My guard insists on walking as we make to leave. She is capable of an awkward hobble but her stubborn insistence would only slow us down and destroy any chance of a full recovery.

I am about to order her into the cart when Macintosh comes up behind her. With a practiced ease he lifts her onto his back and into the cart. I do not hear her cry in pain but in surprise and anger.

He looks to me as he yokes himself to the cart and at my assent he begins walking as she hurls insults at him. The rest of us walk along in a stunned silence as she offers up barb after barb.

I can only see his ears but he does not seem to react. With the enduring patience of stone he weathers her vocabulary until she falls silent and spent.

I should not be so surprised at his patience. Celestia has told me of his sisters and his ancestry. I should have known that stubborn and often angry mares are something of a specialty of the Apple stallions.

-L