?" I teased as we approached the crib. "None, sir!" Scootaloo saluted. "At ease there Patton," I chuckled, ruffling the filly's mane. "We don't want mom waking up." Scootaloo shook her head before stepping out of the way to let Fluttershy and Applejack closer to the crib. I was glad that she was excited about being a big sister, for now anyways. We had yet to journey though the first night with Stormwalker, and I had a sinking feeling this was the calm before the storm. No pun intended. "He's so little," Fluttershy seemed more excited than the others about the arrival of our fourth family member. "Oh, you're just the cutest thing ever!" "He's got a good set of parents, that much is fer sure," Applejack said slapping me on the back. "Ah bet he takes after his pa when his wings come through." "We'll see, I'm pretty anxious to see them myself." I replied. "Did you finish reading that book I gave you?" Fluttershy asked. "Yeah, I'm a bit surprised Twilight didn't have any good foal care books in her miniature library." I commented. "Ah could've sworn she did, they might've been destroyed in Twilight's old house." Applejack said. "I guess that makes sense. In any case, thanks for letting me use it, I think it's going to pay off when this guy gets on his hooves and is as rambunctious as another foal I know." I smirked looked down at Scootaloo, who was swift to stick her tongue out at me. "At least you have a while before that happens," Fluttershy said prying her eyes away from Stormwalker to focus on me. "Have any of the others stopped by?" "Rainbow Dash did at the hospital, but so far you two are the only ones to make a house visit." I replied. "Good luck gettin' that ta stay the same fer a while, especially with ya bein' a big shot now." Applejack rolled her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked uneasily. "Shucks, now that ya got a new lil'n ponyfolks'll be askin' all kinds of questions, and wantin' ta see him." Applejack explained. "Right...I got a small dose of that this morning." I mumbled. "It'll be okay, you'll see." Fluttershy said sweetly, trying to make me feel a little better about the situation. "I hope everypony’s curiosity will be satisfied in tomorrow’s paper. Shady Daze is the only one I know of that got a picture, a good one anyways. Hopefully there won’t be any outlandish speculations or tabloids." I said. A soft sound came from the crib, causing all present to freeze in silence. Within its comfortable confines, Stormwalker stirred slightly, making noises typical of an infant as he adjusted himself as best as he could. I felt like I was watching a pokeball from a pokemon game; anticipating it to burst open, but instead of a pokeball, it was a foal that was on the verge of possibly waking up. Finally, after a few more agonizing seconds of silence, Stormwalker fell dormant again. All of us let out a quiet sigh of relief, save for Scootaloo, who resumed watching over her brother as we walked out of the room to avoid any further close calls. "Ah think we might've out stayed our welcome, not ta you of course." Applejack blushed. "I understand, thanks for coming by guys. I'll let Cloudchaser know that you did." I said. I made sure to close the door as quietly as I could; the only sound to signify that it had been shut was a single, barely audible click. I felt confident that I was out of the danger zone now that it was just me and Scootaloo once more. This idea was shattered in record time by the screams of a young foal that was cranky after being woken up. I sighed, rushing quickly into Stormwalker's room. Scootaloo was making a hasty retreat as I traded spots with her in the lion's den. Under normal circumstances I would have found such a sight funny, but I had an infant to calm. "Shhh, hey buddy," I cooed. "Did I wake you up?" I picked him up slowly out of the crib, his wiggling and wailing causing me to grimace in pain as he tortured my ears. I endured it however; and held him like Fluttershy had shown me. Even with pictures, I miraculously couldn't get it right without help. Cloudchaser accused my gender of being the problem. "Hey, it's okay, the noise is gone," I said softly as the volume of the foals scream's started to decrease slightly. "Daddy's here, it's okay." As if he were a music box, or scream box in this instance, that had been wound up, he petered out into soft whimpers as I held him. These too came to an end the longer I held him in my arms. I knew that I had gotten lucky this time, I was well aware of the fact that babies weren't always so willing to go back to sleep, they sometimes wanted food