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Each step takes her further down the path to home, but her mind was still behind her in the commons. Failure was never something she dealt well with and this time would be no different. Losing to Nyimara was a failure she would beat herself up for from the inside out. Depression was already wrapping its dark hold around her heart with every step she took. The soft snow caves under her weight as a few small twigs hidden beneath the dusting snap apart. A single crystal blue eye watches the path ahead, but her gaze was held down with her hanging head. Her ivory forelock had fallen down over her forehead covering one of her eyes and eliminating part of her peripheral vision. This is part of the reason why she did not see the swift movement in the trees of the mare after her.

Ysabel knew it was only a matter of time before she was challenged for her position. With a herd as large as Solomon’s it was inevitable for someone to question her guidance. There was always someone who thought she could do better or thought she was stronger. Ysabel was no stranger to a mare trying to prove herself. She had done it herself when she first joined Solomon’s herd. Banshee’s motives were clear, no words need to be exchanged between the pair.

She just didn’t expect it to be now.

It was the mare’s shout that alerts Ysabel and causes her to turn in the direction of the source. Her head flings back her hair with wide eyes searching for the voice’s owner. Her heart begins to thud rapidly against her chest as adrenaline begins to pump through her bloodstream. Suddenly, the large Thoroughbred mare appears and crashes into her without hesitation. Ysabel takes in a sharp breath before holding the rest of the air in her lungs from the shock of the attack. Her smaller stocky frame is pushed back with the impact, causing her back hooves to slide and give. The breath is released from her lungs as her rump hits the cold ground alongside a loud squeal.

Pain radiates from the back of her neck as Banshee’s teeth grab a hold of her mane. There was a moment when she thinks she just might quit. Let this mare kill her or take her title. Let her have whatever it was she was after because none of it mattered if she couldn’t protect her friends. She thinks this, but instinct still drives her forward. Ysabel pushes against the mare’s raw power as she fights to get back standing. Her front legs never yielded to the mare as they shook with resistance, but now her back limbs fight to stand straight again. Ears bury into her hair as the mare squeals loudly in pain. She manages to get back up in a messy way, but not without the loss of a patch of mane. With Banshee’s hold now gone, Ysabel retaliates.

Teeth snap wildly towards the mare as if she was a rabid animal. She did not usually lose her cool this way, but bringing a Queen down to the ground was not a respectable act. Milky white tail slaps against the back of her thighs which flings some pieces of clumped snow from its strands. Ysabel proceeds forward as she continues to bite at the liver chestnut mare. Eventually, she lurches forward to get close enough to gain a tight hold onto the mare’s elbow. If she was successful, she would bite down as hard as she could.

Why could she not give up?