One With the Pack

Crescent woke from her dreamless slumber, feeling the familiar sensation of warm, soft feathers wrapped around her. LIfting her head, she tiredly gazed up at Sirena, the mare’s eyes quickly changing from red to magenta as she gave her a gentle smile. “Good morning, kiddo. How are you feeling?”

“Better, thank you Alpha.” The filly glanced around, noticing that a certain body wasn't present. “Where’s Mom?”, she inquired.

“She’s with your father. Something about Mark spotting some wolves on the perimeter. They went to go talk to them.” Crescent attempted to stand, but pain shot through her legs and she whined, laying back down. Sirena’s face became stern. “Crescent, I’ve done all I could to attend to your wounds, now you have to do your part and rest so they can heal.”

“I know that, Alpha… but I just want to see what’s going on. Please let me go…” Her eyes flickered, then shone red as her ears lowered and she stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. Sirena cut her a glance, then she closed her eyes and snorted.

“Fine, fine. But you’re not going to be walking around.” The mare stood up, unfurling her wings and quickly stretching, her large belly barely brushing the stone floor. She gasped softly as a kick rammed against her side. Crescent looked up at her, concerned, Sirena returning the expression with a meek grin. “I’m alright. Guess the little guy didn’t approve of my stretching. Now get on. Let’s go meet the newcomers.”

Ember and Speckle walked together in stride, silent as they approached Mark at the North side of the perimeter. They saw him looking nervously at a pair of mares, a light pink pegasus with raven black hair and grey tipped wings, and a dark pink unicorn with a light pink mane with a red streak in it. When he turned his head and saw them, he let out a sigh of relief. “Alphas! Do you mind telling these two that they need to leave? They’re speaking some gibberish and I have no idea what they’re saying.”

“Easy there, Scout. No need to turn them away so quickly. They must have a reason for being here.” Ember gave the mares a look over, something about the pegasus seemed awfully familiar, though he didn't know what it was. “Good morning. May I ask what brings you here?” The pegasus responded, in a language that made Speckle’s ears perk up. Ember noticed this, and he smirked. “Something she said interest you, Speckle?”

The light blue unicorn rolled her eyes. “She’s speaking in Prench, and in case you forgot, that’s one of the languages I can speak fluently in. Let me handle this.” She looked back to the mare and smiled at her. “Bonjour. Je ne crois pas que nous nous sommes rencontrés auparavant. Puis-je vous demander votre nom?”(Hello. I don't believe we've met before. May I ask for your names?)

The pegasus smiled brightly back at her. "Oh, merci aux étoiles! Je ne pensais pas qu'il y aurait une solution qui nous comprendrait. Je m'appelle Lovelace, et c'est ma soeur Valentine.” (Oh, thank the stars! I didn't think there would be anypony around that would understand us. My name is Lovelace, and this is my sister Valentine.)

“C'est sympa de vous rencontrer tous les deux. Je suis Speckle. Vous dites donc que vous avez été expulsé de votre ancien pack? Quelque chose pour?” (It's nice to meet you both. I'm Speckle. So you say that you've been kicked out of your old pack? Whatever for?)

Valentine answered these questions. “Oui. Et nous ne savons vraiment pas quoi faire pour. Notre Alpha nous a simplement dit qu'il y avait trop de femelles dans son sac et que nous n'étions plus les bienvenus. Nous avons voyagé ces bois depuis des semaines.” (Yes. And we don't really know what for. Our Alpha simply told us that there were too many females in his pack and that we were not welcome anymore. We've been traveling these woods for weeks.)

Speckle’s ears drooped at this. Too many females? Over sixty percent of the werewolf population was female, last time she checked. Even her own pack was mainly comprised of females. It didn’t make any sense...unless. “Qui était exactement votre Alpha?” (Who exactly was your Alpha?)

"Un étalon nommé Astral.” (A stallion named Astral.)

Ember visibly stiffened at the name, glaring at the pair. “You know him?” Speckle quickly explained the situation, hoping that that would calm him down. His gaze softened, and he looked on with sympathy. “I’m sorry to hear that. We’ve had some run ins with him before. Let’s just say that they didn’t end...pleasantly."

Lovelace nodded. “Je comprends, Monsieur. Nous ne l'aimons pas non plus.” (I understand, Sir. We were not very fond of him either.)

The unicorn across from her translated, and Ember gave a short nod in agreement. All of them turned their heads at the sound of hooves quickly coming towards them. The Lead raised an eyebrow at Sirena, who was carrying Crescent on her back. “Sirena? You should be inside.” The lilac pegasus merely shrugged.

“Your daughter is as persistent as you are, Sir.”

Just then, Collin came running up behind her, his breathing a bit heavy. “I...I tried to stop her, Sir. B-But she… phew… wouldn't.”

“At ease, Rookie. It appears we have a more pressing matter on us now.”

One look at Crescent sent Valentine running over, quickly examining the filly. Sirena’s eyes narrowed and she backed up a bit. “Hey, now. Personal space.”

“Ses bandages! Ils doivent être changés.” (Her bandages! They need to be changed.)

Speckle went over and placed the filly onto her own back. “Je m'en occupe, merci Valentine.” (I'll take care of that, thank you Valentine.) The dark pink unicorn nodded, turning back to stand with her sister. Ember had been watching the exchange closely, quickly picking up that she was a Beta. He assumed that Lovelace was an Alpha, which fit her well. He decided to ask to make sure.

“Lovelace, what is your Rank?”

“Je suis un Alpha, Monsieur.” (I am an Alpha, Sir.)

He was correct, and that made the wheels in his head start to turn. He grew quiet as he pondered. His eyes then snapped up, glancing at each of his pack members. “I feel we must make a consensus. I sense there is potential in these two, and they would make a nice addition to our pack. All who agree raise a hoof.” Speckle and Crescent both instantly raised their hooves, leaving the other three to look at each other. Mark slowly raised his hoof, followed by Collin. Sirena looked skeptical, and had every right to, but she raised a hoof as well. “Then it is decided. Lovelace, Valentine. Welcome to the group.”

“Merci Monsieur. Nous ne vous laisserons pas tomber.” (Thank you, Sir. We won't let you down.)

Speckle smiled and turned to head back to the cave, the others following behind her. Sirena glanced at Lovelace, who was walking behind her. “Just to get this out of the way, the dark blue pegasus is with me, got it?”

The light pink mare laughed. “Ne vous inquiétez pas de moi, madame. J'ai perdu mon intérêt pour les étalons il y a longtemps.” (Don't worry about me, Ma'am. I've lost my interest in stallions a long time ago.)

“I’ve no idea what you just said, but I’m going to guess that we’re clear.”

Speckle giggled quietly to herself, wondering how things were going to turn out now with the new members, hoping for the best.