The Princess of Love - New race : The pony Shetlands (Patreon)

Hello there,

So, for the need of the story, we needed to create a small village of Earth pony living into a snowy forest in the North. So, why not create a new race, cousins of Earth pony? Well lesgo.

We commissioned Adrea (https://twitter.com/art_adreamera) for the job and it made an amazing one!

Here are the characters description if you feel like it. There's a lot of backstory, so don't feel force to read them. They are just background characters after all, but we really enjoy to develop them nonetheless.

I hope you'll enjoy to see them as much we did when we created them!

Snowshoes

A hard working young mare, Snowshoes easily becomes fixated upon a task, working tirelessly until it is completed. Missing sleep and skipping meals to push through is commonplace, lest someone demand she take a break. Such unhealthy work ethic means she can easily work herself to the bone and then beyond, ignoring the signs of her body that she needs to stop. She is simply so determined, she does not allow anything to get in her way.

A poor multitasker, Snowshoes particularly despises being given a choice of action as she is horribly indecisive. She just wants to be told where to put her great strength and off she will go. Being one of the strongest ponies, Snowshoes is often tasked with the heavy lifting, pulling the plough or collecting timber. Snowshoes has a large scar on her chest from an encounter with a pack of timber wolves who had drawn too close to the village, attacking a filly who had wandered past the village boundaries.

Blizz

Quite the innovator, it is in the mind that Blizz is the most powerful. Being the smallest of even her short statured village, she struggles with heavier work. Rather than simply plod along, she has developed new methods of working, valuing the notion of smarter and not harder. It was by her direction that her village created a pump to draw water from their well to disperse over their fields - saving the time and energy absorbed by carrying water buckets.

Though at first seen as eccentric, Blizz is now greatly respected and finds herself in a position where everyone is waiting for her next big idea. This pressure induced a deal of stress upon the mare who had at first enjoyed the praise. Now she shuts herself away, acting as though she is working on something when in actuality, she is often fishing for inspiration.

Pine Fresh

Often found working the fields, Pine Fresh is the gruff older brother of Oakley. Quite the serious type, he has become hardened by survival over many harsh winters. Some would say he has grown paranoid; insisting on perfection in the accumulation and storage of food. Though, few would say anything of the like to his face as he is a proud stallion who is always prepared to move into a rant.

Having lost his mate during a particularly brutal winter, Pine Fresh suffers incredibly from a loneliness he would never admit too. He has drawn himself away from his brother in particular as he struggles with feelings of envy for his brother’s family. Despite his intensity, he is an incredibly knowledgeable and experienced member of the village, respected for his wisdom, he is usually the first to be consulted when problems arise.

Silver Skater

Much less serious than many of her fellows, Silver Skater is a lovely, free spirited mare known and praised for her ability to lift spirits during even the coldest of nights. Often responsible for looking after the foals of the village, she excels in nurturing kindness and empathy through stories told in song. Such a role in the village has created a strong bond between her and her neighbours, equally as strong is her love for her parents Taiga and Hefty Heart. To these parents she was the second born foal, however her big brother Silver Shard left the village when she was young.

This makes her predicament all the more difficult as she harbours a secret wish to leave the village, desperate to see the wide world. Every time one of her peers migrated, she remained to see the sadness in the eyes of those left behind and simply can’t bring herself to cause the same pain. A little on the slight side, Silver Skater tends to partake in less demanding tasks such as weeding or clearing snow.

Hefty Heart

The largest of the village shetlands, Hefty Heart works alongside Snowshoes chopping down timber and bringing it back to the village for construction or for use in the constantly roaring fires. Always looking to help those around him, no sacrifice is too great if it means coming to someone else’s aid. Though it can also get him into trouble, for example, distracting him from his own work to help someone else with theirs - it can also save lives.

During one particularly brutal blizzard, Hefty Heart heard a cry as he hurried to get to his home. Disregarding his own wellbeing, he ignored all sense of self preservation and forged against the snow into the forest. That is where he came across a young, pink filly, miraculously alive amidst the snow. Despite already being burdened by the cold, Hefty Heart pulled his hat off, securing it onto the head of the little pegasus. Keeping her close, he made it back to the village, however, by the time he reached it, frostbite had afflicted his left ear, eventually leaving him without.

Taiga

A hardy young mare, Taiga is a perfect mate for Hefty Heart as they share the same occasionally self endangering drive to help others. Her feistiness and determination more than makes up for her slight stature as she throws herself into whatever she does. The worst offence one could possibly make against her would be to accuse her of being unable to do something, in fact, being told she can't do something is the best way to guarantee she will do that thing no matter how long it takes.

Since pregnancy with her first foal, Silver Shard, eventually kept her from working the fields, she discovered a talent for sewing. Desperate to keep herself from going stir crazy from boredom and equally as driven to remain useful to her village, Taiga worked almost non-stop, creating blankets, hats, rugs, curtains, toys for the foals and sacks for the harvest. Once her foal was born, sewing took a back seat as she returned to work until her second pregnancy when she took it up again. With the arrival of a little lost pegasus, it was Taiga’s pleasure to create her a stuffed toy, just like she would for a foal of her own.

Winterberry

The foal of Roaring Blaze and Spring Frost, Winterberry watched as older foals grew up and moved on from the village, eventually leaving her with only a single friend. Though Silver Skater did her best to entertain the high energy filly, with her work to do, she didn’t always have the time. With Silver Skater busy, Winterberry would rush to sweep her half brother, Brisk into mischief. Though he was older, he was easily led by the rambunctious filly. One day when playing hide and seek, the fearless little Winterberry decided that the forest was a perfect place to hide. It was - until a pack of timberwolves came across her trail.

