(I don't remember where you were last, but sure. Training basically finished up for the day, and it will be a free day tomorrow. A lot of the trainees decided to eat in the large training field before going to sleep. Stormglade, the most well-known bully, was picking on Magicpetal again. Emberblaze tackled him and the two were sparring, about to fight, but Horizongold entered the fray. He quickly shoved Stormglade away onto a big pile of leaves and asked Emberblaze what had been happening. Emberblaze was interrupted by Magicpetal, who explained. When Skywing and Starsummer arrived, the watching trainees left and Horizongold let Magicpetal decide Stormglade's punishment. She wanted him to confess to his mother that he had been bullying many pegasi, but it was revealed that Stormglade's mother had been killed wen Glacier Herd overtook Ice Herd – which was where he was born. Now they're asking why he was bullying her and the twins, Breezebell and Redmoon, are watching; while they are thinking that they should keep going on about this.)

(Umm... I hate to do this to y'all again, but... could some one give me a quick recap? Also, I'm going to make part 31 real quick)

( Im gonna go read my book before bed. See ya later! :D )

Breezebell:

She pricked her ears. They were being quite harsh to this colt. Breezebell almost thought for a moment that Starsummer was being overprotective. But she knew what it felt like to be bullied. Her and Magcipetal were around the same size, Breezebell slightly taller. Not by much, but everyone had always picked on Magicpetal. The triplets were actually older than the twins. She looked at Stormglade and twisted her ears.

Redmoon:

She didn't see the point of them still going on about this. They should've just dropped it. Redmoon shifted to lean more on her left side than her right. Then she decided to voice a bit of her opinion. "Uh... Mrs. Starsummer.. (not sure what their last name is...)... If you don't mind me saying so, but if you tell Stormglade's father, he will object. At the moment, it seems that his father does not seem to care so much, so if you tell them off, are you sure that will make the situation any better? What if, instead of stopping Stormglade, he does something else?"

Stormglade:

"Like I said, she's the smallest filly in the herd. It's kinda hard not to make her a target." he mumbled.

Starsummer growled softly and pinned her ears.

Stormglade swallowed and backed down. Starsummer shook her head. "That still doesn't explain my question. Why do you bully? It's not just Magicpetal, I've seen you bully other yearlings who are smaller than you. Just because your sad or angry doesn't mean you get to take it out on some one else."

Stormglade looked at his hooves. "I look around and everyone looks so happy. So I figured, if I can't be happy...why should anyone else? It's not fair...." he said

Starsummer thought of what to say. "Well, I hope you know that we are still going to announce this to your father and tell him what you've done." she said.

Breezebell:

She felt sorry for the colt. She had also suffered the loss of a parent. She dipped her head to graze. Her and Redmoon would have to go to their mother after twilight.

(Aww!!!! Ok bye!!!)

( Oh okay. Good night and incase I don't see ya, good morning, good evening, and another goodnight :) )

Horizongold drew in a breath sharply. "That's why you've resorted to bullying? I had no idea." For a moment, he almost felt sorry for the colt, but the facts were unavoidable. "If you're angry with Glacier Herd for that, I completely understand. But if that's the reason you began bullying, Magicpetal doesn't make sense as a target. Her parents are from Valley Herd, so what do they have to do with your mother?"

(Okay, NOW I have to go.)

Breezebell:

She wasn't surprised that Stormglade had smacked her wing away, but she was surprised that it had hurt. She shook her wing out until the pain was gone and sighed.

Redmoon:

She pricked on ear when Horizongold had mentioned punishment to Stormglade, and even though she was on no one's side, she did not believe Stormglade should be the only one punished. Relief gave her one moment of satisfaction that he wasn't going to be punished. Her and her sister stood by waiting for their friends to be out of this kind of 'court' thing.

Magicpetal glanced up at her mother. "Uhhh.." After some encouraging nods from Starsummer, she looked up and straight at Stormglade. "...I want an apology, it want Stormglade to swear that he leaves my family alone, and I want to tell his family-particularly his mother-all the horrible names he called me." Stormglade's face suddenly fell, but he tried not to show it too much. "But as for punishments? I don't want anyone to be punished, more like they have heavy consequences. Whatever you see fit." she said, not exactly knowing what sort of punishment to give him.

Starsummer:

She narrowed her eyes at the colt and his sudden change in mood made her suspicious. "What is your mother's name?" She asked him.

Stormglade:

"Oceanbreath." he said, plainly "But, you won't be able to find her. She was killed in the war against Ice herd-my herd. Glacier herd killed her." he said, his eyes turning hard. Magicpetal inhaled gently and stepped behind Starsummer.

Starsummer:

She looked unfazed by this news. "Do you have a father? If so, what's his name?"

Stormglade lowered his eyes and nodded vaguely. "Freezebolt."

(gtg pretty soon)

The three of them approached Skywing and Stormglade. Horizongold spoke first, as was fitting. "Stormglade," he said, "I regret any potential injury I may have caused." He paused and his eyes grew even more intense, if that were possible. "That is NOT to say that I apologize for what I did. I have told you numerous times that bullying is not tolerated whatsoever in this program. I have warned you that there will be consequences." He held up a wing as Stormglade began to make excuses. "I do not want to hear it. Now, Magicpetal, the stage is yours."

Magicpetal drew level with him, looking baffled. Horizongold lay her confusion to rest. "If you were guaranteed not to have any retribution whatsoever, how would you like to see him punished?" he asked.

