EC|Aurelius|Decision To Make

“Aurelius! Aurelius, we need to talk to you.” Kaden’s distant voice was enough for the saturated blood bay to open up his eyes and lift his head. Beside him he could feel Sarai shift and do the same. They shared a glance before getting up so Aurelius could see what was going on. The palomino mare walked towards the sleeping Lunarcorns and gently nudged them awake, so if something was amiss, everyone was up and ready. Celest and Galao yawned while slowly waking up and Sarai returned to her leader’s side. But to their surprise, Kaden appeared with a slightly blushed face and a shy smile on his lips. Beside him, Pearl rushed through the underbrush with the biggest smile possible. She bounced around the other unicorns before scooping up Piper who was hiding underneath some brushes. Aurelius lifted an eyebrow before turning his attention towards his Solar friend.

“So? What is going on?” He asked but his question was quickly answered when the peachy Solar mare appeared behind Kaden. Now it became obvious why the Ethereal stallion was so shy which was not typical for him. The lead male gave his friend a knowing smile before addressing the stranger.

“Welcome! I am Aurelius, leader of this herd. What brings you to us?” He dipped his head as a greeting, so did Sarai beside him. But before Aoatea could answer herself, Pearl was between the adults, blurting out the obvious answer.

“I made a wish underneath the pine tree and it came true! She can stay with us, can’t she?” Her little brown eyes twinkled with excitement while she waited on an answer. The adults could only giggle about her demeanor when a slight breeze announced the arrival of the tonitruum.

“Did you now, little one?” The rumbling voice of Shurikan broke through the treetops before the dragon did himself. He landed in an open area before walking towards the group. His arrival fully woke up the Lunars who now wanted to see what was going on. 

“I’m glad that the tree granted you your wish but remember what Kaden has taught you.” The dragon reprimanded his daughter which calmed her down a little bit. Kaden snorted amused as the little filly had to repeat what he already had told her today … twice. 

“That’s right, little one. This is a matter between Aurelius and your new friend. Give them a little space and I’m sure the outcome will be rewarding.” With that the stone grey wyvern ushered his daughter away, giving a nod to his leader as well as the newcomer. Piper quickly used the situation and jumped off the foal’s back, crawled up Aurelius’ leg before sitting down on his back.

“Well, that must have been her adoptive father then.” The guava mare mentioned and Kaden nodded beside her.

“That was Shurikan and he has the best control over that little whirlwind.” The Solarcorn chuckled and his female counterpart giggled at his remark. Aoateas’s attention turned back to the lead stallion especially as the other adults, Celest and Galao, joined them.

“Well, I would like to introduce myself to you before answering your question. My name is Aoatea.” The tall female announced and dipped her head to greet everyone. “I was on my way north when I stumbled upon Kaden and Pearl. or in the filly’s words, her little wish brought me here.” She gave the group a warm smile and everyone snickered at the comment.

“As I said before, welcome, Aoatea. Since you already know half of the herd, I would like to introduce the rest to you. Beside me is Sarai, the other ‘normal’ unicorn. Then we have Celest and Galao, our resident Lunarcorns and on my back is Piper, my finnick companion. You already know Kaden, Pearl and, as mentioned before, Shurikan. I’m sure we are not what you were expecting.” Aurelius explained to her while pointing at every one of his members.

“Pearl already gave a little away.” Kaden chimed in with an apologetic smile. Aurelius nodded as he understood what the Solar stallion meant. Aoatea admitted that she had never seen a quite diverse herd like this one. But she added that this was not a bad thing. It was nice to see all the different types of creatures living together and respecting each other. But her previous comment on heading north was something that Aurelius had not forgotten about and was about to address. His face turned serious before turning towards the peachy mare.

“You said that you were on your way up north. We know about the celebrations of the Lunar and Solar unicorns. I guess Kaden has told you that he is staying here with us as we have decided we would like to celebrate as a herd.” The leader started and both Solarcorns nodded.

“It will be your decision if you would like to continue your journey to celebrate with your own kin or …” His serious expression changed to a warm and welcoming smile. “... if you would like to follow the way of Pearl’s wish and stay. We are always happy to have new members join our herd. Or is someone against her joining us?” Slowly the dark red male looked in each of his members’ faces but nobody seemed to have any objections. Out of the corner of his Eye, Aurelius could see Shurikan with Pearl who were close enough to follow the conversation. The filly was almost bursting with anticipation but her father kept her contained underneath his wings.

Aoatea nodded and appreciated that he choice was hers to decide. Like Aurelius, she too looked around to see what the other unicorns were thinking.

Kaden gave her a shy smile before looking away. Did he just blush?

Sarai gave her a warm smile and an encouraging nod to join.

Piper chirped on the leader's back with approval. Finnicks always had a good sense of someone’s intentions.

Galao seemed a little hesitant but not unwelcoming. Maybe he was just cautious of strangers?

Celest dipped her head with approval before giving the Lunar stallion a reassuring nudge.

Shurikan in the back did a little nod as it was already clear what he would vote for.

Pearl was beaming like the sun itself, barely able to contain herself.

Lastly Aurelius reassured her again that she was welcome to join them if she wanted to.

Aoatea took a deep breath and took a moment to feel inside of her. What did she want? Could she really cancel her trip to her home herd for the celebration … just like that? But when would you get another chance like this, be a part of a diverse herd like this one? Also, they wanted to still celebrate the eclipse together so she wouldn’t really miss out. With a final breath Aoatea turned towards Aurelius with a determined look.

“I know my answer!”