rip the earth in two { birthing }

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she hadn't expected it to begin so soon. she'd thought she could get a good night's sleep at least, but no, this foal wouldn't wait until morning. it was so cold too, she would have preferred to bring a foal into the world when the sun had at least warmed the land just a bit. it had to be below freezing, or just above. she was already chilled, the pain putting her in a cold sweat. she'd thought it had just been small contractions, she'd been getting them for a few days now, but this was nothing minor. it was coming, and it wanted out now.

she'd managed to get to a relatively sheltered, flat area. she'd picked it out beforehand as the place she would like to foal. it was safe, protected, and easy for a foal to get her legs in. when valkyrie got there, it didn't take long for the contractions to bring her to her knees, and that was already for a short time before she was on her side, writhing in pain. it felt like her insides were being ripped apart, like the foal was being torn from her womb, or was breaking out itself. she somehow managed to stay quiet except for a few grunts and groans. she'd gotten so big since she'd first met the brute black dragon, she felt like some balloon about to pop. she had her wings stretched out awkwardly so she wasn't laying on them, their glossy black feathers reflecting the moonlight that sneaked it's way through the trees.

what felt like an eternity soon ended with a climax. her foal came into the world with a great pain and, after a few moments of rest, valkyrie adjusted herself to get a look at what she had grown inside of her. despite the darkness, the moonlight was enough to reveal the foal's chestnut fur. she was a filly, a little girl for valkyrie to call her own, and she was shivering in the freezing air. val stretched out one large wing and laid it upon the tiny horse, and valkyrie began taking in the whole of her daughter as the filly snuggled up against her mother. small stubs on the chestnut's back told of the wings she would eventually have, just like her mother. there was a sadness, for valkyrie knew she would not be able to teach her daughter to use them. the filly cried for food, and valkyrie shakily got to her feet.

she did her best to cover the filly and shield her from the wind as she nursed, attempting to rub her wet fur dry. there were also two small spots atop her head where some sort of horns would likely grow in as she got older. looking around, valkyrie saw that she was still alone in the small dell. she had no idea where dragon was, off gallivanting somewhere while she went through probably the hardest thing she'd ever have to do in life.

[ForeverPain]

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/2s6x2eo.jpg] [scrolly:h(130),w(550),sy,c()] The flecked stag yawned as he wandered through out his land curious as to where the bloated mare had wandered off to. He checked on her every now and again when ever it crossed his mind but he didn't really bother much with her. He figured she had probably wanted to be left alone so instead of a confrontation with her he avoided it. He made sure to keep tabs on her location for sure though she she didnt wander out of the land and get free but he wasn't about to be overly possesive. His heavy draft body moved quite silently through the land that he knew so well as he scented her last path of travel. He inhaled deeply and grunted turning to follow to the path slowly allowing his neck to stretch out in a loose walk while keeping his nostrils flared enough to keep her scent in his path. He let out a heavy groan and stopped shaking himself off before he slowly began to trot although he was barely at the gait in reality. He knew that the chilly air had to be a bit of an annoyance to the mare whom was heavy with foal but he had no qurams about it. It was rather comforting to him and it was how the land had earned it's name. It was certainly chilly among other things but he was grateful it had not dropped further. It would be a sin if the baby was born in the middle of this awful cold snap. He would do his best to make sure the little creature stayed warm as this was his first foal. Maybe it was a little strange to be having a foal, even for a stallion, the first time at about eight years old. He honestly had never bothered which is why it had seemed such a good opportunity when it had arose. Regardless he was glad there was going to be a possible foal now as well as a potential heir to his land. If it was a colt then he was sure he would train it up proper to join the ranks of the northern army. The thoughts that turned around in his head made him lose the scent trail making him growl before turning and looking around again to find it. He turned and cantered uphill to the trail and followed it to where he found her standing with a fine chestnut filly. He slowly walked towards them inhaling deeply taking in the fillies new scent as well as the mares. He let out a low snort as he stepped forward finally halting about ten feet away from them. ”If you come with me I can get you to someplace warm.” he offered. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Black Dragon ll Gorg x Rijit ll eight years old ll 15.1 hh ll extra strength and echolocation plus ram ll dark blue eyes ll Born here Year 1 Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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the biting gave away the brute's scent before she heard him make a sound. his approach had been quite and she's been surprised before at how softly the heavyset stag could move through the forest. she'd been there long enough to get used to it, but when the wind was blowing the right away he still managed to sneak up on her. this time she was ready, however, and already had her foal covered by her wings and protected by her black body when the stud spoke.

