//------------------------------//
// 22. Red as a rose 
// Story: My Little Punnies 
// by AstralMouse 
//------------------------------//

Azalea, Great Laurel, and Labrador Tea are outside, playing among their family's rhododendron garden. The three colorful sisters chase each other about, laughing.

Labrador and Azalea stop as they reach the goose pen, surveying a disastrous scene before them. The geese are all fine, except for one. Kept separate from the others is the oldest of them, covered from bill to tail in red paint. Nearby is a long splash of it covering the ground where somepony had hurled a bucketful into the pen. The goose honks weakly, struggling with the sticky substance matting its once-gray feathers.

"What happened here?!" Azalea shouts.

Labrador Tea, the oldest of the fillies, thinks she knows. "I bet it was those derned Roses playin' another prank on us," she says, eyes narrowed. "They always did play dirty."

Just then, Great Laurel catches up behind them. "What's goin' on he- aaah!" she shrieks.

"Don't worry, Laurel, it's just paint," Azalea says.

"Azalea and I will stay here and look for clues and keep watch," Labrador Tea says to Laurel.

"W-what should I do?" she asks.

"Go tell Aunt Rhody that the old gray goose is... red."