A/N: Okay, it's my second Unicorns of Balinor fic, and I have very high hopes for it. My goal is to make it short and sweet, hopefully six chapters tops; I already have an epic UoB fic started that's going to be extremely long, and I can't handle another one. This is also the first fic posted on fanfiction.net about Albright and Jenny. I don't know if someone else is planning to write one or anything, but just in case, I'm staking my claim now. Hehe, okay, I'm done rambling. I hope you like this!!
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Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot and the new Wild Ones. You'll recognize what I don't own. Trust me.
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This story is dedicated to all of the wonderful people who have reviewed my original Unicorns of Balinor fic, The Test of Time. It was the first story of mine that was actually reviewed by many different readers, and it was my first story that people actually seemed to enjoy and want to read more of. Thanks again to everyone who has already or has yet to review it; I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for you!!
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"Then my final appeal is to you as a mother." The Princess Arianna's voice rang clear and strong through the quiet woods of the Forest of Fellows. She stood near a small stream and surrounded by her traveling companions. Chase, her Bonded unicorn, stood tall and proud behind her, his bronze coat gleaming fiercely in the dim light. Lincoln, the loyal collie, stood off of the Princess' side near where Stalwart, the strong and quiet Worker unicorn that the group had rented from a stable in Balinor Village, was standing with Lori and the two unicorn babies. The blonde girl was sitting on the ground, hugging the foals, who were still crying for their mother, close to her body.
The great unicorn mother, Queen Orion, was the recipient of Arianna's words. She stood opposite the Princess, breathing heavily first from anger and then from sorrow and heartache. Throughout the girl's speech, the unicorn had glanced back and forth between the Princess and her two children, knowing what she must do but too reluctant to do it.
Princess Arianna continued. "There is no bond as strong or as cherished as that of a mother to her children. It is the one bond that rises above all others. When your children need you, the world disappears. You answer their call. You give them your heart and soul because you brought them into this world, and there is no one else who can ever love them better."
Upon hearing these words, Queen Orion began to tremble uncontrollably, and Arianna knew that she had hit home. "My babies..." the Wild One whispered, clearly sick with her love for the two. She tried to regain her composure but it was no use. Understanding that the Princess was right, she turned her attention to what the girl was still saying.
Knowing that this was the end of her time with the babies, Lori blinked back her tears and leaned over to give the two one final hug. Confused as to why everyone was so sad and sensing the change in their mother's attitude, the foals only half-heartedly returned Lori's affections.
This caused the girl to become even sadder. "Don't worry," she whispered to them. "You'll be happy with your mother, much happier than you could ever have been traveling around Balinor with us. There will always be a special place in my heart for you two. I promise."
But Lori's good-byes were cut short. Arianna had finally won the unicorn queen over with her words, and the great mare was finally ready to accept her children again. The cinnamon-red Wild One gazed longingly at the foals and began to walk slowly toward them.
Realizing that their mother was coming, the two babies broke free of Lori's embrace and bounded toward her, whinnying in joy and happiness. Knowing that she would soon have to return to her familiar pattern of sarcasm and contempt, the blonde-haired girl watched the foals running to their mother and whispered, "I love you."
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The Forest of Fellows was a solemn place filled with peace among neighbors and races. The trees were old and seemed to hold many secrets within their thick trunks. The streams, crystal clear and pure, meandered through the vegetation that dotted the ground underneath the canopy of branches, and many dirt paths could be found leading everywhere and nowhere in the forest.
A slightly beaten, grassy path could be found leading from one of the forest's main rivers deep into the trees. At the end, a large clearing opened out, encircled by the forest. It was here that the Wild Ones lived. Wild Ones were large draft unicorns, untamable and free. They lived in harmony in the wilderness, surviving by their own rules and laws. Most other races, humans especially, considered them a breed apart and left alone.
But there were two Wild Ones that had had a prolonged contact with a group of humans. They were two six year-old twins, not old enough to be considered adults in the herd, but too old to enjoy the games of the foals. One was a deep cherry red color with a crimson mane and eyes of garnet. The other, his sister, was the flaxen shade of the fall leaves, with a mane the color of tree bark and amber eyes. They were the children of the queen, royal by birth but not in regard. Their father, Timberland, had once been king alongside Orion, but had committed an unpardonable sin by betraying his herd and joining the ranks of the Shifter's Shadow unicorns. This left them as a disgrace in the eyes of others, and they had been abandoned by their mother as called for by protocol. But with the help of two humans and their unicorns, their mother had been convinced to take them back, and she, as a token of gratitude, had agreed to keep the names that the human girl had given them.
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"Albright! Jenny!" A shrill voice rang through the air toward where the two twins were grazing. They both raised their heads and saw another six year-old galloping across the field in their direction. Recognizing him as their friend Artemis, the two left their grazing and ran toward him as well.
