Chapter 35: God Laughing While You Make Plans
All Travis could hear was the rain.
It pelted onto his Fluff, like tiny bullets hammering onto his soft flesh, no sound could make it through the noise, not the whimpering of Crusher as he stared into the eyes of a starving feral dog, not the cries of Breaker who could only helplessly watch his beloved mate lock eyes with a very real, very hungry monster, not the snarls of the second dog who was slowly approaching the open door of their hut-home, brought forth by the scent of blood and newborn meat. Not even the sound of the thunder could be heard over the cascading downpour.
This was the first storm of Travis’ life, it would not be the last though he did not know this yet.
A million thoughts ran through Travis’ brain, how to save his herd, could he save his herd, what chance did they have against one dog, let alone two desperate enough to kill rather than scavenge. And for a brief moment, he had a moment of selfishness where he considered abandoning them all for his own safety, but before he could give that idea any more thought, a shocked cry from Shitbrick broke through the rainfall and took everyone’s attention.
“BAWKIE MUNSTAHS!”
“SHITBWICK NU…”
It was too late, despite Travis’ attempt to salvage a losing situation, everything immediately kicked off in the worst way. The second dog rushed forward, jaw wide open as it tumbled into Shitbrick, loudly and viciously tearing into him, Travis could see the blood spray splattering onto the wooden walls of his home as both dog and Fluffy were sent flying inside.
“AAAHHHH, NU NUM SHITBWICK, SHITBWICK NU AM NUMMIES!”
The starving mutt ignored the frightened howls from its meal, digging its muzzle deeper into Shitbrick’s exposed intestines.
The first dog however, it pounced straight at Crusher, and with one powerful bite, tore off the Toughie’s head.
Breaker saw the whole thing, he watched as his mate’s beautiful red Fluff was replaced by a horrid spray of crimson blood, the lightning crack illuminating Crusher’s brutal death searing it into his mind.
“SPECIAW-FWIEND, NU!!!”
Travis saw Breaker readying himself to run, he jumped in front of the distraught stallion and stopped him in his tracks.
“MOVE, DUMMEH TWAVIS GIT OUT OF WAY!”
“Bweaka nu wun, Twavis need yu.”
“WAI?! WHA TWAVIS NEED DAT MOWE IMPOWTANT DAN SPECIAW-FWIEND!?”
A silence passed between the two Fluffies as Travis realised he didn’t have an answer. What could he tell Breaker that would make any of this better, that he was terrified, that he didn’t have a clue what to do and didn’t want to be left alone, that he needed the one Fluffy left who he could rely on so he couldn’t be called a failure?
Then Travis saw the open door and he knew his lie.
“Twavis am sowwy bout Cwusha, bu Fwuffies nu can hewp him nyo. Need save west of hewd, need wescue fwiends.”
It tore Breaker apart, one tear stained eye glaring at Travis, one staring at the murderous dog as it stood distracted by its meal, but he new Travis was right, Crusher was dead and there would time to mourn him later, right now they had a herd to save.
“AGH! Wha Twavis need Bweaka tu du?”
“Need git bawkie munstah way fwom homesie, need tu hewp fwiends git ousside su can wun way. Nu can stay hewe if munstahs knyo whewe homesie am.”
“Whewe Fwuffies gu fwom hewe?”
“…Twavis nu knyo.”
Breaker knew it was a bad plan, Travis knew it was a bad plan, to blindly run with only the hope of something better. But they had nothing else and no time to think of anything better.
With a heavy sigh, Breaker nodded, ready to follow his Smarty’s orders. “Ok, wet’s save fwiends.”
Inside the hut, the three mares all watched in horror as Shitbrick was eaten alive in front of them, Soot bit her tongue to keep from crying out, unable to watch her closest friend’s violent demise.
Lilypad tried to gather her four newborns, all of the confused and frightened by the loud thunder, the terrifying snarls and the thick stink of blood.
