Chapter 10 “The Elder Pack”

A week had passed since the ceremony, and Mark had occasionally went to go check on Collin and Sirena during his rounds. This morning, Ember laid out on the cliff face, relaxing as the sun shone brightly and he looked out across the horizon. Hearing a sound behind him, he turned his head. Limelight stood, a bright smile on her face.

“Good morning, Dad!”, she said cheerfully.

“Good morning, my little flower. Don't tell me that your mother’s morning mood is rubbing off on you, is it?”

The teal coated filly giggled, shaking her head. “No. I'm just excited about today.”

“How so?”

She gasped, eyes wide. “Dad! What do you mean ‘how so’ ? Did you forget that the Elder Pack is coming?”

Ember chuckled. “Of course I didn't forget. It's been awhile since I've seen my father.”

She went over and sat down beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. “Hey, Dad?”

“Yes, dear?”

“How come there aren't other packs around here? You'd think with all these caves, there'd be at least one pack living here besides us.”

“Well, the reason why is because this used to be a grounds for the Elder Pack at one point.”

“Really? How did you know?”

“It's all about scent, my dear. I could smell traces of some of them when I first entered the cave.”

“Huh. Wait, how would they able to find us here? We're so far away from the old cave… what if they miss us?”

“They're not going to miss us, sweetie. The Guardians have a really strong sense of smell, even stronger than Alphas.”

“Even yours?”

“Even mine. Speaking of smell, here come the pair we've been waiting for.”

Peeking down, the two could see the pegasi approaching in the distance. “Howdy!”, the Lead called out to them.

"Hello to you as well!”, Sirena called back, her hair slightly disheveled.

Ember glanced down at his daughter. “Limelight, could you go down and join the others please? I need to speak to Collin for a bit.”

“Sure thing, Dad.”

Once she darted off, he called down to the stallion in question. “Rookie! Get your fluffy little butt up here!”

The dark blue pegasus scoffed. “My butt isn't fluffy.”

“How would you know? You don't look at it on a day to day basis.”

“Ok, Mr. Creepy, I'm coming so I can show you my ‘fluffy’ butt up close.”

“Can't wait.”

Collin groaned as he walked into the cave.

“What did you need of me, Sir?”

“I just wanted to ask you how it went.”

“That's it? You call me all the way up here just to ask me that?”

“Listen here s- er, Rookie. Don't sass me. I get it, you're still on a rush. But don't use that as an excuse for giving me an attitude. Do you understand, Alpha?”

“Yes, Sir. I'm sorry. It went well, if you must know.”

“I'm glad to hear that. And you two came back just in time. The Elder Pack is on its way.” Seconds after he spoke, their ears perked up to the sound of yips and howls in the distance. Ember smiled and stood, going down the ramp to speak with the others. “They're here. Look alive, everyone.”

A horizontal line of wolves emerged from the tree line, a large group behind them. Their eyes were a regal looking gold color, and they stood up straight, acting like their rank. One wolf broke from the line and went towards the pack, who were all bowing, the Omegas in their positions. When she transformed, she let her eyes fade to their original color, a two toned brown. She was a white unicorn, wavy black and light blue hair running down past her shoulders. “You may rise.”, she stated. Speckle looked at her as she stood with the others, stepping forward to hug the mare. “It's good to see you again, dear sister. How are the girls?”

“They're doing fine, Dewdrop. Actually, I'm glad you mentioned them, because I hope your coming here isn't in vain.”

“What do you mean?”

The girls had crept up to the front at that point, and they peeked out from behind their mother and waved hello to their aunt.

“We're getting Ranked today, Auntie Dewdrop!”, Limelight said with a bright smile.

Dewdrop looked down at her.

“That you are. I've been waiting for this day ever since you two were born, and now that it's here, I couldn't be happier.”

Speckle smiled at her elder sister's choice of words, leaving them to talk amongst themselves. A few other wolves had transformed and were speaking with Ember, three of which she recognized immediately. “Mother, Father! Elder Kindle, how are you?” The orange earth pony with red hair and glittering red eyes looked up at her.

“I'm doing alright, Alpha Speckle. You're keeping my son in line, are you?”

“Of course, Sir.”

Ember scoffed. “Dad, honestly. I'm not that bad of a Lead, am I?”

“I didn't say that. I was just asking your mate a question.”

She went over to speak to her parents, as she felt a slight tension that was rising between the two stallions, and didn't want to be part of it. The white unicorn mare with dark blue hair and magenta eyes stepped forward and hugged her daughter. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hello, Darling. How long has it been since we've last seen each other? Two moons? Three?”

“Four, actually. I missed you guys.”

“We missed you too. We can't wait to see the girls up there when they get Ranked.”, Horizon Blue said, his brown eyes aglow.

