Part Nine
Snowball struggled, but her immobilized legs wouldn’t allow her to move. She didn’t understand! She knew she’d been bad, but she hadn’t deserved to be abandoned! Why had mummah left her alone? Why was she in this dark, scary, cold place?
“Pwease, mummah! Snowbaww wiww be gud fwuffy! Pwease nu weabe Snowbaww!”
…
Previously
…
Buddy wasn’t quite comfortable playing in the garden yet. He knew he was safe, with the fence and the net to protect them from birds, but he still felt the hyper-vigilance, cultivated by years as a feral fluffy in a world of things bigger, stronger, faster, and nastier than he was, gnawing at the back of his mind. He knew mummah would never let him get hurt, but he still felt the quiet dread.
Mummah had insisted that they spend time in the garden, saying the sunshine and fresh air was good for them. By his estimation, Buddy had gotten more than enough of both as a feral fluffy, but he didn’t argue. Much. Mummah had been insistent, but he still remembered how she’d smiled when he’d initially refused to go out. She’d still made him go outside, though.
Snowball was wandering around the yard, pushing the big, partially-deflated kickball that some kid or another had lost over the fence who knows how long ago. She seemed to be enjoying herself, completely unaware of the horrors that lurked just outside of the protection of the fence. Buddy knew they were safe, but today felt…wrong.
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Present
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A new, strange fluffy Snowball had never seen before came into the room. He was a large unicorn, with a long, sharp horn and deep red fluff. Maybe he’d be able to help her get out of here and find mummah!
“Hewwo, nyu fwiend! Pwease hewp Snowbaww! Nu can mobe weggies! Wan fin’ mummah!”
“Hmmph!” the stallion grunted. “Dummeh mawe!”
He walked up to her, while she lay there in stunned confusion. What had she done? Why was he angry at her? “Wai nyu fwiend sae meanie wowds? Snowbaww nu mean tu maek nu fwiend angwy. Pwease, Snowbaww wan fin’ mummah.”
“Jaspew nu am dummeh mawe’s fwiend!” Jasper shouted, and Snowball flinched. “Dummeh mawe on Jaspew’s wand! Jaspew nu wike dummeh mawe!”
“Pwease, nyu fwiend! Hewp Snowba-screeeee!”
She wailed in pain as a heavy strike landed on her nose, and she felt something blood begin staining her fluff. She tasted boo-boo juice! Why was her new friend hurting her? What had she done?
…
Previously
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“Hewwo, nyu fwiends!” Buddy woke up from the nap he hadn’t intended to take, and looked around wildly. There was Snowball, and the gate that was open, somehow. And a herd of feral fluffies.
Instantly, he felt sick with terror. He’d had a fair number of run-ins with feral herds, and unlike humans, he had no illusions about them. Most feral herds only survived because they were meaner and crueler than the other herds in the area, able to fight for the best, safest territory and the most reliable sources of food. This bred ruthless, vicious smarties and callous, brutal tuffies.
He stood up and dashed for the door. They would be safe in there, since the flap only opened for them. They were both well-fed and healthy, and should be able to get to the door well before the feral herd caught them. If he’d stayed asleep just a little longer, though…
He’d almost made it to the door when he realized something horribly wrong. Snowball wasn’t following him. He froze in horror as she walked up to the smarty, a gnarled, mean-looking green pegasus, and spoke. “Nyu fwiends wan pway?”
“Uh nu.”
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Present
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“Pwease, nyu fwiend! Nu huwt Snowbaww! Snowbaww nu wan huwties! Onwy wan fin’ mummah, onwy wan pway! Pwease, nice fwuffy, hewp Snowbaww!”
Jasper spat at her, and she flinched. "Dummeh mawe am on Jaspew’s wand! Dat mean dummeh mawe am Jaspew’s! Jaspew gon du wut Jaspew wan’! Nu cawe 'bout dummeh mawe’s mummah!
He kicked her again, this time striking one of her legs, drawing a peep of pain as it slid a little too far out of its socket, then slid back in with a pop and a wave of shock that traveled up her leg and into her spine. Wai nyu fwiend huwt Snowbaww?
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Previously
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“Dummeh mawe! Dis am smawty’s wand nao!”
“Snowbaww nu am dummeh! Snowbaww onwy wan pway wif nyu fwiends!”
Moving faster than he imagined he could, Buddy dashed towards them, quickly getting between the smarty and Snowball. “Snowbaww, wun! Git mummah!”
“Wai? Snowbaww wan pway wif-”
“NAO 'OU DUMMEH!”
Shocked into action, Snowbaww ran for the door. Buddy, however, knew he was doomed. There was no way he could make it to the door now, not with the herd already moving to surround him. He was lucky he’d made it in time to give Snowball a chance to escape.