When the three young unicorns met in the middle of the field, the twins, eager to hear what their friend had to say, waited for a moment while Artemis caught his breath. The small, dark blue unicorn lived on the other side of the harem, which made contact between him and the two others difficult; he had had to escape and run quickly in order to find them without being caught. Since it was so hard to get together, the two knew that he must be reporting something important.
Finally, Albright could wait no longer. "What is it, Artemis?" the red unicorn asked. Jenny nodded in agreement.
Still gasping for breath, the blue Wild One's answer was hurried. "I just heard that there's going to be a meeting of the Elders tonight. My mother was telling Skylark about it when I was grazing nearby, and I just had to come and tell you!"
Albright gave his friend a strange look, then scoffed. "What's so special about that?"
"Yeah," Jenny added. "The Elders meet every third moon to discuss the matters of the Wild Ones. We snuck into one last season, remember? It was so boring!"
But Artemis wasn't finished. "This is no ordinary meeting! Don't you know what time it is?"
Confused, the twins looked at each other, then shook their heads.
Exasperated, the blue unicorn sighed. "It's time for Acceptance!" Albright and Jenny gasped, eyes widened. "I can't believe you forgot!" Artemis exclaimed. "We've been looking forward to it our whole lives! Every warm season, our oldest friends left to be Accepted and become adults, and we were always so excited about our own, and you two forgot!"
In their excitement, the twins both began talking at once, eager to hear the details of the meeting and Artemis's mother's conversation with Skylark. After a few moments of jumbled conversation, Albright and Jenny finally quieted down and listened to their friend.
"My mother said that the meeting was going to start immediately at sunset," Artemis said.
"Isn't this a bit early for the Acceptance ceremony?" Jenny asked.
"Well," the blue unicorn answered, "this isn't the actual Acceptance ceremony. I think this is the meeting where the Elders meet and decide on who's going to be Accepted and who isn't. The way my mum was talking, it seemed like she thought it was a waste of time."
"Well it is, isn't it?" Albright asked. "None of us who are of the age of Acceptance have done anything to prevent us from passing. Besides, if the Elders already know how they're going to rule, what good's a meeting going to do to change their opinions?"
"I think the meeting's a good idea," Jenny cut in. "It'll be valuable for the Elders to hear the opinions of others. I'd like to think that they aren't making their decisions based on their opinions alone."
"Well, either way, the Elders are meeting tonight, and we're going to be there." This got Albright and Jenny's attention. They looked at Artemis with mixed reactions to his statement; Albright gave him a look of eagerness, Jenny, a look of reluctance.
"Do you think that's a good idea?" she asked. "What if we get caught?"
"That's easy," her brother said, winking at Artemis. "We won't."
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That night, the twins and Artemis waited until the sun was no longer visible below the horizon, then crept quietly through the woods toward the Elder's meeting place. It consisted of a large patch of moss arranged around a central fire, which was lit only for the meetings, and its location was supposed to be known only to Elders.
The three friends wandered in the dark for what seemed like hours, only realizing that they were there when Jenny nearly walked right into the clearing. They quickly drew back and situated themselves just behind the bushes that surrounded the moss ring, close enough to hear what was being said without being seen by the Elders. Then they lay still and waited for the meeting to start. Jenny laid her head on Albright's shoulder and closed her eyes, unsure about spying but glad that her brother was there doing it with her. The red unicorn rolled his eyes but didn't complain. Deep down, he was glad that Jenny was there, too.
Finally, the Elders had all gathered and taken their places around the fire. Queen Orion, Albright and Jenny's mother, stood nearest to the flames. She towered over her herdmates, her cinnamon-red coat flashing in the firelight. Her horn was battered and chipped but still gave her a regal, commanding presence. In her eyes lived anger and strength, but also the love and compassion she felt for her children and her herd.
"My friends," she began. "I believe that we all know why we are gathered here tonight. The time of Acceptance is upon us! It is now that we must decide which young ones to Accept into the herd as Elders and which must stay behind and wait another year." She paused to let the unicorns murmur amongst themselves for a moment. "This is a difficult decision, one which must be made with the utmost thought and care. For we are now deciding the future of our herd: the future of the Wild Ones. I do not feel the need to stress to you the importance of this decision. Now, who would like to start?"
"I request permission to start the debate, Orion." A large, bark-colored stallion stepped forward from his place in the circle. Pride flashed in his eyes as well as in his voice, and his stature and poise reflected it also.
"Permission granted, Sienrown," the queen said, turning to face the stallion and stepping back slightly. The others turned toward him as well.
"Wild Ones!" he called out loudly. "Our Queen has spoken truthfully; the matter at hand is not one to be taken lightly. I do not know about you, but I began considering the topic of Acceptance months before this day. And in my thinking, I came to the conclusion which I consider to be the most important: our herd must remain strong!"
