The Colthood of Steel Wing

Chapters

Chapter I: The Hospital
Chapter II: House & Home (Part 1 of 2)
Chapter III: House & Home (Part 2 of 2)
Chapter IV: Departure

Chapter I: The Hospital

Chapter I: The Hospital

A dark gray stallion paced impatiently and nervously back and forth in a waiting room situated in the Stalliongrad Union's Hospital. His wings fluttered like thumping rabbit feet at the tips, tapping his cutie mark, a white helmet, on his muscular flank. All around, nurses were trotting by with casual ease, completely oblivious to the chaos going through the stallion's head. After trying for a year, he had finally managed to conceive a child. When he found out from his wife, who was currently down the hall giving birth, he was overwhelmed with such joy, he flew across the skies of Stalliongrad, yelling out, "I'm gonna' be a dad!"

A teenage colt and a filly sat in lounge chairs, the former giving off an air nonchalance as he leaned his cheek on a hoof, even though his mother, the stallion's wife, was giving birth just down the porcelain-white hall, while the latter's golden eyes followed the stallion's pacing. The colt, a unicorn, had a pure white coat, neon-green mane and tail colors, and dark green eyes. He had a cutie mark of a trio of orbs, each one colored a red, green, and blue. The filly, an earth pony, had a cocoa brown coat, a trait she shared with her mother, and her long mane and tail were a saturated cream hue. The filly had yet to gain her cutie mark.

After what seemed like an eternity, the filly broke the silence. "Will you please stop pacing like that?" This seemed to snap the stallion out of his trance, and he looked over at the filly. "It's beginning to make me nervous and want to pace," she said tiredly.

The stallion, Iron Wing, ran a hoof through his dark brown mane, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, Sweet Root." Truth was, he lost track of time after about the second hour of pacing. In fact, if one were to look closely, one could see indentations in the tiled floor where the stallion's massive hooves trotted on. He went over and sat down next to her, placing an appreciative, and quite large hoof across her smaller shoulders.

"It's okay," Sweet Root said, smiling up at him. "I'm excited too. I mean, I'm getting a little sibling! Now I won't be the baby in the family anymore!" The filly started to giggle, and the stallion couldn't help but join in. The colt sitting beside her only rolled his eyes and looked off blankly in the other direction. Sweet nudged him playfully in the side. "C'mon, Neon! Aren't you excited?"

The colt named Neon looked at her blankly. "Why exactly should I be excited?"

"Because you're getting a little brother or sister! Who wouldn't be excited about that?"

Neon sighed. "Because the last time I got a new sibling, I got you, probably the lamest sister in Equestria."

Sweet's ears drooped and she turned her head away, her excitement and eagerness dashed and replaced with glumness. Iron Wing furrowed his brow at the cruel unicorn colt. "Be nice to your sister, Neon."

"You can't tell me what to do," Neon angrily replied, shrugging his head away. "You're not my dad..."

The pegasus closed his eyes and shook his head. It was true, he was not Neon's birth father, nor Sweet Root's, for that matter. No, they had been born to a different stallion, long before he met their mother, Leaf Wisp. Sweet Root had taken the transition fairly well, the two bonded rather quickly, probably because his presence filled the paternal hole she had when her birth father died. Neon, on the other hoof, was adamant to accept him as a father figure, something Iron Wing had tried to change ever since he married their mother. Obviously, though, to no avail. But he always hoped that that would change.

Maybe this new foal will win him over, Iron thought with some hope, though not enough to be convincing. He looked down at Sweet Root and saw she was still pouting from Neon's remark about her being a lame sister. Iron thought about what he could do to change that face of hers.

"So, Sweet," he started, gaining the brown filly's attention when her ears perk up, "what are you going to do with the new foal once it's home?"

Sweet tapped her chin thoughtfully as she contemplated the answer. "Well, the first thing would probably be giving it a full tour of where we live."

Iron tilted his head. "Of our house?"

"Of all of Stalliongrad!" Sweet exclaimed. "I could show it all the neat candy stores, the parks, the Volgait River, town hall, my school, Neon's school... and then our house!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there, Sweet! It hasn't even been born yet, and you're talking about showing a newborn foal all around a city as big as Stalliongrad right out of the hospital?"

Sweet tilted her head innocently. "Is that not good?" Her ears drooped again.

Iron bit his lip. "I-It's not that it's bad, or anything like that, Sweet Root, but a newborn needs to rest for the first few months of their lives. When they leave the hospital, they need to be home for a while in order to grow more. Which means the only thing that foal is going to be doing once we get home is sleep and eat most of the day for a few months."

The pegasus gave her an affectionate shake with his hoof across her shoulders. "But you can do all that once it starts to be more awake and active. And we," he cast a glance at Neon, "are going to help you do just that. Deal?"

Sweet gave a wide grin. "Deal!"

Neon gave an annoyed groan where he sat.

After about another hour of waiting, a nurse, wearing only a white cap on her equally white coat, trotted up to Iron Wing. "Excuse me, sir?" Iron looked at her. "It's done."

Iron Wing nearly bolted out of his seat and flew down the hall to the room where his wife had finally given birth, but stopped himself to make sure of the two kids at his side. "You two coming?" Sweet Root's automatic spring from her seat and excited expression gave Iron the only answer he needed out of her. Neon was more sluggish to respond, though eventually slopped out of his seat and followed Iron Wing and the nurse down the hall, Sweet jumping around in front of all of them.

Iron's thought's were a hurricane now. Filly or colt? Healthy or sick? Oh please be healthy. Is he or she going to be an earth pony like Leaf, or a pegasus like its old man. I hope Leaf's alright. What if— He almost stopped dead in his tracks. What if it's twins?! But he shook his head. No, no, Leaf's stomach wasn't nearly as big for it be more than one foal. Yeah, just one foal. My son or daughter. He smiled, though his wings still fluttered nervously. Why that was, he didn't know. Wings were odd, even to pegasi themselves.

The nurse led them to a door on the left flank of the hall. Iron entered first, but Neon stayed at the door when he saw Sweet still jumping bubbly down the hall, oblivious of where the nurse was leading them. He wanted to let her go, to let her get lost in the hospital's identical multitude of hallways... but he'd be in for an earful once his mother found out, regardless if she had just given birth. Neon shivered at the thought of her unnaturally loud tone when she got angry. So, with a little bit of reluctance, he called out to his younger sibling.

