Author's Notes:

Chapter 7 was proofread by PeerImagination. If any typo's are found, then its all PeerImagination fault, and would be absolutely deserving to take PeerImagination out back, and have ourselves a good old fashioned pony lynching!
And as I stand in the dangling pony's shadow, I will correct the errors of my dearly departed proofreader.
Seriously, thank you PeerImagination for your help, I really appreciate it.
Does anypony have any rope?

Celestia wondered how much longer they were going to have to stay stuck inside their new home.

When Hoof Strike ran up with a group of spear wielding ponies, announcing that wolves had been spotted nearby, Ash snatched up his newly finished spear. He was about to dash off to join the wolf hunters, when Meadowlark quickly nabbed the colt up by his crest, and carried the protesting colt inside, telling him that she would not allow him to go gallivanting off, to chase wolves around the forest.

For a while, Ash sat alone brooding on the far side of their home, until Melodious, who was visiting with Meadowlark when they were told to stay inside, got tired of it, and grabbed the colt up in her hooves. Hugging him tightly to herself with a smile, Melodious said that he looked like he needed a really good cuddle.

As Ash suffered under the pregnant mare's affections, Celestia stepped over and pressed her ear into Melodious's large belly. Closing her eyes she could hear the strange gurgles and low thumps that emanated from the two little active foals, as they moved about within their mother's womb.

Suddenly, Celestia jerked her head back, as the portion of Melodious's belly quickly bulged out. "Ow! A foal just kicked me!" She exclaimed, as she rubbed at her cheek.

"They do tend to do that." Meadowlark said with a knowing smile, as she glanced over from where she was laying on a thick bed of grass, that Dark had placed in her favorite spot, so she would be comfortable.

Leaning her head back into Melodious's belly, Celestia rubbed her hoof over a bulge. "Your colts seem really happy. I think they sense that they'll be born soon." Celestia said with a smile, as she continued to press her ear into the mare's belly, to listen.

Melodious let out a guffaw. "Colts!?" She said in disbelief. "They could just as easily be fillies, you know."

Celestia looked up at her, and shook her head. "Nope. Mama's going to have a filly. You're going to have two colts." She said, with a oddly confident tone.

Melodious's smile dropped a little, at Celestia's earnest expression. "What makes you so sure that my foals will be colts?"

"I can feel it." Celestia answered simply, as she lowered her head back down and rubbed her hoof along Melodious's belly. Closing her eyes she allowed her senses to flow free, and she could feel two warm spots just under her hoof. They felt like two tiny suns that pulsed with life. Life that yearned to be free, and to experience all the new and exciting wonders they would soon discover, once they were born.

Ash moved over to Celestia, and set his hoof onto Melodious's pregnant belly. "How will they get out?" Ash asked Melodious curiously, looking up at her.

"The usual way. By being born." Melodious answered, with a smile.

Ash cocked his head to the side. "But I don't know what that means?" He complained in confusion. "How do they go from in here." He said touching his hoof to her belly. "To out here." Ash then moved his hoof away from her belly.

"Oh that's easy!" Celestia answered . "When the foal is ready to be born, the mama pushes really hard, and forces the foal to come out!"

Ash looked even more confused. "So, the mama poops the foal out!?"

Both Melodious and Meadowlark suddenly broke out laughing, as the young colt looked between them in confusion, not understanding what was so funny about what he said.

"Oh Meadowlark! He's so adorable!" Melodious said, wiping tears from her eyes.

Celestia turned away from Ash, and bent over. Flipping her tail up, she jabbed her hoof at her rear. "No, silly. The foal comes out of this!" She said, with her hoof pointed at her little pink slit.

Ash froze, as he stared at her exposed filly bits, with his eyes bugging out. Quickly, he turned red all the way up to the tips of his ears, before he abruptly dashed away, and hid himself on the other side of Meadowlark, trying to bring his oddly excited body back under control.

"Celestia! Stop presenting yourself to the poor colt! Save that for when your both older!" Celestia's mother chided her.

