[-Isabella-]

Here is another adoptable Reindeer Horse!
This mare is the full blooded older siblings of the foal in this adoptable family!
She wandered away from her herd and somehow got lost. Now, to win her fill out the form below and in a short story tell me how she got lost, where you found her, how she settled in to a new home, and did she ever see her family again?
Feel free to add extras such as her personality, favorite food, relationships, etc.
This ends no earlier than the 26th of December!

Code: Select all

Name:
Gender: Mare
Story:


Breeding Notes:
This mare will pass on her reindeer coloring to five foals and her piebald to 3 foals.
Which breedings yield foals with reindeer colors or markings is up to the owner.
In non-reindeer foal breedings her coat will have seal brown genes with tobiano (nT)

[Spiritstar3]

Name: Run Run Reindeer aka Harmonica (don't ask)
Gender: Mare
Story:
Well, young Harmonica went too far from the herd one day, curious and intent on finding the source of the sound she heard calling from elsewhere. She walked and walked, but the neighs seemed to get further and further away, and soon she did not know where she was. Frightened, she began to pick up speed, until she happened upon our place, where she hid out of sight for awhile. When I came out to feed the horses, Harmony, my gelding, started nudging me, and finally I let him show me what he wanted to. It was a mare, whom I coaxed in with oats. She was nervous at first, but settled in quite nicely with Harmony's help (therapy horse). Turns out it was Kuroha she had heard, and yes she did get to see her father again, at a little festive holiday thing in the park near our place.

-Oc is telling the story, needs a name-

Wip for extras

[corrosive_limes]

Name: Jingle of the Sleigh Bells "Faith"

Why this name: I have several reasons for choosing this name, the most prominent being -

- I have recently found the song The Sound of Winter by SharaX [link is in my signature] and one of the lines is "I forgot my favorite sound, it's the jingle of the sleigh bells." It seemed fitting, since it's approaching Christmas and the mare is based off a reindeer.
- I was trying to come up with a call name/barn name for her, when I remembered my favorite Christmas movie, The Polar Express, and how to hear the bells on the reindeer's harnesses at the end, you have to believe. [in what, I don't quite remember] Again considering what she's based off of, how Christmas is fast approaching, and her show name, the choice seemed obvious.
- I love both the Sound of Winter and the Polar Express, even though I only found the former a few days ago, and since both have winter themes, why not combine the two of them, in a way?

Gender: Mare
Story:

It had been late one blustery, freezing winter evening when it happened.
Faith had been with her herd traveling along the side of a mountain to reach their winter feeding grounds when the mountain fell. A giant wall of ice had come roaring down the mountain side, destroying and burying everything that dared to stand up to its might. Trees were flattened and uprooted, boulders the size of a car were picked up and swept away as if they were no more than grains of sand being carried along by a river.
It was upon them before they could even realize what was happening. With a sound like thunder, the avalanche rolled over the horses, plucking up even the strongest and heaviest of them and whisking them away as if they were but twigs before a mighty gale. There were screams of terror and pain, but even the loudest of the cries was drowned out in the horrible noise of the avalanche, and soon muffled by the suffocating mass of snow and ice as the creatures were tossed about.
When the avalanche struck, Faith had been torn away from her mother and father. Unlike many of the others of her herd, she could not move or cry out at all; she was paralyzed with terror. So she could neither fight against fate nor cry for help when she saw she was hurtling straight toward a large boulder about the size of a bus.
There was a loud crack, a sharp, agonizing burst of pain from her right side, right foreleg, and head, then nothing but inky blackness as unconsciousness claimed the young filly.

