THE FINALE

Spiritstar quickly fell into a controlled nosedive, hurtling toward land at hurricane speeds. She rammed Riverlight, driving him toward the ground. The mare grabbed a stick and shoved the sharp end straight into Riverlight’s back. He howled with pain and quickly healed himself. “You’re pathetic if you think that will do anything,”

Spiritstar growled and blasted Riverlight into the grass. The mare zipped away to her herd. A few minutes later, she saw Lakeray. “Lakeray! Riverlight is coming this way!” she said. Lakeray looked shocked. “The first white foal?” he asked.

“Yes! I saw him in a dream! He wants to take over Drakonia!” said Spiritstar. Lakeray growled. “Nobody is taking over this place,” he said. Suddenly a loud neigh came from Death Rock. Spiritstar nuzzled Lakeray. “Please stay safe, Lakeray. Get the herd to the woods,” she said, worried. Lakeray nuzzled her back and lifted off. “I’ll be back to help you and the captains!” he whinnied, before flying up to Death Rock. He shoved Riverlight off the rock and stood on it. “Moon Herd! Go to the Stingerwing Forest!” he yelled, then waited until some steeds started running. He growled to himself and flew just over the herd as they stampeded south to the forest.

Spiritstar was scared. She was also determined and furious. Why had this stallion come here and ruined everything? “Show yourself, coward!” she yelled, eyes glowing gold. Riverlight hurtled from the clouds. Spiritstar saw and wrapped her wings around herself, making them as hard as steel. She skidded across the grass when Riverlight struck her. “You’re pathetic if you think that will do anything!” she yelled.

Riverlight landed, panting heavily, his face twisted with rage.

Spiritstar closed her eyes and sifted through her powers. Not the invisibility. Not the steel wings. Not the voice amplifier. Surely, she had more powers! She groaned. Spiritstar opened her eyes to Fernheart in the grasp of Riverlight. “Surrender, or the mare dies.” he threatened.

“Don’t listen to him! I’ll find a—” she stopped mid-sentence, choking. Spiritstar looked scared. She backed away slowly, afraid. She didn’t know what to do. She knew she shouldn’t save her because they were immortal, but Fernheart could be seriously injured. If I do save her, then everybody else will die. If I don’t, I’ll lose my friend and my herd either way. Finally, she made up her mind.

“I choose neither,” she neighed. A look of surprise flashed across Riverlight’s face. “Neither? Your friend will die! Does that mean nothing to you?”

“Keep quiet. She is immortal, as am I. You are too, seeing as you’re alive after two hundred years of constant sleep.” said Spiritstar. Riverlight growled and let Fernheart go, understanding that threatening Spiritstar wouldn’t work. Spiritstar cantered to Fernheart. “Find the pegacorns of Drakonia! Bring them here!” demanded Spiritstar. Fernheart nodded and lifted off, flew away, and shot into the clouds.

Riverlight tackled Spiritstar while she was distracted. “Get off me!” yelled Spiritstar in anger. Lakeray flew at his top speed. He reached out his hooves and grabbed Riverlight as he flew by. He flipped over and threw him into a rock. “Get off my mate!” he snarled.

Lakeray growled with fury. He galloped to Riverlight and reared, his hooves pointing toward the stallion's neck. He shoved his hooves down onto his neck, breaking it.

Riverlight’s eyes quickly went blank. The enemy was finally not a threat.

Spiritstar sighed and smiled. She groaned, hurting. She’d lost so much, but right now, it was all worth it. Spiritstar fell, groaning with exhaustion. She breathed a sigh of relief. Lakeray walked to her and sat down. “Are you alright?” he asked her. Spiritstar smiled at her mate. “I’m tired,” she said.

She thought about all the herdmates she’d lost: Tigerwhisper, who had died a day ago, Redstorm, who died four days ago, Thundermist; her mother, and Starroot; her medicine mare.

She smiled and walked to Autumnberry. Spiritstar limped on three legs. She fell and sighed, annoyed. Spiritstar stood up and hugged Autumnberry. Autumnberry hugged Spiritstar. “I’m so happy you’re safe,” she said to Spiritstar. Spiritstar smiled. “We should get to the herd and tell them everything’s alright now,” said Spiritstar.

Autumnberry nodded. Lakeray smiled and trotted to the mares. “First, rest. You just had the battle of a lifetime,” he nickered. Ashclooud nodded and plopped down on the ground, curling up. She soon fell asleep.

A couple of hours later, she woke up. She walked to her frightened herd that was in the Stingerwing Forest. “Everyone! Riverlight is no longer a threat! Follow me!” yelled Spiritstar.

She led the herd out of the Stingerwing Forest and back into the Stormy Meadow. She lifted off, soaring into the clouds, wanting to make a trip around the continent. She flew to Spring Herds territory and into Dusk Meadow, which was lush with wildlife. She saw a wolf slinking into the shadows, then heard a howl. There were many small fields of white, orange, and pink tulips.

She then traveled north to the Whiteash Tundra. Spiritstar didn’t like this place at all. It was cold, and her white coat did nothing to keep her warm. She soared just above Winterstorm’s Peak, which was the tallest mountain in Drakonia. Spiritstar stood on the flat peak and looked down at the landscape. There were many small hills dotted with green splotches of grass and small trees. There were a few large polar bears. She glided out of the tundra.

Spiritstar flew far south to the Red Hoof Desert. She groaned. The good thing about her white coat was that she didn’t get too hot on summer days. But the desert heat was almost unbearable for the mare. Spiritstar saw nothing too interesting here, so she flew northeast for quite a while.