"It's in here, doofus."

Sweet halted her jumps and turned around with a sheepish smile, then galloped as fast as her tiny legs could gallop. She rushed right past Neon, who gave another irritated groan and roll of the eyes. He followed after her.

In the room, there was a single bed, with a single light illuminating it from above. The bed itself had a number done on it, but it was still nothing compared to the mare that was laying in it. Her coat was a cocoa brown, like her daughter's, but her mane was more of a lemon yellow, and it was drenched from hours of labor sweats. But it was worth it in the end, because she held, in the crook of her forelegs, a little bundle of joy. Leaf Wisp smiled at the newborn, her blue eyes half-closed from the exhaustion of the labor process, but she wanted to show her husband and two children her third child.

"I'll give you all some privacy," said the nurse.

"Spasibo (Thank you)," Iron replied.

The nurse smiled and replied, "Pozhaluysta (You're welcome)," then stepped out to give the family some privacy, and Iron Wing went to his loving wife and kissed her forehead tenderly, noting the large amount of accumulated sweat. The mare smiled, then brought a hoof up to his head and pulled him in for a kiss. The other two foals gagged slightly at the sight, neither of them enjoying such a display of affection, even from their own parents. Well, parent and stepparent, at any rate.

After a few seconds, they couple pulled apart and looked into each other's eyes, then Leaf looked down at the bundle of blankets. "Meet your son." She pulled away the fabrics revealing the couple's new child. A tear escaped Iron Wing's left eye, which he didn't try to conceal at all, as he saw his son for the first time.

"My son..." He brought a hoof up to the foal, allowing him to grab onto it with his tiny hooves and hold on as tightly as his little body could allow.

What is this big thing? It's not as big as the other thing, but it's letting me hold it. I like this new thing.

The colt giggled as he played with his father's hoof. Iron's heart did flips and spins as he watched. Leaf nuzzled her muzzle into her husband's thick neck. "That's right. Steel Wing, your son."

Iron's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He looked at his wife, who only gave a sly smile in return while the colt began to softly jab his little hooves at Iron's still-extended one. "'Steel Wing'? But I though that if it was going to be a colt, we'd name it after your father."

The mother cast her gaze back at the foal, brushing his little tuft of mane with a hoof. It was a while before she answered, "True, but... he looks more like you than my father." It was true. The newborn's coat was a lighter grey than his fathers, more silvery, and his deep black mane was much more similar to Iron's brown than Leaf's father's pink. His eyes were a deep sapphire, like his mother's. The mother then turned the foal slightly to the side, interrupting the colt's playtime with his father's hoof, but allowing Iron to see something amazing.

The colt had wings! Small, silver wings! He was pegasus, just like his dad! Oh, this filled the grown pegasus with more ecstasy than he thought possible. A wide grin grew on his face as he observed their structures.

"Look at those!" Iron gleefully whispered, trying not to be too loud. "Those things look like they can already knock away thunderclouds."

Leaf swatted a weak hoof at her husband's shoulder. "Hey, you better not go sign up my baby for weather patrol. Or else, maybe you want to stop having those... late night safaris." She cooed, hinting at her husband's kinky interests in the bedroom. Iron flushed furiously.

"Oh sweet Celestia..." Neon groaned from where he and his sister stood by the door.

Leaf tilted her head towards her eldest son. "What?"

"You two do realize our walls in the house aren't sound-proof, right? I can hear almost everything that's going on in your room during your 'late night safaris'."

Now the both of them flushed furiously.

"I can hear those things too!" Sweet Root added. "Mommy, what's a—"

"Kids!" Leaf interrupted, desperately trying to change the subject. "Come meet your new baby brother!"

Sweet completely forgot about the question. "A brother?! Woohoo!" Sweet promptly dashed to the side of the bed opposite her stepfather, looking curiously at the newborn. Neon followed less energetically, looking at the new foal with a look of indifference. "What's his name?"

"Steel Wing," Leaf said.

Sweet tilted her head. "'Steel Wing'? That's cool! That's kinda like your name, Dad!"

Iron smiled at his stepdaughter. "That's right, Sweet." He looked back down at his son, who looked back with out-stretched forelegs.

Where's the big thing? Where'd it go? I want it back!

Iron returned his hoof to the foal, who happily grabs a hold of it and begins to squeeze and pound at it with his tiny little hooves. The parents' smiles grew wider as they leaned their heads onto each others, watching their son.

Sweet Root chirped, "Dobro pozhalovat' v sem'yu (Welcome to the family), Steel Wing!"

Chapter II: House & Home (Part 1 of 2)

Chapter II: House & Home (Part 1 of 2)

A week later, the family of now-five were on their way back home from the hospital, little Steel Wing wrapped tightly in light blue blankets and nestled in the crook of his mother's forelegs the entire way there as they rode in a cab-carriage pulled by a burly, orange-coated Stalliongradian. The ride from the hospital to their house would last about fifteen to twenty minutes, depending on the amount of cab-carriages on the streets of Stalliongrad. Iron Wing and Leaf Wisp were riding at either end of the large carriage seat while Neon Vice and Sweet Root sat in between them, the noonday sun beating down on them, but luckily they were shaded by the carriage's overhead awning. Iron kept his gaze towards his wife and newborn son, and Leaf watched her new son, who was watching the passion buildings go by them. By this point, his eyes had developed enough to see normal, and Steel Wing's blue eyes darted back and forth with each passing building, wonder in his eyes. Leaf let off a warm smiled at him, and she wondered what was going through his little head.

Those are big. Really big. Bigger than this thing. Steel's eyes momentarily darted to his mother, then back at the buildings.

"What's he thinking about?" Sweet Root chimed in, holding herself up by her forehooves on the seat, looking at her little half-brother, who was currently sucking on his hoof. "Do you know, Mom?"

Leaf Wisp chuckled at the question. "Probably nothing, sweetie. His mind is too underdeveloped for proper thinking." She adjusted the portion of the blanket that hooded Steel's head. "In fact, I doubt he'll be capable of thinking until he's a few month's old."

