There was a battle raging around me, waged for the value of my life—a life spared by shadows, seemingly blessed by fate. I knew none of this, of course; I only felt the steady pull of hunger inside of me, drawing upon the fragile life I carried in fragile bones. How tragic it would be if they battled themselves to ashes in the ground, wiping out their adversaries, tearing each other limb from limb all on account of my safety—only to have me die at their feet, of mere starvation?

Lightning and clouds and shrill harpy screams; they danced around my head, a depraved farce of a halo if I’d ever known one; I sailed with my captor through sizzling air, gliding over golden sand and, suddenly, a lush oasis filled with a bounty that would do me no good in my newborn state. The world was a blur around me, a magnificent adventure that is usually only told through children’s stories, a fantastic journey built of equal parts fear and excitement. And still the bleating that passed my lips was due to a primal need of mine, and the black residue that remained fixed in the corners of my eyes, a swirling after-image of a horror I could not understand and yet understood with every fiber of my being.

Then—suddenly—I plummeted from the skies, falling quickly, oblivious to the danger I was in—

--and then, the darkness was complete.

I was not unconscious for long; my body hurt too much to allow me any peaceful reprieve. It is here, at this abysmal moment, that my memories begin, and I recollect them with a clarity that I wish I did not possess: I felt aflame as I blinked myself to wakefulness, feeling some stabbing pain that was not hunger, something that blazed my nerves and caused a mournful scream to leave my infantile lips and fat, opalescent tears to fall from my doe-like eyes. What an awful existence I remember waking up to! My body rumbled hungrily; my poor feet were ruined; my body ached from where the harpy had gripped me; I was hot and alone, and while there were others around me, gathered to witness a nearly-broken babe, there was no Father-shadow anywhere to be found to keep me safe from the heat, the bustle of bodies, and the terror I felt from the blackness...

talk talk talk

Oops!

I’m sorry, Brother! I didn’t know what I was doing until I did it! In fact, I still don’t completely understand my powers; I just know that my body grows warm whenever I start feeling especially scared or excited--and then, my skin sparkles and sparks shoot from it! How amazing is that, Mother? But, oh, poor Brother; I would’ve guessed that I ruined his nose, if I were aware enough to worry about it.

It didn’t scare him away, though. He was still there, his breath warm and his voice soothing, like it always is, like it would always be for me. The cries that still slipped from me were helpless tears of exhaustion and weakness--and yet, though there seemed to be a crowd of people trickling in, all just to see me, I remembered the fear I had been feeling begin to recede a little bit, as though there were not enough room in my body to feel terror, hunger, and pain all at once.

My brother approached me again, and I guess he recovered from the burns I had accidentally given him. I didn’t notice it; my focus was a shattered thing, speckled with tears and famine, and I didn’t notice his nose nudge underneath me until, suddenly, he was lifting my tiny little frame with the broadness of his head, his movements gentle and careful, giving me a boost to my ruined feet. I squealed louder in astonishment, hiccuping as I rose to my feet for the first time in my life. It was a doomed prospect from the start; as soon as I got my feet underneath me, my legs buckled almost immediately and I crashed to the ground in utter defeat. There was simply no way to even consider it! Standing upright, in such a state; even if my hoof were still whole and pain-free, I sincerely doubt I would’ve been able to handle it.

My Brother was patient with me, though, and so, so kind. He worked with me endlessly, treating me gently, letting his bulk serve as a crutch as I leaned and wobbled dangerously in every direction. I certainly wouldn’t have believed it were possible, had I been aware--but somehow he got me to my feet long enough to make my shaky way towards the blue and black mare who offered herself to me at that moment.

On one side was the iron side of my brother, supporting my first steps; on the other side was the mare’s careful encouragement guiding me towards the store of life-giving force. After that, it was some inner instinct that took matters into its own hands; it was an ancestral memory, deep and primal, that instructed my lips to latch, and my mouth to suck.

The effect was almost instantaneous--and so soothing, that it had to have been right. As the milk flowed through me, it felt as though a haze were being cleansed from my body, and a deep-seated throbbing of sorts that had previously wracked my frame began to recede. I drank as much as I could, though it probably was only a paltry amount for such a tiny babe; and when I was finished, I gave a tiny sigh of tremulous content, leaning back into my Brother as a wave of tiredness engulfed me. The air and the sand was warm, as well as my Brother’s side; it didn’t take long for sleep to crash upon me, and I lay myself down clumsily at my Brother’s feet, exhausted and happy, and very, very much alive.


[ MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. ]

talk talk talk