Welcome to Gaia! ::

Honestly? Meadowsweet had no idea what was happening. His mom had dumped him and all three of his siblings off and disappeared hurriedly. She'd nosed each of them goodbye and murmured platitudes to them all, of course, but that didn't distract him from that fact that he was gone.

He blinked up at the doe they'd been left with. She was soft pink, kind of like Momma, and she was gentle, kind of like Momma. Did they think they could just switch and the four of them wouldn't notice? Hardly a good trick. This lady didn't even have stripes! Or any white!

He furrowed his brows suddenly, coming to a conclusion. "You're not my Momma," he said petulantly. "You can't trick us. You don't look that much like her."

Hollyhock stared up at the pink noulicorn that was definitely not his Momma. At all. She might be pink, but it was the wrong pink. She looked away from her, and in the direction his Momma had gone. He wished she was here, and not this stranger. He liked his Momma. A lot. And wasn't sure if he even like this other pink noulicorn. He wrinkled his nose.

As Meadowsweet addressed the stranger he nodded along. His brother was right! She couldn't trick them. He sidled up alongside his brother, staring at Rosaline as hard as a foal could stare. He wasn't sure he trusted her answer. What if it was all a trick? Though a meadow with flowers did sound nice. He leaned towards his sister and whispered, "Do you think she's telling the truth? Or is she just trying to trick us?"

Stargazer's ears went right back and stayed pressed flat against his head. He was absolutely aghast, staring at this pretender like she had sprouted three more horns out of her head. How could she possible think about meadows and sunflowers at a time like this?! The little buck's knees locked as he balked, refusing to go any farther.

"She's LYING!" he declared loudly in agreement with Cedar, raising his voice as much as he possibly could. "She's LYING, and I DON'T LIKE HER."

And with no more preamble, he simply turned and dashed off in the direction that he thought his mother had gone. He hoped his siblings would follow... he hadn't thought long enough to cover that part of his non-existent plan. But it was simple, really - just find their momma. She couldn't possibly have gone very far.

For a moment all Rosaline could do was stand there and blink. She'd certainly never had this happen before. But then again, she'd never heard of a litter of four foals before either. Maybe this was just happened when critical foal mass was reached. She gulped at the babies took off running. At least they all seemed to be going in the same direction. And they were still so new to Vykeli they weren't exactly ... fast.

She took off after them, hoping that perhaps if they ran for a little while they'd tire themselves out and she could herd them back to her home for a nice nap. As she carefully trailed the foals she tried to engage with them, make it all into a game. "Goodness, isn't it fun to go for a nice run and stretch our legs! That will help make you grow big and strong!"

Cedar realized her brothers were all running off in the maybe direction their mother had gone, moving much faster than she was! Speeding up to a gangly trot, she hurried after them. Concentrating on making her legs move right was hard and when she turned to also shout things at the doe (because she was not going to be outdone by her brothers!) she was startled to see the not-mommy right behind her giving chase.


"AHHH SHE'S AFTER US!!!!" She shrieked, attempting to bolt forward. This only lead to her tangling her legs and toppling head over hooves into the grass. "MOMMY HELP!" She sat up and squealed at the top of her tiny lungs. She was not hurt and was being more dramatic than she needed to be, but maybe her mommy would come back if she heard the wails???

It was absolutely unfair that this big impostor lady was allowed to have such crazy long legs. That was clearly the only reason she was able to keep up with them. Because they were so fast. Normal legs wouldn't have been able to keep up with them.

He slid to a stop at Stargazer did, confused at first. But then he saw Cedar on the ground and an unholy rage filled him. He puffed up his chest and screamed. "LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!!!" Once again, Stargazer had the best idea, turning to attack their enemy. He let out an unholy battlecry and followed suit, head held low so his little horn nub was ready. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"

Momma would be so proud. They were carving their own path and protecting each other. They were very good.

As she trailed the foals Rosaline was feeling some real self doubt. Was she a good nanny? Why had Sweetpea thought leaving four foals with her was a good plan? Where on earth was their father??? All good questions, but they were shoved out of her mind as soon as little Cedar tripped on her gangly legs and tumbled down. It didn't look like too much of a fall, but it had probably taken the poor thing by surprise.

Before Rosaline would even approach Cedar, a little headbutt hit her firmly in the knee. "Oof!" Those little horns hurt! Another little foal impacted with her legs as she waded through them towards their sister. "You guys are so strong!" She put on her happiest smile and she stepped over Hollyhock, who had been standing right in front of Cedar.

"Are you okay Cedar? Looks like you took a bit of a tumble there. Doesn't look like you've done any major damage. You think you can get up again?" She looked the foal over, but was quite sure she wasn't in any major danger, despite the wailing. She shot a smile to the boys, hoping to reassure them. "Cedar will be just fine! Just a little tumble. Have to be careful when we're running, don't we! Lots of things that can be tripped on!" She kept her voice a happy sing-song, but she wasn't too sure if it was going to do much good at this point.

The smile didn't leave Rosaline's face as she tried her best to comfort the foals. Maybe this head butting would tire them out? Maybe it was almost nap time. She really, really hoped it was. Just as she was about to respond to Cedar, and tell her to take her time in feeling better, the little purple horn collided with her leg. At first it felt just like all the other headbutts she'd been subjected too, but then, suddenly it started to feel different. Very, very different.

If felt like her whole body froze. Her smile was stuck in place, her legs locked. She couldn't move an ear or switch her tail. If her eyes could have gone wide with panic they would have. Had some strange bug bitten her? Had some new thread to Homewood crept up when she wasn't looking? Was she dying? Was this what dying felt like? Was she going to be dead AND have traumatized Sweetpea's kids in the process??? Rosaline was horrified. Stone still, but horrified.