Holiday Hijinks

Stevie had decided to take Denali back home for the winter, the idea of leaving her in the stables for Christmas just made her feel too guilty! Realistically, she knew that her equine friend was in the best of hands at Wolf Lodge, but she wanted Denali with her, so she could give her the gift she had gotten on Christmas, rather than the day after. Loading her horse up in the trailer, she could’ve never imagined the Goldberg machine this would set in motion…

Denali nosed her food bin impatiently, her snorts causing puffs of chilled air to accumulate by her nose. It was empty, and this was unacceptable, she needed to find Stevie to fix this horrible injustice as soon as possible. The Loshie trotted up to the door of her owner’s house like she had so many times before, ready to paw at the door or stick her head through an open window to get Stevie’s attention. This time, however, there was an opportunity that she had never been granted before… The door had been left unlatched, and swung open when Denali sniffed it. Startled, she nearly bolted, but the scent inside was too good to resist. It smelled like the gingerbread treats Stevie loved to bake for her, but stronger, and warm. The horse didn’t hesitate to step inside, her nose in the air, following the sweet scent.

She quickly got distracted, hearing the way her hooves sounded on the hardwood floors. It was a satisfying clip sound, and Denali stopped to prance like a dressage pony. She looked pretty ridiculous, she was NOT a dancing pony, she really preferred to show. Seeing herself in a mirror, her ears pinned back, did she really look that silly? Embarrassed, she stopped at once, turning her head around to pretend to scratch an itch on her side. The smell of gingerbread grew stronger, and she was reminded of her goal. The scent led her to the kitchen, where Stevie was indeed baking gingerbread treats. In fact, she was taking them out just now and putting them on a rack to cool. She seemed engrossed in her task, and didn’t notice the horse in her kitchen. That is, until Denali, delighted to see her friend, was suddenly by the girl's side and snuffling her cheek, licking her hair.

“Denali!” Stevie was shocked, a laugh bubbling out of her chest from the sheer absurdity of it. Had her pony grown hands, learned to open the door?

“How did you get in here? You bad, bad pony!” She pretended to swat at her horse with a dish towel, but Denali wasn’t scared. Stevie would never hit her, and she knew that. Still laughing, Stevie walked over and threw her arms around Denali’s neck, leaning hard into her horse. Denali took this as the perfect moment to reach over and grab one of the gingerbread people, crunching the warm cookie happily. In response, Stevie halfheartedly tried to push her horse to the door. Though, she didn’t put her back into it. How often did Stevie walk into Denali’s stall, after all?

“You don’t deserve cookies, you wretched thing! Get out of here!” Denali ignored Stevie’s giggled insults, pressing her nose into her owner’s hands. She wanted pets, and more cookies. Even worse, she knew all of Stevie’s weak spots, and gave her the saddest, most pathetic horsey eyes she could manage. The girl huffed, pretending to be mad, but she knew she could be coerced. She reached for the rack, grabbing another piece of gingerbread, handing it to Denali. She stroked her horse's forehead as she happily crunched, and made a small nicker of appreciation.

“Oh, Denny. What am I gonna do with you?” In response, Denali just nudged Stevie’s hand again.