Winter Fruit

^{Staring at the cracks in the walls
‘Cause I’m waiting for it all to come to an end
‘Cause it’s taking over my head all over again
Do you even know who you are? I guess I’m trying to find
A borrowed dream or a superstar? I want to be a star
Is life good to you or is it bad? I can’t tell anymore
Do you even know what you have...
I’m a lonely girl
I’ll tell a tale for you
‘Cause I’m just trying to make all my dreams come true}
_{‘Lonely Girl’ and lyrics copyright to P!NK, Linda Perry, and their respective companies}
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Name: Citrus
Breed: Andalusian x Otherworldly x Rocky Mountain Horse x Belgian x Arabian (Warmblood/Spanish/UN cross)
Age: 5
Height: 15.1hh
Discipline: Halter, Dressage, Liberty
Color: White with black points and face mask, stripe from tip of eye to rump, starting orange, going black when it hits white. Front legs go from black to orange to white. Hooves are orange. Eyes are emerald green.
Markings: Orange and black stripe from tip of eye to rump, black points and face mask.
Passable Traits: Emerald Green Eyes, Foals from her must have a stripe from tip of eye to rump ( doesn't matter what color)
Bloodlines:
Sire: Marmalade
Dam: Nefertari
Dam’s Sire: Kareem
Dam’s Dam: Isabel
Personality: Shy like her sire yet competitive in the ring. She is very majestic and noble, she has a flowing movement to her, contributing to a very smooth ride. She loves citrus fruit like her father, and usually gets a tangerine slice after competing. Her mother passed on her gentle nature to her. She often stands by herself in the pasture, looking off into the distance.
Short Story:
_{It was cold when Twilit pulled her black semi-truck into the driveway of Silver Stone Stables. There had been rumor of a sale at this prestigious stable, and it was only when Mistress Twilit found out that Citrus, a beautiful and colorful spanish-warmblood mare, was on the sales list that she packed her bags and talked Sigga into following her, once again, on a road trip. After putting the truck into park, she nudged Sigga, who was sleeping soundly with his face smashed against the window of the truck.
The russian made a noise of discontent in the back of his throat before sitting up and glaring blearily out the window of the truck. “It iz raining.” He grumbled, and Twilit laughed shortly, shaking her head.
“I think you mean that it’s snowing, hun.” She corrected, eyeballing the soft puffs of snow that were being whipped about by an intermittant easterly wind. “Snow is good. I love snow.” She cast a beaming smile on her comrad, and he sighed before visably relaxing. There was no mood of Sigga’s that couldn’t be broken and shifted by someone else’s mood, especially Twilit’s.
“I’ll get ze coats out of ze back, zen.” He stretched in his seat before unbuckling and moving into the spacious living area in the back of the truck. It had cost Twilit a fair penny to get the truck outfitted as such, but she considered all the nights that she spent on the road, and all of the times that she’d had to sleep in the back of a cramped pick-up with nothing but Sigga for warmth (a quandry which neither of them complained about, but always felt somewhat awkward over) and then she didn’t feel so bad about the splurge. After all, she’d liked the idea of a semi-truck better than buying an RV that she would have wanted to burn to the ground after having driven it once.
Once Sigga returned with their coats (his a very large and thick parka that nearly buried him, and her’s a trench coat with a thin layer of wool as lining) they donned them and hopped out. The snow was only an inch or so deep, as the storm had just barely begun, and it was extremely bouyant and fluffy. With a giggle, Twilit kicked at the snow, and then bounded through it in circles, trotting and prancing around in it like an excited yearling.
Sigga watched her for a moment, trying to burrow deeper into his coat to avoid the cold that his boss was so eagerly reveling in. “Miss T, should we be getting inside? You know, looking at ze horz?” he whimpered, scooting towards the warm looking stable that was only a few yards away.
With a sigh, Twilit spun around one last time before trotting to his side and looping her arm through his, cuddling against his side. “I don’t know how you can’t like winter. You’re from Russia, after all. Isn’t it like...perpetual winter over there?”
