( I only just now noticed this, but the emoji you put in the title, is that BACON?!?! I hate bacon, btw. My natural born enemy. SAVE THY PIGGIES!!!! ;( )

(I'm going to make part 33 rn)

Mistcloud-

"Bears sleep during the winter, so that's one less threat." said Mistcloud, after listing to the others state their arguments, "And wile I think we can all agree we should honor our fallen steeds, we have far to many bodies lying around this valley. I think it may be our best course of action to berry as many steeds as possible as best we can, then leave a detail of a few steeds to guard them. Durring the winter, if wolves carry a few away, then so be it. They can't take that many away anyways. Also, I may not be an expert on the decomposition process, but I do know that at least wile the ground is frozen it wont take in any nurturance, so it will most likely be well into next years summer before we see any change."

( Okay XD )

( I'm just making sure, but is you guys' devices picking up my comments? )

Breezecloud, with an incredible effort, brought her skeptical reaction down to a simple explosive snort. "Maplewing, have you heard any thing I said? The predators will have plenty to eat. They just have to dig through snow for it. I never said anything about moving the dead or bringing them with us. I said that the predators, after digging them up, would move them, rendering the land there useless to us. Furthermore, we have over six thousand steeds in this herd. Even if every winter guard died protecting the dead, which they almost certainly won't, we would only have lost sixty steeds. That loss is quite sustainable."

Hollywing:

He looked at Breezecloud, unfazed by her explanation while listening to Maplewing and Crystalcloud. Then he turned back to her and said, "With how many bodies litter this place, the wolves would gorge themselves and die. There would still be enough left for the grass to grow, and if we don't protect the bodies, the grass will still be fertile with our fieces we drop every day. Grass and trees will grow her still if we leave the bodies for the wolves," he said quietly.

Maplewing nodded in agreement with his mate. "If we all migrate, the wolves, bears, and tigers will have nothing to eat for months. That will bring the population of pegasi predators way down." He reasoned. "Even if we wanted to move the dead, there are thousands of dead bodies and we still have steeds who are recovering from the war. There will not be that many steeds to help move all the corpses."

Maplewing nodded in agreement with his mate. "If we all migrate, the wolves, bears, and tigers will have nothing to eat for months. That will bring the population of pegasi predators way down. And even if we wanted to move the dead, there are thousands of dead bodies and we still have steeds who are recovering from the war. There will not be that many steeds to help move all the corpses."

Crystalcloud, not being able to not speak any longer said, "With all do respect, Breezecloud, things like that happen. The circle of life. It's nature.Let's say for a second that we do stay. The wolves and bears will obviously try to eat the deer and the rabbits. But, as you may have noticed, it's getting cold very quickly. The deer and rabbits will move somewhere it's warmer. So, that being said, after the deer and rabbits leave, the wolves and bears will try to come for the next possible food source: pegasi. Living pegasi. We will be putting that part of the herd at risk if they stay here." She said, a little more calmer than before.

"Mistcloud, I said fifteen, not fifty," Breezecloud clarified quietly. She turned to the geriatric stallion from Red Herd. "I understand the dead do not need their bodies," she said calmly, her face expressionless. "However, that isn't the only reason I don't want the graves to be despoiled. Come spring, plants will use the nutrients from the fallen to create a grazing field, as long as their bodies stay there. If we leave them to the wolves' devices, their bodies will be moved – and feasted upon. You can't honestly say that you want that to happen. Can you?"

Maplewing glanced at Mistcloud. "Rotating? That would be more work than just having the whole herd migrate together. If we migrate as a whole, then we wouldn't need to make sacrifices or worry about which steeds to pick to stay here." he said, moving to stand in a patch of sun, trying to avoid the already frigid and cold temperatures.

