The filly was cute, Impa supposed, for something so small and spindly it looked like it would break if you pushed it over too hard with your nose. All foals looked fragile to her, and she wondered often if she had ever been that small. She remembered being young, yes, but small? No. She’d always been overly-large compared to all the other females in the herd. Most of the other fillies had inherited their father’s height, but it was Impa who’d acquired the girth and heftiness associated with the draft breeds. A small smile touched her mouth and she glanced away from Osprey and up at Mouse in time to see the grulla’s lips purse. The gratitude, the emotional response, or the sudden realization that she would be safe forever with Impa standing guard for her was not evident in either Mouse’s words, or voice, and Impa shifted her gaze to her friend’s eyes to see if anything lingered there. They could have been discussing the weather.

Impa had never been raped, and she would never claim to know how she would feel after the fact, but she had been under the assumption that Mouse would be deeply grateful that Impa had punished her attacker. Part of her desire to see that emotion in her friend’s eyes was selfish, and Impa could and did acknowledge that. She’d always wanted to be the hero, the protector of the herd just like her father had been when she was a filly. That drive had only increased as she’d grown older. But that calm, polite thank you was not what she’d expected.

Aliyana’s baffling defense of a rapist was bad enough, but Impa now had to take a mental step back and wonder if she was going mad or if the world was not what she thought it was. She swung her head toward Anath to hide her confusion, grateful that the General had answered her question with so many words. It gave her time to regain her composure and, her expression smooth and eye clear once more, Impa raised her head a notch to focus completely on the champagne mare. “Nor I,” she said, and smiled a little. “I’ve never been good at it until now. It’s different, when you’re not fighting for just yourself.” Her gaze shifted to Mouse and hovered on the mustang’s face for a moment, her expression unchanged. “Well,” she said, and her smile grew as she exhaled. “It was good to see you both again. I’ve something to attend to, but I should be back before sunset.” Impa reached out to touch her nose against Mouse’s shoulder in a fond gesture before she turned and passed Anath, flicking her tail impudently at the General’s nose with a laugh. She needed time to think, but she was not heavy-hearted.

Impa left the Peak with her ears forward and her head high.