• Published 8th Aug 2013
  • 1,014 Views, 53 Comments

Heir of the Storm - Bishibosh the Shaman



One stormy night, a young foal was abandoned in a small village. Being raised on a local farm, Sky Shard learns many life lessons growing up with his adopted family, including a little about his strange past...

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Chapter One: Growing Up - Part One

Heir of The Storm
Chapter One

Three weeks after the largest storm Ponyville had experienced, the Apple family was back in business. The whole family was supposed to be out in the orchards, replanting fallen trees and cleaning up the debris. Big Mac was the only one who stayed behind, as Applejack had left for Twilight's for help with their... delicate gift. Apple Bloom however was organizing a secret meeting with her friends, to which nopony knew besides her and a special somepony she was about to introduce.

"Come on Apple! What's the big secret!?" Scootaloo asked impatiently as she followed Apple Bloom to the tree house.

"Now what's tha point of tellin ya when it's s'posed to be ah surprise!?" Apple Bloom smiled, both of her friends suspected her giddiness but had no idea what she was about to say.

"Is it really that great? You are like... super excited!" Sweetie Belle squeaked, almost as excited about the big secret.

"Yeah! It is like... tha best thing to happen ever! But ya'll are gonna have ta wait till we get there 'till I tell ya." Apple Bloom winked.

"Ugh... well, lets hurry up then! Race ya there!" Scootaloo rushed ahead of her two friends on her scooter.

"Hey! That ain't no fair!" Apple Bloom shouted as the orange pegasus rocketed down the path.

"Come on Apple Bloom! The sooner we get there, the sooner we get to see this secret of yours!"

The two fillies chased after their pegasus friend as fast as they could, laughing as the distance grew. Finally the two of them slowed to a walking pace and giggled as they imagined Scootaloo waiting at the clubhouse. Sharing a couple laughs between each other, they both took to a gallop again to catch up.


Applejack slowly approached Twilight's door, carefully thinking over in her head how she would explain her... delicate situation to her friend. She had considered not telling her, but that would of just been down right dishonest. She didn't know what to expect from her friend, she knew she didn't want it going around town. Not yet at least, she knocked on the door.

*silence*

Applejack stood for several minutes before knocking again, again being rewarded with silence. She was about to beat on the door again, knowing Twilight was home. She almost never left the library, usually buried chest high in books... not including the ones in her magic. As she raised a hoof to knock again, she heard a subtle clopping approach from behind the door. Continuing to knock anyways, her persistence was rewarded with grumbling. Finally the locking mechanism jingled around and the door opened, revealing a messy Twilight.

"Uh... Twi, you don't... look so good, is this ah bad time?" Applejack noted the ragged mane of her friend, like she had been up late.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine," The unicorn let out a lengthy yawn. "I just... uh... woke up."

"Rough night sugar?" The blonde earth mare regretted the question as she continued to grind the gears in her head.

"No, just the bad storm kept me awake is all," Twilight forced a smile through a yawn. "What can I do for you?"

"Ah was... uh... lookin for some books-n-such... on raisin foals..." Applejack now blushed as she realized what she just implied.

"Wait... why would you... APPLEJACK ARE YOU PREGNANT!?" The unicorn snapped, Applejack could see the veins pop behind her forehead.

"NO! Ah mean.. no Twi, Ah'm not pregnant. Jeeze, Ah don't have time to go foolin around like that... I need em cause... Can ya keep a secret sugar?"

"Yeah, of course," Twilight sighed with relief, wiping the sweat off her brow. "What is it?"

"Well, ya see..."

Applejack went into great depth describing the events of that stormy night, each detail being recorded by Twilight's notebook of a mind. Twilight was actually interested in hearing everything she could about the storm, especially since it was unscheduled and completely random. Applejack made it to the part about the knocking on the door, and the sounds of wings flapping.

"Ah guess it could 'ave just been the wind but... Ah opened the door and found, well... a pegasus colt... young fella too. Maybe a couple years younger than Apple Bloom," Applejack took a moment to breath. "He was still a lil' too young to speak, and he don't seem ta remember much-a anythin."

"He was just... abandoned there? By who!? The nerve! Why... I should inform the princess of this imm-"

"No, no no no no sugar cube. It's quite alright, we decided to raise em' our selves. The Apple way, but I kinda need them books to figure out how ta care for the youngin," The earth mare interrupted.

"Well, I should still inform Pri-"

"Just wait Twi, maybe tha parents'll come back for the little guy. They left em a name and a couple keepsakes, we let em keep tha name but the feathers... Well we got them put away for when he get's a lil' older," Applejack interrupted once again.

"You sure Aj? This is... well... a really big responsibility," Twilight sounded really concerned, especially considering how Applejack got.

"You sayin Ah can't raise a foal?" Applejack's gaze grew stern at Twilight's suggestion.

"I'm just saying... you know..." Twilight shut her mouth when she caught Applejack's gaze once again, but with a final burst of courage (or madness, she has yet to decide) "Are you certain you can give him what he needs? You are still pretty young."

"Twilight, jus' cause two lousy good fer nuthins can't raise their own foal doesn't mean he deserves to be abandoned. Ah ain't about to ruin that colts life and Ah sure as hell ain't about to send em anyplace else!"

"I... I'm sorry... I didn't..." Twilight felt a cool breeze come in from the open door, but she thought the chill down her back was something else completely.

"It's... It's fine sugar, just let me have any books you can spare. Promise Ah'll get em back to ya all pristine like" Applejack sighed, slapping herself mentally for letting the situation get so personal to her.

