As Inka made her way up the progressively steeper incline, picking her way carefully through the rocks and uneven footing, the trees began to thin and the air seemed to grow colder with each inhalation, until her breath felt nearly frozen in her lungs. It brought a smile to her lips. The Friesian mare's coat had already grown in thick, as it did each year, and at the lower elevations of the peak she had lately felt almost uncomfortably warm.

No, more like peculiarly warm: as if she was sharing body heat with another.

Inka was not stupid; she knew this was just her imagination playing tricks on her, yet she allowed herself to entertain the thought all the same. Throughout her life, she had found hope and confidence to be almost more valuable to her survival than food and water. Believing that good things were in her near future had kept her going through many a dark time.

And nothing brought her more joy than the thought that she would soon no longer be alone.

It was the views she sought, so high up on the peak, and the seclusion. Possible names had been alluding her, and so it had seemed only reasonable that she should seek a place where she was unlikely to be disturbed by others: a place where she would feel, literally and metaphorically, on top of the world. Perhaps it would give her the inspiration she needed.

Yet as she heaved herself up the last stretch of slope and onto the relatively flat, open mountaintop, she was surprised to find that she would not be enjoying any privacy after all. Standing idle along the edge of a placid lake stood the tall, shaggy form of the peak leader herself, Impazienza. The head of the mountain, Inka mused, pleased with her pun despite her mild disappointment.

She hesitated for a moment, considering turning back to leave the Prime Minister in peace and to find another area of solitude, but then found herself approaching the blanketed mare instead, her hooves clacking on the hard stone ground. They had not spoken in some time, and Inka had been intending on getting to know the mares she shared the peak with for a while now: Impa especially. She liked the draft mare, and it seemed only right to be on familiar terms with her superior.

The frigid wind tore rudely at her mane and tail, nearly knocking her off-balance as she reached Impazienza, but it did not deter her from offering the mare a friendly smile. "Hello, stranger. I wasn't expecting to find anyone up here."