Chapter 27: The Best Nummies
Travis was awoken the next morning by a rough kicking to his side, his groggy eyes opened to see the orange Pegasus Toughie standing in front of him.
The Pegasus kicked him again. “Wakies dummeh, yu an fwiends need git nummies fow hewd.”
Travis yawned. “Ok, gib Twavis wittew bit tu…”
The Toughie kicked him again. “NU! WAKIES NYO! Hewd am hungwy, wan dummehs git nummies.”
Travis glared at the Toughie but kept his mouth shut and stood up. “Ok, Twavis gu git nummies.”
“Gud, dummeh take tuu wong, Smawty nu be happy wiv yu.”
The Pegasus snorted and turned away, rejoining Ramsey and Joffrey as they took turns shoving the brown stallion and shitting on him. Travis was soon joined by Breaker and Crusher, both of whom also glaring as the three bullies, as well as Soot.
“Twavis am wucky, Cawwot yoo-su-awwy bigga meanie wen wakies.”
“Am dat Tuffie namesie? Cawwot?”
Soot nodded. “He wast nummie finda fow hewd, got namesie fow saben hewd fwom foweba sweepies wiv wots of cawwots. Yoose be gud Fwuffy, tiww Wam-see make him Tuffie. Nyo he big meanie wike Wam-see.”
“Whu am udda Fwuffies?” Crusher asked, watching the brown stallion’s abuse with a heavy heart.
“Gween soon-mummah am Wiwypad, puwpew soon-mummah am Waisin, dey gud Fwuffies bu nu tawk wots, dey hab scawdies dat Wam-see gib dem huwties if dey make him angwy. Waisin hab Wam-see babbehs, Wiwypad hab Cawwot’s.”
“Am Soot’s mummah nu hewe?”
Soot sadly and slowly shook her head. “Nu. Soot mummah hab wowstesh heawt-huwties wen aww Soot wittew bwuddas an sissies gu foweba sweepies. Teww Soot am big Fwuffy soon, can wook afta sewf. Den mummah gu.”
“Gu?” Breaker asked with a worry in his voice. “Gu whewe?”
Soot pointed to the open door of the hut, towards the reservoir lake that neighboured their home.
“Tu wawa pwace.”
A chill fell over the three stallions as they realised what Soot was saying.
Travis quickly changed the subject. “Wha bout bwown Fwuffy, he wook wike Soot, am he daddeh?”
Soot shook her head again. “Nu, dat am… Soot nu wike meanie name fow poopie fwiend, he am Shitbwick. Owd daddeh gib him wowstesh namesie and wowstesh huwties, bu he gud Fwuffy, mummah say he Soot Fwuffy daddeh an he wook afta Soot. Bu Soot knyo dey am wying.”
“How babbeh knyo dat?”
“Cos Shitbwick nu hab wumps, owd daddeh take dem fwom him. Soot knyo he nu daddeh, fink it am…”
“DUMMEHS!” Ramsey’s sharp cry across the room shocked both Lilypad and Raisin into shitting themselves. “NU TAWKIES TU POOPIE BABBEH, GU GIT HEWD BESTESH NUMMIES NYO!”
Soot scampered off, not wanting to risk Ramsey’s wrath, Travis, Breaker and Crusher figured it best not to argue at that moment, not when they were hungry themselves, and set off out of the hut.
It didn’t take them long to see that they were surrounded by food, nothing spectacular but plenty of grass, reeds, flowers, all of it within spitting distance of the hut.
“Dis am siwwy.” Breaker spat out. “Wai Fwuffies need git nummies fow wazy meanies?”
“Nu knyo.” Travis lamented. “Bu nu wan make Wam-see angwy, jus git nummies fow nyo, maybe Fwuffies git enuff fow own tummeh-huwties.”
As if on cue, Breaker and Crusher felt their own stomachs rumbling and realised Travis was right, they couldn’t do much on empty stomachs. The two of them starting pulling up the grass by the tree-line while Travis gathered some of the reeds by the shore, he was careful not to get too close to the water, which was fine since most of the reeds had overgrown to a safe distance for him to chew off.
And yet, every so often he would look out towards the lake and think of Soot’s mother, how she’d come to the edge and jumped off, gave herself forever sleepies. How close Travis had come to doing the same, for losing his children as well, it was a heartbreak he understood all too well, even now.
He had told Breaker and Crusher what had happened, with meeting Angel, with her disappearance, with his children’s death. But they had only gotten a partial story, all the key points with none of the in-depth analysis, they couldn’t understand that emptiness, that gnawing darkness that had taken something from Travis he would never get back.
Travis wasn’t in the Wan Die loop anymore. But that didn’t mean he didn’t hear the enticing whisper of suicide every day.
Standing at the edge of the lake, Travis could feel the icy fingers of the water slowly enveloping him, he quickly took what reeds he had gathered and left, too scared to stay any longer by the water.
“Hab fwiends got enuff nummies?” He asked Breaker and Crusher.
“Fink su.” Crusher replied, dropping some fresh flowers onto the decent pile he and Breaker had made. “Wam-see be happy wiv dis.”
