Daisy had just been picked up and brought to SAFE, a charity run shelter that prided itself on rescuing abandoned and abused fluffies in the sincere attempt to give them somewhere (as the name implies) safe to stay until they are hopefully adopted for a very noble cause.
The charity was twofold in nature, as the owner had found that many of the therapy fluffies traditionally trained in the basic methods were ill suited to provide true, quality and sincere emotional support to an owner in need, simply repeating the expected dialogue and going through the motions until their âworkâ was done. And so the founder had taken it upon himself to train up otherwise unwanted, scarred, battered and forgotten fluffies, giving them a second chance at life. He had found that fluffies who experienced true hardship, such as abuse, loss or abandonment, would sometimes be the most empathetic and sincere with the new owner, especially if the owner in question had unique needs such as blindness or a cognitive disorder. It was hard going but so far the theory was proven right more often than wrong.
Some of the fluffies would be there forever, simply due to behavioral problems or otherwise having ill suited traits. But it wasnât all bad for them, as SAFE had a little patch of Heaven for them to live in. Most days would be filled with playing huggie tag, eating berries and making fluffpiles in the closed off meadow that the charity had built its HQ in the center of. And on rainy days they would dance and sing in the saferooms and watch specifically crafted therapy fluffy training videos, cleverly disguised as simple entertainment. Yes, it was charming but not without problems. Sometimes a smarty or bitch mare would come in or at worse a hellgremlin and as expected they would attempt to undo all of the hard work that the staff labored tirelessly to maintain, luckily they didnât stay for long if they were dumb enough to be blatant about it.
Daisy found herself in a large and welcoming safe room, filled with many different happy fluffies, each going about their business. She couldnât help but notice that some were missing legs, wings, patches of fluff, eyes and even more intimate things, but despite this they appeared truly happy and more importantly they looked grateful to be here.
âhewwo nyew fwend!â, a green mare with no ears, one eye and a missing leg said as she waddled towards the newcomer.
âhewwo munstah maweâ Daisy replied innocently with a grin.
âDAISY!â a staff member in her early twenties gasped as she walked over, âdonât call her that, sheâs a beautiful fluffy!â she added.
âwat?â the ditzy mare asked in confusion, tilting her head to the side as she looked up at the blonde lady, âam sowwy, nu meanies tu mayk munstah mawe saddiesâ she added before being lifted suddenly and carried under arm out of the safe room, through a hall and into a discipline room, lined with sorry boxes, some of which were populated.
Tiny âhuuhuuâ-s, âam sowwyâ-s and ânu wike dawkiesâ escaped some of the numerous boxes. Daisy did not enjoy how scary this room was and suddenly she was unceremoniously dropped into a box of her own before the lid was slammed shut, engulfing her in darkness.
âwe donât tolerate that kind of behaviour here, little miss!â the lady added before walking away with a huff.
Daisy was more confused than she was upset, she didnât know what she had done wrong. That mare DID look like a âmunstahâ, but she seemed nice and Daisy herself was only trying to describe her with the limited vocabulary that she had. Truly this was some form of mad riddle, how else could it make sense?
Some time went by, which for a fluffy like Daisy could mean anywhere between five minutes to the complete heat death of the universe, it was hard to say.
âpssst, nyew maweâ a voice called out from the box beside hers.
ây-yus?â she replied, roused from her nap.
âwat am in boxie fow?â the mystery stallion asked.
âcaww an munstah mawe an munstah, bu nu twyin tu be big meanie⌠Am con-fooz-edâŚâ daisy explained.
âyeh, dis pwace am stoopidâ he huffed.
âwy am stawwion in boxie?â Daisy asked after a brief pause.
âgit biggest angwies sum-timsies, miss Betty say dat Titan hab âAngew ishewsââŚâ he grumbled.
âTitan soundies fine tu Daisyâ she assured.
ât-tank yewâ he said softly with a smile she could almost hear.
âwat bout Bwick, dummeh mawe!?â another stallion called out, âwan enfies! Gib!â he ordered.
ânu wan!â Daisy huffed at him, âshuddup meanie, onwy wan tawkies tu nice Titanâ she declared with a little stomp.
ânu tawkie tu Bwick wike dat, stoopid enfie mawe! When Bwick git ou ob boxie, Bwick gun fin Daisy and gib wowstest sowwy enfies!â the bully threatened.
âSHUDDUP! NU TOWCHIES TITAN NYEW FWEND!â the other stallion hollared. The vicious little smarty hushed up after that, maybe he was terrified of taking on someone his own size? Daisy assumed so, they both sounded strong.
Daisy would spend the next two hours talking to Titan, to her surprise they just naturally clicked, already becoming good friends. Titan would tell her about his life before coming to SAFE, how he was something called a âpit fluffâ, which essentially meant that he was bred from a long line of fluffies, specifically for fighting and killing his own kind in shady alleyway tournaments for the entertainment of humans. The onlookers would take bets and laugh and drink as fluffies were made to mutilate and kill other fluffies, all the while money would change hands, corpses would be scooped up and the carnage would begin again. Titan revealed that he came to SAFE with Brick, both being tournament contenders and despite hating him, he was unfortunately the only fluffy in the world that Titan couldnât take in a fight, although heâd give it a bloody good try. The two of them were both champions in their own right, but Brick always got more love from the humans, because unlike Titan, Brick loved violence, he lived for it, while Titan never enjoyed his job, it was simply what he was made to do and how he survived, nothing more.
