Shortly after the pair had let loose their calls, they were answered by a loud but unfamiliar cry. The filly showed signs of wanting to run to meet the stranger, but Mouse’s expression stopped her in her tracks, and Osprey fell into step behind her mother. They waited as the gold and white mare appeared through the trees. The mustang recognized her, but they had never formally met. She seemed to be very slightly favoring a hind leg. Mouse wondered how the injury had come about, but at the moment it did not matter much.

For a few seconds, she warily eyed the mare’s outstretched muzzle. She was not entirely trusting of the oddly marked mare, but it could not be denied that the mare smelled of the peak. The scent of women was not as strong as it was on Mouse or Osprey, but its presence reassured the former that she and her daughter were not in any sort of immediate danger. She extended her black nose to the white one awaiting her, and exchanged a few breaths with the one who seemed to be the only other soul living on the mountaintop.

Pulling her face back to look into the eyes that slightly resembled Osprey’s, she smiled slightly before addressing the situation. “I’m sorry we haven’t met before. I’m Mouse, and this is Osprey.” She gestured over her shoulder to where the filly stood, watching with her intense gaze. “Have you seen anyone here recently? We were looking for Impazienza.” She waited, her ears pricked, for what she hoped would be news of the prime minister.