Heart Of Fire

Book Two:

Feathers Of Flame

Written by Music Brush with the assistance of Mechafone.

PROLOGE:

THE FOALS

Celestia's sun shined high in the sky, giving life to her beautiful kingdom of Equestria. The small town of Ponyville was filled with joy and laughter as every-pony went about their daily lives, buying and selling goods while their children were out running around, laughing and playing. The small farm just outside of town was filled with healthy growing apple trees as the apple farmers tended to the fields with their young son who was very good at taking care of the big stuff, despite his young age. The Rich family was doing good as well with their growing business. Their only son learning to take over the family business, often at times going out to work with others.

Soon activity on the streets were growing slow as the sun slowly lowered closer to the western horizon. Small store owners began to close up their shops as ponies made their last minute shopping before the owners politely asked them to leave if they were not buying anything. The parents leaving the stores came up to their playing foals to announce the time to go home, where they would have dinner, tell stories, say good night to one another and then go to bed.

"Come on, my little ponies!" Some of the parents called to their foals, most of whom fallowed their parents instructions without question while others let out disappointed sighs as they dragged their hooves along the dirt roads, saying "goodbye" to their friends. Parts of them knew they would see their friends again tomorrow, but they also did not want their time to end so soon.

"Time to come inside, my little ponies!" Called a mare from the town orphanage doorway. It was a multi purpose building with different sections. One section was for the orphanage, another section was a small school for all the foals, and the other section was home to the caretaker of the orphans. It was small and cramped at times, and more often than not there would always be something broken. From a small mirror in the bathroom to the boards falling to the floor from the ceiling, yes, falling from the ceiling. Some would call this place a madhouse instead of an orphanage, but to the foals it was their home.

"Yes, Miss Joy!" Several of the young orphans replied as they started running to her from outside, some stomping over one another or even bouncing over another with spring-horseshoes. Cherry Joy shook her head at the silly foals as they stumbled inside, giving a few instructions not to hurt the others as they came in.

Cherry Joy was a young mare with a rich pink coat and two toned pink and purple mane. Her Cutie Mark was that of a single yellow flower with a smiley face and white peddles. She loved the foals as much as they loved her. She cared for them for years after she gave birth to her own daughter.

"Cheerilee, can you help with them, please?" Cherry Joy asked.

"Coming mom!" Said one of the fillies amongst the orphans happily. Her coat was a fine purple and her mane was a brilliant two toned pink. She was to young to have earned her Cutie Mark yet, or even in that much of a rush to get it, but like all foals her age, she proudly awaited the day it would appear.

"Okay every-pony, let's go!" Cheerilee called as she lead the rest of the orphans into the front door of the orphanage. Cherry Joy stood aside to let them all enter the front door one by one, occasionally telling the foals to behave themselves and not hurt the others while they rushed into the building.

After the last of the orphans were inside the house, Cherry Joy walked in with a smile on her face and closed the door behind her. She gave the children just a few more minutes playtime indoors before she called curfew for the night and began getting them ready for bed. Soon a part of her regretted that decision as many of the younger foals refused to get ready for bed in favor of more playtime. Some of the older foals helped get the younger ones ready for bed while the majority of the little ones ran away from them, laughing while calling out 'you can't get me!', but sure enough, to their disappointment, they were caught and were placed in bed. Many of them folding their forelegs as they gave a hearty 'humph'.

After all the younger foals were in bed Cherry Joy thanked the older foals for helping with the children, then sent them off to bed as well. She stayed up a little longer to make sure no-pony else was awake apart from Cheerilee who was still wide awake from taking a late nap earlier this afternoon with the new foal, Spark Storm. She knew her daughter would have trouble sleeping tonight, but she still sent her to bed. None of the other foals were aloud to stay up after hours. Cheerilee was no exception.

After every-pony was asleep and all was quiet while Cherry trotted up the stairs to her room to get herself ready for bed. She walked in quietly so she did not disturb Spark Storm who was asleep in his crib at the end of her room. He was just brought in by two very upset looking pegasi, the mother left in a hurry while the father looked like he was going through a needle stack to find something precious to him. It was the worse case Cherry had ever seen. It almost made her cry to see how heartbroken the stallion was, and the only thing she found wrong with the foal was his wings. She may not have known much about pegasi anatomy, but she knew his wings would never lift him off the ground. Cherry had never seen a parent go through a more difficult time with giving up a foal.

The day Spark arrived Cheerilee almost instantly grew attached to him and before the papers were signed she came up and asked 'can we keep him?'. He was so young his parents did not even name him. Cheerilee was the one who gave him his name after she had a dream, and the name Spark Storm seemed to fit. Ever since that day not so long ago, both Cherry Joy and Cheerilee took care of the young colt as if he was her own.

Spark stirred in his sleep and gave a big yawn before curling up and resuming his peaceful sleep. Cherry smiled at him and reached down to pull the blankets over him more, then turned and headed for her own bed where she crawled in under the sheets and soon fell fast asleep from a long, tiring day. She deserved this rest.