----

When Faith awoke, she could not remember what had happened at first. She blinked open her eyes and found she was lying on her side near the base of the mountain with a thick blanket of snow all around, and even partially covering her. For a few moments she lay there, struggling to recall how she had got there. The last thing she remembered was following her parents along a mountain trail just moments before the snow...
The avalanche!
With a start, the filly scrambled to her feet. Or rather, she tried to. The pain in her side and leg flared up again, and she let out a cry of pain as he right foreleg buckled beneath, sending her back into the snow. Only then did she remember striking the boulder, and felt a sudden pang of fear, worried that the impact had broken something. Faith stood again, much more cautiously and carefully this time. Breathing pained her if she took too deep of a breath, and her leg would scarcely support her weight, slight though it was in the middle of a harsh winter. There was also now a pounding in her head and even without touching it, she could feel the lump that had formed where her head had hit the rock.
She glanced around, scanning the area for predators. She could see none, but there seemed to be more young, branchless saplings than she remembered. As Faith was about to look away from her surroundings and examine herself, her vision suddenly shifted and she let out a small gasp of horror.
What she initially thought to be saplings were actually the roots of trees from farther up the mountain, and in some cases scattered here and there, the legs of one of her herd members poking up above the layer of snow. Horrified at the sight before her, Faith took an involuntary step back and pinned her ears against her head, eyes widening. No, it couldn't be true. She couldn't be the last of her herd, the last of her family. Surely this was all a joke. They had simply hidden themselves in the snow while she was unconscious and would jump up any moment now and tease her for being so easily startled.
Any moment now.
But as the minutes slipped by, not a thing in sight stirred save for a lone pine tree as a gentle breath of wind passed through its needles. After a quarter of an hour, she slowly came to the realization that her herd - her friends, her family, and her lifelong companions - weren't going to get up. Not now, and not ever again. She had been lucky that the avalanche had laid her in a sheltered area just behind two other large boulders that sheltered her from the worst of the cascade, but this thought was far from her mind at this moment.
Faith stood there, unable to truly accept the sight that lay before her, unable to accept the grim truth that she had been the lone survivor, unable to accept reality as it was at that moment. Tears sprang to her eyes and slowly rolled down her cheeks. She was filled with confusion, then disbelief, which was swept away by anger and a burning sense of injustice at the unfairness of it all, which in turn slowly gave way to emptiness and a sadness so profound, she wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball at the foot of the boulders and hide from everything as she wept for the loss of all she had known.
As night began to fall, a chill wind sprang up from the north and Faith dimly realized she needed to find somewhere sheltered for the night, lest the cold claimed her too. Her parents, her father especially, had always taught her to be confident in herself, so that she may find the strength to get out of most any situation, but here and now without them to guide her, she felt small and vulnerable in the face of the unforgiving elements.
At the thought of her parents, tears once again welled up in her eyes, but this time she fought them back and refused to allow them to fall. She struggled with herself for a moment, then slowly turned and began to limp towards a copse of trees in the distance, away from the sheet of snow that told nothing of the horrors recently passed.

