Celestia brings me down the short hall to a washing station, where she tells me to clean my hooves and forelegs. I do as she says, taking extra care to rinse and lather myself to be as clean as possible. Once done Celestia brings me down another hall, this one having several doors. I look inside the first few we walk past and figure out that we're in the medical ward. A few rooms are empty while the rest have other mothers sleeping in medical beds. We make it to the end of the hall where Celestia motions for me to enter. I take a deep breath before nervously stepping in.

Luna's laying on the bed in the middle of the room. She has her eyes shut peacefully, but I can tell she's still awake. There are a few chairs and small dressers in here as well. A white blanket covers her bottom half as she lays there, resting. She looks tremendously skinnier, for obvious reason and has short blue hair instead of her long energy hair. I take a few steps in and look around for the baby, only seeing an empty carriage to my right.

"Hey there." Luna greets weakly. I look back to her to see her warm yet tired smiling face. I smile back to her and approach, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. It's a huge relief to know she's alright.

"Hey." I say back, lost for words. She lays her head back down and sighs contently. I reach up and hold her hoof, unsure of where to start.

"I thought I lost you." She tells me as she squeezes my hoof in hers. "I saw your ship get shot down and I thought you were gone forever. Then you came back, just like you promised." She finishes her statement by kissing my hoof. I reach behind her head and press my nose against hers so we're almost touching foreheads.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I didn't want to worry you." I tell her before sitting down.

"It's okay, I understand now. The doctors tell me everything went perfectly. No problems at all." She says somewhat proudly, to which I chuckle a bit.

"My girl... so... where-"

"Nursing." She says as she motions to her hips. I glance between the blanket and her for a moment before she smiles and kisses my cheek. "Go ahead, meet your son."

"Son? It's a boy?" I ask excitedly. She smiles more and nods, making me even more overjoyed. I give her another kiss before moving down to her hips. I take the blanket and slowly lift it up, first revealing a tuft of black hair that is his tail. Then a dark blue body, like Luna's. And lastly, the rest of him.

He is definitively a pony, no question about that. An alicorn as well. He has bright blue eyes and all black hair. He's suckling away at Luna's teat, greedily eating her milk and filling his little tummy. I glance to Luna, who nods, before reaching over to him and picking him up. He feels so small in my forelegs, so fragile. He looks up at me and stares in wonder as I sit there with him in my arms. I can feel my heart skip a beat or two as the reality of my son in my arms settles in.

"Hey there little guy, I'm dad." I tell him with a smile. He continues to stare up at me, holding his little hooves together. "You went through so much to get here, didn't you? But don't worry, everything's going to be fine now-"

"We promise." Luna finishes. I look back to her and smile, holding him a bit closer. I scoot over to her and lean down so we're both looking to him. "Six pounds, twelve ounces. Four perfect little hooves, bright blue eyes, a perfect heart beat, two beautiful wings, a little horn and an appetite that's wearing mom out." Luna tells me, making me laugh.

"What about a name? What are we going to call our little guy?" I ask as a set my other hoof on his belly. He grabs it with his own hooves, holding it weakly yet with powerful effect.

"I don't know yet. Let's do it already, Celestia." Luna says, making me pause.

"Is this another birthing tradition, Luna?" I ask, making her pause as well.

"Oh... right. Sorry, I forgot you don't know all that stuff yet. Yeah, it is. Ponies don't name their young off the top of their head. We use a spell that finds a ponies true name at heart." Luna informs me.

"Like how our cutie marks tell us what we're special at doing, our birth name helps a pony become who they are. If you're ready, I'm ready to begin." Celestia says as she walks in. I look to Luna before looking back to Celestia and nod to her. She closes her eyes and charges her horn, having her golden aura appear around it and the baby. I begin to worry if the spell will hurt him or cause any discomfort, but put those worries to rest when I see him in my arms unchanged.

"Miles." I look back to Luna and see her reaching for the baby. I smile and nervously move him to her, afraid of dropping him. She holds him so it takes the two of us to carry him, making me smile. We wait for the spell to finally finish up, taking a few minutes to do so. When her aura disappears, Celestia murmurs a name out before opening her eyes.

"Tempestive Mortem."

"..."

"..."

"What does that mean?" Celestia asks, breaking our initial shock.

"Miles-"

"I'm sure it's nothing. Are you sure that's his name? You didn't mess up did you?" I ask quickly as Luna takes him and holds him close.

"No, I did it perfectly. What does it mean?"

"Maybe we should get some more check ups, just to make sure everything's alright." Luna suggest nervously, making Celestia frown.