before complying, or just wanted attention in general. I was still baffled as to why the noise we made talking about him didn't wake him up, but a click from the door did. I knew first hand that a pony's hearing was much better than a human's, so that could explain it. Our talking must have been enough to pull him out from the deep sleep he had been in. "You're a pretty easy going little guy, huh?" I asked as I held Stormwalker's sleeping form. The foal's gentle snores had now replaced any screams of discomfort. As I held him, I couldn't help but begin to wonder what he would be like when he got older. If he would be like his mom, like me, or somewhere in between. Scootaloo didn't have a problem adjusting to our crazy little world, since she had a bit of Cloudchaser's personality already, and I had rubbed off on her a little. Stormwalker was an entirely different story. He was a book with empty pages, just waiting to be filled in. I could only try to raise him as best as I could. I was always told that childhood would pass by faster than I realized. As I drifted through my sea of thoughts, I heard tiny hoof falls against the hardwood floor. Scootaloo soon peeked around the corner, checking to make sure that the noise wasn't about to start up again. I sat down in a chair that had been made to fit a human in Stormwalker's room. As I did, I motioned with my head for Scootaloo to come in, letting her know things were under control now. Hesitantly, she climbed up the chair and into my lap, which was big enough to support both my kids when I was a human. I enjoyed this quality time with Scootaloo, now more than ever since we were family. "He's pretty noisy, huh?" Scootaloo whispered softly. "He can be," I whispered back. "Is mom awake?" "Nuh uh, she's still sleeping." Scootaloo replied. "Good, she needs to rest a little longer. She's had a hard day." I sighed in relief. I felt Scootaloo get situated in my lap, snuggling up against me with a smile on her muzzle, before falling asleep herself. This was a moment in life I wanted to cling to; one that I knew wouldn’t last forever. All too soon Scootaloo and Stormwalker would be too big for this, and grown with kids of their own. For now though, I wanted this to last. --- Cloudchaser let out a tired yawn as she woke up. This morning had started out normal enough, until the first of her pains hit. She was already a mother to Scootaloo, and she loved the little filly, but she was old enough to be pretty independent. Stormwalker was a newborn, helpless and dependent on her and her husband. “Hmm, now that I think about it…the house hasn’t burnt to the ground yet.” Cloudchaser mused. She thought for sure her nap would be cut short by some sort of miniature disaster or emergency. Her friends had told her a few humorous stories about when their husbands had been left in charge of the foal, or foals as the case was sometimes. After stretching a bit, Cloudchaser climbed out of bed to make sure Daniel was still alive. She still felt a little weak, but it was manageable, and she hated sitting still unless it involved preening. She didn’t want to appear helpless either, she was a tough mare, and the last few months of her pregnancy had left her pretty dependent on Daniel for some things. It didn’t take her long to find her stallion either, as a quick look inside Stormwalker’s room revealed the rest of her little family, all fast asleep. Cloudchaser smiled upon seeing them so content, and quietly flew towards the sleeping form of Daniel. Seeing that Stormwalker was out of his crib, this led her to believe that he might have given him some trouble. She gently pecked Daniel on the forehead before slowly picking up Stormwalker. “Hey there little colt, did daddy do a good job while I was asleep?” Stormwalker stirred and squirmed slightly in Cloudchaser’s forelegs. She knew it wouldn’t be long before he would begin to get fussy and flew out of the room. He would be a bit fussier than unicorns or earth pony foals, since his wings would be trying to push through; among the plethora of other reasons foals got upset. There was one part of parenting that she had hoped to have skipped entirely with Scootaloo, but with Stormwalker it was an inevitability now. Cloudchaser had to ready herself for one of the less pleasant parts of parenthood, changing a foal’s diaper. It was something she skipped with Scootaloo, due to her age, and never had to do with Rumble either. “Eww…” Cloudchaser mumbled quietly once she had laid him on the changing station in their room. She was thankful now that a misunderstanding between friends had left