let them eat cake.

Antoinette began tailing the red figure shortly after she entered Peak territory, though she kept herself hidden and out of sight. It was a practice she had taken up shortly after her return as a way to increase her stealth and keep an eye on potential threats. Tony personally doubted the Tinuvel mare was much of a threat, but she refused to deviate from her process just in case the dun decided to have sticky fingers. If Nyimara hd taught her anything, it was that sometimes women were just as dark-hearted as the worst of the Lagoon.

In a way, it was almost gratifying to see the way the other mare's legs grew weak and trembled on the climb, if only because it made Tony feel slightly better about the fact that her own still did the same sometimes. She was out of practice on these fierce peaks, her body more used to climbing soft sand than hard rock these days. Soon, she would be back to the way she was before, but for now she still felt lesser, somehow, and it made her eager to prove herself.

Hence the stalking.

As they encounter the pool, Tefnut's words send the spotted mare's gaze to the strangely red pool in confusion. Huh? This wasn't like this before. It used to be a thriving pool, a welcome respite this high up. What had happened here, indeed? Tony's gaze lingers on it a moment too long, allowing her target to back themselves up directly into her space. Instinctively, the young mare bares her teeth in warning, but it turns out to be unnecessary as Tefnut lunges forward anyway, as startled as Tony was.

"It's where we hide the bodies of intruders." She snapped, making up the lie on a whim. There was no truth to it, of course. The Peak very rarely killed anyone, even when doing so would massively improve the lives of mares across the islands. But in Tony's mind, there was no reason not to put the fear of death into potential pilferers. What better deterrent than death?

"So why don't you tell me why you're here so I can decide if you belong in the pool, too?" She injects a borrowed air of authority into her tone, pulled from hours upon hours of listening to her mother talk to her Peak sisters when she was Prime Minister. It's probably slightly more haughty than is appropriate, but she's just testing it out after all.

The Peak elections won't happen til the end of the season.

daughter of marceline.