Celestia turned and sat her rump down. "Yes, mama." She said before she leaned over, and looked around her mother, at the obviously flustered colt and let out a giggle. She had no idea colts were so fun to tease, and she wondered what else she could do to him, to elicit an even better reaction.

Suddenly the wooden panel that covered the opening to their home, was pulled open.

"Careful now, don't hit his head." Celestia heard her father say, as somepony started to squeeze though the opening.

Celestia quickly moved over to her mother, as she curiously watched as Dove Song stepped in carrying a limp stallion on her back. Celestia gasped in horror and cringed back against her mother's side, alarmed at the horrible state, she saw the two ponies were in.

Dove Song had a deep gouge running down the side of her muzzle to her lip, as well as numerous scratches and small tears along parts of her peach colored body, leaving bloody trails running down her legs, and dripping off her belly.

The acorn colored stallion, laying limply on her back, looked much worse. He had large shredded wounds, on his shoulder and haunch, that left some of his skin hanging down, and his neck had numerous punctures running around his throat just under his jaw. Blood covered them both, as it seeped down from the young stallion wounds onto Dove Song.

Tears ran down from Dove Song's eyes as she carefully lowered herself, so she could lay the stallion down. Celestia's father, and Bell Flower entered next and hurried over to help lower the stallion off of Dove's back. Celestia saw that Bell Flower had also been injured. There were numerous bite wounds on her legs and one up on her withers, as well as some claw marks along the side of her ribs, and a partially torn left ear.

As she watched them gently lay the stallion onto the ground, Celestia suddenly realized that she recognized the stallion! She and Ash, had met him earlier that day when he asked about the new storage building that was being built. She remembered her father had talked to him, and called him Strongbuck, when he greeted him.

Ash dashed over and joined Celestia, as Meadowlark wrapped a hoof around them, to hold them to her chest."What happened, mama!?" Celestia asked, looking up at her mother in concern. The sight of the injured ponies made her want to hide her face into her mothers side and cry. "Why are they hurt!?"

"I was a fool!" Dark Storm muttered as he moved over to his mate. "I didn't expect the wolves would come in the middle of the day, at least not until the foals came!"

"What happened?" Meadowlark asked, clutching the foals to herself.

"A full hunting pack caught them out in the western woods. Strongbuck saw that they weren't going to make it back to the safety and used himself to lure the pack away from his mares so that they could get away." Dark explained glumly, sitting his rump down next to Meadowlark. His eyes looked both sad and furious.

He suddenly turned and gave Meadowlark a wry smile. "You were right when you said that a mare would easily kill to defend those they love. Those two turned back without hesitation, and defended their young stallion with such a ferocity and fearlessness, the pack's resolve broke, and they all wisely fled back to the safety of their den."

"Dark! He's still bleeding!" Dove suddenly cried out, her face was panicked. "What do I do!? I don't want to lose him!"

"I know somepony that may be able to help." Melodious offered. "Back when Birch Bark was a colt, he gashed his leg pretty badly on a rock, and a older mare named Magpie Cackle, chewed up some leaves, and spread it over his wound and stopped his bleeding. It healed up quite nicely after that as well. "

"I know of her!" Meadowlark added in. "She's dark gray with a white mane, and she has a purple flower cutie mark."

Bell Flower looked down at Dove Song. "Dove, stay with him in case he wakes up." She then bent down and lightly kissed Strongbuck lips as well as Dove's "If she can help Strongbuck, then I'll go find her." She said, before she hurried out.

"Hoof Strike! Go with her, and keep her safe!" Dark yelled out through the opening at the stallion, who quickly turned trotted off after the mare.

"I'm going to check on how Birch Bark is doing." Dark said, as he moved towards the opening. "He and a number of hunters are sweeping the woods to make sure its clear.

"Dark!" Meadowlark called out. "Stay safe."

He paused and looked back. "I will, don't worry." Dark said before ducking outside.