"I believe so, Starsummer," Skywing replied. "Stormglade here is describing a few alarmingly detailed ways to get back at Horizongold, so I'd say he's enraged but intact."

Meanwhile, Horizongold nodded, trying to stamp down his feelings towards the triplets. He now realized he had acted rather rashly in his way of dealing with the situation. He was determined not to make the same mistake twice. "I see," said the liver chestnut. "Emberblaze, you're getting off with a warning. But one more chance – I will be telling your instructors – and you'll be punished. I understand what you were doing. Stormglade, on the other wing, is facing ramifications." He reshuffled his wings angrily. "You three, go somewhere out of earshot. No, scratch that. Emberblaze and Goldenstream, please leave. Magicpetal, stay here. You too, Starsummer."

Emberblaze he flicked his ears at the sounds of wingbeats and he looked down to see his mother, fluttering her wings as she landed. "Is everyone alright?" she asked, looking inquisitively at each of her foals. When none of them answered she looked at Redmoon, Breezebell, and Horizongold. The circle that had formed was still there and this annoyed Starsummer. "Alright! When I get to the count of 5, I want every yearling that wasn't involved in this incident to back away!" she barked, flaring her wings. "1.....2....3.....4..." Most of the young pegasi had left as soon as Starsummer landed, but the few who had remained, scurried off as she began her count off. "There! That's better." she said, then turned back to her foals, and cocked one ear, awaiting an answer.

Magicpetal had stepped forward. "You shouldn't be asking Emberblaze the question. I-uh....I was the first one released from training. I wanted to speak with my brother and sister, so I decided to go look for them among the hoard of yearlings swarming into the valley to graze." She explained. "While I was looking for my siblings, I heard Stormglade come up behind me and he started making fun of me...again." She decided to leave out the part where Stormglade mentioned Horizongold as her boyfriend. "I didn't care what he was saying...I just wanted him to stop. I turned around to face him, but he wasn't there. That's when Emberblaze intervened. He had tackled Stormglade to protect me." She explained, looking down the entire time.

Goldenstream nuzzled Magicpetal. "What exactly did he say?" she asked, knowing that whatever he said had made an impact on Magicpetal. "It....it doesn't matter." she mumbled. "It was in the past." Goldenstream hugged Magicpetal with her wings and brushed the forelock out of her eyes.

~

Emberblaze didn't make eye contact with Redmoon. He was too ashamed, but when Magicpetal finished her explanation he spoke up. "I shouldn't have challenged him. But, please, you have to understand why... There was a bully making fun of my sister. I wouldn't just stand around and let her get picked on by someone who has a bark worse than his bite." he said, lowering his head, pondering what he would tell his mother.

~

Stormglade grunted and picked his head up. He was shocked to see a yearling filly standing over him, extending her wing down to him. "No. I'm fine." he snapped, shoving her wing away from him. He stood up and shook the leaves out of his mane. He glared at Horizongold and Emberblaze, then turned to face Skywing.

Horizongold did, however, make sure that Stormglade was not injured. Thankfully, he wasn't, and was now being restrained and talking to Skywing, who had come over to deal with the situation.

Redmoon:

She looked up at the slowly descending sun. Twilight was coming fast. Then, remembering Horizongold's question, glanced at Emberblaze, wanting to know what he thought had happened.

Breezebell:

She slowly snuck away and twoards Stormglade who was on the ground. She looked down at him and whispered, "need somehelp?" She extended on wing.

Horizongold noticed the anger on Redmoon's face, but elected not to explain his reasons. He was a commander now, to a small degree. Generally speaking, instructors should not have any sort of challenge to their superiority over the trainees.

Redmoon:

She jolted backward when Horizongold landed, and felt a jolt of fury when he smacked Stormglade in the chest with his wing. She pinned her ears and glared at Horizongold, of which his methods she did not approve of. The point was to prevent any problem, but instead Horizongold had created one.

Breezebell:

When Horizongold smacked Stormglade in the chest she felt some satisfaction, but was immediately replaced with guilt at the feeling. Breezebell backed up a little bit and stood more close to her sister, who seemed quite unhappy.

Horizongold had been cruising when he caught a cloud of navy blue feathers off to his right. Emberblaze, he thought immediately. He turned and sure enough, there was Emberblaze – circling Stormglade.

He didn't bother trying to settle this civilly. He flapped over, carefully making no noise, tucked his wings, and dove.

He was starting to worry about crash-landing due to his speed when he landed, directly in between the two colts. He shook his mane out to clear his vision and when he came to, neither Stormglade or Emberblaze were in his field of vision. After a few moments, both of them reappeared on shaking legs, abject terror written on their faces.

Emberblaze relaxed when he noticed who it was. Stormglade, however, stiffened ramrod straight.

"Hello, Stormglade," he said, deceptively calm. "Oh, none of that." He grinned and waved away the colt's apology. "Just wanted to chat."

Stormglade looked extremely taken aback, which was Horizongold's intent. The young spy commander calculated his next move, taking into account his hooves' sharpness. He decided those would be plan B, and instead unfurled one golden wing.

With no further ado, he clobbered the bully straight in the chest with one mighty heave of his feathered limb.

Stormglade skidded backward and landed in a huge pile of leaves, sending them everywhere.

Horizongold resisted the temptation to chuckle with everyone else, then turned around, all fire gone from his eyes.

"So what happened?" he asked Emberblaze, this time not faking the casual tone of his voice.

