Based off Greetings by Gardel, one of my favorite stories. Written for the Wubey-Dubey 2022 event.
You are a fluffy foal. You were only born a few weeks ago, and your eyes have just opened. All you remember is sliding out of the warm wet thumpthump place, and landing in a pile of your siblings before finding your mummah milky place. After that it was the same things over and over, wake up, drink milk, sleep. You heard some voices you couldn’t quite make out, they didn’t sound like they could be your mummah. Your mummah is very quiet. And cold. She’s smooth and round and has many many milky places. You hug her occasionally but she doesn’t hug you back. That’s okay. You know she loves you.
Today is a strange day though. Your siblings opened their eyes just a bit after you and you all have been wobbling on your unsteady legs all morning. You can even play now! It’s so fun! But suddenly the sky moved, taking the warm sun ball with it! And you saw a human!
“Nyu daddeh?” You chirped, holding your hooves toward the strange human face. Without replying the human picked you up! “Bad upsies!” You cried, but the human didn’t care. It flipped you around, looking you all over and dangling you upside down.
“Aw, this one’s got a little cock. Shame.” He muttered. Bad wordsies! “Hey Phill! Do we need another pink stud?”
Pink? That’s the color you are! Your siblings are all shades of red, pink, and purple.
“Nah,” another man’s voice called out, from far away. “You got a girly male?”
“Yeah, an alicorn too. I can just slice him and put him back though.” You saw the man pull something out of his pocket, and with a click a shiny thing slid out of the end. You didn’t know what it was, but it looked very scary, so you tried to wriggle out of the humans grasp.
“Nah.” The other man called again. “Take him to the greeting foals department. They don’t give a shit about it’s junk, and people will pay premium for him.”
“Alright.” The scary shiny thing went back in the man’s pocket, and he flipped you right side up again.
“Tankyoo daddeh” you whimpered.
“I’m not your daddy, shitrat.” He replied coldly as he dropped you into a clear container. You landed hard on your tail, which hurt a lot! But the man didn’t care that you chirped in pain. He just carried you off. You looked around the room as he did, seeing lots of big fluffies! They were strapped into all sorts of strange toys, with masks on their faces. You wondered what those toys were like. The fluffies in them didn’t move or make any noise, so it must be a calm sort of game.
A forever later, the scary man lifted your container, and you peed in fear seeing the ground move away from your hooves so suddenly. The man didn’t seem to care, and just dumped you into a box, closing the lid. The box was darker than anything you’d ever experienced, darker than your closed eyes! You fumbled around looking for something, anything, when there was a bright flash of light.
“Hewwo babbeh!” A strange fluffy voice called. Your eyes adjusted to be able to make out a blue fluffy mare in front of you. She was so pretty, her fluff was sparkly! “Can babbeh say,” and then there was a popping noise, “wiww yu mawwy daddeh?” Then she waited.
You wobbled up to the shining mare, but banged your nose on something before you could get to her. “Owwie!”
“Nu!” The mare yelled. “Das nu wite! Bad babbeh!”
Pain.
For a split second all you know is pain. You scream wordlessly and fall to the floor. Then it’s over. You’re left panting and shocked as the sparkly mare disappears. What did you do wrong? Why doesn’t she love you? You curl on the floor in a puddle of your own urine and puzzle over what you could have done so badly.
A forever later, theres another flash of light and the mare is back. “Hewwo babbeh!” She says again. You slowly get to your feet. “Can babbeh say,” and then a pause and a popping noise, “wiww yu mawwy daddeh?” And then she waited.
You didn’t have a daddy. Why would you say that? “Nice fwuffy, babbeh nu kno-”
“Nu!” The sparkly mare cut you off. “Das nu wite! Bad babbeh!” And again, the pain. You’re a little more ready for it and manage to stay on your hooves this time, but it still ripples through your entire body. The mare disappears again, and you’re left panting and wondering if you are a bad babbeh. You didn’t think you did anything wrong, but you hurt so much and the pretty mare hates you. You must be bad. Your stomach growls, and you realize that you don’t know how to get food in here. You dropped to the floor, sobs starting to build in your chest. You didn’t know what was going on, or where you were, and you wanted your mummah, however cold and distant she was. She was back with your siblings, your good siblings. Maybe the man just knew you were bad, and took you away.
“Nice fwuffy pwease cum back!” You cried, “Babbeh say nice wordsies!”
