Chocolate Strawberries, I have treats! #1

‘Vic? Victoria?’ I call from the window, rolling it down to stretch my gaze further around the area. The truck had just pulled up to a local flower farm, and she was obviously off to ‘smell the roses’ long before I could get a chance to look at anything around, and someone had to look after the stuff in the car in this much of a populated space. Dammit.

‘Vic?!’ I try again, but there’s nothing there. I click the door unlocked and kick it open, shuffling out and slamming the door shut behind me irritably. We had placed to be, things to see, yada yada ya. This was just an annoying inconvenience, to say the least.

We were here at this specific farm for anything but flowers. Ponies, specifically - my sister’s best friend, Victoria, was desperate to look at these new ponies that the locals swore were perfectly ‘themed’ for the holiday, their markings resembling tiny little hearts and lovely details like that sorta stuff. A pony was a pony to me; it didn’t make a huge deal whether it had big ears, little ears, big markings, little markings, hearts or stars or squares or whatever.

This was obviously different to Vic, who was obsessed with the ‘sweet’ side of life. And it wasn’t like I wouldn’t get anything out of it. My family had always owned our ranch, it didn’t make sense for me to not have horses. I just… didn’t. So hey, maybe a ‘Valentines’ teddy cob would be the one for me. Pfft, yeah, right. For sure.

‘Shut up, Ronin,’ a voice called from behind me, sharp and irritated as though I had personally been speaking to them - which I absolutely hadn’t, because that was notVictoria. ‘I can hear you from miles away.’

Ouch. Kieran Vajda, the devil he is; relatively new to our good little ranch about a hundred miles away. But obviously he’s here too, because I can never just have a mildly irritating day, it has to just be annoying.

‘Viccy’s down by the orchards, she’ll never hear you.’ He ran a hand through his white-blonde hair, deep brown eyes scouring me, as though looking for an answer that probably isn’t there. ‘Whatever. Where you headed?’

‘Fields. Wild herd, or whatever.’

‘Semi-feral.’

‘Scuse me?’

‘They’re semi-feral, not wild.’

‘Oooh, okay, my bad, sir,’ I mutter, rolling my eyes and stepping away from leaning on the truck.

‘Where are you going? Victoria’s still out there.’ Kieran briefly grabs my wrist and pulls me back, albeit too harshly.

‘Mhm, that’s why you’re staying here,’ I slip my hand out of his and dash off. ‘Thanks! Love ya!’

‘I hate you so much-‘ his comment carries on, but I’m too far away to hear the rest.

If Victoria won’t come now, she can go and see the herd in her own time, because I’m going now myself. There were a couple of cute ones on the site that she was showing me, I guess, which is neat. They were right, though; they were oddly… Valentine’s shaped, I guess.

A little bay stallion had gotten my attention - almost a shame, really, 'cause stallions are apparently super popular among the common people who go for these types of claimable horses, and also 'cause he's cute as hell, so that makes him even more popular. Vic was telling me about some sort of mutation that these Teddy Cobs can get, aptly named 'Teddy Ears', and he happens to have them, which is cute. Makes their ears all round and small 'n stuff.

The claiming itself is, in my humble opinion, pretty clever - it's purely chance. The hones are still vetted and whatever if they get chosen, but you enter by meeting the pony in person - wherever that may be, usually a sanctuary or 'safe' farm - and tie a ribbon with a little bell attached to it into their mane. This in itself means that anyone can enter - from the elderly to toddlers, and able-bodied riders to pony-loving handlers. The breed is small and friendly, so extremely versatile to whatever their future owner might want them to do. 

I fumble in my pockets to find the bell that Victoria had packed for me - one she'd made custom herself, which would be great if it wasn't a bit.. uh, elaborate? The ribbon itself was fashioned into a neat flower, probably a peony or a rose, and it was in a subtle pink with a big silver bell in the centre, like the centre of a real flower. It was cute, for sure, but maybe not great for an event that is literally based on the horse keeping the bell in its mane for an extended period of time. Not when the ponies are this small, either.

The bay that I was about to (try to) meet was specifically a 12-hands-high stallion with a Pangare dilute and a broad but short face-marking that had a neat little heart in the centre of his muzzle, neatly framed by delicate pink-and-white marking. His eyes were a dark brown, effortlessly wide and curious as he took the world in, and honestly, pink as he was, he was adorable. Maybe ponies could be for me after all. Maybe.