( Mine was long too, so Im right there with you XD )

Redmoon:

She stared at Stormglade with no emotion on her face other than 'you are literally the stupidest thing ever created on this planet'. She glared at Stormglade and at his words. "When you have matured, you will regret and take back everything you said. You wanna know why?" she asked, and waited a moment before answering it for herself. "Because the truth is, you have no real friends, and you can't help but be jealous of the rest of us. Now I suggest you stop this 'bullying' of my friend, and try to actual make some friends," she snarled. Then she looked back at Emberblaze. Her expression was unreadable, but she was very surprised by his actions. Perhaps even disappointed. The Emberblaze she had once known wouldn't have gotten so angry. She sent one last death cold glare to Stormglade, then lifted off the ground, a wake of her feathers falling down. "But I guess it's not up to me if your stupid, is it?" she said directed at both of them. "A war is coming, so I think you would be better off pretending this never happened, and just move on," she said. She landed beside Breezebell and said not one more word, and no longer cared if they charged each other, or listened to her fathers words that she had said and stopped this nonsense.

Stormglade glared at Redmoon up and down. "I didn't say anything. Did I-huh Runty?" he cocked his head, asking Magicpetal who stood next to Emberblaze.

Emberblaze snapped his head toward Magicpetal. "Is that what he's been calling you?" he asked, his tone of voice more angry than it's ever been before. Magicpetal looked at the ground and slowly nodded. Emberblaze's eye turned stone cold and he turned his head back forward and pinned his ears at Stormglade. He bellowed his fury at the young stallion while flapping his wings. He bared his teeth and pawed the ground, but didn't charge, not wanting to hurt Redmoon.

~

Stormglade saw that Redmoon and Emberblaze were friends and wouldn't hurt one another, and that gave him an idea. "C'mon Emberblaze. Don't you want to fight me? Or are you afraid of embarrassing yourself in front of your girlfriend?" They now had gathered the attention of the yearlings. The yearling bystanders had formed a large circle around Emberblaze and Stormglade.

~

At Stormglade's words, Emberblaze glanced at Redmoon, then back at Stormglade. His muscles twitched and he breathed shakily. He molted many navy blue feathers and lashed his tail in every direction.

Magicpetal looked up at her brother and saw that it took literally all his strength not to charge Stormglade. She had never seen her brother so angry. "Emberblaze.... Please don't fight him...." she mumbled loudly enough for him to hear. "It's not worth it." she said. Goldenstream had landed next to Magicpetal and had immediately figured out what was going on. "Magicpetal's right Emberblaze. It won't prove anything. Stormglade wants to fight. He wants you to get in trouble. Be the better pegasi and just walk away." Goldenstream said, laying a wing over his hot back.

Breezebell:

She heared the comotion and lifted into the air beside Magicpetal and saw Emberblaze just as he tackled a steed she knew as Stormglade. Now they were circling each other like stupid colts.

Redmoon:

She lifted up beside her sister and Magicpetal, and noticed the scenario. She rolled her eyes and dropped down between them, and slammed her hoof into the ground, and held her wings up prevent them from charging without potentially breaking one of her wings bones. "Stop! What is wrong with you two?!" she shouted. It hurt a little bit to yell at Emberblaze, but she was tired and had had enough of fighting for one day. She also didn't want to see a body in a pool of blood. Emberblaze and Stormglade were big enough now that they do some serious damage to each other, and at the moment, they needed to be more focused on training. "What did one of you do make the other so angry that it started this?!" she demanded.

(That was long....my bad)

Magicpetal:

She nickered a friendly greeting to Redmoon, while also keeping an eye out for her own siblings. The crowd of yearlings were pouring into the meadow-they had the same idea as Magicpetal and Breezebell; Eating. Magicpetal tried to skim through the hoard of steeds to find the similar colors of her brother and sister. There were a lot of yearlings and all their wing colors meshed together so she couldn't find the exact colors. "I'll be right back." she announced to the twins before lifted off and flying above the clump of yearlings. She called her siblings names a few times, then finally heard wingbeats behind her. She turned around but instead of seeing the smiling faces of her family, she saw the smirking face of Stormglade, her meanest bully. "Hey, Runty! Long time no see!" he flew circles around her, taunting her with his large size. He had gotten bigger. His mane was longer and his wings were long and muscular. "I told you to not call me that!" she snapped. "Aww! Runty, I can call you whatever I want. What are you gonna do do about it? Are you gonna kick me? With those tiny hooves of yours it won't make a difference. Anyway, you look like your getting better at flying." Magicpetal already knew where this was going. "Chose your next words wisely." she said, getting angry. He rolled his eyes and continued. "You don't look anything like that worthless little flyer who couldn't even make it over the trees. And when you tried, guess what? You fell. It's only because you're boyfriend saved you that your even alive! Your so worthless and puny and-" Magicpetal turned away from him and tried to block out the mean things he was saying, but the next thing she new, he had stopped. She turned to face him again, but he wasn't there. She looked down and gasped. She now saw Emberblaze. Her brother had tackled Stormglade out of the sky, tumbling them both to the ground. Now, the two yearlings were circling each other in the middle of the meadow, threatening to fight.

Breezebell:

She nodded, landed and began to preen her feathers before catching up with Magicpetal to go and graze. She stopped beside Magicpetal and started to graze. It was starting to get dark. Breezebell looked up to see her sister trotting towards them. She smiled and nuzzled her sister. Even though they were twins, Redmoon had always felt like the older one. She was bigger than Breezebell, and a lot more mature, but Breezebell was catching up to Redmoon.