honestly, valkyrie didn't mind the cold. she was built for it, and when she'd been pregnant there were two hearts beating inside her and she'd felt extra warm, like a heater inside her belly. but now that heater was exposed to this cold, and val knew her wings would not be much help. her foal needed someplace warm to rest, and val wouldn't mind it either. the toils of birth had depleted her energy and she was exhausted. despite how long she'd been there, the stud had yet to win her trust. after claiming her against her will and siring a foal she had not intended to have, she was a bit hesitant to give it to him, and was also the reason she uncovered her only moments old foal to him. he had given no indication of wishing to harm the child he had produced, but she wasn't about to leave him alone with her.

she ended the filly's meal and nudged the chestnut towards her roan father. the foal scampered ahead a few paces on her wobbly limbs, turning dark blue eyes upon her sire, and then stopped to wait for her mother. val had only truly known the filly for a few minutes at least, but the bond was undeniable. the filly knew who her mother was as easily as she knew how to breathe. "lead the way." soft lyrics directed at the brute made it known she had accepted his offer. her feathered wings folded against her sides once more as she followed the father of her foal.

the chestnut filly caught up to her father, sniffing and nosing at his hide, trying to figure out who he was. val did not stop her, she would need to learn who her father was soon enough. she just made sure to keep a watchful eye on the two of them.

[ForeverPain]

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/2s6x2eo.jpg] [scrolly:h(130),w(550),sy,c()] He was pleased the moment moment that she loosened up a little bit and allowed him to really get a view of the little filly. She appeared to only be a few minutes old as she was still pretty wet and appeared to be a little wobbly on her legs. Really he wasn't going to dwell on her current weak little state although he could see the strength beneath her. She was a beautiful little creature to say the least with her red coat as well as the dark stripes on her body. She appeared to have little nubs on her back which would turn into wings at some point in her life. He knew HellBorn had never shown the nubs that would have been wings but they had been buried deep underneath of the skin. He had sudden just sprouted wings over a few weeks. The dark roan looked at the little filly who stumbled forward a few steps before just staring at him. He stared back at the filly intently wondering what in the world he was going to do about this. It was suddenly hitting him about her being his own baby since he had never before been a father. It was a totally new concept to him about this being his child. When the mare began speaking he snapped himself out of his focus on the filly. He nodded and turned to begin leading them along the easier route to the cave. It had small springs further in it which meant that the hot springs heated up the cave. It would be a good place for them to rest and keep watch over the baby. Not to mention that he had it all ready for himself often since he slept there. It had a large bed of dried grasses that would fit mother and foal. Dragon galnced down as the filly began nosing his hide leaning down to touch noses with her. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Black Dragon ll Gorg x Rijit ll eight years old ll 15.1 hh ll extra strength and echolocation plus ram ll dark blue eyes ll Born here Year 1 Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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she was pleased her daughter had inherited her stripes, if only in a few places. they added an exotic look to the filly, though only barely visible on her still wet fur. dragon seemed almost more intrigued with his daughter than the little filly was with her father. val had been somewhat surprised, wandering into the land and finding no inhabitants except for the blue roan brute. there were no other mares, and dragon certainly wasn't a colt anymore. she'd learned he was nearly two years older than herself, so why was it he was alone on this land? she'd felt somewhat sorry for the stud, being alone in this cold place, but soon lost the pity after he'd refused to let her leave.

she watched her daughter poke and prod at her father with amusement, a slight smile lifting the edges of her velvets. the chestnut watched as the large brute (larger than her) reached out his nose to her, and with a squeal she turned and ran back to the safety of her mother's legs, nearly tripping three or four times on her unsteady pillars. peeking out shyly at the stag she would come to know as her father, she watched him with wide blue eyes. valkyrie nudged her foal reassuringly, and then sent her stumbling back towards the stud as they kept moving.

the filly moved between her parents multiple times during the short walk to the caves. she would go on short excursions to sate her curiosity about her father, and then run back to the safety of her mother when she'd had enough. val didn't mind much. it kept the little filly warm at least, and now was as good a time as any to get to know her father.