“Nu! Babbeh be quiet!” The mare screamed seemingly out of nowhere, and the pain returned, knocking you off your hooves again. You stayed on the floor, crying as quietly as you could into your hooves. You were a bad babbeh. The worst.
It’s another forever before the flash of light happens again. “Hewwo babbeh!” The beautiful mare calls. You sit politely before her. “Can babbeh say,” pause, pop, “wiww yu mawwy daddeh?”
“Wiww yu… wiww…” the words are hard, but you try your best.“Wiww… yu ma-mawwy daddeh?”
“Gud babbeh!” The mare cheers, clapping her hooves together. “Mummah wub babbeh!”
“Mummah?” This beautiful mare was your mummah? Not the cold, grey milky place? You approached the mare again, but bonked your nose into something you couldn’t see. There was a whirring noise, and suddenly your hooves were wet. You sniffed at the liquid. It smelled like milk! Mummah gave you milk! “Tankyoo mummah!” You shoved your nose into the milk dish, trying to suckle but eventually figuring out how to drink. It was the best milk ever, even though it was cold it made you feel all warm inside! You licked the little bowl clean when you were done, and when you looked up your sparkly mummah was gone again. But that was okay, you told yourself. She would come back, and you would be good.
This is your reality for a very long time. You sit, waiting, before the invisible barrier in your dark room, for your beautiful mummah to appear. She would tell you what to say, and you would say it. “Wiww yu mawwy daddeh?” You’ve gotten good at it, and your sparkly mummah agrees. You only get the sorry pain occasionally now, and every time you vow to do better. You’ve gotten a bit bigger, if you stretch all the way up on your hind legs you can just barely touch the ceiling of the dark room. You saw yourself in the light of your beautiful mummah once, your pink fluff was dull and matted, so first thing you do every time you wake up is groom yourself. Maybe you being dirty is why mummah never hugs you. You’ve tried to hug her but there’s always something you can’t see in the way.
One day, mummah’s message changes. “Can babbeh say” pause, pop, “Angela, wiww yu mawwy daddeh?”
“Wiww- Angewa, wiww-” you stumble over the new word.
“Nu!” Your beautiful mummah shouts. “Das nu wite! Bad babbeh!” The pain shoots through you, along with the shame. You are a bad baby, you didn’t listen to mummah. You crumple to the mesh floor, sobbing quietly. You are a bad baby, and you deserve hurties. What was that new word, Angela? It sounds like a name. Like a human name.
It becomes clear to you suddenly. You’re not just saying words, you’re practicing! And you’re going to have a daddy! And he needs you to ask this Angela lady something! You don’t know what marry means, but you’re going to help him! Pride swells in your chest as you rise to your hooves. The beautiful mummah is making you into a good babbeh for your new daddeh! That’s why she never hugged you, your daddeh would! You stared into the void where she appeared, determined to be a good fluffy for your future daddeh. He would come for you as soon as you were ready, you just knew it.
After many more cycles of your glimmering mummah appearing with the flash of light, something changed. Light filled your little room, but from behind you. You turned around to see the shadow of a human in the blinding light. Your daddeh? You reached your hooves up to him before remembering what your beautiful mummah taught you.
“Angewa, wiww yu mawwy daddeh?” You smiled to yourself, proud to have gotten it right.
“Yeah, this one is ready, I’ll get it gassed.” And you were plunged back into darkness again. Did you do it wrong, was daddeh not happy with you? There was a small hissing noise you hadn’t heard before, and then something smelled funny…
You awoke in the darkness once again, a soreness in your poopy place. You shakily got to your feet just to bang your head on something. It was too dark, even for your adapted eyes, to make anything out. You crouched, trying to come to your senses. Something was around your neck, and as you felt it with your hooves a word came to mind, “collar”. This was a collar! It was soft and silky, with a bow tied at the back. Your daddeh must have given it to you while you slept! You hoped he wasn’t mad at you for falling asleep. The box smelled pretty, and from your sniffing around you found that you smelled pretty as well. You wept with joy, daddeh must love you so much! He cleaned you, he gave you such a beautiful collar, you must finally be a good fluffy! You curled up on the floor, letting the room rock you to sleep. It bumped and jostled, you didn’t know why but you trusted your daddeh. He would take good care of you!
