Chapter 26: Brand New Monsters
Travis sat with Breaker and Crusher, night was upon them but none of them wanted to sleep, they still had so much to catch up on. They found a clearing in the trees where the summer moonlight could pierce through and spoke of their time spent apart.
“Afta Twavis an udd babbehs wun way, hewd faww apawt.” Breaker explained, his voice tired from the pained memory. “Woawke take oba as nyu Smawty, he bigga meanie dan Cwowwey, gib wots of mawes bad enfies, an wots of foweba sweepies. It nu wong befowe Cwassus gatha mawes an wun way, take Twavis mummah an sissy wiv dem.”
“Mummah? Bet-see? Dey nu am foweba sweepies?”
Crusher nodded. “Wast time Fwuffies see dem, bu dat am many fowebas gu, nu knyo if dey am foweba sweepies nyo ow nu.”
“Am Tom ow Iwis ok?”
“Nu knyo, neba find dem.”
Breaker continued his story. “Cwassus take aww mawes, aww babbehs an eben Tuffie Fwiend Zip. Hewd hab nu-wun weft, bu Woarke stiww say he Smawty, git in big sowwy hoofies wiv bwudda Bouwda, Woawke gib own bwudda foweba sweepies.”
“Cwusha an speciaw-fwiend nu wan be pawt of meanie hewd nu mowe, wun way together. Tuffie Fwiend Coppa come wiv, nu wan be in Woawke hewd tuu, bu he be dummeh smawty, nu wike dat Cwusha an speciaw-fwiend am bov stawwions. Nu am sowwy tu gib him foweba sweepies.”
Travis thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to ask his question. “Wai did Cwusha an Bweaka say Twavis am Smawty? Twavis gib meanie Cwow foweba sweepies, bu dat nu make Twavis Smawty.”
“Twavis nu need be Smawty if nu wan.” Breaker explained. “Bu Twavis am smawt Fwuffy, Cwowwey biggesh meanie bu he knyo smawt Fwuffies, see dat in Twavis. Breaka an speciaw-fwiend am Tuffies, can gib wowtesh sowwy-hoofies bu nu am smawt wike Twavis, Tuffies make bad choosies, git fwiends huwt ow wowse. If Twavis be gud Smawty fow Bweaka an speciaw-fwiend, den Tuffies pwomise tu pwotect Twavis.”
Travis considered it for a moment, he wasn’t a fan of being called a Smarty, not after seeing the worst of them with Crowley, but he didn’t want to be alone again, and for all their faults, Breaker and Crusher were friendly to him when he was in the herd, maybe he could trust them after all.
“Twavis be Smawty, bu nu wan be cawwed Smawty, onwy caww Twavis.”
The two Tuffies nodded in agreement, with everything settled for their new herd, Breaker and Crusher rolled over and fell asleep. Travis stayed awake a little longer, his mother and at least one of his sisters had escaped the herd, and with Crassus as well. Maybe they’d be ok now.
Maybe he’d see them again someday.
The trio set off early the next day, as easy as it was to sleep under the stars they all knew they needed to find proper shelter and soon.
Travis wasn’t sure which direction they should go in, but Breaker explained that he and Crusher had been walking towards the sun every morning and that had done them well so-far, it stood to reason that it do them good now.
With the sun as their new guiding point, Travis led his new herd deeper into the woods, deeper than any human had ever been, deeper than any Fluffy too it seemed.
The going wasn’t easy, and it only got tougher as the days went by, each new dawn brought with it thicker undergrowth and larger volumes of trees, even for hardier Fluffies like Breaker and Crusher it was a rough journey.
Travis said nothing of the hardships, even as the thick branches irritated the scars on his eye he didn’t complain or moan about anything. He was the Smarty now, the leader of this herd, as small as it was it was still his and he had to be strong to protect it.
He couldn’t save his last herd, his family, he was determined not to let that happen again.
They’d been travelling for three, maybe even four days when they finally came across it. Nestled in the middle of the forest was an idyllic little reservoir, a calming lake of still water surrounded by a soft dirt embankment and plenty of grass and pond-fauna around it, as well as an old, abandoned human hut situated to one side, complete run-down and rotted for humans, but for a Fluffy it was the perfect shelter from the weather.
Travis smiled, he had found a paradise, he had found the perfect place for them to start their new herd, he had found…
“DUMMEHS GU WAY, DIS AM SMAWTY WAND!”
…More problems.