~~)oOo(~~

It was well past midnight and the whole town of Ponyville was quiet and still except for the sound of crickets, frogs and other night time animals calling out for mates in the middle of the night. The moon was shining high above the sleeping town with the figure of the Mare in the Moon, that was hardly ever thought about, as she watched over the ponies in their deep sleep through the night. Little did any-pony know what secrets the Mare in the Moon held.

Outside of Ponyville just within the Everfree Forest was a single equine wearing a brown, hooded cloak with a small bundle in one foreleg. The cloaked equine slowly walked into town, looking left and right to make sure no-pony was around. The ponies never did seem to be out when the equine came in during the day time anyway, but this visit was different from previous visits. The cloaked equine could not risk being seen this time. The equine trotted down the road for several long minutes, dodging a few ponies out late for a party or to drink at the bar, then came up to the town orphanage, which was closed and quiet.

The cloaked equine trotted up to the door and sat the bundle down before she lowered her hood, letting her dark grey and white Mohawk stretch up to the sky and show a number of golden rings rested around her neck and two hanging from her ears. Her coat was a lighter shade of grey with stripes along her jaw and over her eyes where her mane ended on her head. She was a zebra.

She picked the bundle up in her forelegs and opened up the folds enough to reveal a pegasus foal still very young, so young he was almost a newborn. The foal's coat was yellow with orange stripes just like her own. He gave a big yawn as he was fast asleep in the blankets, stirring a little from being exposed to the cold night air.

She leaned in and nuzzled the foal on the nose, then covered him back up in the blankets before laying him gently down on the ground in front of the door of the orphanage. She reached back into her cloak and pulled out a scroll, which was sealed shut by green vine and was addressed to 'The owner of the orphanage'.

"We will be together again, my little child." The zebra said in a deep accented voice. "...but you must not grow within the deep, dark wild." She reached down and placed the scroll on the blankets keeping the foal warm, then lightly kissed him on the forehead. She then looked up at the door, reached her hoof up and knocked then she immediately ran across the road behind a nearby bush and watched.

After a few minutes the door opened and a young purple filly came out and looked left and right to see who would be out at this hour. When she saw no-pony she started to close the door, then she looked down and saw the bundle with the scroll on it. She picked up the scroll in her mouth then she picked up the bundle and gasped when she saw there was a yellow pegasus foal asleep within. She once again looked around to see if any-pony was around, but she saw nothing. She smiled down at the sleeping foal and carried him inside, closing the door behind her.

Out in the bush across the road the zebra smiled with a happy sigh, glad that some-pony was awake and brought the foal into the house where it was warm as apposed to being left out in the cold. She trotted out of the bush and took one long look at the house before heading back down the road where she came from the Everfree Forest, where she would live for a long time without the foal in her life.

~~)oOo(~~

Cheerilee trotted upstairs with the foal in her foreleg and the scroll in her mouth. She got to the top of the stairs and continued down the hall into her mothers bedroom, where Cherry Joy was seeping in her bed. Cheerilee trotted to the bed and set the scroll down next to her before she woke her mother up gently. "Mom." Cherry stirred. After a few more gentle nudges Cherry looked up to see her daughter with the bundle in her forelegs and a smile on her face.

"Cheerilee, what are doing up so late?" Cherry asked. Cheerilee answered by holding the bundle up to her. Cherry looked at the bundle, then her eyes shot open as she sat up straight to take a closer look. "Oh my!" She said in a hushed tone. She took the bundle into her own forelegs, smiling at the yellow foal within.

"There was a letter with him, it's for you." Cherry looked up at the scroll in her daughters hoof .

"Read it to me honey." She said keeping the foal comfortable in her forelegs. Cheerilee turned on the light on the nightstand next to her mothers bed, opened the scroll and began to read it.

To the owner of the Ponyville Orphanage.

We have talked it over and have both agreed we can not raise this foal in the conditions of which we live in. Therefore, we place him in the care of your most capable hooves in the hopes that he will find a loving family and live a peaceful life.

His name is, Blazing Feathers.

We thank you for your kind heart and leave you this foal from the bottom of our own.

Cheerilee turned the letter over a few times to find nothing else written. "That's it. There's no name or anything else."

"There wouldn't be." Cherry said as she cradled Blazing.

Blazing woke up and looked up at the two faces smiling at him, then he scrunched his nose and started crying. Cherry Joy got off her bed and trotted out of room with Blazing in her forelegs. "Shh, it's okay Blazing." She said. She carried him down the hall and into a room where she laid him down on his back on a changing table. She grabbed a fresh diaper and some powder and brought them to him then began to change him, removing the old cloth that used to be his old diaper. She through the old cloth away and started applying the powder then slipped the new diaper under him and strapped it on. As she changed him the foals started poking their heads out of their rooms to see the new foal in the house.

When he was changed she picked him up and carried him out of the room and down stairs to the kitchen where she gathered the things needed to make a bottle for him and started to feed him. He drank the formula greedily until the bottle was empty, then she put the bottle down and leaned him over her shoulder and padded his back until he burped, then took him to another room where she lay him in an empty cradle and began to rock him to sleep.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" She asked without looing from Blazing. In an instant, the other foals bolted back to their individual beds.

Author's Note

Disclamer: Cherry Joy and Spark Storm do not belong to me. They belong to my good friend, mechafone, who has granted me approval to use his OCs.

Thank you mech.