Karlach Inspection !!

‘You know, you should get Karlach legally registered so she can have some foals. Tiny Bloodstones running around would be cute,’ Dutch hummed, lying over the back of the couch with his head dangling over Buckthorn’s legs. ‘Even though she’s not too tiny. Maybe they’d be big Bloodstones.’

‘…. Shut up.’ Buck muttered, shaking his head slowly. It was late at night, having stayed up trying to be good and do paperwork that the Maristones were behind on. Roan and Dakari were still sat at a desk sorting through the diary to book lessons and dates for possible trips, whilst Lingxue had retired to the bean-bag in the corner with his flute. They’d gotten a lot done, which was nice, but it was pitch black outside - as per the oncoming winter suggested - and cold, now that the little fire in the wall had been put out. ‘I’m not thinking about that now.’

‘Why not? It’d be cute. Imagine breeding her to Thalia,’ Dakari hummed as he scribbled down something onto the page hastily.

‘… I’d have to fight you for the foal, though,’ Roan chimed in, running a hand through his ginger-and-white hair and leaning back on the chair. ‘Any kid of Thalia’s is a kid of mine.’

‘… you don’t own any of Thali’s kids.’ Buck pointed out, eyebrow raised briefly at the other man.

Roan’s hair was consistently falling back into his green eyes every time he tried to move it, and in the end, he shrugged and gave up. ‘That’s why I’d fight you for this one.’

‘Fair enough.’

The room was quiet for a beat, save for the tune on the flute, before Buck spoke again. ‘… maybe I should register her.’

The group echoed with a chorus of agreements, humming and nodding.

‘Fine. Give me the phone, I’ll have a look.’ He sighed, sitting upright and shuffling about to get comfortable again as Dakari threw one of the closest phones towards Buckthorn. ‘Great. Uh… inspection process. Must wear a halter or bridle, must be able to be seen in paces and standing nicely, must be proven to have a safe and handleable temperament to help ensure safe breeding…’

‘Karlach just isn’t too great at standing still. But if you bribe her then she might,’ Lingxue hummed, the flute now resting in his lap as he braided some of the curly hair hanging over his shoulder. ‘Tell her she can raid my fancy treats.’

‘What about Roan’s fancy treats? I think she likes them better,’ Dutch stated, glancing at Lingxue with a subtle grin. The nobleman gasped in mock offence, hand fanning his chest as he shook his head.

‘Traitor.’

‘My treats are naturally better. They’re homemade,’ Roan smiled softly, nodding before mumbling something about the calendar to Dakari.

‘Homemade? Seriously? Didn’t think you had that kind of spare time,’ Buck looked torn between being impressed and confused, but a look of realisation dawned on him when Dakari glared at Roan.

‘I made them, he’s just too cool to admit it.’ He scoffed, shaking his head and snatching a bottle of water that Roan was reaching for. ‘But yeah, they’re good. Sunspear loved them, and he’s picky.’

‘Thalia ate them well.’

‘Thalia eats anything he looks at, he just has a reputation to uphold so he does it while you aren’t looking.’

‘Oh, guys?’

‘Hm?’ The pair of them glanced over at Buck, their prior bickering silenced.

‘I can take Bloodstone to get her registered on Saturday.’ Buck’s gaze flickered from the screen to the clock above them. ‘… so we should sleep, and make sure she’s all clean tomorrow, rug her, and then take her the next day.’

‘….. sleep…’ Lingxue sighed, putting the flute down and standing up instantly. ‘I’m staying at the camp village tonight, in the Zhou Cottage, of course. Roan, Dakari, you’re more than welcome to join me if you want to stay close to Maplefall.’

The two nodded, and it was decided. Maplefall’s favourite teddy-eared mare Infernal Bloodstone would be given a bath in the morning, after her exercise.