He brushed his white mane out of his eyes, giving the light blue mare a warm smile.

She agreed. “I can't wait either. I'm so excited for them.”

Not too far from them, Collin and Sirena stood side by side, the former simply smiling as the lilac pegasus chatted with her parents. Rose couldn't be happier about seeing that her daughter was Marked. Onyx, on the other hand, glared sternly at the stallion across from him. Collin cowered slightly as the other pegasus stared him down.

“What makes you think you can do whatever you want with my daughter? Last time I checked, you're the one who had left your old pack with her, and now she's Marked.”

The dark blue pegasus didn't say a word, getting more and more nervous by the second. Ember could sense the uneasiness and glanced over to them, then back to his father.

“Dad, I don't have time to argue with you right now. There's something I need to settle.”

The elder earth pony snorted, but stayed where he was, in case his son needed his assistance. Firefly slowly made her way towards him, as some of the other Elders were talking to other members of the pack and were standing in her way, causing her to have to go around them. Kindle looked at her in amusement as she hobbled up to him. “Sir…”, she started, out of breath.

“Take a minute, Omega. I've got time to kill.”

She did so, taking deep breaths until she was able to speak. “I'm Firefly, Sir. It's nice to meet you.”

“Kindle Lit. I guess I'm not the only one who's a crippled, huh?”

She looked down and saw that he didn't have a right front leg, yet he stood as if he had all four legs. “I guess so. Does it not bother you?”, she questioned.

“Nah, not anymore. I've just gotten used to it. I'll have you know, I'm one of the fastest in the pack, despite of my lack of a leg.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Really?”

“Yes, really. You just gotta not think about it. It'll easier as you go along, trust me.”

“Well thank you for the advice, Sir.”

“Not a problem. Now, I think your friends want to speak with you.” She turned around and saw Nicky and Quetzal on the other side of the clearing, waving at her to come over. She glanced back at him and smiled a little, turning to take her leave.

A low growl rumbled in Ember’s chest as he witnessed Onyx slapping Collin across the face, yelling at him. The earth pony ran up to them, getting in between the two stallions. He glared at the yellow pegasus, eyes flashing blue. “What was that for?”, he asked in a surprisingly calm tone.

“That kid doesn't know how to be a proper Alpha, letting his emotions control his actions. You should give him some discipline.”

“And clearly, someone should have done the same to you. You don't go around hitting others like that.”

“Don't tell me what to do. I'm an Elder, I can do whatever I want.”

“Uh huh, sure. Well let me tell you this, Mr. Bolt. This is my pack, and you just abused one of my members. So I have every right to go talk to the Head and tell him to banish you.”

The other stallion's eyes narrowed, turning into a bright silver. “You wouldn't dare.”, he growled.

Ember stared back, bright blue eyes showing that he wasn't backing down. “Indeed I would, Sir. Just try me.”

The next thing that happened was a blur. Ember found himself on his back on the ground, the large pegasus on top of him. Onyx snarled at him, sharp teeth glistening in the light. He then yelped, getting yanked off of the one on the ground. Collin went over and held a hoof out to Ember, his own eyes bright blue. The Lead took it, getting to his feet and looking up to see his father was on top on Onyx, growling loudly.

“Knock it off, Onyx. Leave them alone. You don't own Sirena, and neither does Collin. She can be with whoever she wants, and she chose him. You don't control her life, leave them be.”

“Get off me Kindle. So I can tear that pathetic little earth pony into shreds.”

The stallion's eyes turned from silver to white, and his body trembled with anger. “Excuse me! That's my son you're talking about. I know he may not be the best in the world, but you have no right to call him pathetic. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't bash your face in.”

Ember went over quickly and pulled his father off. “Dad, stop.” He then looked to Rose. “Ma’am, please get your mate out of here before we do something we might regret.” She nodded quickly, going over to help the downed stallion up, the two of them turning to leave, the pegasus turning back to glare at the three of them before slinking off. Ember glanced down to the other earth pony, who had reduced to a shivering heap on the ground. “Dad, it's ok. He's gone. Breathe.” Kindle looked up at him and jumped up, his son gasping as he hugged him tightly.

“I-I never done that before.”, he murmured.

Collin came up to them and rested a hoof on each of their shoulders. “Well I'm glad you did. Thank you for standing up for me, Sirs.”

“No need to thank us, son. It's what we do.”

The dark blue pegasus flinched, but tried not to bring attention to it. Ember noticed it, however, and chuckled. “Hey, Dad?”

“What?”

“Don't call him son. He gets triggered easily.” Collin snorted and walked away, making sure that Sirena was behind him first.