them with two stations; one for Stormwalker’s room, and one for theirs. She had talked Daniel into keeping it when he wanted to donate it. Stormwalker wiggled constantly, and grew frustrated as Cloudchaser worked to clean him and apply a new diaper. Two copper colored eyes looked up at her occasionally, their color already starting to come in on schedule. From the looks of things, he had gotten a mix of both of their eyes, since they weren’t a dark brown, like his father’s. “You’re going to be a handsome little guy, you know that?” Cloudchaser smiled as she picked him back up, flying over to the bed. After Stormwalker had been fed, the tired colt was placed in his crib once more. With similar grace and stealth, Cloudchaser moved Scootaloo to her own room, to carry on with her nap a bit more comfortably. “Now, what to do with you?” Cloudchaser asked herself, now that Daniel was foal free. The mare landed on him, letting out a squeak as two arms wrapped around her. She quickly settled into the hug though, and let out a happy sigh as two hands started to rub the soreness from her body. It wasn’t as good as the spa ponies, but it was pretty close, Isabella was much better at it as well. --- “Was somepony fussy?” Cloudchaser asked, as I got to my feet with her still in my arms. “Not really, Applejack and Fluttershy came by to see him. We tried to keep it down.” I replied, moving to the living room couch. “Thanks for dealing with things while I was asleep, I needed that little break,” Cloudchaser said as I started to help her with her feathers. “I never get tired of this.” “Scootaloo’s been watching him most of the time since he’s been home. I think she really likes him.” I said as I came across the feather that stood out from the rest among her left wing. It was the feather I had given her on the day of our wedding. I was greatful that Luna's magic held fast, even when I wasn't a pony. I carefully shifted back into place before moving onto the next feather that needed tending to. “I’m glad she’s excited about having a brother. I doubt she’s going to enjoy the sleep deprivation that comes with it for a while though.” Cloudchaser commented. “Yeah, and all the visits that will probably be happening soon. I’m sure Filthy Rich will want an explanation as to why I threw the last race...” I sighed, scratching behind the mare’s ears. “I'm sure he'll take it better than you think. Besides, it's not like you can't win it back, right?" Cloudchaser asked. "You're right...and I don't regret it, I wouldn't have missed being there for the world." I replied. "I knew you'd be there, that was never in question. As excited about today as you were, I'm surprised you even went to Canterlot. At least now there will be a break for you to spend some time with us." Cloudchaser said. "Yeah, it will be good to take things slow again. I sometimes forget what it’s like to be normal.” I chuckled. “You, normal?” Cloudchaser looked back at me. “Sweetie, that word doesn’t suit you anymore.” “How do you mean?” I asked. “Well, lately you’ve been spending more time as a human again. I don’t know of many stallions that can do that. Then, you live under another name on the track, Blue Bullet; does that sound normal to you?” Cloudchaser raised an eyebrow at me. “Fair point, I wonder what Stormwalker will think when he gets older though.” I said. “That he’s got the coolest dad in the world. That you’re his hero, you kind of live the life of one. Not fighting bad guys or anything,” Cloudchaser said picking up the racing mask that I had flung onto the couch when we arrived home. She held it up beside my head as best as she could to emphasize her point. “You’re close enough though.” “Good to know that I’m a discount good guy.” I grinned, receiving a light punch from Cloudchaser. “We’ll need to pick a godparent soon, did you have any ideas?” Cloudchaser asked. “I had a few, one of whom you may not approve of.” I replied. --- It was unusually quiet, for the first three hours anyways. I knew what to expect, that having a baby, of any kind, would result in late night activities that didn't involve "stress release." The same was true about puppies, they would howl in the middle of the night for no reason sometimes, other times they needed to go outside, at three A.M. That's the best way I can describe Stormwalker's late night routine, like a puppy and a human infant decided to throw all of their bad traits into a tiny little horse body that, through some strange miracle, shared some of my genes. I love the little guy to death, he's my own flesh and blood, but I was now regretting all the hell