“Dummeh stawwion!” the smarty roared, and Buddy gasped as a tuffy’s hoof caught him in the ribs. “Smawty wan dummeh mawe fow hewd! Nee’ nyu enfie-mawe!”
“Smawty gu num poopies,” Buddy spat defiantly, then moaned in pain as another heavy hoof struck him in the leg and he felt something crack.
“Dummeh stawwion. Hewd gon’ gib fowebah-sweepies, an’ fin’ dummeh stawwion’s speciaw-fwiend, an’ gib babbehs fowebah-sweepies, an’ enf speciaw-fwiend!”
“Snowbaww nu am speciaw-fwiend.”
The smarty looked confused for a second, then rallied. “Tuffy, enf dis mummah-fwuffer.”
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Present
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“Pwease,” Snowball gasped, barely able to find the breath for the words. “Nyu fwiend nu gib mowe huwties.”
“Jaspew du wut Jaspew wan. An’ Jaspew wan gib huwties.”
“Wai?”
“Huwtin’ mawes awways maeks enfin’ bettew!”
Snowball began struggling anew, somehow finding the voice to shriek. “NUUUUUUU! NU WAN BAD-ENFIES! NU WAN MUNSTAH FWUFFY’S BABBEHS! PWEASE, MUMMAH, SABE SNOWBAWW!”
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Previously
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Buddy closed his eyes as the feral herd pinned him to the ground. He braced himself for what was about to happen. At weast Snowbaww am saef.
He suddenly felt the weight pinning him lift as a meaty thud resounded in his ears. He stood as quickly as he could, opening his eyes to see mummah towering over him and the feral herd. As quickly as he could, he limped to the door.
“Buddy?”
“Ye,’ mummah?”
“Stay and watch.”
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Present
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“Pwease, pwease, pwease pwease pwease PWEASE! Nu wan! Pwease nu gib bad-enfies!” Snowball babbled, as Jasper walked around her and out of her field of vision. She felt his weight as he rested his front hooves on her shoulders, and leaned towards her.
“Jaspew nu am dummeh mawe’s fwiend. Nu du wut dummeh mawe wan.” he whispered.
“NUUUUUUU!”
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Previously
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Buddy was horrified, yet also strangely moved. He’d never seen anyone, let alone a human, exhibit such fury for his sake. Mummah moved systematically, grabbing each member of the herd, trapped by the now-closed gate, and twisting their front legs until they snapped, then leaving them on the grass to writhe and shriek. One by one, she left them crippled and unable to even attempt to escape.
Then she paused, looking at a pair of muddy-brown, emaciated and scarred fluffies. Likely the herd’s feces eaters and fuck toys, one male and one female. Unlike the rest of the herd, who hadn’t had any foals, the pair stood defiantly in a vain attempt to protect their four shrunken, disfigured foals. “Nu huwt babbehs!”
Mummah looked at the pair, then at the foals, and although he couldn’t see her face, Buddy could tell from the change in her posture that her rage had been replaced with pity. She whispered something to the pair, but he wasn’t able to make out the words. All he could hear was the pair bursting into tears, but nodding.
He trembled again as mummah reached out to each of the pair and, gently but forcefully, snapped their necks. He understood why she’d done it, even if it was a horrible thing to witness. Even he could tell that the pair had been dead a long, long time, barely holding on through abuse and undernourishment.
Mummah picked up the wailing, broken remnants of the herd, and one by one dropped them into the big compost drum, with the exception of the smarty. Then she turned the drum, leaving the herd to suffocate. “Buddy, go inside and wait. Now.”
He fled inside. He didn’t want to see what came next.
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Present
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“Jasper! That’s enough.”
“Bu’ Jaspew wan enf dummeh mawe!”
“Jasper, do you want the blowtorch again?”
“NUUUUUU! JASPEW WIWW BE GUD! NU MOWE BUWNIE-OWWIES!”
“Come on then. Leave her alone.”
“Otay, daddeh,” Jasper sniffled, but left Snowball alone.
…
Previously
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When mummah returned, Buddy was lying in a heap in his nest, shivering and groaning as the pain and post-trauma shakes wracked his body. Snowball looked at him, confused. “Am Buddy otay?”
He didn’t bother to answer, and barely managed a wheezing gasp of pain as mummah picked him up, carried him to another room, and began to look him over, applying first aid as necessary. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t realize I forgot to lock the gate. I almost got you killed.”
“Fwuffy am otay…” he said, then burst into loud, shrieking sobs. “Buddy wewe su scawed! Buddy wewe gon’ die!”
“It’s okay. You’re safe now. You’re both safe. What happened?”
“Buddy an’ Snowbaww were in gawden, wen meanie hewd came! Wan tu gib Snowbaww bad-enfies an’ gib Buddy bad-enfies an’ fowebah-sweepies!”
“Why didn’t you run inside like I told you to?”
Buddy stayed silent for a moment.