Hollywing:

He barked a laugh at the others. When theor questioning gazes fell onto him, he said, “You all want to stop the wolves and predators from eating things already dead. The deceased do not need their bodies, nor the energy inside them. We must make sacrifices, for it is not the physical thing, but the thing it is remembered as. We could consider ourselves hypocrites for sacrificing many steeds lives in the recent war, yet we keep the food from the wolves and things that need it most.” He took a breath and added, “I would be sad if my grand-daughter’s body was eaten, yes, but at least I’d know her old energy would live on in another form, not just stay dormant and slowly seep into the ground.” His mate looked at him, surprise and shock clear on her face. She hadn’t expected him to speak up.

Mistcloud-

"I think what Breezecloud was suggesting is reasonable." put in Mistcloud, "50 of our strongest warriors is a good number, and will only take away a very small fraction of our total steeds in our herd. Rotating is a great idea as well."

Crystalcloud stuck her nose in the air and flicked her tail back and forth, but didn't say anything. Maplewing stepped forward and spoke, looking confident and calm.

"I'll have to agree with Crystalcloud, and not because she's my mate. We are a herd and herd's are meant to stay together. If we separate the herd, we will be a half of us ,and not just in numbers, but a half in us. We are us."

He paused, to take a breath.

"Besides, it wouldn't be fair to the half left behind to face the brutal winters with little food while the other half is enjoying warmer weather with more things to eat. And might I add that we still haven't claimed some of the other herds for Glacier herd. If those herd's hear that we're separating our herd's, we'll be vulnerable to attack. What's to stop one of those unconquered herds, say Jungle or Mountain, from flying up here and claiming our land and taking the other half of pegasi we've left behind?" The old stallion explained. His eyes were dull and almost lifeless, but his voice was strong.

Breezecloud flattened her ears angrily, but smoothed her expression before anyone noticed – she hoped. "That's not what I was suggesting," she said. "We can leave a detachment of, let's say, fifteen steeds here. The strongest steeds, originally hailing from one of the Snow Herd split-offs. The guards will rotate every moon with replacements we send north. And if those guards are killed, it won't matter much in the overall view of the herd because there aren't very many of them."

She shook snow out of her mane. "Every other steed, walkers and injured steeds alike, will migrate south. On hoof or wing, I'm ambivalent." [Ambivalent: easily persuaded; not much opinion one way or another]

Starsummer;

She considered Crystalcloud's words. "It's not like we would leave all the Walkers, Elders, and foals behind to fend for themselves. There will still be strong stallions and mares to protect them if anything does happen."

Crystalcloud snorted defiantly at Starsummer, offended that Starsummer chose to argue. "Okay, what if something does happen? Hm? By the time a messenger called for reinforcements to the other half of the herd, we'd all be dead." She snapped.

Crystalcloud, who had been quiet, shook her head. "I don't like it. What if while the first group is migrating, the second group, having less numbers, gets attacked by wolves or an ice tiger family. There are plenty of those to go around at this time of year." She said, suspiciously narrowing her eyes at a bush that gently swayed in the breeze. But, she relaxed and continued, "I say either all of us migrate, or non of us do."

Mistcloud-

Mistcloud wasn't enthusiastic about Breezecloud's proposal, but she saw the reason behind it. "Okay, what does everyone think of sending most of our steeds south for the winter, but leaving a small detachment, made up of former Snow Herd steeds, here to guard this battle sight."

Hollywing:

He flicked his ears towards Breezecloud and liked this proclamation. Still, he said nothing and flicked his tail at the few flies still swarming this late into the fall.

Breezecloud added her voice to the discussion. "I agree that we can't stay here much longer," she started. "But in the meantime, I can't help but worry about the graves of those who have passed. I don't think I could stand seeing any of them despoiled. I do know that the steeds themselves are beyond that now, but I'm not. If we learned anything from Crimsonstorm, it's that wolves are ruthless." She took a deep breath and reshuffled her wings on her back. "My point is, I think we should post guards around the former battlefield."

Mistcloud-

Mistcloud listed to the two other former lead mares, and was pleased to see that they came to an agreement so quickly, "We have time that we don't have to do one huge migration." she said, "We could, say, fly south during the morning, but after sun high, and then rest for the remainder of the day."

