Epilogue

Labon and Keva, Fyn's parents, glanced anxiously up at the Great Wall, waiting for Petrie's mother to return with today's report. With them were Littlefoot's grandparents, Cera's father, and Ducky's and Spike's mother. Ever since the children had disappeared, Petrie's mother had been flying out over the Mysterious Beyond to try to find some sign of where they'd gone. So far, she had been unlucky. The adults had almost given up. No one had told them where their children may have headed, and as a result, anything could have happened to them.

"There she is," Grandpa Longneck said, looking towards the Great Wall as Petrie's mother soared over it, "let's see what she has to say."

The Flyer landed gracefully in front of everyone else, panting and almost out of breath. She looked very excited.

"What did you see?" Cera's father asked.

"They're- they're back!" she exclaimed.

"What? Where are they?" Labon asked.

"Outside the entrance, and there are Farwalkers with them."

"The same ones I turned away? What are they doing back?" Cera's father snorted.

"You did what?" Grandpa Longneck asked.

Cera's father cringed. "Well, you see I-"

"We'll talk about this later," the old Longneck cut off the Threehorn as the Farwalkers poured into the Valley. They were all Fastrunners, and sure enough, riding on the backs of a few were the kids!

The adults ran forward to greet their children. Fyn saw his parents coming. Only relief showed on their faces. The anger would probably come later. Fyn ran to his parents as all around him, his friends embraced their parents as well.

"Fyn!" his mother, Keva, said as they touched muzzles in greeting, "we were so worried about you!"

"I'm sorry," Fyn said, "but we had to help the Farwalkers. No one else would."

"You made a good choice, Fyn," Labon said, "you and your friends stood up for the Farwalkers when they had no one to help them. It was a very mature thing to do."

Fyn beamed.

"However," Labon continued, "you also did this without telling anyone, including Keva and myself."

Fyn gulped. "I know, and I'm sorry."

Labon smiled. "So, your mother and I have decided that you're grounded and confined to our nest until you tell us everything that happened."

Fyn smiled as he recalled his adventures, and his new friend, Terra.

"Okay," he said with a smile, "I think that can be arranged."

There we have it: the story I've wanted to write for a long time, now. I hope you've enjoyed reading it. Now, as promised, you, dear reader, will be treated to a teaser summary of a tale yet to come. It promises to be massive, larger than any fanfic I've done, and it will be a work-intensive story. I intend to pour everything I've learned about writing into this project, and I believe it has the potential to be pretty good by my standards. Anyway, time to roll the teaser...

YF-23ace presents:

Let Your Heart Guide You

Littlefoot and Fyn were friends to the very end, but a specific event during their pre-adolescent years forced them to test that friendship in the adverse conditions of the Mysterious Beyond. This is the story of that event, a migration of sorts that changed everything for the gang, and brought them closer to leaving childhood behind forever. It is a tale of courage, leadership, loss, devotion, and the shedding of childhood innocence when faced with an unrelenting adult world. Once more, our heroes are faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, odds that seem to be very much against them, but they cannot falter, for the life of someone very close to Fyn depends on it...

The journey begins again, September 2012.

"May the Bright Circle always guide your path."

So, now I've got something to really look forward to once BCT's done. For all of you loyal readers, see you in six weeks!