“Buddy…”
“Buddy wan tu, bu’ Snowbaww gu an’ tawk tu hewd. Buddy teww Snowbaww tu wun, bu nu coud kee’ Snowbaww saef an’ wun, tuu!”
“I…see. You should have left her.”
“WUT?” Buddy was shocked by this display of callousness.
“She’s been told what to do. If she wanted to risk her life to talk to the herd that’s her decision.”
“Bu’ nu wan Snowbaww tu hab huwties! Mummah nu wub Snowbaww nu mowe?”
“That’s not fair! Of course I do, I love both of you, which is why I don’t want to see either of you hurt. But that was her fault, not yours. Look, you need to rest. In the meantime, there’s a few things I have to do…”
Buddy wanted to ask more questions, but didn’t have time as he felt a sharp prick and fell into a deep sleep.
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Present
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Snowball almost passed out from sheer relief when she saw mummah again. “SNOWBAWW WEWE SU SCAWED!”, she wailed, unknowlingly parroting Buddy’s earlier words.
“Why?”
“Munstah fwuffy gib huwties! Wan gib bad enfies!” Snowball sobbed.
“You didn’t like your new friend?”
“NU NYU FWIEND! MUNSTAH FWUFFY!”
“What are you talking about? Aren’t all fluffies new friends?”
“NU!”
Snowball gasped as mummah seized her scruff in an iron grasp, nails digging into her skin. “Then why the fuck did you go towards that herd after I told you not to?”
“Meanie wowds!” Snowball sobbed. “Snowbaww am sowwy!”
Mummah’s grasped tightened, and Snowball choked back a scream. “I fucking hope you’re sorry! Buddy’s lost so much, and he almost got raped and killed because you are too fucking retarded to follow simple rules! I learned something today, Snowball. I thought I’d sheltered you too much, but it turns out you’re just too damn stupid to live! I thought maybe you could learn from Buddy, but clearly you can’t. So now I’m going to show you that the world we live in isn’t just huggies and love. I’m going to show you how much pain and suffering there is all around you. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”
“Snowbaww…undastan’.”
“No you don’t. Not yet. But you will. And I know exactly how to teach you.”
…
Snowball was still shaking when she was carried into the saferoom and dumped roughly onto the floor. She perked up, however, when she heard chirping. The babbehs were in here too? She felt a little glimmer of excitement after all the terror of the day.
She stood up and walked towards a little makeshift nest, barely noticing Buddy’s deeply sleeping form in the other nest in her excitement. Then she realized something was horribly wrong. The chirping wasn’t the normal excited chirping of happy, healthy babbehs. It sounded desperate, pained.
She saw them, then. Covered in mud and worse things, horribly thin with twisted, gnarled limbs and pale milky eyes. All of her excitement turned to horror and revulsion. What was going on? She rushed forward, desperate to hug them and make them better, only to recoil in horror as the legs of the first one she hugged snapped like twigs, drawing even more agonized chirps.
“They’re dying.”
“Wut?”
“Those foals. They’re dying. That herd you tried to play with did this to them. To BABBEHS! Imagine what they were going to do to you and Buddy.”
“Bu’ babbehs am fow huggies an’ wub.”
She almost bit her tongue as mummah slapped her, hard, across the face. “Really? You can really say that now? Snowball, you are on thin ice right now. Think before you say anything else.”
“Huggies…nu wiww maek bettew. Wiww mummah hewp babbehs?”
“I can’t help them. Nobody can. They’re going to die slow, horrible deaths.”
“Can mummah…hewp…babbehs?”
“You mean kill them? Put them out of their misery? I could, but I’m not going to.” she leaned closer, whispering in Snowball’s ear. “You are.”
…
The smarty shook in fear as he looked from from the shelf in the garage. He knew he’d be seriously hurt, maybe even killed, if he fell off. But…that was probably better than what was going to happen to him if he stayed. He tensed his back legs, preparing to push himself off the edge, hoping to cushion the impact on his ruined and useless front legs. But again, he was unable to muster the willpower to do it.
“Didn’t jump, huh?” the munstah lady said as she walked into the garage, grabbing a rubber apron and a pair of elbow-high rubber gloves. “You’re going to regret that.”
“Pwease, smawty wiw gu, wiww nebah come baek! Pwease, jus’ nu gib mowe huwties!”
“After what you tried to do? Unlikely. Of course, once I’m done with you I might let you go, but…you’ll probably be asking for the alternative by then.”
“Pwease, nice wady!”
“Shhhhh…” she hushed him. “There’s something you’ve forgotten about humans. Not that I blame you, we try to forget about it to. But when the chips are down, when we really feel justified, we remember. Humans…are predators.”
The smarty began to shriek before she even touched him, the monstrous grin on her face more terrifying than anything he could’ve imagined.
Part Ten and a Half
Part Eleven