The nights had started to get cold and for the thin bodied, delicate boned, Thunder-- That meant finding solace in warm bodies night after night. Most nights she found the shared heat she craved by wrapping herself amongst Skindeep and Let Me Fall. They were her best friends, sisters, and lovers … but, other nights, she desired more. That’s where the larger-than-life and all too gorgeous acha buck had come in.
She didn’t know his name. Didn’t need to, really. They came together in a glorious night display of tangled limbs and passion, then when morning came they went their separate ways. All-in-all it was a pretty standard affair not just for Thunder but for anyone, and though it had been nice it was ultimately boring and forgettable.
Until she realized she was with egg. Well, until the egg came … as she hadn’t truly been expecting such a thing to occur. She’d always assumed she was just too small for anything to take hold.
She’d started to feel sick-- Like there was something heavy in the depths of her stomach. Herbal remedies, lying on her side, and straight-up complaining about it to Fall hadn’t changed anything. So, determined as always, she pushed the discomfort away and focused on the one thing that could make her forget all of her worries: Her balancing act.
Once, when Thunder was very young, she’d seen a dung beetle on the outskirts of the dunes balance on the top of it’s ball. It was graceful and entertaining in it’s own right and Thunder had promptly gone to find the largest rock she could. In hindsight it wasn’t the largest boulder in the area, but it had been perfect for the young filly. It took her days to learn where her center of balance was and how to stay on top of the round surface, but when she finally succeeded the feeling of accomplishment had been unlike anything she’d ever felt before.
From then on she continued pushing her act until she could use the slightest bit of force to get the boulder rolling under her while she did tricks atop of it. She knew it was a feat no one else could match and knowing that made being in the thick of learning a new routine bliss.
So, that’s what she was doing. Within seconds her stomach problems had practically vanished and all was again right with the world. Nothing could hold her back.
Then it happened.
Immense pressure filled her body and it took all she had to stop herself from tumbling off of the rolling boulder and being crushed beneath it. She horned out a single cry of pain. A solid thunking noise followed, and then a terrible and sickening crack rang out.
Confused and reeling from the pain Thunder carefully clambered down from her large prop and went to investigate. She’d been sure that she’d cleared the space of all debris … And sure enough she had-- What she found was an egg. Laying there in the mud and clear as day. One end had been terribly damaged and cracked beyond repair. She craned her head down and nosed the red shell.
It was warm.
It smelled of her.
“Crap.”