Temple’s words seemed to roll back and forth in Oswin’s mind, prodding at the mare she’d always been, rather than the thing of desolation she’d turned herself into the last few seasons. Temple spoke in a way that made her want to engage in the conversation, rather than get away as quickly as she could and retreat back to her sad little tucked away corner. Oswin didn’t say anything, but something in her mind had sparked. Those words would stay with the gold and white mare for some time.

“Ah, well,” Oswin’s lips did curl into a smile this time. “Allow me to do a better job of filling you in.”

She thought she rather liked the way Temple seemed to adapt to new information. The way she didn’t give away what she didn’t know right away and listened...

“There’s four other islands; Tinuvel to the north, Luthien to the east, Atlantis to the southeast, and Salem to the south. Each of them are divided into four separate territories where herds are governed by whoever has claimed leadership there.” Oswin’s hooves gently scraped against the dirt beneath her. “I had thought of sending one of the Peak mares to each island every season to speak with one of the territory leaders, so we’d know exactly what’s going on out there and if we were needed to help… news can get muddied when information can only travel so fast and through so many mouths.”

She thought briefly of all the mistakes she’d recently made, listening to one source of information and painting a heavy target on the Badlands stallion only to realize she’d been spending her energy in the wrong place. It was one of the many small chips in her leadership foundation which had ultimately led to it all crumbling down.

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.