When The Cloud Sheep Come
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were gathered around a small table inside their clubhouse, attempting to ward off boredom by engaging in a friendly group game.
"Go Griffin!"
"Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo admonished.
"What?"
"That ain't the way it works," Apple Bloom corrected simply. "We're playin' Old Mare. The rules are different."
"Nevermind," Scootaloo groaned. "I don't wanna play some silly old card game anyway."
"Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom said in frustration, watching the orange pegasus get up from her seat. They had only just managed to agree on the same game, albeit Scootaloo had done so reluctantly.
"Well," Sweetie Belle began, "maybe there's something else we could do?"
Scootaloo sighed irritably. "Like what? You guys already said 'no' to scootering."
"That's kinda your thing, Scootaloo," Apple Bloom pointed out.
"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle agreed. "And besides, we did that a few days ago! Let's go see Rarity! I bet she'd let us use some of her fabric to make something if we ask her nicely."
"Ugh!" Scootaloo's muzzle scrunched in disgust. "The last thing I wanna do is spend the rest of the day inside of Rarity's Boutique sewing!"
"Well, how 'bout Fluttershy?" Apple Bloom offered. "We could help her out and play with her critters some too."
"That sounds fun!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly.
"If by fun you mean cleaning up after animals on our day off," Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, ain't Rainbow Dash visitin' Fluttershy today?" Apple Bloom recalled. "I overheard 'em makin' plans while Ah was at Sugarcube Corner the other day. They're s'pose to be havin' tea."
"Uh. On second thought, count me in!" Scootaloo said, having suddenly changed her mind. Anywhere would be fun for her as long as the greatest mare in Equestria was going to be there.
"Um. Come to think of it..." Sweetie Belle paused. "Are you sure it would be okay for us just to drop in on her while she's having a guest?"
"Don't be silly, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo put in enthusiastically. "Fluttershy said we could come by anytime! She won't mind."
---*---
"Oh. Um... Today?" Fluttershy glanced awkwardly behind her at Rainbow Dash. "N-no. I don't mind."
"Told ya!" Scootaloo chirped, earning an eye-roll from Sweetie Belle.
"If you're havin' company, we could always come back another time," Apple Bloom offered. "We wouldn't wanna impose."
"Well..." The yellow pegasus seemed to be thinking for a moment. "As a matter of fact..."
"Ugh! Just let them in, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash groaned from her seat on the couch. "I know you don't mind, and I sure don't!"
"Oh. Alright, Rainbow." The yellow pegasus timidly stepped aside, letting the fillies walk in before she closed the door gently behind them. "Well, I guess I'd better fetch some more teacups."
"I'll help!" Sweetie Belle put in quickly, following Fluttershy into the kitchen.
"Hey gals!" came Dash's voice as she set her teacup down, greeting the CMC members remaining. "How's it hangin', Scoots?"
"Radical as always, Rainbow!" The little orange pegasus grinned, giving Rainbow a high hoof. Then the two made some complex movements with their forehooves and ended it by making a sound mimicking the Sonic Rainboom with their mouths, flaring their wings out - presumably that was meant to symbolize a shock wave. They laughed happily.
"Cool hoofshake," Apple Bloom complimented.
"We came up with it all by ourselves!" Scootaloo said proudly. "It's our own secret hoofshake. Isn't that awesome?!"
"So," Rainbow Dash started, taking a quick gulp of tea before continuing, "what made you all decide to come here on the spur of the moment?"
"We thought it would be nice to come help Fluttershy," Apple Bloom explained.
"We were also really bored," Scootaloo emphasized.
"Gotcha," Rainbow Dash said with a wink.
"Of course Scoots just came to see you," the little farm filly added.
"Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo reproved, feeling slightly embarrassed.
Rainbow Dash just smiled and fuzzled Scoots' mane with her hoof. "It's good to see you too, kiddo."
