Chapter 17 “The Silver Feathers”

As much as Collin wanted to leave the mutilated corpse once known as Astral in the grass to rot, the others insisted on burying him, for a number of reasons. The pegasus finally agreed, although he wasn't the most thrilled. When they made it back to the cave, they found Nicky and Firefly outside waiting for them.

Well, Nicky was waiting for them. Firefly had fallen asleep at her side, as she was not used to staying up late. Ember shook his head fondly at her and greeted the Hunter. “Good evening, Nicky. Looks like Firefly tried keeping you company.”

The sky blue earth pony nodded. “Yeah, she did. Sure was chatty tonight, though. Probably because it's a full moon.”

The rest of the group looked up, and sure enough, the white, round, glowing ball floated overhead. Ember sighed. “It's a full moon already? It feels like I’ve lost track of time, I don't even know what day it is anymore. Well,I’m going to go sleep. Good Night, everyone.”

“Good Night, Alpha.” the others responded, starting to disperse and go their separate ways.

Collin paused for a moment through, feeling a strange tingle go through his wings. When the feeling subsided, he called out to Speckle as he saw her about to head down the tunnel to her chamber. “Speckle, wait.”

She stopped mid-step and turned to face him. “Sir?”

“Could you stop by our chamber before you go to sleep? I want to talk to you.”

“Of course, Sir. I’ll be there in 10.”

The light blue unicorn stepped into the chamber quietly, finding the pair of pegasi lying in what looked like a nest, made from moss, twigs, and feathers. The mare couldn't help but smirk. “I sometimes forget that you're part bird.”, she mused.

Collin rolled his eyes. “Oh, ha, ha. Very funny.”

“What did you want to talk to me about, Sir?”

The stallion hesitated, then lowered his head and sighed. “I don't know if I can do this, Speckle.”

“Do what?”

He gestured with his head towards Sirena, who was asleep beside him. “This. Be a father. Onyx already doesn't like me being with Sirena, how do you think he’s going to react when the baby comes? Not to mention my short temper…”

Speckle shook her head. “Collin, don't work yourself up about it. It's ok to be worried about becoming a parent, it's natural. You should have seen Ember while I was pregnant with the twins. I could rarely get a break, he went everywhere I did. When I had them, he was so scared about holding them, thought they were going to break if he so much as touched them.”

Collin laughed a little. “He must have freaked when they started crying.”

She nodded. “He did. See? You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

He agreed and looked up at her, a bright smile crossing his face. “Thanks for making me feel better about this, Speckle.”

“Not a problem. If you need advice about anything, you can talk to me or Ember. We’ll help you out the best we can.”

“Alright, thank you. I really do appreciate it. Good night, Speckle.”

“Night, Collin.” The unicorn turned to leave when a little flash of light caught her eye. She saw the stallion drape a wing over his mate, it was large enough to completely cover her body. It was when Speckle took a closer look at his feathers did she let out a soft gasp.

Collin’s eyes snapped up to look at her. “What's wrong, Speckle?”

“Your feathers. One of them is silver.”

He looked down at his wings, and there was for sure a shiny looking silver colored feather at the front of his primary feathers on each wing. “Well I'll be…” He breathed, clearly not having expected this. “It's true. I always thought it was a myth but it's true.”

“What is?”, the mare questioned, not sure what he was getting at.

He gave her a look at first, then his gaze softened. “Right, your parents probably didn't tell you about this legend because your a unicorn. Well my mom told me when I was younger… before she passed away, that is. How did it go again? Ah, I remember now.
Long ago, back before the first Elder pack existed, there was a pack full of strong werewolves. Most of them were earth ponies, a few unicorns and only one was a pegasus. His name was Lighting Cloud, and he was one of the fastest in the pack. He was known for bragging a lot about his accomplishments, something that irritated his fellow pack members. It got so bad that he was soon banished and left to fend for himself. Enraged, he set out to go do something to prove himself worthy to the rest of his pack. First, he tried climbing up the tallest tree in the area and jumping off of it, not flapping his wings. That didn't work. Then he tried fighting some Timberwolves, that wasn't enough either. When he saved three pups from their cave during a fire, he gained acceptance in the pack, as well as his silver feathers, for truly being a strong wolf. Now, only the strongest of pegasi can obtain silver feathers, those with a brave heart.”

Speckle smiled. “Looks like you’re one of them now.”

“Seems so. I can't wait to show everyone else.”

“I'm sure they’ll be proud, Collin.”

“Thank you. Now you run along. I’m sure Ember’s waiting for you.”

She laughed lightly. “Of course he is. Go to sleep, you goof.”

He smiled at her. “Will do. Night Speckle.”

“Night.” She left the two alone, smiling brightly all the way to her chamber.

Collin turned to look down at Sirena as she stirred, letting out a whimper. He pulled her closer to him with his wing, whispering comforting words into her ear. She soon stilled and fell asleep again, a faint smile on her lips. He laid his head on top of hers and sighed, letting his eyes slide shut. “I did it, guys,” he murmured. “I hope you’re proud of me.”