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Because I've done birth pictures for our other foals, so Poe couldn't miss out Only this one isn't with her mother...

The girl isn't Chess. Those of you who read Lakewood's stories may remember a boy called Cole. He owned Mossy before and is a friend of Chess'. Originally he was an only child, but since putting Poe into a Christmas card painting here: [link] with a girl who wasn't Chess, Becca or Twitch...I thought I'd have some fun. This is Candace, Cole's little sister. Most people just call her Dice.

I've decided she's Poe's future owner (though without leaving Lakewood), though a series of elaborately planned accidents (no, I'm not sane, why do you ask?). But here, Dice is just 12 years old and doesn't own her yet. I thought it worked out nicely on the whole; its sort of poetic that Dice grew up with Mossy around and now she gets to be a part of Mossy's foal's life and it gets better when you realise the foal's called Poetry.

I really need sleep again XD.

Poe's ref is here: [link]

And I will get around do drawing her with her mum at some point

EDIT: Story expanded on since posting.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Chess refrained from throwing the phone as the husky sound of Cole's voice travelled down it. He'd clearly been sleeping.

"No," she answered glibly. "I haven't been looking at a clock for the last three hours - I've been keeping both eyes on your mare while she finally drops the foal she's been carting about."

Cole was instantly awake. There was a resounding thud from the other end to confirm it as he launched himself from his bed. "What? How- is she - are they okay?"

Chess smiled and sank into the sunken couch in the dark Den. Aphie, Toeki and Karma could be heard from the open barn, munching contentedly on their hay in the darkness andd Eskimo, the yard cat had long since slunk off to the loft for some quiet.

"They're both fine," she replied. "Mossy's been restless since about eight this evening so we came out again three hours ago to find her pacing the foaling box and already showing the foal's muzzle. Becca called Daryl but we left her to it, since she seemed to be coping as well as she could."

"And now?"

"Now she's almost out - Becca's with her. I'm just going to go get Dice but I thought you'd want to know."

"I did," Cole answered hastily. "I do. But she had to get fed up of it in the middle of the night, didn't she?"

Chess snorted. "Horses tend to drop at night - and its actually-" she'd just caught sight of the little digital clock on the desk in the gloom "-five am. Not the middle of the night at all."

"Its winter," Cole grumbled good-naturedly. "It might as well be. I can't see a foot in front of my face."

"Autumn," Chess corrected idly. "Anyway; feel free to go back to sleep. They're both doing good and I'm going to wake your sister."

"Back to sleep," Cole scoffed. "Fat chance." But then, in seriousness, "Take care of her."

Chess smiled softly, all joking aside. Cole loved that mare so much it was unreal, "You know we will."

"Later, Chessie."

Chess scowled as the dial tone buzzed in her ear and quickly pocketed the phone. She hurried through the tack room, gesturing vaguely to let Becca know where she was going, and took the long way through the stable yard before racing back up the farmhouse.

Cole was right to some extent; it might as well be winter. The sky was dark, though there was a dim glow behind the trees of a low sun that would take its time to climb. The leaves that had already fallen crunched underfoot and scattered like the chickens in the breeze. Chess clutched her huge hoodie closer and burrowed her face into her thick scarf.

The house was unlocked and everything was lost in deep shadows. She almost impaled herself on a coat rack and stacked it up the stairs before shuffling into one of the end rooms where Candace was sleeping. Kismet, the snowshoe cat turned luminous green eyes onto her from her curled spot at the end of the bed.

Candace, Cole's 12 year old sister had come down to Lakewood for the weekend, but was so excited about seeing the foal, her parents had let her stay longer when Becca insisted they were happy to take care of her. She was fast asleep, bundled in light green pyjamas that Chess whole-heartedly approved of; her blankets churned and her pale blonde hair covering the pillow.

"Dice!" Chess said in a carrying whisper, moving closer to rock her by the shoulder. Kismet gave her a filthy look and leapt to the carpet, streaking out to find somewhere to sleep uninterupted. "Dicey, wake up!"

"Wha?" Candace blinked and started before catching Chess' eyes in the moonlight pouring from the window. There wasn't a lot of it - the moon was barely a sliver in the sky. "What?"