Robincloud:

She smiled and nodded to Starsummer, soaking the fact that more injured steeds would likely die if they stayed through the winter. “I agree,” she said to everyone and Starsummer. Her mate, Hollywing, stayed quiet and open through all of this, showing no interest or opinion in the conversation.

Starsummer:

She looked at the former lead-mare with compassion and sympathy, but also with a dreading-dire look. "Well, then maybe we can wait until those injured steeds are healed, or at least able to walk. But, my reasoning still stands- fly south or face Glacier herd's winter, in which even more pegasi might vanquish."

Robincloud:

She though on Starsummer’s statement. “Are we sure we should move down south? I don’t believe many of the injured pegasi will survive. There has been a lot of damage dealt to some to where they can barely communicate,” the old mare said in a surprisingly youthful sounding voice for her age.

Starsummer:

"Okay, I'll start." she said, knowing that this meeting was going to be a long one. "I think we should move the herd south. Even though it will take a long time, considering our new Flame herd numbers, but it's either a long flight or freezing to death. We already have snow and it's in the middle of autumn. In Night herd, I remember how cold it was in the winters. I couldn't even imagine what winters are like here, since it's farther north than the Trap. And if need be, we have enough steeds to help carry others, so that we don't have to split the herd amongst Walkers and fliers." She said, concluding her explanation with a confident nod.

Robincloud:

The mare sighed and nodded respectfully. She didn’t think she could take another crisis at the moment.

Mistcloud-

The council mare gazed around at the rest of the council steeds, fully aware that all of them were grieving from one death or another, but they were the herds leaders, and they need to figured out their next moves for the sake of Glacier Herd. "Thankfully, nothing has happened yet." said Mistcloud, in response to Robincloud's question, "But we need to make plans. Winter is coming fast, and we need to decide rather or not we are going to stay where we are, or head south."

Hollywing and Robincloud touched down opposite Starsummer, Crystalcloud, and Maplewing. They both had grim expressions and did not spoke. They were still mourning their dead grand-filly, and weren’t in the most cooperative mood, other than Robincloud. She forgave more easily than her mate, and attempted a very weak smile at the others in the council. With her face wrinkled with age, her lips cracked, she spoke in a greeting and cracking voice, “Has something happened?”

( I’m finally back XD. How was your guys weekends? )

(Gtg sry)

(yeah, but she has characters who are on the council)

(Nightmist won't be on for a while, though, right? Isn't she away?)

(Yea ok)

Starsummer led Crystalcloud and Maplewing toward the the meeting and touched down a few minutes after Breezecloud.

(we might need to wait for Nightmist)

(Yep, he's my OC)

Breezecloud smiled gratefully, then turned and cantered into the sky once more, coasting over toward Shadowfire and his family. She found the dapple gray grazing on the last of the living grass of that autumn, which brought her attention even more to the present matters. She explained the situation and Shadowfire agreed quickly. He had always enjoyed his position of power in Dawn Herd and only refrained from attempting to become overstallion due to the family ties and respect he had had for Bronzewing. Now that he was unchallenged, he had no problem fulfilling the role he had wanted long ago.

The two dapple grays took to the skies and landed in the council clearing as Mistcloud started talking.

(I feel like we're missing someone. Isn't there a Skywing?)

Starsummer sent Breezecloud a comforting look with a small, reassuring smile. She turned away a few seconds later and said to Mistcloud. "I'll go get Crystalcloud and Maplewing." she said as she lifted off and soared to where the couple usually slept.

Mistcloud-

Mistcloud let out a sigh, knowing how hard this must be on Breezecloud, but she nodded in agreement. "That will probably be for the best."

Breezecloud, who had been talking with Cloudroot, trotted out of the medicine cave to see two of the council members. She caught the tail end of Mistcloud's words and spoke up. "I'm here," she said. "Bronzewing... Bronzewing is no longer with us," she said, tears coming to her eyes. "Shall I invite Shadowfire to a permanent council position in his place?"

