Seth hadn’t been able to stop smiling the entire drive back to his apartment, mirthfully humming to himself as he pulled into the driveway and got out of his car. The Fluffmart trip had been more than he’d ever hoped for, his head still abuzz from the high of tormenting and killing the foals. Not to mention forcing the green mare to watch. And if Seth’s plan for her worked out like he hoped, her anguish was far from over. Not to mention that of Cuddles. The mystery of the sullen little stallion had peaked Seth’s interest and he wouldn’t have the fluffy dying before his questions had been answered, no matter what it took. For now, he’d need to make space for them, taking the twin carriers in each hand as he made his way inside. With how traumatized they were, Seth couldn’t have them in the saferoom, especially with what the mare had seen him do to her foals. And while his living room had worked well for Cyclops and her foals, he had a feeling that the pair wouldn’t be as well behaved nor as trustworthy. The hobby-room it is…
Shuffling the carriers in his arms, Seth fumbled with the door, the abrupt noise prompting a few muted whimpers from Frostbite. The pillowfoal had been far more civil ever since Seth had mockingly threatened to throw him away. Limbless fluffies were always more dour than their mobile counterparts, but apparently the little fluff still valued his life, even if it was an abysmal one.
“*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…da’deh scawe fwostbite…*chirp…*chirp…heaw odah fwuff’ees…”
“That’s right, little guy. You’ll actually have a bit of company for a while…” Seth placed the carriers next to his trunk for the time being. He’d need to prep the mare, but that could come later, as he had far more pressing business to attend to. “…I’ll be right back, and then I’ll introduce you…” Seth opened the door and made his way to the bedroom, already able to hear the excited peeps of the newborns. They had just finished eating and were crowded towards the center of the incubator bed in a foalpile, peeping and chirping contently as the cuddled each other. The feeder wouldn’t need replacing for a while, but the newborns had already lightly soiled their makeshift coverings. It wasn’t much, but even fluffies as young as they were loathed being dirty and it wouldn’t be long before it upset them. Running the tap in his bathroom sink, Seth let the water warm as he gathered a washrag, some paper towels, and an old bottle of baby shampoo. It was far more pleasant than the dish soap that he normally used for cleaning foals. It didn’t irritate their delicate skin and they always seemed to appreciate the subtle but clean smelling fragrance. It had been ages since he’d had a reason to use it but thankfully there was plenty left and it never went bad.
Once the water was just right, Seth filled a small bowl and took his cleaning supplies back to the noisy fluffpile. They weren’t outright covered in waste, but it was always better to be safe than sorry he mused to himself before donning a pair of rubber gloves from the closet. Once they were snuggly stretched over his hands, Seth took the foals one at a time, gently petting them as he carefully undid the clasping tape. It was crucial that he use very little water to wash them off. Even as young as they were, the newborns would be very frightened of it, the bizarre hydrophobia hardwired into their minds at birth. Seth knew that all fluffies were horrified of water, but had tested the theory himself long ago, putting a basin of water between a restrained mare and her still blind foals. She called out for them and the newborns waddled and shifted towards her as best they could, but once their tiny nubs touched the basin, they went into a panic. Already scared due to being taken from their mother, it paled in comparison to when they felt their hooves become wet. Their tiny mouths twisted up in shock and horror, they reeled away as best they could while blind, with many tumbling into the water out of confusion and drowning anyway.
Not wanting them frightened, Seth was meticulous as he lightly dabbed a paper towel and wiped the foal’s clean, careful not to get their still growing fluff too damp. They’d eventually need a proper bath but by then they’d be old enough to talk to, not to mention old enough to reason with. And while most fluffies would never grow out of that fear, they could at least be calmed down or restrained if need be. Once they were waste free, he used the washrag to apply a small bit of shampoo to their fluff before gently wiping them down. They cooed and nuzzled against the cloth, happy for the attention and mostly dry bath. Using the damp paper towels, he then made sure that he worked the shampoo out of their still developing fluff, leaving them clean and smelling far better than before. “There we go…That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Seth said it more to himself than the foals, knowing they could barely understand him at such a young age. Still, hearing him speak while he doted on them would make them calmer and more trusting of him as they grew.
