Page opened his eyes softly. The room was dark. He supposed it must be night time, then. He felt refreshed right now. He wondered why dimly. He glanced to his side where he saw his sleeping wife. He smiled, but frowned as he saw a red mark on her neck. With a small smile, he kissed it lightly, his mind beginning to clear as he remembered the events of the night. Must have been at least an hour, then.

Beside him, Winter mumbled, opening her eyes. Page nuzzled her lightly. “Sleep well, love?”

She frowned sitting up a bit and groaning. “I-I’ve slept better, sweetheart…” Page rubbed her back lightly, trying to work out the tense knots that grew in her sleep. “Thank you, but it’s not really he-“ Winter stopped for a moment, a light blush rising to her face. “… S-sweetie? W-why is the bed wet?”

Page froze, eyes wide. “… O-Oh my lord.” Gently he picked her up. With a flash of his horn, they were in the hospital. He found a nurse quickly, and the process began.

*~*~*~

Smiling, the nurse held up the crying foal. “Congratulations, you two. It’s a unicorn.” Winter smiled, panting lightly. Page gently let go of her hoof, smiling as well. Gently, the nurse handed Winter her child.

The little boy glanced up at her, crying. Winter felt tears sting at her eyes, not the first of the night. Gently she cradled the child, sniffing. “H-Hello…” The nurse smiled and walked out, going to fetch the paperwork.

In her hooves, the child began to stop crying, staring at his mother. Gently he smiled, cooing. Winter smiled back, watching her son raise his hoof hesitantly, as foals do, and begin to suck on the tip of it. Page smiles at the two of them. “Seems he likes you,” he said softly.

Winter felt tears rolling down her face as she held the little boy in her hooves. The colt snuggled into his mothers hooves, yawning slightly. “T-to think… Radiant almost hurt a little angel like you…” The boy cooed lightly, smiling softly as he shut his eyes.

Page kissed his wife’s cheek. “I know just what to name him.” Winter smiled at her husband. “Frozen Time.” Winter nodded, agreeing with him. She leaned back against the pillows behind her, yawning from her exhaustion. “Why don’t we get some rest? The nurses said they’d let me stay here tonight with you.”

Winter smiled and kissed him lightly. “Alright.”

Page sat beside the bed in a chair, smiling. “Sleep well, Love.” Softly, the three ponies all fell asleep.

*~*~*~

Some time passed, but it was all a blur for the family of four. Eventually, an entire month had gone past. Autumn was on its way, and the leaves had begun to fall. The family had all grown used to having the small colt around by now, feeding him and burping him, taking care of him as families did.

Winter held Frozen one night, cradling the little boy in her hooves. Beside her, Gale curled up, intently watching her brother. Not once in all that time had her interest in the child faded. Lying on the other side of Winter was Page, looking exhausted, but with a smile on his face. Gale leaned into her brother a little, giggling as the baby cooed at her. “Hi Timey.”

Frozen smiled brightly, saying something along the lines of ‘Badapi’. Page chuckled at his son’s attempt at speech, thinking back to when he and Radiant had considered children. He had always thought of children as slow and bizarre creatures. Now, however, he saw their hidden soul and beauty, the child residing in them all brought forth into a single body. “He’s a sweet little thing,” he said softly, unable to bring the smile off his face as he watched the baby smile.

Page felt a pang in his head once more. He winced, massaging it, groaning very lightly. Not again… Winter glanced at him, a small bit of concern in her eyes, though her face still alight with the light of a new mother. “You alright?”

Page smiled back tiredly. “Just a small headache. Probably from the lack of sleep.”

“You’ve been getting a lot of headaches lately…”

“Again, probably from lack of sleep. This little rascal has kept me up most nights now.”

“All right, if you say so.”

Winter turned back to Frozen just in time to hear his stomach grumble. He made a face, close to crying. Page smiled, standing up. “I’ll go get him some milk, hmm?” Winter nodded, smiling. Page trotted out, shutting the door quietly. He winced slightly as he felt a sharper pain shoot through his head. He shut his eyes tightly until the pain faded. Slowly, he began to walk down the hall, not to the stairs, but to a room he had grown familiar with this past month.

