(Hey ya'll! Oh, and btw, Ash, I posted winners for the OC as an Animal challenge! And then I made a new art challenge LOL)

Rayla:

"I-if I die. I don't want a funeral, ok?"

Rayla:

She woke and dozed and woke again a short while later. "If I die I think you should take my place on the council." she thought out loud. "You'd make a good council member, Ben."

Rayla:

She looked up at him. "Don't you EVER say that again Benjamin Filo! Your life is NOT expendable! You matter very much to this herd!" And to me "No one's life matters ore of less than anyone else's, you are not expendable. You matter just as much if not more than me to this herd."

Ben:

"Are you cold, now?" He pulled the cold, damp towel away from her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders to share his body heat. He sighed and stared down at her.

Ben:

He nodded. "I know...I'm one of those centaurs too. But, try to calm yourself." He felt her forehead again and gently settled her against the ground. "I'll be right back." He stood up, took a clean rag, dunked it in cold water, then moved back to Rayla. He laid down besides her again and folded the cold, wet towel over her forehead to cool her temperatures.

"You're not alone anymore. There's nothing you need to be afraid of or worried about."

Rayla:

"I know I must have lost a lot of blood because I see two of everything, unless there just is two of everything."

Ben:

"Trust your healers, Rayla. There's Ulrani, but there's also Andromeda and their apprentices. Both are experienced."

He scooted back against the wall, gently pulling Rayla back along with him. "Now, you need to rest and take care of yourself. You lost a lot of blood, perhaps too much. Rest." His voice was nearly pleading.

Sunpond:

"I'll see you out. And uh, fare thee well, to you too." She giggled, not entirely sure what that meant, but it sounded like some sort of goodbye. She stepped back and walked him out of the cave, keeping on wingtip trailing along the cave wall so she wouldn't misstep.

Kilroy: “Right.” he said, face muffled in her feathers. He squeezed her back, eyes closed as tried to code the memory forever into his brain. Finally, he pulled away. “Until next time, Sunpond. Fare thee well.”

Rayla:

She sighed, "What if they need my help? What if Ulrani can't help them all?"

Ben:

"No! No, Rayla. You are in no condition to stand, let alone help." He gripped her hand and turned her gently to face him. "Please stay and rest. It's late. We'll help them in the morning."

Rayla:

She nodded. "I'm going to go help the wounded." she attempted to stand but she couldn't get her legs to listen to her and suport her weight.

Reba: ”I should take you home, shouldn’t I?“ she signed outwardly. “Ulrani!“ she said quickly, and signed asking her where Sultaan lived, as Sultaan was probably to weak to tell her himself.

Raven:

She stared at him. "I think you look very handsome when you laugh." she said

raven:

"Sure?"

Zayne:

"Wanna get dinner?" He asked, linking his arm with hers.

Callum:

He rested his cheek on top of her head for awhile, his thoughts wandering. Without realizing it, his eyelids drooped and he sagged into a doze.

Sultaan:

He looked up, pricking his ears slightly toward Reba, trying to perk up to help the mare's worries.

Rayla:

"It's my fault she died, she wouldn't be proud." she said, not sure why she was telling Ben this

Raven:

Her stomach growled loudly and she blushed

(AAANNNND I gtg. Of course. :(

Reba: She turned to Ulrani, grateful for her steadfast help. “I will take care of him. Someday I will find a way to repay you.“ she promised, gathering the herbs and bandages Ulrani (I presume) left for Sultaan’s further treatment.

Kilroy: ”Well, if you can think of something you want to show me, then by all means bring it! But otherwise, no.“ he touched her withers gently. “I’d better tell your medicine mare and her beloved.”

Raven:

She looked up at him. "What time does work start in the morning?"

Raven:

She smiled. "You annoy me? Never."

Fawnroot:

"As long as you're there, I'm up for it." She nickered gently, then raised her eyes to his. Her face creased in concern as she searched his eyes. She followed his gaze back towards the Interior. Back to the mountains. Back to the cliff.

Fawnroot looked back to Callum and placed a gentle wingtip on his cheek. "H-Hey...It's okay. You're alive. You're here. That's all that matters." She tried to keep her voice from breaking as she spoke. She pulled his head away from the horizon so he would look back at her.

Raven:

She giggled. "Kidding. I'm not THAT dumb."

Ben:

He shook his head and gently stroked her hair. "Your mistakes in the past don't matter. That's why it's in the past. You learned from your mistake and now you're doing everything to make sure it doesn't happen again. That's very noble. Your sister would be proud."

Fawnroot:

"You can sleep in the medicine mare den if you'd like. It'll feel like old times when we would lay in the mountain side cave together." Those nights felt like so long ago, when it was only a matter of days.

Raven:

She felt like even if the wolves came back she'd be safe as long as Zayne was there.

Sunpond:

She smiled. She would much rather have Kilroy tell her the whole truth, than lie just to get her hopes up and make her feel better. Sunpond nodded. "Yes. I'll be there. Would like me to bring you anything in return? I'm not sure what I could offer, but if you wanted to see anything form my herd that you think might be useful in your plans for peace, then let me know."

Fawnroot:

She flicked an ear at the sound of gentle crickets. She tilted her head to the side and glanced up at the rapidly darkening sky. The first couple stars were beginning to twinkle as the last rays of sun disappeared over the valley's horizon. "It's getting late. We should sleep."