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/2s6x2eo.jpg] [scrolly:h(130),w(550),sy,c()] The heavy rbute could not help but be interested in the life he had helped to create. It was surprising that she was so interesting to him in his mind. He hadn't expected it to be that way with all of the time he had known she was in foal. The lack of mares in his land, or rather anyone, was due to his own want for privacy. HellBorn had given him the small land in hopes that the brute would become more willing to find himself a mate but he hadn't even bother to get one mare. Well not until Val but regardless he hadn't bothered to even try before. It had never been a real thought of his about foals or mares but now that he was getting older he coldn't help but want the choice to have one or two foals in his life time. The moment his filly quickly squealed and darted away the stallion jumped with a start snorting while his eye whites showed. He was quick to catch himself and began walking on like nothing had ever happened. He snorted and continued walking along the path that he knew so well. It didn't tale him long to slip into the entrance and look around the darkness. He inhaled deeply as his eyes scanned for any type of movement but they were safe. ”Their is a bed of grass over there.” he said pointing his nose towards the bed. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Black Dragon ll Gorg x Rijit ll eight years old ll 15.1 hh ll extra strength and echolocation plus ram ll dark blue eyes ll Born here Year 1 Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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he was quick to hide it, but val still saw his reaction to his daughter's sudden action. the filly was yet a mystery to both her parents. val had never been a mother before. birth had been a completely new experience to her, as was this. a being that had come from her own body, the thought was almost too much to comprehend. the chestnut filly was so strange, and yet so familiar to the striped mare. it was unexplored territory, a new frontier, and both frightening yet exhilarating. she had not expected to become a mother in this place, but val had to admit she was not altogether unhappy with the situation. there were worse studs she could have ended up with, at least.

the filly's activity eventually slowed as she grew tired. her legs had grown more stable with the use, but they would still need to grow stronger yet. it didn't take long at all to reach the cave, and the blast of warm air from within caused immediate relief from the biting cold. the little foal looked almost ready to collapse and fall asleep. the moonlight vanished as val entered the cave with only darkness within. she relied on her nose to find the bed dragon spoke of, and immediately gave her weary legs and body a rest upon discovery. despite the tiredness that plagued the filly, her curiosity had yet to be satisfied. she stood before her father, blue eyes wide and curious, reaching out her head to sniff at him.

val continued to watch the pair in what moonlight managed to reach so far within the cave, but rested her head on the soft grass, deciding to trust dragon for the moment with the care and safety of their daughter. it was strange how very little she truly knew about the stag, and yet shared such a strong tie with him. a child created, one strong and healthy, between a mare and stallion who knew next to nothing of each other. "her name is thetis, by the way." valkyrie had been pondering what to name her foal over the last few weeks. she had not bothered to ask dragon if he had any ideas, deciding she would at least name it on her own. the newly named thetis turned her auds to her father and smiled innocently.

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/2s6x2eo.jpg] [scrolly:h(130),w(550),sy,c()] The heavy brute had never given a thought to having his own offspring but now he wasn't sure. She was here. She was alive. Tired and cold probably but regardless he really could only want to find some way to settle his brain into the fact that he was in fact the father of this little thing. Somewhere he was wondering if she even understood that he was her father in fact. Of course it was always a possibility that she had no concept which he believed was the truth but he had never known his father. He didn't know what his father would have thought seeing him. He wondered what parts of him would be in the filly since she certainly didn't share any of his colors. She appeared to be getting her colors from somewhere else but he assumed that the stripes were a product of her mother. He was rather plain but it had never really bothered him until the more colorful horses began showing up. The stag yawned and shook himself off before noticing the filly was sniffing hiim. He didn't move this time and allowed her to attempt to take him in. Honestly she was just a mystery to him bbut it appeared her mother would exhausted. He would never understand the toll that it took of mares to have foals so he thought it was a little strange. He decided not to comment on it as he was to interested in their daughter. As the femme spoke up saying that the foal name was Thetis. He thought it was a bizarre name but he thought she at least deserved to name the foal she had carried. Dragon's nares flared as he began sniffing the filly as well his pony like ears pricked forward. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Black Dragon ll Gorg x Rijit ll eight years old ll 15.1 hh ll extra strength and echolocation plus ram ll dark blue eyes ll Born here Year 1 Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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little thetis stood with a wide stance, staring straight up at her father, nostrils flared and head reaching out towards the brute. if she reached any farther she might be set off balance and topple forward. she knew her mother, her mother had been there when she took her first breaths, opened her eyes for the first time. the only thing she knew in this world was her mother. her mother was her mother. she did not know this brute. this brute was not her mother, so who was he? he did not smell like mother, nor did he smell like her. he was new, and strange, and she wanted to know.

valkyrie watched the antics of her daughter with faint amusement. in the early stages of her pregnancy she had not known how she would feel towards the foal. she had not predicted this unconditional love that seemed to sprout from nowhere. this child was her own, and during the later stages of gestation had become the only warm spot in this land of cold. this child that could not yet speak, nor understand words spoken to her. who did not yet know day, only the darkness of night, and that knowledge was only limited. she knew darkness and the silvery glow of the moon, but not yet the warm rays of the sun. she wondered how the young filly would react to the bright light of day, or fresh fallen snow, or the vibrant colors of flowers in spring. currently her world only consisted of this dark cave and the forest beyond.