From the hut, three stallions came rushing out, well two of them did anyway. The first stallion was a unicorn, pudgy but still imposing with his size, his Fluff was a dull, ugly grey colour and his mane an off-putting black, given the size of him Travis guessed this was the Smarty.
Beside him, another imposing figure, this one a Pegasus, bright orange Fluff with a green mane and wings, he stands by the Smarty and snorts at Travis.
And bringing up the rear, wheezing and spluttering as he takes his place at the Smarty’s side, was the fattest Fluffy Travis had ever seen. Rolls of disgusting yellow Fluff drooped so low they were brushing against the ground, a mangy grey mane covered in sweat and filth, a unicorn horn so enveloped by fat that Travis didn’t see it at first, and an ugly face cursed by bloodshot eyes and the most horrid, rotten, brown and nearly non-existent teeth Travis had had the misfortune to look upon.
He had to fight not to gag at the sight of him.
“Wha dummehs duin in Smawty wand?”
“Fwuffies nu mean be hewe.” Travis spoke in the softest voice he could muster. “Jus wookin fow gud pwace fow sweepies.”
“Nun hewe fow dummehs, gu way ow Smawty gib yu wowstesh sowwy hoofies.”
Travis could see Breaker tensing up in the corner of his eye, so he quickly stood in front of the toughie and smiled at the grey Smarty.
“Twavis an fwiends gu, nu wan pwobwems.”
“Nu tawkies, jus gu.”
Travis nodded and was about to turn away when the orange Pegasus leaned into the grey Smarty.
“Smawty, dese dummehs wook stwong, hewd can yoose dem tu find nummies.”
“SMAWTY KNYO DAT DUMMEH! YU FINK SMAWTY WET STWONG FWUFFIE WEAVE DAT EE-SEE-WY? WAM-SEE AM BESTESH SMAWTY!”
The Smarty, Ramsey apparently his name was, turned and pointed at Travis.
“Yu, yu and dummeh fwiends gu tu sweepie pwace, yu am pawt of hewd nyo.”
Travis looked over at Breaker and Crusher, both of them just as confused as he was. “Bu Twavis fot Smawty nu wan Fwuffies on Smawty wan…”
“SMAWTY NU SAY DAT, SMAWTY SAY YU IN HEWD NYO!”
The chubby grey Smarty stomped his feet hard, his hefty weight shaking the ground, Travis figure Breaker and Crusher could easily take him, but they didn’t want to risk angering the herd.
“Ok, Twavis an fwiends gut u sweepies pwace, dis am Bweaka an Cwu…”
“Smawty nu cawe, git wawkin.”
Travis nodded, flashing a look to Breaker and Crusher to tell them to keep calm, and the three of them followed the orange Pegasus towards the wooden hut.
That was until Crusher, too distracted by his new surroundings, accidentally walked into the fat yellow stallion, a light bump that didn’t hurt either of them. At least that’s what Crusher thought.
“RRRREEEEEEE!!! RRRRRREEEEEEEEE! UGWY DUMMEH GIB JOFFWEY WOWSTESH HUWTIES, GIB SOWWY HOOFIES!”
Ramsey flared his nostrils and pounced at Crusher. “WAI DUMMEH GIB BWUDDA WOWSTESH HUWTIES?”
“Cwusha nu mean tu, jus nu see whewe…”
“Joffwey am bestesh bwudda, bwudda du wha he wan, if he wan dummeh tu git sowwy-hoofies, den Smawty gib sowwy…”
Breaker jumped in between Crusher and Ramsey, snarling at the fat Smarty. “Yu nu TOUCH speciaw-fwiend, ow Bweaka gib yu foweba sweepies.”
Sensing an approaching trouble, Travis quickly worked out a solution.
“Smawty pwease, Fwuffies am vewy tiwed, Cwusha jus hab ak-see-dent. If he say sowwy den nu-wun need hab sowwy-hoofies.”
“Cwusha am sowwy, jus nu see Joffwey cos am sweepy Fuwffy.”
Even with the aplogy, Joffrey wasn’ satisfied. “NU GUD ENUFF, JOFFWEY HAB WOWSTESH HUWTIES, WAN DUMMEH HAB SOWWY-HOOFIES!”
Ramsey shook his head. “Nu. Smawty hab betta pwan, nyu Fwuffies gu wook fow bestesh nummies in da bwite-time, pwove dey be gud fow hewd. If nu, den Smawty gib dummehs sowwy-hoofies.”
