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

The last time Wasp had spoken to her most trusted confidant, Božena, the General had informed her she was close to ironing out the details of some kind of release of the Lagoon stallions whom still lingered at the base of their mountain home. This news came as a great relief to the still newly minted Prime Minister. The pride the Vulcan herd had shared over Božena's swift victory against Cullen after the war had died down. In its place came irritability. The bachelors had long worn out their welcome.

Wasp, too, was eager to see them gone. But determining the conditions of their release, of course, was a tricky arrangement.

The dark bay mare was grazing among the hardy offerings at the higher elevations on this spring day. She often kept to the mountain's top when she could - few of the stallions possessed skilled enough footwork to make it up this far. So she enjoyed the solace and the scenery, even when the weather was rather blustery, like it was today. The gusts of the sharp wind battered her dark coat, but the Peak native did not shiver from it. Instead, her muscles instinctively braced against it, and her whiskered lips parted all the same to grasp at the hardy shrubs with wiry branches.

The shrill call, though muffled by the wind and her significant elevation, caused her to stir. Her amber gaze peered down into the valley, where a spotted stallion stood and soon, his pale companion. From this range, Wasp did not recognize the stallions as their captives. With a gentle roll of her eyes and a low grunt, she reluctantly began her begrudging descent.

She urged her frame into a pokey two-beat trot once her chipped hooves reached level, soft ground. She plodded up to the two stallions then with a scowl on her face, but her eyes were wide and alert, taking in their appearance. The spotted one stunk of the Lagoon. The lankier, younger looking one resembled Cullen in some ways, which made Wasp's stomach churn. But he smelled of their Peak - perhaps he had been here all this time and just hadn't crossed her path. Wasp settled into a standing position, her thick, boxy head coming to rise high over her withers. She addressed them both with a short but definite snort. The older one, the one with the spotted blanket, stared back at her with a more determined look. She assumed he was the one who rang.

"What?"

W A S P