It seemed more snowy than usual today, but she wasn’t against it. It just felt different. The day hadn’t started any less than usual, but there was something more, something eerie, that made her feel uncomfortable. The child hadn’t moved all day, and that was what gave her the feeling. And as quickly as it had come, the day started to end, with nothing noticeable happening. The sun was sinking lower and lower in the sky, and the Corporal moved on, patrolling. Her stomach was big, and she was the roundest she’d been this whole time, and she was sick of it. And then suddenly, she felt it. Pain.

It started slowly, like needles pushing in and out of her skin, then it go worse. It moved to a small knife, cutting along the tip of it, then the edge of the blade, then the full blade itself. She had just enough time to get to a safe place, out in an open part of the Aurora Basin, before the pain intensified and brought her to her knees. She lay down with a grunt, but that would be the only sound that the black mare would utter during the birth. Not knowing exactly what to do, she let the pain take over. It brought her to lay the rest of her body down, and she felt hot. The snow beneath her melted, and she was lost in the sea of pain it brought with it.

She was in labor for quite some time, and though she didn’t make a sound, others knew what was happening. Her body stretched and spasmed as she tried to get the child out, and each breath came out more forced than the next. And suddenly, she felt the worse pain she had ever experienced in her life. It felt like saw blades cutting up her insides, and she wanted to scream. Instead, she clamped her mouth shut, tears burning her eyes. Her mind swam again, but the birth was far from over. It was then that the foal’s feet came out. She could feel that the child was partially out, and she kept pushing and pushing for the rest of it to come out. But it didn’t. She couldn’t think, and no complete thoughts were formed in her mind, but she knew that the child was stuck, and if it didn’t get unstuck, the child would die.

Panic filled her every fiber, and she pushed hard, kept pushing, and she was almost out of breath when the child slid from her loins. The child’s head was not yet out, and as she gave one last push, it popped out, but scrapped the inside of her uterus as it did so. The mare laid there in agony and pain, trying to control her breathing. Once she had, she rolled on her side with a grunt. She started to black out, and could see white dots forming over her eyes, but she shook her head, fighting the dizziness. She looked over at her newborn foal. It had the same horns as it’s father, and she secretly cursed him. That’s what has a caused her so much pain, the horns. The foal, now with a quick check, she, was lying still. The mare, with the gentlest touch, poked the foal with her horn. She didn’t quite know what else to do, and she nuzzled her roughly, trying to get her to wake up.

“You better be alive dammit, or I swear to the Gods I’m going to skin your father alive.” And with that, she was alive, and she moved her head, looking at the mare. She sighed in relief, and stared back at the filly. “Hm, I wonder, what should your name be? Hm…how about-“

But before she could finish, something amazing happened. In the middle of summer, the lights above the Basin, silent for sometime, grew brighter and brighter, shining down upon those in the unicorn land. It filled the night sky will colors all around them, all the colors one could every think of. It lit the sky for the first time for the foal, letting her see the beauty in the world, and what it was capable of, and now gave enough light for the mare to see her daughter for the first time.

One eyes was silver, and one was gold. The silver had silver marking over it, and she carried silver brindled markings on her back. Her hair was a mixture of grey, black, and silver. For the first time, Elizabeth looked upon another horse being, and felt love. Tears welled at the sight of her daughter, one slipping down her check.

“Rhiannon, my daughter. You are mine, and I love you.”


Words

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned