She did not understand why her world had gone from very warm to very cold, nor why the world felt so loud and overwhelming without the gentle whoosing of her dam's heart. Everywhere she looked was painfully bright white, except for her mother. Her beautiful mother, with her red coat and gentle tongue.

Lakota did not understand much about this life, but every bone in her body said that she promised safety, and sustenance, and all things good. As the red mare stood and began to clean her, Lakota struggled to mimic her, thrusting her tiny limbs out and lurching upright. She did not succeed on the first or second try, but eventually the newborn managed to stay upright while her mother's tongue scrubbed the evidence of her birth from her coat.

On legs that trembled to hold her freshly delivered body upright, the girl nursed from her mother and then laid to rest at her hooves, already worn out from the exhausting process of being born. It seems though, that there is more to learn and see already, and a half hour later she is woken by her dam's shifting weight. With an indignant sqwauk at the thought of being left behind, the chestnut coated filly scrambles to her feet with slightly more success than earlier and begins to toddle after her.

As another filly comes into view, Lakota presses herself into her dam's side, charcoal muzzle extended with curiosity toward the larger girl. Her attention wavers, however, as her mother begins to mutter sounds. One seems directed toward her, and she mouths the word Lakota to herself, trying to understand the syllables and the meaning of such a motion. Her sister, however, has other ideas and the girl's excitement is infectious.

Lakota does not understand much of what is happening, but her tiny forehooves tap against the ground in a mimic of her sister's excitement. Again she thrusts her tiny muzzle toward the much larger girl, though she does not leave the comfort of her mother's side. With much effort, the newborn strings together the same syllable that her sister had uttered to her.

"Hiiieeeee!" Proud of herself, the filly thrashes the wispy strands of her tail across her haunches and peers back at Cherokee for validation. Emboldened by her own idea of success, the filly toddles another step further forward. Her mind works overtime to try to understand everything that had been said only moments before, and while she has little concept of the meaning of things, it seemed that the other word her mother had said belonged to her sister.

"Aye-ana?" She tries her best to mimic the word, her doubt giving the sound a quirk at the end as she looks between both of them for the answer to how she's done.