The wait for Bell's return with Magpie was agonizingly slow. Celestia managed to wiggle out of her mothers grasp, and hurried over to Dove Song, who sat anxiously next to Strongbuck as she fussed over him, constantly checking to see if he was still breathing.

Hesitating next to Dove, Celestia reached her hoof out and gently touched Strongbuck. Closing her eyes, Celestia could feel life under her hoof. It was weak and slowly fading, but it had a stubborn strength to it, that showed the young stallions strong will to live. Dropping her hoof down, Celestia turned and wrapped her little hooves around Dove's neck and hugged her, trying to give the distressed mare some comfort.

Celestia felt Dove wrap her hoof around her, as the mare murmured her thanks. She remained with Dove until Bell Flower finally returned, as she ducked back inside followed by a old grey mare with a black feather tied into her mane. As the two mares moved over to Strongbuck, Hoof Strike came in carrying a turtle shell upturned on his back, with a bunch of gourds stacked within.

Magpie Cackle stepped over to Strongbuck and muttered to herself, as she looked him over. Finally she gave her head a shake. "I'm afraid that there is very little that can be done for him. Even if we stop the bleeding, the fever that will be sure to come later, will undoubtedly kill him."

Dove stood and moved closer to Magpie. "Please! Even if its a small chance, we have to try!" She pleaded desperately.

Magpie pursed her lips for a moment as she considered Dove. "It won't be easy, and he'll need a lot of care. No pony has ever recovered from wounds this extensive before."

"Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it." Dove said, desperately.

"Me too!" Bell Flower added in.

Magpie looked at Dove and Bells earnest expressions, then let out a sigh. "You" She said pointing her hoof at Hoof Strike. "Put my stuff down, right here." She indicated a spot near Strongbuck.

Once Hoof Strike set down the turtle shell basket. Magpie started to root though her gourds, taking some out and setting them to the side. Reaching into one of her hollowed out gourds, Magpie lifted out a oval shaped leaf with her lips, and set it down on the flat of her hoof. "You." She nodded towards Bell Flower. "I am going to need a lot more plantain leaves. You will find them all about this area. They have small, greenish brown flowers with purple stamens. Gather as many of their leaves as you can and hurry back." She then turned to Hoof Strike and pointed her hoof at him. "You. Go gather as many spider webs as you can find. Mind you don't bring back the spiders or any bugs in the webs, I just need the webbing."

Hoof Strike stared down at her pointing hoof and gave a little snort. "My name is Hoof Strike."

"I don't care what your name is. Your wasting time, now go." She said, as she swished her hoof dismissively.

Folding his ears back in irritation, Hoof Strike turned and left with Bell Flower to follow her instructions.

"You." She said to Dove Song. "You look like you still have your teeth, go ahead and chew on theses leaves until they are thoroughly mashed up, mind you don't swallow them, they won't harm you, but it will do him little good inside your stomach." She pulled out more of the oval leaves from her gourd and held them out to Dove on the flat of her hoof.

As Dove chewed, Magpie moved over to Strongbuck's neck and looked over the punctures there. "Come here, and spit the pulp out onto your hoof." Dove moved over and did as she was told, spitting the mashed up leaves onto her hoof. "Now, carefully spread the pulp into his wounds around his neck.

Nodding, Dove leaned in and delicately smeared the pulp on her hoof into some of Strongbuck's wounds. Once she finished, Magpie brought out more leaves and held them out, for her to chew. This continued until Dove applied all the remaining plantain leaves Magpie had, onto all the wounds that ran around Strongbuck's neck.

Magpie carefully watched Dove as she worked, her eyes following her movements with interest. Once Dove was finished, Magpie took up another gourd and pulled out some new leaves that were yellow and waxy looking. "Place these onto the wounds you just applied the pulp into, and wrap these strips of willow bark around his neck to hold them on. It will keep the flies out of them and allow them to heal, hopefully."

Dove did as she was told without question. Working as quickly and carefully as she could, she placed the yellow leaves onto his treated wounds, and with Celestia's help, she managed to wrap strips of willow bark around his neck, binding his wounds. When Dove finished she let out a satisfied sigh as she leaned back and looked down at his wrapped neck.

