When there's madness, when there's poison in your head
When the sadness leaves you broken in your bed

"MOM!"

Iskra raced across the sand, its grains spraying up behind his heels like pepper as he ran. Sparks shed from beneath his wings like a comet's trail, fading before they hit the ground.

"MOOOOOOM!"

He squawked out anxiously, little legs threatening to trip him in his haste. Sweat stained the folds of his muscle as he moved, and his baby mohawk of a mane and half grown tail waved merrily in the wind of his speed.

"MOO-"

His cry cut short as he spotted her blue and black shape sprawled on the sand, near her usual tree where she roosted. She didn't seem to have heard him, which was absurd, so he instantly knew she was not all here - faded so to speak. The realization brought a slowness to his pace, the excitement seeming to drain out. His features became crestfallen, his lower lip jutting out with a mild pout, while his 'brows creased with disapproval. The feathers splayed against his rump and behind his ears snapped shut, slicking down, while his wings reshuffled on his back, tightening with the lean look of upset. Lazily he moved now, hooves knocking carelessly against each other, sand kicked up in front of him and spraying back with a barely noticeable bite.

"Mom," he said sharply, ears flicking uncertainly before folding back somewhat. He drew upon her, glancing first at her then around them, his motions jerky, a bit nervous.
He heaved a huge sigh before leaning down and pulling on a metal plug that was jutting obtrusively from a cactus. It jarred against his teeth, and Iskra grimaced at the strange, cool feeling on his tongue. A drop of two of the liquid substance burned on his tongue and he gagged on it as he dropped the tool, dumping it dismissively beside his mother. Next he looked her over, and set to work with something too practiced to have been his first time.

Iskra nosed Ampere's splayed wing back against her side. He nudged her sprawled legs closer under herself. He tugged her tail into a less revealing position against her rump, and gripped her mane in his teeth to hoist her neck up on her front legs. Her head was still cock-eyes, so he bumped his muzzle under hers and hauled it straight with a grunt. Drool and sand smeared along his cheek as he did so, and he exclaimed, "yuck," as he leaned in and wiped it against her neck instead. Gently he reached one of his wings out to finish brushing the sand of her face, mindful of the spit rope hanging from the edge of her lips. They were smeared up over her top teeth, so she looked like she was sneering. He cracked a smile at that, and used the tips of his wings to move her lips, pantomiming her talking. He even gave her a fake, dramatic voice, giggling as he did so.

A shiny, round object fell out of the crook of his wing as he played though, and its movement caught his attention with a gasp. His wings flashed towards it, Ampere's lips falling back into place, expressionless. "Oh no you don't!" Iskra exclaimed like a tutting mother hen, "You're gonna stay here with me, nice and safe and warm," he admonished with a nod as he delicately rolled the object back under his wing.

He circled around Ampere then, sidling up along her left side, crawling under the loose hang of the wing curled messily against her side. Iskra hugged close to her side, nestling up against her neck, leaning on her foreleg under the bow of her head. His magic warmed the air around him, moving the object purposefully from his special place. He moved it between his legs, where his teal gaze watched it with wonder and imagination.

Iskra smiled at the little egg.

Iskra

I will hold you in the depths of your despair
And it's all in the name of love