Once clean, he replaced their makeshift diapers and recorded them crawling about on his phone, making sure to get a few minutes’ footage of each, save for the runt who he knew he’d be keeping. Even as the undersized alicorn waddled himself over to nurse, Seth was imagining all the fun he’d have with him once he was older. Of course, he’d have to separate him from his other siblings long before that. They would be fine together for the net few days, but Seth knew that once they opened their eyes, even at such a young age, then just like Bullet they would be terrified of the little alicorn. And trauma like that could potentially ruin any chances of the fluffs being properly raised. He already had a few ideas on where he’d keep the runt once it was time, but until he was past the chirpie stage, it was simply easier to keep him in the feeder with the rest of the foals.
Now that the foals were taken care of, Seth decided it would be best to tend to his fluffies before he dealt with Cuddles and the mare. He fed Kismet first, letting the colt eat his fill as he gave him a once over, pleased that the small fluff was on the mend. Still all but blind, the chemical burns on his delicate skin were almost gone, leaving only a few trace scars that marked where the bleach had scalded him. While Seth had been furious when the accident had happened, he felt far calmer now, unsure if it was due to the passage of time or his much needed trip to the Fluffmart earlier. Jerome had been wrong to abuse Kismet without his permission, but the boy hadn’t meant for it to go as far as it did. And while it had put an end to the die torture prematurely, Seth already had ideas on what to do with the near blind colt. But those would have to wait until Kismet was fully recovered.
Once the colt was full and back in his drawer, Seth washed his hands, his mind on the safe-room fluffies and the day prior. The mood had been tense since Dud and her brother Powder Keg had been punished for misbehaving. It hadn’t helped matters that Seth had lost control, nearly strangling the petulant filly and pushing both of their tortures too far, at least for his good fluffies to ever see. And Cyclops had been rather depressed, bordering on melancholy since Dud’s disappearance. She was far more distracted and Seth had heard her muttering to herself about the brown filly being just like Kickball, the first bad fluffy the poor mare had lost. Despite knowing that any fluffy that misbehaved was a bad fluffy, Cyclops was clearly concerned for Dud’s wellbeing, not wanting to fail her new daughter as she had the last. It was the answer that he had been looking for, even if it broke his heart to lie to such a good fluffy. He covered for Raptor as best he could, simply saying that the brown filly had gone to the same place as Kickball, where all bad fluffies went to learn how to be well behaved again. It went about as well as he’d expected, with the mare falling into hysterics.
“*huuu…huuu…huuu Cy’cwops nu wan fow Dud tu be ba’…Nu wan Kickball be ba’ edah…*huuu…huuu…huuu…An’ Cy’cwops wose su manie babbehs tu bawkie munstah! Cycwops am ba’ mummah!”
She had immediately started sobbing when she heard that what she feared the most was true, that two of her babies had become bad fluffies. Kickball had been a lost cause for a while, with Cyclops scarcely asking about her ever since Seth had killed her in secret. And she had been rather quiet about the foals that he had stolen away for his Fourth of July finale. But with Dud fresh on her mind, it was as though the loss came flooding back to her, the anguished mare now lamenting not only her troublesome babies, but all her bygone foals. Seth sighed and sat down beside the forlorn mare, lightly stroking her fluff as she whimpered and wept. “No, sweety, no. You aren’t a bad mother, Cyclops.”
“Buh…buh…Cy’cwops feew su ba’ ! Feew wike Cy’cwops am nu gud an’ am a ba’ fwuffy…*huuu…huuu…huuu…”
Years as an abuser hadn’t fully hardened Seth’s heart. Even now, he felt a twinge of guilt as Cyclops listed her perceived failings, unaware that each and every one was really his fault. Normally he reveled in creating misery and uncertainty in a fluffy’s life but she was the rare exception. It wasn’t her fault that she was so easily misled and that she’d had the misfortune of becoming Seth’s pet, regardless of how well he might treat her. Lightly patting her as he held her closer, he tried his best to calm her down. “Cyclops…You aren’t a bad fluffy, or a bad mother. All those things, they weren’t you’re fault.”
“We…weawwy? Cy’cwops am gud?”
“Of course you are. You’re well behaved, sweet, and you take care of the foals for me when I’m not around. You aren’t just a good mother, you’re a great mother.” Wiping her face with a hoof, Cyclops gave a meek smile before slumping over Seth’s shoulders for a hug.