"Of that I have no doubt," Neon mumbled to himself. Since he had nothing to lean on, being a disadvantage of sitting in-between ponies, the teenage colt simply crossed his forelegs where he sat, staring straight ahead. Lucky for him, neither of the females to his right heard his comment. Iron, on the other hoof, did, but he decided to say nothing of it.

"Well, if newborn foals could think, what do you think he'd be thinking right now?" Sweet pressed. Since the day Steel was born, Sweet Root had been pestering her parents with endless questions, only some of which pertained to the newborn. Why does he sleep so much? Is he gonna' be this small all the time? Why does he keep playing with your hoof? Are we gonna' have to build a new room so the baby can sleep in it? (On that last one, Iron answered—to both of the foals' chagrins—that Sweet will be moving out of her room and into Neon's so they'll will have enough space to put all the baby supplies in.)

Leaf Wisp brought a hoof up to her chin. "Hmm... If newborns could think, then, I suppose he's thinking about the world around him."

"Like, how everything's so big?" Sweet asked.

"I'd say that's a definite possibility, yes," her mother answered.

The brown-coated filly took a seat. "I wonder if they think about only sleeping and eating all the time," she said, "'cause that's all they seem to do. Sleep, eat, and sleep some more."

"Sweet, we've gone over this," Iron rang in, looking over at the two mares, "infants need all that to grow more."

Sweet Root scratched the side of her head with a small hoof. "But, if they need to grow more even after they're born, why aren't they just born when they're fully grown."

"Because, doofus," Neon said, "if they did, do you have any idea how big a mare's stomach would get? They wouldn't be able to trot, at all. Because they'd be so big." The white colt shook his head. "Honestly, it's like you don't have any common sense in that head of yours."

"Neon," both Iron and Leaf growled.

Neon huffed, "Izvinite (I'm sorry)."

The ride took another few minutes, into which they entered the outer ring of Stalliongrad, which comprised most of the residential areas. The cab-carriage went along at a brisk pace, allowing the fares to absorb the familiar scenery. The farther out one was in the city limits, the smaller the residential buildings got. In the innermost ring, just outside the industrial zone, which was about twenty-five miles in diameter, apartment buildings were the sole type of accommodations. In the level just outside of that, resided the smaller-sized houses, fit for only housing single families. And it was in this level that the Wing family resided in.

The cab-carriage stopped in front of one of the simple houses. It was two stories total, with living room, kitchen, and dining room one the first floor, and all the bedroom and bathrooms on the top; standard for this variety of homes. It stood next to similar built, though differently colored homes. Theirs was an olive tint with a thatched roof, twin beds of browning tulips on either side of the green door at the front of the house. Leaf would have to fix those, being that taking care of plants and flowers was her special talent, trademarked by a small bush covered in daisies on her flank. The house itself wasn't very impressive aesthetically, but it had been the house Leaf lived in since her first marriage. It was the house her two first-borns were brought into, and she was looking forward to bringing in a third.

The five ponies dismounted the cab-carriage, Iron and Neon going around the back to pick up the Leaf's bags that she had with her during the birthing and recovery processes, all filled with her essentials.

While the two mares and the foal started for the house, the newborn sitting somewhat easily on his mother's back, Iron went to the burly cab driver.

"Naskol'ko (How much)?" he asked the orange stallion.

"Pyatnadtsat' bitov (Fifteen bits)," the driver replied, to which Iron promptly paid him from a small pack in the saddlebag across his muscled back. "Spasibo (Thank you)," the stallion added. "Khoroshego dnya, tovarishch (Have a nice day, comrade)."

"Vy takzhe (You too)." Iron watched the stallion canter off before he and Neon headed for the house.

"And so begins the many months of sleepless nights and crying foals," Neon grumbled, his head low to the ground as he trotted down the dirt path towards the door. "Again."

Iron glanced at his stepson somewhat apprehensively. "It can't be that bad."

Neon raised an amused eyebrow at him. "Listen, pal, I've been here long before you even met my mom. I was there after my sister was born. I know how bad it was, and how bad it will be with this new foal around."

Iron shrugged it off. He didn't want to believe this obviously grumpy colt, but some part of him began to wonder. How bad would it be? He thought about it many times before he decided to settle down and start a family of his own, and he eventually came to the conclusion that it wouldn't matter. Every parent has at least one sleepless night during the course of parenthood whenever it came to taking care of a foal. Right?

Iron tossed his head back as he and Neon reached the door. "Well then, so be it. I didn't jump into this thinking it was going to be as easy as blowing away thunderclouds." His wings responded with an automatic flap. "But you, mister," Iron said, staring down at the smaller unicorn, "are going to be helping out as much as possible as long as that foal needs taking care of."

The young colt's eyes went wide. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

The gray pegasus only smirked. "You didn't honestly think I'd be the only stallion pulling his weight once that foal had been born, did you?"

Neon tried to find a reasonable answer to that, and ultimately failing that, scowled off to the side. "Sukin syn (Son of a bitch)," he muttered.

"Watch your language," Iron said, glowering.

"Izvinite (I'm sorry)," Neon replied, though the sarcasm didn't help as he brushed his way past the door. Giving another shake of his head and a sigh, Iron Wing followed.

So far, the newborn wasn't helping him with the teenager.

* 2 *

What is this place?

Baby Steel Wing's eyes darted back and forth across the living room after his mother placed him on the couch next to her. She and her daughter, who was sitting on the chair right beside the couch, watched the newborn absorb the new environment carefully. The blankets had been removed, cast aside on one side of the couch, so the only thing Steel had on were a pair of diapers, his oddly sizable wings flapping sometimes. His blue eyes carefully scanned the objects in the room.

One of the first things to register with him was that he was sitting on something very soft, and somewhat bouncy. The next was that something was standing right in front of the thing he was sitting on with four legs. It didn't seem to move at all, so it probably wasn't alive. Three other things we on the four-legged object: a small, thin stack of something with a picture of a pony on top, a see-through object with long, colorful stalks coming out from an opening, and a thicker stack of something, but no picture of a pony was on this one. He looked down. The thing he was sitting on wasn't alive or moving, either, unless he moved around, in which case there was a slight bounce on the cushiony surface. He then searched the walls. On several of them were very small ponies in brown squares and circles, and they weren't moving. Those must not be alive either.

