Proud Love [Nepelle Herd/ Thalera/ Open]

[Ehetere]

“Then you will lose your life! For I am Thalera, named for strength! Face my wrath at your peril!” proclaimed the colt, and Nepelle snorted in amusement. This colt was clearly much too big for his boots. Still; Nepelle could do something about it, at least before some cruel, spiteful stallion did a lot more.

His attack landed well; the colt had not even anticipated that he would have launched an attack so early. Thalera tripped, badly too, and scrambled somewhat desperately to regain his feet. This was going to be far too easy, unlike his battle with the roan stallion. He was sure that they had been closely matched in strength, and it had only been his previous experience that had saved him.

The sooty colt retreated at a fast pace down the hill; but Nepelle was snapping at his heels and herding him down. When he was at the bottom it would be easier for him to get to the colt, and then at least he wouldn’t be leering at beautiful Kurrin. The colt was running away in a rather cowardly manner; and Nepelle could not help himself but call down, “You were named for strength eh? I see none! I am Nepelle; Ruler of the Sky! My mate is a daughter of the King and the chestnut was one of the King’s mares! Who are you to think that you; a simple colt, could take them from me!”

[Tiggs]

Thalera was sure he was going to break his neck at this speed. More than once he almost tumbled over a rock as if to prove himself right. But no matter how fast he went; the chestnut was still on his heels, oppressive and frightening. The colt squealed again, stretching his legs out as far as they would go to cover more ground.

The momentum carrying down the hill made his leading foreleg buckle as his hit the flat, but his other foreleg caught him and he was off at a gallop again. The stallion had mares from the King! Had he stolen them, fought for them? He was obviously a talented stallion, more talented than Thalera realised you could be. Thalera did not really understand how a King became the King, but he imagined it had something to do with being giant and fearsome. Like the chestnut on his tail.

Wide-eyed and already blowing, Thalera could barely hear Nepelle’s thundering hooves over the sonic pulses of his heart in his ears. This was the fastest he had ever run, and he just hoped he could keep it up long enough to escape! Trees were coming up, and Thalera had mixed hopes. It might be easier to outmanoeuvre the chestnut, but in his current state, he would hardly be able to avoid most of the obstacles himself.

[Ehetere]

Nepelle could hear the colt’s loud sobbing breaths up ahead and knew that he was tiring quickly. Nepelle’s legs ate up the ground beneath him and he pushed himself faster. His mature strength allowed him to go faster than he ever had before, and now not only had he gained ground on the colt, but he was levelling with him.

Nepelle pushed off hard from his hindquarters, getting in front of the colt and propping to s standstill, forcing Thalera to do the same. He struck out at the colt; using the sooty’s own movement to make the kick all the more damaging. He would teach this colt not to ever mess with him or his mares again.

Nepelle snaked his head forward and grabbed a hold of the colt’s withers; intending to shake some sense into him. But already he was growing tired of this fight; since there was not even the slightest hint of challenge to entertain him. Beating up colts was hardly an honourable thing to do either, even if they were cocky enough to merit it. And he wanted to get back to Kurrin and Fira and his new mare; who still had not accepted him. So with a final shake, Nepelle let the colt go and cantered off, giving him a passing kick at his back legs as he went, his tail held high and proud.

[Corowa]

The white filly stood grazing in the sheltering fringe of snowgums. While the other mares and fillies stuck close to the side of their stallion as surely Goonama would have done, Goolara had moved towards a clump of bush, longing for the companionship of her sister. Kurrin the creamy filly seemed gentle and the bay filly too, but Goolara was still filled with such wild restlessness, she had barely spoken to them. Shoulder stiff as it was, the filly had not been able to leave the small mob, and the bad-tempered chestnut mare was always watching. Nibbling on the snowgrass, Goolara felt her hide prickling, and she threw up her head and strained her ears. For suddenly the chestnut mare was hustling the two fillies towards her, and Goolara swung about and lashed out sharply with her heels when one of them jostled her too closely.