I put my parents through. I still felt bad for Cloudchaser and took the first shift of tending to Stormwalker. It was dark, and due to the lack of light I stepped on Equestria's version of a linkin log. I was now fully awake and well aware that Scootaloo had left a few landmines for me to dodge in the dark. I had opted to keep the necklace on tonight, predicting that circumstances like this would happen. Though in doing so, my feet were more vulnerable to the toys on the floor than hooves or wings would be, but I wasn't about to try to change a diaper or feed a foal with almost no experience doing so as a stallion. "Hey buddy, what's got you all worked up huh?" I asked quietly as I picked Stormwalker up. As expected, the fussy colt gave no response, other than a few more cries in my ear. I lifted him enough to smell of his diaper, which was thankfully odor free. With this possibility out of the way I walked with him to the kitchen and pulled a pre-filled bottle out of the refrigerator. Shifting the little foal over to my left arm, I got out a bowl and filled it full of hot water. Stove tops, and microwaves were out of the question. Thankfully, I still remembered a few things from observing my aunt when she had her baby. She was a health nut, and always told me that stoves and micro waves should never be used. I would always watch her use warm water to get milk ready. For all the times I found her health paranoia annoying, some of what she said was actually pretty useful, now that I was a parent myself. While I waited for the milk to warm, I gently ran a finger over the two lumps on his back. The skin there felt very tender, and in a few days it would give way to two little wings. I saw his eyes open to look at me, and was impressed by the copper color that he had been given. “I wonder what my parents would say if they saw you little guy.” I mused using my index finger to gently rub behind one of the foal’s ear. As expected, it held the same comforting power over him as it did his mother, and more than half the population of colorful, talking equines. How Cloudchaser did all of this as a pony was pretty baffling, it was much simpler with hands, but even then I occasionally had problems. She had to have some sort of super powers, it was the only explanation. I felt of the bottle and pulled it out of the water, satisfied with the temperature. Thankfully, Stormwalker wasn’t fussy about the difference between a bottle and his mother and took to it greedily. Though there were some obvious differences between human infants and ponies, those of this world anyways; there were some that were more subtle. Despite his size, he could hold more food that a human infant could. I had given up on trying to understand the laws of physics in this world and simply accepted things, this being one of them. Another one was how his teeth would come in much sooner, and that there wouldn’t actually be a crawling stage. He would skip that entirely. Once he had finished I carefully leaned him over my shoulder and patted his back. This worked the bubbles in his stomach free, and out in the form of a cute burp. It was almost cartoonish, and were it not for being up at three in the morning I probably would have laughed. “Alright, let’s get you back into bed.” I said carrying the foal back to his room. He had already started to drool a bit on my shoulder, hopefully he would stay asleep for a while. Before I had a kid, I would have found this disgusting, and probably rolled my eyes or made a face. There was something different with him being a part of me though. It didn’t bug me like I thought it would, though diapers were still a dreaded chore. “Sleep tight buddy.” I said, laying him down gently, covering him back up with his blanket. I was mindful to step lightly as I walked back to my room. So far, it looked like this wouldn’t be as bad as all of my friends from Earth claimed it had been. I kept comparing Stormwalker to a human infant; it was a bad habit, one that I needed to ditch before he got any older. “Mission accomplished?” Cloudchaser asked with a yawn, as I climbed back into bed. “Mission accomplished,” I replied, wrapping an arm around the mare. “Sorry I woke you up.” “Nnhmm,” Cloudchaser lazily replied as she rolled over, draping a wing over me. “Love you…” “Love you too.” I tiredly replied, giving her a quick kiss…at least, I would have if Stormwalker had allowed me to. Our son’s whimpers could be heard from down the hall. If the lights had been on, one could have seen my expression sink as I sighed. I had the feeling that tonight was just getting started.