His gaze swept around to the two mares sitting by him, who were both watching him with an amused glimmer in their eyes. One he recognized, the bigger of the two, as it was that one who he'd seen more often. The other was much smaller, and quite frankly, made a lot of noises out of that big opening and closing hole on the front of its head. They looked alike, for the most part, so he concluded that the smaller pony was much like the bigger pony. And he enjoyed the bigger creature's presence—why that was exactly, he did not know, but this creature made him feel safe—so, he will try and like the small pony.

Overall, the appearance of this room was greatly different to that of the hospital room he was brought up in a week previous. The floors were wooden; the walls were light yellow in hue; just colorful and lively.

He didn't like it.

Steel's not-so-tiny wings flapped again, anxiety creeping into the young thing's body. He wasn't used to this place, he'd never seen it before, therefor he didn't like. The newborn began to whimper, sliding back away from the edge of the couch, away from this strange new world. He wanted to go back to the big white room.

"Aw, poor sweetie," cooed Leaf Wisp, reaching over from where she sat on the couch. "Come here." She scooped the nervous foal into her caring forehooves, bringing him close to her chest. The foal instantly calmed down, but he was still unnerved by the new environment.

"What's wrong with him?" Sweet asked, leaning over the edge of her chair. "Doesn't he like his home?"

"Oh, he's probably just not used to this new environment," Leaf answered, rubbing the young colt's back. "It'll take a while, but this place will warm up to him soon enough." The foal's forehooves tried to wrap themselves around his mother's middle.

"How long will that take?"

Leaf sighed. "I don't know, honey. When I first brought Neon back home from the hospital, it took him about a month to get used to this place. You took maybe three or four weeks. We'll just have to wait and see with this one." The mother looked down at her newborn, kissing the top of his head.

"Do you think he'll take as long as Neon did?" Sweet continued. "Since he's a colt, and all, and I hear that colt's don't mature as fast as fillies, so he might even take longer than Neon!"

"I'm not sure, Sweet."

"What if he never gets used to this place?"

"He will get used to it, Sweet. I'm sure of that."

"But you just said—"

Steel whined, which, if translated, meant, Make the noises stop!

"Sweet!" Leaf said loudly, interrupting her daughter. "Please, we just got home. Can you hold off on the waterfall of questions for a while?"

Sweet, after a moment of modest silence, smiled sheepishly and lifted a hoof to the back of her head. "Prostite menya, Mamu (Forgive me, Mama)."

Leaf smiled warmly, and stretched a hoof out to caress he daughter's cheek. "Ne volnuytes' ob etom, solntse (Don't worry about it, sunshine). I know you're excited about having a new brother around, but all that excitement is going to wear this foal out as much as it'll wear you out."

"Da (Yes)," the filly responded, "but I hope that this brother is nicer than Neon." Sweet's ears drooped, and she looked down. "Ever since you became pregnant, Neon's been pretty... sucky as a brother."

Leaf was silent for a moment, and then patted firmly the seat next to her on the couch. Catching the message, the brown-coated filly hopped off the chair and leaped up right next to the elder mare.

"Don't you worry about Neon, sweetheart," her mother cooed. "When you were born, your older brother was a little sore about having the attention split up between you and him. But, eventually, he warmed up to you. Yes, it took a little time, but he realized that he liked you a lot." Leaf softly pat Steel's head, which was now swiveled around and looking at the larger filly. Sweet Root regarded him with childlike curiosity, reciprocated by the newborn. "He's just reliving some of that soreness right now, but he'll come around soon enough," the lemon yellow-maned earth pony continued, adding a wink to the other earth pony at the end. "Vy uvidite (You'll see)."

Chapter III: House & Home (Part 2 of 2)

*Author's note: When you get to a linked word, open it in a separate tab to see the image*

Chapter III: House & Home (Part 2 of 2)

The rest of the day was spent acquainting young Steel Wing with his new surroundings while his father and half-brother took care of the rest of the house, allowing Leaf Wisp to rest after coming home from the hospital. Although still apprehensive of accepting this strange, almost otherworldly environment at first, the frequent tours his mother and half-sister gave him of both floors of the two-story house soon ended his weak whimpering at every new detail revealed to him. For the most part, now he only gazed wide-eyed at everything. While he was seated on the elder's back, the two mares showed him the kitchen, the staircase, the front yard and backyard, the upstairs hallway, the two bathroom, his parents' bedroom, his siblings' soon-to-be-shared bedroom, and the room that will become his once the day was over.

Not so bad. Bigger than the other place, but not bad.

Meanwhile, Iron Wing and Neon Vice were rearranging the colt's room, allowing for Sweet's things from her old room to be moved here so that the newborn had his own room. Neon had found it futile to argue with his mother on the matter, being that she was too busy helping the newborn pegasus readjust to his living space. Consequently, he remained silent for the majority of the time he and his stepfather changed his bedroom.

Ever since the colt had been born a week previous, Neon found almost nothing likable about the small fur ball. In fact, he was unpleasantly reminded of the time Sweet Root had been born about eight years ago, when Neon himself was just eight. He remembered how much he'd hated having the attention split between him and this newborn filly, how he was practically forced to take care of himself most of the time, what with his mother taking care of the filly Sweet Root and his birth father constantly working. Neon was almost tempted to say he hated his sister.

But, his wound began to heal, as time tends to do, and he found himself getting used to this newborn filly he called his sister. For a time, they actually got along—well, as much as a brother and sister could get along, at any rate. However, with the onset of his mother's most recent pregnancy, the loathing Neon had buried away returned, and over the course of the eleven months his mother was with his half-brother, Neon was just as resentful of nearly everything around him as he had been when Sweet was born, if not more so. His cruelty towards her had returned, and quite simply put, he was just plain grumpy 24/7.

Iron, for his part, didn't know what to do with his stepson. It had been a week, but the unicorn colt showed no signs of accepting the newborn foal. He, himself, was happier than ever after Steel Wing was born, and he'd spent nearly every waking minute with the colt while he and Leaf were recovering at the hospital. Now, while his son was getting to know his home, Iron had to figure out a way to help Neon warm up to the newborn.

So far, he had no such luck.