The circle of Elders erupted in a great stamping of hooves and clashing of horns. The brown unicorn waited patiently for the commotion to die down before continuing. "But I realized something else as well. Our herd needs not only to be strong, but pure as well." Sienrown said this while looking directly at Orion. The unicorns murmured among themselves, and Albright and Jenny exchanged nervous glances in the bushes.
"When a member of a herd is not pure, their loyalties wander," the stallion said. "And when loyalties wander, that is when the herd becomes weak. Our Queen has led us loyally and strongly in the past, but she has since made decisions that have affected the herd in what I consider to be a weak way."
The twins looked at each other, confused. Turning to their mother to see her reaction, they gasped. In Orion's eyes was an anger that blazed with a strength that her children had never seen. "We are not here to discuss my leadership, Sienrown," she said menacingly, stepping forward toward the fire.
The brown stallion bowed his head slightly, though there was a sense of mocking in his action. "My apologies, Queen. I shall get more to the point. What I am saying is that we Wild Ones are a strong, proud breed. Though we have encountered out fair share of traitors," Sienrown paused while the Elders muttered about Timberland, the unicorn in question, "what I now propose shall rid us of two potential deserters, two unicorns who should have been banished a long time ago."
The look on Queen Orion's face turned from anger to one of sickness. As realization hit, she seemed to be battling with herself as to what to do. Her children and their friend watched all this without understanding what was going on, without realizing that soon their lives were going to be changed forever.
"What I propose," Sienrown continued, despite the hateful glances from the queen, "is that Acceptance and herdship be refused to the children of the traitor Timberland and disgraces to our herd, Albright and Jenny!"
A loud gasp came from the circle of Elders at the idea of refusing to Accept the queen's own children. Finally realizing what was happening, the twins became upset, but were calmed by Artemis. "Shh, calm down, you guys. Do you really think that the Elders are going to listen to some nut like him? There's no way that they're not going to Accept you."
But the blue unicorn's kind words were quickly forgotten when another Wild One stepped forward. She was a moss-green mare who was much shorter than Sienrown, but was obviously just as proud. "I agree!" she shouted. "The customs and laws of the Wild Ones should never have been thrown aside for them! They are a disgrace to our herd just as their father was!"
Queen Orion tried to protest, but another unicorn's yelling drowned her pleas out. "Yes, yes! They are sure to follow in their father's footsteps. The herd cannot afford another disgrace like that which Timberland forced upon us. I say that they should be banished!"
What opposition Orion had went unrecognized as the circle of Elders erupted into a chorus of support for Sienrown's proposal. Seeing that there was no way to convince the herd otherwise, she turned and gazed into the bushes where her children were hiding. "Run," she whispered. "Run now. This is your chance at a better life. One day you can come back and prove that you did not follow in your father's footsteps. Never follow…" Her final words were drowned out by the other unicorns' shouting. Giving one last sorrowful look at the bushes which held her children, she turned back to the counsel that had banished them.
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Not understanding why the Elders would want to banish them, Albright and Jenny lay motionless for a moment after their mother's final words. Knowing that she had told them to leave, but not wanting to believe it, they were at a loss as to what to do.
Finally, Artemis asked, "Are you going to listen to her?"
"What?" Albright said, jerked out of his thoughts.
"Are you going to listen to your mother and leave?"
"Of course!" the red unicorn exclaimed, looking intently into the dark forest. "You heard the Elders, they want us to leave. If they don't want us here, why should we stay?"
"But I don't want to leave!" Jenny sobbed. "This is our home!"
"Not anymore." Albright stood up, turning quickly so that neither of the others could see the tears forming in his eyes. "We'll find a home somewhere else, don't worry. And we'll come back someday, once Mom works it all out. You know she'll be able to."
Still sniffing, Jenny nodded, trying to be brave. "O-okay, I g-guess. As long as we can c-come back."
"Of course we will," her brother said, licking her nose reassuringly. "And who knows, maybe we'll even meet Daddy somewhere."
And with that, the red unicorn set out into the trees. Still reluctant to leave, but not wanting Albright to go by himself, Jenny said a final goodbye to Artemis and ran after her brother. As the light from the counsel fire faded behind her and the dark stretched out before her, the young mare's mind was filled with despair and confusion. But her mother's final words to her and Albright remained bright and clear so that it felt as if they would always be with her. Never follow…
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Ooh, this is going to be such a great story! I hope you guys like reading it as much as I liked writing it. I know it's kind of dark (and it's only going to get darker), but I really do love Albright and Jenny, and I feel that this story fits them, even if it is somewhat AU. I'm going out of town for a week on July 1st, so don't be looking for an update on any of my stories until after then. Um, read the Unicorns of Balinor stories of Silver Spell, Rivendellgurl15, and Lightfoot, and also read my other UoB fic, The Test of Time!! Oh, and when I say read, I mean review as well. Hey, that's a good idea. Review this fic too! Haha, okay, well, that's it. See y'all next week!!