“Zat is a complete miss. Russia is jost like Vyoming, or maybe sous Alazka.” Sigga harumphed from underneath the collar of his parka.
Twilit had to focus a little harder to translate his sentences, as his accent always got thicker when he was frustrated. “A myth, huh? I guess that’s like everyone thinking that Wyoming is all green rolling hills with bison and wolves roaming hither and thither everywhere.”
Sigga opened the barn door for her, and they wandered inside. It looked entirely empty, so Twilit called out a tentative “Hello?”
A woman appeared from around one corner and smiled brightly at them. “Oh hello! You must be Mistress Twilit.” The woman came forward and shook Twilit’s hand warmly. “I’m Hathien, glad you could make it out here to look at Citrus. She’s really a lovely mare, I’m hoping she’ll go to a good home.”
Twilit nodded, “Well I’m certainly hoping to give her a good home. I think she’d like it at ShatterCry...even if it is usually colder than it is here in the south.” She made reference to the unusual snow flurry that was happening outside.
Hathien chuckled and nodded. “The snow is...different. But the weather here is usually unpredictible. And I can’t say I would mind a white Christmas.” She paused and brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Citrus is actually out in her pasture right now, being a loner like she does. If you’d like I could take you out, I just need to find my coat.” The woman’s eyes scoped the area, but Twilit shook her head.
“That’s alright, just point us in the right direction, and we’ll find her. No use in you getting cold when you’ve obviously got work to do.” She smiled gently, and Hathien seemed grateful for the excuse to stay inside. After being pointed out of a side door in the barn, Twilit pulled a reluctant Sigga back outside behind her.
It was easy enough to find the pasture, and easier still to find Citrus. Sigga stayed at the fence line while Twilit ventured forward, coming to meet the mare where she was standing under the woven and intertwined branches of two trees, out of the wind and snow. Coming to stand beside her, Twilit watched as the mare flicked a half interested ear in her direction while keeping her eyes straight ahead, watching the snow as if wafted down from the gray sky. Twilit remained silent, watching the snow with the mare for a short while before turning towards her and fishing into the pocket of her coat for the ziplock bag she’d stored there surruptitiously.
The mare turned her head halfway when she heard the bag being opened and sniffed the air. Twilit held the bag up and plucked one slice of orange from it. Holding it out in the flat of her hand, she let the mare sniff it and then gently take it away, munching contentedly on it. With a chuckle Twilit pulled the remaining three slices of orange from the bag and laid them gently on the ground before turning and walking away. Glancing back, she saw the mare watching her with curiousity, as if she was unsure how to take the brief visit, and the recieving of treats without having done anything special in the first place.
When Twilit reached Sigga at the fenceline, she turned and watched the mare as she picked up the orange slices one by one, munching away on them contentedly. After a minute of silence, Sigga interrupted her thought. “I know vhy you like her.” Twilit canted her head at him, silently asking him to continue and explain. “She is like you, yes? You impress and you please, and you have competition streak mile vide...”
“Competitive streak, dear.” Twilit corrected him, smiling softly.
He shrugged and continued. “Vhatever. All the same, at the end of the day, you both vant to be alone. You are both strong independent vomen, and beautiful too. You like that she is much like you.”
Twilit looked back to the mare who had returned to staring off into the snow flurry with a soft contemplative look on her face. Contemplating Sigga’s words, she decided that he was right. The mare reminded her of herself, and she appreciated and respected that. Suddenly, Twilit furrowed her brow and turned her head back to Sigga.
“You think I’m beautiful?” she questioned, an amused smirk playing at the corners of her mouth.
Sigga leaned backwards and widened his eyes, holding his hands out to his sides as if pleading for mercy. “I...I did...oh but...min ye steed na. Vee eezoomeetyelnee, min ye straash ne min plaa khoy! Min pa lyoo beets...”