Iron grunted, and shoved Neon's bed lengthwise to one side of his room, opening up a vacant space for another bed of equal size to be put in on the opposite side. Neon's room wasn't too big, but it was big enough for two foals to share a living space for a few years. Neon was busy placing some of his belongings into boxes that would be stored in the attic, some of which included comic books, regular reading books, and a training dummy that allowed him to practice non-house-destroying spells safely in his room. And he did it with a blank expression on his porcelain-white face, which replaced the scowl he'd worn earlier, having finally accepted the situation, but not the newborn. Yet.

Iron wiped a bit of sweat off his brow with the tip of a wing, and glanced at the unicorn. "Is that all you're gonna' put away?" he asked the younger colt.

Without turning to look at him, Neon replied, "Da (Yes)."

The dark-gray pegasus kept his gaze on Neon, then swiveled towards a rather large blue beanbag chair, sitting in the far corner of the bedroom. "Are you sure? There's nothing else that could be stored away to make some more room for your sister?" Iron pressed.

"Nyet (No)," the colt answered, an annoyed edge reaching his voice, and forcibly stuffing a piece of the training dummy into one of the four boxes sitting in the room.

The older pegasus sighed, rubbing a temple with a hoof. "Neon, the beanbag is going into the attic."

Neon's ears perked up immediately, but he still didn't turn his head. "No it's not."

"Yes, it is," Iron contradicted. "It's sitting on the side of the room that's going to be Sweet's, and there's no more room on your side to put it in. The chair is going upstairs."

The white unicorn growled, but didn't bother saying anything back, instead again forcibly stuffing another dummy piece into a cardboard box. Without another sound, he closed the box lid after stuffing in the last of the broken-up dummy pieces, and, levitating all four cardboard boxes up with dark-green magic, trotted out of the room without another word.

Iron watched where Neon had left the room, and then shook his head, running a hoof through his brown mane and releasing another breath.

"What are we going to do with that one?" he asked the air, not receiving any kind of response. Then, his ears perked up upon hearing a delightful voice.

"And this," Leaf Wisp's voice said, the mare coming into view through the bedroom's opened door, young Steel Wing fidgeting on her slender back, "is your brother's and sister's room."

Steel looked blankly inside the room, but spotted another pony in it, this one bigger than the rest. He'd recognized this pony, having seen him multiple times recently—everyday, actually, though his infant mind was not developed enough to distinguish time—and coming to the realization that he like this pony. Seeing this pony made him feel safe, just like when he was around the pony he was currently sitting on. Steel stretched out his forehooves as far as he could towards the larger pony, wanting him to come close and play with his big hoof—something, he learned, he rather enjoyed doing.

Iron smiled, his heart swelling with fatherly love, and went up to his son. His wife smiled warmly at him, and gestured with her head towards their son.

The older pegasus obediently lifted a hoof, allowing young Steel to grab onto it. He proceeded to try to wrestle with it, attempting to make the hoof move side to side. To his surprise, the big thing actually moved when he tried to make it move. This made the newborn giggle, the adorable sound ringing in the ears of his parents, causing them both to smile wider. The young colt didn't know it, but his father was actually just moving the hoof along with his son's actions.

Iron glanced momentarily at his wife. "Where's Sweet?"

"In the kitchen," Leaf answered, "she wanted to get a snack."

The stallion nodded, and turned his gaze back at Steel, who was still wrestling with the bigger-than-his-head hoof. "I wouldn't be surprised if his special talent would be hoof wrestling," Iron joked, leaning in and kissing the top of Steel's head.

Leaf chuckled, but it was fleeting, as her face grew weary at the edges. She looked at Iron with a humble gaze. "You have about a month left now, isn't that right?" she asked him.

Her husband's own face lost some of its liveliness, but held onto its happy demeanor. "Give or take a week, yeah. Then, I have to go back. But until then..." Iron stretched out his other hoof and picked up the foal, lifting him up into the air, imitating flight for the newborn, who squealed with natural delight. Steel's immature wings flapped a few times, the primal instincts for flight of a pegasus kicking in in his infantile mind once he was in the air. Iron couldn't help but marvel at them. The very moment he saw those two extra limbs for the first time, he'd known they were larger than the average pegasi's wingspan. Iron's wings flexed involuntarily; a self-conscious reaction to the eventual size this newborn pegasus' wings will grow to become in adulthood, he guessed. "I'll be right here for the both of you," Iron finished. After letting the colt hang in the air for a few more seconds, Iron brought him back down and held him close to his chest, rocking him. "How's he liking the house?"

Leaf let out a content sigh. "He's warming up to it, that much I can tell. What about Neon?"

The stallion's smile faltered. "Neon's... Well, Neon is still Neon." His statement was clarified by a rather loud thud coming from the floor above. The parents looked up, a thin layer of dust falling onto them from the ceiling, and Iron figured that the unicorn had just dropped his boxes off.

Iron sighed. "We should talk to him," he said, gaining the attention of the brown mare, "see what's bothering him so much, you know?"

The mother was silent for a moment, looking into her husband's deep red eyes. He raised a good point, but she knew from experience that attempting to coax her eldest son into talking about certain things was almost a fruitless effort. Leaf’s head entered a small battle of deciding whether or not to talk to Neon, all of which lasted for maybe three seconds until she said,

“I... I just don’t know, Iron.” Leaf hung her head somewhat shamefully, taking a seat on her haunches to relax. “But, I mean, it’s not like Neon doesn’t have a good reason to act the way he is. Sure, he’s almost all grown up, but I just... I don’t know what to say.” The mare’s ears drooped, and Iron, feeling sorry for his exhausted wife, went up to her and gave her a hug with his wings, though not too tight as Steel was in between them. Leaf smiled at the gesture, and wrapped her forelegs around her husband’s muscular neck, and rested her head on his shoulder, feeling his powerful, yet gentle body calm her in the amazing way it always seemed to do whenever he’s around; his feathers caressing her fur. Leaf loved it when he wrapped his wings around her body; it made her feel safe and warm. Iron once explained to her that wing hugs were much more intimate than the standard hug with forelegs. She had no trouble believing that.

Iron craned his head back and pecked her cheek tenderly. “It’ll be fine, lyubimaya (darling),” Iron cooed, “Neon will come around, and when he does, things will get better.”