“Pwease be qwiet babbehs, nu wan bawkie munstahs tu heaw. Mummah pwomise tu sabe babbehs wen mummah can.”
The shaky peeps and chirps of her foals did nothing to dissuade either her fears, or their own.
Raisin turned to Soot, her voice low and trembling. “How Fwuffies gun git ousside, nu can stay hewe.”
“Soot nu knyo, bawkie munsta in da way. Nu can weave tiww bawkie munstah gu way.”
“Waisin fink heaw anudda wun ousside. Du… du Soot fink bawkie-munstah git speciaw-fwiend?”
Soot paused, trying to think of something reassuring to tell Raisin, but her silence was all the answer the pregnant mare needed and she softly sobbed, her heart breaking at the thought of Travis’ death.
But then, behind the dog in the doorway, Raisin spotted movement, she looked up to see Travis and Breaker peering into the hut, before she could stop herself, the joy at seeing her mate alive took over and the joy burst forth from her mouth.
“SPECIA…”
Raisin threw two hoofs in front of her face to stop the noise but it was too late, the dog looked up and locked its two black eyes onto Raisin, blood and bits of Shitbrick still dribbling from its maw. It saw the juicy mare, plump with foals, and it licked its lips in anticipation.
Raisin felt her hind legs dampen with the stream of piss running down her, she was trapped, the monster was staring right at her, even if she ran the dog was be on her in a heartbeat, and she knew there was nothing Travis could do to save her.
She looked behind the dog, towards Travis, her love, her leader, silently hoping for him to think of something to save her and their unborn children. Travis could only watch with tears in his eyes and the dog stepped closer, and the fear of losing yet another family brought him to his knees.
But then…
“NUUUUU!! WIWYPAD NU WAN BE NUMMIES, NEED PWOTEK BABBEHS!”
Lilypad, terrified and traumatised by the invasion, made a rush for the door in a futile attempt to save her newborn foals. Her frantic cries alerted the dog inside the hut who turned away from Raisin to give chase, but it also caught the attention of the dog outside the hut, who had finished devouring Crusher and was looking for its next meal.
Lilypad was barely out of the door before the outside dog snatched her up, gripping its jagged teeth into her neck as it yank her into the air.
“AHHH, WOWSTEHS HUWTIES! NU HUWT WIWYPAD, WIWYPAD AM FINAWWY MUMMAH!”
Her cries fell on deaf ears as the dog shook her around, Lilypad screamed as she felt her babbehs dropping from her back and landing painfully onto the sodden ground.
“NU BABBEHS! PWEASE NU HUWT BABBEHS, AM ONWY WITTEW… AAAAAHHHHH!!!”
A ripping pain tore through Lilypad’s backhalf as the second dog bit down on her pelvis, trying to claim her as its own meal. Every fibre of skin and muscle inside Lilypad’s body was stretch beyond breaking point, but no amount of crying or shitting deterred the dogs from their next meal, if anything it just emboldened them both to fight harder.
A sickening crack and Lilypad felt blood vomit up into her mouth, her body twisted sharply in the wrong direction, through woozy eyes she was able to look down towards her children, the babbehs she had waited so long to be a mother for.
All of them dead, the ones that survived the fall were either drowned in the rain-drenched mud, or crushed underfoot by the fighting dogs. Once again, Lilypad had outlived all of her children.
“Wan di…”
RRRRIIIIPPPP
The two canines tore Lilypad in half, blood and guts sent splashing onto the drowning muck, it would take Lilypad only a few seconds to die, but she would feel all of it, including the first bite of the mutt devouring her top half before she finally perished.
With the dogs distracted, Travis rushed towards the hut door, Raisin and Soot already making a dash towards it as well.
“WET’S GU!”
Raisin took one look at Lilypad’ horrendous death, and knew it was time to leave, the four survivors didn’t know where they were going, but anywhere was better than here.
