The wild horses eagerly welcomed the mares and filly into their herd, particularly after discovering one of their group was a Horse Witch. Apparently, it was common for Horse Witches to travel for a while with wild herds, taking care of the wild horses as needs arose.
While the wild horses understood easily that Ellany was not truly a horse, they couldn't comprehend the same of the mares that were not Horse Witches. After a few failed explanations, they decided to let the wild horses think the other mares and Dmitri were Ellany's charges. No stallions attempted to mate with Ellany, due to her Horse Witch status. The other mares, however, were not given such grace.
The leading stallion eagerly mounted Sassy, Anya, and Yevgeney the day they joined the herd. It was the first of many. Roughly once a day, a stallion would mount them. After a few weeks, only Yevgeney was getting mounted. Ellany confirmed to the curious mares that it was because Anya and Sassy's pregnancies could now be smelled on them. Once Yevgeney was far enough along, she would be left alone as well.
During those weeks, Dmitri was passed around in the herd, nursing from whatever mare would let her. She could feel her magic slowly growing, though it was taking longer than she expected to get to levels that would allow her to shape change.
The landscape was growing familiar to the Copperstones. Their excitement grew. Soon, they would be home.