It's a rare luxury for a foal to have more than their mother to greet their arrival into the world. Most are greeted only by the comforting bulk of a mare towering over them as they come too, gently rubbed dry by a warm tongue while the first lullaby is sung in a deep humming voice. Their first moments are ones of peace and quiet, of quiet contemplation as mother and child get used to one another - and this will forever form the base of their relationship, as a bond of mutual trust is forged, to never truly break even though their paths eventually will separate.

Alas, the only bonds forged this morn were chains of golden sand, and no greeting was given to the foal as his eyes slowly got used to the dim desert light. Instead the of solemn delight and sweet smile of a moonlight mare he had come to expect from the visions extracted from the raven his world became one of fear, struggle, violence and despair. It was imprinted in him from the very beginning, from the lack of reaction from his dying mother to the careful yet absentminded effort of a gold-winged stallion as he was lift up in a cradle of sand and lifted in beneath the canopy of ivory feathers. No one paused to consider the feeble struggle of a newborn colt as the relative safety of the ground was exchanged for a stomach-lurching trip through the air, no one thought to explain to a boy still damp in the coat why his mothers distant face was taken away and replaced by the hot skin of a stranger.

What is a child's first moments in life, after all, compared to a dying shadow?

Upset yet unable to express it beyond the furious thrashing of a long tail the newborn was forced to accept the new situation, and as visions invaded the mind as warmth seeped into his skin he closed the eyes (had anyone noticed how blue they were?) and let them carry him off.

Better than this place where giant hooves made the ground shake and voices cried in despair and sorrow was the vast desert he saw as Midas' life was shown to him, flashes of an existence not entirely peaceful coming and going as the heart of the winged foal raced. Two-colored faces smiling down at a prancing yearling eager for their attention flash a vast landscape of golden sand stretching out beneath him as he for the first time flew through the sky flash the same faces as before, now cold and motionless in the sand and a bodiless voice thick with emotion as the news was delivered about someone's death flashflash faces coming and going, landscapes and sceneries flashing by as time moved on, the black and white colt grew to a stallion, seasons came and went and came and went and came and went and flash flash flash a mare black as night with mane like blood on snow appeared, horn glistening like pearl under the sun and the golden stallion watched her with yearning eyes as she tossed her head and left flash flash flash flash flash

It became too much. Even though the large wing tried to press him closer in against the body of the steed Kari wrestled himself free and inched out from under the protective shelter, into the cold air that immediately made the toothless gums clatter together. Tossing a finely chiseled head he began to rise, one leg after another searching and finding its rightful position as whip-like tail and stumpy wings flapped and snaked and struggled to aid in the act of keeping balance.

Did anyone pause to look as the newborn child took his first wobbly steps? Perhaps only the sliver of moon in the sky saw, but he would get no encouraging smile from her. At least Kari was proud over himself, as he turned and watched with judgmental eyes as the adults tried to spill even more blood upon the sand.

Maybe it was a good thing that they didn't have time for him, because the look in his eyes was not the look of a babe fresh from the womb. Maybe it saved his life, that Shadow was too weak to struggle against the golden chains that tied her down and resigned to the brusque care of her friend, eyes closing tight with ears slicking back to the sound of a unicorns voice, or that Midas was too occupied with imaginary threats to actually look at the babe he was so determined to protect...