Welcome little one

by DashieFan1

Chapter 2

Skidding to a halt, Cloud flared her wings to keep from falling. Good. They weren't here yet. Bad. They should be here by now. Bad, bad, very bad! Aunt Twilight was with them, they should be well on schedule. Twilight was never late! Fretting, Cloud grabbed the food off her dad, and disassembled the trap above the front door, all the while listening out for the guests. A flap of wings, the hiss of a hot air balloon, anything!

By this stage, Cloud had almost worn a hole in the floor with her pacing. Of course, it was lady-like pacing. Her godmother, Rarity, would be proud. Of course, her other godmother, Applejack, would probably tell her "ta stop an' find somethin' useful ta do instead". Since wearing out the cloud floor wasn't useful in any way, Cloud stopped. Although her two godmothers seemed different, at their hearts they were kindred spirits. If she wasn't allowed to destroy the floor, she'd take the other godmother's advice and do something productive. Taking out a pie tray, Cloud lost herself in the rhyme of cutting pastry and chopping apples, ignoring her father. As soon as Soarin' spotted an apple-pie being made, you couldn't get him away from the kitchen. A trait that had been passed down to Sunrise, apparently. So with the two boys keenly watching her every move, Cloud made her own pie. A special recipe, passed down from Aunt Applejack, and sure to make everypony drool. If they ever arrived, that is.

And she was done. That was the trouble with cooking. Once you had made it, you needed to cook it, which meant putting it in the oven and watching the boys peek at it for half an hour. Anxiously, Cloud Puff checked her braid and fussed over her hair. But there was nothing more she could do. She was ready, the house was clean, and the boys were occupied. Twitching, Cloud began to pace again.

"Umm, guys?"

"Hey Mom." Cloud hadn't even noticed Rainbow walk into the room. But that wasn't anything strange. Her mom hardly ever walked anywhere, preferring to fly even indoors.

Rainbow Dash was looking at her husband and son, both of whom were crowding around the oven door.

"I'm making a pie."

"Oh. That explains it. Hey, Cloud, ya hear that?"

Once she had stopped pacing, Cloud could hear what her mom meant. Flapping of wings, hissing and a huge, dull beat that could mean only one thing.

"No wonder it took them so long to get up here! Mom, Spike's coming too!"

"And why shouldn't he? Our front porch can still fit him... Sorta."

"Mom, it isn't a porch, it's a football field."

Already, Rainbow and Cloud were heading toward the doorway, leaving the males of the family behind to gaze at pie. Opening the door, they were greeted with a scene of chaos. Truly, there is no other way to describe a massive dragon, a hot air balloon, a crowd of all their closest friends, and Pinkie Pie floating along using party balloons. There was no other way to describe it, except chaos. Happy, wonderful chaos.

"Hello. Hello. Good morning, Aunt Twilight. Hi Scootaloo! Hello..."

Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy and Big Macintosh, Pinkie Pie, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and towering above them all, Spike. Really, it was only nine ponies and a dragon, but Cloud didn't do well in crowds. Leaving her mom to greet everypony, Cloud discretely flew away. She didn't think she'd be missed, no pony needed her for anything, and White Whirl would be the focus of attention for today. She dodged Pinkie Pie, and listened to Scootaloo's explanation as to why Spitfire couldn't come. Apparently, with both Rainbow Dash and Soarin' away from the wonderbolts, the team couldn't spare their captain. Still, Scootaloo had slipped out, and managed to pick up Sweetie Belle on the flight here.

Finally, Cloud spotted the one pony who she actually wanted to talk to. Technically, Windfall Apple was a full six months older then Cloud Puff, but it didn't matter to the girls. Her best friend was gliding around the hot air balloon, eventually gracefully curling up on its silk fabric. Together, the two fillies watched the party of ponies travel inside. Outside, on the porch/football field, Spike was peering in through a window, looking lost.

"Hey Cloud?"

"Yeah Windfall?"

"What's it like, having siblings?"

Ahh... Windfall was an only child, but that would change soon. The peach-colored Pegasus was worried, having been her parents' only child for all this time.

"Chaotic... but fun. Don't worry. Your little brother or sister will be nothing like Sunrise."

"We wouldn't want two of him!"

The two fillies giggled softly, having seen the extent of Sunrise's hyperactive personality.

"He really is a combination of his godmothers, isn't he?" Windfall smiled.

"Oh yes. Pinkie Pie and Spitfire, rolled into a hyperactive high-flyer. I'm not sure whether that's good or bad."

"None of us are."

"Still, at least he is what people want. Everyone thinks that I'll be a high-flyer too." Cloud sighed, "But I don't want to."

"What do you want to do then?"

"I don't know... I only know what I don't want to do."

"Hey, you'll figure it out, Cloud."

That was Spike. Apparently, he'd gotten bored of listening in at the kitchen window. For some reason, he looked sad. Sad, and irritated.

"What's on your mind, Spike?"

"It's... nothing."

The two fillies looked at each other, then back to the dragon. Determined expressions fell onto their faces, and they set up a chant.

"Please, please please?"

"Tell uuuussss!"

Please, please please please?"

"Uurgh, fine!" The dragon gave in, and Cloud and Windfall settled down on the balloon looking innocent. Too innocent.

"I just... remembered why I don't make house calls anymore. I'm too big, I can't even get my head through most windows anymore... When Twilight offered to put the stepping-on-clouds spell on me with everypony else, I forgot. I forgot that the whole purpose of this trip was seeing White Whirl. But I won't be able to. So I'm stuck out here."

Again, the two fillies acted with one mind. Gliding away from Spike, they called back to him as they leapt toward the side of the cloud home.

"Come on!"

"We've got to show you something!"

Bemused, the dragon lifted himself of the ground and followed.

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