A/N: I just wanna take some time to apologize to everyone for not posting in forever, and to thank everyone that's taken the time to review. Thank you: Black-as-Knight14, Kylie, Soul Flyer, Protectress of Dalidon, and mesobored. Your reviews really mean a lot to me! I haven't really been spending enough time on this story, but now I'm gonna try to pay more attention to it since I have so many readers who seem to like it.
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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original Unicorns of Balinors characters, but I do own the plot, and I'm now the mother of a new baby unicorn named Thianc! He's so cute....
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The next eleven months were the worst of Atalanta's long life. Day and night, she was followed by the other mares, answering questions and receiving their praise. She tried to act graciously and be as polite as possible, but it was extremely hard, for the only member of the herd that she wanted to talk to was the only member of the herd that wouldn't talk to her.
Whenever the Dreamspeaker found a moment alone, she used it to seek out the Sunchaser. If she did happen to find him, the great bronze stallion would always turn his back on her and leave, and the mares would surround the purple mare once more before she could follow him.
As time went on and the baby grew inside of her, it grew harder and harder for Atalanta to wander the meadows of the Celestial Valley in search of the Sunchaser. She was finally forced to submit, and made her permanent residence in Numinor's cave. Though this gave her refuge from the prying unicorn mares, it also gave her time to think about the situation and the growing danger that she and the bronze stallion were putting themselves in.
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Finally, soon after Atalanta began staying in the cave, the young unicorn decided it was time to enter the world. The purple mare felt this, and alerted Numinor.
"Numinor," she said softly one morning. "The baby. He is coming."
The Golden One quickly sprang into action. With the help of other Celestial stallions, he guided Atalanta outside of the cave, into the spot where he was foaled. While the others remained with the mare, a blue stallion named Oceanic set off into the valley and alerted the Celestials. After ten minutes, he returned with the whole herd following behind him. Atalanta strained to see if the Sunchaser was among them, but could not see him among the others.
"Quickly!" Numinor's voice rang out through the meadows, silencing the murmurs and whispers of the unicorns. "Assemble into your herds and colors!"
This command was heard by all, and every member of the herd quickly raced to carry it out. Atalanta thought that she saw the bronze stallion near the back of his herd, but her view was quickly cut off by two greens hurrying into their spots. She began to look again when they cleared, but at that moment the contractions started.
The Dreamspeaker could feel sweat darkening her flanks as she gasped for air. Every Celestial unicorn seemed to be holding his or her breath, waiting to witness the golden foal, the heir of Numinor.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, her labor was over, and Atalanta's foal lay beside her. She closed her eyes, expecting for the cheers and cries of the unicorns to sound any moment. But instead, there was silence as the members of the herd took in the sight before them. There was something wrong here, they just didn't know what.
Confused, the Dreamspeaker opened her eyes, gazing out upon her herd-mates. They were all staring at her with confused and bewildered looks on their faces. Then, she caught movement in the back of the Yellows. Looking quickly, she saw the Sunchaser galloping away from the congregation as if Entia himself were at his heels.
Suddenly, Atalanta knew. Her heart plummeted in her chest, and her breath caught in her throat. Not wanting to look at Numinor, she turned her attention to her foal. She was met with a surprise.
The tiny foal beside her was an off-white color, as all young unicorns are; their colors come with maturity. His horn was but a nub on his forehead, and his jewel hadn't begun to form yet. Looking at his hooves, which oftentimes are a clue as to what color a foal will mature to be, she saw that they were made of copper.
The Dreamspeaker breathed a sigh of relief. The image in the Crystal Pool was false! This was indeed Numinor's foal; the color of his hooves proved that right away. The others seemed to accept this fact as well, and, even though something still didn't seem right, they cheered for the baby, the new heir to the Celestial Herd.
Atalanta looked up at Numinor, who was gazing at his son with a proud look on his face. Looking deeper, the Dreamspeaker saw some confusion in his eyes, which was quickly overcome by relief and joy. She smiled at her mate, and stood with some difficulty, nudging the foal to do the same.
The copper-hooved foal lifted his head, and opened his eyes for the first time. Atalanta's heart skipped a beat; the eyes of her foal were green! But no one else seemed either to notice or care, and the Dreamspeaker quickly put it out of her mind.
She stood next to the Golden One, proud and tall, not showing the relief that was flooding through her. After a few moments of gentle nudges, the foal rose to his feet as well, standing for the first time before the herd that he would one day rule.
"Celestials!" Numinor's voice rang out once more. "You have witnessed history in the making! I give you Atalanta, my mate, and my son and heir to the throne, Thianc!"
A great cheer rose from the Celestial Valley, honoring Thianc and his passage into the world. It seemed that every creature in the valley was watching this joyous event.
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But the birth of Thianc was not watched by only Celestials in the valley. High in his castle, Entia the Shifter was watching as well. He had been watching the Dreamspeaker for a while now, and knew of the dilemma between her and the Sunchaser. The Shifter also knew the truth behind Thianc, and what Numinor would do when he found out.
So it was that while the rest of the world was busy making things happen and enjoying them, Entia sat in his castle and waited.
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Well, there it is. I hope everyone liked it. I'm sorry it was kinda short, but I hope it was worth the wait. I hopefully won't wait this long to post again. I'm gonna be spending some time on my new story, though. The Horsemanship of the Ring under Lord of the Rings. Stop by and read it; I hope you won't be disappointed!