Son of a Gun Claim Attempt

The drive was long and winding, the kind of country backroad that felt half-forgotten by the world and mud splashed up along the sides of Taylor's blue truck as she and Aarya navigated around deep ruts carved by weeks of rain. Trees flanked both sides of the road, their leaves still dripping from the latest downpour, and the clouds above hung low and brooding; grey and bloated with more rain that threatened to fall at any moment. Inside the car, the heat was on low, and the radio played a mellow hum beneath their conversation while the blonde kept one hand on the wheel, the other wrapped around a travel mug of rapidly cooling coffee. Aarya sat in the passenger seat, her boots up on the dash, arms crossed and eyes scanning the landscape. "I swear-", she muttered, "If it rains one more day, I'm selling my soul for sunshine."

Taylor snorted, "Too late for me. I've already adjusted to life as a swamp goblin."

Aarya shot her a look, arching a brow, "You've got, what, fifteen ponies now?"

"Why don't you at least double that?", Taylor corrected, glancing away in shame.

Aarya refrained from gasping, "And yet you're driving me out here because I need another one?"

Taylor grinned, "Teddy Cob fever. It's contagious. Sorry girl, I don't make the rules." Aarya grumbled something under her breath, but the flush in her cheeks said more than her words. She'd held out for months, but the charm of those little Teddy Cobs - fluffy... and feathered, and oh-so-full of personality - had wormed its way into her heart after purchasing Johnny at the summer event. They finally turned into the field road, where a wooden sign, now half-caked in mud, read: WILD TEDDY COB HERD – PRIVATE GROUNDS – VISIT BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

The young woman eased her truck into a grassy pull-off, already slick with water and stamped flat from hooves before they climbed out with groans, stretching stiff limbs and immediately cursing the state of the ground. "Ugh, disgusting-", Aarya cried, holding up one boot that was already sinking, "I've stepped into soup."

Taylor looked over the field and let out a low whistle, "Geez, it's a swamp." Patches of the pasture were sodden and pockmarked, but the worst of it lay just beyond the fenceline. There, in a low dip of the land, rainwater had collected into a wide, shallow pool. It wasn't really deep - maybe a foot at most - but it shimmered like a misplaced lake, reflecting the overcast sky. Tufts of grass poked up through the surface like small islands, and further out, the water rippled from the steady pitter of drizzling rain.

"Um... was that always there?", Aarya asked, her thin eyebrows raised.

"Nope.", Taylor leaned on the fence, "That's definitely new. I don't know if we'll find any Cobs today with um... this." Birds fluttered above the makeshift lake, and somewhere off in the trees, a red-winged blackbird called.

Then Aarya pointed, "Wait. Do you see that?" Taylor followed her finger towards the lake, and there - half-submerged in the water - was a pony; a fluffy, ridiculously muddy, absurdly adorable young stallion. He was a liver red roan tobiano, his white patches muddied to a dull grey-brown, and his darker coat glistening where the rain had soaked him through. His mane was long and shaggy, curls bouncing with every gleeful trot through the water while his slightly feathered legs lifted high with every step, splashing dramatically. He threw his head back and whinnied, the sound bright and boyish, echoing across the wet pasture. "Taylor-", Aarya giggled, her voice tight with restrained joy, "So... I need him."

Instantly, Aarya climbed the fence, and it didn't take long for her boots to squelch in the mud as she marched down the slope towards the water. The stallion watched her curiously, his ears perked, and trotted a few lazy circles through the puddle, his poof tail flipping playfully. Aarya eventually slowed her pace, her hands low, her voice a low murmur carried on the wind.  The stallion stood still now, eyeing her with a cautious but open expression, sniffing the air and taking a step forward, then another. Only a second later, the red roan bounced, his hooves splashing, his mane flying anew, bolting through the shallow water past her. Aarya laughed and spun on her heel to follow. The two played like that for a while - him teasing, darting just out of reach, her laughing breathlessly and slipping in the mud. Then, slowly, the gap between them began to shrink as the stallion approached. He sniffed her shoulder, then nuzzled her arm as rain misted their hair, the water still rippling around them.

And then - splash - he kicked a hoof forward, sending a wave over her legs. Aarya gasped, "Oh, you little troublemaker, it's on!" She scooped a handful of water and flung it back. The stallion reared slightly, his pink hooves spraying arcs of droplets, before trotting sideways as they circled each other, playing, and challenging. Eventually, the stallion calmed, standing in front of her with a low, soft nicker, and Aarya stepped forward slowly, reaching into her pocket.

Taylor saw the gold flash before she realized what was happening. "Aarya-" she called, "What are you doing?"

Aarya grinned like a child caught sneaking cookies, "I might have brought a bell." And as gently as if she'd done it a hundred times, she braided the golden bell into his wet, tangled mane. The stallion stood still the entire time, his pink nose pressed to her shoulder. "You coming home with me, troublemaker?"