She glided until she saw Ashfire Bay. The bay was named after Ashfire, an old captain from Spring Herd who died there by drowning. The Crimson Sea fed into the bay. Spiritstar glided down in a large circle, then touched down on the banks of the bay. She stuck her muzzle in and drank for a few minutes. She brought her muzzle out of the water and brushed her wing over her muzzle, getting the extra water off. She lifted off and flew west.

A couple of hours later, she reached the old, abandoned lands of Shadow Herd. Shadow Herd was a herd that pretty much ruled Drakonia two hundred years ago. They had the strongest army and the best-built steeds. Shadow Herd was ruled by a kind yet stern lead-stallion named Cobraray. He was fair and generous to his herd. When Riverlight came into power, he destroyed the grass and ruled with an iron wing.

Spiritstar saw a circle of stones, and in the middle of it was a single rose. She glided toward it and landed, lowering her head to the grave. She quickly realized that this was Cobrarays grave. She raised her head and trotted around the meadow. She smiled, remembering the legends. The meadow was dotted with clusters of flowers and trees.

Spiritstar flew back home to her herd quickly. She flew around the meadow, searching for Lakeray. She found him and glided to him. “Hey Lakeray!” she neighed. Lakeray saw her and smiled. “Hello, Spiritstar,” he nickered. Spiritstar smiled and touched down. She walked to him and hugged him. “I need to go do something real quick,” neighed Spiritstar. She walked to the forest. Spiritstar lit up her horn with magic.

She blasted the ground and emerald light engulfed her. Her eyes glowed white, and she easily took away her own immortality. The emerald light slowly died, and Spiritstar was gently set on the ground. She felt slightly better. Spiritstar walked back out to her mate and foals. Her eyes quickly turned golden. She smiled and nuzzled Lakeray.

Spiritstar lay down.

10 years later, Lakeray and Spiritstar had resigned from their positions as leaders, and Lakeray’s name had been changed to Lakeblaze. Silversoul was now Silverstar of Moon Herd, and her mate was named Emberray, who used to be Embersun.

Spiritstorm fell asleep, along with Lakeblaze. Spiritstorm dreamt that she was in the Golden Isles, a place where the good steeds of Drakonia go. The Shadow Isles was a place where the evil steeds went.

Spiritstorm smiled and relaxed.

Spiritstorm’s breathing slowed down, and she quickly stopped breathing. The mare who had saved the world was dead. Silverstar glided to the mare’s body and screamed when she saw that she wasn’t breathing. “Mom!” she wailed, rushing to her side. She trembled with sadness. “Sagewind!” she called for her brother. The stallion galloped to the mare, worried. “What happened—?” he asked, but stopped mid-sentence. “Is she alright?”

Sagewind cantered over to his mother and kneeled, putting his wing to her chest. “She’s not breathing . . .” he mumbled quietly. He put his head in his wings. “We can’t just . . . leave her here. What should we do with Mom?” he asked, his eyes full of pain.

“We need to bury her,” said Silverstar.

The two siblings lifted Spiritstorm. They brought her to a circle of redwood trees and dug a hole. Once they were finished, they carefully set her in the hole. They put the dirt on top of her again and spread out the remaining soil. “Stay here, Sagewind, I’ll go get the herd so they can pay their respects.” nickered Silverstar. “Meanwhile, can you please gather some smooth stones so we can build a circle around her, and maybe pick some flowers as well, if you don’t mind?”

Sagewind nodded and lifted off, soaring fast over the small hills toward Asfire Bay. Soon, he saw the edge of the bay and dipped toward it. He landed and grabbed as many stones as he could carry in his wings, and began galloping toward the herd.

He made ten more trips back and forth. Sagewind worked for at least two hours. Once he was finished with that, he set off to find some flowers. He went all around Drakonia, finding the prettiest and rarest flowers for his mother’s grave.

He flew back to his mom’s grave and placed the flowers around. He used some extra stone and built a pillar in the center. “I love you, Mother,” he said, then wiped away his tears. He walked to his sister. “It’s ready,” he whispered to her. She nodded. “Moon Herd! Please listen to me, all of you! Our savior, Spiritstorm, formerly Spirtstar, has passed away. Please follow me, everyone,” she neighed, her voice breaking. Wails of grief rose from the adults’ throats.

They knew how amazing the mare had been, and they had lived through all the battles. They walked with Silverstar to the grave and said their goodbyes. Now it was Silverstar and Sagewind’s turn. “Rest well, Spiritstorm, filly of Thundermist and an unnamed stallion, white foal of Drakonia, former over-mare of Moon Herd, and savior of Drakonia. You are in the Golden Isles now. You will never be forgotten,” she said.

Suddenly, a cry of pain rang through the trees. “The white foal has been born!” the mare cried. The entire herd stampeded everywhere, into the sky, into the meadow, and into the cave below Death Rock. Silverstar and Emberray cantered to the mare. Her name was Willowsong. The foal was a colt. “If I don’t survive, protect him, please,” Willowsong nickered. “His name is Snowstone,”

“If you don’t survive, he’ll need a replacement mother for milk,” commented Emberray. Willowsong looked sad. “Snowstone,”

Snowstone tilted his tiny head to look at his mother. “If I’m not here, please use your powers for good, never evil. I love you, Snowstone. Remember that,” she said to her son. Usually, mothers of black and white foals died immediately. She didn’t, which was odd.

A few minutes passed, then an hour. Willowsong was still alive.

“I thought the mothers of black and white foals died by now!” exclaimed Silverstar. She looked confused. “Maybe she’ll live,” said Emberray, just as confused as Silverstar. Emberray quickly determined that WIllowsong would survive.

“The white foal’s mother will live!” shouted Emberray, his powerful voice carrying for miles. The pegasi rose into the sky with joy, and the entire herd trumpeted various whistles and neighs. Despite Spiritstorm being dead, the herd couldn’t wait for the future.