A few forevers later, you were entertaining yourself by running your hooves over your silky collar. You missed your beautiful mummah, your cold grey mummah, your siblings, it was lonely in your box. You heard what sounded like human voices, but they were muffled and not speaking at you. Your tummy hurt, and you needed to make poopies but your poopy place had something stuck in it. You would have to ask your daddeh for help.
When the box opened, and you saw the first sliver of light, you knew exactly what to do. You sat back, lifted your front hooves up and repeated the words you knew so well. “Angewa, wiww yu mawwy daddeh?” As your eyes adjusted to the light, you saw a bearded man looking into the box. He smiled at you, and you smiled back. That was your daddeh! He was exactly how you imagined him. Tears of joy pricked the corners of your eyes as you thought about all the wonderful things you would do together.
“Good, it works!” Your daddeh said. “Let’s do this buddy!” He shut the box again, plunging you back into your familiar darkness. Buddy! Daddeh gave you a name! You are Buddy! The tears flow for real, and you are practically vibrating with joy. So much time alone, repeating what you were told to do, getting the horrible shocky hurties, it was worth it. You wished your sparkly mummah could see you, she would be so proud of you!
You heard a bell, and then after a moment, your box opened again. This time you saw a pretty lady with yellow hair. This was your moment! What your daddeh needed you to do! You vowed not to fail him.
“Angewa, wiww yu mawwy daddeh?” You said, reaching out your hooves in a give huggies pose.
The lady just stared at you, lip curling in disgust. “What is this.”
“A greeting fluffy, I paid extra for the alicorn too!” Your daddeh replied. “So… what do you say?”
The lady looked at your daddeh, then to you, then back to your daddeh. “Uh… no? I say no?”
“But babe-”
“I’m not your babe!” The nice lady shouted, you shrunk back into the box. “I’m not your anything! I keep asking you to leave me alone!”
“But Angela, we’re meant for each other!” Daddeh yelled back.
“No, we’re not. You don’t even know me.” The lady sounded kinda scared, why would she be scared of you and your daddeh? “If you knew me, you’d know how gross I find these… creatures.” She spat the last word at you.
“Oh.” Daddeh closed the lid of the box, but you could still see a sliver of light where the lid was. “Well, whatever, I’ll get rid of this thing. But let’s still get married, yeah? I don’t have a ring but…”
“No! For the last time, no!” The lady screamed, and for a second it felt like daddeh was going to drop your box! “I’m not interested in you, I left my job to get away from you, and if you come back here again I’m calling the cops!” And then there was a slam, and silence.
Did you do it bad? Maybe you messed up. Should you have not put your hooves up like that? Maybe you said the nice lady’s name wrong. That one sound always gave you trouble. You felt the box move again, and then it was tossed roughly. You landed with a squeak on your side, and looked out the open lid at your daddeh, who was sitting on the curb with his head in his hands.
“Frigid bitch, I went through all this work… spent all this money…” he muttered to himself.
You took a tentative step out of the box. “Daddeh?” You whispered, not sure if you were allowed to talk.
“God, she doesn’t even appreciate how much I care about her, probably fucking that guy from accounting, the whore.”
You put a hoof on his leg. “Daddeh, Buddy wuv yu.” You said softly. Daddeh just needed your love and hugs and everything would be okay.
“You.” He said softly. “You… you fucked this up.”
You shrunk back, ears flattening. “Buddy sowwy-” you were cut off by daddeh grabbing you by your throat.
“You useless shitrat! I paid extra so you would be perfect!” He screamed in your face, spit landing on your cheeks as you gasped for breath. “And you fucked it up!”
“Sow…sowwy… daddeh… Buddy… sowwy…” you gasped, hooves tapping against his hand.
“Whatever.” He dropped you, and you landed with a crunch at the foot of his metal munster. “I’ll get that puppy I was looking at and try again. She’ll have to listen this time.” He stepped over you, ignoring your chirps of pain, and got into the munster.
Laying on the hot road, you could feel all the broken bones in your body but nothing hurt as much as your daddeh not loving you. What had you done? What could you have done better? As the monster roared to life, you realized that there was nothing you could have done. Nothing would have made your daddeh happy, because you were a bad fluffy. Your beautiful mummah, in all of her immaculate glory, couldn’t save you. You were bad, horrible, terrible. The worst fluffy ever born. As the big black hoof of the metal monster rolled toward you, you laid your head down on the pavement. You deserved this.
You were a bad fluffy.