Raven:

She felt safe, even surrounded by strangers

Raven:

"But still, I'm an adult, not a foal. I need to get over my past and act my age."

Raven:

She felt frustrated that she was wounded and even more frustrated that talking took so much energy. She sighed, quickly wiping away tears of frustration before Zayne could see them

Raven:

She shrugged, annoyed and wanting to explain why she hadn't trusted Ulrani but she couldn't.

(Could I have some recomments?)

Kilroy: He thought for a moment, wringing his hands. Interestingly, he did not want to lie to Sunpond. “I don’t want to make promises I might break, but promise that I will do my best to come. Will you reciprocate?“

Rayla:

She was stunned for a second but then hugged him back, stll crying, "But it feels like it's all my fault, like no matter what I do it'll never be good enough to atone for the mistake that got my sister killed."

Kelly:

She exhaled and her hair fluttered gently.

She had cooled off a bit, and carefully moved the blanket up higher without opening her eyes.

Merrick: His grip on her hand loosened as he relaxed and slipped into sleep. His dark curly hair fell over his eyes as his head rested more heavily against the wooden planks on the wall. Merrick felt Kelly's body pressed against him, and that was all the comfort he needed.

Sunpond:

She smiled up at Kilroy. "Yeah, sure! I'd love to try centaur food." She nodded again and spun around in a small circle, her hooves prancing lightly. "2 days. The border. You promise you'll be back?"

Ben:

He gripped the sides of her arms fiercely, his eyes stern. "Rayla, enough. You are a wonderful council member. I wouldn't be saying these things to you if it wasn't true. You know me-I'd never lie."

(hi!)

Kilroy: “So leadership is determined by popular consensus and merit. But only males can be leaders?” he asked, trying to keep his voice light.

Ben:

He shook his head rapidly, his slicked back auburn hair becoming tousled. "No, you mustn't think like that. You did your job well. You helped whoever you could. Like I said before, you can't save everyone. The wolves are gone now and there's no need to worry any more. Injured steeds are getting treated and no one blames you."

Merrick:

His grip on her hand loosened as he relaxed and slipped into sleep. His dark curly hair fell over his eyes as his head rested more heavily against the wooden planks on the wall. Merrick felt Kelly's body pressed against him, and that was all the comfort he needed.

Sunpond:

She frowned and tensed as her ears trained towards Kilroy. She sensed something much deeper in his voice that cut much darker. She blinked and took a moment to think, wanting to give him the best answer she could.

"Well, I suppose that if the herd didn't think Coalwing was right for the herd, a number of things could happen. There could either be a revolution and the pegasi could riot for Coalwing to step down as over-stallion. Or a new stallion, one who thinks he's much more suitable for the role, could come along and challenge Coalwing. This happens very rarely though, considering the over-stallion has the last word in everything and has basically an army of captains and warriors to back him up."

She paused to take a breath and consider his second question. "Your second question is harder and there are more 'if's and but's.' If something happened to the over-stallion, leaving him unable to rule, then most likely the lead captain, or another trusted stallion, would take over."

(there's really no evidence for this in TGH books themselves, so i just kinda stole what would happen in a normal horse herd)

Kelly:

Her head slipped. Her breathing was slow and calm, not like before.

Rayla:

She shook her head, looking at the ground. "I should have done more. I should have helped fight off the wolves, I should have been more alert so when they first attacked I could have gotten more of the herd to safety."

Kilroy: “What would happen if the herd decided that Coalwing was not the leader that they needed? Or if something were to happen to him?” His mind rolled into a dark place. It already treasonous to plot the fall of the centaur council, and to do the same with the foreign government... how far would he allow himself to go? He followed a different moral compass than others, that he knew, but who was to say whether it was truly higher order, or even more depraved than the rest of the world? But if the Pegasi would not have peace, he knew he would do anything in his power to force it.

Ben:

"Don't be, Rayla. I understand." He searched her eyes for a moment. "Don't blame yourself. You did everything you could. This land is dangerous-we cannot save everyone."

Merrick:

A smile tugged at his lips before he felt Kelly go limp against him, her head resting against his chest. Eventually, Merrick closed his eyes and fell asleep as well. The warmth of Kelly besides him and the long day behind him, he easily slipped into the comforting hold of darkness as his mind slowed and sleep found him.

Rayla:

Her crying slowed and stopped. "I'm sorry." she said quietly.

Merrick:

He nodded gently and squeezed her hand. He didn't think her dream was stupid-he knew nightmares were strange and he wasn't about to judge her for it- but it did concern him. He was worried-not about what she saw, but because she had seen it in the first place. "I'm sorry. That sounds horrible."

(it made sense!)

Ben:

He allowed her to cry and each time she sobbed and sniffed for breath, his heart strings tugged. He gently rubbed her arm comfortingly.

Merrick:

He exhaled and blushed again as he felt her press against him. He hesitated, but then wrapped a gentle arm around her waist. "Do you want to talk about it? Your nightmare?" He mumbled softly, glancing down at her. Even in the dark, he could still see her bright blue eyes and he relaxed as he felt her warm, soft coat against his.

Ben:

"Hey, hey...It's okay. You've had a long day-cry all you want." He gently stroked her hair with one hand and squeezed her shoulder with the other.

Rayla:

"I don't know," she kept wiping away tears, trying to keep from sobbing, she didn't know why she was crying but she couldn't seem to stop

Rayla:

"Do you know what time it is? I've got work tomorrow, or later this morning."