A mother knows.

In the early hours she had been risen from sleep in the chambers of a minor cave she had chosen as her own. Solitude was what she liked, until she found a group to associate herself with in the Basin. Home. Finally, she was home. It was a feeling that had yet to grow old on her. Not only had she returned to the lands she had always belonged in, but she was finally making it her own. It was no longer a memory, a distant goal, for she had attained it. Her child would grow in a real home, not in the forests of the wild lands with the only watchful eyes those of a bird. Her foal would be raised right. And it seemed they were quite intent on beginning that life soon.

Whatever had roused her was not immediately obvious, and it took a few more confused minutes of waiting for the stir in her body to become apparent once more. Oppositely hued eyes widened, and the young lass fought to her hooves valiantly, always finding it troublesome around her large belly. It seemed that wouldn't be a problem for much longer. Excitement sang in her blood like a choir of angels, ringing in the arrival of the next royal child. One that would certainly not be born in a cave! On aching hooves Hotaru trudged stubbornly forth into the brisk air of the approaching dawn, happy that she had spent earlier days finding the perfect spot for her foal to be brought into the world. She wanted everything to be perfect for her babe, after all, and she would not settle for a hastily made decision regarding the setting of her cherub's birth.

The eternally unfrozen lake was her place of choice. It was surrounded with colorful blooms brought about by the summer heat, pervasive even in the cold lands of the Basin. Upon its surface the Borealis glittered and swayed like colorful scarves, while on the horizon an array of pinks and golds lit up the snow. Her child had picked the most beautiful time to be born, near a mirror lake with the colors of her dam painted across the sky and the heavenly blues of the Auroras above. Settling upon the grasses she'd already prepared, sweetly fragranced with the herbs of their homeland, nares fluttered nervously. All the time she'd had the child within her, she had never doubted herself, and she condemned herself then for letting it consume her at the moment of importance.

The pain was nothing compared to her excitement to see the face of her babe, to finally whisper their name into their tiny aurals, already pre-made long ago. Her labors were worth the effort, even as sweat soaked her flanks and neck, foam beading in the crevices of her skin. It was certainly an awful experience at some points, but when it was over, she lay against the bed she thanked herself for creating beforehand and breathed heavily for a few moments. Exhausted as she was, a mother's need to see her child was overbearing, to ensure the one being she loved more than anything was safe and alive. Even without ever having gazed upon her little cherub, she loved them more than the four corners of the world and the galaxies above, and would forever.

Struggling up, she turned her crown to gaze upon the foal laying wet and frail at her side, eyes soft and emotion swelling up inside her. Leaning forward she cleaned the babe tenderly, heart near to bursting as the gender was assured and the colors of her canvas were revealed to the proud mother. "Oh, Arya. I love you so much. My little princess. You are perfect." In the silence of the dawn the new mother scooped her daughter close and held her, swearing she would love her until the end of her days, as her own mother never had.

I'm not a girl, I'm storm with skin