Welcome to Gaia! ::

Camille brightened even more when she saw the approach of the other two ponies, but she didn't put two and two together. She saw how excited Natalia was, but also the expectation on her face. The green haired girl looked from Natalia, to the pair of ponies to Keeta with confusion.

"Camille, Natalia and Ceres are giving you one of the ponies here...and the other one is for Joel. You get to pick a pony and it will be yours to name and ride and take care of. I'm letting you pick first because I think you will know better which pony would be good for you and which one would be good for Joel." Camille just looked back and forth between Keeta and the ponies in wide-eyed silence. After a long moment, she finally spoke in her tiny voice.

"I get a pony?"

"Indeed...even I didn't know all the secret," Keeta remarked.

Joel was infected by Natalia's mirth and started clapping and laughing again.

"Yay ponies!" he said repeatedly, although Keeta didn't believe that he had grasped the concept that one of these ponies was to be his. He'd figure it out sooner or later though.

Camille didn't seem to know how to process this information. She just stood there, her face a mix between shock and indecision, unmoving despite Natalia's enthusiasm. This was the biggest decision of her very young life! She stared at the two ponies. One was a very light brown with a dark brown mane and tail; the other was a medium, almost bluish grey, with a darker shade of the same color for his mane and tail. Then Camille's expression relaxed some, as a thought came to her.

"Are they boys or girls?" she asked, as if that would help her make a decision.

Tentatively, Camille walked up to the blue-grey pony and gently reached to touch the soft fur of her muzzle. The equine stepped forward, meeting her halfway, nudging her hand and giving a soft whicker, as if realizing this little person in front of her startled easily. Her ears flicked forward curiously as she looked at the little person. Camille smiled and looked at Ceres.

"I can keep her?" She asked, trying to confirm for certain whether she understood. Her eyes twinkled with child-like hope.

"Thank you!" she squeaked, not quite having the vocabulary to express how happy and excited she was. Camille grinned and turned back to her little pony. She continued to stroke the grey-blue muzzle as she considered names. As was typical of a little girl as young as she was, the names she considered were things like "Princess," "Cinderella," "Ariel." Keeta had been letting her watch too many Disney princess films.

While Camille considered, Keeta held Joel lower so he could pet the other pony. This pony was equally as gentle, but he flicked his tail with the excitement of getting to meet this little boy.

"Joel, this pony is for you. Ceres is giving him to you for your birthday. You get to give him a name, if you want. Or mommy can help you give him a name."

Joel for the moment ignored his mother. He was too absorbed in feeling the pony's soft muzzle and mane.

Keeta turned to Natalia, realizing that she didn't have Joel's attention.

"Why did you choose to name him Lir?" she asked.

Keeta gratefully set Joel on the ground when the pony knelt. Now he could reach it, without her having to hold him up. He giggled and wrapped his arms around the pony's neck. He held up a piece of the pony's mane.

"Brown!" he declared. Keeta had been working on teaching him his colors and brown was one of his more recent aquisitions. Joel grinned with pride at being able to identify something that was brown. Keeta chuckled.

Camille was still considering her pony. She had gotten closer to her, realizing that the pony was going to remain still and not pull any surprises. Stroking the pony's back she spoke.

"Can I call her Daisy?"

"Or perhaps Brownie, or something like that," Keeta said, agreeing with Ceres' line of thinking. A color oriented name would definitely be easier for Joel to deal with then something arbitrary.

The small boy frowned, seeming to think about the suggestions. He hadn't been trying to think of a name. He had just been stating something he knew.

"Brownie?" he said after a moment, as though he wasn't sure of his choice.

"Daisy!" Camille grinned and wrapped her arms around the pony's neck. The small horse seemed to smile and whickered, nibbling on Camille's shirt. She seemed to approve of the name.

Keeta glanced at Natalia at the mention of riding, hesitation crossing her features.

"Um...Natalia I don't know that they can go riding today. They're both very young and neither one of them have even been on a horse before. They need to learn how to sit on and hold on to the horse to be safe before they can think about going riding on their own. I know you're not much older than Joel, as far as when you came into this world, but physically and mentally you are much older than he is." She tried to speak gently, hoping not to hurt Natalia's feelings.

"Airpwanes!" Joel said bouncing up and down. He loved airplanes! The wooden one he had at home was one of his favorite toys. He grinned at Ceres, watching her with two eyes, the third studying the pony.

Keeta looked over at Ceres and Joel, chuckling, before turning back to Natalia. A frown crossed her face and she raised an eyebrow. She didn't much appreciate Natalia's tone. If she was going to be a surrogate mother to this child eventually she needed to establish some manner of authority. She just hoped Ceres would be ok with her reprimending Natalia.

"Natalia, I don't like the way you're speaking to me. It's not respectful. I understand that you're excited and you want to share your excitement, but that doesn't mean you automatically get what you want. It's true, I don't know the extent of your mother's power, but that also doesn't mean that you can ignore my wishes, when it comes to my children. Perhaps I might consider riding with them, if the ponies can support the weight of an adult and a child, but if you are going to suggest something like that, it shouldn't be demanding." Keeta grew silent and just looked at Natalia for a moment, before glancing at Ceres, hoping she hadn't overstepped a boundry of some kind.

Camille shrank next to her horse when she saw Natalia get her 'hackles up.' She had seen her angry before and she didn't want to be in ther middle of anything. The small girl just stood, quietly petting her pony.

Keeta watched Natalia as she worked to control her emotions. While Keeta didn't agree with Natalia's attitude, she had to admit the girl had a surprising amount of self control. If she had been reprimended like that at that age, Keeta knew she probably would have cried or gotten angry, and both of those were ok. She wondered if it was a good thing that Natalia semed to be surpressing or controlling her emotions.

"It's ok to be angry. Or to cry," she said gently, watching Natalia, trying to gauge the girl's feelings by her expression. "You don't have to like what I'm telling you. I know it's not fun to hear, but its what needed to be said. Respect of other people and creatures I think is the most important thing anyone can learn and I'm just trying to help you get there."

Joel shook his head. That wasn't a word he knew. He didn't want to call his pony something he didn't know. He started thinking of all the words he knew dealing with airplanes; wings, air, fly, crash, rocket, space, jet. Jet? He smiled and looked up, finally saying the word aloud.

"Jet?"