Word spread that there was a very pink buck hovering around the fringes of the Royal Rainbow Troupe. Looked timid. Somewhat nervous. Would anxiously crane his neck towards the encampment every now and then. Very pink.
"He one of yours?" someone asked Red-stained Blossom at length.
Rouge pouted at that. You'd think she'd know how to keep track of her kids, she said. Nevertheless, her curiousity was piqued sufficiently to propel her legs towards the square. Leisurely, of course. It's not like he could possibly be a kid she'd forgotten about. She didn't have that many. She wasn't that old.
"It's not even the same pink," she snapped, when she saw him, the rosy head bobbing around the bushes.
The white though - or, more accurately, pinky-cream - she'd seen that white somewhere before. Damned if she could remember where.
The rosy head had brightened in excitement when it saw her. s**t. Maybe it was really one of hers. Maybe she'd shat out a clutch somewhere and had forgotten. Maybe she'd been drunk. Quick. Where did she remember the white from, s**t, s**t s**t.
The increasing excitement of the head had finally broken through the Royal Rainbow malaise. Someone went up to the buck and asked a few quiet questions.
"Rouge!" they called.
s**t.
Plastering on a bright smile that hopefully didn't say, Hallo, son I do not remember, Rouge trotted over to the very pink buck, who was practically scraping the ground with how low he bowed at her approach.
"Hello," he said, very excitably, "my name is Scar Tissue. I'm here because my mother –"
"Who's your dad?" she blurted.
"Um?" he paused, nervously skittering on his hooves, "my father – my father is Ode."
"Never heard of him," she said, with some desperation, "what's he look like?
"He – um, uh," he said, with much confusion, "he's a purple buck – an Acha – gold streak across the middle."
"Wait," she said, "purple? Then where'd your white come from?"
"Oh," he said, "that's from my mother."
"But –"
And that was when she shut her gaping mouth, because she'd finally realised she'd had it all bass-ackwards.
"So," she said, instead, all casual now, "your mother sent you here, eh?"
The pink buck suddenly turned even pinker.
"Um," he said, "not exactly. You…could say it was the opposite, really."
"Eh?" she raised a brow.
"I…hadn't meant to, really…but my mother found out about my impending clutch –" he flushed harder, "- with a wonderful doe…and she impressed upon me that I had to get a blessing for my children…a-and…to not under any circumstances…g-get one from the pink…uh…mare at the Royal Rainbow Troupe."
Suddenly, it was all coming back to her. That shade of white. The pattern down the back – in dusky purple. The shrill parting scream of, "HAG!!"
HAG!!
HAG!! HAG!!
HAG!!
HAG!!
When the echoes finally died away, she nonchalantly asked, "And yet, here you are, eh?"
"Well," the poor boy said, pawing at the ground upon which his eyes were fixed, "I figured anything she said was a bad idea was bound to be a good idea."
"Ah," she said, sagaciously, "it appears her children have learnt the sense their mother had not, after all."
He smiled a wishy-washy sort of sheepish smile.
"Very well," she declared, drawing up to her full height, "you and your wonderful doe shall have that blessing."
Deep breath.
"Ohhhhhhh," she crooned, prancing about him in the customary circle, "Motherfather, here's a child who learned from sins of mothers past. For the children of his own, let them joy in bounties vast. Gift them health and gift them beauty, happiness and wisdom true. Gift them what his mother couldn't, for too long has he suffered fools."
And…stop.
His wide eyes and frozen smile truly displayed his awe and gratitude.
"T-thank you," he said, "s-so much. I really…really appreciate this."
"Not a problem," she airily replied, "I'm happy to give blessings to those who deserve them. You may go."
"T-thank you so much. I'll…never forget this," he bowed again, then turned and fled into the Swamp.
Blessings could really be so satisfying sometimes.
END