Mistcloud-

"I agree." said Mistcloud, once Starsummer had landed, "Shall we round up the others?"

Starsummer:

Starsummer spotted Mistcloud below her, gazing in her direction. Starsummer angled her wingtips down, so she could descend. Starsummer neared the lead-mare and greeted her with a nicker. Starsummer landed a wing length away from Mistcloud, her eyes flashing. "We need to talk. All of us do. About the migration, about the war, about everything." Starsummer said, folding her purple and gold wings at her side in one graceful motion.

Mistcloud-

Mistcloud was looking up at the sky, recalling how only a short time before it had been filled with thousands and thousands of fighting steeds. It seemed almost wrong now that after such a chaotic scene, everything was so peaceful, but that was how it always was. One moment there never seemed to be an end in sight to all the fighting, and the next second it was over. It was almost like the conflict had never happened. But then it was never to long before the next dispute arose, and it would began all over again. Such was the vicious cycle of life in Anok.

As the gray mare continued to gaze up at the sky, a flash of purple and tan caught her eye, and Mistcloud recognized Starsummer. The pinto mare was gliding over the valley, and appeared to be headed towards the Glacier Herd mare. Wondering what could be up, Mistcloud maintained her position, and watched as her fried descended from the clouds.

Starsummer:

She lifted her head from her grazing spot. A cold breeze ruffled her feathers and sent a chill down her spine. "Winter is coming quickly. Do we have plans for migration? It's certainly too cold to stay here. It's already snowing." These thoughts ,plus many more, tumbled around in her head. "I'll go ask Mistcloud. I am a member of the Council after all." She opened her wings and lifted off, soaring over the valley, her determined eyes scanning for the familiar colors of her strong lead-mare.

(And how their gonna migrate the wounded cuz some of them can't fly or walk)

(ok! Yeah. I agree with those.)

(In case I miss the meeting itself, I think these should be discussed:

-capturing one of the Sun Herd split-offs

-migration south, using that extra territory of Sun Herd

-guarding the graves from wolves

-spies on Flame Herd for future conflict

And probably some more that I can't think of right now.)

(I only have five minutes)

(Okay, maybe we should just start and go from there regardless of we're all here or not)

(Me too, but I only have 15 minutes or so. Dragon?)

( i here)

( XD )

(Oopse, sorry guys, I'm here)

( XD. Good night! And, in case I don't see ya, good morning, good afternoon, and good evening! )

(Aww. Ok goodbye)

(And, I hate to do this, but I should have closed the laptop twenty minutes ago. Good night.)

(....*Jeopardy music comes on*)

( XDD )

(Now we only need Dragon.)

(Yes. Here)

(anyone else?)

(here)

(I think you have to, Dragon, cuz Mistcloud is your OC and only she can call meetings, right?)

(Sure, who wants to start?)

(I'm here! Wanna start the council meeting?)

(I'm here!... Three hours later, but I'm still here!)

(Anyone here? I need to eat supper soon, but I can be on afterward.)

(Cool lol)

(I'm here. I was DEFINITELY here the WHOLE time!)

(Yeah, we should do that)

(Dragon, do you wanna do a council meeting when Flamefrost and Nightmist comes back cuz they gots lots to talk about)

Whiteshadow-

Whiteshadow watched as Darkstone left the cave, knowing that he was disappointed he would have to wait so long for them to be together. The gray mare was also pretty disappointed, but her commitment to being a medicine mare need to come first always, regardless of anything.

Sighing, Whiteshadow turned back to the piles of herbs

Emberblaze:

As he threw a huge snowball at Redmoon, he felt a sharp stab of pain traveling up his wing. "Oh right. I can't use that wing." He thought, frowning as he folded his hurt wing to his side and only using his good wing to throw snowballs.

Mgicpetal leaped up in the air and caught a huge snowflake on her tongue. She giggled and caught another one.

(I would ask where Dragon is, but then I remembered that it's 4 o'clock in the morning where she lives, so she's probably not on.)