"You did a very good job dressing his wounds." Magpie said, offering some rare praise. "You have natural healers hooves."

"Healers hooves?" Dove asked, glancing at one of her hooves.

"Yes." She said nodding her head with a smile. "You worked quickly and carefully, with a nurturers grace." Magpie explained. "I have tried my hoof at healing, but I lack the gentle touch that is needed, and instead I focused on my love of plants, and what I can learn from them."

Just then Hoof Strike stepped in carrying a small stick covered in a ball of webbing.

"Good timing." Magpie said to the stallion, waving her hoof for him to come closer. "Dove, take the webbing and lets get to the bigger wounds now."

Dove gingerly took the stick from Hoof Strike, and approached Strongbuck's wound on his shoulder, not sure what Magpie wanted to use the spider webbing for.

"Now, hold it next to the wound and carefully scrape off some webbing, and pack as much as you can into the wound." Magpie explained. "I discovered that spider webs are very good at sealing larger wounds when I couldn't find any plantain weeds to use a few seasons back."

Dove took a moment to take a calming breath, before she held the stick of webbing next to Strongbuck's gaping shoulder wound. Using the edge of her hoof, she carefully scrapped at the ball of webbing, and manged to work off a sticky chunk. Lightly dabbing it into his open wound, Dove was amazed at how quickly the seeping wound stopped bleeding. Moving back to his haunch, Dove repeated the process, and used the rest of the webbing.

Magpie then had her cover the two wounds with the yellow leaves, and secured them into place using strips of willow bark. At last she was done, and she let out a relieved sigh. Looking down at Strongbuck, she felt tears fall from her eyes. Whether he lived or died now, was up to him. She did what she could to give him a fighting chance, but she wished she could do more. She wished her hooves could have taken his wounds from him, and eased his pain. There was so much more she yearned do.

There was a flicker of light, and everypony gasped. Wiping at her eyes, Dove looked back and saw two red hoof prints set together at an angle, with blue sparkling stars set all around them, sitting on her flank. A healing hooves cutie mark. New tears suddenly sprung up in her eyes, as she buried her face into Strongbuck's side and wept.

She finally got her own cutie mark! So why did it make her feel so miserable!?

Art by me, using paint. It was the best I could do with what I had, sorry.

Dark Storm gripped his spear as he looked around. The ground was all torn up, showing a great struggle had just happened in the area. "Looks like we found the spot." He said out loud, before looking down at the body of a dead wolf, that had his head crushed in by a hoof strike. All around him, spear wielding ponies stood ready, just in case the wolves returned.

"Dark Storm! Over here!" Birch Bark called out.

Trotting over, Dark saw what Birch had found, and let out a low nicker. The body of another dead wolf sat crumpled up next to a log, with its neck bent in a odd angle.

"They managed to kill two, and they did it without spears." Dark said, looking down at the corpse. His thoughts turned to the gravely injured young stallion, and his worry for him.

"The air stinks of wolves and blood. It's a wonder, that any of them even survived." Birch Bark said, looking down at a patch of ground nearby, soaked in pony blood.

A orange colored mare galloped over. "Father! We found one still alive!" Morning Sky said excitedly, as she skidded to a stop.

Dark and Birch quickly followed the mare, and she lead them a short ways deeper into the forest. Ahead Dark saw several other mares and a stallion standing around something on the ground, with their spears held ready.

As they approached, Dark saw that the female wolf had been dragging herself across the ground, with her hind legs splayed out back.

"We think her back is broken." Morning Sky said, poking her spear close to the she wolf, who viciously snapped her jaws at the offending spear point.

"Remember this day, all of you." Dark said to the gathered ponies around him. "One stallion and two mares took on an entire wolf pack with just their hearts and hooves, and showed those beasts what true ponies are made of! From this day on, the hunters will fear the hunted!" Reversing his spear, Dark plunged it down into the wolf, killing her.