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It had been the giggling that had first attracted Madeira's attention. A good-humored mare herself, there were few things that could reel her in as quickly as the prospect of fun and good times. She had been ambling along with no real purpose or destination, so when she heard the high-pitched sounds of merriment, it had been easy for her to decide to investigate. Discretely, of course; it was always a good idea to make sure that you weren't interrupting anything when there was giggling involved!

So she had done the only logical thing: dropped down onto her stomach and wiggle-crawled through the grass in the direction of the laughter. Fortunately, there had been a convenient little hillock in her path, and she when she reached the highest point, she had been able to clearly see the giggler: a little pink and white foal, with the craziest wings she'd ever seen! For a few minutes, she lay there in silence, watching the foal's antics with unveiled amusement. After that, she finally realized, from snippets of the conversation she was unabashedly eavesdropping on, that the mare off beyond the foal was his mother. Really, Maddie ought to have realized that right away; the mare might not be pink like the foal, but she had the same extraordinary wings!

And really, both mother and son seemed like friendly, pleasant Soquili, Maddie decided. They might be having a private family outing, or they might not; but she couldn't know if she'd be welcome to join them until she tried! So with that, Maddie bounced back up to her feet, shaking off bits of grass and flowers that had stuck to her during her crawling. No doubt she made an incongruous sight; a full-grown mare popping up from the ground like and overgrown gopher! But Maddie had never been one to let how she looked interrupt the prospect of having a good time.

And the little foal was so cute, how could anyone around him not have a good time? Flutterbies, indeed; adorable!

Grinning, she ambled down the hill towards the little family, waving her plumed tail at mother and son in greeting. "Well, sometimes it seems like the butterflies are asking to be played with, with how good they are at bobbing around, but I agree, they're really not tough enough to stand up to Soquili interaction. And I don't know about you," she said to the little foal with a grin, "But I would feel very bad if I was playing with something and it ended up collapsing! I think that's why it's best for Soquili to play with other Soquili, or other animals who can take it. Like raccoons, for example, or sometimes even bears," she added with a chuckle. Her own regular companion was a small black bear with the dubious name of Bankston, so she knew what she was talking about there!

"Though I wouldn't recommend seeking out bears, as a rule. They can be pushy!" She made a face there, then grinned at the strangers yet again. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but you guys just seemed to be having such a fun time, I had to come snooping! My name is Maderia, but you can call me Maddie. And you can tell me to go away, if you want; I won't be offended, if I'm interrupting!"

Maddie had thrown out the offer to leave as a courtesy, but it would have been rough going if the other mare had actually asked her to leave. It had been so long since she'd seen a foal; probably not since she was a foal herself! And while you'd think that she would have matured and changed with age, if she were being honest she would have to admit that hanging out with a foal sounded like more fun than anything! Especially when the foal was as enthusiastic about the idea as she was!

Grinning, she bobbed her head first at Esta, having enough manners and sense to know the proper way to do things. "Well, it's nice to meet you both, Esta and Amadeus, and thank you so much for letting me butt in on you like this. Believe me, Amadeus' manners are nothing to worry about compared to some I've known, but I'm sure he'll get the hang of it in time!" Beaming, she looked from mother to son as she explained merrily, "A raccoon is a little animal, even smaller than you, with little paws that can hold onto things instead of having hooves. And a bear is kinda like that, only a LOOOOOOT bigger, and sometimes a lot meaner. Not always," she hastened to add, "But sometimes. So you shouldn't rush up to strange bears. But my friend Bankston is a bear; if we see him while we're playing, I'll be sure to introduce you!" Quickly looking back at Esta, she clarified, "if your Mama says it's alright. Though I promise, Bankston is a nice bear."

That settled, she suddenly dropped down low in a crouch and grinned widely at Amadeus. "And of course, I'd love to play with you! What should we play? Do you also like to play," she asked Esta with a turn of her head. "Because I'm sure it would be fun if you joined in, too!"

Energy, thy name was Maddie!

Perhaps it would have been smart to ask Esta about the familiar thing BEFORE mentioning it to Amadeus, but man, the little foal sure was enthusiastic! Maddie giggled, both because of the foal's contagious enthusiasm and because Esta had relieved her faux pas before Maddie had even realized she'd made it! Not being a parent herself or having experience being around foals, it had yet to occur to her that there were things which should not be suggested around impressionable ears! Though if she were being honest, the same things could be said about Maddie's own ears; it was rare for her to hear an idea she didn't like!

"Yes, we'll see if we can rope in Bankston, if we happen to find him. He and I tend to butt heads from time to time, on account of me being so..." Maddie paused, trying to figure out the right way to explain things to a foal, particularly one who was a near-stranger! "Well, we're different, you might say, so sometimes we like to do different things," she finished somewhat lamely. Better that than to explain that they'd had a fight earlier that day because she MAY have bounced on him when he was napping...sometimes, bears could make awkward familiars!

"In the meantime, though, I bet the three of us can have a lot of fun, ourselves! What sort of game shall we play? Tag is always a classic, or we could run a race, or have a scavenger hunt? Or maybe even try hide and seek, in the tall grass?" Though that last might be a bit of a challenge; none of them were exactly of the coloration to 'blend in!'