Scootaloo grinned brightly, not bothering to immediately readjust her hair like she normally would when somepony messed with it.
Just then Fluttershy and Sweetie returned from the kitchen.
"Here are the teacups," the little unicorn filly said, setting all three of them lightly on the table with her magic. She smiled proudly. It was sure nice to be skilled enough with her horn that she could carry things without dropping them like when she was younger.
"Um... Would you like to sit down?" Fluttershy asked her new guests, having just grabbed two fold-out chairs to accommodate for the lack of seats. Scootaloo immediately claimed the spot beside Rainbow Dash.
"Sure," Apple Bloom replied, helping her unfold. "But... you sit over on the armchair. Sweetie Belle and Ah will use these." Fluttershy had been so gracious about them suddenly dropping by and all, the little earth pony figured she'd at least be a considerate guest.
With everypony settled comfortably in their seats, Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. "You guys all have pretty good timing coming by today, don't 'cha?"
"And how!" Scootaloo agreed quickly.
"Whaddya mean by that, Rainbow Dash?" Apple Bloom asked, tilting her head.
"Oh, come on!" Dash replied, rolling her eyes. "Today's the day when I help Fluttershy prepare the pen for the cloud sheep!"
Scootaloo blinked. "Cloud sheep?" she deadpanned.
"Uhh... What's a cloud sheep?" Apple Bloom asked.
"You don't know?!" Sweetie exclaimed, looking quite aghast. "Why, they're only the cutest, fluffiest, the most adorable!—"
"They're sheep that walk on clouds," Scootaloo interrupted, her tone accented with acute disinterest, earning an irritable expression from the little unicorn.
"Oh, but they don't just walk on the clouds, Scootaloo," said Fluttershy. "They sleep on them, they get their water from them, and even though they each have differently colored faces, their wool is always white so it matches the clouds around them for camouflage."
"Like I said," the orange filly deadpanned, "sheep that walk on clouds."
"Oh c'mon, Scoots!" Rainbow said, elbowing the little pegasus. "We're gonna need to gather a bunch of clouds for the pen. You could help us out! It'll make the work go a lot faster! Us three pegasi could form a cloud brigade!"
The thought of teaming up with Rainbow Dash made Scootaloo grin. "Sounds good!" she chirped.
"What should Sweetie Belle and Ah do?" asked Apple Bloom, knowing that only a pegasus could move clouds.
"You could help fill the trough with the leaves from the supply shed," Fluttershy mentioned. "You see, cloud sheep usually eat them from off the top of trees, as their little hooves are too tender to be walking on the ground for very long."
"Well, if it's all so much work to keep em' comfortable, how come they're comin' here?" Apple Bloom asked, grabbing a ginger cookie.
"Oh, I'm just looking after them for a friend from Cloudsdale while she's on vacation," Fluttershy explained, smiling. "She has three of them for pets, and one of them is still only a lamb."
"A cloud lamb! It must be so cute!" Sweetie squealed excitedly, simply beaming.
---*---
Moving the clouds had been even more of a breeze with three ponies instead of two. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy gathered the clouds and then brought them down to Scootaloo who would run them over to the pen. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle made quick work of filling the trough with leaves. The two adults set themselves down on the grass next to the waiting young fillies.
"Welp, we're all ready for those cloud sheep now!" Rainbow grinned. "Great job, team!"
"Thank you so much for helping us," Fluttershy added softly. "Now the sheep will be nice and cozy."
"We were happy to help," Sweetie Belle said, smiling.
"You know it!" Scootaloo chimed.
"So," Apple Bloom said, glancing at the empty pen, "where are the cloud sheep right now?"
"My friend said her cousin would be dropping them off," Fluttershy explained. "He should be here in—"
"Somepony talking about me?" came a voice from behind them.
The friends whirled around to see two pegasi easing a large crate onto the earth below, the sounds of a few bleating sheep emanating from within the wood structure.