"But you're leaving in a month!" Leaf retorted. "Will that be enough time for him to adjust? I don't know if I can handle taking care of Sweet and Steel if Neon won't lift so much as a hoof to even help..." The worn out mare was about to start rambling when her robust husband pulled back and held her by her shoulder, looking into her eyes. All of a sudden, like a rock being tossed into a pond, her worries were washed away at the sight of his beautiful ruby eyes. Leaf couldn’t quite place it, but Iron held a sort of hypnotic effect when he looked into her sapphire eyes with his red ones.

"I'll try talking to Neon again, and everything will be fine by the time I leave." He finished that with a tender kiss on Leaf's forehead. “Ya obeshchayu (I promise).”

Leaf could only smile back and hug him again, but this time bringing young Steel Wing into it, pushing him up into her muzzle to repeatedly kiss his little head, eliciting squeals from the newborn.

“Ya nadeyus' chto vy pravy, moya lyubov' (I hope you’re right, my love),” Leaf murmured, snuggling her head back into the crook of Iron’s neck and taking the newborn into her own foreleg. “I really do.”

* 3 *

Neon sneezed when the boxes he'd dropped kicked up an absurd amount of dust into the air. They really needed to clean this place up. He rubbed his nose with a forehoof, trying to hold back the allergenic tears beginning to form. He was in the middle of arranging the boxes filled with his personal belongings in the attic so everything would be orderly; just how he liked it.

"Chyort (Damn it)," the white unicorn muttered, sniffling back the signs of a runny nose. The sound of thudding hoofsteps reverberated throughout the attic's prismatic length, and Neon turned his head to see who was coming up. The head of Iron Wing popped up through the opening in the floor, made possible by the retractable staircase leading to the attic. At the sight of the older stallion, Neon had to suppress a groan. He was not in the mood to be around the old stallion, and so turned his attention back to his discarded boxes.

Iron took a quick, sweeping gaze of the dark, dusty old room around him. The majority of the floor space was taken up with cardboard boxes, some of which had labels. "Neon's Baby Clothes", "Family Photos", "Books", "Leaf's Old Toys (should really sell these, or at least donate them!)" Iron himself added that last part. Afterwards, he fully entered the room, becoming almost disguised in the limited lighting. Some dust drifted into his nostrils, and the stallion sneezed aggressively, almost falling back down the entry hole. After regaining his balance, he took several steps forward, a stern fixture on his face.

"Neon, we need to talk."

"I don't feel like talking," the colt answered.

Iron's brow furrowed. "I don't care about what you feel like doing," he said sternly. "You will listen to what I have to say."

Neon turn around, prepared to say something snarky to the old pegasus, but was surprised to see that old pegasus standing right in front of him, glaring down with those eerie red eyes of his that seem to glow out of the grayness. It was a glare Iron had perfected thanks to his profession. Neon shrank back, almost afraid. Iron voice growled out at him,

"You know I'm not staying for very long, that I'm leaving in a month's time, right?"

Neon nodded, keeping his gaze fixated at Iron's, fearing that if he were to look away, he'd regret it somehow.

"And you know that your mother is going to have a lot of work to do in order to take care of you, your sister, and your brother after I leave, right?"

Again, Neon nodded.

"Then I'm going to make one thing perfectly clear." Iron raised a hoof and prodded the unicorn's chest thoroughly. "However you feel about me, or my son, is irrelevant. But when I leave in a month, you have the responsibility as the stallion of the house to help your mother as much as you can with taking care of the foals. This teenage, angsty demeanor you're putting up all the time is not going to fly with me." Iron lowered his face closer to Neon's, which by now was adequately shocked at his stepfather's change in conduct. "Understand?"

The colt gulped, and replied, "Y-Yes sir."

Iron lifted his head back up, the air around the room returning from borderline dangerous to dusty and dark. "Don't think of it as doing this for me," Iron continued, now with a softer tone. "With three children to take care of, Leaf is going to need all the help she can get around the house. I wish I could be here—believe me, I so badly wish I could be here longer—but I was only allowed two months on leave to make sure your mother would be alright before and after the birth. Now, after I go—" Iron placed a hoof on his stepson's shoulder, "—can you promise, for your mother's sake, that you'll help her out as much as you can?"

After a moment, Neon looked down. Guilt crept into his chest. He'd known for a while that he was acting selfish and foalish, and Iron was right, it would be unacceptable to act like that as the stallion of the house. Surely, he would put aside his own petty feelings for his mother's sake. Yes, he would definitely do it. For his mother.

Neon looked back up at Iron and said, "Alright, I promise I'll help her out."

Iron smiled, and patted Neon's shoulder. "Thank you. I'm glad to hear—"

"For her," Neon cut in, "and only her."

"I understand," Iron said genuinely. "That's all I ask." He then turned back around and trotted down the staircase, abandoning Neon to his thoughts.

The first thing Neon did was let loose a pent-up sigh. "Of all the stallions my mom had to marry," he muttered under his breath as he swiveled back around to his boxes, "she had to marry one of Princess Celestia's guards..."

Chapter IV: Departure

Chapter IV: Departure

One month later...

Leaf Wisp was used to waking up to her husband's warmth every morning ever since he'd been given two months leave to look after her in the final month of her pregnancy and the month following. Every morning, she'd open her eyes, her head laying on his buff, warm chest, and look up to see his sleeping face, his closed eyes still with peacefulness, laying on the adjacent pillow on their bed. His rich brown mane would be a bit puffy, sometimes, but he could always fix that once he'd woken up. On occasion, she'd wake up to find his massive wing draped across her slender figure underneath their shared blanket. In fact, that was her favorite way to wake up.

This particular morning, however, was not the same.

Leaf Wisp lay somewhat sprawled out on her belly on the bed, looking as if she had drunkenly jumped onto the bed the night previous and fallen asleep right then and there. Her breathing was even and her mind, while dreamless throughout the night (and thankfully uninterrupted by one of foal Steel Wing's early-morning outbursts), was pleasantly at ease. The dawn sun blasted through the window in the room, warming her light-brown coat from the nighttime chill that would sometimes creep into the house. Stalliongrad's location of being in the northeastern sector of Equestria does little to mitigate the cold climates. The sleeping mare's left foreleg unconsciously dragged itself across the bed sheets to the part of the bed Iron Wing would normally be sleeping in, hoping to find his benevolent presence. Her hoof swept up and down, reached farther out and closed in... But she found nopony next to her.

