Heir of the Storm
Prologue
Just as the storm clouds vanish away,
Another maelstrom blasting to stay,
Leaving only a boy to pray.
For every story, there is a beginning. A well known fact yes? This story begins in a dark night with the patting of rain on an old house. Every few seconds, the rolling clouds are revealed in a bright flash with a sudden crack of lightning. The winds howl with the trees, ripping branches and trunks from their homes. The cracking of wood can be heard only barely under the rolling thunder and the blasting lightning.
Inside the house, a young mare, filly, and a massive stallion huddle around a roaring fire. An elderly mare rocked silently in her chair, listening to the wind whipping against the house. Granny Smith let out a soft chuckle as the youngest filly flew into the air in fear at a clash of lighting, her lungs squealing as she shot up. The other two ponies with her also chuckled.
"Hey! It's not funny! Ya'll know Ah get scared in thunderstorms!" The young filly shouted in retaliation.
"Aw shucks Apple Bloom, we's just given ya ah hard time. Get yer rear back over 'ere and enjoy the fire," The young mare smiled softly. "And don't ya worry bout some storm, ya got a big brother to watch over ya!"
"Eeyup," The big stallion smirked as he watched Apple Bloom slowly cuddle up next to him.
"Ah still don't like storms..." Apple Bloom mumbled.
The four ponies sat in silence, watching the fire and listening to the storm. Every now and then, Apple Bloom would still jump a little at the lightning but her brother Big Mac would squeeze around her when she did, calming her down. The young filly was even about to fall asleep when...
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Woosh...
Woosh...
"What in tar-nation was that!" Applejack shouted, standing up from her spot.
"It sounded like somepony was at the door, should... should we open it?" Apple Bloom stood behind Big Mac, legs quivering in shock.
"Well, Ah s'pose it coulda just been a tree limb. But if somepony is out in that storm... Ah'm gonna go check the door." Applejack left the room towards the front door.
The earth mare stood in front of the door, waiting for a second set of knocks to ensure she wasn't risking her hide opening the door. Moments ticked by in silence, she was just about to turn around when she heard... crying? The sound froze the strong mares legs, and raced her heart. Some pony was out in that storm, but if they were crying... they must be hurt! Applejack broke her fear based paralysis and ran for the door, slamming the door open expecting a grown pony to rush in. Instead, she found something worse. A basket with a note, and two black feathers tied to the blanket inside. Now the earth mares heart froze as she thought of what she was looking at, the crying resounding from the basket.
"Aw buck... MACINTOSH! C'MERE!"
"Are you sure they can care for him?" A worried feminine voice sounded in the dark howling wind.
"I'm certain. Remember, I watched them myself for many months." A stronger, masculine voice spoke this time.
"But he's only a foal, OUR foal!" The female voice worried.
"I... I know, but we knew from the beginning that this would happen..."
"Our... son... Please forgive us Sky... It was the best we could give you..."
"Dear Apples, please take care of our Sky Shard. I wish we could explain but that would only endanger you as well. You don't need to know who we are... What ah crock. Some pony has a foal and can't care fer the thing and what do they do? Drop it off on some farm and let em be somepony else's problem that's what!" Applejack was fuming as she read the letter to her brother.
She had carried the basket indoors by now and had just read the note to her brother, also sporting an aggressive scowl.
"Well, what do ya reckon we do bout it? Can't just leave the little colt can we?" Big Mac spoke with concern.
"No, this little guy deserves better... better than those good fer nuttin... ugh... Can we take care of a foal here? Ah mean we got the space right?"
"Eeyup."
"Well... Ah s'pose we should see what Granny has ta say bout all this... come one little guy, let's introduce ya to the family."
Sky Shard finally calmed down enough to watch the mare smiling at him. The young pegasus gasped at the smiling mare, confused as to what was happening. Applejack felt the rage inside her die down as she watched the young colt curiously look around.
"Heh... Cute little guy arn't ya..."
"Twi, I told you already. This is not a scheduled storm!" A rainbow hued pegasus shouted towards her unicorn friend.
"So this is just a random storm, randomly coming from out of nowhere!?" The lavender unicorn shouted back.
"YES! I don't know how to explain it any better! All I know is that there are no scheduled storms until next month!"
"Rainbow, pegasi control the weather in Ponyville. Are you trying to tell me it happens randomly now!? Last time I checked, we don't live in the Everfree!" The unicorn began to fume.
"Twilight, I know every pegasus in Ponyville. I would know if they were going to make a thunderstorm this bad!" Rainbow Dash finally shouted at the top of her lungs, her wings flaring.
The two of them argued for hours on end, endlessly they threw remarks back at each other. The argument finally settled when Rainbow charged Twilight with a hoof. The hoof hit a magic barrier, and the pegasus flew back across the floor of Twilight's library. Rainbow shot up from the floor ready to charge again, but stopped as she saw her friend. Twilight was hiding her head in the ground and making the most pathetic weeping noise Rainbow had ever heard. The pegasus sunk her own head with a sigh as she trotted up to the weeping unicorn and sat down beside her.
"Come on Twi, I'm sorry I tried to hit you... You know how I get right?" Rainbow rubbed a hoof up Twilight's back.
"I... I could... I could have hurt you..." Rainbow could hear the pain in Twilight's voice.
"Nah, I'm alright! See? Better than ever!" Rainbow tried to cheer her up but to no avail. "Come on Twi, I forgive you."
"R-really?"
"Really, it was a stupid fight anyways..."
"Yeah... it was pretty dumb... " Twilight smiled at her friend as the storm raged on.