Night fell. The other horses at the farm fell asleep. The workers departed for their homes, the breeder went to his house to do some breeding of his own with his wife. And the five former humans awoke.
Nightingale, Saffron, and Citrine cast spells to silently open the doors of their stalls, then did the same to Iris and Glory's stalls. The mares walked out of the stable instead of galloping so they could remain as quiet as possible. Outside of the stable, Nightingale looked up at the sky.
"Wind's Grove is in the East. The stars and sun will guide us there," she said in her sweet voice. She looked around. "Let us go this way." She took off into the woods. The others followed. As they galloped through the trees, they whinnied quietly to each other about their new names. Ultimately, Nightingale, Saffron, and Iris kept their new names, but Citrine and Glory went back to Ellany and Anya respectively.
They reached a roaring river. Iris recognized it as one multiple days' travel from the Capitol. They were moving faster than she thought possible.
"We will stop for now," Nightingale declared. "We will take shifts of two awake at a time." The other mares nodded. "But first..." She turned to Ellany. "Dear sister-in-law, please examine us with your magic and tell us if the mating was successful."
"And tell Anya and I the status of our pregnancies as well, please," Iris piped up. Ellany nodded. She walked in a circle, using her magic to examine her companions. When she finished, she nodded again.
"Anya, you carry twin fillies. Iris, you carry a colt."
"And the rest of you?" Anya asked.