"It sounds like he's named after father, sister. Why are you two worrying?" I sigh and look her right in the eyes.

"Tempestive Mortem means Timely Death." When I tell her this, Tempestive begins to whimper a bit.

..........................................................................................................................................................

Crash

I let out another yell as I flip another table, having its contents fly over the small room. It's been almost a week now and we're barely scraping by in this mud hole of a planet. One human, ONE HUMAN! We've lost almost everything! Our people, our way of living, our hopes of a clear future. The reports from the first wave said the planet was cleared! They said the humans were decimated! How could they have been so foolish as to let one slip through!? HOW!?

"RAAAAH!" I scream out as I smack another table, ruining the last piece of furniture in the small command center.

"Well, aren't you fussy?" I spin around and point my side arm at the creature standing in the entrance. It's... nothing like I've ever seen before. Probably one of those bastard creations made by the humans.

"I'm in no mood for games beast. Either leave or die, choose wisely." I warn the creature, making it chuckle.

"Funny, I was going to tell you the same thing." He says as he enters. I keep my pistol on him, waiting for the right moment to strike. "Let me guess. You're holding your shot because you don't want to waste the ammo. You've lost any major supplies you had and don't want to just shoot, am I right?"

"..." Yes.

"And now you're stuck on this planet, with no allies, no idea of the local dangers, or of the terrain, right?"

"..." Yes.

"And even worse, the human army, along with the local Equestrian guard, are hunting you down and exterminating your people. How many have you lost since your landing here?"

"..." Too many.

"So, as you put so eloquently, either leave... or die. Simple isn't it?" He asks with a chuckle.

"Is that a threat?" I ask, pulling the hammer back.

"Actually, it's the opposite." He says with a sly smile. I lower my gun a bit as I stare at him, unsure of what he intends to do. "I am a griffin here with a message of friendship from our king, Ulfric Stormmind. Simple as that."

"... You want an alliance with us... why?" I ask, keeping my pistol aimed at him.

"We have a common enemy." He tells me, making me lower my gun again. "The human that destroyed your ship-"

"My people!" I correct.

"Whatever, he's going to be inspecting all of the countries soon, looking for faults and what not. We don't like being told what to do, especially from someone who just suddenly appeared on the world scene. But, sadly, we're out matched at the moment. So, when we saw your ship come down and be destroyed, we knew what to do. You need somewhere safe to recover, and we need a powerful ally to watch our backs. Simple as that."

"... Are you telling me that you... griffins, are going to war with this single human?"

"No, no, well... not now at least. As our politicians put it; 'we are readying ourselves for the future storms that will plague our great nation in the hope to preserve our way of living.' So, you think you can manage a little boat ride across the Divide in order to save what's left of your people?"

"How can I know we can trust you?" I ask slowly.

"You can't. But, we're the only ones willing to come to your aid. Even with biased agendas, can you afford not to?" I lower my pistol to my side and look out the open flaps of my tent. The lucky few that were able to escape huddle together in the cold forest while the monsters of the dark terrorize us at night. Even with our advanced weaponry, we won't last out here. Especially with those damned machines chasing after us.

"What's your name?"

"Steelwing."

"Steelwing, these are my people. The last purebloods of the Kroth race. If you try to double cross us, not even the gods will be able to save you from my fury."

"Don't-"

"I will kill this human, one day. Tomorrow, next year, decades from now, he will pay for what he did to my people."

"And you will get your revenge, in time. Storm clouds are approaching, followed by a great Darkness. Are you ready for it?"

......................................................................................................................................................

I yawn as I sit back in my chair, tired from the lack of sleep I've had. After an entire day of testing all I could come up with is Tempestive Mortem is a perfectly healthy baby boy. No irregular heartbeat. No influx within his soul, though his soul seems a bit more developed than typical newborns. The problem with that scan though is I don't know what a soul for a newborn alicorn is suppose to be, only a humans. It could be normal, he could be filled with raw power, or he could be incredibly low on energy, I don't know. And I can't compare him to Big Mac's or Storm Cloud's kid either, I wasn't there when they were born to do the tests.

"Miles?" Celestia whispers to me from the door. She beckons me outside, so I quietly leave the room so Luna can sleep in peace.

"What's up?" I ask her. She looks at me nervously with a slight frown.

"Well... I have to ask, when you first held Tempestive... did you feel... a spark, by chance?" She fumbles over her question a bit, obviously not wanting to ask.

"A... spark?"