Horizongold turned around to face Dusksplash when they were clear of the clouds. "What's up?" he asked his young cousin.

"I wanted to fly, but not alone," Dusksplash said. "My sire –" he broke off, blinking away the tears that sprang to his eyes "– didn't finish teaching me and giving me tips. I didn't want to bother Uncle Shadowfire, since he's injured. So I came to you."

Horizongold gave a lopsided grin. "Glad you have such faith in me," he said. "Where did you and your dad leave off?"

Dusksplash thought for a bit. "He was giving me pointers on hovering," he said finally. The colt grinned. "I practiced, as you can tell," he said. Sure enough, the little pinto was hovering still as though he'd done it all his life.

Horizongold nodded, thinking. "Well, hovering can get tiring after a while," he said. "Let's fly and talk."

Dusksplash took his cousin's lead and they continued flying, and listened as Horizongold spoke again.

"Turns!" said the dark chestnut. "We'll practice quick, on-a-hoof turns, so you can spin around to face someone behind you midair." No sooner had he finished the sentence than he tucked one wing halfway, leaned away from the outstretched wing, and flapped both wings twice in unison. He had traveled ninety degrees of a circle when he repeated the action, flapping harder, to face the reverse from where they had been traveling.

Darkstone felt his heart sink. "Two days is too long." But, he tried not to let his disappointment show. "Yeah. I understand. Two days sounds great." He said, giving her one last nuzzle before turning away. He paused at the entrance of the cave, and turned his neck to look at his crush over his shoulder. "I look forward to it." he said, then lifted off and soared out of the cave.

Whiteshadow -

The young medicine mare was so focused on sorting piles of herds so they could be delivered to injured pegasi the she was completely unaware that Darkstone had approached her. She stiffened a bit when she felt his breath on fur, but relaxed when she breathed in his scent. "Oh I'm so glad your safe." Said Whiteshadow, nuzzling him back. "I would love to go to the beach with you but... uh... I-I can't really leave right now, but how bout we go in say...." She paused , thinking "In two days? I'm the full moon?"

(I'm so super sry but it's 11 at night where i live so i gtg. bye)

(Found it: Darkstone found Whiteshadow in the back of the cave sorting roots and plants. He shuffled excitedly and nuzzled her. "I'm so glad you're safe! I was worried you got swept up in the fighting." he said, breathing in her scent. He stepped back and smiled broadly. "Now that the war's over, would you like to go to our special spot on the beach?" he asked, hoping she'd say yes. "Or...or.... if you're busy looking after the injured pegasi, I understand. We can hang out some other time." he bit his lip.)

(I think it was in part 31. One of the last pages maybe?)

(Oh okay so I did not see any comments with Darkstone looking for Whiteshadow, give me a minute to look back real qick)

(You're welcome! You didn't miss too much. Basically, the yearlings have been playing and enjoying the snow. Since it's after the war...-wink wink- *Nudge nudge* Darkstone came into the medicine mare den, looking for Whiteshadow. (heheheheheheheeeee.....)

Starsummer told the triplets that's she prego. And Oceangold is also prego. Forestbeam has a theory that Crimsonstorm is alive, or at least wasn't buried in the correct place. I kinda wanna call up a council meeting cuz they got lots to talk about including migration)

(I read through the last page or so of comments, and so I think I'll just try to piece the rest of what I missed together as I go along, but thank you for offering RB)

(Unfortunately, I'm being told to get off screens for the night... see ya)

(Do you need a summery...hehe....we went crazy....)

(OMGSH!!!! OMGSH!!!!!! DRAGON!!!!!!!! HII!!!!!!!!!! ITS SO GOOD TO CHAT WITH U AGAIN!!!!!! THE MB WASN'T THE SMAE WITHOUT UUUUU!!!!!!!)

(Okay I here but be warned that my device is badly lagging and thinks 'horses' is not a word)

(probably)

( Maybe we should wait for Dragon to catch up or something.....? )

(I want to hold a council meeting, but we'd need Dragon for that.)

