There was so much blood.
She woke in spurts, her icy blue eyes fluttering open for just seconds at a time, only to fade back into black. She'd moan in an attempt to make herself snap out of this strange, dormant period, but her body did not obey when her mind willed it to respond. The pain from the excruciating labor had also faded, but now the ashen mare just felt numb and cold. She was so cold.
She would catch glimpses of Neon and Warsaw, and she could hear nodes of their familiar voices echoing in her mind. But she was still much too weak to respond in any coherent way. The only action that seemed to drive the most lucid response from the Queen of the Inlet was watching Neon nurse her foal, her Tinuvel Princess. It enraged Vita Nova. Neon was not this filly's mother, and how dare her friend rob her of that precious first moment of nurturing her child. But there was nothing Vita Nova could do about it, physically anyway, except moan and snort some more until she finally gave in to the rest her body needed.
She awoke again with a start, hours later, shivering. Her body was covered in a fresh sheen of sweat. Droplets pimpled the soft, dark skin that made up her muzzle and under her eyes. She blinked in rapid succession, and for the first time in more than a day's time, she could almost see clearly. The first face she saw was Warsaw's, hovering near, his lips pursed as he whispered to her. "Where is she?" Vita Nova croaked, craning her head to rise from the cold and damp earth's floor, in an attempt to survey the area for her beautiful baby girl. The sooty-colored mare had yet to lay eyes fully on her newest baby.
The worst of all this was behind her, Vita Nova tried to tell herself, as she weakly began to retract her legs underneath herself. She felt shaky and cold, and still very much lightheaded. Blood had dried in strong tufts along her hind end and rear legs. She wasn't sure she could stand, but she needed to try. She needed water, and she was determined to nurse her new foal herself.
But Vita Nova had a long road ahead of her to regain her health and her strength.
Mare | Evaline x Valentine | Smoky Back Splash | 15 hh | © Vinyl |
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