The Night's Gift

One year had passed since the trip to France and C.L was sound asleep on the ground, his head resting against Cher Ami’s saddle. Not far away stood the black mare, who grazed quietly and cautiously in order to not wake her master. She heard the hooting owl in a tree above and the bats that flitted about with their high squeaks. It was a peaceful evening…

A funny feeling tingled in Cher’s stomach. She kicked against it with a hind leg, hoping the sudden and explosive action would quell the itch. Her hoof struck hard into the ground beneath her, creating a muffled thud. But the tingle continued, and became more intense each time. Cher Ami pulled further and further away from the C.L, which she would never do otherwise. But something was telling her that she had to withdraw. She soon found herself at a babbling creek, she lay down at the moonlight waters. But that did not help the sharp sensation in her abdomen; she stood up again and lay down again in a different position. No matter how she laid down she was not comfortable and her stomach ached like never before. The contractions increased, came more often. She tried to stay calm, but it was difficult as she had never been through this before.

The hours crept on. Cher Ami was in despair. She was alone and she wished desperately that she hadn’t left C.L's side, she wanted him here so he could talk soothing words to her and say that everything would be fine. But she was alone. She tried to reach C.L, but she could not focus long enough, the contractions stabbed in her. She had to go through this by herself. She finally lay down fully on her side, breathing heavily. She was alone. The darkness wrapped around her, but the moon's orbit above her did light the sky. She looked around, trying to find something to focus on… She saw before her a couple of tall flowers that swayed in the slight breeze. The small petals were pale purple and the high stalks were covered with dense leaves. She focused on the flowers as the night dragged on.

A bat whizzed past C.L 's ear. His eyes squinted at the moonlit heaven, so he turned around to go back to sleep. He listened to the nature about him. He heard quite a bit with his sharp hearing. The frogs chirped from a small pond some ways away, the bat’s wings and squeals buzzed the night air, the owl’s gentle lulling reverberated in the trees and the wind softly caressed the grass. But something was missing. He listened intently to the surroundings without hearing what he was after. He sat up quietly, trying to find his dark mare in the moonlit night, but she was not visible anywhere. He searched for her mind… There she was! She was a good distance away. ”Ami?”

Dawn finally broke through the night sky, its light trickling through the foliage and onto the ground. Cher Ami had fought bravely all by herself and now she looked at the night's gift that was behind her. She leaned back to smell the little creature and was amazed by the smell. She had never felt it before on any other horse. She drew deep breathfuls of it, she was quite sure she would never forget this unique scent.

The little foal's head wobbled from side to side as it tried to focus on it’s mother's head. Cher Ami rose awkwardly from the grassy ground to turn and take a closer look at her foal. She kissed its body gently while she spoke carefully to it.

”Ami?”

She did not look up immediately when she heard her name, but continued to care for her foal. But when the question came a second time, she forced herself to look up. Not far from her hiding-place she saw C.L coming, he walked cautiously as he neared her and her foal… A feeling that Cher Ami had never felt before overwhelmed her; she had to protect her foal. She laid her ears back and curled her nostrils as C.L came closer.

”Ami, there is no danger...” C.L's voice rang in her conscience like a lost violin. ”I'm not going to hurt your little, you know that.”

That, she knew. She knew that her master would never do such a thing, yet she had responded as if he would. She was still suspicious when C.L sat down on a stump just a few arm lengths away from her and her foal. She kept her eyes locked on him as she continued to wash her foal.

”Why do I not trust you?” Asked Cher Ami as she placed herself between C.L and her foal.
”It is your nature, you just want to protect your little,” said C.L, he smiled gently as he looked at her.
”I have always trusted you… I want to trust you now… But I can’t…” She was ashamed for doubting C.L's honor. She lowered her head to the foal's level and stroked its forehead with her muzzle.
”It is just because your foal is vulnerable right now.” He rubbed his neck, "It will pass, you’ll see. What is her name?”
Cher Ami looked at C.L, she should have guessed that he would have picked her gender up so quickly. He was great with things like that.
”I will call her Verveine.”
C.L smiled, nodding in agreement. Cher Ami couldn’t help but smile herself.

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I wanted to show the whole progress from a horse point of view. It's confusion about a first born, the need to protect it and so on. I did as best as I could

This picture was tricky. I thought it would be fun to draw this, but the only fun thing about this was the foal, that one was the easiest to draw, believe it or not
I am not a 100% satisfied with this, but... I did as best as I could

Iieeh! It's here! It's finally here!
Aww, she is so cute, all wet and new
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Tools & Info
Refference: Some Reference
Estimated time: About 3 hours
Tools: Wacom bamboo tablet & Photoshop CS
Layers: About 18 layers
Editor of Text:
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