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[atrb=background, i48.tinypic.com/2s6x2eo.jpg] [scrolly:h(130),w(550),sy,c()] Dragon had never expected to feel the warmth from a foal of his own. It was bizarre to feel like his stone heart had been melted at the sight of this beautiful little creature. She was hardly an hour old and she already had him wrapped around her little tiny hoof. He was honestly in utter amazement of her. Not in his entire life had he ever felt anything towards foals. As a colt it had been the only thing he was allowed to do was be around the foals as his mother was a nurse. He was used to seeing them and such but they had never had any meaning to them. Yes he thought they were cute and sincere and such but nothing more. And of course never in his mind had he ever thought about having a foal of his own. But here she was. Standing in front of him, front legs splayed, reaching out to him. As a forced foal he was surprised how gentle and kind the mare seemed to be with the filly that had been thrown upon her. Of course he had never expected her to be so as he had seen many mares in his past reject foals that they had not consented to. In the north it was even common for mare to desert foals they had consented to when they thought that they were not worthy. Warriors were drilled into the north and those who didn't appear strong enough to be one were often killed off. Their genes were not wanted thrown into the gene pool. While fillies certainly got a reprieve as all they did was carry the baby. The north hardly believed that they would play much of a roll in the foal other then being the vessel. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Black Dragon ll Gorg x Rijit ll eight years old ll 15.1 hh ll extra strength and echolocation plus ram ll dark blue eyes ll Born here Year 1 Character Log;; click! Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to say? Credits;; Table by ME; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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valkyrie would not, could not have simply left her little foal to die in the cold. she could not abandon something so small, so helpless. it was her child and had come from her body. it may have been forced upon her, but she could not blame the innocent filly for her father's wrongdoings. perhaps it was simply how she had been raised, where she had been raised. she was not a northern mare and had not been raised like them. her ideals were different she supposed. if her foal was deformed, or weak, she would not have treated her differently. she would never be a waste of life.

she watched her father with such intensity she nearly went cross eyed. her eyes only closed when a yawn stretched her jaws, followed by a small snort. she shook her head and wobbled a bit, obviously attempting to fight off the sleepiness that plagued her. val watched her daughter regain her balance before nickering the young filly, calling her over. thetis turned to look at her mother, looked back at her father, and then bounded toward her resting mother and the bed of grass. she already knew her mother's call, almost instinctively, and knew what it meant. she nudged her mother's large body a bit, creating a bit of a dip in the grass, before settling in with her head and neck draped over val's back. another yawn spread her soft velvets before her eyes closed.

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[atrb=background, i46.tinypic.com/30ts8k7.jpg] The brute was totally engrossed in the way the filly moved and how she seemed to be just so incredibly fascinated with everything that she could even get her little eyes on. It was almost funny as much as it was cute in the way she did things. Really the rbute was unsure of how he would handle being a father but he hoped to all hell he was better then his real father or his adoptive father. The brute had hated him so for being the son of a western stallion. He knew his mother loved him and had done her best but she had hoped he would become nursery staff and just stay away from the politics and insanity of the war. He had not followed that path however and had followed his best friend into the life that he himself hadn't really chosen. The stag smiled at his little daughter as she almost went cross eyes and snorted at her playfully flaring his nares. He reached out nipping at her little forelock and then releasing wondering what she would do about his little game. His own long fluffy forelock hung down over his dark blue eyes giving him a sort of dark look although is eyes were twinkling underneath. At her sudden yawn he let out a quiet chuckle and stepped forward catching her a little as she began to wobble. Dragon follow the filly part of the way to her mother before letting her take the last few steps to the mare. Dragon was amused at how the filly was out almost instantly that she hit the straw bed leaving him alone with her mother. He turned to walk off a little towards the little spring that bubbled up water in a carved out bit of rock on the cave floor. His maw dipped in as he began downing some of the water allowing it to coat his dry throat. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Outtkast ll mare ll five years old ll buckskin brindle ll Optimr ll 16.1 hh ll green eyes ll extra strength plus telekinetic ll year one Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to day? Credits;; Table by ForeverPain; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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he certainly wasn't the stag she'd first expected to meet, nor how she had perceived him from his first impression. he did not quite go along with the northern stereotype. he was quite gentle, especially with his tiny daughter. she was in no way frail, but still quite fragile being only an hour old, if not a bit more. thetis was fascinated with her father, and with the way things were going val knew the chestnut filly would become used to him in no time and probably even come to love him. he was quite solitary, probably stemmed from being alone for so long in this cold, empty land of his. no doubt that would change with his foal running around. he probably wouldn't be able to get a moment of peace with her following around, and that meant val would get dragged along too. she couldn't just leave her daughter alone with him, not at this age anyway. perhaps at some point when thetis was older. perhaps.

