Part One: The Oddity
It was not a process that was unfamiliar to Ilinga, once the Moon Filly of the northern realms, but it was never an enjoyable one. As it was the middle of the spring, the strange brown lady had taken to her usual birthing post among the rocky crevices where she had once peered out at her king, Wurring, years before when he had been a captive to the Iron Grey. It had been the spot she had birthed her three previous foals, and now she was about to let a fourth enter this world, and as usual her protector was standing on the edge of the rocky cave opening, watching for something that would never happen. But Ilinga needed to concentrate on this birth, the foal, definitely a colt because of its incredibly awkward hanging position, was very big and quite late! Already his legs had come out along with his head, but it was just the shoulders that seemed to be difficult, and she was quite embarrassed by this undignified position.
After a good hour of worrying for the foal's breathing, the little creature finally entered the world, and Ilinga could not help but lie down a few moments to rest from the strain. At the sound of his moon lady going down onto her side, the chestnut stallion slowly moved over to inspect the foal, at a distance so that he did not interfere with the bond that needed to be made. Already the little foal, definitely a colt, lay on his side, thrashing his legs to the sides in confusion and then he stopped. The colt suddenly wobbled about so that he could lie beside his mother, and once in a relaxed position, he began to breathe rapidly. He was already just as exhausted as his mother, but there was so much more that had to be done before the colt could be left to sleep.
Ilinga was not allowed to rest either, and her mothering instincts made her stand on shaky legs so that she could inspect the foal. The ground the youngster had landed upon was hard and cold, the moon mare was a little nervous as to whether she might have chosen a bad birthing spot for such a difficult birth. But the colt let out a snort, rather like someone blowing their nose, and turned his head up to his mother. The colt's hide was damp and dark, but Ilinga made herself busy and began to clean it up, snorting gently whilst Wurring peered at them both.
As she continued to lick hard against the fur of the young animal, the little colt was encouraged to breathe and his coat colouration was becoming much more visible. Already his mane and tail were quite pale and yet at the same time dull, very similar to his mother's, and his coat was quite dark. But as Ilinga continued to lick at her youngster, Wurring gave a snort of interest at the brown coat of the animal, for all his offspring had been chestnuts, like him. But this colt was odd, like his mother had been, and already he was giving off an air of strangeness. It only recalled Wurring to the way Ilinga had joined his own sire's herd years ago with her sickly, odd mother.
But Ilinga was unconcerned, it was too early to assume that his colt was a moon horse like herself, after all it was not bright enough for the moon to show his true shade. But there was an interesting mark forming upon his forehead, a star. It was already a yellow-white splotch that stuck out as she lapped at the youngster, but it's position was almost exactly circular, odd indeed for a horse. But now she moved aside, nudging the colt at the rump to encourage him to stand.
At first the foal was more concerned with remaining on the ground, still slightly shocked about the whole situation of being born. But he soon attempted it, and after a few wobbles into the wrong direction, the colt managed to steady himself on all four legs. It was obvious he was a quick learner, and he might indeed be a fast runner as he grew up, but most of all, he was a very big young animal and sturdy. After waiting a few cautious moments on his forelegs, just to make sure there was no sneaky trick about to take place, the colt stepped to one side. Then he stepped back, and then he went to the side and tried a little circle, his confidence building. But then Ilinga gave him a gentle nip to his fuzzy little quiff of a tail and the colt turned to her flicking the little fluff line eagerly. He knew straight away where he needed to go and started to suckle eagerly. Ilinga snorted gently, but then she was quite surprised at Wurring's words.
"The colt will be named Gidja, for it is quite obvious to me that he shows all signs of been a Moon stallion. But I wonder if that is a good thing or not, for to my memory I have only ever known of one Moon Stallion, and he is dead." Wurring snorted nervously, but in return Ilinga snorted at him with some annoyance. The name was a fine one indeed, but like all mothers, she was not appreciative to any mean or suspicious words about her child, no matter who said them.
"What does it matter? The iron brothers left years ago, our yearling is a two-year-old and he will soon start his wandering, and this place is safe and we are never bothered." Ilinga snorted, but then to prevent an argument from occurring, she turned her back to her mate as the colt removed his head. Then slowly she laid down beside her moon colt, an oddity in the northern lands for sure, and they slept.
Ok, a little short I know but time is off the essence and I wanted to work gradually on this story, not just telling it all in one go. If I have written something that others may not agree with or have questions about, then please just say so, I don't mind at all, opinions are welcomed!