Behlsh's birth
The cold ground stung her feet as she raced down the dirt-worn path between the house and the barn. The smaller moon bright in its fullness. A single light was on, filling the stall with its dim glow and giving off a soft, electric hum.
The mare was restlessly pacing, nose to the ground, half-buckling to drop before reconsidering and circling around again. Sray grabbed the pitchfork and pushed the gate open, and started shoveling extra straw in. Zhyelmay snuffed the fresh stuff and grunted appreciatively as she dropped into the pile and rubbed her belly and neck against the bedding before stopping and letting out a grunting groan with a pushing contraction, a pale protrusion showing from underneath her uplifted tail.
Janef appeared, followed shortly by Kayrin, who rolled up her sleeves and knelt down behind the mare's hip. Sray knelt beside her mother, two springs of foaling, calving, and kidding with Thelus filled her mind alongside the memories of the births of Zhyelmay's other foals and Zhyelmay herself.
A single dark hoof, looking blue wrapped in the veined white-blue sack showed, sole down, as it should be. Another grunting push and a second hoof came alongside the first, offset slightly, the toe level with the equally dark fetlock. More pushes and a nose appeared, tucked over the knees, and then the hard part of getting the shoulders through before the rest of the foal's body slipped out.
Sray's nails dug into the sack, pulling it away from the head and forefeet. A large, white star was stark against the black face of the foal. She wiped out the nostrils and the little creature snorted and shook its wobbly head, the huge ears flapping flaccidly. Its dark eyes blinked dazedly about as Sray continued to peel open the sack, revealing the mousy grey body and the thick, dark line down the foal's back with pronounced shoulder barring like its father.
"Pouchless births are so messy," Teigan wiped his hands clean with the damp cloth.
"The organizers wanted variety," Kayrin replied, taking the cloth and tossing it into the pile. "Eggs, pouches, placentals, some born helpless and needing careful care for weeks or months and others running in under an hour." She leaned into him and let out a self-satisfied sigh as she watched Sray.