Spuro said, gritting his teeth, "tell me her name."

"Destiny. A right one, but the spoilt little brat will be all alone in the world by now, since she has an irritating foal tagging alongside her. No stallion will ever want her - just like she always feared."

"Officer!" Spuro shouted to the referee, "I want to fight this stallion. To the death."

The four youngsters swerved to look at him. Had he lost his mind? Romeo almost shrunk to half his size in fear before being pushed out into the middle of the circle. He looked around him in horror, there was no way out. What had he said that was so offencive? What had he done to deserve this?

"I'll have you know, Romeo," Spuro snarled in his face, "that Destiny is my sister, and although I never treated her kindly or respectfully, I still love her, and I will defend her and avenge her as to repay her for my old ways. She can do better than you - she deserves better!"

The officer neighed and moved back into the crowd, and the fight began.

After the fight Spuro was sent to the Counsil to explain himself. Usually the Band wouldn't think twice about starting a fight to the death, even a captain versus one of his privates, but he had interupted the leagues, an important event for many of the officers who were working for a promotion.

He knew that it wouldn't be justifiable to have ruined the event just because of his family's honour. He could call Romeo a traitor, but that could only bring up further questions, like who else was working with him. But he had to take a chance - Ghost wasn't there, so no one else would try to tear down the walls between the Band and the Resistance.

"He was a traitor, Sir, he was keen to gather mares from our reserves and leave with them to form a new herd. not only was he a theif, he was an enemy. I couldn't stand to teach him how to fight any longer, incase he became too powerful."

Pirate accepted his explaination and sent him back to the training grounds where his remaining students were waiting for him. He thanked his leader and headed out of the Centre, bumping into Ghost on the way. The two of them glared at each other as they walked along the path in different directions, and Spuro saw a hint of a smirk on his opposition's face. He pushed the thought to the back of his head and cantered back to his three loyal pupils.

They fixed him with a steely gaze, ears back. He stopped at the entrance. They were clearly angry with him, and it was uncertain if he was to ever be forgiven. "Why, Sir?" Tay croaked. "He was our friend."

Spuro looked at the ground, ashamed. "When you care about someone, you defend them even if they are a hundred miles from you. I was defending my sister, something I should have done long ago."

"Either way," Copper said, raising his head, "I trusted you. I thought you were against the violence, that's what you told me -"

"Copper!"

"And now these two know. They know that you're a traitor, and we have a good mind to turn you in."

The captain shook his head, moving closer to them and lowering his voice. "And what about the rest of us? You three are part of it all now, you would be arrested too. And all the mares who want to leave, and many, many fine, upstanding officers - even two more of the captains. Would you really have them all sentenced to death just to get back at me?"

They fell silent. "I thought not. And surely, as much as you hate me at this moment in time, you can't possibly agree to what this herd has done. I'm going to check on the mares, come and get me when you've all calmed down and want to start training properly for the trials - which are in four months by the way, not long at all."

He turned and trotted off. He didn't blame them for being upset, he was when Jupiter lost to James, but he had expected better of Copper than to tell the others, even if they were trustworthy. What if they were interrogated? How long would it take them to spill everything?

"How are you all?" he said to the mares. They were happy enough, lounging under the trees, trying to shelter from the wind. It had become rather blustery over the course of the day, promising a heavy storm over night. "Where's Celestia?"

"She went to find you about ten minutes ago, she headed north I think," Marsha replied.

Willow and Cygnus were grooming each other next to her. "She'll be back soon, but this weather might blow away her trail unless you find her now, otherwise she could get lost."

"Mother is really good at remembering her way around," Cygnus whinnied, "she won't get lost!"

"Well, I'll still go to look for her. If the boys ask where I am just tell them I'll be back soon," he said, raising his voice over a particularly strong gust of wind. He found her scent instantly and followed it the best he could, trying to stay out of the wind when he could. After almost five minutes of stumbling and staggering against the weather, he found her, and wished he hadn't.

Down a slope of scrag and rock the floor of the gully was half taken up by a sluggish river. The damp air ran through it, screaming and howling as it went. Some crumbling ground overhung precariously on the opposite wall, threatening to collapse in the next torrential downpour. By the river on the near bank was a mound of off-white, marked with a patch of red that ran into the stream and down the gully.

Spuro scrambled down the slope cautiously and approached the old mare, wary of what to expect. She was still breathing - shuddering and shallow, but she was breathing. It was clear that she had been attacked by another horse, not a cougar, there were no claw marks, just bruising and bleeding. "Celstia," he whispered.

She opened her eyes and didn't seem to recognise him for a moment, then she smiled, lifting her head off the mud to see him properly. "Who did this to you?" he demanded, fighting off the tears. "I'll tear them apart!"

"Take good care of my daughter," she said softly, lying her head back on the ground. She sighed and closed her eyes.

She said nothing more and lay still, the first spots of rain darkening her silver coat. Spuro pressed his nose against hers, sobbing, not wanting to leave her alone. Van would soon find her, and he couldn't let that monster take her away. He stood back from her body and looked up into the black sky. The hammering rain stung his eyes, but he was too furious to feel the pain. She had asked him to take care of Cygnus, and he wouldn't let her down, but first off he had to deal with her murderer.

He turned to go, but took one last, long look at her lying peacefully by the river.

"Murdered," he whispered, trying not to wake the filly.

The mares looked amongst one another woefully, the brutal word slashing at their hearts. Who would kill Celestia? She was an old, gracious mare with nothing to hide, and most of the Band knew she had a foal. Whoever did it would have half the herd set upon him, so many horses cared about her and her daughter.

"I promised her that I'd take care of Cygnus," he continued, looking over to where the foal slept, unaware of her mother's fate, "but I'm not around enough to do that. I need one of you to take her on board, and I'll father her once this nightmare is over."

"I will," Willow replied. "We're family, she'll feel more comfortable with me."

"Thankyou," he said, "and now I'm going to check on the boys in the training meadow, see if this storm is causing them any trouble - and tell them about Celestia."

Buffeted by the powerful winds and persistant rain, Spuro made his way to the field where his students were sheltering. This time, they let him in and apologised for being so harsh on him. He had almost forgotten about their earlier disagreement, but Spuro quickly accepted before telling them the news.

"And I saw Ghost on my way back to my quarters, with a smirk on his face," he finished, buzzing with anger.

"You think he?" Tay asked, not needing to finish the sentence. His tutor nodded.

"Ghost has known about us since last year, Leon told him in a final attempt to save his life - which failed. The only thing he lacks is proof. He's out to get us boys, and from what I suspect he's done I don't think he'll stop at anything until he has us all executed."

"If he's murdered a mare," Zac said, who had been quiet the whole time, "a claimed mare for that matter, surely he'll be sentenced himself?"

"Even if she gave nothing away he'll accuse her of being a traitor, Pirate is that easily bought. I could say that all the officers are traitors and he'd have them sent to Van without a second thought. And I know Ghost's game - he's been sucking up to that leader of his ever since he became a captain, so if I accused him I would be laughed at an told to run along. It's not fair."

Nevertheless, the next morning when the rain had died down to a fine drizzle, Spuro set off to the Counsil to report the murder of his mare. The ground was saturated, the lake was flooded and the dusty ground that made up the fighting areas was turned to a watery mud. The grass seemed to be drowning and many of the cliff walls of the Centre had collapsed from the weight of the downpour.

He trudged up to the Counsil and saw that it was almost in ruin, with horses left right and centre assessing the damage and how to fix it, while officers