New here…and trying to figure out formatting.
` It had been a warm day, which wasn’t too odd, as it was still the hot time of the year. The green furred pegasus had felt hotter days before, not so very long ago. So, over all it was nice that it was only a warm day, instead of a hot day.
Before, when he had helplessly watched his lighter green sister struggle to even walk from the excessive heat…that had been horrible. He had felt guilty about it. He still felt guilty about it. He always did when ever one of his herd was in pain. It’s true, they had all had a chance to drink from the puddle of bad tasting water beside the tall brick walls, but his sister only had a little bit to drink before he had urged them to move again.
That had been a mistake. He had heard barky monsters in the distance. He couldn’t tell where they were, but they HAD sounded like they were close. And with Barkies, it was safer to assume they were barky monsters, not barky friends. In fact, in his whole life…which was about two and a half years now, he had only seen one barky friend. And THAT barky friend hadn’t even been HIS barky friend. It had been the barky friend of a light yellow stallion with a light blue mane. The stallion had been on the leash, and the barky friend had been on another, both of them being taken for a walk by a tall human male with white hair.
This had fascinated the green pegasus. He knew that barkies COULD be barky friends, but to see it in action, with the yellow stallion happily chatting away with the tall human, and the barky friend trotting along, side by side, not biting, not barking, just sniffing about, keeping pace with the two talking beings. It had been a nice sight. More than that, it had seemed…right.
The pegasus had wiped his yellow mane back along his head with his hoofie, just watching. Something inside of him told him that this was how thing’s were SUPPOSED to be. But, another part of him, the part that had kept him alive, reminded him that this wasn’t common, nor to be expected. And that even if the barky was nice to THAT fluffy, it might be a different matter the dog caught HIS scent. So, he had backed away.
He had thought back on that moment, even as he instructed his herd to leave the puddle. These barkies were, well, barking. Somewhere. And a barking barky was probably NOT a friend. So, he had taken his herd away. Over the dark, hard rocks, Which were so hot, but it had seemed like there would be a better place to rest on the other side.
And he HAD been right on that part. There WAS a nice hiding spot. In the shade, next to one of those big metal boxes that humans sometimes threw nummies into…though this one was closed, and would have been hard to get into, even though he could smell food inside. His whole herd could smell the food inside. Not pretty food, but food never the less. Still, he never would have allowed any of them to have climbed into one of those metal boxes. He had seen fluffies do that before, and very few of those fluffies were able to get out again, and the rest had cried and begged for help that no fluffy could give.
While the shade near the metal box was nice, it was still hot. And there was no water. And then suddenly there were moving metal monsters, and humans about. He had no idea where they had come from, or why they were here, but, they seemed like they were everywhere. Part of him wanted to present himself and his herd. To announce their presence, and ask if any of the humans might want them, all of them, to take someplace else. They were good fluffies, and he could give detailed information about each of his herd member, and how great they would be, if they were only given a nice home.
But he resisted that urge. Humans…for their own reasons…seemed to get mad at groups of fluffies that came out to ask for homes. Not all the time, and he few times, before he had his own herd, an occasional nice mister or nice lady had indeed taken them up on the offer. Or at least, taken one or two up on the offer, leaving the rest behind.
Far more times, however, they had been yelled at, kicked, or stomped on. And even worse things than that. He didn’t know how, but sometimes…humans could do strange and horrible things. One time that he remembered, and that made occasional appearances in his sleepy time pictures, his brother had been sprayed with some kind of not water…and not the kind of not water that tasted good. It had a bad smell, kind of like the metal monsters. And a moment after that, his brother was a screaming, staggering ball of flames.
Oh yes, that had stayed with the green pegasus. And, while he did indeed have some hope that one day, a human…correct that, a NICE human…would come and take them all away someplace safe, and give them names, and love…this didn’t feel like a situation where something like that could happen. So, he had his herd stay quiet, and hidden. And then it was dark time, and a bit scary, and he didn’t want to move them from their spot because it felt safe again after the humans and the metal monsters had left.
It wasn’t until the next bright time that he had them move on, before the black rocks got hot, over to some leafy places. Leafy, but not green, and not wet enough to get any water from, though they all nibbled a little bit. His sister hadn’t complained during the night, but had started to ask about how long it would be until they could find water again. He hadn’t known. He couldn’t smell any, and so after a while, he turned his herd around, and went back to the place where they had found water before near the brick wall. But, all the water was dry now. And while he could still hear the barkies, they sounded just as far away as before, and there was no smell of them being here at all. They could have stayed.
And that was why he felt guilty. He had wanted to keep his herd safe, but, there had been no true threat. He had been overly cautious, and that bright time was hotter than the last. Another bright time with no food, and no water, and while everyone else had taken their fill from the puddle, his sister had not. And it was just so hot. Even in the shade.
After the next dark time, he led them once again, but partway across the hot black rocks, his sister just wouldn’t move any more. As much as he asked her. As much as he instructed her, as much as he had pleaded with her, she wouldn’t move. She was alive. Her leggies were just fine. She just needed to move them.
He even tried pushing her, and with the help of his orange toughie friend, she got back on her feet. And he was so happy, he made another mistake. He stopped paying attention to where they were. Just for a little bit. And that was all it took for one of those awful, smelly, metal monsters to attack them, crushing his sister, and nearly himself and his orange friend. He didn’t even have time to really mourn, as he had to hurry to his herd. Keep them together. Keep them calm, and moving AWAY from the now swarming metal monsters.
That very dark time, they made it to a small, stone ditch which was filled with yucky, but drinkable water. As well as some trash nummies. They had food and water, which was something of which he was proud. And one less herd member, something of which he was certainly NOT proud.
But that had been a few bright times ago. He still missed his sister, but his special friend was getting bigger and bigger after every dark time. Soon, she would need to find someplace that was safe, because soon she would be unable to move. So, he had to make sure that they could find such a place. And, it seemed like he had.
As he poked about, trying to keep in mind the direction his herd was in as he did so, he had found a fence, and through a hole in that fence, he had seen a human housie. That was good, and bad. It always was when there were humans involved. But, he didn’t see any humans. Or smell any barkies or meowies. He could, however, smell nummies. A bunch of them. Much better than the trash nummies they had been eating, which were almost gone anyway. As well as water, falling from a pretty rock…something. He didn’t know what the rock looked like, but, he knew it was SOME kind of animal, and more importantly, it was spilling water, clean water, into a basin with a low rim. This could work.
But he had to be careful. So, he went back, and told his herd what he had found. But, he forbade them to go, not just yet. He waited until the next bright time, nice and early. He had relocated and looked through the hole again. Nothing seemed different. Nothing smelled different. Nothing sounded different. Yes, it was worth a try. He started his journey back to his herd. He could get back, and then return with them well before the next dark time. And it seemed fortune has smiled upon him. On his way back, he had found a nice round sweet smelling nummy. He took a small bite from it, and it was tasty. He wanted to eat it, but…no, there would be food later. Right now, he could take it to his special friend. She was a soon mummah, and would need the extra energy for the journey. Once there, they could all have a nice, good, pretty tasting meal.
Things were looking up. `