The stranger introduced himself as Temblor, leading Paradise on Atlantis. While she was slightly surprised to hear the wolf-stallion had vacated his territory, Oswin put the thought aside and paid attention to the rest of what Temblor told her. A patient smile made its way across her mouth as she dipped her head with an understanding nod. It was promising to see a new lead come to the Peak and ask questions. She hoped it meant good things for the future of her relationship with Atlantis’s Paradise, especially after the last.

“I would be happy to, Temblor.”

If she was a little more trusting she might’ve offered to walk him through the lowlands as they talked. Oswin wanted to show him as little of her sister’s home as possible just in case his coming here was nothing more than as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Oswin decided to keep her children here, knowing they were well-behaved enough to stay quiet and listen. Oswald had already heard plenty of the Peak’s purpose, but Filumena still had much to learn.

“These islands have a rich history. It was only in my lifetime that mares rose up and began to claim territories for themselves and run their own herds.” She knew this idea could be just as foreign to him, if he were so new he hadn’t met a mare led territory yet. “The islands are full of horses from different backgrounds, different structures. Constantly coming and going. There were places away from here where mares didn’t have to do whatever a stallion told them. Where they were just as free to make their own choices. When those mares came here, they couldn’t go quietly back into a life that they saw as servitude.”

Would he see it the same way? It was always unknown to her if the stallion she was talking to could understand a mare would not want to have her life laid out at a stallion’s side.

“The Peak stands to free the oppressed. We’re mares who want to live life by our own standards and don’t fit into a stallion’s herd structure. Some have been hurt by stallions before and cannot be near them without being afraid of it happening again.” Her voice was somber, thinking of Hollis. Oswin lifted her chin, wondering if Temblor would understand, or if the thought was far too outlandish for him to grasp.

“We are not an enemy of herd life, or of herd stallions. What we do not stand for are those who force others to live with them when they want to be elsewhere. The islands talk, and at the top of our Peak,” Oswin turned her head and pointed her muzzle up to the summit far above, “We can see everything.”

oswin & oswald
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.