The sun was still high in the sky, and the branches swayed as a breeze flowed through them. Everyone turned their head to face the front when they heard a howl ring out. A large gray wolf walked towards the small crowd, his violet eyes glancing at each pony he passed. He stopped in front of Ember, transforming in the process. He was a tall unicorn, with a coat as black as night and short gray hair. “Lead Alpha Ember. You know the drill. Arrange your pack into a line based on Rank.”

Ember nodded once. “Yes, Sir.”

He went to the others and gently nudged them into their places, Quetzal assisting when needed. The line went in this order: Collin in the front, followed by Sirena, Speckle, Quetzal, Nicky, Mark, and Firefly, the colts and fillies taking the rear. Ember took his place in front, looking to the Head for approval. The unicorn walked down the line, stopping at the Omegas. “When did that happen, Firefly?”, he inquired, pointing to the space where her hind leg would have been.

“A week ago, Sir. It was going to get infected.”

He nodded, starting to walk again, then stopping when he noticed the colts. “Wait a second. What are these two doing back here? They should be behind Speckle or Quetzal. They certainly look like Alpha or Beta material.”

Quetzal spoke up. “They're Omegas, Sir. Boys. Eyes.”

They changed their eye color, looking up to the Head with bright yellow eyes. “Well I'll be. It's been a long time since I've seen a Male Omega. Two, in fact.” Dust let his eyes fade, then cocked his head to the side.

“Sir, why did you immediately assume that we were an Alpha or Beta? Just because we're boys doesn't mean we're meant to be those roles.”

The unicorn's eyes widened in surprise, then he smiled. “My apologies, little one. May I ask for your names?”

“Dust Cloud, Sir. And Mist Rise my brother's. May I ask for yours?”

“Comet Tail.”, he replied. He then looked at the fillies, one of which was rather excited, as she could barely sit still. Comet smiled at her. “Well, Limelight. I think you're the most excited out of all of us.”

The others laughed at that. Limelight nodded quickly. “Oh, I'm very excited, Sir! I know that whatever role is given to me, I will take it gladly so I can help my pack and any other werewolf who needs my assistance.”

“Wise words. Now follow me, the both of you.”

The three stood on the cliff face, Crescent trying her best not to look up and down constantly so she wouldn't get motion sick. Everyone else was looking up at them, and she was able to locate her parents rather quickly in the crowd. Speckle gave her a small wave while Ember simply looked on ahead with a smile. Comet examined the both of them closely, even doing so much as to try to lift their tails and see how they would react. Limelight instantly tucked her tail in between her legs, looking at him with a confused expression. Crescent did the same thing, only she growled lowly at him. He nodded once, as if the reactions confirmed his evaluation. He turned to the crowd, a smile on his face. “Ladies and Sirs, you all are gathered here today to witness the Ranking of these two lovely fillies here. May all of the family members and friends of this pair come to the front.”

Soon the pack stood in the front line, Speckle’s parents, Dewdrop, and Kindle standing alongside them. Comet looked at Ember. “Ember, you look like a proud father right now, that's for sure. Why don't you come up here? I'm sure the girls could use the close support.” He nodded, quickly making his way up to stand beside them. Comet gestured to Limelight before speaking. “Limelight here is so bright and full of energy, yet she also contains an intelligence and wisdom that I have yet to see on any other pony beforehand. Limelight, it is with my greatest pleasure to Rank you as a Delta.” She gasped and then smiled brightly, tilting her head up the Head could lean down and touch noses with her. She felt a wave of calmness come over her, and her body relaxed. He pulled back, asking the new Delta to show her new eyes. She did so, her eyes turning into a lovely navy blue, almost as dark as her mother's eyes. She looked to her father and smiled, and he could see the joy in her eyes, something that warmed his heart.

The Head then gestured to Crescent after the uproar of applause and cheering died down. “And this one can knock you off your feet in seconds flat. She knows how to take the lead, and would do anything to protect her family and friends. Crescent Wishes, I am honored to Rank you as an Alpha.” The cheering and applause started up again, Speckle just standing there with silent tears of pride and joy running down her face. Crescent tilted her head up, touching noses with Comet. She felt a jolt of electricity course through her, causing her heart to pound in her chest. She changed her eyes when he pulled away, they were now a bright red. The two turned and ran to hug their father, who was sitting down with his arms open. He leaned down and kissed their foreheads, quieting Limelight down when she started crying uncontrollably.

“Shh,shh. It's ok, sweetie. I'm so proud of you, honey. It's going to be alright.” She sniffed and nodded, reaching up to kiss his cheek.

“Thank you.”, she murmured.

“Your welcome. I'm so proud of the both of you.” They giggled when he kissed their foreheads again, resting their heads his chest as he hugged them tightly.