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

The dark mare slipped into the sea at dawn, just as the day's sun was beginning to bubble on the horizon. It cast the violet sky in stark, brilliant shades of orange and pinks, which danced across the glow of the waves that her legs churned through. Wasp left her mountain peak home in the rearview, as her amber eyes set on the hazy mass of Atlantis in the distance.

She hadn't seen Rougaru since this so-called war had been declared. But the words of wisdom the silver bay stallion had imparted on her were constantly playing over and over again in her mind. She wished this particular visit was about to be a happy one. She wanted to tell him all about how she beat Cullen in battle not once, but twice, since she last saw her friend in Paradise, and that she even managed to steal away on the Lagoon's bachelor stallions, of whom she was currently holding captive in the Peak.

But this wasn't about to be a causal, friendly visit.

Wasp could hear her heat beating in her ears as she rose onto the shore of Paradise. She was nervous and conflicted. First and foremost, her allegiance was to her sisters in the Peak. She'd heard that Mereteand Drika were here, and it was imperative that Wasp get them back to the Peak before this damned war started. But she understood that this was a big ask - something that could most certainly sever the mentor-like relationship she'd had with Rougaru. But like the stallion had instilled in her once, the path she was on was hard and it would test her. This was certainly one of those times.

Wasp gave her damp coat a good shake, and breathed a heavy sigh. Then she trudged forward through the loose sand, the intense glow from the morning's sun already hot on her back. She issued a whinny for Rougaru, and for her sisters, Drika and Merete. She wasn't sure what would happen next.

W A S P