"Mossy's foaling," Chess said, standing back.

It took just seconds for this to get into the girl's sleep muffled brain. She tossed the covers back and pulled a huge woollen sweater over her head as though she'd been rehearsing this for weeks.

Two minutes later, they both raced back for the yard, Candace still in her pyjamas, but feet stuffed into ugg boots and wrapped up in a scarf and mittens, too.

Becca was stood by the feed room. Daryl was talking to her quietly about the usual after-care and dietary requirements, looking a little ruffled but his usual, upbeat self. It was a long time since they'd had to accomodate a new foal - Karma was the only one they'd had from birth, and she (though less of a menace now) had been no easy task. Rowan had been weaned a little early, but had been at Skye Wilde Stables for the first couple of months until Contessa was good to travel, while Aphie's first foal, Dusty, had been with Flossy and Roo at Ciwi Sun for much of her early months.

"You couldn't ask your next one to arrive at a reasonable hour, could you?" Daryl asked teasingly as Chess and Candace approached.

"I'll see what I can do," Chess smirked. "How's it going?"

"You've been gone five minutes," Becca answered, amused.

"I'm nervous and I'm running on caffeine," Chess responded delicately. "And whatever biscuits were in the bottom of the cow tin in the Den."

"There's biscuits in the cow tin?" Candace asked, side-tracked momentarily.

"Not anymore."

The cow tin where they kept snacks for the yard was a bit of a joke. Austin's mother said every farm needed a cookie jar of an animal, so she'd bought them one. The fact they didn't own cows was irrelevant. Becca suddenly groaned.

"There were Oreos in there!"

Chess started, face falling into an exaggerated pout, "There were? I couldn't see! It was too dark!"

Becca gave her a withering look. "You could have been eating peppermint treats, you twit. This is bad - you're never good when you're running on Oreos."

Chess beamed at her, "They'll kick in soon and then you can do the frustrated expression you're so good at when I turn the mucking out into a party. Until then-" she faced an amused Daryl "-How is she?"

He took pity on her. "Doing fine. She's much more laid back than your mare with this; you can see for yourself easy enough."

"Everyone's more laid back than Aphie," Candace sniggered, tip toeing over to the foaling box door while Chess swatted at her. "Oh!" she breathed. "She's out."

They all scampered after her and peered into the box in time to see a tiny, inky black bundle be enveloped into the soft hay bedding, all long legs and knobbly joints.

Mossy was tired, her sides heaving and her coat shiny and ruffled in places, but she got slowly to her feet, turned and began to tend to the tiny foal.

"Is she too small?" Candace asked in worry.

Daryl shook his head, "She is on the small side, but she's not early and Mossy seems to know what she's doing. I don't think there's anything to be concerned about just yet."

They watched in silence as Mossy cleaned up the little thing, enough to see a deep rose hue bloom through the ebony baby fluff, along with startling white spots.

"Bay," Becca said, smiling briliantly. "Austin owes me a fiver."

Chess shook her head. "Come on, let's let them bond."

So they waited, looking back in regularly.

Mossy - people oriented as she was - didn't have any problems with the audience by the door, though, and by the time came to start the yard for the day, the little foal was standing on splayed, spindly legs. The flaxen mother let Daryl in to check the placenta, and he happily reported back that it was all there and everything seemed fine.

"What's the verdict, Doc?" Chess asked as he let himself out of the box. "Filly or colt?"

He glanced between the two older girls (Candace had yet to remove herself from the door). "How much did you bet?"

They both gave him innocent expressions. "We didn't," Becca answered. "We just really want to know."

He eyed them shrewdly for a second before sighing, "Filly."

Becca let out a quiet squeak of glee and Chess clapped twice.

"Lets just hope she'll be a little more cooperative than Karma," Becca said seriously."

"Of course she will," Chess scoffed. "Matches is Karma's dad. This little one has Mossy for a mom; she'll be an angel."

"When are you going to tell Austin you've got another filly, then?" Daryl asked lightly. "He's outnumbered as it is.

Chess shrugged. "Well, he wanted to be surprised."