her daughter was so light, the tiny body barely hindering the large mare's breathing, even with her practically splayed across her mother's back. so small and warm. "i hope you're pleased with her. you wouldn't have wanted to go through all that for nothing." it was a bit of a harsh thing to say, but he had forced this upon her, and she wasn't just about to forgive him. in all actuality, he had done very little, while she had carried a small body inside her and pushed it out. if he had not thought thetis "good enough" then he would have been off scott free while val still had to raise a foal, and he'd probably be expecting to breed her again next year. this was how the north worked, was it not? it was how it was advertised, and val hadn't seen any strong evidence to believe dragon was not like that.

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[atrb=background, i46.tinypic.com/30ts8k7.jpg] As the fem laid there with their foal he heard her lyrics speak out. A small frown was placed upon his dripping maw. It was hurtful for sure but he wouldnt show any emotion towards it. It would probably give her to much satisfaction. He simply flicked an ear and yawned swishing his tail against his hocks. Well if she wanted a reaction he wouldnt give her one. Besides it generally wasnt in his nature to get angry. He got grumpy but that was about it. If the mare would just prode and poke at him he wouldnt bother to do the same back. It was a chidlish game that he had no doubt his own best friend might play. But of course it wasnt surprising at times when HellBorn tried the game with him but Dragon had gotten to good to even bother to give the other stag motivation. Dragon turned away from the water and began making his way to the cave entrance just standing guard looking out at the weather. It was probably going to storm and become sleet by the looks of it. He could feel it in his bones. The blue stag craned his neck to look over at the femme with his fore tresses covering his eyes. He wasnt a bad stag in reality. Not perfect but he wasnt bad. Or at least he didnt believe himself to be so. He sighed softly and began staring back out at the landscape. ”She's perfect.” he said in an almost whisper of a tone. ”Speeeeech!” Featuring;; Outtkast ll mare ll five years old ll buckskin brindle ll Optimr ll 16.1 hh ll green eyes ll extra strength plus telekinetic ll year one Tags;; Who are you? Muse;; Not Terrible. Notes;; Do I have something to day? Credits;; Table by ForeverPain; all images are copyright to their rightful owners

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he didn't seem like one to have a temper, so she wasn't expecting an explosion of fiery anger. all she'd hoped to do was invoke a little guilt, maybe cause an apology. not for breeding, val in no way regretted having this little filly she loved so much. she regretted how her daughter had come about, however. though, she supposed, if he had not been forceful her daughter may never have come about. but who knew. perhaps, if he had kept her on the land, in time she may have consented. val did not know the future.

she watched him move across the cave with tired eyes. almost given up on hearing a reply from him, it surprised her when he whispered just a couple of words. she managed to catch them, and had not expected them. she found herself feeling almost frustrated. the words were true, her daughter was all she could have hoped for, and more. what was frustrating was the fact that she found it so difficult to hate this brute, and actually found herself liking him somewhat. with a snort she turned her head away from the entrance and towards the darkness of the back of the cave. it didn't take her long to fall asleep, her tangled thoughts doing little to keep her up.

thetis was up before both of her parents in the morning, ready to explore. sh first looked outside the cave, the early morning light just beginning to stream through the trees. she wished to go out, but the cold air drove her back into the cave and towards the springs. she could now see the water, the light having filled the cave a good amount. she pawed at the water, playing with it for a while before her father's sleeping form caught her attention. the events from last time were blurry and dark, but she did remember some things. she got close to the brute, sniffing at him. he looked different in the day time, and she had to make sure he was the same horse. satisfied with his identity, thetis slowly raised herself onto her back hooves to gain a bit of height and began trying to snap at his thick forelock like he had done to her the night before. sadly, her sense of balance was still horribly off kilter and she ended up falling forward to lean against one of his thick shoulders.

despite the exhausting events of the night, val was still an early riser and opened her eyes not long after her daughter. surprised to feel an cold, empty spot where the body of her daughter had once been, panic seized the black mare for a moment before she spotted the chestnut filly doing...something to her father. val watched the antic for a bit with slight amusement, wonder when the brute would finally wake up.