Magicpetal:

She watched intently at Breezebell's technique and form. "That's cool!!! It will be very useful when we are spying." she said, heading toward the meadow to graze.

Breezebell:

She shrugged. "Not much. But we did learn how to muffle our wing beats to nearly silence like the owls have built in," she said. Then she demonstrated to Magicpetal could catch up with what they did today. She furled her wingtips upwards and out instead of down and in when a pegasus flying normally.

(Ur welcome!)

(Thanks RB)

Magicpetal:

The mist that sprayed into her face brought her back to the present and she turned her head to see Breezebell. "Hey!!!! What's up? How was training?" she asked, slightly shivering from the cold water and frigid temperatures.

(I think that's all)

(Not a lot. before spy training, Magicpetal awoke first and she went to check on Starsummer. But, when she did she saw that Starsummer's belly was starting to swell and therefore, Magicpetal found out her mother was pregnant. She ran across the valley to graze and think were she met Horizongold. He wanted to ask Oceangoldabout jewels that they found in a cave. After Oceangold answered all their questions, they went to go and train. It was the coldest day of the year. Breezecloud and Dusksplash came over. Horizongold's plan for today was that the trainees would betraying to muffle their wingbeats. But, he needed Mountain herd or Cave herd steeds to weave something together. Now, Breezecloud is about to teach a lesson on weaving.

Magicpetal found that she was pretty good at weaving and that she even enjoyed it. Breezebell learned how to muffle her wingbeats and she is proud to show her friends. Dusksplash got weaned.

Starsummer and darkstone had a talk about her not fighting in the war against Flame herd because she was pregnant. Darkstone wanted her to be safe and not fight Flame herd since they were a lot more gory and merciless than any other herd they've faced. Starsummer said that she fought a war once when she was pregnant and she could do it again. Then, Skywing came over and changed her mind by saying stuff like think of the foal and your family.)

(What'd I miss?)

Breezebell:

When he had dismissed the group, she immediately took off into the sky and dived through a very fluffy and wet cloud. She shivered with delight as the sweat she had gotten during training was wept clean by the cloud's cold water drops that it had forgotten to rain down. When she was done, she dived down and pulled up right in front of Magicpetal and flapped her wings in her face, sending a light spray of water onto Magicpetal's face.

As Magicpetal waited for Dusksplash to land, she overheard Horizongold and Oceangold talking with the trainees. She never liked the idea of war, but understood why it must be done. Her mother's voice bubbled into her mind. "Some pegasi don't like peace. They think it shows weakness and ignorance. They'd rather fight and lose than make peace and win. Always remember that. In today's world, you can't always turn your back on a foreign steed," At the time, Magicpetal didn't understand. "Why would someone want to fight? Why would a pegasus chose war over peace?" But now that she was older and toughened up, she was beginning to understand. It's just like her mother said 'Some pegasi don't like peace."

Dusksplash pouted theatrically, but obeyed because he knew arguing would get him nowhere.

Meanwhile, Horizongold and his mother were wrapping up. "Many of you have mastered the feather curl," said the pinto mare. "If you are among those who have not, practice doing so tomorrow when we don't have practice. But get plenty of sleep tonight and go to sleep early tomorrow night. We'll wake up the spy trainees around midnight for a special training session." A good-natured groan met this news and she smiled in return.

Horizongold stepped forward. "Make sure you're rested, practice, but enjoy yourselves tomorrow. As you know perfectly well, there is a war coming. That is why you are all training in the first place. Tomorrow may be one of the last fun days before serious fighting. Make the most of it."

A sober silence met these words, so he tried to lift the mood. With a broad grin on his face once more, he said, "That won't be for a little while, though, so have fun! Group dismissed!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Dusksplash called back, grinning widely. However, the truth was he was having some trouble. He hadn't realized till now that the trees masked the stiff wind of the area. He had to battle to stay upright and stable, and besides, the wind was ruffling his feathers. It was cold, the young pinto weanling realized, but he supposed he should get used to it. He braved on, upwards, and smiled triumphantly as he drew level with his mother.

Breezecloud looked over at the sound of flapping wings and smiled slightly when she noticed the splotched form of her son. "Dusksplash," she said gently, "please land. Stay with Magicpetal for now. Visibility is bad and worsening. You can practice flying with your father tomorrow, in full daylight."

Breezebell:

She nodded to Horizongold and walked away. When he wasn't looking, she drooped her ears. She had been looking forward to weaving. But she shoved that thought aside as she trained and practiced flying without making any noise like the owls. It was quite hard to do, but the instructions were simple enough. All you had to do was curl your end-feathers upwards so it wouldn't make as much noise when you flapped your wings. Soon she got the hang of it and couldn't wait to show Magicpetal and Redmoon.

Magicpetal nickered and said, "Hello Dusksplash!" she greeted with a friendly snort. As Dusksplash realized that he could fly over the trees, Magicpetal nickered again only louder and tried to think back to when she was weaned. It felt like 5 years ago, even though it was only several months. Magicpetal watched him and slightly grimaced. "Be careful!!" she called, shuddering at the memory of the first time she tried to fly over the trees.

Breezecloud smiled to herself. "I'm sure Horizongold and Oceangold will tell you," she replied vaguely. "I'm not sure whether or not that will be today or next time, as light is fading quickly."

She was right. It was only four or five hours past noon and the sky was dimming already, due to the northern positioning of the Glacier Herd territory and the time of year.