In turn, Daisy would tell him about her old owner, how he would shout at her, hit her, drink âdizzy wawaâ and then make her eat spicy food until she cried and threw up. Then one day he just got bored of her. Daisyâs daddy took her to the park one bright summerâs day, kicked her as far as he could and then when she hobbled back to where he had kicked her, with her dislocated leg, he was gone. She was picked up and brought to SAFE a few days later.
Suddenly the sound of human footsteps entered the sorry box room, it was the blonde lady from earlier, Betty. âok, itâs time up for a few of youâ Betty smiled as she started plucking tearful fluffies out of the sorry box and putting them on the floor.
âwai⌠Hoew am Titan gun fin Daisy?â He asked the mare in a fearful panic.
âam whiyt fwuffy, wike da fwowew!â she explained from within her box.
âotay, Titan gun memba dat, wan see yew soon! Buh-byeâŚâ he said sadly.
âyeh⌠Bwick gun memba yew tuuâŚâ the vicious smarty threatened.
âHEY!â betty chastised before the sound of a smack came, ânone of that!â she added.
An hour later, Betty returned and plucked Daisy from her box as she had done with the fluffies before. âwhat did we learn?â Betty asked.
âummmm⌠Nu caww munstah fwuffies munstahs?â Daisy responded in genuine confusion.
âfuck⌠Close enoughâŚâ Betty sighed before putting Daisy on the ground and shooing her and a handful of other fluffies into the hallway and outside into the closed off meadow.
âIâll be back to check on you lot later, remember to stay on your best behaviour or itâs back to the boxâ Betty made sure to remind them before excusing herself.
Daisy made a few more acquaintances, played a bit of huggy tag and enjoyed some of the apples that fell from the trees on the edge of the property. But as beautiful as the meadow was and as nicely populated as it appeared, Daisy couldnât bring herself to truly enjoy it, she wanted so desperately to meet her friend. She went for a solem walk by herself until she eventually came to the top of a hill, populated by tiny reminders of her namesake. âDaisy am habin da best bwite timsie!â She declared to herself, as despite everything, from Brick, to Miss Betty, to the sorrybox, SAFE was still many steps up from where she used to live. All she needed now was Titan, then everything would be perfect.
She thought about Brick as she sat upon the hill, his threats, he was such a nasty stallion, he sounded massive and scary, he probably looked like a monster and Titan must have been so incredibly brave to have put up with him for so long. Titan himself also sounded huge, but nice. âmay-beh âpid fwuffiesâ am aww big an stwong?â she thought allowed.
Just then she was eclipsed in a great and wide shadow from behind that froze her blood solid, the voice sent a chill down her back as the words left his mouth: âhewwo pwetty widdwe maweâŚâ the gruff voice said.
Daisy felt terrified, frozen in shock by the bassiness of the voice, she feared that standing behind her was Brick and he was prepared to make good on his threats. She took a large gulp as she slowly swivelled her head, praying to Sky-deddeh above that bad special huggies were not in store for her this day.
Standing before her was a crimson coated unicorn stallion with a blue mane, peppered in scars, missing an ear and one of his eyes was grey and cloudy.
âPWEAS NU HUWTIES!â Daisy begged as she instinctively covered her privates with her tail and curled into a ball, that was until she noticed the tiny white flower he carried in his mouth.
âam yew Daisy?â the goliath asked.
ây-yus?â she answered, although she was scared to tell the truth, if she were to imagine what Brick looked like, this would be it.
âam Titanâ he assured before lowering the flower to her forehooves, âwan be fwend ousside ob boxie? Nebah hab fwend befowe, wiwe pwotec fwom meanie Bwick, pwomisâ he asked and assured so innocently.
Despite his looks, he was a surprisingly kind and gentle stallion. The two friends would walk and play and eat berries from the bushes, at one point he even chased the squirrel to show her how fast he was. When it was time for all the fluffies to come in as the sun got low, they stayed hidden under a tree in a fluffpile for two. Daisy herself never had a fluffy friend before either, in a way, it felt just right to have one bestest friend. And true to Titanâs word, that meanie Brick never showed himself again, probably scared off by her strong and noble companion.
The security camera zoomed in as Betty watched in amazement from the reception desk computer.
âholy shitâŚâ she smiled in disbelief as she scrolled through the contacts in her phone until it fell on âBossâ.
âhey Vic, you know that trouble stallion we havenât had a lot of luck with recently?â she reminded him.
âoh yes⌠What about him?â he replied.
âthat new mare, uhhh, âDaisyâ, I think her name is⌠Sheâs cuddling himâ Betty clarified.
âr-really?â her boss said as he nearly choked on his tea.
âI know right? This is the first time Iâve ever seen him near a mare for more than five minutes before going all Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde on herâ she sighed in relief.
âyouâre on nightshift too, correct?â he asked, âcan you do me a favour and watch them closely, we might just have a breakthrough on our hands, just tell me if he has any Brick upsâ Vic requested further.
âcan we not call his disorder âBrick upsâ? it makes me feel grossâ Betty jokingly protested.
âfair⌠see you in the morningâ Vic said before the call abruptly ended with a click.
Betty leaned into the screen and smiled warmly, âyou might just have the magic touch there, little missyâ she grinned hopefully at the white mare, before lounging back in confidence, âIâll be watching youâ.
-the end-