----

Faith was awoken by the sound of hoofbeats, but they were nothing like what she was used to hearing. She raised her head from her legs and turned toward the direction the sound was coming from. There, just down the path was another horse, but the bay mare didn't seem to actually see what was before her, for she moved cautiously, feeling the way ahead of her before setting her hoof down. Upon her back was another creature, one Faith had not seen before. It had only two legs, and also two arms. It had no pelt except for a patch at the top of its head. What fur it did have was a shiny orangish color, almost the same shade as a chestnut horse. The rest of its pelt was a different color, and didn't extend to its face.
The thing seemed to have noticed her, however, for it let out a cry of surprise. The mare pricked her ears forward and began to scent the air. She picked up her pace slightly, moving from a walk into a trot, and reached Faith before she had time to struggle to her feet. The mare stopped about ten feet away from her and stamped her hoof on the ground as the creature got off her back and began to slowly approach Faith. By now Faith had found her footing, though her left foreleg took most of her weight for her injured leg. Her ears were laid back and she took a step back, suspicious of the creature.
It held something in its paw, which it held out toward Faith as if wanting her to take it. It made a soft comforting sound, and her ears swiveled forward, but she made no move toward the creature. The creature made no further attempt to approach her, though she would have fled there and then had she not been starving from having not eaten in over a day and had not the apple held in the creature's paw been so enticing. Faith let out a quiet whinny, unsure of what to do, and swept her tail back and forth as she struggled to make up her mind.
To her surprise, the bay mare said in a hushed voice, "It's okay little one, she means no harm."
"You mean...you know her?" Faith was skeptical.
"Yes, and I have for all my life. I had been born blind, and would have quickly died had she not found me and taken me in." The mare scented the air again. "You are injured; I can smell the blood. She can help you heal, I promise. You won't last long out here in the cold with that sort of injury. "
Faith hesitated for a heartbeat longer, still unsure, before she finally stepped forward toward the creature and what it proffered in its paw. She was tired, hurt, hungry, thirsty, cold, and grieving, and mare spoke the truth. She would die alone out here before long if she didn't get help.
The creature seemed pleased with her decision, and after Faith had taken the apple and warmed up to her slightly, she slowly introduced her to two items it procured from a bat she carried with her. Faith was suspicious at first, but eventually became comfortable enough with the items and the creature to allow it to slip the first item over her muzzle and ears and fasten it around her head, and clip the second item to the first. Then, still holding the second item, which appeared to Faith to be a tether of some kind, it returned to its former place upon the mares back, at which point the three of them together returned to the creature's home.

----

When I got the filly back to my ranch, the first thing I did was rush inside and phone the vet. He came and treated the filly's injuries, and while I sat watching her after she had fallen asleep in her new stall after her second encounter of the day, it suddenly came to me what her name should be. "Faith," I breathed out softly. She seemed to prick her ears at the sound, but otherwise remained still. Yes, that was it. Faith.
Over the next few days, Faith showed a great interest in the various bells that were scattered around the place, thanks to some of my other animals. One time, she got a hold of one of the bells from the harnesses for the small cart we had and raced around the pasture with it in her mouth, jumping and kicking, shaking her head all the while to get the bell to ring. At this point, her show name had seemed obvious. Thus, Jingle of the Bells, or Faith as we call her, has wormed her way into the hearts of every creature here. Even the oldest and sourest horses seem to find some form of amusement in her antics.
Penny especially has taken a keen interest in Faith. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. Penny has a very strong motherly instinct - perhaps it comes from having had foals herself - and seems concerned about the young orphan. Penny and Faith have developed a very strong bond over the course of Faith's time here, and it almost seems as if Penny has adopted her as her own. And looking at the coats, no one would even suspect the two weren't related.

----

Faith's parents had managed to escape the avalanche, but were separated from her. They spent several days searching the area around the avalanche, and months searching everywhere else they could think. Eventually, they found another herd to join, and the two had another foal. Years passed, and it seemed like they would never see Faith again.
One day when they were passing near the edge of a forest, they heard the sound of hoofs. Two sets. One set slow and cautious, one set bouncy and eager. Curious, several members had stopped to investigate, but Faith's parents had scented their daughter. The two raced toward the sound of hooves and burst onto the path to see Faith, now a strong five year old mare, and Penny now nearly nine - carrying a rider.
The family had been overjoyed to meet once again, and even though Faith's parents had asked her to return with them, Faith had thought for a minute before quietly explaining she had a new home. She was happy to see that her parents were still alive and well, but she was content living how she was. After bidding each other an emotional farewell, they once again parted ways. Faith has not seen them since, though she has heard rumors they passed on. Theses rumors saddened her deeply, but she had taken comfort from the fact that they had been reunited, albeit very briefly and only once, before they died.


I apologize for the wall of text. It's not often I get so caught up in writing anymore.
Also, I apologize if any of this doesn't make sense. I wrote this all at midnight on a school night.
I might come back and pretty this up later, but right now sleep is calling and I must go.