Rowena remembers that tree. She remembers a night when they sunk into darkness, the same darkness that is all Echo knows. Her experience guided them all home. In weakness, there is always strength. Echo has taken her disability and learned from it. It was a night that made Rowena proud to be Echo's mother. This is another such night.

The dark mare listens in silence, gently stroking her daughter's neck. Echo struggles, but as she always does, she perseveres, and soon a beautiful colt is born. Rowena knows the way in which he was conceived. She knows the pain it has caused both Dances and Echo, but Rowena doesn't blame the child, nor does she wish him gone for the reminder that he serves. Rowena herself is the product of rape. Her mother never once blamed her for her the act that brought her into existence. Her mother hated the stallion for how he violated her, and taught Rowena to hate stallions because of it. In attempting to weaponize her hate, Rowena learned enough to change her feelings. Rowena could hate what Vodnik did to Circe, but she couldn't hate Vodnik.

Because of Rowena's own experience, she hates what Warsaw did to her daughter, but she doesn't hate Warsaw, and she doesn't hate this newborn colt. Her heart, instead, fills with love, and with pride. He is her first grandchild, and they already have so much in common.

The older mare stands in support of her daughter, but allows her to rise and find the colt on her own. This is a job for a mother, and Echo is capable. "You have done nothing wrong, Echo. Quite the opposite. He is beautiful." Rowena confirms what Echo's eyes cannot, but her words aren't mere reassurance. They are a statement of absolute truth. "Have you thought about what you might call him?

Her worry fade and joy rises to take its place. Her lips curl and her eyes turn to Dances, searching his face. The feelings warring within him, leave his expression unreadable. She studies the lines of his face and in doing so, she feels a familiar flutter inside her chest. Rowena doesn't deserve such love, and here he is, beside her again, after everything that should have torn them apart. Her stomach turns with longing, and she imagines how their family might grow next spring.