Nostrils quivering, she gave a soft squeal of excitement. For it was a strange brumby she smelt on the wind, and she wondered whether this stallion she now ran with would be beaten. Allowing herself to be quietened with a nip, Goolara looked on with ears pricked, trembling with the throbbing of her blood, the uneven pounding of her heart. Every nerve seemed to tingle, and she found herself quite unable to stand still. For a moment there was silence, and then a young stallion stepped proudly into view, looking longingly towards the fillies standing hidden in the line of trees.

The colt fascinated her, glistening golden in the sunlight, so Goolara moved steadily forwards from the cover of the trees. Ears flattened and head held high, she threatened to kick should the sour chestnut mare drive her away. For this young stallion sought only the beautiful and shy Kurrin, and Goolara wearied of always hiding half-seen amongst the snowgums for fear one of them would be coaxed away. There was a tremendous screaming, and the filly shook all over as she remembered the terrible fight in the mist. Then Nepelle gathered himself and leapt away at a gallop, so swift and sure, it filled Goolara with dread. Seeming to stumble in his terror, the young stallion turned vanished over the line of the ridge, and the filly longed to follow. Suddenly unable to contain her own loneliness, Goolara gave a sobbing neigh, listening for an answer that would never come.

Sighing, the filly drifted towards the thick scrub of ti tree and messmate. Having been so harshly separated from Goonama, she wanted no more than to be left alone. Even the snowgrass springy underfoot could not fill her with joy as once it so had. Challenging the very wind itself, had not the thrill when there was no filly white as snow beside her, teasing her with swiftness and cunning. Sensing the chestnut stallion would return to them soon, for the colt had been so foolishly young; Goolara dropped her head to graze. Here in the gentle silence of the snowgums, where the wind whispered through the leaves, she stood half-dreaming. For there in the blackness of closed lids, it was dancing white fillies she glimpsed.

[Tiggs]

No matter how fast he tried to go, the chestnut always caught up. Between his labouring breaths and thundering heartbeat, he was deafened, even to the encouraging neigh that came from the unseen filly. Then suddenly the stallion was in front of him and he braced his legs to skid to a halt. He collided with the other stallion’s chest, but it seemed to not even bother him. Hooves slammed into him, and Thalera screamed as the pain ricocheted through him.

In his panic, the stallion had taken hold of his withered and was shaking furiously. For an awful moment, Thalera thought he might. Die. Then the stallion released him, gave him a slightly less resounding kick and left him. Thalera kept his balance for a while, stumbling into a covering grove of candle barks, before his shaking limbs gave up on him. Whether they shook from fear or injury remained to be seen, but either way Thalera felt well and truly beaten.


Meanwhile, Fira has been keeping order back on the rise. Rounding up Kurrin and Alinta, she stood them in the clearing with firm instructions to stay. Then she set off after the horrible spotted filly who has shown far too much interest in the colt and deserved a good beating. Ears back, head low, tail flagged, Fira bullied her way through the foliage to where the newest addition to the herd grazed. Squealing her outrage at the young mare’s complacency, Fira strode up to the filly and gave her a hard nip on the grey-mottled shoulder.

[Ehetere]

There was still too much blood and adrenaline pumping through his body to feel the effects of such a dangerous chase just yet. He would probably be stiff and sore; but otherwise unharmed, for the next few days. It was a good outcome; and a lucky one too. It was a good thing that colt had known next to nothing about fighting. Impatient to get back to his mares though; he started to canter, on a couple of occasions almost stumbling on unseen sharp rocks.

His flanks were heaving and his sides slick with sweat by the time he pulled himself over the lip of the little plateau for the second time that day. He let out a joyous neigh to inform his little mob that he had returned, only to discover that it was only Kurrin and Alinta in the grassy clearing to welcome him. He trotted quickly over to Kurrin and nuzzled her affectionately; catching his breath after such a long run and then climb back up the steep slope. He breathed in her sweet scent, and nibbled a little at her mane before asking, “Where are Fira and that new mare?” But the answer came before a word could leave her lips; as Fira’s angry squeal could be heard from somewhere nearby. A couple of crows loudly took flight in fright, and a little worried, Nepelle asked Kurrin again, “Why did Fira leave?”