_____________

It was almost as though she had listened to their conversation last night, because when it came to trying to bathe her, Bloodstone was more than content to roll in all the mud and then fling the water at whoever was holding her. Lingxue was in some of his nicest jodhpurs and so couldn’t warrant getting them dirty just to bathe the pony, so he went to take Jiaogulan in the school for dressage training. Dakari had been pulled away to do some schoolwork, and Roan volunteered to help, leaving Dutch and Buck on their lonesome to deal with the pony that was very opposed to being clean.

‘Karlach- Karlach, please, just- it’s not that big of a deal,’ Dutch muttered, holding the leadrope at arms-reach to try and entice the pony to stop shaking her head every time a bit of water scrubbed at her muddy cheek. ‘Karlach, I swear, I’m the one having the bath here now, not you.’

‘Maybe she thinks you need it.’ Buckthorn glared, currently soaked to the bone compared to Dutch. His black-and-blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail to try and keep it out of the wrathful pony’s way, but it had managed to catch the sight of a rogue hosepipe where the pressure was slightly too strong for it to stay in the bucket by itself. The hose had since been turned off, and the bucket was being kept at least a stable away so that Bloodstone couldn’t kick it over.

She was in no way malicious with her actions, not in the slightest - just… heavily mischievous. Her view of fun was a bit crude compared to others. Batman, one of her fieldmates in the winter paddocks, got heavily irritated by this, but Juliette thought she was a lot of fun to be around, so that’s good.

It took a long while to get her to a sensible state, and then they had to wait for her to dry. She enjoyed being rubbed over with a warm towel much nicer than being attacked by the bubbly water.

_____________

Sunday morning, pony stood in the trailer and burying her muzzle in hay, everyone bundled up in the truck as Buck drove. The inspections were being done a short while away this month, and the chilly autumn weather was almost enough to make them reconsider, but hey - they’ve waited long enough. Karlach would’ve had a fit if she ended up looking so fancy to not show it off, to be fair.

In her fanciest bridle (that had been cleaned until it was sparkling), Karlach was lead outside of the box and surprisingly stood very nicely. The group had brought Snapper as some sort of comfort blanket, but honestly, Snap was more likely to be an issue out of the two of them. Luckily, the two mares got on nicely, both being the tallest of the Teddies at Maplefall Acres and often sharing a field together, so they weren’t interested in being too much of an issue. Tian Feng, a friend who had recently purchased Snapper from her old owner, Keto, was looking into inspecting Snap herself, so decided to come along to get a feel for it. He was a lot more helpful than Dutch, in Buckthorn’s humble opinion. Quiet, didn’t complain, just got on with the jobs and listened to his music at a volume that didn’t disrupt anyone. … Dutch could never.

‘Ya’ve got ya tie on wrong, Buck, c’mere.’ Dutch hummed, reaching over and grabbing the tie from Buckthorn’s hands to put it on properly. Whistling a tune absentmindedly as he worked, the black tie was sleek against the dark brown show-jacket and maple leaf broach engraved with the pony-club logo. Patting him on the shoulder and nodding, Dutch gestured to the tall seal bay pony with her neat roached mane and short fluffy tail. Bloodstone’s black bridle with gold detailing stood out against her fur, a deep red stone embedded into the brow-band. Her coat was clipped down her throat and belly to prepare for working with her woolly fur, making it look like she was wearing a little suit to keep herself nice and elegant.

Walking down the pathway in front of the judges and spectators bringing their own ponies would be the hardest part for Bloodstone - she tends to get a bit distracted, and when there’s so many people then there’s obviously many people to get snacks from.

On the other hand, Bloodstone is a big fan of showing off and looking fancy when there’s a crowd.

Dutch and Tian Feng flipped a coin between them, essentially - betting on how she’d react in this environment - and Snapper had sniffed the ‘heads’ side, and naturally, won.

Heads meant that Bloodstone was of course the show-off she loved to be, but in a surprisingly tame manner. She walked beside Dutch nicely, trotted when asked instead of hesitating, stood square with her head held nicely and even resisting the urge to sniff the judge (barely).

Overall, today was the perfect day for Infernal Bloodstone's inspection, because she was perfectly in the mood and so was anyone who saw her walking about. Well done, Karlach!