Travis could tell that neither Breaker or Crusher liked that option, but Travis wanted to keep things civil, at least until they knew the full situation.
“Ok, Twavis an fwiend find nummies in bwite-time, be gud Fwuffies fow Smawty.”
“Gud, Smawty am bestesh Smawty, git wha Smawty wan. Nyo gu.”
Travis quickly got Breaker and Crusher to focus on him, ignoring the ugly look Joffrey was giving them, or maybe that was just his face, and followed the orange Pegasus once more.
Travis wasn’t sure what to expect, this place was certainly hidden but it was too good to pass up, and Ramsey certainly seemed mean enough to have amassed a large herd. And yet when the door opened and Travis stepped inside, he was greeted with a pitiful sight.
It turned out that Ramsey, Joffrey and the orange Pegasus were pretty much half the herd, inside was one other stallion, a brown Earthie with a bad limp, and two mares, one a lime green Unicorn with a pink mane, the other a purple Pegasus with a white mane. Both of them in varying stages of pregnancy with the purple mare slightly further along than the green. The final Fluffy that Travis could see was a black filly with a brown mane and tail laying by herself in the corner.
And that was it, Ramsey’s whole herd was six Fluffies and one filly, Travis and his friends had jumped the herds size up by almost 50%.
Before Travis could think about it too much, Ramsey kicked him in the side.
“Yu gu oba dewe, by poopie babbeh, yu wan betta sweepie pwace den yu git hewd bestesh nummies.”
Travis nodded, still maintaining a calm expression on his face as he led Breaker and Crusher towards the corner of the hut, this was clearly the dumping corner since it was heavily affected by mould and damp leaking in from a hold in the ceiling, but it was better than being completely outside.
Breaker broke the silence first. “Dis Smawty am dummeh, mak Bweaka awmosh miss Cwowwey.”
Crusher nodded in agreement. “An fat-ee Bwudda am cwy-babbeh, Cwusha nu eben gib wittew huwties.”
“Twavis knyo Smawty am meanie, but dis am gud pwace fow hewd, nu wan gib dat up. Gib it few bwite-times, maybe Twavis an fwiends can du sum-fing bout dummeh Wam-see.”
“Yu nu can sabe hewd.”
Travis turned around towards the soft voice that spoke up, behind him he saw the little black filly smiling at him, although her eyes were heavy and sad.
“Wha babbeh say?”
“Nu am babbeh, am Soot, am awmosh big Fwuffy. An Soot say yu nu can sabe hewd.”
“Wai Soot say dat?”
Soot shrugged. “Wam-see and Joffwey awweady wuin hewd tuu mush, nyu fwiends nu can sabehewd fwom wha Wam-see du, eben if du gib him foweba sweepies.”
Travis placed a comforting hoof on Soot’s shoulder. “Twavis am Smawt Fwuffy, nu Smawty, jus smawt, an fwiends Bweaka an Cwusha am stwong, gib wowstesh huwties tu anee Fwuffy dat twy gib nyu fwiends huwties.”
Soot giggled, but much like her smile there was little to no joy in her laughter.
“Twavis fink he smawt? Wha Twavis see wong bout hewd, wha big pwobwem Twavis see?”
Travis looked over the sorry excuse for a herd, the fat Smarty and his friends bullying the lone brown stallion, the two mares forcing a laugh as their eyes filled with terror and fear, the chirping of bab…
“Dewe am nu babbehs?”
Breaker and Crusher stood up and looked around, Travis was right, Soot was the youngest Fluffy in the hut and even she was nearly fully grown. Sure the two mares were pregnant but they were well into hot-times, surely a herd like this should’ve had litters beforehand.
Soot dropped her head, even her fake smile gone now. “Nu babbehs wast wong in dis hewd, Soot am wucky wun, bu Soot fink bwuddas an sissies am wucky wuns, dey git be wiv mummah, an Soot stay hewe wiv…”
Soot stopped herself and shook out of her thought process. “Aneeway, Twavis an fwiends west up, hab hawd bwite-time, Wam-see nu gu ee-see on yu cosy u am nyu Fwuffies. Yu see wai dis hewd am wuined soon.”
With a final fake smile, Soot left the trio to think on their new surroundings and question if they made the right decision staying here.
Soot was gifted to me by @Gal-with-pastels, thank you again for giving her to me and they’ll be a lot more of her coming up in the future.
I have a bad feeling bout this sorry of a herd, with what Soot said…damn something is not right.