This roused Leaf from her sleep. Her eyes opened curiously and scanned the other side of the bed, and when her sluggish mind finished processing what she was—or rather, wasn't—seeing, her head angled itself upwards, somewhat alarmed. Iron Wing wasn't in bed. Where was her husband? An anxious look crossed Leaf's face as she gazed around to the window, exposing her sensitive pupils to the harsh sun's early-morning rays. She estimated it was about six, maybe seven in the morning. Leaf pondered why her husband wasn't in bed. It took about ten seconds until a particular bell went off inside her head that made her eyes grow wide. It had been a month since she'd given birth to Steel, meaning...

Meaning it was Iron's time to go back.

The mare silently cursed the day she chose to marry a Royal Guard, but quickly silenced herself from such an unfair accusation. She loved her husband, regardless if he had to leave home in order to work. Besides, it was his duty to the crown, and she knew she couldn't prosecute him for his choice in profession. Plus, he'd supported her more than enough financially with the hospital bills, as well as getting the foal supplies for Steel, so at least he'd done his job. And even though his superiors gave him only two months on leave, the mare was extremely thankful that he'd been allowed to return at all. She knew how strict the Royal Guards were when it came to protocol and national security, but she was equally thankful that they valued family just as much. She found that quite an honorable reality of the Royal Guard.

Still, without Iron around, it was going to be difficult to raise not one, not two, but now three foals by herself. Mostly.

Leaf sighed despondently, and turned around on the bed and sat up. Ears drooping down, the mother of three brought her forehooves up and rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes. Taking the opportunity, the earth pony stretched her forelegs and neck out, twisting her back this way and that to get the blood flowing. She cleared her throat, feeling a slight tickle dancing around in her larynx, and hopped off the bed. After quickly assessing her coat and mane, and concluding that she should really go to the salon sometime in the next week, Leaf trotted out the door into the hallway. In the small lobby just outside of her door, there was a single bathroom door right next to her bedroom door, and two doors on the opposite wall—one for her newborn, and the other belonging to Sweet Root and Neon Vice.

The earth pony soundlessly went up to her elder children's door and creaked it open, peeking inside. She could see Sweet sleeping in her rather large, yellow and green-stripped bed sheets on the far wall. Leaf opened the door more to see her other child, and upon finding Neon peacefully unmoving, closed the door. True, the two foals were adamant to share a room, but cooperated in the end, putting up with each other's annoying habits. To Neon it was especially bothersome, but the added incentive that he and Steel would switch places once Steel had grown enough helped.

She then went to the other door and peeked in as well. After another second, Leaf went fully inside. There wasn't much inside—only a crib for the newborn on the right wall, a few toys scattered around here and there (most of which were Leaf's old toys, of which Sweet had thought of a good use for), a wide, red rug for the foal to play on in the center of the room, and a large wooden drawer with a space on top for changing the baby's diapers. Only a single photo hung on the wall, above the crib, and it was of Leaf holding the infant at the hospital. Leaf trotted up to the crib and reared up on her hind legs, holding herself up by the crib's edge.

Foal Steel Wing was laying in the fetal position on his side in the center of the crib, a miniature blanket spread across his body, and his eyelids closed with his forehoof lodged in his mouth. Within a week of acclimating, Steel was at home in this new house, practically forgetting about the hospital room. Leaf smiled at him, taking a moment to memorize him like this, and reached down to stroke his black mane, which was growing considerably thicker as the weeks went by. In fact, Leaf noticed, Steel now seemed bigger than he did in the photo on the wall. His wings especially seemed to be the most prominent growth on his body. Leaf thought that was quite odd, considering that pegasus wings don't grow for the first two or three years of life—at least, that was what Iron had explained to her back in the hospital. She began to wonder when he would start flying.

A small chuckle escaped Leaf's lips as a humorous thought occurred to her: she'd given birth to the trifecta; a unicorn, then an earth pony, and now a pegasus. Several memories of trying to manage a foal Neon resurfaced, and Leaf grimaced as she remembered the first time the colt went through a magical surge, which caused their entire house to transform into a giant pumpkin and turned Leaf herself into a potted poison ivy. Thankfully, Neon's father, who was also a unicorn, managed to deactivate the surge and turn everything back to normal. Leaf's heart ached at the memory of her first husband. She presently closed her eyes and could see the events of his passing vividly in her mind, but she cast aside those thoughts when she realized that tears were beginning to leak out of the corners of her eyes. This was the present; she couldn't linger onto the past, not when she had responsibilities.

Sweet Root, being an earth pony as well (Thankfully, Leaf thought to herself), was exponentially easier to bring up.

And this brought her to Steel Wing, her youngest son, and a pegasus. If Iron were staying, he'd be able to help Leaf when the colt started flying, but since being a guard prevented him from begin home for the majority of the year, Leaf would have to figure out most of the complexities and difficulties of having a pegasus for a child by herself. This wasn't to say Iron wouldn't help out at all—he'd return for holidays and his birthday, and such—but Leaf would be the main one taking care of the colt.

After another moment of lingering by her son, Leaf exited the room, and decided that her husband would be downstairs. He wouldn't leave without saying goodbye to her, at least. Making her way down, she caught the formerly missing pegasus exiting the kitchen with a full and satisfied expression on his face—she guessed he'd just eaten breakfast all by his lonesome—and wearing the torso and hoof pieces of his golden armor set. Since his natural coat was gray, the armor he wore didn't disguise him into the pure white coats Leaf had known some of the other guards to bear. The earth pony noticed his helmet and two bags sitting by the door, ready for the journey back to Canterlot.

"I hope you weren't planning on leaving without a proper 'So long'," Leaf spoke up softly, careful to wake the children upstairs. Iron's head jerked to where she stood on the bottom step of the stairs, a little surprised that he'd found her already awake.

"Actually," the guard pony replied, "I was on my way back up there to let you know I was just about to leave." He approached the mare and pulled her into a tender kiss. Leaf could taste sugary cereal and milk in his mouth and lips, but decided to not bring it up. She knew he enjoyed the kids' cereal as much as the kids did.

A few seconds went by, and Leaf pulled back, looking into her partner's eyes, and asked, "Gonna' make the entire trip back to Canterlot by flying?"

Iron nodded. "That's right, how else?"

"Aren't you going to get tired pretty quickly?" The earth pony tilted her head somewhat mockingly.