"Thanks for agreeing to take care of these for my cousin, Fluttershy," said the newly arrived stallion.
"Soarin!" Rainbow exclaimed, her eyes awide with surprise. "YOU'RE the cousin that's dropping off the cloud sheep?"
"Well, I had help," Soarin replied with a grin, looking over his shoulder at his partner.
"Hey," came Spitfire, who had been hidden from view while supporting the other side of the crate.
"Spitfire!" Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo chorused.
"I am your biggest fan!" Scootaloo added, her eyes sparkling.
"Thanks, kid," Spitfire replied with a smile, ruffling the little filly's mane with her hoof.
Scootaloo seemed dazed in the presence of all these Wonderbolts, completely starstruck. She was going to have one messy mane by the end of the day too.
"Welp, Soarin and I are off. Got places to be. You can take it from here, rookie."
"Yes, ma'am!" Rainbow Dash saluted.
"At ease, recruit," Spitfire said with a grin before taking off.
"Thank you so much for this, Fluttershy," Soarin said from over his shoulder as he lifted off after his commanding officer. "I know the sheep are in good hooves!"
"Well?!" Sweetie Belle squeaked after they'd gone. "Let's get this crate open!" She hopped excitedly in place. "I wanna see them!"
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash gave each other a knowing smile, then flew up to the crate to undo the latches. The mares pulled the front slat of wood up to reveal the creatures inside. There on a thin mist of cloud stood the three sheep. They were all white, of course, as Fluttershy had previously explained, but there were obvious differences between them - the adult male's face and legs were a soft blue, the female's a light pink, and the little lamb's a quiet tealish color. Sweetie Belle was the first to see them, her eyes awide with delight.
"They're adorable!" she fawned, walking up to pet the littlest one.
The small lamb baa'ed happily in response, then moved in closer to nuzzle against one of Sweetie's legs. The little unicorn giggled. "That tickles!"
"Heh. He is a cute little fella," Apple Bloom remarked.
"Sheep," Scootaloo said with disinterest, earning a glare from the blue-faced ram.
Fluttershy glided down and began to speak to the sheep in a soft voice. "Hello there, it's so nice to meet ewe." The pegasus giggled. "Um... We have your pen all ready for you. Just step this way." She gestured with a foreleg and the adult sheep followed. The little lamb lingered though, continuing to cuddle Sweetie Belle's leg. "Ahem," Fluttershy cleared her throat. The little teal-faced lamb grinned sheepishly and followed after his parents.
Fluttershy led her new guests into their pen and they settled in immediately. The little lamb began to bounce about on the tufts of cloud and the parents went over to the trough to eat. The fruits of the ponies' labor were now on display for them all to see.
"Aww! They all look so happy!" Sweetie Belle remarked, smiling.
"Thanks fer lettin' us help, Fluttershy," Apple Bloom added.
"Yeah," Scootaloo agreed, glancing to Rainbow Dash. "It was actually kinda fun!"
"There's more cookies inside if you'd all like some," Fluttershy offered.
"Naa," Apple Bloom said. "Ah think we'll stay out here and watch the sheep a bit longer.
"Mhmm!" Sweetie Belle quickly agreed, patting the little lamb's head as it poked through the fence.
"Suit yourselves," Scootaloo said, "but there's a plate full of cookies with my name on it!"
Everypony laughed at the orange filly's declaration, and the group of friends enjoyed the rest of the day at Fluttershy's by petting the sheep, chattering, laughing, and munching on cookies. It had all been a lot of fun for everypony, and they each agreed that it had been an afternoon well spent.
The End
Author's Note
Disclaimer: Dropping in on friends unannounced is not recommended for children or adults without prior permission to visit at any time, which may be voided at any point it proves to be uncomfortable, awkward, or generally inconvenient to the hosts. Please visit your friends responsibly.
Also, I'd be grateful if you'd direct your grammar and spelling corrections to PM. Pretty please and thank you. 