Dusksplash came trotting up to his mother, flickering his tail. "Hi, Maggie-petah!" he said happily to the roan. "Mama, I'm HUNGRY." He went to nurse, but Breezecloud moved away.

"Not anymore, Dusksplash," she answered. "Sorry, sweetie, but you're weaned. There's some nice grass over there," she suggested, pointing with a violet wing.

Dusksplash's face crumpled and his ears drooped. "W-weaned?" he asked sadly. "But I LIKE milk! Come on, I can wean tomo-woh!"

Breezecloud was unswayed. "No," she said, kindly but firmly. "If I let you nurse, you'll get used to begging. I don't want to teach those values." With that, she flew up into the sky to tell Skyfeather and Dusktail that they could land.

The expression of Dusksplash cleared up quickly. "Hey, as a weanling I can fly above the t'ees!" he said triumphantly to Magicpetal. "MAMA, YOU CAN'T ESCAPE MEE!!" he said as he launched himself into the sky, flapping his wings to gain altitude, and chased after his mother.

Magicpetal watched as they lifted off. "What will it be used for? she asked, continuing to watch the twins soar overhead.

(ok!! Byee!!)

(I have to go for the night, hopefully be on tomorrow but don't count on it.)

"Yes," Breezecloud replied. "Now, since I know what we'll be doing with this thing, let's test it. Skyfeather, Dusktail, each of you place one hoof in one loop. Skyfeather, go on the left side, Dusktail on the right. Then start flying in unison. It might be tricky to figure out, but have at it."

The twins grinned and stepped forward. As Breezecloud had predicted, it was awkward at first. Neither twin knew when their wing should be extended in relationship to the other one's wing, then when they finally mastered that and achieved liftoff, the mat fell. This was because they had completely forgotten it was there in the first place, and had let the tension off of it. After numerous attempts and several sessions of collapsing in laughter, they mastered it. The mat stayed with them in the air and they flew levelly. Breezecloud nodded her approval with a wide smile on her face.

Magicpetal:

Once Skyfeather finished with the last few stitches, Magicpetal looked at Breezecloud. "Is it done?" she asked, flicking her ears at the finished product.

Horizongold hesitated. "Now isn't the time, Breezebell," he replied. "In both senses of the phrase. Now isn't the time to ask, and now isn't the time that weaving is a critical skill. To answer your question, no, we will not be focusing on weaving any more as a group. However, you can ask Breezecloud or Tumbleroot tomorrow about it because we don't have training tomorrow."

Breezebell:

After she had nickered her goodbye to Magicpetal, she leaped into the air and followed after Horizongold. They soon landed in a fairly open clearing. It was a warmer day than usual for fall and Glacier Herd, so already the trainees were breaking a sweat. Breezebell then walked up to Horizongold before the lesson started and as they were taking in the surroundings, she asked, "Horizongold, will the rest of us every learn how to weave? I was actually quite excited about learning to weave," she said.

( Am I the only one noticing that in three comments the words 'Second of and first of all' have been used about three times? )

Starsummer at first was offended that he was eavesdropping, but as he shared his point, her annoyance at him faded and his words sunk in. "First of all, thank you. I'm excited as well. Second of all," she paused to think of what she would say. Starsummer glanced up at the sky, then down in the direction of the training grounds, then at her hooves, and finally back to the two stallions. "I might take that into consideration. I am always the one to say that family is first." she said, nodding to herself, making up her mind. "Besides, there'll be more wars. I can kick butt then, but now's not the time."

Darkstone sighed in relief then nickered. "Thank you! Jeeze! Was this an actual hard decision?! Hmm, go into war and risk my unborn foal and my life or drop out of the war and live to fight another day? Uhh... That's hard! Let me think about this!" He teased, laughing as she bit his shoulder.

Skywing had been on one of his random circuits of the trainee area, on his way to the spy camp, when he overheard a pinto mare he recognized as Starsummer and a dark brown steed that he believed was the mare's brother, Darkstone. He cantered slowly up to them. "Sorry for butting in," he began, "but I couldn't help but hear you two. First of all, congratulations, Starsummer. I'm sure we're all looking forward to meeting this foal. But second, I must say I agree with Darkstone. I know you well enough to not prevent you from fighting, but I must say that you shouldn't have too big a part in this war. Flame Herd is a powerful enemy. If I didn't know that our Snow Herd steeds would be exhausted and sweating after the journey, I would much rather bring this battle to them in the desert. In fact, that may be the key factor as to who wins. Flame Herd will be tired after the flight up north, as well as cold.

"But that's not the point" Skywing continued. "The point is we're concerned for you and your foal so please make the safe choice."

Breezecloud agreed with Magicpetal's thoughts. "Well done," she said warmly. "Now, you can watch once more as Skyfeather, Dusktail, and I each make a handle for this mat, fastened one in each corner. After watching, you can try to make the fourth one or choose not to and let one of us do it if it seems too hard." She and the twins quickly moved on to making those handles, twisting and plaiting four strands each and making a fairly large loop in one end of each of them. The end without the loop was then woven into the corner of the mat and fastened with another reed.

Magicpetal was watching from a distance and came over when her name was called. "Uh...ok..." she said softly, not quite outgrowing her shyness. She went over to where Skyfeather was standing and observed the mat. She started doing the same movement that Skyfeather had done- weaving the strands in at an angle to the first ones, to go in the corners between the broad strands. At first she went slow, trying to figure out the wing placement, but once she got settled into a rhythm, she moved quickly.

