A filly named Buttercup was born at a ranch. Her dam was Artemisia, the most beautiful horse there. Every horse in the stables respected her. The ranch owners fed her extra treats. The bright Appaloosa mare would attend shows and many well-known competitions across the globe with her rider, Flora. She would always return with a new shiny, blue pastel ribbon to hang on her stall for every passing horse to admire. The wall glimmered with blue jewels of accomplishment and was filled with ribbons and other beautiful winnings; all because of Artemisia's greatness.
She even earned her label; they called her the Queen, and because of that, her daughter greatly envied her.
Buttercup wanted to be just like her mother, or even better. But the stable masters wouldn't get over her mother so easily, Buttercup knew, and if the stable masters wouldn't, nor would anyone else. Not even her stable mates.
The worst part was that Buttercup could never be like her mother because she wasn't purebred. Her mother was, but her father was a wild Connemara who, for all Buttercup knew, could have been a cross of many breeds. Buttercup didn't know much about her father at all, apart from the fact that he and Artemisia had met when an inexperienced barn handler had accidentally run her loose. Artemisia told her that they weren't together for long.
Thankfully, Buttercup looked just like her mother. That might be an advantage, she thought. Then no horse will ever know I'm not a purebred. Thanks to her mother's markings, no horse would suspect she was anything but a purebred Appaloosa, like her mother.
After all, who would breed the great Artemisia with any horse less than a purebred Appaloosa? Surely, nobody - right?
But it would result in different treatment of the stable masters.
She would not be able to qualify for certain horse shows, not without passing certain criteria. What if they didn't think she was worthy of all the training Artemisia received? What if they thought she could never be as good as her mother because they didn't know who her sire was?
Of course, to some, it didn't seem like too big of a deal. But in order to be able to follow the destiny of her dreams - the destiny she knew had been laid out for her, and would be done - it was. It most definitely was.
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Buttercup Boasts
General FictionA young mare struggles to receive the same special attention and position that her mother, Artemisia, had before she died. However, when she's driven out of her stable by her fellow stablemates because of her rotten attitude and behavior, she takes...
