//------------------------------//
// The Rockslide 
// Story: Ponies of the Beyond 
// by DADERPSTER 
//------------------------------//

   Thunderheart lay in the ivies next to Faolan. It was hard work learning how to train a wolf pup when all she knew were bears. Faolan had been with her at least 5 nights now, and Thunderheart was worried she wouldn't be a good enough mother to the poor pup. She looked again on the spiral on the pups' splayed paw and shuddered. what does it mean? she wondered. The female bear would never understand. she had had three cubs, bear cubs of her own, in the past; one had been stolen by an angry bear, another killed by a male bear with a yearning to mate, and her most recent was that of the day she found her gift from the river. that was exactly what Faolan's name meant; river's gift. The grizzly stood up and shook her chestnut brown pelt. Faolan looked up at her with deep green eyes and shook his own silver pelt, copying his Milk Mother's movements. "Come," Thunderheart grunted. "we need to dig up more wild onions. you need to bulk up a bit." 
Faolan made a face, and pretended he couldn't walk because of his splayed paw, rolling over and flailing it in the air with fake whining and whimpering. Thunderheart gave him a huff of intolerance and lumbered over to him, pushing him back to his paws. "Stop faking, Faolan. You cannot use that excuse anymore. Now come." the pup simply gave a small growl of anger and stomped toward the wild onion patch with his head angrily down. Thunderheart suppressed a chuff of amusement, her doubts forgotton for the moment. I'm a good mother to him. I bet every wolf mother deals with this sometime or another. But a wolf mother would've fed him meat by now, not just wild plants that were edible, or bugs that could be found under bushes. He needed real hunting training, not just these. Thunderhearts doubts returned in a millesecond, and the great grizzly thought as she dug up wild onions with her son.




*****
It was night now at the summer den, and Thunderheart gazed up at the stars, telling Faolan the history of the great bear constallation, Ursa. "You see the claws on her front paws?"
"Yes."
"The owls of the Great Ga'Hoole tree call them the Golden Talons. If you go down to the sea, you can see them practicing on their island."
"I will one day, Thunderheart. I'll go down to the sea and maybe even swim there! But why, mother, is it called Ga'Hoole?"
Thunderheart thought a moment. "I think Ga' was a word meaning magical spirits, or good spirits, in Hoolian. Many suggest Hoole was a word made by the wolves. It means owl."
"So its the Magical Owl Spirt Tree?"
Thunderheart chuckled. "I suppose you could call it that."
Faolan yawned. "I'm tired."
"Let's go back in the den, then." She picked up her pup and carried him in the den, allowing him to nurse. Again, her doubts filled her head as she sat up for the pup to nurse.Did wolves nurse their pups laying down? She sighed. maybe I'm not cut out to be a mother, The bitter thought struck Thunderheart like lava from the volcanoes in the Beyond, burning into her painfully. Ursus, give me a sign. She pleaded, falling asleep herself.


Thunderheart had heard a rumble last night from not-too-far-off. She wanted to check it out, for it was within the bounds of her recently marked territory. Making sure that Faolan was close behind, she walked toward where she had heard the noise. Where a small cliffside clearing had been the day before, there was a pile of rocks. Thunderheart notices a rockslide from the top of the hill just above the pile. Faolan walked a bit closer, sniffing eagerly. "Careful, Faolan." the grizzly warned. "I couldn't take it if i lost you in this." "I smell something! something weird!" the pup replied, sniffing close to the pile of rocks.
The great grizzly looked at the pile curiously, listening. She heard the faintest snuffling and scraping, as if something were under the pile. Curiosity winning her over, she walked over to the pile. "I'll have a look." she carefully removed rocks, making sure that the path she was clearing wasn't knocking any rocks inside the small cave the rocks had formed. When she cleared away  a hole big enough to reach her paws into, she peered inside. Faolan scrambled up next to her. "Urskadamus," Thunderheart murmured. Although it wasn't something bad that made her curse. It was something... how could she describe it? Two pairs of eyes looked at the duo with fear. One pair was hot pink, the other was the exact green of Faolan's eyes. Thunderheart heard them whimper in fear. "Shhh, its alright." she grunted softly, pulling the creatures out.
They were as big as Faolan, who was still small at the moment. She noticed first that the creatures she had rescued weren't any that she had seen in the Beyond. The one with the pink eyes had a dark gray pelt, wings coming from her back and a horn from her head. she had white fur from  her head and her tail was also white. The green-eyed one was a silver sheen and also had wings, though no horn. her head-fur was also white, as well as her tail. how curious,Thunderheart thought. Faolan sniffed them with a confused look. "What are these?" he asked.
Considering these things related to the caribou, she replied; "Some type of hooved creature. I've never seen it." Faolan blinked at the pair of fillies. They blinked back. It was as if it was a little play they planned out, mimicking every movement Faolan did. Thunderheart chuckled. It must be a sign, the grizzly thought excitedly. Ursa didn't want her to give up on being a mother, so he had sent her these two creatures. "I will name you... Silverwolf. Because your pelt shines silver and your eyes are that of a wolf." she pointedto the lighter filly, who perked in delight to her name. "And you, I shall call..." she examined the darker one, although she didnt realize that her breed was alicorn. "I shall call you Raven Feather. Your pelt is as dark as a ravens' plumage, and you yourself have wings." The alicorn filly seemed satisfied. Thunderheart was simply excited beyond knowledge. Silverwolf stared at Faolan for a moment, marvelling how close they looked to each other. Raven eyed her wings, wondering if she could fly.Thunderheart merely watched them with content.  Ursa did not want me to give up, [i/] she thought.  I won't let her down! [i/]