Magicpetal's thin feathers helped her to go over and under, in and out like how Skyfeather had done and her smaller size helped her to guide smaller strands into their correct places.

Once she was close to finishing, she stepped back and looked at the work she had done. It wasn't the neatest-considering this was her first time. A few stands stuck out in random places and it didn't look professional, but overall, Magicpetal was pleased with herself.

(It's ok!)

"All right," Breezecloud said to her group as the others ambled away. The two of you that have seen weaving before know what we're doing. Magicpetal, watch and learn for now. Dusktail, Skyfeather, lay these reeds in a grid. We need it to be pretty big, so let's say six reeds by five, but double-thickened for strength. Leave the rest for me to deal with."

Dusktail nodded respectfully and trotted forward, already reaching out with his wings. He deftly swept up five reeds into one wing, then moved aside and laid them, evenly spaced, on the ground. He moved aside for Skyfeather to come to the space where the mat was forming and passed her a reed, one at a time, about one a minute.

Meanwhile, Skyfeather was weaving the reed in and out, over and under, the ones already placed on the ground. Very quickly, a single-thickness mat was laid out on the ground. It was large enough that an adult pegasus's wing, folded up, could lay on it with room to spare.

Breezecloud nodded her approval, slightly impressed with the speed. "Nicely done," the council mare said. "Now thicken it, to be two reeds in width."

The twins nodded simultaneously and began working again. Dusktail's job was the same: sort out and pass the reeds to his twin sister. Skyfeather, however, began weaving the strands in at an angle to the first ones, to go in the corners between the broad strands. This took quite a bit longer because, being from Cave Herd, they had fairly wide feathers.

Breezecloud noticed the problem and waved to Magicpetal, knowing that her parents were originally from Sun Herd and therefore she was more equipped for this. "Seen enough to try it?" the pale dappled mare asked. "How about you give it a go?"

Darkstone:

A thought bubbled in his mind. "You'll be very pregnant by when Flame herd comes in Autumn. You shouldn't be in that fight... I don't want you in that fight.' he said, strictly.

Starsummer:

She continued grazing, not looking up at him. "Well, first of all, it's not your decision to make. And second of all, yes, I know that. I fought Glacier herd while I was pregnant with the triplets, and I'll do it again. Besides, it's only one foal, not three. " she responded.

Darkstone:

He grew annoyed. "That doesn't mean you should do it. Think of the foal! Glacier herd isn't Flame herd. They are much more violent and merciless. Mistcloud pitied you because she saw the you were pregnant. If you fight Cherrycloud....she will not spare you. She'll kill you, Starsummer! And your foal!" He said. "Please! Don't fight in this war."

Starsummer:

She lifted her head and gazed into Darkstone's eyes. She appreciated his concern, but it wasn't needed. "Well then, I better not fight Cherrycloud. Besides, I wouldn't let that mare get anywhere near me or my foal." she said.

Darkstone:

His heart fell. "Starsummer, please don't do this." he was ashamed of himself for begging, but he had to. He looked at star summer and groaned. He wouldn't win this argument and she was right, it wasn't his decision. "Agh!!! I hate it when you're so stubborn!" He groaned.

Magicpetal:

She nickered a soft goodbye to Breezebell, then turned to look at Breezecloud.

Horizongold turned to face the group of trainees, who had started milling around while he and Breezecloud had been talking. "In case you didn't hear that," the liver chestnut stallion said, "Three of you -- Magicpetal, Dusktail, and Skyfeather -- will stay with Breezecloud to weave a tool for our spy classes in the future. If I didn't just say your name, come with me to the other side of the clearing. We will be practicing how to muffle the sound of your wings in the air, so you can get close to a pair of conversing pegasi without being heard."

Magicpetal:

She was listening to the conversation and pricked her ears at her name being called to stay with Breezecloud. She was almost positive that she would go with Horizongold because she had no idea how to weave, but she knew better than to talk out of turn, so she stayed quiet and looked down at her hooves.

(YAY!!!!!!! I'm just glad that ur back!!!!)

(I won't add Skyfeather and Dusktail to the character post because they're pretty minor.)

It took a decent amount of time, choosing and pulling up frozen strands, but Junipersky and Horizongold eventually succeeded and returned to the spy-training clearing with their wings full of cattail leaves.

"I'm no good at weaving," Junipersky said apologetically to Breezecloud, who was waiting for them. "I was brought up in Ice Herd, not any of the mountain herds."

"That's alright," Breezecloud said with a shrug. "Drop the reeds in a pile here - you too, Horizongold," she added. "I'll keep the steeds who know how to weave with me, then Horizongold can take the others to practice flying quietly."

Horizongold nodded his approval. "Who will be staying here, with you?" he asked as the question came to him.

Breezecloud considered for a few moments. "Magicpetal, certainly. Skyfeather and Dusktail, the pinto twins. I'd like Oceangold as well, but she can come with you to keep order over the rest of the trainees. Four of us should be enough."

(Hello again! I didn't have my laptop over winter break so I wasn't on much. I don't get on the MB with my phone because it has a hard time loading everything. Right now I'm on my dad's new Microsoft tablet.)

Starsummer:

After she has nuzzled her brother for several minutes she stepped back and they started talking. "So? Have you asked her? Is Whiteshadow going to be an aunt?!"

Darkstone:

He eyes widened. "No, sister! I have not asked her and no she will not be an aunt, at least, not yet." As if he was reading her mind he continued. "I will ask her after the war with Flame herd is over. Only then will I start a family. But, enough about me, how are you? How's the triplets?"

