Sopapilla and her bells

Rae climbed up the foggy hills of the stepe where the ponies roamed slowly, letting out a low whistle occasionally. It was a foggy morning and it was making visibility awful, with the hilly terrain practically invisible in front of her.

“Where are you little twin..” she hummed softly under her breath, once again whistling out into the fog. This time however, a short whinnie could be heard in response. “There you are girlie!” She called out in response, the pony now calling back herself her neighs growing louder as she approached through the fog till she reached Rae, immediately snuffling about her pockets where she’d grown accustomed to finding peppermints.

“Oh you greedy girl Twinnie” she softly said to the mare, relenting to the mares demands and shoveling mints into her mouth. She had affectionately nicknamed the mare Twinnie due to her striking resemblance to one of her ponies back home, Clove. She suspected that the mares were related somewhere along the way as their similarities were so similar down to them even being close in height.

She sighed softly, noting that yet again the mares mane had come free of the bell she had lovingly braided in with the strongest thickest soft purple ribbon she could find. “Purple not your colour, girl? It’s a shame, it suits you so well” she chatted to the pony , while beginning to softly comb through her thick mane. Having finished off the peppermints from Rae’s pocket, the mare tilted an ear towards her, clearly bored of her antics now. With a soft sigh, the small mare began to wonder toward the direction Rae knew there to be a small patch of woodland where the ponies of the hills liked to take shelter when it was rainy or windy.

Rae ambled alongside the mare, letting her lead the way. It was clear she had somewhere in mind as she waked with a clear purpose, her gait strong and steady. Once hitting the tree-line, the mare picked up her pace slightly, trotting through the woodland with well practiced precision. Struggling to keep up slightly, Rae broke into a jog in order to keep up with the mare as to not loose sight of her in the fog. Suddenly coming to a halt, Twinnie lined herself up with one of the trees and began to rub herself all over it, having a good itch all over. Rae stood back and chuckled, taking in the sight of the mare who was clearly having the time of her life.

As the little mare turned to try and get a good itch at her neck where her thick mane covered, Rae spotted it. At the base of the thick tree lay three lengths of now dulled purple ribbon and the small golden bells that had once been dutifully braided into the mares mane. “You little nightmare.” Rae mumbled, walking over to scoop up the now tattered ribbons. The bells however, still seemed in good condition albeit muddy now.  “Right my little Twinnie girl. Now that I know your antics, should we give this another go?” The mare looked onward with curiosity, clearly wanting to know what the young woman now had in mind.

Pulling her small rucksack from her shoulders, Rae begin to sift through the contents searching for some new ribbon while putting the old tattered ones away back into the bag as to not let mark the rural landscape. After dusting off the golden bells, she held them up to the mares nose for her to inspect. “Think these will bring us some good luck now girl? We can even try all three” she hummed softly, plopping herself down on the ground next to the placid mare. Grabbing her comb once again, she now began to comb out the mares thick feathers on her front leg. Thankfully the mare stood still and quietly, only turning back so she could sniff the woman’s hair softly and gently play with the scrunchie that adorned her hair.

After a few minutes of careful braiding, Rae got up and took a step back to admire her handiwork. The three bells sat in a clover shaped pattern- hopefully for luck- braided intricately into the mares soft feathers. “Think that will do the trick this time gal?” To this, she leant her soft pink nose down to inspect the bells before sighing contentedly. “I’ll take that as a yes… let’s find another mint for you pretty girl” Rae stated simply, scrounging around the bottom of her bag for a few mints that she knew must be around in there somewhere.

After letting her snarf up the remaining mints, Rae spent some time with the short pony before demanding she be good and keep her bells in till the next round up, and hoping the pony would obey. “You’d fit right in at home you know. Maybe you should give these little bells a chance.” With that, Rae began her trek through the rugged landscape back to the hubbub of the farm where the ponies would soon return to maybe find new homes. As she neared the area, the soft pony come trotting down the hill, nuzzling her one last time and having a scratch before neighing softly. “This better only be a goodbye till roundup you know. You’re too cute to not come home with me now.”