It was a dark and cold night on the Bluestar Ranch.
It was early spring so, of course, there was quite a bit of winter still in the air, what with the two seasons battling it out for supremacy under the attentions of Mother Nature.
All was still in the late night, everyone having bedded down for the night from being busy at the ranch. Except for one barn.
In the only stall with a horse in it, was a mare struggling in a battle of mortal combat.
She was very exhausted, yet she pushed forward, determined to bring her unborn foal into the world. Red Scorpion, which was her registered name; or Scorpio for short, was an Arabian/Thoroughbred mare, and stood at 16.3 hands.
She was a beautiful mahogany bay sabino with a feisty temper. She had been bred earlier last year to a stallion called Diamond Dust. Dusty, as everyone called him, was of Irish breeding.
He was a sturdy fella, standing a good 17.5 hands. Rumor had it that his great grandsire had been an Irish Draught. Dusty, had a stocky, well-bred build and a clean head.
His legs, however, due to his draft horse ancestry, were semi-covered in feathering. He was a buttermilk dunskin rabicano stallion with an easy-going attitude.
Scorpio lay there in her bed of straw, pushing as hard as she could to bring out her daughter. Of course, as if already speaking for her personality, little Rumiko was having none of it. Scorpio struggled very hard, getting more and more tired by the minute.
Just as the filly was proving to be a stubborn little squirt, Scorpio was just as mulish.
Finally, with the last push, Scorpio felt her body sag with relief. Rumiko’s wet body slid out of her mother's womb and into the straw. Scorpio grew worried.
Was her filly alive? With bated breath, she waited with tensed anticipation.
With a tiny snort and a peal of neighing, Rumiko signalled that, yes, indeed she was alive. Scorpio and Rumiko lay there, resting for a few minutes. Scorpio soon decided to get back up.
She rose up on her legs and shook the straw off of her body. She turned around and began the task of taking the afterbirth off of her newborn daughter.
Upon doing this and cleaning Rumiko off, a white coat could be seen with some unexpected
markings. Rumiko, for some reason, had black points on her legs, along with a black mane and tail. She also had a black mask on her face. Her eyes were an odd, but catching, purple.
Rumiko lay there still, looking around for a moment, gathering her surroundings. She was given a nudge on the rump by her mother, Scorpio, to get up.
Rumiko attempted to do so, rising on shaky, long and slender legs. Unsure of herself, she collapsed. This process repeated itself several times until, finally, she stood and stayed that way.
Scorpio positioned herself so that Rumiko could reach her milk-filled teats. Rumiko realized that she was hungry. She wobbled over to her mother’s flank and tilted her head up. She instinctively started suckling.
She twitched her tail back and forth a couple of times, showing her satisfaction.
Rumiko's stomach grew full, and she came out from under her mother's flank. She nickered to her mother, and Scorpio nickered back, happy to see her daughter healthy.
Partly Cloudy with Afternoon Drizzle