Candace suddenly snorted, turning to look at them in bemusement. "Well it was going to be a filly or a colt, wasn't it? The only surprise would have been if it came out a calf."

Daryl chuckled and hurriedly packed his things up while the older girls gave the younger blonde identical withering looks. "Well, I'll leave you to it. You all know what you're doing - give me a call if you're worried, otherwise I'll come back in a week or so to do a proper check. Take care, girls!"

"Thanks, Daryl!" They chorused as he let himself out of the yard.

Becca and Chess headed for the feed room to get all the dishes out while Candace remained hunched over the stable door, reluctant to move and entranced once more by the little foal.

But when the two friends had finished distributing the feeds and gathered the halters, Chess glanced back at the foaling box, only to see Candace had vanished. Not wanting to yell, she crept back to the doorway and peered in.

Mossy munched happily on her hay, looking far better after the rest and quick rub down from Becca. Just behind her, as though the mare was standing guard, her tiny foal was curled in the hay. A sleepy eye blinked at her as she snoozed the daybreak away, cuddled not into her mother, but Candace's sleeping form as she rested a hand over the foal's steady heart.

The foal looked cozy, Mossy unfussed to the extreme and Candace hadn't had a lot of sleep the night before.

Chess glanced back. "Becks, come here."

The brunette approached, looked around the box, then smiled. In an instant, her phone was out and snapping a picture. "you can e-mail this to Cole when you tell him about the foal."

"Nice irony, isn't it?" Chess asked, smiling. "Dice and Mossy's foal."

"Poetic," Becca agreed, beaming. "Come on. We'll tell Austin to keep an eye and ear on them and send her to bed for a bit after we've done the turnouts. If we wait much longer, Toeki will have eaten his door."

One mention - Becca didn't gamble. It was a sure bet. Mossy and Charlie's genes only allowed for a bay foal, but Austin apparently didn't get that memo...

I love this foal too much, and when I found the photo, I had to do it

All on PS. A few hours, but more speedy than anything (hence bad background )
This used to sketch the poses - [link]
Art and characters copyright to *Tattered-Dreams
Do not take, copy, edit, redistribute or manipulate.

Description

Because I've done birth pictures for our other foals, so Poe couldn't miss out Only this one isn't with her mother...

The girl isn't Chess. Those of you who read Lakewood's stories may remember a boy called Cole. He owned Mossy before and is a friend of Chess'. Originally he was an only child, but since putting Poe into a Christmas card painting here: [link] with a girl who wasn't Chess, Becca or Twitch...I thought I'd have some fun. This is Candace, Cole's little sister. Most people just call her Dice.

I've decided she's Poe's future owner (though without leaving Lakewood), though a series of elaborately planned accidents (no, I'm not sane, why do you ask?). But here, Dice is just 12 years old and doesn't own her yet. I thought it worked out nicely on the whole; its sort of poetic that Dice grew up with Mossy around and now she gets to be a part of Mossy's foal's life and it gets better when you realise the foal's called Poetry.

I really need sleep again XD.

Poe's ref is here: [link]

And I will get around do drawing her with her mum at some point

EDIT: Story expanded on since posting.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Chess refrained from throwing the phone as the husky sound of Cole's voice travelled down it. He'd clearly been sleeping.

"No," she answered glibly. "I haven't been looking at a clock for the last three hours - I've been keeping both eyes on your mare while she finally drops the foal she's been carting about."

Cole was instantly awake. There was a resounding thud from the other end to confirm it as he launched himself from his bed. "What? How- is she - are they okay?"

Chess smiled and sank into the sunken couch in the dark Den. Aphie, Toeki and Karma could be heard from the open barn, munching contentedly on their hay in the darkness andd Eskimo, the yard cat had long since slunk off to the loft for some quiet.

"They're both fine," she replied. "Mossy's been restless since about eight this evening so we came out again three hours ago to find her pacing the foaling box and already showing the foal's muzzle. Becca called Daryl but we left her to it, since she seemed to be coping as well as she could."

"And now?"

"Now she's almost out - Becca's with her. I'm just going to go get Dice but I thought you'd want to know."

"I did," Cole answered hastily. "I do. But she had to get fed up of it in the middle of the night, didn't she?"