Working together, the three stallions took their bounty back to the hut, hoping this would satisfy the tyrant Smarty.
Instead, he just laughed at them.
“Wha am dis poopies?”
“It nummies?” Travis said looking at the grass and flowers he and his friends had been gathering, wondering what was wrong with them.
Ramsey kicked the grass into Travis’ face, nearly blinding him with the sudden flurry.
“SMAWTY TEWW DUMMEHS TU GIT BESTESH NUMMIES, POOPIES GWASSIES AM WOWSTESH NUMMIES, GU WAY TIWW DUMMEHS GIT BESTESH NUMMIES!”
Having had enough, Breaker stepped up. “Yu dummeh, bestesh nummies am sketti, how am Fwuffies tu git sketti in twee-pwace.”
Almost instantly, Joffrey flared up. “RRRRREEEEEEEE!!! RRRRRRREEEEEEE!!! WAN SKETTI, WAN SKETTI, BESTESH SMAWTY BWUDDA WAN SKETTI NYO! RRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”
Ramsey turned and pummelled Breaker in the side of the face. “NU TAWKIES BOUT SKETTI NEAW BWUDDA, HEWD NU HAB SKETTI IN WONGESH FOWEBAS!”
Travis could see the rage burning inside Breaker, threatening to break free, without saying a word he stepped between Breaker and Ramsey and pushed the blue Toughie and his red mate out of the hut, all while Ramsey attempted to calm down his obese screeching brother.
Breaker stormed out of the hut absolutely fuming. “Wam-see am biggesh dummeh eba, jus wan hab aww da nummies wiv him an fat-ee fukin Joffwey. Cwowwey may be biggesh meanie, bu he nu tweat Fwuffies wike dis.”
“Nu tawkies pwease.” Travis hushed, trying to push Breaker away from the hut, making sure nobody overheard them.”
“Wai yu scawed of him? Wam-see am wike wittew cowt, Bweaka gib him foweba sweepies ee-see. Nu wan wisten tu Wam-see nu mowe.”
“Twavis knyo bu… nu can gib Wam-see foweba sweepies, nu yet.”
Breaker’s anger did nothing to subside when he heard that. “Wai nu? He desewve dem. Wai nu gib Wam-see foweba sweepies, wai am Fwuffies stiww hewe if Smawty am biggesh meanie?”
“Dis am gud pwace, can hab gud wife hewe wiv nyu hewd, a safe wife. Twavis nu wan weave dat cos of dummeh Wam-see.”
“Den wai nu gib him foweba sweepies.” Breaker asked with the exasperation dripping from every word. “Bweaka eben du it fow Twavis, du same tu Joffwey an Cawwot tuu.”
Travis sighed, he could see Breaker’s patience wearing thin, but Travis had his reasons for not taking Ramsey out immediately.
“Cos Fwuffies nu knyo wha udda Fwuffies fink of Wam-see, knyo dat Joffwey an Cawwot am Wam-see fwiends, need gib dem foweba sweepies tuu. Bu Wiwypad, Waisin, Shitbwick? Maybe dey nu wike Wam-see cos he gib wowstesh huwties an bad speciaw-huggies, maybe dey stiww wub him aneeway. Maybe he huwt dem so badwy dey nu knyo wha wub is aneemowe.”
The mood dropped between the three stallions, Breaker especially had only seen Ramsey as an idiotic monster, but then he had followed a monster himself. Crowley was a monster and Breaker not only ignored that fact but he actively helped him be a monster. As much as he tried to tell himself that was different, that Crowley’s loyalty and intelligence made it easier to be swayed by him, Breaker knew there was every possibility the situation was the same here.
“Twavis am wight speciaw-fwiend.”
Breaker looked over at Crusher, the red stallion had always worn his emotions more openly than Breaker, and here was no different with the forlorn look in his eyes breaking Breaker’s heart.
“Fwuffies nu wan make big choosies if nu knyo wha happen afta, dis am gud pwace fow hewd, fow Fwuffies tu hab own famiwy, bu if Fwuffies need gub ebewy udda Fwuffy hewe foweba sweepies tu hab it, den we jus bad Fwuffies.”
Breaker took a deep breath and stepped closer to his mate, softly nuzzling him.
“Bweaka undastand, nu wike it, bu undastand. Bweake pwomise nu gib Wam-see foweba sweepies, bu Bweaka nu tawkies tu him eba gain.”
Travis nodded. “Twavis tawkies tu Wam-see, he neba tawkies tu Bweaka gain.”
Satisfied that the three of them had come to an agreement, Travis led the group deeper into the forest on a hunt for the illusive ‘Bestesh Nummies’.
It was nearly dark by the time they returned, a long trek across the tight quarters of sky-tall trees and jagged branches had taken its toll on the trio, but they had returned with a banquet of berries, bright red and juicy, enough to sustain the whole herd for at least a full day if not two.
Ramsey however, was still not impressed, he eyed the berries with confusion and mild disgust.
“Dese nu am bestesh nummies. Bu dey may du. SHITBWICK, hab bewwy nummies, see if dey bad nummies ow nu.”
