Silken black tendrils danced in the breeze, whipping strands along his neck as Gunner galloped across the beach. Waves crashed against his hooves and splashed a combination of water and sand into the air, spraying Cassie's face and soaking her clothes. Hugging her legs to him, she strained to maintain their grip on his drenched torso. She squinted against the scratchy invasion of saltwater and sand in her eyes and turned her gaze towards the ocean. One long, golden ribbon of sunlight spread across the horizon and glimmered like spun gold falling off the edge of the world, and then just like that, stars appeared, blanketing the heavens with a diamond-like glow.