The pack set upon the terrified Winterberry with one catching her hind leg as she tried to flee. Not far away, Snowshoes and Hefty Heart heard her cries and came running, managing to fight off the attacking monsters. Even after her injuries healed, Winterberry suffered from nightmares, becoming deeply afraid of the forest and worse still - life was more dull than ever when her parents restricted her to their cave.

Whilst she had fun when her brother was around, Winterberry couldn’t help but wish for a friend closer to her own age. Then, as if by magic, the world brought her a little pink filly. A best friend, a partner in crime and a fellow songbird, the two soon became inseparable. Cadenza and Winterberry, best friends forever! Until it was time for ‘Princess’ Cadenza to move on. Winterberry never quite got over the ‘betrayal.’

Oakley and Timberly

One of the kindest pairs one could imagine, Oakley and Timberly have grown from foalhood sweethearts to an old married couple with all the typical lighthearted bickering that comes with it. More recently, Oakley has begun to struggle with growing stiffness in his ankles as he ages, making work more difficult as time passes. Still, he continues to play his part, knowing that if he gives in to his aches that would be one less pony preparing the village for winter. This is one of the driving forces behind their occasional spats with Timberly being frustrated with his unwillingness to take it easy.

Timberly has been comparatively more conscious about her health, adopting less strenuous jobs and involving herself more in baking and food preparation. Having had many foals in their time, Timberly suffers greatly from empty nest syndrome whenever one grows up and leaves home, this is intensified when they move on from the village altogether. Each time the pair go through the same heart break as they never fail to give their all to bringing up their children with endless love. This made them perfectly suited to taking in a filly abandoned in the winter forests.

They raised the young Cadenza like one of their own providing her with all the love they had. It is said that it takes a village to raise a foal and this was certainly true as each member played their part. The couple fed her, Taiga created toys and blankets for her, Spring Frost named her, Winterberry befriended her, Silver Skater taught her and Hefty Heart protected her.

Roaring Blaze

Roaring Blaze is a bright hearted young stallion, filled with enthusiasm for just about everything. He seems to run on plentiful energy levels, bouncing rather than walking as he makes his way through the fields. However, this energy can all too easily grow fiendish as he has a fierce temper set off by a hair trigger. When his temper is sparked, he tends towards great hostility, causing damage when he may kick at posts or walls to relieve his frustrations.

When he comes down from such raucous outbursts, he often finds himself embarrassed and ashamed. Fiercely competitive, Roaring Blaze works best when he feels as though he has been issued a challenge. Often it is Taiga who issues him with such challenges as the pair joust for success. The two are close friends seeing each other almost as siblings. However, no relationship is more important to him than his partnership with Spring Frost.

When Spring Frost had staggered into the village one bitterly cold evening, it was he who offered her a place to stay. Their romance grew from there with the pair swiftly became mates going on to have a foal, Winterberry. Roaring Blaze remains naive about his mate’s true history.

Spring Frost ( Belladonna )

The wrong place at the wrong time would be a perfect descriptor for the early life of a young mare named Belladonna. Born to a poor family in a run down neighbourhood, crime was an accepted part of routine life, a few bits here and a necklace or two there, stolen from naive ponies who strayed too far from the beaten track. Yet, petty theft would hardly lift her from poverty, simply getting her by one meal at a time.

That was when she met the ever so charming Double Bluff. He was confident, charismatic and best of all wealthy - everything that Belladonna could have dreamed would sweep her off her hooves. Soon, she found his riches to have roots in the malignant, yet, she simply didn’t care. For the first time, she revelled in the finer things in life, donning expensive clothes and jewels and eating at the fanciest restaurants.

When he asked her to help him with his work, it only seemed fair after all he had given her, fraud, intimidation, extortion, blackmail, Double Bluff was into it all. Mafia. The word should have told her to run but it didn’t. Growing more and more involved in a web of crime and danger it was far too late to back out when the flames of initial romance died out. Growing miserable and uncared for as Double Bluff engaged in blatant affairs, Belladonna fell into the hooves of another member of the mafia Snake Eyes.

Snake Eyes was deeply ambitious and used Belladonna to try to get closer to Double Bluff, he gaslighted her, reminding her of how unfair his treatment of her was and how she would never be happy with him around. One thing led to another and Belladonna found herself pregnant and Snake Eyes wisely reminded her that the foal would never be safe so long as Double Bluff was alive.

Through careful manipulation, he encouraged Belladonna to poison the leader of the mafia however the plot was uncovered when the drink was swapped. Upon finding out what happened Double Bluff flew into a dangerous rage directed at both of them. When Snake Eyes went missing, Belladonna knew it was time to flee and so she did, escaping into the mountains.

However, Double Bluff and a group of his minions pursued her, determined not to let her get away with her betrayal. They were catching up as she grew exhausted until suddenly a unicorn leapt into their path, scaring them off with a feat of tremendous magical strength. Belladonna decided that a new life required a new name and the sight of a new shoot peeking up through the thick snow inspired her to introduce herself as Spring Frost.

Whilst she initially intended to use the trusting ponies to recover before returning to ‘proper society’ Spring Frost found herself stumbling into a sudden, real love. All desire to leave left as Roaring Blaze taught her what true mutual love felt like. The rest of the village showed her the wonder of hard work and community, reshaping Spring Frost into a loving and happy mare.