Chess snorted. "Horses tend to drop at night - and its actually-" she'd just caught sight of the little digital clock on the desk in the gloom "-five am. Not the middle of the night at all."

"Its winter," Cole grumbled good-naturedly. "It might as well be. I can't see a foot in front of my face."

"Autumn," Chess corrected idly. "Anyway; feel free to go back to sleep. They're both doing good and I'm going to wake your sister."

"Back to sleep," Cole scoffed. "Fat chance." But then, in seriousness, "Take care of her."

Chess smiled softly, all joking aside. Cole loved that mare so much it was unreal, "You know we will."

"Later, Chessie."

Chess scowled as the dial tone buzzed in her ear and quickly pocketed the phone. She hurried through the tack room, gesturing vaguely to let Becca know where she was going, and took the long way through the stable yard before racing back up the farmhouse.

Cole was right to some extent; it might as well be winter. The sky was dark, though there was a dim glow behind the trees of a low sun that would take its time to climb. The leaves that had already fallen crunched underfoot and scattered like the chickens in the breeze. Chess clutched her huge hoodie closer and burrowed her face into her thick scarf.

The house was unlocked and everything was lost in deep shadows. She almost impaled herself on a coat rack and stacked it up the stairs before shuffling into one of the end rooms where Candace was sleeping. Kismet, the snowshoe cat turned luminous green eyes onto her from her curled spot at the end of the bed.

Candace, Cole's 12 year old sister had come down to Lakewood for the weekend, but was so excited about seeing the foal, her parents had let her stay longer when Becca insisted they were happy to take care of her. She was fast asleep, bundled in light green pyjamas that Chess whole-heartedly approved of; her blankets churned and her pale blonde hair covering the pillow.

"Dice!" Chess said in a carrying whisper, moving closer to rock her by the shoulder. Kismet gave her a filthy look and leapt to the carpet, streaking out to find somewhere to sleep uninterupted. "Dicey, wake up!"

"Wha?" Candace blinked and started before catching Chess' eyes in the moonlight pouring from the window. There wasn't a lot of it - the moon was barely a sliver in the sky. "What?"

"Mossy's foaling," Chess said, standing back.

It took just seconds for this to get into the girl's sleep muffled brain. She tossed the covers back and pulled a huge woollen sweater over her head as though she'd been rehearsing this for weeks.

Two minutes later, they both raced back for the yard, Candace still in her pyjamas, but feet stuffed into ugg boots and wrapped up in a scarf and mittens, too.

Becca was stood by the feed room. Daryl was talking to her quietly about the usual after-care and dietary requirements, looking a little ruffled but his usual, upbeat self. It was a long time since they'd had to accomodate a new foal - Karma was the only one they'd had from birth, and she (though less of a menace now) had been no easy task. Rowan had been weaned a little early, but had been at Skye Wilde Stables for the first couple of months until Contessa was good to travel, while Aphie's first foal, Dusty, had been with Flossy and Roo at Ciwi Sun for much of her early months.

"You couldn't ask your next one to arrive at a reasonable hour, could you?" Daryl asked teasingly as Chess and Candace approached.

"I'll see what I can do," Chess smirked. "How's it going?"

"You've been gone five minutes," Becca answered, amused.

"I'm nervous and I'm running on caffeine," Chess responded delicately. "And whatever biscuits were in the bottom of the cow tin in the Den."

"There's biscuits in the cow tin?" Candace asked, side-tracked momentarily.

"Not anymore."

The cow tin where they kept snacks for the yard was a bit of a joke. Austin's mother said every farm needed a cookie jar of an animal, so she'd bought them one. The fact they didn't own cows was irrelevant. Becca suddenly groaned.

"There were Oreos in there!"

Chess started, face falling into an exaggerated pout, "There were? I couldn't see! It was too dark!"

Becca gave her a withering look. "You could have been eating peppermint treats, you twit. This is bad - you're never good when you're running on Oreos."

Chess beamed at her, "They'll kick in soon and then you can do the frustrated expression you're so good at when I turn the mucking out into a party. Until then-" she faced an amused Daryl "-How is she?"

He took pity on her. "Doing fine. She's much more laid back than your mare with this; you can see for yourself easy enough."

