a new world hangs outside the window
beautiful and strange
it must be I've fallen awake
I must be

Wasp's pleas seemingly fell on deaf ears. She watched, frozen from her stuffy, short position the back end of the ledge as Macabre turned swiftly on her haunches to face Ruger. She'd never seen her dam like this before - Macabre's eyes were transfixed on the stallion - they were wide and full of emotion. It was a rage Wasp had only dreamed about - it was a face full of aggression she assumed Macabre reserved for Cullen and Cullen only. Needless to say, Wasp was terrified for Ruger.

"Stop! Stop it! Not here!" The filly shouted as she hopped up and down, raising her front legs off the ground to try to get her mother's attention. Her heart raced in her chest. But Ruger stood stoically despite the oncoming threat, and despite the close proximity and short ledge in which all three stood upon. "He's right, he kept me safe! I left by myself and I'm sorry. Ruger helped me get home!"

But Ruger's cool demeanor and belittling tone did nothing to quell Macabre's anger. The petite mare stood tall and rigid in her defensive stance, her dished face held high with her ears laced in a bed of flaxen mane. She stared down her nose at him, her nostrils flaring in shallow huffs. And she didn't flinch when her filly bit at her hips and hind legs in an attempt to break her gaze. She heard Wasp when she spoke. And even if what the filly said was true, the stallion knew better than to come galavanting into their home. He knew there would be a price to pay.

"That's enough out of you." Macabre barked. "Turn around, and begin your descent." Ruger stood in the way of the trail down the mountain and the mouth of the ledge the three stood upon. Macabre would escort the painted brute back down into the valley, and that would give her enough time to decide what to do with him next. She only hoped her sisters would be waiting for her at the base.

Macabre kept her distance as the trio began the steep decline down the rocky path of the Peak. But still, she fumed. "You know this stallion came from the Lagoon, Wasp? He is our enemy. How could you ever bring him back here? Have I taught you nothing? You put our entire family at risk." Tensions were high with the Lagoon as of late, given Cullen's multiple attempts to steal her away, and others. Now a member of their own herd had invited a bachelor spy into their home. "It's despicable to me, that you'd stoop so low to take advantage of a child's innocence and use it to your own advantage." She spat at the stallion as they marched.

Wasp couldn't even bring herself to look at Ruger in the eye anymore, she was so ashamed and so embarrassed. The feelings of ill will kept bubbling in her stomach. She wanted to defend Ruger, to tell her dam that he was nothing but kind and friendly toward her this entire time. But Macabre's words echoed in her mind now. Could it all have been a ruse? Could he had been using her? She was confused. But she didn't want to believe that Ruger was the bad guy.

W A S P