Oswin smiled in response and nodded appreciatively, enjoying the thought that Cullen had been beaten not once, but twice in such a short period of time. The Peak’s numbers may be slight, but the Lagoon knew it was still defended.

“Not much.” She confessed, frowning as she glanced off in the distance, shifting her weight to favor her sore side where one of Cullen’s blows had landed. “I considered bringing him here as captive so we might have a little while to pick his brain, but once he volunteered…” Oswin trailed off and glanced toward the rest of the herd whose numbers were only as large as they were because they were children. “But I decided I didn’t want him here, so close to us.”

Her eyes returned to Macabre. “The captive I’m bringing is the stallion I faced multiple times while I stayed in the Lagoon as their trinket.” She said the word with distaste, ears turning back, but in truth she’d hardly been that. If nothing else, Oswin had been treated rather kindly when she was in the Lagoon. “Ernesto is harmless, if not annoyingly flirtatious.” Her eyes rolled, though she ignored the way her body seemed to tighten inside, remembering their romantic tryst. “I plan to get his opinion on Cullen and learn more about our enemy from Ernesto.”

Oswin paused, ears forward as she listed to Macrabre’s ideas of alliances from mare-led herds and slowly nodded her head. “I agree. My niece leads the Bay and I’ve been meaning to pay her a visit. Maybe spring.” Maybe… if a new little spindly-legged foal wasn’t attached to her side.

“My mother told me about the Peak when I was a foal.” Here, Oswin glanced away again, soaking in the towering sight of the great Vulcan Peak. “We’re supposed to be a symbol of the power of independence, born during a time mares were oppressed with no value aside from their bodies and what they could provide for a stallion. In this new time, where mares are showing they are just as capable if not more-so of leading… I think the Peak’s message is changing too. We stand for the oppressed, as we always have… only this time, now, the lines are blurred. We can seek to add our strength to mare-led herds, but can’t forget just as stallions could lead and be oppressors, mares can too.”

oswin
this is as brave as I know how to be.
I know it’s gonna hurt you, but please… be a little proud of me.