"Everyone's more laid back than Aphie," Candace sniggered, tip toeing over to the foaling box door while Chess swatted at her. "Oh!" she breathed. "She's out."

They all scampered after her and peered into the box in time to see a tiny, inky black bundle be enveloped into the soft hay bedding, all long legs and knobbly joints.

Mossy was tired, her sides heaving and her coat shiny and ruffled in places, but she got slowly to her feet, turned and began to tend to the tiny foal.

"Is she too small?" Candace asked in worry.

Daryl shook his head, "She is on the small side, but she's not early and Mossy seems to know what she's doing. I don't think there's anything to be concerned about just yet."

They watched in silence as Mossy cleaned up the little thing, enough to see a deep rose hue bloom through the ebony baby fluff, along with startling white spots.

"Bay," Becca said, smiling briliantly. "Austin owes me a fiver."

Chess shook her head. "Come on, let's let them bond."

So they waited, looking back in regularly.

Mossy - people oriented as she was - didn't have any problems with the audience by the door, though, and by the time came to start the yard for the day, the little foal was standing on splayed, spindly legs. The flaxen mother let Daryl in to check the placenta, and he happily reported back that it was all there and everything seemed fine.

"What's the verdict, Doc?" Chess asked as he let himself out of the box. "Filly or colt?"

He glanced between the two older girls (Candace had yet to remove herself from the door). "How much did you bet?"

They both gave him innocent expressions. "We didn't," Becca answered. "We just really want to know."

He eyed them shrewdly for a second before sighing, "Filly."

Becca let out a quiet squeak of glee and Chess clapped twice.

"Lets just hope she'll be a little more cooperative than Karma," Becca said seriously."

"Of course she will," Chess scoffed. "Matches is Karma's dad. This little one has Mossy for a mom; she'll be an angel."

"When are you going to tell Austin you've got another filly, then?" Daryl asked lightly. "He's outnumbered as it is.

Chess shrugged. "Well, he wanted to be surprised."

Candace suddenly snorted, turning to look at them in bemusement. "Well it was going to be a filly or a colt, wasn't it? The only surprise would have been if it came out a calf."

Daryl chuckled and hurriedly packed his things up while the older girls gave the younger blonde identical withering looks. "Well, I'll leave you to it. You all know what you're doing - give me a call if you're worried, otherwise I'll come back in a week or so to do a proper check. Take care, girls!"

"Thanks, Daryl!" They chorused as he let himself out of the yard.

Becca and Chess headed for the feed room to get all the dishes out while Candace remained hunched over the stable door, reluctant to move and entranced once more by the little foal.

But when the two friends had finished distributing the feeds and gathered the halters, Chess glanced back at the foaling box, only to see Candace had vanished. Not wanting to yell, she crept back to the doorway and peered in.

Mossy munched happily on her hay, looking far better after the rest and quick rub down from Becca. Just behind her, as though the mare was standing guard, her tiny foal was curled in the hay. A sleepy eye blinked at her as she snoozed the daybreak away, cuddled not into her mother, but Candace's sleeping form as she rested a hand over the foal's steady heart.

The foal looked cozy, Mossy unfussed to the extreme and Candace hadn't had a lot of sleep the night before.

Chess glanced back. "Becks, come here."

The brunette approached, looked around the box, then smiled. In an instant, her phone was out and snapping a picture. "you can e-mail this to Cole when you tell him about the foal."

"Nice irony, isn't it?" Chess asked, smiling. "Dice and Mossy's foal."

"Poetic," Becca agreed, beaming. "Come on. We'll tell Austin to keep an eye and ear on them and send her to bed for a bit after we've done the turnouts. If we wait much longer, Toeki will have eaten his door."

One mention - Becca didn't gamble. It was a sure bet. Mossy and Charlie's genes only allowed for a bay foal, but Austin apparently didn't get that memo...

I love this foal too much, and when I found the photo, I had to do it

All on PS. A few hours, but more speedy than anything (hence bad background )
This used to sketch the poses - [link]
Art and characters copyright to *Tattered-Dreams
Do not take, copy, edit, redistribute or manipulate.