Dusksplash, who had continued to amuse himself with aerial stunts while the triplets had their snowball fight, pivoted around once more so he was flying southeast, toward a gap in the clouds a few winglengths beneath his dangling hooves. He found a small gap, barely noticeable because the snow-coated ground was just as white as the sky, and nosedived into it. As soon as he was below the clouds, he pulled out of the dive and scanned the terrain. He found his older cousin Horizongold talking with a mare that Dusksplash recognized as Pearlsong's mother and landed behind the two of them, shaking snow off his wings and out of his mane.

The young pinto colt waited for a break in the conversation, then tapped Horizongold's flank with one wing. "Come fly with me!" he pleaded.

Horizongold hesitated, wanting to get back to the conversation, but Dusksplash didn't relent. Mistcloud, the young stallion noticed, had smiled in satisfaction, and Horizongold took that as permission to leave. He rocketed toward the sky, quickly followed by Dusksplash.

( XD )

The triplets continued to throw snowballs at each other, laughing and squealing.

(I didn't know what else to say.... lol)

Redmoon laughed and shuddered at the sharp burst of cold on her shoulder. She watched him gallop away and picked up a small snowball, and chucked it at Goldenstream. It splattered on the fillies open, shielding wings and melted throughout her feathers, causing her to shiver. Redmoon turned tail and fled, greatly expecting Goldenstream's revenge.

Breezebell squealed and darted out of the path of Magicpetal, who skidded to a halt and gave chase after Breezebell again. Breezebell wasn't fast enough and got a snowball to the face. She sputtered and licked some of the snow of her muzzle, feeling content.

Emberblaze grinned. "Ohhhh. It's on!" He picked up a wingful of snow and chucked it at Goldenstream. Before the snow even hit its target, he already had another ball in his wing. He chased after Redmoon and once he was close enough, he hurtled the snowball at her. The snowball splattered on her shoulder and he skidded to a halt, making a wave of snow from his skidding hooves. He turned around and dashed away, but was met with another face load of snow. He shook the ice off and looked where it was came from.

Goldenstream was laughing and hurtling a huge snow ball at Magicpetal that splattered on her flank.

Emberblaze and Magicpetal both picked up snowballs and threw it at their sister. Then, Magicpetal turned and chased Breezebell with snowballs.

( Yeah. Dragon HAS been gone for quite some time..... At least we know she's okay XD )

Redmoon:

She barked out a giant laugh when Magicpetal threw the snowball at Emberblaze. When she saw Magicpetal started to throw one at her, she covered her head with her wings and rolled out of the way. It only grazed her feathers, and she was happy she wasn't cold and wet. She then realized she was cold and wet because she had rolled on the snow. "Oh my Ancestors. . . ." She shook out her coat and grumbled about being wet, but then joined in on the fun.

She scooped up a pile of snow, snuck up behind Emberblaze, and dumped it all on his head. She giggled and ran away before he could tackle her with revenge.

(Is Dragon here?)

Emberblaze waved goodbye with Goldenstream, he then turned to look at his friends. "Sooo...What do we do now?" He asked. He hadn't seen the giant snowball hurtling at his head. Thesnowball smashed into his cheek and splattered all over his blaze, mane, and chest. He grunted and wiped the snow from his eyes. "Magicpetal! I know that was you!" and sure enough, his littlest sister was gathering a pile of snow into her wings to chuck at Goldenstream.

Emberblaze snuck up behind her. He reared onto his hind legs to reach a brach that looked like it was about to snap under the pressure of the snow in its pine needles. He yanked the branch back with his teeth and a mountain of snow piled on top of Magicpetal, only her bright aqua feathers peeked through the snow.

Emberblaze chuckled and flicked his tail in triumph.

Breezebell:

She waved goodbye to Dusksplash as he flew away. Then she plopped down on the grass and started to roll, leaving fresh grass stains on her coat and feathers. She nickered at the sensation and color.

( Ok )

(I need to go soon)