Raising a Storm

by WonderboltWing

00 Prologue

00 Prologue

Today had been scheduled for a ‘light rain’ in the afternoon, but, obviously, something had gone wrong, as there had been bucketloads of rain pelting down from the blackened skies even through the late evening.

Apparently, it was just some freak weather storm that would pass in a day or two.

The rain had halted most outside activities, yet there were still ponies running about, the rain being no excuse not to do their jobs.

One of these ponies was called Hail Storm, a pegasus mare with a coat dark as the sky above her. She trudged through the streets, wearing a warm coat as to not let the cold get to her. Not that it worked entirely.

Her ears flicked, and she slowed down to a stop. A gentle frown caressed her face, and she looked around her.

She could have sworn she had heard something, but it was hard to hear anything over the rain impacting the cobbles beneath her.

There it was again. It sounded like a somepony calling for help.

“...H-hello…? Is anypony there?” Her voice echoed down the empty street, muffled by the rain.

“...help…”

She looked over to the alleyway to her left, her ears fully up. She quickly trotted over towards the voice.

In the corner of the alley was a curled up ball of a pegasus foal, around seven or eight with a coat to match her own, but a little lighter.

She gasped, and crossed the distance between her and the shivering little foal in a moment, picking the poor little thing up gently and cradling it.

The foal clung to her, a small whine escaping it.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Hail Storm murmured, taking off her jacket and wrapping it up in it, before placing the bundle on her back, safely between her wings and trotting home as fast as she could without jostling the cold thing too much.

---

The door to her apartment opened, and Hail Storm stepped in through it, her mane and coat dripping wet. She moved her wet fringe out of her eyes with a hoof, then shut the door with it.

She glanced at the mostly dry bundle on her back, and after a moment, trotted into the bathroom, using a wing to flick on the heater as she did.

Now dripping onto the tiles instead of the carpet, she took the still shivering bundle off of her back and placed it down on the floor next to her, unwrapping the foal and grabbing a few towels from the pile.

The foal looked up at her with wide and, finally, awake green eyes, the color of emeralds.

She halted the toweling down of herself, and lowered herself down to the foal’s height, her own amethyst eyes looking back at the other’s.

“hi there little one,” she said softly.

“...h...h-hi…” He murmured back, looking away after a few moments shyly.

Hail smiled softly, one of her ears flicking slightly. “Do you have a name?” She asked after a moment, ignoring the coldness of the tiles on her stomach.

He shook his head softly, attempting to wrap himself back up in the jacket.

She frowned slightly. “D...Do you have parents?”

Again, he shook his head.

Hail Storm blinked, and let out a sad, pained noise. “you poor thing,” she repeated, wrapping her hooves around the little colt and pulling him to her in a soft hug.

He snuggled into her fur and clung to her tightly.

She nuzzled the top of his head instinctively, before shivering.

Carefully standing up using three hooves proved to be a bit of trouble, but with her wings, she was able to. “How about we get you warm then?” She asked softly, one hoof keeping the foal up, the other three walking her into the lounge and towards the heater.

He nodded softly and mumbled a quiet ‘yes’ into her chest fur.

Hail Storm smiled faintly and sat down in front of the heater, which was beginning to send out warm waves of air.

The little foal pulled away from her to look at the heater, his ears wiggling happily as the warm air washed over him.

She let out a quiet giggle, and gently set him down. “You stay right here, alright? I’m just going to duck into the kitchen and grab something to eat,” she said softly, and, as if on cue, his tummy let out a grumbling noise.

She smiled wider, and looked at him. “I suppose you’ll be wanting something too?” She asked, and when met with a nod, chuckled softly and began to walk to the kitchen. “Just one moment.”

As she went to go get something suitable for the foal and herself, he approached the heater and rested his head down in front of the vent. The way the heat rolled over his body and warmed up his body limbs made him giggle quietly.

A few moments later, she returned with a small bowl of cut up carrots, and set it down next to him, before setting herself down on the other side of him, her wings ruffling up and spreading over him slightly.

He looked up at her curiously, and then looked at the bowl. He leaned over it and tentatively sniffed a few times, before reaching a hoof in and grabbing several of them out.