Twilit shook her head vigorously and placed a finger over his mouth to silence his rant. “Spaaseeba.” Was her soft murmer, possibly the only thing she knew how to say in Russian. She turned away from him and practically skipped away, knowing that he would follow as he always did.}
ShatterCry's Plans for Her: okay...if I got her, I'd definitely be expanding on her abilities as a Liberty horse. The idea has always fascinated me, and it will be nice to have a pre-trained mare to get me started. I also think it would be cool to train her for side-saddle, because a horse built like this is just made to be a show off like that
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Sooo...I hope I got Hathien right. I read a few of *Hathien603’s short stories that included her, and I tried my hardest not to make her uberly bouncy, or too rough, or too...anything XD And I honestly hope that it’s okay for snow to fall in the south in November, because I made it so XD
Oh yeah, and translation on the russian? It’s probably incredibly broken, but I did my best to form the words into phonetic russian. So here goes:
Min ye steed na(I am ashamed). Vee eezoomeetyelnee(you [are] amazing), min ye straash ne(I am afraid) min plaa khoy(I am inferior)! Min pa lyoo beets(I have become fond of)... is Sigga’s half-rant (lol) and Spaaseeba=Thank You. Needless to say, Twilit is perfectly oblivious to everything that Sigga was just trying to say to her XD
Ahem but...this lovely mare caught my attention forever ago when I was looking for unique and colorful mares to breed with. I got completely sidetracked and forgot about her until I saw *Hathien603’s journal about the horses in her stables that she’s selling. I got so excited, and immediately started work on an application to buy her, and even got the lineart shined up in my computer before my life went haywire and the poor mare got forgotten by me...again.
Then two days ago, I was cleaning out my folders, and I re-discovered those lines! They were rough, needed some touch-ups, and alot of color, but they were there, waiting for me! I nearly died from joy overload before running to Hathien’s journal and proclaiming my eternal love for her and this mare. I think I scared Hathien a bit with that outburst...but I couldn’t help it. And now, after at least twelve hours of hashing, re-hashing, coloring, erasing, and coloring again...This came out. Aside from a few anatomical muss-ups that I’d like everyone to overlook (lol) and that blindingly rushed and icky tail braid...I’m proud of how this came out. And the story I wrote I like even better
At any rate, I just love this girl. I remember a horse I met when I was a kid, and his special treat was the orange tree that grew on the edge of his field. He’d pluck one out of the tree every day and eat it, rind and all, and then get all giddy and joyful and run around in circles, giving even the youngstock a run for there money with his exuberance. I can’t remember that horses name, but I’ll never forget him, and the fact that Citrus here loves citrus fruits just as much as he did just makes me all bubbly inside with joy ^_^
...at the rate I’m running around the adoption and sales circut in the Horse community here, though, I’m thinking my Harpg stables will have to shut down in-house breeding for awhile, and just compete the lively stock we already have XD
Not that I’m complaining. I wouldn’t be struggling to purchase all these pretties if I didn’t love them so much

So, here I am, crossing my fingers...and jumping straight into the next sale try-out.

I think I’m kind of a masochist...in a bouncy, retina burning, keyboard loving kind of way. My carpal tunnel is gonna kill me though...lawd, I really need to get a tablet. It’s hell drawing and painting everything with a mouse D=
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Time: Around 12 hours
Medium: PSE 2.0
Credits: Snow tutorial by *ShadowUmbre, Tree brushes in background by ~wyckedBrush, at this point I have no idea if I used a reference or not...judging by the questionable anatomy, I’d say that’s a no XD. And Hathien (les beautiful female character in the story) and Citrus’ original design belong to *Hathien603 while Sigga, Twilit, and this art are so TOTALLY mine...that’s right, you heard me. lol
Music: Seasons of Love from the RENT soundtrack, Lonely Girl by P!NK (Feat. Linda Perry), Halo by Beyonce, Golden Years by David Bowie