[Corowa]

Goolara woke when the brown thrush called out, gave its sharp cry of sorrow, which blended with the gentle rustling of those silvery-grey leaves. Ears flicking back and forth, Goolara looked about nervously, noting with sudden anxiousness, the stillness of the bush. Wondering if she had been forgotten, here in the shade of those spreading snowgums, the filly trembled, half with longing, and half-afraid. Then Fira burst from the line of trees, and Goolara shied violently sideways, startled by the horrible mare. Thinking she meant to drive her back to where the other fillies grazed, the filly stopped suddenly in her tracks, and got a hard bite on her shoulder.

Goolara squealed in surprise and anger. Swinging her rump around, she lashed out with her heels. Giving that chestnut hide a resounding kick, the filly sprang aside to avoid another of those unpleasant nips. However, rather than melt into the sheltering fringe of rough snowgums and tall candlebark, Goolara flattened her ears, offering fight. Feeling strong in her swiftness and youth, Goolara had no fear. Tossing her head, the filly threatened the furious chestnut mare, teeth bared and eyes showing the whites. Goolara’s shoulder was becoming very sore, but the filly was too maddened to notice, longed for nothing more than to be gone from this snowgum glade, longed suddenly for Bunda.

“I had hoped that stallion of yours would be beaten by another, so I would no longer have to run with you. For what stallion would have you, a sour and bad-tempered mare, one who bullies and harasses his fillies worse than any other,” she snapped. “It is no wonder you run with a foolish young colt, one you can bully much as his fillies!” Surely, in those low and scrubby snowgums, the older, heavier mare could not run so swiftly. Backing up further, with one step and then another, Goolara felt the sweat break out behind her ears. Peering through the trunks of the trees, through those gently swaying ribbons of bark, the filly wondered suddenly if that golden chestnut stallion had returned. For Goolara knew she was still too young to go fast enough to out run a stallion in his prime, and it was not worth being lamed once again.

[Tiggs]

Kurrin’s nose reached out to touch her mate’s lathered neck, nostrils trembling, and she tasted the salt of sweat on him. She was not quite sure what to do, so she seemed nervous and quiet. “She wandered off, the new mare, Fira went to get her.” She replied, hoping that was what he wanted to hear. She felt the overwhelming urge to make him happy, as he seemed displeased at the moment. She glanced anxiously toward the trees and the sounds of Fira’s enraged squeals.


Fira was used to resistance from other mares, but none so foolish had lashed out so futilely. She was still a filly, and she dared defy the lead mare? The blow to her side had been unexpected, and might bruise, which only angered her more. “Keep your mouth shut, filly! You will not speak like that about our stallion. If he is ever beaten, it will be your fault for not supporting him.” Well, not really. It would be Nepelle’s fault for being useless, but Fira could use her words as well as her hooves to drive punishment.

Fira took no offence to her comments about bullying. She was the lead mare, it was her job to keep these insolent little fillies in line and if they needed a good beating before they would do so, she was happy to oblige. She advanced on Goolara as she backed away, nostrils flared and reddened with blood close to the surface, ears pinned and neck snaking. She might be past her prime, but the filly was no match for her years of experience.

Bunching her haunches, she launched at the grey filly, aiming vicious bite for her head. She struck out loudly with hard kicks, moving around the filly to give herself a better angle to herd from. She aimed a solid kick at the filly’s rump, wanting to get her moving toward the other fillies.

[Ehetere]

“She wandered off, the new mare, Fira went to get her.” replied Kurrin, gently touching his neck, and Nepelle sighed. He had been patient enough with Goolara, but this really was starting to become more of an annoyance. He had won her fair and square - and while she was still with her odd roan stallion she had been more than happy to answer his calls. So why now, after he had fought and won for her, was she being so stubbornly difficult? It was starting to tweak his temper that was for sure, and he was going to do something about it.

