Avon Claim [Try #1]

The soft hoofbeats behind me caught my attention. A teddy. As I slowly turned around, sure enough a beautiful small teddy cob was staring at me. My breath caught in my throat as I tried not to startle the little pony. 

“Hello baby.” I whispered, not daring to take a step closer. My hands wrapped tightly around the ribbon with jingle bells. Please don’t scare it off, please. The teddy cob took a reluctant step forward, its ears perked up. Its coat was a beautiful bay, with a snip and star on its face, and one sock on its hind leg. 

I slowly bent down. Boy. “Hi baby boy.” I whispered. It felt so surreal to be here, with this tiny horse. “What’s your name?” I hushed, finding the courage to take a tiny step forward. The gelding held his ground, but not before stomping his little hoof. Hint taken. He was on the smaller side, though not the smallest I’d ever seen. His mane flowed effortlessly down his neck, while his tail flicked back and forth. If only I could get close enough to braid the bells into his mane. Maybe, just maybe, I’d be able to get him.

This was my first time ever trying to claim a teddy cob, and I think it showed. The gelding snorted impatiently, as if he was waiting for me to walk up to him and try to braid the bells into his mane. Maybe. But honestly, I’d rather take it slow, because God knows the moment I start trying to braid the bells into his mane, he’ll run off. 

I took a hesitant step forward. He raised his head, but didn’t try to run off. I’ve got this. I can do this, it's not that hard. People do it all the time. He won’t kill me. I tried to control my breathing as I walked closer to him. One step turned into two, which turned into three, until I was at his shoulder. 

He snorted, almost impatiently as I slowly reached into my pocket, pulling out the ribbon with the bells jingling. He must have been at least a foot shorter than me. Twelve hands maybe? Or maybe thirteen. I carefully gave his shoulder a soft pat before working on the bells. 

He stood still, allowing me to attempt to braid the ribbon into his mane. I’m not sure when he’s due to be run down to the stables, but it could be anywhere from a week to a day. It has to be a strong braid. My fingers felt clammy in the cold as I tried to braid his mane to the ribbon as tight as possible.

Only a few things struck me as odd with this cob. A, he was pretty chill which I guess could just be attributed to the fact that the teddies aren’t a hundred percent wild, and B, he was alone. From my understanding, the wild teddies were all a part of a herd, and the whole herd was run down to the stables together. 

I gave the braid a small tug, the green ribbon holding strong as the bells rang out. “Hopefully this will do, and hopefully you’ll be mine.” I whispered, giving the gelding a small pat. As if on cue, four teddies came out from the woods, their noses high in the air, or well, as high as they could get from their short bodies. 

I felt my chest get heavy as fear sank into my veins. I don’t know why I was so scared of these tiny ponies. Well, actually I do know why I just hate that it affects me so much. I stepped back, hoping that the ponies would pay me no mind. That was in fact not what happened.

Two of the ponies stepped closer. Every step I took back, they would take two forward, closing in on me. My anxiety flooded my brain, as I tried to back away faster. The two ponies just kept coming closer faster. 

In a moment’s notice I was on the ground, feeling a rock on my back. I tripped. Oh god, the ponies. I held my breath as the two ponies came closer, until they were sniffing me, and sure as hell close enough to hurt me. 

To my surprise, the pair were just curious and didn’t have any intent of harm as they laid down beside me. Funnily enough, they acted like dogs, pretty much demanding pets and attention. I laughed, as one, the mare, with teddy ears, nudged me. She was a beautiful bay roan, and was quite a bit taller than the gelding I had tied the ribbon to. 

The other pony was considerably shorter than her counterpart and seemed a bit more reserved. She didn’t practically force me to give her attention, but also didn’t mind it when I did. She was a cute buckskin with a white belt around her stomach and birdcatcher spots littering over her body.

The gelding came over, getting close enough that I could feel his warm breath on my face, a stark contrast to the cold wind. The only one of the four who didn’t come over was probably the shyest horse I’ve ever seen. He was a seal bay, with white splash marks. He just watched us, but didn’t dare come any closer. What’s with all the bays?

Eventually, I got up and managed to walk away from the ponies alone. But regardless of if I get the gelding, it's an experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life.