Travis heard the small huu of a stallion crying of the reminder of his horrible name, then he looked over and saw Shitbrick trudging towards them. Upon seeing the broken Fluffy close-up, Travis realised his situation was even direr than he realised; Shitbrick was shockingly skinny, barely having enough energy to lift his head, at first glance Travis assumed the shit-stains around his mouth were literally holding his head down.
Patches of his Fluff were bald, some even scabbed over from old forgotten wounds, the worst of which being his missing special-lumps, which had left a horrid blackish yellow stain of flaking dead skin and pus between his legs. Travis didn’t know how Shitbrick was still alive, nor did he understand why he’d want to still be alive.
“Smawty gib Shitbwick nummies?” He asked, barely able to hide his excitement.
“Onwy dese wuns, need make suwe dey am gud nummies.”
The prospect of being a sacrificial lamb barely even bothered Shitbrick, the joy of eating something other than shit for once filled him with so much joy he happily gobbled down the pitiful amount of berries that had been kicked over to him.
Ramsey watched him intently, seeing the contended look on his face grow at the tangy sweetness. After a few moments Ramsey decreed that the berries were safe and the herd could share in them, by which he meant himself and Carrot with some pushed over to the pregnant mares.
Shitbrick looked longingly at the pile, his mouth salivating at the memory of the taste.
“Um Smawty, can Shitbwick…?”
“Nu, gu num soon-mummahs poopies ow Smawty neba wet yu num aneefing gain, nu eben poopies.”
Shitbrick let out a little whine but took up his position behind Raisin and started licking her clean. Travis could tell that Raisin didn’t like having Shitbrick that close to her but whether it was the uncomfortable nature of having a stallion that close to her special-place or the embarrassment of being licked by a poopies stallion, Travis couldn’t tell.
What he could tell, was that Ramsey had been staring at him for quite some time.
“Nyu dummehs nu git nummies tuu.”
“Wha?” Breaker snapped back without thinking. “Fwuffies find dese nummies.”
“Wam-see knyp Fwuffies find udda nummies, num dem youwsewf. Yu ousside fow wongesh times, tuu wong wiv nu nummies. Dummehs awweady hab nummies, dese am fow hewd onwy.”
Breaker grumbled but kept quiet as he, Crusher and Travis returned to their mouldy corner, Travis found Soot waiting for them, carefully suckling on a discarded leaf.
“Yu am wucky.” Soot said looking up at Travis. “Yu find gud nummie fow hewd, Wam-see nu hab weason gib yu foweba sweepies nyo.”
“Twavis stiww nu feew safe wike dat.”
Soot shrugged and returned to eating her leaf.
“Wam-see tawkies bout ‘bestesh nummies’, bu he nu say wha dew awe. Du Soot knyo?”
Soot shook her head but Travis could see the flash of worry across her face, that just confused him even more but after a long day he figured it best to just leave it for the night and he lay down to rest, his eyes glazing over the herds feast.
While Ramsey and Carrot gorging themselves seemed completely in character for the greedy stallion, to Travis’ surprise he watched as Joffrey, still barely able to move from his fat folds, give all of his berries to Lilypad and Raisin, often quite forcefully.
Travis briefly wondered what was going on with them. A question he would soon regret finding the answer for.
It was night time when the answer appeared to Travis. A restless sleep kept him from truly drifting off, which meant Travis was easily awoken by the harsh whispers coming from behind him.
“Dummeh mawe, wakies, Joffwey hab tummeh-huwties.”
Travis stayed still, too scared to turn and see what was going on for fear of being spotted. He listened as Joffrey repeatedly kicked and smacked one of the mares – which one he couldn’t tell yet – until eventually she fluttered awake.
“Hmm, wha, babbehs hungwy?” Travis vaguely recognised the voice of Raisin from earlier that day.
“Nu babbehs dummeh. Joffwey wan bestesh nummies nyo.”
Raisin’s tone changed, she was now wide awake. “Nu, nu dat am babbehs’ nummies, meanies Joffwey nu take.”
There was a sharp smack followed by weak crying.
“Dummeh mawe, am Smawty bwudda, can du wha wan.”
Then everything went silent, save for one small noise that Travis could hear under the sounds of Raisin crying. It sounded like…
Suckling?
“Huu, meanie Joffwey, nu take aww mummahs miwkies gain, need miwkies fow babbehs su dey nu gu foweba sweepeis gain.”
The sucking sound didn’t stop, in fact it went on for a lot longer than Travis expected until eventually it was topped off by a ‘pop’ and a loud belch.
“Dummeh mawe nu hab mowe miwkies, Joffwey sitww am hungwy. Joffwey gib mawe mowe nummies in da bwite-times, mawe betta hab miwkies fow Joffwey den, ow Joffwey gib wowstesh huwties.”
Travis stayed laying down as he heard Joffrey return to his bed, falling quickly back to sleep with a belly filled with sweet, warm milk and not a single care in the world.
Travis didn’t sleep that night, his nightmares plagued by the sound of a desperate mother and by the mean ideas forming in his head.