Starsummer:

She smiled awkwardly. "Oh! I'm okay. Just a little more tired than usual." She paused, realizing what she just gave away. "The triplets?! Oh yes. They are fine! They are doing very well in their training..." she said, preening her wings, not looking her brother in the eyes.

Darkstone:

He stared at Starsummer intently. He frowned a little the nudged Starsummer in the ribs, making her turn to face him. "First off: Yes!!! I'm an uncle again! Second off: You know you're going to have to tell the triplets. Unless they'd already figured it out." He said, nodding at her rounder-than-normal belly.

Starsummer:

"Yes, yes. I know. I've already promised to tell them tonight." and with that, the two dipped their heads and started to graze.

(Anyone here?)

Magicpetal:

She glanced at Breezbell, feeling her friend's eyes trained on her. She smiled gently, "I'll tell you later..." she whispered, then turned her attention to the mare.

Breezebell:

When she returned with the neccesary materials that they needed, she turned towards Magicpetal. Her eyes were on her mother and who Breezebell thought was her uncle. She looked at Magicpetal with her ears perked forward with question, but then Breezecloud was about to start the lesson, so she decided better of the question and that she would wait until after the long lesson.

Magicpetal:

While her trainees went to gather the supplies she took the chance to glance at her mother once more. Now, Starsummer had moved into a patch of sun to keep warm in the frigid morning tempurature. She saw her uncle Darkstone land next to Starsummer and the two nuzzled for a while. "Uncle Darkstone!" she thought, smiling to herself. She couldn't remember the last time she had talked or even seen him. "He must have been hanging out with Whiteshadow." she thought again, flicking her small ears at them. Darkstone had grown since the last time she saw her 5 year old uncle. He was now almost the size of his old sister and he was growing muscular. His chest was rounded and his back legs were packed with muscles and she could see Emberblaze growing up to look exactly like their uncle.

When she noticed that some of the steeds were returning with the necessities, she turned her head back toward Breezecloud and tried to focus.

( A LESSON ON WEAVING?!?!?! OOF YASSS!!!! :D )

(I'm here... one day later)

(Phew!!! Anything else?)

(Nightmist, it looks like this was your last comment on page 5:

Breezebell:

As the sun set, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Anok was the very first place to be in this expanse of world that she just knew existed. All the herds were obsessed with the quantity of their herds, but they barely even knew of the quality that mattered so greatly. Rebellions would break out in a herd of hatred and mistreatment. Glacier Herd was definitely more focused on the quantity then the quality. They wanted to unite the herds by taking them all away from the homes they once knew and forcing them to join or they would forcefully take them. She didn't like it anymore. She sighed and opened her eyes, but she couldn't. She was just too tired, that she fell into the deepest sleep right there with a tear streaming down her face.

Since then, everyone went to bed. he next morning, before spy training, Magicpetal awoke first and she went to check on Starsummer. But, when she did she saw that Starsummer's belly was starting to swell and therefore, Magicpetal found out her mother was pregnant. She ran across the valley to graze and think were she met Horizongold. He wanted to ask Oceangoldabout jewels that they found in a cave. After Oceangold answered all their questions, they went to go and train. It was the coldest day of the year. Breezecloud and Dusksplash came over. Horizongold's plan for today was that the trainees would be eavesdropping on Oceangold and Horizongold in the sky, instead of on the ground. But, he needed Mountain herd or Cave herd steeds to weave something together. Now, Breezecloud is about to teach a lesson on weaving.)

(Not right now, but yes. Gtg)

(......Can I have a summary....? )

(Oh? What's the fix?)

(I'm back! And I think I may have a temporary fix for my computer problems!)

"Alright," Breezecloud said, taking charge. "We'll need a large mat-like woven thing. The best material for that is reeds or cattails, I've found. I need some volunteers to go to the marsh" – she pointed with a violet wing to a frozen marshland, southeast of the clearing bordering the apple orchard pond – "and pull some up. We'll need at least thirty, maybe forty."

Junipersky raised a wing. "I can do that," the young mare offered. "As an assistant to a medicine mare, I grew skilled at collecting herbs and leaves."

Breezecloud nodded approval. "Horizongold can go with you to carry them back. And, keep in mind, we need the flattest reeds and leaves possible– also the straightest."

Junipersky nodded and trotted in the direction of the marsh, followed quickly by Horizongold.

Magicpetal:

She swallowed when the lead mare lowered her voice. She assumed that she would get into trouble for being so distant, but instead was pleasantly surprised by the mare's words. Magicpetal gently smiled and nodded, trying to cram her thoughts into the back of her mind.

When she was ready, she stood up straighter and flicked her ears at her leaders, ready for their next orders.

Breezecloud grinned to herself. She could tell that Magicpetal had been miles away, lost in thought. The council mare, based on her view of the family from her sleeping area, had a guess as to what the reason for this distraction was. She lowered her voice so that only Magicpetal could hear and said, "I know it's a pleasant surprise. I know what the thoughts that come with it are. But can you try focusing on this, please?"

Magicpetal:

Once she heard her name, her head snapped to attention. "Huh? Oh! Yes! Of course." and she walked toward Breezecloud, unfurling her wings.

(HERE!!!! sry)

(gtg)

(Hello?)

Horizongold approved Breezecloud's request to help and stepped back to let her take charge.

"Okay, I need a few nimble-feathered members of the group," Breezecloud mused. She looked around at the group, thinking. "Ah! Magicpetal, along with Oceangold. You two would be great for this."