It had been a long month.

Page opened the door to Radiant’s room, eyes cold and tired. “You called?”

Radiant sat on her bed, smirking. “You come every time I call. Every time I give you the tiniest little shot of pain.” As she said this, her cracked horn glowed black. Page gasped in pain as he felt what seemed like fire sear through his brain. He glared at her, not saying anything. He wouldn’t give her the benefit of his words. Radiant tsk’d lightly, letting the spell end. “It took you long enough to get here. It’s almost like you don’t care about me anymore, Fery~”

Page merely glared at her, emotionless to her taunting. “I don’t care what you think, Radiant. Just tell me what you want and let me be on my way.”

Radiant stood, angry. “I want her to feel what I felt. I want YOU to break her heart. Why do you think I’ve been calling you to my room this past month? All those conversations with you haven’t been for my pleasure. They’ve been to get to know the new you.”

Page thought about what she said for a moment. I’m surprised she cared enough to get to know me… or maybe she was just cunning enough to trap me like this… “I only respond to your calls because you’ve threatened my family, Radiant. I won’t let you hurt them. Even if it means I’m the wall between them that you attack.”

“How noble.” She trotted over and lifted his chin with her hoof, forcing him to look her in the eyes. She realized how much time they were taking. His wife would grow suspicious if he was gone too long. Such a pity. I wanted to play with my toy longer. “Go back to your wife, Sanfero. I want you to spend as much time as you can with her… You won’t have long.” She dropped his chin, turning her back on him.

Page shook his head slowly, teleporting back outside his room. He took a deep breath, maintaining the walls he had set up in his mind. He knew his wife had mental magic, and would do anything to keep his secret meetings from her. She would worry… He wanted their days together to be spent in loving embraces, and not sorrowful tears. Even if that meant lying. He poofed up a bottle of milk and opened the door.

Page smiled at his wife ruefully. “Sorry I took so long. Pinkie chatted my ear off. You know how she gets.”

Winter chuckled, smiling. “It’s alright.”

Frozen reached for his bottle, cooing. Page smiled and gave it to him, letting him drink from the bottle. Frozen happily drank his milk while Page sat next to Gale. “You know I love you, right Gale?” The little filly nodded, giggling as she fluttered her wings. Page smiled, stroking her mane. “And you know I always will, no matter what happens?”

Gale nodded again. “Of course I do, daddy!”

Page smiled and glanced at Frozen. His son was curled up, hugging his bottle like a teddy bear. He yawned as he hugged it close. “Want me to take him to bed,” Page asked, turning to his wife. Winter nodded and Page picked up Frozen. He carried him to his crib and laid him down, smiling as the little boy curled up in his blanket. He sighed happily, thinking of the man the boy would someday grow to be. Maybe he will escape my fate.

Page glanced at the other end of the room. Moonlight seeped through the curtains, creating just enough light to shine in the mirror, showing his eyes. He noticed they looked grey, and not green. He sighed, noticing the dark circles under his eyes. He was tired, and couldn’t rest. If he slept, even an instant, he would dream of the olden times. He would dream of when he loved one mare and one mare only. There was only his one true love, Radiant.

But the dream would shift. It would always shift into shadow. Any dream of Winter would be destroyed by that same shadow, a rift between the two ponies he had loved. I loved Radiant… I had, once. But that time is over. I am in love with the most wonderful mare I have ever met. No matter what, I will not let this shadow hurt her, or my family. I will shatter if it means she stays standing…

Page trotted back out to Winter, seeing that Gale had already gone to her room. He curled up with his wife and tried her best to sleep without dreaming, or without sleeping in a way. Winter slept peacefully, and all was well for her.

However, there was one mare this night who could not even attempt to sleep. She trotted downstairs, glancing around. Radiant sighed, looking around with sorrowful eyes. What’s the point?... With not another backward glance, she walked out.

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