[Folmes]

Username: Folmes
Name: Cane
Link to Raffle Entry: Here
Story:

"Who wants a cookie?"

Cane's ears shot forward, one of the human caretakers of his herd's homeland chirped loving words at him as she approached. She was holding a large container filled with, what appeared to Cane to be, something delicious. The winter snow and winds were harsh tonight and Cane's herd had been eager to shuffle into the warm barn and donned with blankets that kept the chill out. He loved the snow, but how can he really turn that down?

The young human woman approached his stall as he stuck his head out over the door and whinnied with curiosity. "What a good boy, Cane. Would you like a cookie? There's a peppermint in it!" She held the cookie with a large peppermint protruding from the center of it out to his nose and he nibbled it gratefully from her gloved hand. Cane couldn't contain his excitement as he flared his lips out, peppermints were his favorite treat - not to mention the addition of a sweet cookie. "Merry Christmas, Cane", the girl said to him and stroked his nose before moving on to the next stall.

He'd remembered those words from last year during the winter when they were also given the peppermint cookies: "Merry Christmas". Cane had no idea what the human had been babbling about, but he'd be content to listen to her talk about it more if he got more peppermint cookies. He sighed and watched as she continued to distribute the cookies to his herd mates; this was his quickly turning into his favorite winter tradition.

[grapejuice]

Username: grapejuice
Name: Troubadour [Trouba]
Link to Raffle Entry: x
Story:
This quid has a very fun, albeit unusual Christmas tradition. He's the lucky quid who's chosen year after year to dress up as the infamous "Krampus" and goes around frightening the little ones who misbehave. While he doesn't necessarily reap joy from scaring kids, he does get a kick out of putting on his monster garb and hearing the feigned gasps from parents' who play into the role. Occasionally there's a kid or two that don't find the goat-quid hybrid to be all that scary, and they'd much rather hang off his tail or bury their faces into his chest fluff. Trouba can't help but laugh when this happens, and always takes a moment to compliment the child for their immense bravery, before nudging them away with a gentle, "remember to behave, or I'll have to eat ya."

[Manx]

Username: Manx
Name: Amyntas
Link to Raffle Entry: Here
Story:

Amyntas quietly tread across the freshly fallen snow, careful not to disturb his sleeping herdmates. The hour was still frightfully early, the birds not even yet daring to stir from their slumber, and the night was lit only by the light of the moon and stars. Fresh snow was still gently falling, blanketing the sleeping figures that stood as Amyntas weaved between them.

Mystique’s dark buckskin was starkly visible against the snow, and Amyntas froze as he watched her stir. She always was the most vigilant of their little herd - the most likely to catch him in the act - and even when she settled back into the snow, Amynstas kept a wary eye on her until she was out of earshot.

Confident he was no longer about to be caught, his stride quickened to a trot as he neared his secret hiding spot. Throughout the past few weeks, he had collected and hidden a stash of pinecones, twigs, acorns, and various small stones of convenient sizes to use on this particular night. Lifting the sloping bough of a pine tree, Amynstas grinned in triumph as he revelled in his little collection. With no time to waste, and dawn quickly approaching, he began to shuffle out his decorations and then set to work in rolling together balls of snow.

He had started the tradition while they still had young foals in their midst - all of who had now grown into strong young mares and stallions. But when they were young, he had adored watching their delight in waking up to a world of snow creatures that had appeared overnight. Small rabbits, birds, and even life size equid foals - all sculpted from piles of rolled snow and decorated with twigs for feathers, stones for eyes, and a multitude of other decorations across them.

Even though they had long grown up, Amynstas couldn’t quite bring himself to stop the tradition. Although he was quite certain the other adults in the herd knew exactly what he was up to in his early morning strolls in the middle of winter, they turned a blind eye and revelled just as much in the surprise as the foals did, allowing him to - somewhat - anonymously bask in their delight.

Working until the sky was just beginning to lighten with the dawn, Amynstas took a moment to admire his work before quietly slipping back towards his herd. Although there were no foals to celebrate with this year, he knew his herdmates would still marvel and celebrate the little snow creatures. He hoped in the future, they’d have more foals to join into the tradition - perhaps even his own foals to take up the mantle.

Until then, Amynstas slipped quietly back to stand amongst his stirring herd, enjoying the quiet moments of watching the sunrise before the rest awoke.

[CopperChaos]

Username: Manx
Name: Amyntas
Link to Raffle Entry: Here
Story:

Amyntas quietly tread across the freshly fallen snow, careful not to disturb his sleeping herdmates. The hour was still frightfully early, the birds not even yet daring to stir from their slumber, and the night was lit only by the light of the moon and stars. Fresh snow was still gently falling, blanketing the sleeping figures that stood as Amyntas weaved between them.

Mystique’s dark buckskin was starkly visible against the snow, and Amyntas froze as he watched her stir. She always was the most vigilant of their little herd - the most likely to catch him in the act - and even when she settled back into the snow, Amynstas kept a wary eye on her until she was out of earshot.

Confident he was no longer about to be caught, his stride quickened to a trot as he neared his secret hiding spot. Throughout the past few weeks, he had collected and hidden a stash of pinecones, twigs, acorns, and various small stones of convenient sizes to use on this particular night. Lifting the sloping bough of a pine tree, Amynstas grinned in triumph as he revelled in his little collection. With no time to waste, and dawn quickly approaching, he began to shuffle out his decorations and then set to work in rolling together balls of snow.

He had started the tradition while they still had young foals in their midst - all of who had now grown into strong young mares and stallions. But when they were young, he had adored watching their delight in waking up to a world of snow creatures that had appeared overnight. Small rabbits, birds, and even life size equid foals - all sculpted from piles of rolled snow and decorated with twigs for feathers, stones for eyes, and a multitude of other decorations across them.

Even though they had long grown up, Amynstas couldn’t quite bring himself to stop the tradition. Although he was quite certain the other adults in the herd knew exactly what he was up to in his early morning strolls in the middle of winter, they turned a blind eye and revelled just as much in the surprise as the foals did, allowing him to - somewhat - anonymously bask in their delight.

Working until the sky was just beginning to lighten with the dawn, Amynstas took a moment to admire his work before quietly slipping back towards his herd. Although there were no foals to celebrate with this year, he knew his herdmates would still marvel and celebrate the little snow creatures. He hoped in the future, they’d have more foals to join into the tradition - perhaps even his own foals to take up the mantle.

Until then, Amynstas slipped quietly back to stand amongst his stirring herd, enjoying the quiet moments of watching the sunrise before the rest awoke.

Congratulations!

This one tugged at the ol heartstrings. I loved reading everyone’s stories and there were definitely some close seconds. Thanks to everyone for participating!

[Manx]

Thank you so much again for this boy - absolutely adore him and so excited to add him to my herd! <3

No rush at all, but whenever you have a moment could I get the backgroundless version?

[CopperChaos]

Sorry about that! I didn't realize I never posted one, it's now uploaded!