She smiled as he began to snack on them, and nicked a few of them for herself using her wings, setting them in front of her, before returning to resting over the foal.

He froze up as her wings lightly touched his back, and she paused, slowly lifting her wings back up.

After a moment, he relaxed, and moved closer to her, pressing into her side gently, murmuring something quietly.

She smiled softly, slowly extending her wing to cover him like a blanket. She picked up a bit of carrot and began nibbling on it, looking down at the foal next to her.

He continued eating the carrots, wriggling a bit before getting comfortable, his left ear flicking a few times.

She looked out the window, watching the rain impact the glass heavily, creating the noise she had grown to love.

Her ear flicked, and she looked back down at the foal. He had finished all the carrots and was looking up at her pleadingly, pawing at her stash of them.

With a small giggle, she nodded softly, pushing them closer to him with her opposite hoof.

He let out a cute sound of delight and quickly pulled them over to him, picking one up and nomming on it, his ears wiggling happily.

She “awww’d” quietly, and nuzzled the top of his head with a smile on her face.

Once again, he froze up, but only for a few seconds, before returning it, rubbing the top of his head against her cheek.

It was Hail Storm who froze this time. Many thoughts ran through her head, such as ‘why am i reacting like this’, ‘who’s foal is this’, and ‘oh my celestia he’s so cute i want to keep him’.

A yawn gained her attention, and she looked down to the little foal, who blinked tiredly, then headbutted her chest and stayed there, seemingly intent on sleeping there.

She chuckled softly and gently nudged him. “C’mon, let’s get you to bed,” she said softly.

He let out a quiet whine, before slowly getting up, looking at her.

She got up herself and shut off the heater with a wing, letting it cycle down. “this way,” she began to walk down a hall slowly, watching him scamper after her.

He slowed down too, what was for him, a brisk trot, matching pace with her. He looked up at her curiously, before looking at the darkness ahead.

She opened the door to her left, looking at the colt. He was staring towards the end of the hall, which was shrouded in darkness. “In here,” she said, slowly entering her room.

He half turned to her, looking back at the end of the hall, before quickly entering in after her.

She glanced back in time to see him stumble and nearly fall over, but not quite. Smiling faintly, she turned her gaze to her bed.

He came to a halt next to her, attempting to look up and over the edge of the bed, failing. “Up?” He asked, looking at her.

She nodded. “do you need help getting up?” She asked, only to be met with a shake of his head.

He looked up, a determined look on his face. His wings fluffed up, then half extended in readiness. A moment later, he jumped as hard as he could, pumping his little wings in time to give him a boost.

He sailed through the air, looking over to who he had dubbed as ‘nice mare’, seeing the look of mild surprise, before falling onto the bed with a muffled ‘fwump’.

She blinked, and, after seeing he was, in fact, alright, laughed softly. “I’ll be right back, okay? Make yourself comfy,” she said softly, laughter still in her voice.

“Mmhhm!” He nodded, beginning to seemingly strut all over the bed, testing for softness, and after finally finding a good spot, laying down in said spot.

She watched for a few moments, bemused, before exiting the room, quickly going around the house to turn off the lights, returning a minute later.

Hail looked over at where the colt was, and after spotting him, made her way into the room, flicking off the light, then hopping into bed.

She lay on her side, facing both him and the window, a gentle sigh escaping her. The exhaustion had finally crept up on her, and boy she was tired.

Movement caused her to flick an eye open. The colt had gotten up, and he had moved spots. Now he had his back pressed against her barrel, emitting a decent amount of warmth.

She smiled faintly, and gently put a wing over him before pulling the covers up a little higher, the rain lulling her to sleep.

Author's Note:

There we go, first chapter done and dusted. Well, not actually, I lost the duster yesterday, so...

Anyway! Feel free to leave a comment, and/or drop a like!

Comments

[Elu]

Pretty nice and cute.

[Olakaan Peliik]

Good start. I'm intrigued so far.

[Neighful]

A bit heavy on the spoon-feeding but the plot's nice.

[WonderboltWing]

10637549
Thanks! I plan on rewriting this.. Eventually, because it's, ah. Not quite up to my standard anymore.