It started with a series of piercing, staccato-like pangs in her abdomen. They shot through her extremities like lightning. The pain behind it was all encompassing, so much that the steely-colored mare halted dead in her tracks, and her breathe jutted out from her lungs. Oh god, it's happening. She thought as her nostrils flared, sucking in as much brisk air as possible. It's coming. At first she was afraid to move, fearful of setting off another wave of contractions. But soon her body would tell her that it didn't matter. There was nothing she could do to stop the pain she was about to endure. And it would last for hours.
Vita Nova was just beginning to get her bearings of the Inlet. The harshness of winter was giving way to somewhat warmer reprieve of spring. She never fully appreciated the warmer temperatures she was accustomed to until she moved to Tinuvel in the dead of winter. All she dreamed about was the hot, dry desert now, and how good the sweltering sun would feel beating down against the small of her back in this cold, dark place. But spring gave her hope. New green foliage was sprouting from underneath the thick layers of hard snow. The sun was peeking through the dark clouds, and the long spans of darkness seemed to be shifting. Despite the difficult conditions, Vita Nova found few other instances to complain about here. Orkaan left her alone, for the most part. Which after Koray, she didn't mind being left to her own devices so much, even if a small but shrill pang of jealousy shot through her when she saw the way the painted stallion fawned over Jaci and Dora. But that was internal issue Nova wasn't ready to unearth just yet. First she had to deal with the arrival of this foal.
The splashed mare found refuge in a small thicket, bringing herself to lay among the moist, hard earth and a coupling of pine needles. She spread out on her side, and huffed away for hours. Despite the cool weather and the damp conditions, she quickly was lathered in sweat. It beaded along the soft skin of her grey nostrils and underneath her icy blue eyes. And she began to push.
Vita Nova was exhausted, to the point that she could barely lift her own petite head to admire the wet clump of a filly when she finally emerged. The sides of her barrel rose and fell in quick huffs as she pulled herself up to a more collected position on the earth's floor. Then instincts kicked in. Vita Nova licked at her daughter's body, clearing her any remaining birthing debris. And she smiled, ever so slightly, when the remarkably colored Chimera filly began to stir. "Welcome to the world, little Nyah." She whispered cheerfully.
***
The mother-daughter pair did not emerge from their small nook among the pines for several days. There Nova grazed as much as possible, weary and sore from the long and excruciating labor. Meanwhile Nyah began to get her bearings in this brave new world she now lived in. Once Nova felt confident her slight filly knew how to nurse and was able to move around enough to follow her down the path toward where the rest of the herd normally stirred, she urged her that way.
4 | Mare | Evaline x Valentine | Smoky Back Splash | 15 hh | © Vinyl |
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