*sniffle Tank yu, daddeh…Cy’cwops wuvs yu…
It might have been exaggerated, but Seth had meant it for the most part. And it had worked wonders, with the mare untensing in his arms, now only lightly sniffling as she laid back down on the fluffy bed. Her adopted foals had been peeping anxiously the moment she had her breakdown and once Cyclops was back within their reach, they quickly snuggled around her, hopeful that their hugs would make her happy once more. Only Raptor kept his distance, looking sullen and guilty as he stared longingly at the fluffpile. Hearing his new mother lament about Dud had only stirred up his own regret in what he’d done, and how much it had hurt Cyclops. The rest of the fluffies quickly fell asleep, exhausted from their afternoon ordeal, save for the pegasus who Seth left to stew. He didn’t have a great deal of affection for the one winged fluff, but he did appreciate why he had done what he did. It was plain to see that he cared deeply for Candyfloss and had become very protective of her, which was the main reason that Seth had come to a decision on what he’d do to the green mare he’d gotten from the Fluffmart. Raptor was getting bigger by the day, and he was getting to be at the age where stallions would hit puberty. Whether by design or by a cruel and unfortunate mistake in their creation, fluffies became obsessed with copulation when they hit a certain age. Mares would become interested in having foals of their own, and stallions would start to feel an itch that only sex could truly scratch. They might start humping random things and making that notorious grunting sound that had become referred as the onomatopoeia of enfing. But less behaved stallions might just decide to make a special friend without their owner’s consent, and even crueler ones without the mare’s, and Seth would be damned if he’d chance that happening with Candyfloss in the same saferoom.
With only one healthy testicle left, the pegasus might not even want a special friend, but Seth had always being prepared for the worst, just in case. Fluffies weren’t as uniform as many thought, and despite the puberty issues being something that always needed addressing, it wasn’t something that had a catchall solution. Many thought that if they just told their mares that they were too young for babies, or outright refused to allow them a special friend, that would be that and the matter would be over. But this didn’t work on poorly raised or misbehaving fluffies and only tended to have the mare in question escape or run away to seek a stallion on their own, often returning and declaring themselves a soon mummah, hopeful that their owner would understand now that they were pregnant. And one only had to look to Bullet to see how well that turned out. Not to mention that a mare having foals at too young an age all but guaranteed the infamous bitch mare syndrome, a potent and abrupt personality shift that happened in mares that gave birth before becoming physically mature enough. Bratty behavior, mood swings, lying, and even violence against other fluffies were the possible effects, not to mention that many mares would become bored of their offspring and want more, thinking there was something wrong with the foals since they no longer made them happy. Some deeply rooted and tangled genetic defect within their minds telling them that if babies fix everything, and the new foals didn’t, then they weren’t good babies.
Stallions weren’t as bad in the long run, but the issue was still there, and corollary to the problem with mares. After all, it took both to make foals, wanted or unwanted. And even though a stallion’s needs seemed easier to manage, a feral male fluffy could make countless broods, while a mare could only carry one at a time. It had been one of the many issues that led to an influx of homeless fluffies up north, ferals that lived on the streets and had to fend for themselves. Of course, every city had a few feral fluffies that kept to the back streets and alleyways, but they were far less numerous where Seth lived, and he often pondered if that was for the best or not.
He made his way back to the saferoom, already able to hear the green mare quietly sobbing as he shut the door behind him. Cuddles was dead silent, which didn’t shock him all that much considering the stallion’s odd behavior, but he could hear Frostbite chirping up a storm, clearly confused and upset by the mare crying.
“*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…wai mu’mah cwy?! *chirp…*chirp…*chirp…wat am wong?!”
He thinks she’s his mother. Seth was bemused by Frostbite’s growing concern for the strange mare, even more so that he had already decided that the unseen fluffy was already his mother. Seth leaned down to the workbench so that he was eye to eye with Frostbite, the tiny pillowfoal squirming in his makeshift bed as his owner neared. “Frostbite! You found a mother?! That’s wonderful!” Seth feigned excitement as he lightly ran a finger over the red colt’s head, pleased that he could feel the foal try and wriggle away from him. “Well, I think it’s time you met her then…”
Gonna try and update and write at least once a week from now on. I know it isn’t super violent, but it’ll get there. Hope you enjoy.
