Thunderblaze cantered across the meadow toward his pregnant mate, Lakefrost. Sun Herd’s medicine mare, Dewbreeze, stood next to her, looking concerned. As he got closer he saw how weak his wife looked, and he shed a few orange feathers in his wake.

“How long has it been since she looked like this?” he asked Dewbreeze.

“About three hours,” Dewbreeze replied worriedly.

Thunderblaze’s heart lurched. Three hours! Three hours ago, he had been doing battle drills with one of the council-members, Redstorm. He had practiced battle while Lakefrost was in labor!

“How much strength does she have left?” he asked frantically, staring at his sweating, panting wife.

“Not enough,” said Dewbreeze, shaking her head sadly. “I can only barely see the baby’s ears.”

Just then, a shadow darkened the sky. “The black foal has been born to Mountain Herd!” the pegasus that had made the shadow shouted. He saw Sun Herd’s council-members on a rock outcrop and landed with them to talk more.

Startled and scared by the steed’s appearance, Lakefrost had another contraction, the largest she had had since Thunderblaze found her.

“Yes!” whinnied Dewbreeze. “I can see the wings! Thunderblaze, help me pull!”

He went around to the back of Lakefrost and saw a bloody, pale dusty-colored hide, a dark and drenched mane, and sky blue wings. He took the right wing in his mouth and pulled. At first it was hard, but once the foal’s hindquarters came out, its back legs slid smoothly and quickly. Due to the change in pressure, Dewbreeze and Thunderblaze went tumbling hooves-over-wings backwards, letting go of the foal in the process.

Lakefrost was instantly alert, up on her hooves, nuzzling the foal and drying it off. She could see it was a colt. He had dusty, honey-colored hide, a coal-black mane and tail, two front socks, a narrow blaze on his face and dark, nervous eyes.

“I will go fetch some roots to build back your strength, Lakefrost,” Dewbreeze said. She hurried away, leaving the couple with their newborn.

Thunderblaze looked at his new colt that was struggling to stand. After the first few attempts, the baby got it right and tottered over to its mother to nurse. Lakefrost’s indigo wing slid over him, warming him up. His sire kept gazing at the suckling foal, thinking about names.

“Sunblaze?” he suggested after a while.

His mate’s glance held a question for him, so he explained. “I mean, he’s about the color of the sun, his wings look like the sky, and he has a blaze, so…,” he trailed off. “Do you have a better idea?” he asked.

Lakefrost paused. “I like the ‘sun’ part, but I think it sounds too much like your name, because they both end in ‘blaze.’ How about Sunshadow, because of his black mane and tail?”

Thunderblaze agreed instantly. “I love it!” he whinnied.