The group fought through the blind darkness, rain and wind pounding against their faces, low branches slashing their soft skin, they could barely see each other, let alone talk or hear what any of them were saying. Travis and Breaker led the charge into the forest, but by the time Travis noticed that Raisin and Soot weren’t behind them, the two mares had fallen behind by a significant amount.
“Whewe am speciaw-fwiend? Bweaka nu can stay hewe, need gu bak tu find speciaw-fwiend.”
Breaker turned around, trying desperately to see through the blackened trees, but even with the flashes from the lightning, the black Fluff of Soot and the deep purple Fluff of Raisin made seeing them through the overcast a near impossibility.
“Am sowwy Twavis, nu can wait, need gu nyo.”
“NU! Nu Waisin hab tummeh-babbehs, babbehs need daddeh, need tu gu bak an…”
Travis saw the uneasy look in Breaker’s eyes, they couldn’t go back, the forest was too large and too dark, and the risk of the dogs finding them again was too high. There was nothing to be done.
A force tightened itself against Travis’ chest, sending him crashing to the ground in tears, all that effort, and he still lost his family.
“Twavis nu wan be awone, wan speciaw-fwiend, wan babbehs.”
“Waisin be ok, she hab Soot wiv hew, Twavis see hew gain sum udda bwite-time.”
Travis wiped the tears from his eyes, shamefully he realised that he’d been speaking of Angel again instead of Raisin. “Am Bweaka suwe?”
Breaker shrugged. “Nu suwe, bu need tu fink happy. Speciaw-fwiend nu wan Bweaka tu hab heawt-huwties aww da time, Waisin nu wan Twavis tu hab huwties eeda.”
Travis could see mentioning Crusher hurt Breaker, despite the tough exterior the blue stallion had just lost the love of his life, having felt that pain, Travis knew Breaker was due for a breakdown. The only question was when.
But both Travis and Breaker knew now was the time, they had to keep moving, survive long enough to find Raisin and Soot and rebuild their herd. With the rain starting to let up, Breaker looked out, trying to find anything that looked like safety.
In the distance, he saw it. Just barely through the trees he could make out a number of lights twinkling in the dark, a nearby city.
“Dewe, it am hoomin pwace. Fwuffies can gu dewe.”
Travis was unsure, his experiences with both Francis and Vincint & Gus had made him weary of humans. “Du Bweaka fink dat gud finkie-pwace pwan? Twavis wike hoomins nu mowe.”
“Fwuffies nu be dewe wong, nu need hoomins, jus find sum numies den gu bak tu twee-pwace tu find fwiends. Jus few bwite-times.”
Travis still didn’t like it, but he knew the city would be the best place to find food, at least something more filling than leaves and grass.
“Ok, jus wun ow twu bwite-times, den Fwuffies find speciaw-fwiend an Soot.”`
Breaker nodded and with a soft wind blowing behind them, the two stallions made for the city, both reinvigorated to regain their strength and find their friends.
Within the city, in a non-descript alleyway, a young yellow mare sat happily in the upturned trash-can of her feral home, humming away as her six foals, all mere days old, snuggled together between her legs, taking turns to suckle at her teats.
“Dewe dewe babbehs, mummah hab miwkies fow aww of yu. Mummah wub babbehs, babbehs wub mu…”
The yellow mare stopped, a gentle breeze blew past her, carrying with it a scent that the mare recognised, but she couldn’t remember where from. She looked out of the alleyway, trying to see if she could spot the source of the scent.
“Speciaw-fwiend?” The mare’s mate, a chestnut brown Pegasus stallion, question the sudden stop in her song. “Am ebewyfing ok?”
“Bet-see nu knyo, fot smeww-pwace found sumfing… it pwobabwy nuffin.”
The thought gone from her mind, Betsy returned to her children, unaware that her brother was fast approaching her city, bringing both the relief and the trauma of their time apart that she’d long forgotten about.
Part 7: Reunited
wow
I love emotional trauma