Magicpetal:

She flicked her ears toward a new voice that wasn't Horizongold's, but her small stature kept her from seeing how it was. She moved over toward the sides of the clump and saw Dusksplash and his mother. She glanced back toward her own mother who was still standing under the tree. Magicpetal watched for a few seconds then turned her head back forward, but she was still barely listening.

" . . . sticks will be in between our legs in a – wait, Mountain Herd or Cave her steeds come here. We need you to weave something for us," Horizongold finished saying.

Breezecloud and Dusksplash, who were patrolling the trainee areas for places to help, caught the tail end of Horizongold's statement. The former lead mare trotted over. "Before I was the lead mare of Dawn Herd, I was a Sun Herd spy. I went to Mountain Herd. Let me help with this."

(No worries! At all! This post has been kinda dead because Dragon's been having issues with her computer. Oh, will you be dong the video call via Google Hangouts on the 21st?)

(AAGGGHH!!!!!! I'M HERE!!!!! SRY SRY SRY!!!!!!!!! I've been busy......)

Magicpetal:

She sent one last look toward her mother. Her siblings had awoken and went to their battle training groups, so it was just Starsummer still asleep. She sighed and lifted off and flew toward Horizongold. She touched down as he was finishing his last sentence, but she wasn't listening. Magicpetal knew she should be listening to her instructors, but, today, her mind was easily distracted. "Mother-pregnant-older-brother-sister-colt-filly-twins-youngest-not-foal-pregnant-little-YAY-me-Emberblaze-know-Goldenstream-younger-brother-sister...." The thoughts wizzed by in her head so fast that she could only comprehend the most important parts.

(Ah, right. Okay, that makes sense.)

Horizongold and his mother touched down in the training clearing for the spies and shuffled their wings. They both noticed the lowering temperatures and realized winter was drawing nearer.

Horizongold waved a wing to several of the trainees that were already gathered there, standing in a close huddle to keep warm. "Over here, please!" he called. "Now, I know everyone is cold. It's one of the coldest days this autumn so far. However, we need to move on in our training. Rather than the ground, today you will be eavesdropping on us in the sky!"

(They have a chance of winning if they attack before the snow falls because Glacier Herd won't be expecting it, but unless Flame Herd manages to have a quick victory, and they're still fighting after the snow falls, they is no chance they can win until much later, even if they managed to survive)

(sorry, what? That seems counterintuitive. They might win because of something –the snow – but they might lose because of the same thing?)

Cherrycloud (Flame Herd)-

Cherrycloud trotted around restlessly, the way she had been doing since the cursed Jungle Herd steed had broken her wing. This was because, no matter what the medicine mare did, there was this never ending throbbing pain, lingering near the break. She often used this time to go over the battle plans, which no seemed all be ill-advised, especially since quite a few of Flame Herd's spies had gone missing, ones who were well aware of these plans. Now, Cherrycloud was contemplating possibly going ahead with the war with Glacier Herd, before the snow fell. But there was many things wrong with the plan, for one, if it were to turn cold before Flame Herd won, they would have no hope of winning in the artic clement, however, this plan may be just the reason Flame Herd would win.

Magicpetal:

She nodded then, turned, about to fly over to where the spy trainees met. But, before she did, she sent one last look at her family, specifically her mother. She sighed deeply and watched as Emberblaze and Goldenstream stirred, finally waking up.

Oceangold nodded significantly. "That is the question, isn't it?" she asked. The question was rhetorical. "I have no idea. Anyway, the purple chunk is amethyst. That's from volcanoes, so maybe Jungle Herd?" She changed the subject. "Can you bring me to the place you found these?"

Horizongold raised an important point. "We can," the young stallion said. "But not today. There's spy training, remember?"

Oceangold pricked her ears. "Ah, right. Well then, tomorrow."

Magicpetal:

She looked down at the beautiful crystals. Then, a question popped into her mind. "So, if this one is an opal." she said, pointing to the glittery one. "And it's from Desert herd, how did it end up here?" she asked.

Oceangold nodded a reply, but was too startled by the gems that Magicpetal had placed in front of her to give the filly full her attention. "Wow. Where did you find these? They're incredible." She had pointed the question to Magicpetal, but Horizongold replied.

"There's a huge, breathtaking cave through some tunnel systems behind the medicine mare den," the young stallion said. "We broke some gems off and brought them for you to identify. Do you recognize any of them?"

Oceangold paused and stretched out a wing to brush against the gorgeous stones. "Yes," she hedged. "I think this glittery one, that has flecks of orange and rainbow, is called an opal. I saw them as a spy in Desert Herd, back when Sun Herd was whole. They had caves of them, but they usually aren't on the surface."

She switched her gaze to the marble-like blue one. As she picked it up, she realized it was the exact color of the darkest part of her wing. "Hmm," she pondered. "This seems like something from the ocean's edge, in the south part of Snow Herd's territory. I couldn't tell you what it's called, if it has a name." She set it down and moved on to the red egg-shaped one.

"Wh . . . what . . . " she breathed. "That is so incredibly rare. These red stones are the variation of the blue ones, and only occur in about one in twenty blue stones. I know these have a name: ruby."

Magicpetal:

At Horizongold's request, she went back to her family's sleeping space, took the gems out of their hiding spot, and carefully brought them back to Horizongold, not wanting to drop the beautiful crystals.

Magicpetal smiled as she placed the gems in front of Oceangold. "Good morning!" she nickered to the mare.