SunsetRevelation

Cardinal wasn’t sure exactly why Xanthe had done what he’d done, or why he’d been possessed to try and grab one of the icicles that stood above them. Aspen and Cardinal herself had drank numerous times without issue, but leave it to Xanthe to get himself stuck to something or hurt. There wasn’t a day gone by that the stallion didn’t bring himself back to the mares with a limp, or thorns in his mane, or any such things. Nothing Aspen or Cardinal said would help, either. He just kept on being a nuisance that they both generally enjoyed being around. With this particular incident, Aspen had even watched him do it: He’d wandered to the snowy edge of the pond, hooves crackling in the thin icy edge, looked up at the icicles dangling from the cave edge above from the dripping source of the pond, stretched his neck, licked at the icicle, which had instantly frozen to his tongue. Watching his eyes widen significantly had been hilarious, but the startled expression as he’d flexed his neck and

Cardinal and Aspen would admit they’d become fast friends when Xanthe had brought them together. They did everything together. Snacked, slept, stood, stared at Xanthe with the most exasperated expression they could muster. All of the normal things in life. Now, they stand side by side, staring at their supposed leader as the stallion tries desperately to remove a whole bush of very clingy thorns from his tail. Aspen had no idea where he had even found the dried out husk of vegetation, or even how he’d managed to get it stuck on his butt. Not just at the tip of his tail, but near the base. Cardinal leans slightly towards Aspen and talking out the side of her muzzle as they watch their idiot trying to spin fast enough to reach his own back end. “How did he even find the thorns?” Aspen rolls one shoulder in a shrug, “Dunno. He went into the snowy thicket after a rabbit, and came out yelping about being bitten. Apparently the bite was getting stuck in a prickle bush. I don’t

Xanthe knew he was doing well when his ladies joined the herd. He’d always been a confident sort, if a little lacking in the smarts division, he knew if he could just get some companions, it would be perfect, right? To the confident stallion, everything was excellent. He is handsome, and now that Cardinal and Aspen were around, it was even more excellent than before. How much better could it get? Maybe he could get more mares! More mares is always better! They're so pretty and he clearly deserves more! Maybe he can find a pretty dark one, and maybe a Grey? Ooooo, so pretty! The already vacant expression on Xanthe’s face just deepens as he daydreams, his ears drooping as the singular brain cell he uses for most daily activity is shunted into this new thought. The aforementioned mares, Cardinal and Aspen, having been happily grazing on the lush grass of the area they’d chosen, enjoying the fruits of their journey before they knew they’d be wandering on again, ignore the idiot as he