“I am going to go and get them both,” said Nepelle determinedly, snuffling reassuringly at Kurrin’s nose. He didn’t want to upset her in any way, fashion or form and since he knew that conflict troubled her, it needed to be stopped right away. The new mare’s animosity and bad temper were upsetting the perfect balance of his little band and now he was definitely NOT happy. “Make sure no more marauding stallions come for you in my absence. Call out if you have any problem and I will be at your side in a flash,” assured Nepelle, looking deeply into her warm brown eyes before trotting purposefully off in the direction of the angry mare screams.

Nepelle broke into a canter as he got closer, and saw Fira advancing on Goolara between the trunks. The pale grey filly was backing away, and afraid that she would choose to flee, he burst into the clearing like a raging storm, snorting and squealing with his eyes rolling. This was turning out to be a really bad day. First some cocky young colt decided to turn up and demand that he hand over his mate and when he finally got rid of that annoyance, two of his mares were fighting and it looked as thought one of them wanted to leave him and run off. Great. Just great.

He wheeled around the two mares to put Goolara between Fira and himself. There was no way that she was going anywhere. And she had quite a lot to answer to at this stage. He stood up tall and defiant with his ears pinned back to show his displeasure; just incase it wasn’t already obvious. “Stop it both of you!” he shouted, barring his teeth menacingly. There weren’t many occasions where he was truly angered, but this was one of them. “Explain to me what your problem is before my temper slips further. I have just had to drive off an annoying little upstart, and come back to find my mares fighting and my mate upset! I will not tolerate it I tell you! I demand that you explain yourselves, and it had better be good.”

[Corowa]

Furious, Goolara went up on her hind legs, squealing with rage, just as the mare rushed forwards with mouth open. When the chestnut struck out with a foreleg, the filly did not move fast enough, and this time she got a glancing blow to the shoulder. Blowing hard and giving little nervous whinnies, Goolara rolled her eyes and lashed out with her heels. Then, there was an angry stallion’s trumpeting neigh, and forgetting the chestnut for a moment, Goolara threw up her head and watched as the stallion cantered swiftly over the snowgrass, swinging right around both mare and filly, so she could no longer feel the gentle touch of the snowgum leaves. Goolara had not expected Nepelle to be enraged, and she stood quite still, feeling her hide stinging with sweat.

Trembling, Goolara’s ears twitched, and she felt herself filled with a desperate fury. “You took me from Goonama, from Bunda, from all those I loved” the filly snapped angrily. “I would rather have man upon my back, to be one of his tame horses, than to run with you!“ Shoulder stiffening with the tremendous kicks and bites she had received, Goolara glared at Fira with teeth bared and ears flattened. “I have never seen such a bad tempered mare as you,” she said sourly. “Kurrin and Alinta are hustled and harried, nipped into submission. I only came here to graze in the quiet of the snowgums, but I must be driven with kicks and bites, to where the other fillies stand.”

Thinking of those fillies, the beautiful Kurrin and shy Alinta, Goolara remembered Goonama, realised with sudden longing, how greatly she had missed her. Something told her, when the south winds gusted, and the skies were dark with blizzards and snow, she would leave this stallion of sunlight, would vanish into snow, white filly invisible in the blinding whiteness of the winter storm. For then, she would find Goonama, there in the lower country of the Crackenback, where the snowgums grew, wreathed by cloud.

“I have nothing more to say to you,” Goolara said softly. “But know this O wise stallion, the moon will fade, and the light will vanish with it. For one can not hold the moonbeam” Giving a toss of her fine head, the filly, swinging wide around the furious chestnut mare, cantered towards the narrow fringe of trees. Cantering over the fading carpet of snow daises, the filly thought once again of Goonama, of a white filly prancing gloriously in the shallow waters of the Crackenback.