"Why would I get tired?"

"Probably after last night?" Leaf hinted, placing another quick peck on her husband's lips.

The innuendo made the faintest traces of redness swell underneath Iron's gray coat. "Yes, well, even you know that isn't enough to tire me out for long, especially since it was only the one time. You, on the other hoof, seemed completely tuckered out." A coy, lopsided smile grew on Iron's face. "Fell asleep right after, and everything."

This prompted a more prominent blush from Leaf's cheeks. Then, she tossed her head back towards the top of the staircase. "And what about the kids?"

"I was going to tell them 'Bye' too," Iron replied. "They still asleep?"

"Of course they're asleep," Leaf whispered back, "it's... What time is it?"

"About six-thirty."

Leaf groaned. "If I didn't love you, I'd kill you for waking me up this early."

"I... didn't wake you up. You did that yourself."

"But you were going to, weren't you?"

Iron chuckled. "Heh, true." He cast a glance out the window by the door. "Chyort (Damn), I really need to get going. It'll take three hours minimum to get to Canterlot by flight. I'll go see the kids now."

"Prodolzhite togda (Go on, then)," Leaf said, patting Iron's shoulder as he went up the stairs. Since she was already awake, Leaf figured to make herself some tea while her husband was upstairs.

The first room Iron came to was Sweet's and Neon's. Opening the door just enough for him to pass through, Iron was thankful that his armor didn't jingle and jangle as he moved. He first went to Sweet's bedside. He examined her, noting how cute she looked in the curled-up position she always seemed to get into when she slept, and then leaned down and planted a tender kiss on her forehead, brushing a tuft of her mane from her face.

"Poka, vozlyublennyy (Bye, sweetheart)," he whispered. "Ya vernus' skoro, ya obeshchayu (I'll be back soon, I promise)."

Sweet didn't so much as stir, or make a sound in response, but Iron didn't expect as much. The filly could be quite the deep sleeper when she wanted to be. Iron then turned around to Neon's bed and went up to it. The unicorn was conveniently lying on his left side, facing Iron. He gently shook Neon to rouse him. The white unicorn responded, after several continuous seconds of shaking, with a groan.

"I'm leaving," Iron whispered to him.

After a pause, and without opening his eyes, Neon hummed, "Mmhmm..."

"Do you remember your promise?" Iron asked. "To help your mother with your sister and brother?"

Another pause, then Neon peeked one eye half-open and looked at Iron. The pegasus responded with a raised eyebrow. The colt closed his eyelid after a second, and sounded, "Mmhmm..." Iron figured that was a fair answer, being that it was too early in the morning for the two foals to produce a coherent answer, left the room and the children to resume their slumber. It was thankfully Sunday, so they were allowed to sleep in to their hearts content.

The stallion then made his way to his son's room. Upon entering, he found the young colt wide-awake and looking at him with his tiny blue eyes through the bars of his crib. Iron smiled at him, and went to the crib and reaching in for the colt.

From Steel's point of view, seeing this pony again made him feel happy and safe, as it always seemed to do. Over the course of the colt's month-long life, repeatedly seeing this pony had formed a bond within the young colt, along with the other three ponies that he saw often. And when the pony got closer and reached for him, Steel couldn't help but smile back and reach up with his own forehooves.

Iron picked up the foal and held him against his chest, looking down on him as the colt's wings flapped once more, causing a minuscule gust to flow through the room. The gray stallion couldn't help but let pride swell in his heart, knowing his son would be a top-notch flyer with those magnificent wings of his.

The colt, meanwhile, was rubbing his head up against his father's chest. He didn't know why he was doing it, it was just a habit he'd developed over the month whenever this pony held him like he was doing right now. Small giggles escaped him as he did so.

Iron watched his son lovingly, and he now realized that leaving was going to be much, much harder than he previously assumed. The stallion had come to love this foal more than he thought possible, and the simple thought of having to leave him for months at a time was almost unbearable. Iron was tempted to flat-out quite his duties to be with his son as much as he wanted... but, doing so would not only be incredibly selfish, but it would jeopardize his family. He needed his job; the pay and the benefits were good, and he knew that if he continued for another five years, the Royal Guard would pay for his son's college tuition when that time would come. No, he needed to leave.

But why did it have to be so painful?

With reluctance, Iron leaned his head down and whispered, "I gotta' go, buddy." The colt ceased his rubbings and looked up at the bigger pegasus. "I'll... I'm going to be gone for a while, but I'll come back soon." He kissed the top of Steel's head. "Obeshchayu (Promise)."

Iron then placed the colt back into his crib. Steel, on his part, grew confused. He couldn't form full sentences in his head, but he somehow understood that he isn't going to see this pony for a while. Steel grew sad at the thought; he'd gotten used to having this big pony around, he didn't want him to leave. As the big gray pony withdrew, Steel stood up (something he'd learned to do about a week prior) and leaned against the side of the crib, whimpering in the foalish way foals do as he looked up to his father.

Iron Wing's heart grew heavy and ached at the sound, but he tried to reassure the little pony. "Shh, shh, ne plach' (don't cry), son. You'll..." Iron's voice caught in his throat for a moment, but forcefully swallowed and continued, "You'll see me again soon enough. A few months will go by, and before you know it, I'll be back!" Iron smiled to try and get the message across.

It seemingly worked, as Steel's whimpering stopped, and a smile of his own grew on his tiny face. Iron leaned down and kissed him on top of his head again. "Ya lyublyu vas. Tak nastoyatel'no. Uvidimsya skoro (I love you. So strongly. See you soon)."

Iron then turned and, hesitantly, exited Steel's room and closed the door. The room was cruelly quite for the minutes that followed.

Steel was left where he was in the crib. He leaned against the side once more, looking to where the big pony left his room. He felt sadder as the seconds went by, knowing, somehow, he wouldn't see his father again for a while. A word occurred in his mind; a single, simple word that he'd heard several times whenever that pony was around him, and his infantile mind had linked that work to that pony. Steel hadn't been able to vocalize that word, until now. Holding himself up against the crib's side bars, Steel's mouth curved and twisted this way and that, his throat struggling to make a proper sound, the sound he wanted to vocalize into a word. After a minute of repeated attempts, Steel, at last, managed to utter the words, in a high-pitched voice:

"Papa."