"Aj, just keep them. I think you're going to need them," Twilight forced a smile as she brought the books across the library in her magic. "So... Care to tell me about him? Name?"

"The note said 'is name was Sky Shard. We jus' call em Sky. Cutest little fella ya ever did see, got these deep blue eyes and a slick black coat. Down right gorgeous wings too might Ah say. Yupp, He'll be tha envy of everypony in town!" Applejack beamed with pride, like it was her own child. Twilight smiled, a little better seeing her friend take pride in the foal.

"You said he was a little younger that your sister? Are you going to get him in school soon?" Twilight asked, her turn to seem stern.

"Ya think Ah'm that bad off huh?" The mare laughed, "Course he'll get into school. Ain't lettin em get by that easily. Gonna wait till the fella starts talkin, was actually gonna go meet with Cheerilee this afternoon. Explain to her what all's goin on and maybe get an idea on how to start this..."

"Yeah, ready to be a mom?" Twilight giggled as she saw Applejack twist around, the scowl returning to her face.

"Ah ain't gonna be a ma Twi, Jus' gonna take care of the fella till he can take care of 'imself!" Applejack turned her head back out to leave, just before shutting the door behind her she poked her head back in the door. "And uh... thanks... ya know, fer listnin."

"Anytime Aj, Just let me know if you need a baby sitter!" Twilight smiled at the thought.

"No offense Twi, but I don't want Rainbow's bad influence on 'im," Applejack smiled as she knew the rainbow mare liked to read in Twilight's library. "She has a tendency to be, ah whats the word?"

"Reckless, brash, blunt, need I go on?" Twilight answered.

"Oh no, Ah think ya got em all! Well Ah'll be outa yer hair Twi. See ya around!"

Twilight watched as her friend trotted down the road, books in her saddlebag. After she was gone from sight she turned her head and close the door. Looking up the stairs, she caught a glimpse of the rainbow mane she woke up to.

"Hey Twi..." The cyan pegasus yawned. "Was that Applejack?"

"Yeah, she came by for a few books. Nothing too important. Sleep well?" Twilight smiled as she asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey thanks again for letting me stay the night."

"Not a problem!" Twilight grinned.


"Get ready everypony!" Apple Bloom shouted as she held the door to the clubhouse shut. "Friends, Ah want to introduce you to the newset addition to the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!"

The small earth pony threw the door open to reveal an empty room. Both of her friends looked inside, skeptical and confused.

"Apple Bloom, you sure you haven't lost it? The club house is as empty as it always is," Scootaloo questioned, almost immediately getting a response from the defensive earth filly.

"Ah still have it, thank ya Scoot..." The earth filly scoffed. "Why ain't he here!? Ah told em to sit still while Ah got you both!"

"Umm, who is it Apple Bloom?" Sweetie Belle asked with a slight squeak.

"Ma little brother!"

"WHAT!?"
"WHAT!?"

"We just got em a few days ago! Ma sister said that stork thing brought em here for us to take care of."

"Uh... right... So Apple, what does your brother look like?" Scootaloo asked, peering out the window. "Cause I'm pretty sure your family is all earth ponies right?"

"Yeah, Ah think anyways. Why ya ask?" The young earth filly asked.

"Your big brother has a young pegasus riding on his back" Scootaloo remarked smartly.

Both fillies watched as Sweetie Belle shot out the door towards the large red stallion. They both peered out the window in awe as the unicorn caught up with the large stallion in seconds. The two of them exchanged looks then sighed as they turned out the door.

"Oh my gosh he is soooo cute!" Sweetie Belle was fawning over the colt who was just barely smaller than her. "I love his coat! My sister would love to have a black so pri... pris... clean!"

"Eeyup, he's quite the looker ain't he," Big Mac smiled as he let Sky down off his back.

The small pegasus steadied himself and wandered around the grass, watching Sweetie carefully. Big Mac thought to himself that the age difference was so... small, joking in his head he wondered how Rarity would react to this scene. Sky Shard paced around Sweetie who just watched and smiled. After a few laps around, the pegasus made a feint 'eep' noise as he smiled. By this time Apple Bloom and Scootaloo joined up, but the shy young pegasus took notice and shot back behind Big Mac's massive legs.

"Aww, ain't nuttin to be afraid of Sky! These are ma friends! Ah told ya about them, and our little group ya was gonna be a part of!"

The pegasus colt watched from behind the stallions legs, still too shy to come all the way out. Sweetie Belle closed in on him with a smile and an extended hoof. Sky watched her carefully, clearly suspicious of the new ponies around him. Just as he was about to cower more behind his older brothers leg, the massive leg moved out away from him exposing his pure black coat. Sky shot his head back and forth trying to find where his cover had gone, but soon found himself in between the three fillies around him in a massive hug. When the three of them pulled away, he stared at his older sister and a small smile opened his mouth.

"F...fr... friends?"

Author's Note:

Just to clear things up, Sky is not a new born foal in this fic. I should have been a tiny bit more clear in the last chapter but he is at least a year younger than Apple Bloom and her friends. Through out the fic, I hope to make their friendship grow more and more as they grow themselves. For now, the maturing of Sky and Ponyville around him will be taking place in a series of chapters I am calling 'Growing Up' which will through in ties to his special talent when I get to it but for now is just a focus on his life with his new family.

I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing it, I really am looking forward to seeing where this fic goes! As I have mentioned, it does hold a little significance to me being based on a piece of work I am rather fond of. Regardless I hope you guys enjoy the work!

P.S. Please let me know if I am over doing it with the Apple Accent. I try to listen to a few episodes featuring characters I am using to get a feel for their way of speaking but sometimes it feels a little... forced xD