"Yes, well, the whole reason you weren't allowed in during the birth was for something we refer to as the spark. We don't have an explanation for it yet, but when a stallion see's their foal for the first time they feel something within them. From the outside looking in, a sparkle appears in their eye, hence, the spark-"

"Are you saying that I don't love Tempestive?"

"No, of course not. I'm just-"

"And keep in mind, I'm not just a stallion. Humans don't get a literal spark. Just like everything else in our life there is nothing you can see about us that gives away our true intentions, necessarily. We have to act and you have to believe in us." I tell her, trying not to be offended.

"I believe in you Miles, I was just a bit concerned because you may be human, but you're a pony now as well." I think about what she said and nod to her. I understand that I have to live life as both now, but change isn't easy. "Is everything okay with Tempestive?"

"Yeah, the only thing that I could possibly be concerned about is how well his soul formed. But, I don't know anything about alicorn souls, so I don't know how to act about it." I tell her as I start to walk down the hall, having Celestia follow after me. I glance over to her and note the uneasy look on her face. "Come on, let's get something to eat."

"I'm not hungry." She says quickly. *GURGLE* "... well... if you're hungry, I guess I'll give you company."

"Right, let's eat." I laugh as I nudge her, getting a giggle from her. "How long have you been up?"

"... how long was Luna in labor?" She asks, making me laugh more.

"Wow. Okay, after we eat you're getting some sleep." I tell her.

"Sleeping after eating isn't very smart when dieting." She drones, as if reciting a manual.

"Right. If you really want to lose weight I can put you on a training regiment. I'm sure I can get you to lose a couple unwanted pounds." She pauses for a moment before continuing at a faster pace.

"Uh... no. I don't think I need to lose that much weight." I laugh at her, making her relax again. "Besides, broccoli Alfredo with a side of... extra cheesy garlic bread. And to wash it down.... I don't even care, as long as it's-"

"Found in a small town hospital cafeteria." I cut her off when we make it to the stairs. "Sorry Celestia, but what ever Alfredo is, it's going to have to wait... what is it anyway?"

"... damn."

"So how can you cuss but Luna-"

"Well, when in Ponyville I guess." She muses.

"... what?" I ask, genuinely confused.

"... what?"

"When in Ponyville... what?" I ask again, getting a confused look from her.

"It's a saying, well, I'm making a... you know what, never mind. I'm sure you'll find out in time." She tells me before heading down the stairs.

"Find out what?" I ask as I follow after her.

"You've been here how long and you haven't picked up on these things?" She asks me, giving me a smug look. "I swear, I'd think you'd know a thing or two at this point."

"What are you trying to say?" I ask her, making her chuckle a bit more. "Hey, I went to college for sixteen years, I think I-"

"Aren't you suppose to graduate in four?"

"I HAVE A P.H.D. IN ARCANE THEORY! I'M NOT AN IDIOT!" She only laughs harder at me, continuing down to the next floor. "SIXTEEN YEARS CELESTIA! SIXTEEN... son of a bitch."

..................................................................................................................................................

I wake up when I feel something pushing on my legs. I look down and smile as Tempestive cuddles up against my side. I curl up so my nose rests against his side. He gives a few yawns as he looks up me me. He rolls onto his side and quickly falls back to sleep. I watch his little body rise and fall with every breath; the way his mouth hangs open slightly; how every now and again his wings twitch.

His name, Tempestive Mortem, Timely Death. It sounds so evil, so menacing. But... he's just an innocent little colt. I guess that's how all evil ponies start out though, Celestia knows how I turned out. Given, I didn't become evil intentionally. But I still fear what could become of him. What is he going to do in life with a name like Tempestive Mortem? I don't want to have to watch him become a monster like I did.

I don't know how he's going to turn out, and that terrifies me. But I can rest knowing one thing. We'll be there for him. Me, Miles, Celestia, everypony. We'll be there for him. We'll bring him up right, make him happy, hold him when he's sad and teach him what's right and why it's right. I don't know how he's going to turn out, and that terrifies me. But I do know that we'll be there for him, and that comforts me.

Okay, so for those of you who actually look up the names, you'll find a discrepancy. To literally translate it to Timely Death, it would be Mortem Tempestiva. But in my opinion, Tempestive Mortem sounds more masculine. It can mean the same thing if you finagle it, so that's why his name is Tempestive Mortem.

Also, the next chapter is the Q/A chapter, meaning the blog will be closing shortly. I will give it two days ( from post ) until I close it. ( November 22 ) If you have any last minute questions to ask now is the last chance you'll get.

Also, shout out to Dradaen for picking Celestia's food craving!

Brony on!